Demon Collecting Corpses, The Mercenary's Beheading Skill

The laughter was high-pitched, echoing, and sinister, like the sound of metal scraping the floor. The forest went still, even the eerie breeze seemed to recoil from the frightening sound. 

Kael and Eryn stood back to back, eyes scanning the moss-laden trunks. Another laugh echoed, closer this time, followed by the twigs under slow, dragging feet. From behind the only tree without a corpse, something stepped into view. 

It was the innkeeper's husband. His skin clung too tightly to his bones. His eyes were pitch black, pits of ink that reflected no light. His mouth twisted in a jagged grin, filled with uneven teeth, some sharpened, some shattered, but all were bloody from munching on human meat. And worse, his tongue, long and wet, slithered in and out like a serpent tasting the air. 

His fingernails, reddened from dried blood, elongated and curved, scraped against the bark as he emerged, swaying slightly as if drunk on something old and rotten. 

Kael caught his breath. This man was no longer human. The woman begged him to save her husband, but he was beyond saving now. 

"Looking for this~?" the demon sang, holding up a scroll. The parchment crackled in the demon's grasp like it knew it was in the wrong hands.

Kael pursed his lips. "That scroll belongs to the temple—"

"Ohhh, I know~," the demon cooed mockingly, wagging it in the air as if teasing a cat. "Very important to the temple. So precious, so divine~." He pressed it to his chest like a lover, his eyes gleaming with wicked glee. "You want it back?" he hissed, then burst into a shrill cackle that echoed through the hanging trees. "Heh he he he he! Heh he he he he! I'll give it back! On one condition! Hih hi hi hi hi!"

Kael wasn't stupid. Striking a deal with a demon always resulted in no good. He wanted the scroll back, then he'd rather fight the demon than cater to what it wanted. 

"What do you want?" 

Kael's eyes widened. His head hastily spun to Eryn. "What are you doing?" he asked in a lowered voice, but the young man briefly glanced at him and flashed a reassuring smile. However, Kael was far from being comforted. Nevertheless, he trusted the young mercenary. 

The demon's grin widened until it nearly split his face. He gestured upward with the scroll, and the two followed the motion. The creature was pointing at the rope. The only one without a corpse. 

"You want this back?" the demon hissed again. "Then complete my collection. Hang yourself, holy man! Perhaps you're the one I've been looking for! Heh he he he he he!"

Kael stared at the rope as it twisted lazily in the breeze, its loop yawning open. He stiffened when Eryn stepped forward all of a sudden. 

"Since I'm the one who asked, I shall also be the one to do it," Eryn said. 

The demon glared. "You're no good, young man! Only a priest is needed! This rope is for a naughty priest!" he shouted, his gruff voice reverberating through the forest. He slammed his fist against the tree trunk and muttered feverishly, "No, no, no… I need only a priest. Only a priest. A priest is what I need!"

Eryn slowly reached for his blade. 

The crazy mumbling continued, "Not good. Not good. He will punish me if I don't find him! He will lock up and drown me in a water pot for centuries!" In his fit of madness, the demon raised the scroll and was about to rip it apart. 

Kael's pupils shook. That scroll should not be ripped, or else the spell that binds it to the relic would be erased. Without it, even if he delivered it to the dwarven kingdom, they would not believe its authenticity. 

So, before it happened, he rushed forward and shouted, "I'll do it! I'll hang myself on the tree—!" He hadn't even finished his sentence when something suddenly wrapped around his waist. Startled, he looked down and saw a veiny arm coiled tightly around him, trembling as if with restrained rage. When he looked up, a shadowed face filled his vision. Kael was at a loss for words. 

Eryn gazed at him accusingly before turning away. His jaw was clenched so tightly, Kael could see a vein pulsing beneath the skin. 

The demon snarled, "What in the hell are you waiting for then? Get on with it! Heh he he he!"

Eryn finally unsheathed his sword with his left hand—his other hand still refusing to let go of the priest.

Kael reached for the hand gripping the sword's hilt. He gave a slight shake of his head and looked at Eryn, eyes steady, offering a silent plea that said, "Trust me."

For a moment, Kael wasn't sure if Eryn was convinced. His grip remained firm, his expression unreadable but rigid, like a bowstring pulled tight. Any more pulling would surely make it snap. So instead, Kael gently patted the hand still wrapped around his waist, hoping the gesture would be enough to say, "It's going to be alright."

Thankfully, the young mercenary let go. He took a step back, but his gaze remained on Kael. 

Kael immediately took this opportunity. He walked to the tree where the empty rope was. It wasn't that high from the ground, but he still needed something to step on to put his neck in the loop. 

The ground trembled the moment Kael stepped beneath the hanging rope. Two thick roots burst from the soil, writhing like serpents, twisting tightly around one another until they formed a sturdy, crooked ladder just tall enough for Kael to climb and hang himself. 

He didn't hesitate and climbed without a pause. What could the rope possibly do to him anyway? At worst, it might leave another mark on his neck. But even if he were left hanging for a whole day, it wouldn't be enough to steal his breath!

Kael reached the top. His hand brushed the loop. At the moment his fingers touched the rope, the demon let out a shriek of mad laughter. It was mocking, victorious, and brimming with twisted delight.

"Heh he he he he! Hih hi hi hi hi hi! That's right! That's right! Put it on! Hang yourself grandly, you blessed fool!" The demon hopped in joy, with his bulging eyes focused solely on Kael the entire time. 

Kael ignored the taunting. He furtively glanced at Eryn, sending a meaningful gaze, before slipping his head through the noose. The demon's laughter doubled; however, it soon twisted into something like a choked gurgle, wet and rasping, like someone drowning in their own blood. 

Kael turned. He hadn't even blinked, and Eryn was able to strike a blow already?! Having seen the demon drop to his knees with his hands on his throat, Kael frantically searched for the scroll. He only calmed down after he found it on Eryn's hand. 

Turning to the demon once again, a thin, gleaming line had appeared across his neck, red as firelight. Blood seeped from it in slow, thick rivers. His hands were the only thing that was keeping his head in place. 

Eryn stood from afar with only his sword drawn to the side, the blade dripping with blood. It was a mystery how he beheaded the demon from that distance. 

But Kael did not think twice. He leapt from the ladder and drove a sharp kick straight into the demon's skull. The blow snapped the creature's head clean off. Its body crumpled like a puppet with cut strings, but the severed head hit the ground, bounced, and kept screaming. 

"NO! I still have to find that priest! The one who escaped! That blasted creation! That disgusting human flesh! I have to bring him back! His corpse! Get me his corpse!"

The head rolled in the dirt, eyes wild, and jaws flapping. It continued cursing the priest that he was supposed to catch. It called the priest plenty of vulgar names, shouted profanities directed at the same priest, and ceaselessly shouted that it would kill the two men. 

Eryn, sporting an annoyed expression, walked to the head without fear. He stabbed the forehead without hesitation. The head shrieked, spitting blood and bile, its voice growing thinner and distant. 

"Curse him! Curse that sun's favorite—!" The voice finally cut off. The head went still. 

Only the wind stirred after that, brushing past Kael's robe like a quiet hand, and the bodies above resumed their slow, creaking sway. With each movement, their once preserved forms began to gray, and from beneath their fluttering robes, ashes drifted down, falling gently to join the soil below. 

Soon, the centuries-old corpses were reduced to bones. One by one, they slipped from the ropes that had shackled their necks and crumpled to the ground, wrapped in their pristine white robes. 

"The array is disintegrating. The stench of this forest will reach the town soon. What do you want to do next…Kael?" Eryn asked with a careful tone, breaking the deafening silence. 

"..." Kael remained speechless. A sharp pain stung his chest as a cold truth settled in. And the last word he wanted to hear right now was 'priest'. A sad smile crossed his face. "The demon was searching for a priest who escaped that rope. But how could a corpse do that? Unless he came back from the dead…or someone removed him from it…" he paused, gaze drifting upward. "Whatever the case, the outcome of that escape…was the loss of all these lives."