Later that day, Val found himself standing in front of the haunted house. The two moons of this world had appeared overhead, casting their light upon the world below. One was a deep crimson, the other a shimring silver. Their combined luminescence transford the sky into a srizing spectacle, painting the night with hues of blood and moonlight.
Val had given the house key to Eliana earlier, but that certainly didn't an he would wait for her to co ho to enter the haunted house. He glanced around, making sure no one was in sight, then brought his finger close to the keyhole.
From the tip of his finger, tendrils of blood began to seep out, moving with an uncanny fluidity. They went into the keyhole, filling it before solidifying, taking the shape of a key that fit perfectly.
With a twist of his makeshift key, the satisfying click of the door unlocking echoed in the silent night. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to find Eliana's shoes at the entrance and her talisman hanging on the door.
It took him a mont to register the implications. Eliana was ho.
A wave of realization washed over him; all the effort he had put into unlocking the door wouldn't have been necessary if he had simply knocked and asked if anyone was at ho.
A chuckle escaped him, and he shook his head, thinking to himself, "Silly ."
Upon stepping into the house, Val called out, "Eliana, I'm back."
Out of the kitchen, Eliana erged, greeting him with a sweet, "Welco ho, dear."
Val froze for a mont, caught off guard by her term of endearnt. They'd been friends once, and she used to call him Brother Val. As they beca lovers, she shifted to his given na. But now, being referred to as 'dear' was new, and it felt sowhat peculiar.
Before he could dwell on it, however, a tallic, sulfuric sll hit his nostrils. The odor was unpleasant and oddly pungent, perating the air around him. The god-awful sll seed to originate from the kitchen, where Eliana had erged from, humming a strange lody.
"What are you cooking?" Val asked, eyeing the kitchen warily.
"I've made dinner for us," Eliana responded cheerfully, inviting him in with a broad grin.
With a nod of acceptance, Val walked towards the kitchen, curiosity piqued. A pot sat on the stove, simring and releasing an off-putting odor. What could possibly be inside it that slled so horrendous? As he moved to check, Eliana wrapped her arms around his, leading him towards the dining table instead.
"Relax, I will serve you," she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Val felt his eyebrows rising. "Why the sudden change?"
"I'm just in the mood to pamper you," she replied lightly, her eyes twinkling.
Val wasn't sure what to think. Pamper him or poison him? The sll of the food still lingered in the air, making him question whether it could even be classified as food. Was she trying to kill him with her bizarre cooking experint? What was she up to?
Eliana scooped a ladle full from the pot, filling a plate and placing it before Val. Then she took a seat at the table herself, sitting opposite him.
The fuck?!!!
As Val looked down, his eyes were t with the sight of a plate filled with red soup containing half a decaying head that seed to belong to a human. Its eye sockets were empty, but he could see where the eyes were at. The eyeballs floated around in the red soap that slled like blood, and a tongue grotesquely stuck out from the partially decomposed head.
'What a yummy al. That's what a fucking devil would have said if it was served such a al.'
Given his Emotional Impairnt and Unfeeling traits, Val didn't feel any fear or disgust as an ordinary person would.
However, he found the situation rather puzzling and absurd.
He glanced over his shoulder. The talisman still hung by the door. It was ant to stop evil entities from entering the house and weaken those who were already inside of it, but what he was experiencing suggested otherwise.
Was the talisman not working?
Or was it not a real one?
His instincts told him to inspect what it really was, and so while looking at it he cast Detect.
[System Notification: Low-level illusion detected.]
Val's eyes narrowed. He had been tricked by the ghost haunting this place!
Now the question was - was this creature posing as Eliana to moxk him, or was Eliana possessed by it?
If it was the forr, he could deal with it without any hesitation, butcher it like he would a pig, but if it was the latter, it might be a bit more complicated.
After all, he didn't want to harm Eliana in the process of eliminating the devil.
The ti had co to confirm his doubts.
He cast Detect on the figure seated across him.
[System Screen:
Species: Low-Level Malvolent Devil
Na: Shaxil
Skills: Illusion, Vanishing]
The system also inford Val that the devil, Shaxil, fed on a person's fear. The more frightened one was, the stronger it would get. It had fed on the fears of many people, growing stronger over ti, and now it was even capable of killing a person!
Despite knowing its true nature, Val decided to act oblivious.
"What is this?" he asked Shaxil, pointing to the abhorrent al before him.
The Shaxil, still wearing the mask of Eliana, retorted, anger seeping through its tone, "It's the dinner I made for you. Why is it not to your liking?"
The hostile energy emitting from the creature hinted at imminent danger. The slightest misstep, and Val could end up on the receiving end of the creature's wrath.
However, Val responded nonchalantly, "I don't have likes or dislikes when it cos to food. As long as it holds nutritional value and can help function normally, it's good enough. However, I refuse to eat dog food that's served to by a bitch disguising herself as my asset."
Shaxil's anger flared. "What did you call ?"
Val gave the creature a teasing look.
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