Chapter 126: The Boy Who Worshiped Dragons
The bleak cries of crows echoed across the sky.
The flock gathered into a black cloud, circling above the plaza outside the castle.
They were waiting for dinner.
An executioner in a black leather hood stood at the center of a bloodsoaked square. His bare body was covered in strange patterns painted in blood: tattoos venerating malice and cruelty, the handiwork of demons from the Hells.
One ragged slave after another was dragged before him.
Gouged eyes, severed tongues, stripped bones, sliced tendons… At his whim, the executioner inflicted every torture imaginable upon the slaves.
Their screams were the finest of accompaniments, driving him to greater excitement and ever more unrestrained brutality.
Most of the slaves died amidst their wailing. Their blood seeped into the ground, filling some dreadful magic circle, while their tortured souls were swallowed by the demonic shadows hovering overhead.
This was a sacrificial ritual the House of Cerberus had conducted in perpetuity.