(GRRRR / RUUUUM)

The rattling of the elevator was the only sound in the ominous silence.

"....."

Ford was motionless, pressed against the back wall of the cubicle, observing the exterior. The cabin doors, made of thick, opaque glass instead of solid metal, promised to reveal the sect's truth as they descended.

"... Gulp."

The atmosphere was dense. The air felt colder and heavier with every meter they dropped, but it was the change in lighting that heralded the true nightmare.

"....."

The faint light from the service area on the main floor had been replaced by a black, damp darkness, pierced only by the red emergency light that flashed sporadically in the depths of the shaft.

"gulp...fuff... Haaa..."

Ford swallowed hard, feeling the chill run down his back.

(… It’s… Fine…)

(Breathe…)

(… Calm…)

But still filled with nervousness about what might await him below, he remained composed, comforted by the straw dolls hidden in his shadow, who were offering their support.

(It’s okay... I can... No, we can do this,) Ford thought, trying to maintain a calm mind. He noticed the cabin passing from one unknown floor to another, and the red emergency light flashed, pulsing like a slow, sick heartbeat.

"?!"

The glass doors then became transparent for an instant, and the scene revealed outside hit Ford with the force of a punch to the stomach.

"Ugh!"

Ford clamped both hands over his mouth, nausea rising up his throat like corrosive acid.

"Ugh..."

What he saw was carnage. Not just bodies, but an immense number of people, scattered across the metal walkways and the concrete floor that surrounded the elevator shaft.

"Aggg...!"

(Breathe...!)

(Calm!)

(Don't look...!)

They were the sect's "believers," the same people who had offered him kind smiles and sexual services. But now, they were nothing more than a mutilated mash of flesh, enveloped in a disturbing silence.

(What...? What is... This?!)

The red light bathed the scene, turning the coagulated blood into a black, shiny puddle.

"Ummph!"

The bodies were brutally dismembered and displayed in a grotesque gallery of horror. A torso devoid of limbs was sitting in a corner, its head tilted in a praying pose. A pile of arms and legs, perfectly stacked, formed a macabre offering in the center of a hallway. Furthermore, on the shaft ceiling, several bodies were hanging from metal hooks, with entrails spilling onto the descending elevator, creating a sweet, metallic smell of decomposition.

"Haa-Haa-Haa!"

Ford squeezed his eyes shut, trying to erase the image, but it was too late. The scene was the work of a sadistic predator who had not only killed, but had delighted in staging the destruction.

"Haa! Haa! Haa!"

Ford doubled over, head bowed, trembling uncontrollably. His mind struggled to reconcile the horror he had just seen with the tense farce of the harem he had experienced on the upper floors.

(The sect wasn't a sexual trap; it was a slaughterhouse!)

Yet, despite his panic, the elevator continued its relentless descent.

"?!"

However, in the midst of his panic, Ford felt a subtle change in the shadows beneath his feet: a familiar coldness that was accentuated by an injection of warmth into his mind.

(… Poor things)

(It passed…)

(Don't… Be scared…)

(Just a little more)

(We can… Do it)

(You… Can…!)

"You..."

It was a genuine message of pure, innocent encouragement, oblivious to the horror of the situation...

"... Thank you."

The simple fact that they cared for him and validated his horror gave him the fragment of control he needed not to collapse in the face of the real terror, providing him with an anchor against the horror, knowing he was not alone.

"We made it this far... We have to keep going."

"....."

Straightening up with a shiver, he opened his eyes, which now burned with a mixture of horror and icy determination. The elevator was reaching its destination.

(Click)

The car slowed to a halt with a metallic click, signaling the end of the descent.

"..."

The glass doors slid open silently.

"!!"

And before Ford, the underground chamber of his nightmare stretched out: the thick air, the damp stone, and, in the center, the incomplete circle.

(This place is it!!)

The spectral blue light of the moon filtering through the ceiling aperture illuminated the scene, revealing every sinuous line, every carved symbol.

"Is that it?!"

And there, in the center, surrounded by the sick aura, was his Frying Pan.

"....."

The horror of the carnage had prepared Ford's mind for evil. Now, he was ready to face the source of the malice. Content originally comes from novèlfire.net

(Splash!)

"?!"

However, as he stepped out of the elevator, his foot hit a hard object. Looking down, he saw: an open, bloodshot eye that had fallen from the massacre above.

(Slap!)

Ford ignored it, his gaze fixed on the depths of the chamber, toward the Smiling Silhouette waiting by the densest edge of the circle.

"There it is..."

The telepathy of his allies, once an anchor, had become an infantile, terrified murmur:

(… M-monster)

(Run… Sca… Scary)

(… Mommy)

"......"

The air in the underground chamber was thick, heavy with the dampness of the stone and the sweet, ferrous stench of blood from above.

"Calm down..."

Ford stood rigid, the massacre of the believers in his mind and the terrified murmur of the straw dolls in his consciousness.

"...."

In front of him, on the densest edge of the ritual circle, the Smiling Silhouette was no longer a patch of darkness.

(We must maintain... Calm...)

"Well, well~"

She revealed herself as a woman of bewitching beauty, whose appearance evoked an antiquity that refused to fade. Her attire was a sumptuous mix of silks and brocades, a pale gold and jade green ceremonial kimono, embroidered with designs of coins and twisted prosperity symbols. The ensemble, though elegant, screamed unattainable opulence and an obsession with accumulation.

"There you are, finally."

Her hair was a waterfall of platinum blonde that reached her knees, framing a face with slanted, finely delineated eyes, whose amber glow reflected the spectral moonlight falling from the zenith. Above her head, a pair of sharp fox ears stood erect, while behind her, nine thick tails, with fur so white it seemed to glow, swished with the slowness of a ceremonial incense. She was the perfect incarnation of a majestic and deadly beauty.

"It wasn't a short trip for you, my little invading mouse."

The smile, once a simple crack, was now an expression of enigmatic malice.

"My apologies for the mess in the foyer, but you know, people are so untidy when they die."

She was sitting on a flat stone with a lazy grace. In her hand, she held a small sake cup and a ceramic bowl containing a dark liquid. She drank calmly, unperturbed by the partial corpse next to her foot.

"....."

Ford felt the bile rise in his throat again at the casual mention of the carnage, forcing himself to remain calm by clenching his fists.

"Where is Saffi?"

Finally gathering his courage, Ford demanded, his voice trembling with tension.

"Ufufu~"

In response, the kitsune smiled even wider, her gaze running over Ford, not with desire, but with the interest of an appraiser over a trinket.

"Courtesy first."

She brought the bowl to her nose and inhaled deeply, enjoying the aroma of the alcohol, replying with a tone of playful mockery.

"But I am in an exceptionally pleased mood, I admit. My waiting time was made very pleasant thanks to the... conversation I had with your marvelous tool."

"....."

She turned her head toward the center of the circle, where the Frying Pan lay with its corrupt aura fluctuating between green and purple.

"When they took it from you."

She continued, her eyes returning to Ford with a malicious gleam.

"I never imagined getting something of such value~"

"......"

"Its nature is so delicious... its history so complex. It's rare to find something so rich and, yet, so willing to scream."

"!!"

Ford looked at his frying pan, feeling the object's pain through the psychic connection, knowing by their bond that it was being tortured or manipulated.

"What have you done to it?"

"Ufufu~"

Ignoring Ford's question, she took another sip of the dark liquid; her smile softened into an expression of hedonistic pleasure.

"What the hell are you?"

Unable to restrain himself any longer, Ford asked the thought that was most on his mind in that moment, filled with frustration.

"Me?"

To that question, the answer came with deliberate slowness, every word savored.

"I am just an ancient collector~"

She finally said, tilting her head slightly and stroking one of her nine tails.

"You know, the world you live in is a nexus of realities, isn't it? And in this nexus, I am one of the few who understand that everything has a price. And you?"

After saying that, she paused dramatically, looking Ford up and down as if she were seeing through his skin.

"You are no one~"

"....."

"And that thing there..."

After saying that, she pointed with her foot at the incomplete circle.

"... is destined to obtain what I want most."

After saying that, she placed the empty cup on the ground, the sound of the click echoing in the chamber. Her amber eyes fixed on Ford with an intense and dangerous greed.

"With that, I answer your questions... but now it's my turn to ask you some~!"

"!!"

In an instant, Ford felt an icy chill that was not fear, but overwhelming physical force. One of the Kitsune's nine tails uncoiled with the speed of a whip, wrapping around Ford's torso and arms and lifting him from the ground.

"Agh!"

In pain, Ford let out a stifled cry. The tail, surprisingly strong, completely immobilized him without giving him time to react.

"Tell me, little human."

The Kitsune rose lazily from her stone seat and began to approach with a hypnotic cadence. The dignity of her voice contrasted brutally with the physical torture she inflicted.

"You are insipid. You have neither the spark of magic, nor the lineage of the clans, nor brute strength. How, then, did you obtain that tool? A frying pan with such a rich soul... an object that resonates with the forgotten 'chaos'."

"K-kh!"

As she spoke, she tightened the tail slightly, causing a sharp pain to pierce Ford's chest and back.

"And those dolls..."

However, ignoring the crunching of Ford's ribs, she continued with a curiosity that bordered on obsession or mania.

"They are annoying. They hide well, I admit, but I can feel their lamentable childlike fear. Who gave them to you? Answer, quickly."

"HAA-HAA-HAA!"

Suddenly, the Kitsune released his mouth, allowing him to gasp.

"Before I crush your bones into a useless pile of splinters... Answer me~"

"Y-you... did you kill Saffi?"

Ford breathed heavily, convulsing with pain. Tears escaped his eyes, not only from the physical pain but from the despair at the evident malice. His voice was a broken, desperate whisper.

"Saffi?"

The woman tilted her head, her expression of greed transforming into simple indifference for an unknown name.

"No. I don't know who that woman is. But unfortunately for you, mouse... if that 'Saffi' was valuable to you and, most importantly, a virgin."

She smiled.

"Then she's most likely dead~"

"......."

Ford choked.

"To make this circle, a lot of virgin blood is needed. It's the perfect catalyst to summon what I desire. A pure sacrifice. And this sect... it's a nest of sinners, but their newcomers are always so pristine."

"....."

Ford's tears fell freely, sliding down his cheeks as the truth settled in: the massacre, the sect, and Saffi's fate. Ford's horror and despair were palpable.

"Yes... that expression. That's why you are worth it. That desperation, that suffering... Thank you for this... offering."

(Bang!)

"!!"

But just as she was about to tighten her tail one last time to crush Ford, she reacted with supernatural speed. From the sleeve of her kimono, she pulled out a black lacquered folding fan, which she snapped open in a dry, precise motion.

(Think!)

A bullet arrived from the open ceiling, right where the moonlight penetrated. The Kitsune intercepted it with the fan, and the projectile struck the metal ribs, deflecting with a deafening screech that vibrated throughout the chamber.

"You haven't changed a bit, monster."

At that moment, a deep voice, heavy with cold, repressed anger, descended through the shaft.

"Argh!"

The kitsune retracted her tail from Ford, letting him go. Ford fell to the stone floor with a dull thud, convulsing and gasping, his ribs bruised.

"This is unexpected."

A man landed in front of Ford. The long dark coat and heavy boots were unmistakable. The Exorcist didn't waste an instant, pointing his two pistols directly at the monster.

"Haaa... Haa... Haaaa..."

Ford writhed on the floor, trying to catch his breath. Behind the man, the straw dolls reverted to a state of silent alertness, sensing the powerful presence of the newcomer.

(Strong...)

(.... Ally?)

(Danger...)

"It's a pleasure, though an annoyance, to see such a familiar face again~"

"... That's right... I waited a long time for this..."

"Ufufu~"

"To kill you, Lady Demon of Greed, Kagura!"