Awakening

I groggily wake to the sound of chanting around me and villagers stomping their feet.

Wait, what's going on?!

I throw myself to sit upright, trying to use my arms to help get myself to my feet.

Except all my arms do is meet resistance.

Looking down, I see that my arms have been firmly tied to my sides. I struggle, attempting to break through the ropes as I stand up.

I know it's futile, but I have to try!

"Ay, he's awake e'eryone. Let's get the ceremony started!"

Cheers erupt around me, and I frantically look around. Besides me are the other sacrifices, drugged up and laying on the dirt, drooling puddles beneath their multiple chins. What is going on?!

"Wait! Isn't the sacrifice supposed to be tomorrow?! What are you all doing?!"

The villagers go silent and stare at me. I feel a sudden impact against my stomach. I fall to my knees, throwing up the little bits of food I ate last night with Viola.

The village Mayor walks up to me from the crowd, pulls me up by my hair, and begins spitting words at my face.

"The High Priest received a divine message from The God of Chaos that the sacrifice is to be tonight, and that if we do so, we'll get twice the blessing we normally get. Besides, all you sacrifices 18 now, so we're in the clear to continue."

Wait, so this is all because of that asshole?! Fuck! He knew!!

As the villagers continued throwing taunts at me, I quickly think of plans and ideas to get out of the situation.

Nothing I'm coming up with will work! Shit! Come on! Think!

Not before long, the other sacrifices and I have been dragged next to the sacrificial altar.

My heart immediately begins to sink.

I look at the two large pits that have been dug behind the altar. Next to those pits, villagers were emptying bags full of slithering, hissing worms into the pits. They were filling the pits with Void Worms.

Living in the village, everyone had been warned about the dangers of encountering multiple Void Worms. It was common to meet a lone Void Worm outside the village, but the real danger was when you fell into one of their covered pits. Alone they weren't much, but a large, hungry group of them could devour an entire man in minutes. They would burrow through flesh and bone, eating a tunnel through you until barely anything of you remained.

The Mayor chuckled, and turned to me.

"What's wrong fleshbag? You don't look so good. Oh, that's right, the God of Chaos also instructed us to make this year's sacrifice extremely gruesome and painful, hahahaha!"

I could feel myself starting to shake, and I began letting out a nervous laugh.

"What's wrong with all of you? Why do you hate me so much? I haven't done anything to you all.."

The Butcher of the village, one of the men who hated me the most, spoke up.

"Ah? We don't hate ya, we just like seeing ya suffer! Ya ain't even a real person, just a fucking slave kid who happened to be ordained as a sacrifice! And ya already know we hate these lazy leeches, and we're just dying to kill y'all! Ah, speakin' of sufferin'..."

The crowd of villagers started to part, and in the middle of them all was Viola, tied up and gagged.

"We was also told by God that this wench would be required for the ceremony as well."

Viola had her gag removed, and was then shoved to stand next to me. I could see bruised and scratches covering her.

"I'm sorry Seth, they showed up to the hut and tried to take you so I fought as hard as I could but..."

Viola looked down, tears dripping down her face.

I felt my face go pale. Why? Why was that Thing going so far?

"VIOLA HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS, LEAVE HER ALONE YOU FUCKING SACK OF SHIT!"

I shouted at the sky, but there was no response.

The villagers just laughed at my rage and desperation, pointing and jeering at me and Viola, hurling insults at us.

The priest, who had been standing next to the pits, raised his hands and motioned for silence.

"I do not know why the God of Chaos has spoken to me after over ten thousand years of silence..."

The priest falls quiet, his eyes filled with a dangerous spark.

"BUT WE WILL FULFILL HIS WISHES!! LET THEM SUFFER!!!"

The crowd of villagers roared in excitement, shoving the other sacrifices into the pits first.

I was horrified, but I couldn't turn my head away. The villagers forced me to watch as the other sacrifices, now sobered from their drugged states, screamed and begged for death and the Void Worms tunneled through their bodies, avoiding the vital organs to keep the flesh fresh. Eventually the screams stopped, as the Void Worms began tunneling through the sacrifices mouths, and then their eyes.

I managed to look towards Viola, who had turned into a pale ghost. She was quivering, and tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

As the sacrifices died, green mana spouted high from their corpses and showered sparkling green droplets of magic, making invisible ripples as they melted into the ground.

"It is time for the main event! Throw them in!"

The Priest lifted his staff high, and the villagers rushed me and Viola forward to the pits. Viola and I resisted with all of our might, but it was futile.

THUD THUD

The villagers threw us into the same pit, Viola and I landing side by side. Almost immediately the worms began devouring us.

My brain seared with pain as I felt a smaller worm burrow through my calf, but I held in my scream, crawling over to Viola.

Viola face was wracked with pain, tears streaming down her cheeks. She was making a brave face too, and held in her screams.

"I-I'm sorry Vi-"

I couldn't finish my sentence as worms began to burrow into my shoulders and exit through my wrists. Viola, convulsed briefly in agony, then looked at me with eyes filled with sorrow and love.

"Se... I... lo..ve... y..."

Before Viola could finish her words, the light had disappeared from her eyes, and worms began to swarm into her mouth.

I felt my mind break. I began to scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and scream and-

[Prerequisite conditions for status condition (Curse, Eternal Suffering) have been met. Details of (Curse, Eternal Suffering) have been unlocked and effects have been activated.]

[(Curse, Eternal Suffering (rank: DEUS)): A curse inflicted by the Supreme Deity. Upon death of the inflicted, The inflicted will resurrect at corpse's location with full HP after 5 minutes. The inflicted is also unable to go insane, and will vividly experience every pain in life.]

Then nothing.

I regain consciousness moments later, and am immediately assailed by pain. I can hear the cheering of the villagers and the prayers of the Priest, exalting that disgusting Thing that I hated so much.

But worst of all, I could see Viola's body being eaten away, worms crawling out of one of her eye sockets-

then nothing.

Searing pain again, the cheering of villagers, Viola's corpse.

Nothing.

Pain, cheering, corpse.

Nothing.

Pain. corpse.

Nothing.

Pain.

Pain.

Pain.

pain

pain

pain

pain

[System notification: status condition (Madness) has been negated by (Curse, Eternal Suffering)]

[System notification: status condition (Madness) has been-]

[System notification: skill (Berserk) has been deleted by (Curse, the Powerless)]

Nothing.

Painpainpainpainpainpainpain

[System notifi-]

[System notif-]

[Sys-]

[Sys-]

[&^$&)**(*(*^*&%&%*%*^(**&%&*&^%*&&&(*^%$#^&*()*&*(%(*&&*(*(&&^%^*{})*U^YU%E&%$&%^*^%$&^&^ ERROR<(&%*(&(* ANOMALY*)U(GUIJIGI&^%^^^%**^&&(&^%$&]

[Error Resolved]

[Name given by (/unknown source/): Charon]

[Forced class change from "Human Sacrifice" to "Evil of Humanity" (unique)]

[Forced stat modification made by (/unknown source/)]

[Forced title gain: Disciple of the Fallen Angel]

[Title details: Following the teachings of the bearer of all of humanity's evils, the Disciple of the Fallen Angel is able to be inflicted with special curses reserved for the most wicked in existence.]

[Status Condition (Curse, Cain's Desolation (rank:???)) inflicted by title "Disciple of the Fallen Angel"]

[Curse detail: Damage dealt upon the inflicted will be reflected to the attacker multiplied by 5. Curse causes all plant life touched by the inflicted to rot.]

[Having reached Lvl 10, curse has been inflicted by class "Evil of Humanity"]

[Status Condition (Curse, Touch of the Old Ones (rank: E) inflicted by class "Evil of Humanity"]

[Curse detail: inflicted by coming across knowledge of the Old Ones. Curse allows the inflicted to summon and host a minion of the Old Ones at the cost of their sanity, costs 20 Mp to permanently summon 1 minion. Inflicted can currently host 1 minion max.]

[Status condition (Curse, Mark of the Dragon (rank: ???) inflicted by (/unknown source/)]

[Curse detail: actions made by the inflicted that are deemed to be taboo, sacrilegious, heretical, etc., will charge a meter. Expending the meter will unleash a powerful wave of destruction from the inflicted. Deals more to targets with the "blessed" or "holy" attribute". Curse will cause hostility to immediately arise from individuals with or associated with the "holy" attribute.]

[Meter for (Curse, Mark of the Dragon) is full. Use entire meter now?]

[Yes/No]

YES.

I raised my head and let loose a deafening roar. Waves of pure hate radiated from me, slamming into everything surrounding me. The worms writhed and fell motionless. Screams of panic and agony rose from the scum that stood around, and the crumbling of buildings echoed the chaos. After minutes of the symphony of pure destruction, an unearthly silence and stillness filled the air.

Getting to my feet, I took heavy breaths, exhausted from all that had happened, overwhelmed from trying to process it all.

I walked, slowly, in a daze, towards what remained of Viola. A skeletal hand with a lock of hair. I grabbed them, and hugged her remains to my heart.

I fell to my knees, screaming at the sky, weeping for what I had lost.

Seth had died today, along with everything else in this village,

I was now Charon.