Lower Than Hell

Wake up.

Kill.

Absorb.

Eat.

Kill.

Absorb.

Kill.

Absorb.

Kill.

Absorb.

Eat.

Kill.

Absorb.

Sleep.

Wake up.

Kill.

…

'How long is this going to last…?'

Regis thought as he laid on the ground.

It had already been almost a week since he commited his first murder.

However, the repeated routine of killing everyday was slowly starting to eat away at him.

Internally, he begged for something to distract him.

Anything that could let him escape from his reality, anything would suffice.

Unfortunately, nothing changed despite his desperate prayers.

'It seems as if even the Goddess of Light cannot save me from this shithole…'

Regis thought as he laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Attention!"

The demonic human leader's voice resounded in the demonic human camp.

Regis monotonously got up and went towards the direction of the voice along with the other children.

So far, there were still 113 of them.

The one who got his stomach pierced by a wooden spear a couple days earlier turn out to be fine.

This was one of the moments in which Regis saw just how potent the demonic power was.

"Hey, what do you think is that sick fucker going to order us?" A boy with black hair asked Regis.

A girl with brown hair interrupted and said with a fed up expression on her face, "Tsk Greg, are you stupid? What do you think? Kill, of course."

"Who are you calling stupid!? Are you really picking a fight right now, Lea!?" The boy named Greg clenched his fists.

The two children argued while Regis watched them with a subtle happiness in his heart.

To say that they were friends was a bit far-fetched.

However, they were the ones who shared their frustrations with each other in these past few days.

In a way, Regis was quite thankful because they help him be able to feel normal even if it was only for a temporary amount of time.

"Right, we might have to kill again…" Regis spoke as the three of them walked.

Soon enough, all the children arrived at the center of the demonic human camp.

In the platform, they could see the demonic human leader whom they were all familiar with at this point.

Clap—

The demonic human leader looked around, observing the expression of the children.

A few looked at him with awe, while others woth hatred and disgust.

The most common expression among them was anger.

Nevertheless, he paid them no heed and spoke loudly, "Today is a special day!!!"

The children had a variety of expressions upon hearing his words.

Some looked happy, while some looked repulsed.

Again, he did not pay them any attention and instead continued, "Gather all your weapons and we'll depart immediately! Today is the day where you all will become a full-pledge demonic human!!"

Although the demonic human leader did not provide them any details, the children remained silent and went to their tents to get their weapons. 

After all, in the almost a week of their stay here, they had become used to the demonic human leader's eccentricity.

***

'Become a full pledged demonic human, huh…?' 

Regis recalled the demonic human leader's words from earlier.

'There's something that could make me even more demonic!?'

He chuckled with disgust filling his eyes.

Never did he think that all the killing he had committed these past few days was still not enough.

'How more demonic could I become…?'

Disgust.

His whole being became filled with disgust.

However, the extremity of the disgust he was feeling was not towards the demonic human leader or anyone else.

Of course, he was also disgusted towards the demonic human leader.

However, he was more disgusted with himself.

"Ahhh, fuck! How more do we have to walk? My feet's killing me!" Greg said in a low voice.

Lea sneered from the side, "How much more of a sissy can you be?"

"What did you say!?" 

"What're you gonna do about it!?"

…

The two of them argued as Regis was in between them.

They had been walking for a few hours through the forest, but they did not seem to have any intention of stopping soon.

Huuuu–

Regis sighed, their antics really caused him to have no more time to feel disgusted about himself.

Still, their noisiness really did help him a lot.

In fact, he did not even know how their "friendship" started.

All he remembered was that time about three or four days ago.

They had just killed a person the demonic humans presented to them before their meal when Greg and Lea started arguing as Regis sat in the middle.

Then from then on, they kind of just stuck to him.

"We are here!"

The demonic human leader's voice echoed in the children's ears.

"What the fuck does this mean…" Lea's curse could be heard from the side.

Meanwhile, Greg remained speechless.

Regis wondered what made them react so strangely and looked ahead of them.

There he saw it.

Children playing in the grassy fields.

Farmers catering to their cows, pigs, and chickens.

A village living in harmony.

Full of smiles and the joys of life.

However, this beautiful sight made Regis's heart beat harder.

'What…'

It might have been a beautiful sight for any other people.

However…

They were demonic humans…

'What is that sick fucker up to now!?!' Rage and disgust filled Regis's heart as he looked at the demonic human leader.

Greg and Lea also had a bad premonition in their hearts, becoming the reason for their strange reactions.

Clap—

"As I have said earlier, this will be the day you all will become a full pledged demonic human…."

The children looked at each other upon hearing his words.

The demonic human leader smiled, "The killing you have been subject to all these days was enough of a warm up, don't you think so?"

He pointed at the happy village at the distance.

"It's about time you have your debut."

Greg clenches his fist.

Lea cursed under her breath.

Regis bit his lip until it bled.

Nevertheless, the demonic human leader's voice sounded in their ears again, "This time, your victim will be that happy and innocent village in the distance."

At first, Regis described the demonic human camp as hell.

However, the demonic human leader's words made him realize something.

'This is far worse than hell… this is lower than hell…'