Chapter 50
Josef Kramer.
An overwhelmingly skilled black magician and the research director leading Belzen.
Based on achievements from chimera experiments, he had made extensive progress in black magic and was a big shot recognized even within Baob.
He was also one of the most renowned masters of slaughter.
"The trial will begin."
Who would have known?
That the end of the man called the devil would be so miserable.
"Defendant."
"......"
Following the call ringing in his ear, Josef raised his head.
What appeared in his blurry vision was an alien scene.
It was a space reminiscent of a courtroom.
What had happened?
The devil looked around in a daze.
He had been walking between iron bars just a moment ago, but when he opened his eyes, a completely different background came into view.
He couldn't help but be flustered.
"What is this...?"
A short question leaking out.
He tried to move his body but it didn't budge at all. The devil was fixed to a chair, tightly bound with rope.
Then a voice was heard.
"The defendant has no right to refuse to testify or answer personal questions in the upcoming trial process, and on the other hand cannot state facts beneficial to himself."
"...?"
Sitting at the bench was none other than the snake.
The boy, dressed in judge's robes, was looking down at the devil from the highest place.
He recited sentences clearly.
"The defendant cannot defend himself, and can only submit to the unreasonable sentencing of the court. Do you understand?"
A chilly atmosphere lingered.
Where had his playful appearance from just before gone? Only a cold winter remained in the boy's expression.
A gaze that didn't seem to view the subject as human.
Josef felt an inexplicable chill brush his spine.
"What kind of joke is this...?"
The devil muttered.
He writhed to break free of the restraints, but the more he did so, the tighter the ropes squeezed.
Even the black magic he trusted wouldn't activate.
Perhaps it was natural.
This was an illusory world constructed based on the snake's lies.
Rules asserted by others couldn't work.
"To think I can't hear His whisper, what kind of dog trick......"
"Silence."
Snap-!
When he snapped his fingers, the man's mouth closed.
While he was agitated by jaw muscles not moving as he willed.
"Mmph, mmph...?!"
"The defendant is not allowed to speak. The only things that can come out of the defendant's mouth are screams, pleas, and wails."
The devil froze like ice.
Josef, who had been fidgeting, finally started to realize the flow was strange.
Something was wrong.
A chilling tension pierced his lungs.
His shoulders were trembling before he knew it.
The man quietly swallowed dry saliva.
It felt like his neck would fly off if he let his guard down even for a moment.
"......"
"The trial will continue."
Regardless.
The boy playing the role of judge calmly continued his lines.
"Defendant Josef Kramer."
"......"
"The defendant threatened the peace of the continent while acting as a senior executive of the black magician group 'Baob' and as the research director of the research institute 'Bergen Belzen'. Do you admit to this?"
"......"
"Silence will be interpreted as affirmation."
The trial was one-sided.
The judge asked about crimes, and the defendant couldn't make excuses.
"You also committed all kinds of unethical acts based on forbidden magic, and showed an obsession with chimera research using humans as the base. In this process, you drove tens of thousands of innocent people to death. Do you admit to this?"
"......"
"A few days ago, you ordered an attack on Galimar Academy and even attempted to kidnap students. Do you admit to this?"
It was a dry voice.
A chilling fear washed over.
Cold sweat fell from the man's forehead. It was a detestable fear.
The judge despised it.
"I will pronounce the verdict."
One sentence ringing solemnly over the courtroom.
"The evil deeds committed by the defendant as a member of the cult are crimes that can never be forgiven. Especially considering that he oversaw the experiments and massacres that took place in Belzen, the nature of his crimes is judged to be heavy."
The number of victims that occurred in Bergen Belzen was exactly 15,924.
Among them, the number of young children who hadn't even reached adulthood was 3,642.
Was it to appease the vengeful spirits?
He wanted the devil to experience the despair of the victims too.
"Therefore, this judge sentences the defendant to death... a total of 15,924 times, equal to the number of victims unjustly sacrificed."
Bang bang bang-!
Behind the gavel sound ringing clearly, Josef made a puzzled expression.
Not just a death sentence... but ten thousand death sentences.
He was bewildered by the somewhat strange verdict.
Of course, it didn't take long to fully realize that sentence.
The judge snapped his fingers.
Snap-!
The next moment.
The devil was standing at the execution ground.
What appeared before his eyes was a gallows.
As Josef stared at it blankly, a thick rope flying from somewhere wrapped around his neck.
Right after, his body floated up.
"...Gack?!"
The devil let out a single groan.
He struggled while hanging in the air.
His windpipe was painfully squeezed.
As his breath was gradually pressed like that, the foothold he had barely been standing on collapsed.
Right after, the rope also began to fall.
Crunch-!
The man's neck hanging in the air broke.
It was instant death.
The devil was dead with his eyes rolled back.
The snake who had been watching that scene muttered to himself and snapped his fingers again.
"That's one."
Snap-!
A clear bursting sound rang out.
The world was reconstructed.
Josef, who had suddenly become fine without a single wound, opened his eyes again in front of the gallows.
His gaze was dyed with shock.
"Haa, haa...!"
The death he had just experienced.
The sensation of his neck bone breaking was vivid.
As the devil exhaled roughly, a chilling voice brushed his ear next.
It was the golden snake.
"15,923 times left."
A meaningful statement.
Before he could realize its meaning, the boy was snapping his fingers.
Snap-!
"Shall we do it step by step?"
Crunch-!
The devil's neck broke helplessly.
"That's two."
Snap-!
He was revived.
The gallows didn't miss the moment Josef was dazed.
His neck broke once again.
"That's three."
Snap-!
The devil finally realized the snake's intention.
This was an infinite prison.
Until the boy really filled the number he had said, the man would endlessly have his neck hung on the gallows.
His mind went blank and a distant fear came.
But
"15,921 times left."
There was no mercy.
Snap-!
It was time for punishment.
***
The devil's deaths were varied.
As it was a death sentence of 15,924 times, the method was constantly changed so he wouldn't get bored.
Hanging, beheading, burning at the stake, quartering... all kinds seemed to come out.
The devil being torn apart while screaming.
"Gack, gahack...!"
"12,084 times left."
Snap-!
"N-No... No!! D-Don't!!!"
"10,834 times left."
Snap-!
"Sp-Spare, spare me...! Pl-Plea, please...!!"
"9,999 times left."
Snap-!
Death repeating to the point of boredom.
By the time the remaining count entered the 5,000s, Josef was already in a state of insanity.
He only let out screams, having lost his language function.
"Kyaaaaaaah!!!"
Of course, this side wasn't fine either.
Though it was an illusion, incomparably cruel scenes were being played out before his eyes.
It felt like a strain on the mind.
"4,273 times left."
Nevertheless, he didn't stop his hand.
Because it was something that had to be done.
He wanted to comfort the tens of thousands of resentful spirits who had died unjustly, even like this.
He snapped his fingers.
'Why.'
Too many people had died.
Though they didn't appear on screen, their stories were no different from Anne's.
How much sadness must there have been?
Victims torn apart by experiments.
People who must have lived with their own dreams died in a place where not even a single flower could bloom.
Stars that should have shone set too early.
I was standing here as the agent of numerous tragedies.
"N-No, no, no, don't tear it!!"
The last 1,000 punishments were chimera experiments.
He returned exactly what Josef had done to the experimental subjects, without missing a single thing.
The devil pleading on the operating table.
"Something, something is growing in my stomach!! Something is eating my stomach!!"
I watched silently.
The indifferent gaze reflected in the mirror was truly the appearance of a trash villain.
'Come to think of it.'
I had never once thought of myself as noble.
If asked whether I was a good person or a bad person, I always answered that I would probably be closer to the latter.
It's just different who I'm bad to.
I wanted to be a bad person to bad people.
'I wanted to protect.'
Because there are many good people in the world who are good to bad people.
I thought it would be okay to have bad people who are for good people sometimes too.
I quietly raised my head.
"......"
Before I knew it, the punishment was approaching its end.
It was time to wake from the nightmare.
Josef standing in a daze.
The devil had finally collapsed mentally, drooling as he stood.
I quietly approached him.
"This is the last one."
Thud-.
I grabbed the devil's neck with my hand.
His body came along without resistance. I scraped together the last remaining lies at my fingertips.
Shadows rippled.
'I hope... I was sufficient punishment for this person.'
A prayer passing by for a moment.
Then I recited an incantation.
"Fade in."
Crash-!
At the same time, a huge crack appeared in the air.
The world made of lies shook unstably, then soon shattered into pieces like glass fragments.
In the collapsing scenery.
I exerted strength in my hand one last time.
Crunch-!
The devil's neck broke.
Following the scattering remnants of lies, his body sprawled pathetically on the floor.
This time he didn't come back to life.
He had finally reached the death that seemed he would never obtain eternally.
"Haa..."
I let out a short breath.
The surrounding scenery had returned to its original state.
I was on the lowest floor of Belzen.
As I was massaging my stiff wrist for a moment, a dumbfounded voice was heard from behind.
It was none other than Irene.
"Wh-What... Did it really end like this...?"
It was a bewildered reaction.
Since not even a moment had passed in reality yet, it was perhaps natural for the fox to be surprised.
To her eyes, it would have looked like I just walked up and snapped Josef's neck as he stood blankly.
I asked subtly.
"Did you perhaps wish for something more to remain?"
"Of course not, but it's too sudden......"
"Huhu."
Irene answering while fidgeting.
I gently extended my hand and lightly stroked the girl's head.
"It's okay."
It was an especially affectionate body heat.
"It's really over now."
"If you say so... I guess that's how it is."
The fox muttered and nodded.
Her auburn tail drooped as if her tension was easing. She seemed to have been tired for a while.
I smiled slightly.
"That's admirable."
A plain statement delivered.
I lightly embraced the girl. Soft warmth dyed my embrace.
I left a quiet whisper in her ear.
"Miss Irene."
"......"
"You really did well."
"......"
The fox was silent for a moment.
"Let's go back now. A warm dormitory is waiting for us."
"...Mm."
The answer finally returned.
Perhaps the emotions she had barely calmed were rising again, the girl's voice was wet with moisture.
Irene buried her face in my chest.
As if she didn't want her flowing tears to be seen.
"It's all over."
I patted her slender back.
We had to stand in place for a while, chewing over the fact that everything was over.
The fierce fox recapture operation.
[EP6. Bergen Belzen]
-Lost Girl, Monsters That Can't Cry-
It was the moment the episode concluded at the same time.