3 bar menu

Chapter 74 Part 6 – The Blazing Flames and Hearts That Scorch the Night

As Ronny pushed their father, his father’s clothes got caught on a tripod that had a pot of burning embers hanging from it. The embers fell onto the firewood that was meant to be used for burning the stake. The flames instantly spread like an explosion.

The rushing heat stings their skin. Their father woke up from his black out and screamed. His back was on fire. He cried out saying, ‘It’s hot, it’s hot’, and struggled to run away from that spot, but Ronny exerted the last of his strength to stop him. Ronny pushed the blade further into his father’s stomach, causing him to show the whites of his eyes from the extreme pain.

「…… Gyaaaahhhhh!?」

*Crack crack* A sound like a dried branch breaking resounded. Several of his ribs were broken by the blade. The sharp ends of the broken rib bones pierced his lungs which caused blood to gush out from his nostrils. He could no longer breathe properly and his face turned purple and congested. He clawed at his throat, but there was nothing he could do. His willpower and physical strength drained out his body along with his blood and breath. But because his aorta and liver are uninjured, his death cannot be instantaneous.

The fire spread to their father’s hair. There was a terrible smell of burning human flesh. His hair stood on end as if charged with the static electricity of winter. The sound of fat exploding began to resound.

「Why ……!? I didn’t do anything wrong!! They set me up!! Nooo!! I don’t want to die!! I don’t want to die ……!!」

With a face full of blisters while crying like a child, their father was pushed further into the flames. He was so terrified that it caused his mind to have an infantile regression. Even though he was an adult, he could not push back the powerless Ronny. Despite the fact that there was a river right behind him and he could have extinguished the fire by jumping into it.

But that’s just natural. As a man who couldn’t face the reality even when he was in the face of death and couldn’t stop shifting the blame to others, there was no way he could beat Ronny, who was willing to risk his life in order to protect his sister Rona. There was too much of a gap between his and Ronny’s resolve.

Their father’s anguished screams gradually got smaller. He who continued to only think about himself until the end got what he deserved. The flames have now become a pillar of fire that threatened to scorch the night sky.
The flames reflected in the dark surface of the river glows like the scales of a giant snake.

「Ohh, what a sight. This is exactly what it means by ‘a cornered rat will bite a cat’. Seeing people killing each other is interesting because of this kind of crazy turn of events.」

Everyone stood still at the terrifying spectacle, but Matthew was the only one observing with great interest.

「…… Ronny!! Stop!! Run away!!」

At this rate, even Ronny would be engulfed in the flames.
Rona tried to run toward him, but she fell to the ground.

「…… How dare you do that to me.」

John was burning with anger as he grabbed Rona’s ankle.

「…… Kyaaaah!?」

Then he stood up. With ridiculous and monstrous strength, he hung Rona upside down and sneered at Ronny.

「I’ll tear her apart from the crotch. Serves you right. You should die a dog’s death. Die while watching your beloved sister being torn apart in half.」

Laughing maniacally, John slammed the upside-down Rona to the ground. The blow hit Rona’s back so hard that she had trouble breathing.

John gripped both of Rona’s kneecaps as she nearly blacked out and then he exerted his strength and lifted her upside down once again. Rona’s legs were spread open as wide as it could. Rona’s tendons emerged and creaked as she desperately tried to close her knees.

Rona’s whole body was gripped by fear. John is serious about it. Normally, the destruction of the human body in such a position would be impossible and unthinkable, but John, who had made breaking a boy’s limbs as his amusement, had the arm strength and grip of a troglodyte.

「……!!」

Ronny screamed and tried to go to help Rona, but he no longer had the strength left to speak or even move a finger. He was barely able to keep himself from falling down by pushing their father and having that as support.

Matthew gave a slight sigh.

「Haaa, how vulgar. There’s no sense of aesthetics. It really spoils the great scene. Oh well, it can’t be helped. I’ll just enjoy the additional show.」

Matthew narrowed his eyes.

There was confusion in one corner of the assembled crowd. They are competing with another group of people holding torches. From there, the sounds of cursing and violent fighting resounded. The roars and the sound of turbulent footsteps disturbed the night. Fires erupted from all over the abandoned warehouse. It was arson. The mobs from the slums that had attacked the government office building had rushed in and clashed with the crowd here.

Matthew spread his arms open and shouted.

「Oohhh!! Look, ladies and gentlemen!! The impoverished people are manipulated by the devil and have come to get the witch back!! The government office building has already fallen under their hands!! Everyone, take up your weapons and attack them!! Destroy the witch and her family. Or else your loved ones will be the ones engulfed in hellfire.」

In fact, Rona and her younger brothers had nothing to do with the riots caused by the people from the slums, but those who did not know about this were shaken by Matthew’s incitement.

If they were in a normal state of mind, they would have laughed it off, but the fear from witnessing the fire pillar burning people alive right in front of their eyes, the area covered in the darkness of the night, and their fear toward the mobs from the slums, made them restless. And then Matthew’s frighteningly clear and penetrating voice entered the cracks of their hearts. They ended up listening to him.

Panic gripped their hearts and their defensive instincts burst out. As if guided by Matthew’s words, they entered into a full-blown state of hostility. The intoxication of blood and violence unleashed the brutality of man.

The town that had been peaceful fell apart.

The lively voices and laughter of the people had now been replaced with curses and furious shouts.
Salvation was nowhere in sight.

Matthew looked up to the sky in ecstasy, like a conductor satisfied with his musical performance.
Then he swung his black cloak, bent down, and whispered so that only Rona and John could hear him.

「…… The moment when women and prey fall is the most enjoyable. Once those people start to kill each other, the embers of hatred will continuously smolder in the hearts of the town’s inhabitants. The town will be filled with doubt and suspicion. That will make the witch hunt easier to carry out. Now, let’s begin the final stage, burning the witch to death on the stake.」

Rona’s legs had been stretched to the brink that her hip joints were about to be dislocated.
Matthew looked at her as she writhed in agony while hanging upside down and gave a horrifying laugh.

「…… Farewell. You poor girl that no longer has any uses. You won’t be lonely. After all, the afterlife will soon be crowded. A lot of people will be heading there soon after this.」

Matthew looked up in a nonchalant manner and ordered John.

「Jo-o-o-hn. Didn’t you hear me? How long are you going to keep doing this? This is not in your playground. Don’t forget your position as my assistant. Make preparations to burn her at the stake. Tear off this witch’s clothes. Witches are beasts from hell. A beast has no need for clothing.」

「G-Got it ……」

John, who had been so absorbed in the act of tearing apart Rona’s legs, was dissatisfied, but he did not dare to disobey Matthew and reluctantly obeyed his order. In order to make the rough and brawny John to always follow his bidding, Matthew had shown him what he was capable of. He let John be armed with a weapon to attack him as he pleased for nearly an hour. Matthew never moved a step from the spot and subdued him each time with only one hand, instilling in him a fear that could not be matched.

John violently pushed Rona to the ground and ran his fingers over the torn collar.

Rona had no energy left to resist and could only watch over what was being done to her. She twisted her neck and looked at Ronny. Tears trickled down from Rona’s eyes.

「…… I’m sorry, Ronny. It’s all my fault. Please …… I’ll apologize a lot to you and Teddy in the afterlife …… so …… will you please continue to be my younger brothers?」

Their father was already engulfed in flames.

Ronny no longer had the strength to move or speak and could only nod his head with tears in his eyes at Rona’s heartbreaking plea.

There was no way he could have a grudge against Rona.
He was just frustrated at his own powerlessness.

‘…… Sister Rona did not do anything wrong. You tried to protect me and Teddy, even if it meant abandoning yourself. And yet, why should such a kind girl like sister Rona be killed as a witch!? Ahh, god, or even the devil. Please save sister Rona!! I’ll offer …… my worthless life and soul for that ……!!’

As if responding to Ronny’s feelings, a gust of wind blew. The flames grew more intense.

The fire in the warehouse also spread more quickly.

As if induced by the flames, the people went mad with anger and fear. The flames of the torches that are wielded by the mobs illuminated the people that bared their teeth. The conflict between the townspeople and the mobs from the slums continued to escalate.

But the wind also blew away the dark clouds in the sky.