Later that day, Val found himself standing in front of the haunted house. The two moons of this world had appeared overhead, casting their light upon the world below. One was a deep crimson, the other a shimmering silver. Their combined luminescence transformed the sky into a mesmerizing spectacle, painting the night with hues of blood and moonlight.
Val had given the house key to Eliana earlier, but that certainly didn’t mean he would wait for her to come home to enter the haunted house. He glanced around, making sure no one was in sight, then brought his finger close to the keyhole.
From the tip of his finger, tendrils of blood began to seep out, moving with an uncanny fluidity. They went into the keyhole, filling it before solidifying, taking the shape of a key that fit perfectly.
With a twist of his makeshift key, the satisfying click of the door unlocking echoed in the silent night. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to find Eliana’s shoes at the entrance and her talisman hanging on the door.
It took him a moment to register the implications. Eliana was home.
A wave of realization washed over him; all the effort he had put into unlocking the door wouldn’t have been necessary if he had simply knocked and asked if anyone was at home.
A chuckle escaped him, and he shook his head, thinking to himself, “Silly me.”
Upon stepping into the house, Val called out, “Eliana, I’m back.”
Out of the kitchen, Eliana emerged, greeting him with a sweet, “Welcome home, dear.”
Val froze for a moment, caught off guard by her term of endearment. They’d been friends once, and she used to call him Brother Val. As they became lovers, she shifted to his given name. But now, being referred to as ‘dear’ was new, and it felt somewhat peculiar.
Before he could dwell on it, however, a metallic, sulfuric smell hit his nostrils. The odor was unpleasant and oddly pungent, permeating the air around him. The god-awful smell seemed to originate from the kitchen, where Eliana had emerged from, humming a strange melody.
“What are you cooking?” Val asked, eyeing the kitchen warily.
“I’ve made dinner for us,” Eliana responded cheerfully, inviting him in with a broad grin.
With a nod of acceptance, Val walked towards the kitchen, curiosity piqued. A pot sat on the stove, simmering and releasing an off-putting odor. What could possibly be inside it that smelled so horrendous? As he moved to check, Eliana wrapped her arms around his, leading him towards the dining table instead.
“Relax, I will serve you,” she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Val felt his eyebrows rising. “Why the sudden change?”
“I’m just in the mood to pamper you,” she replied lightly, her eyes twinkling.
Val wasn’t sure what to think. Pamper him or poison him? The smell of the food still lingered in the air, making him question whether it could even be classified as food. Was she trying to kill him with her bizarre cooking experiment? What was she up to?
Eliana scooped a ladle full from the pot, filling a plate and placing it before Val. Then she took a seat at the table herself, sitting opposite him.
The fuck?!!!
As Val looked down, his eyes were met with the sight of a plate filled with red soup containing half a decaying head that seemed to belong to a human. Its eye sockets were empty, but he could see where the eyes were at. The eyeballs floated around in the red soap that smelled like blood, and a tongue grotesquely stuck out from the partially decomposed head.
‘What a yummy meal. That’s what a fucking devil would have said if it was served such a meal.’
Given his Emotional Impairment and Unfeeling traits, Val didn’t feel any fear or disgust as an ordinary person would.
However, he found the situation rather puzzling and absurd.
He glanced over his shoulder. The talisman still hung by the door. It was meant to stop evil entities from entering the house and weaken those who were already inside of it, but what he was experiencing suggested otherwise.
Was the talisman not working?
Or was it not a real one?
His instincts told him to inspect what it really was, and so while looking at it he cast Detect.
[System Notification: Low-level illusion detected.]
Val’s eyes narrowed. He had been tricked by the ghost haunting this place!
Now the question was – was this creature posing as Eliana to moxk him, or was Eliana possessed by it?
If it was the former, he could deal with it without any hesitation, butcher it like he would a pig, but if it was the latter, it might be a bit more complicated.
After all, he didn’t want to harm Eliana in the process of eliminating the devil.
The time had come to confirm his doubts.
He cast Detect on the figure seated across him.
[System Screen:
Species: Low-Level Malvolent Devil
Name: Shaxil
Skills: Illusion, Vanishing]
The system also informed Val that the devil, Shaxil, fed on a person’s fear. The more frightened one was, the stronger it would get. It had fed on the fears of many people, growing stronger over time, and now it was even capable of killing a person!
Despite knowing its true nature, Val decided to act oblivious.
“What is this?” he asked Shaxil, pointing to the abhorrent meal before him.
The Shaxil, still wearing the mask of Eliana, retorted, anger seeping through its tone, “It’s the dinner I made for you. Why is it not to your liking?”
The hostile energy emitting from the creature hinted at imminent danger. The slightest misstep, and Val could end up on the receiving end of the creature’s wrath.
However, Val responded nonchalantly, “I don’t have likes or dislikes when it comes to food. As long as it holds nutritional value and can help me function normally, it’s good enough. However, I refuse to eat dog food that’s served to me by a bitch disguising herself as my asset.”
Shaxil’s anger flared. “What did you call me?”
Val gave the creature a teasing look.𝑜𝑣𝓛xt.𝑐𝑶𝑚