Making a deal
What for a mortal being is the definitive end, the great surrender of consciousness that brings peace, for Baron Glutt, on the contrary, had now become a nightmare...
"...m-more... please, no... n-no more."
At that precise instant, when consciousness is torn at the edge of its existence and when the invisible thread tying the spirit to the body is about to break, is when one experiences a brutal and luminous expansion.
"Just... let me... LET ME DIE."
The man, now reduced to a trembling mass of pure terror and fetid sweat, was back in the velvet chair in front of the chessboard. His body had been restored, but his mind still burned with the fresh memory of his descent into misery and the horror of his re-birth as an immortal trafficker.
"Ah... No..."
After remembering his past, ironically, the loneliness and contempt he had felt in the slums, those feelings that drove him to make the pact, were no worse than the torture he now faced.
"...Sixty-two..."
His immortality, which had protected him from death for ages, was now the source of his endless punishment.
"Sixty-two times... I have died... Sixty-two times..."
In front of him, sitting cross-legged in the chair, was the cause of his sudden torment...
"Ufufu~"
... She was a feminine figure with healthy, hydrated, elastic, smooth skin showing no signs of premature aging, highlighting bright silver hair with vibrant green streaks and eyes of different colors: one, a pure and inert white, and the other, a reptilian gold that seemed to contain the knowledge of ages within it.
"Hey, dear merchant Glutt..."
That figure wore a lace dress where a deep, almost black, night violet predominated in the main body, while the lace and ruffles were a dark slate gray that absorbed the light as she smiled widely, mischievously, and enigmatically.
"Are you ready to lose your rook again?"
That figure was Melioris, who, "unaware" of the abyss of hundreds of years of corruption that Glutt had just relived in his mind, toyed with a lock of her own hair, twirling it between her delicate fingers.
"It seems they are finishing up outside"
She kept her eyes still closed, a gesture of concentration that was not for the board game before them, but for something much larger, something she felt in the very "melody" of existence.
"... Just... Tell me... ...What do you want...?"
Glutt, unable to look away from the being in front of him, unable to resist any longer, mustered the strength to ask one last time.
"Oh, darling. That question again."
In response, Melioris's voice came out as a honeyed whisper that resonated in the dimensional space.
"How tedious that you haven't found the answer yet..."
It was at that moment that her heterochromatic eyes finally opened suddenly, revealing the intensity of the gold and white.
"This is your punishment"
Then her pupils narrowed, just like the horizontal slits of a cat, as they fixed on the Baron's shattered face.
"If you are going to spend your life treating people like... disposable pawns, moving them at your whim and laughing at their little dramas when they lost their 'game'..."
The question was not a threat, but a simple statement of the rules.
"Then it is only natural that when you lose, you too experience the pain of checkmate~!"
And it was then, after finally hearing that answer...
"NO MORE!!"
... That with a guttural scream of despair, the Baron broke.
(CLACK-CLACK-CRASH!!)
Glutt then lunged and knocked over the chessboard, sending the ivory and obsidian pieces flying across the carriage.
"Sshh-hhh... Cough... Ha! Haaa! Sshh-hhh...Haa! Haa!"
At that moment his breathing was ragged as he leaned forward, his repulsive face contorted by fear and rage.
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!"
Thus Glutt roared, ignoring reality.
"You have no idea who is backing me! You don't know who you are messing with! I..."
But at that instant, before he could finish his sentence...
(SHING-ZOOOM!!)
Silver, the small silver armor, appeared with dizzying speed behind Glutt.
"?!"
The sound of steel resonated when its surprisingly sharp sword stopped right against the Baron's neck, holding the lethal point one centimeter from his flesh.
(THWACK!!)
And simultaneously, Goldie, the small golden straw doll floating nearby, moved with equal speed.
"Gurrrgle... Splutter-Cough... GHHH..."
Delivering a screeching dry blow, a precise impact to the Baron's face, who could only release stale air and blood with a low, muffled moan that choked on his own fluid.
"AAAARRGH!!"
After that, Glutt immediately collapsed onto the floor, letting out a groan of deep agony as he held his hands to his bloody face, while blood dripped from his nose and lips, staining the floor.
"Hnn... hnngh...!"
In that situation, the Baron was only capable of whimpering, writhing in pain and humiliation like a pathetic echo of the screams of his own victims.
(Shing)
Seeing his pathetic state, Silver, the small silver armor, withdrew its sword from the Baron's neck and mercifully looked away, returning to Melioris's leg, its movements as silent as they were refined.
"That was a very stupid move~🎶"
Melioris, for her part, watched the pathetic spectacle on the floor with an expression of absolute disinterest.
(PISHHH-CHSSS!)
And with a casual movement, she slid a hand into the dimensional fold pocket of her dress, pulling out a cold soda can with a clink of ice.
"Slurp, Slurp, Slurp~!"
Immediately after, she opened the drink and took a loud sip, the bubbling sound brutally contrasting with the Baron's agonizing whimpers.
"It's surprisingly delicious!"
And immediately upon finishing, Melioris exclaimed, licking her lips with satisfaction.
(ZIIING-SHWIIISH!!)
At the same time, the floor vibrated as the shattered wood of the chessboard regrouped and restored itself to its place between them with impossible speed.
(TSHK!)
Thus, the ivory and obsidian pieces flew back to their exact squares, a minor side effect of the carriage's obedient reality.
"Oh, well, well... But look what we have here!"
However, due to Glutt's swat, one of his own pieces—an Obsidian Pawn—had moved abruptly.
"You did make your move after all!"
This move, although accidental, was a consummated action under the rules of the "game."
"That means it's my turn~"
And because of that, Melioris, observing the board, smiled with anticipation, for Glutt's accidental Pawn move had cleared the way for her.
(CLACK!)
So she picked up her Ivory Queen and moved it, completing her turn with a sound of satisfaction.
"Checkmate!"
(FOOM!)
And immediately in reaction to the "checkmate" pronounced by Melioris, an object appeared out of nowhere, materializing in the carriage space with a pneumatic sound.
"No! Please, not the box! No more boxes!"
It was a box of polished and lacquered wood just the right size for a man lying down.
(SHWIP-CLANK!)
Upon its appearance, the box violently opened and, with the same absurd speed that the Baron was incapable of reacting to...
"Goddess, I beg you! Mercy! I will do whatever you want! I will be the quiet pawn! I will play perfectly! But not the box! NO MORE!"
... He was sucked inside.
(SCREEECH-ZRRRRRRT!!)
The lid slammed shut, leaving the Baron trapped and immobilized, allowing the torture to begin once more.
"Have fun~"
(Snap~!)
Thus, through the outer slots of the box, Melioris activated the mechanism with a snap of her fingers.
(G-G-G-G-G-G-G-G-GHHHH!!)
So in an instant, sharp blades and saws, which seemed to be made of gleaming obsidian, pierced the wood at dozens of points.
(CLANK-GRIND!)
The sound was of splintering wood and flesh being minced. Glutt's screams were drowned out as he was fragmented, his groans turning into a gurgle as his immortal body was sliced into countless pieces.
It was only after a minute of brutal grinding that the box opened on one side, and the Baron's fragments, shrouded in blood and viscera, were grotesquely reassembled. His body rejoined, the pieces clicking together with a wet and sickening sound, bringing him back to life in a state of unimaginable trauma.
(ZIIING-WHOOSH!)
But unfortunately, the show was not over, as the box slammed shut for the last time.
(WHOOMP!)
Then a purple fire, which produced no visible smoke but emanated a suffocating and unnatural heat, engulfed the structure.
"AAAAAH...!!"
In this way, the wood of the box, instead of being consumed, seemed to fan the flames, creating a sealed oven from which Glutt's screams of agony briefly rose, but the fire acted as a damper, slowly drowning them in a scorching silence.
Thus, the Baron, inside the box converted into a crematorium, burned, regenerated, and burned again, a continuous torture that exploited his immortality.
"I think that's enough"
Melioris, meanwhile, finished her soda, tossing the empty can onto the floor with an indifferent clink.
(SHWIP-DOOM!)
But at that precise instant, a small, cheerful figure burst into the "carriage."
"Mom!"
It was Flora, the little fairy, returning from the battlefield, jumping without hesitation into her mother's arms.
"Welcome back, little one"
To which Melioris held her gently.
"You seem to have had a lot of fun."
"Yes, it was fun!"
But at that moment, while mother and daughter shared an instant of twisted affection, the saw box, which had been burning in suffocating silence, was completely incinerated.
(CRUMBLE-WOOSH!!)
And when the fire died out without leaving ashes, and Baron Glutt was returned to the starting point, restored in the seat in front of them...
"Ugh... A-Aaaah...!"
... That everything had been decided.
"Ghh... G-goddess...!"
Baron Glutt, despite his intact appearance, now had a face, previously full of pathos and rage, now filled with a totally dead look.
His will, his arrogance, and even his hatred, had finally been pulverized by the experience.
"I must admit that was faster than I had in mind"
Given the situation, Melioris, with Flora nestled in her arms, turned to look at the Baron.
"Tell me, darling~"
Her smile widened to the point of evoking mystery, ambiguity, and madness alike.
"Do you wish to end this game?"
It was upon hearing those words that Glutt raised his gaze, his broken eyes fixed on her.
"What... what can I offer you?"
There was no longer defiance, only exhaustion and submission.
"Well... Let's see... If you accept certain conditions... this will end in a tie~"
When one hits rock bottom is a moment when the unsustainability of the current situation is clearly seen, and consciousness arises that one must change to survive or improve.
"What do you say, darling~! "
Therefore, once again, fleeing from the pain and terror of continuous annihilation, Glutt did not hesitate.
"I accept."
The man who had built an empire on avarice and trampling on the dignity of others, surrendered everything he had left for a mere ceasefire.