I Watch You From Hell~
“Rock! Paper! Scissors!”
“Ugh… I lost again?!” Qiweiya stared at the ‘paper’ she had thrown, declaring it utterly unscientific and unmagical. How could a deity lose to a mere child of a few years old? She had already lost over a hundred rounds! Was there any justice in this world?
“Sister, this is already the forty-seventh time you’ve cheated… Sister, shame on you! Aren’t you embarrassed?”
********
Qiweiya seized Besalius by the shoulder. As his lowered head was lifted, to Besalius’s horror, what appeared was… a pitiful, tear-streaked face?
Qiweiya was tear-streaked, like a wounded puppy. “Besalius~ Just let me win once! I’m practically losing the will to live…”
Besalius felt utterly disillusioned. The deity he had worshipped since childhood was actually like this? Even winning a game required cheating, and then she refused to admit it? And finally, she openly begged to cheat?
Qiweiya’s heart pounded in her chest as she watched Besalius’s constantly shifting expression. ‘Please, say yes! Say yes!’
“No.” With Qiweiya’s whimper, Besalius placed another small slip of paper on her face.
****
—At the stroke of midnight, the King of Hell comes to call—
“Woo~ Oh~ Hohoho~ Cackle~ Cackle~ Cackle.” A semi-transparent, ghostly blue figure manifested a hundred meters from the caravans’ lodging. It continuously emitted faint, peculiar sounds, like the wails of a specter or the clatter of bones.
It lingered for a while, observing its surroundings, before dissipating into the air, leaving behind a chilling aura.
“Cackle, cackle, cackle.” A mercenary, his skin prickling with goosebumps from the strange sound echoing in his ears, nudged his companion. “Zhate! Did you hear that? That weird cackling sound?”
Zhate irritably glared at his friend for waking him. “Morse~ You woke me up just to mimic a woman’s giggle? Trying to entice my urges? All I want is a good night’s sleep. If you’re thinking of women, go handle it yourself.”
With that, he flopped back onto his bed, pulled up the covers, and began to snore. Morse sighed in resignation, left with no choice but to get up himself and search for the ghostly presence disturbing his slumber.
“Pitter-patter~ Pitter-patter~” The soft thud of footsteps echoed down the pitch-black corridor. A bone-chilling cold steadily enveloped Morse, a cold that even his rapidly circulating battle qi couldn’t counteract.
As the “cackle, cackle, cackle” continuously echoed in his ears, his mind grew increasingly hazy. He had already forgotten why he had even left his bed.
“Roar~ Oh~” The ghostly blue figure manifested on the ceiling directly above Morse.
“Cackle, cackle, cackle.” Its right claw, resembling a human hand with splayed fingers, extended.
“Aow! Aow! Aow!” A blur of claws, and Morse’s soulless body collapsed to the floor. In its right claw appeared a milky-white soul, wailing incessantly.
“Awoo!” It roughly shoved the soul into its mouth. Its ghostly blue eyes flickered, glancing towards the mercenaries’ quarters, before vanishing into thin air once more.
One by one, the mercenaries were lured out by the strange sounds, meeting their demise in grotesque ways.
Some were drawn into the kitchen, their throats slit by kitchen knives that pinned them to the wall as their souls were forcibly extracted.
Others were ensnared by ropes that dropped from above, their necks throttled as they were hoisted into the air.
Still others had their necks brutally twisted from behind by unseen claws. In every death, the victims’ souls were violently torn from their bodies just as life ebbed away.
Finally, Vernis heard the strange whispers. As a protector of an anti-imperial secret organization, she was acutely aware of how insidious such supernatural phenomena could be.
So, she cried out, “Ah—a ghost!” She… she actually called for help! ‘Hey, hey, hey! Aren’t you a master? Where’s your dignity as a powerful expert? Pick up your integrity, you scoundrel!’
Everyone else was roused from their sleep, with Qiweiya being the first to arrive. “Where? Where? Where’s the ghost?”
Vernis’s heart warmed as she looked at her young mistress, who, despite being terrified, had rushed to her side. “Mistress, I just heard strange sounds… like bones clattering, and a chilling sensation.”
Qiweiya’s body trembled, her face a tear-streaked mess as she turned to Vernis. “My dear Maid! Just tell me where it is. I absolutely don’t want to hear your description; it’s just going to be something I can instantly kill anyway… Don’t scare me.”
“I don’t know.”
“Huh?” Qiweiya exclaimed, digging at her ear in disbelief. “You actually said you don’t know! What the heck! Girl, stop messing with me; I’m not even fully awake yet! As long as that ghostly thing is hanging around, this lady won’t be able to sleep a wink!”
Vernis blinked. “But I truly don’t know.”
********
Qiweiya and Vernis stared blankly at each other. “What do we do?”
“I don’t know.”
“How do we run?”
“Run? Can’t you handle it?”
Qiweiya was on the verge of swearing. Just as Qiweiya was about to erupt, Kiel and others burst into the room.
Observing the strange tension between the two, Kiel immediately declared, “Kavia’s protector, your scheme has finally been exposed! Prepare to die!” With that, he drew his knight’s sword and lunged.
“Get lost! Can’t you see we’re discussing important matters? You’re useless, just causing trouble!” Qiweiya shattered Kiel’s lethal attack with a kick, sending him flying.
Noticing the others who had entered with Kiel still staring, she snapped, “What are you looking at? Haven’t you ever seen such a cool loli? Get out of here!” Under Qiweiya’s threat, they scurried out obediently.
“So, I have to go ghost-hunting again?” Qiweiya asked, her face pale, as she looked at Vernis. “Otherwise, what else can we do?”
Qiweiya’s eyes welled with tears. “But I really don’t want to see those disgusting things that will give me styes…”
Vernis cut straight to the point. “Do you want to sleep or not?” Qiweiya opened her mouth, then finally let out a helpless sigh. “This is my last time for today! Don’t even think about making me do it again~ Not even you! Understand?”
Vernis stifled a small laugh behind her hand. Qiweiya kicked her lightly. “What’s so funny? Can’t you see your master is still annoyed? Go on, go on~ Get lost.”
Qiweiya closed her eyes. “Divine Sense, activate!” A few seconds later, to Vernis’s astonished expression…
“You motherf***er! This master will absolutely wreck you today!” Her expression was ferocious… though to Vernis, it was unexpectedly cute.
In any case, she suddenly yanked the ghostly blue figure from beside Vernis, dragged it out, and proceeded to give it a thorough beating…
“Ah! Ooh! Cackle! Woo! Ungh!” The grotesque figure wailed and shrieked under Qiweiya’s merciless, law-imbued fists. Her furious assault whipped up gales of wind! Heat waves radiated outwards! Golden-blue light illuminated the night, creating a spectacle as bright as day…
Indeed, the very weather was altered. When Qiweiya felt she had vented enough, she comically struck a signature Bruce Lee pose. “A-tah~~~” With a single whip kick, she shattered the figure into stardust, like a dispersing nebula, vanishing from existence.
Meanwhile, the onlookers could only tap their shoulders and stomachs, silently conveying, ‘Amen~ May the Lord bless you!’
Qiweiya glared fiercely at the dumbfounded caravan members. “What are you staring at? Haven’t you ever seen a deity fight? This master is in a good mood right now, so I’ll pretend I didn’t see anything~ Next time, all of you will join it in the grave! Understand?! Ah~ Let go! That hurts!”
Vernis, tugging Qiweiya’s ear, repeatedly apologized to the caravan members. “I’m so sorry~ This child didn’t take her medicine today! She’s gone wild again… Come~ Come~ Come~ I’ll take her to get her medicine; you all carry on.”
With that, she closed the door, leaving behind a truly bizarre scene. Those present exchanged bewildered glances, unsure of how to proceed.
Kiel slowly picked himself up from the ground. “Cough, cough! I think everyone should go cremate our comrades and engrave their names… Do you remember where their families are?”
One of the caravan members raised a hand and quietly said, “We reserves are all orphans…” The sudden silence and the sorrowful expressions on everyone’s faces were clear to Kiel.
“Your comrades’ souls have been freed by me! They will be reborn, so don’t worry. Hey! Hey! No! I won’t take the medicine, help me~” Kiel and the others burst into laughter upon hearing the sounds emanating from the room.
“Alright, alright! Since their souls are fine, there’s nothing to worry about! Everyone, quickly prepare our brothers’ bodies! The cremation memorial will proceed as planned! We’ll pool our money when we return and commemorate them together!”
“Yes!” Kiel gazed with satisfaction at the re-energized group, then looked towards Qiweiya’s room, his heart filled with gratitude. ‘How fortunate for humanity to have such a guardian deity… Your Highness, on behalf of my brothers, I thank you for your salvation!’
Qiweiya sensed Kiel’s sentiments, a faint smile gracing her lips before her expression drastically changed again. “Vernis! Put down that medicine; everything can be discussed! Harmony brings wealth, let’s take our time!”
Vernis playfully tossed the medicine bottle. “It’s alright, Mistress. I’ve been observing you for a long time and realized you have an illness that needs treatment!”
Qiweiya panicked. “No, no, no, I’m not sick! Have you ever seen a god get sick?” Vernis raised an eyebrow. “Well, now we have you, the first case.”
“I’m not! Why won’t you believe me! I—ooh~ mmm~ goo goo~ uh…” Vernis, seizing the opportune moment, forcefully poured the medicine into Qiweiya’s mouth. Finally, Qiweiya rolled her eyes and fainted.