人食い ( cannibal / fiendt ):
perhaps there was nothing worse , nor nothing greater than hell . a seat perched atop the burning , wailing funeral pyres staring over abysmal pits . listening to the wretched wind that howled through the holes of skulls . how eeire . the dead dance frantically, fists beating against one another raw & wicked . bones cracked & blood flowed . devils laugh , tongues twisting grotesquely over disgusting banquets . silver , gleaming utensils cut through grisly meat , slippery innards sliding past lipless mouths & into starving gullets . the twisted menagerie presented itself thusly . & it was only a mere glimpse of the overreaching chaos . that was hell . & it was the only childhood en had truly known . the wicked , the profane , the devildom . where the damned are torn to pieces & the hungry squabble over the smallest scraps .
the boy who crawled into hell & emerged it a man , sick with power & hunger . black tendrils of smoke curling past his mouth . equally strange as it was tenebrous . the rising evil out of the pit of something once-thought empty .
now he sits on a new throne . solid gold . cup of mushroom tea resting on a nearby saucer . an adorable hellhound sleeps , curled , in his lap . he’s petting its fluffy fur in one hand & holding a long , thin pipe in the other . billowing smoke that isn’t his own , in hellish circles over & over . faces of the dead .
“ we got ‘im for ya , boss ! sure took us long enough . he’s kinda slippery . almost broke aaaaall the bones in his body ! ha ha ! ” she’s a hulking mass of muscle & tendons , towering . possibly frightening , but infectiously enthusiastic . even as she grips hyakkimaru between her massive hands & gives him a toss ( what she might deem as … light ) before the throne . the other , a living heart attack of a man , grips his hammer in-between his stitched fingers . for sutures , they’re awfully clean .
“ hey , noi . you wanna hold him down ? stop him from squirming so much ? ” says the heart - man , his grasp savage . hammer horror , in full colour .
“ sure thing , shin ! i’ve always been better than you at that sorta thing , anyway . i’ll be careful ! ”
the heart - man clicked his tongue at her . covered by a mask , it was hard to tell that he was rolling his eyes . " yeah . i get —— “
” the both of you , shut up . “ en spoke over the raucous noise . the thrashing and the screaming . he watches over with an unsettling ease , that he’s seen the sufferings of others before his beady eyes before & allowed such . time & again . horrible . ” instead of making pointless smalltalk , the least you two could manage for me is holding that kid down . unless …“ gaze unwavering , deadly sharp , en reaches to his mask . there is a mechanical groan , a clack , of the mask suddenly opening itself . the maws of a demon .
” asshole , “ the woman grit her sharp teeth , motioning for shin to help . ” c'mon , you don’t want the kid to get 'shroomed , right ? en could cook him for supper ! yeee——uck . “
a moment passes . quiet amidst the chaos . their hands hold hyakkimaru in place firmly . he wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon . nowhere at the foot of a threatening throne , where evil’s roots reached down into hell . all along its high designs did mushrooms grow , metallic . cold . amanita muscaria . lentinula edodes . flammulina velutipes . many more . severed fingers & toes . the occasional arm . all turned , twisted , soft .
en gives himself a heavy drag off of his pipe , clearing it all out with a deep sigh . perhaps it was poison . spores he’d grown immune to & everyone else would die , cultivated from some hellish plant . the mask was finally closed , clamped shut with a snap . “ so , you’re one of those wretches from the hole . i doubt you’re connected to them , but it wouldn’t hurt to check your eyes , anyhow . i also doubt we’re the ones who took your … missing pieces . if we were , we would know . ”
“ boss is hungrrrry ! ” exclaimed the skull , a tengu following behind her .
“ get the fuck out . we’re busy right now . ”
“ shin , check his eyes . ”
“ i don’t … see anything , en . ”
“ ah . i’m partial to the consuming of my victims . but that doesn’t mean that i have someone dismembered & cooked outright . i turn them , firstly , as i only eat mushrooms . you’re correct in assuming that it was my family who’d stolen your pieces , but we have no real way of proving such . i have many enemies , many people who want my severed head on a stick , who think i might’ve killed someone they hold dear . you aren’t the only one .
but what makes you think so ? ”
all this chatter was only serving to make the static clanging in his brain turn up ever the more. the way that they checked his eyes - forced them open, looked deep into those milky, useless sockets that served only as placeholders - was beyond frustrating. it was humiliating. yes, that emotion that had eluded him for so long. this man went on and on about how he had many enemies, he had a family that was to blame for stealing all the parts of him that were rightfully his - did it have to be so? why could he not skip the theatrics and give him a yes or no answer to his question? why did everyone have to prove so... so damned cryptic?
hyakkimaru grits his teeth, nose crinkled. if he was angry before, he is infuriated now; but he can do nothing in these two monsters' arms. were they monsters? as far as he was concerned, they were - auras of bright red, dripping in blood; they were, without a doubt, killers. consumers of humans. they would do whatever was necessary to get their fill, this much he could be certain of. though he could not see, he could still perceive what they truly were, whether they cared or not. likely not, but there was no doubt that they were far more dangerous than he had given them credit for. how foolish of him to try to confront the man directly. no... the mushroom eater. the filthy, twisted cannibal.
" you...! stole them! " hyakkimaru growls - an animalistic one, about to invite a beast living within that scrawny body out into the open. he struggles in their arms, his family's arms, a tiger about to pounce. " i know... i feel it! you... them! red everywhere... you did it. you! because... because...! rrgh! "
there was no time for coherent talk - by now, he was beyond it. the second they had taken him hostage, he was beyond it. there was no doubt in his mind that it was en. his family, whomever their names were. skull, tengu, heart, monster. they were all to blame! they were all complicit! they all enjoyed it, their voices were so bubbly, filled with life. filled with the flesh that they had likely taken from unsuspecting humans for their own enjoyment. to them, it was just another day on the job, but to him it was quite the opposite. of course it was...
he turns sharply to the bigger one on the right. then, the wider one to the left; as much as his body can allow, given their strength. there is barely a difference between the two, other than their height. they are truly cleaners in every sense of the word - all that was missing was their demonic contracts, proof that they had gotten help from a disinterested third party. but, nevertheless... the answer to en's question was about to come spitting out. hyakkimaru's mind barrels forward, a one-track mind; a train rampaging on the opposite side of the track, about to careen with only god knew what obstacle beyond the tunnel. whatever it was...
" reek! all of you. of death, " he spits, kicking, struggling still. " of meat. you... eat people. you... cannibalize! that... is how i know! " he declares; not proudly, but rather matter-of-factly. perhaps he will be laughed at for the childish conclusion, but he cannot put it to words, how he knows. he simply does. " no demon... no sorcerer... will live! "
AAAAAAAGH! a primal scream, enough to shake the entire room. that pompous man sitting there, that sorcerer, whose calm tone was sending shivers down his body, was negated at the sound of his own guttural voice. enough to tear down mountains, tear apart worlds. pure chaos contained in such a thin body. could it be... a demonic energy of its own? a sorcerer's touch? he could not be certain, because all he could see was pure red. everyone was an enemy, whether they had done wrong unto him or not.
with an inhuman strength, he breaks free - slashes one of their arms. an annoyed yelp; it briefly handicaps them. one of them. he jumps on top of the other. makes a deep gash in their head. another equally annoyed yelp ( AGAIN!? ), but he can’t be sure which. but not for long. this was only seconds worth of a head start. he charges at en, prosthetic arms thrown at his sides. with an enraged elegance, hyakkimaru’s freshly sharpened blade is at the mushroom-obsessed mafioso’s neck. though he is inches away from killing him, the cleaners just mere steps away ( already healed by the looks of it, and more determined than ever - if only hyakkimaru could see ). though in berserker mode, something is preventing him from making the cut. slicing that skin to ribbons; it is as if a wall prevents him from moving forward. hyakkimaru tries to resist it, grunting, groaning - but to no avail.
" YOU HAVE THEM! GIVE THEM! no... GAMES! “
