Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son-Chapter 525: Demon Shax and Tomb [2]

"Look closely, Zavien." Damien spoke softly. "This is the ritual our messiah taught us."

Zavien leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on the altar below.

The slaves remained frozen on their knees, mouths half-open, eyes blank.

Not even a breath escaped them.

The ritual circle pulsed once again and slowly the bodies of the slaves began to float in the air.

The bodies rose, as if invisible strings were pulling them upward.

Chains slipped from their wrists and fell to the floor with dull clanks.

A captivating bright light bloomed at the top of the chamber.

"Do not look at the light!" Ralph’s voice echoed and everyone looked down.

But the slaves didn’t.

They kept staring at the light with smiles brighter than ever.

The light intensified, turning from bright to blinding.

The slaves’ smiles widened, stretching unnaturally across their faces.

Tears streamed down their cheeks, but they didn’t blink.

They looked... happy.

The first slave began to laugh.

It was soft at first, weak and breathless.

Then another joined, and another.

Soon, laughter filled the hall in a maniacal tone.

And without any warning whatsoever....

...Each and every one of the slaves in that chamber... Exploded.

Blood and bones burst everywhere, creating a giant splatter around the light.

And from the giant splatter in the chamber and the blooming light came none other than the demon Shax.

A massive figure rose slowly from the light, its body half-formed, dripping with blood that evaporated before it touched the ground.

Jagged horns curved backward from its skull.

Its skin looked like cracked obsidian, glowing faintly red from within, as if fire lived beneath it.

Six burning eyes opened one after another.

The demon stretched its arms, bones snapping into place as it laughed.

[Ah...]

[It’s been so long—]

His words halted at that very moment. He felt someone behind him.

A hand grabbed the back of his neck before he could even turn.

Crack!

The sound of the great demon’s neck twisting echoed within the silent hall.

With horrible clarity, the nobles saw as an arm plunged through the demon’s back and burst out of his chest.

Thump! Thump!

The heart of the demon was beating extremely fast in the hand of the man.

Slowly, the demon’s body slid down and fell to the ground.

Oliver looked at the beating heart in his hand.

He let go of it as he smiled. "Well, that was easy."

Three enormous pressures rushed toward him in an instant.

Yet Oliver was gone before they could even touch him.

Silence swallowed the hall.

Three beings, including Ralph, stood where he had been just a split second ago.

"FIND HIM!!" Ralph roared. "I WANT THAT MAN TO BE TORTURED TILL ETERNITY!!!"

The nobles quickly scattered to find Oliver, including Damien.

Zavien stayed, watching the three figures slowly descending beside the demon’s body.

The head of the Sinhorn family was a tall man with broad shoulders and a grey beard.

He was Tachiaya Cad Sinhorn.

The Bellandur head was a woman whose body looked to be in her mid-thirties.

She was Yukina Cad Bellandur.

They were the three demigods of the three families that worshipped the Dark Trinity.

"W-what should we do now?" Yukina asked, her voice trembling. "He was an important part of our plan."

Tachiaya remained silent, but the tension and concern were clear on his face. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Ralph slowly leaned toward the demon’s body and touched his neck.

Even though it was weak, he could still feel a faint pulse.

His gaze then fell on the heart that was still beating.

"We will continue the ritual." Ralph said after a long second of silence. "He still has some life left in him."

"B-but, he will be much weaker—"

"WE WILL CONTINUE!" Ralph yelled as he grabbed the demon’s hand.

He began dragging the demon’s body toward the tomb.

Yukina moved, picking up the heart and walking toward the tomb as well.

The demon’s body scraped across the stone floor, leaving dark streaks behind as Ralph dragged it closer to the altar.

Shax’s limbs twitched weakly, fingers curling and uncurling like dying insects.

The runes reacted immediately.

The moment the demon crossed the outer circle, the symbols flared back to life, glowing brighter than before.

Red light crawled up the walls, pulsing in uneven waves.

"Place the heart at the center," Ralph ordered.

Yukina hesitated for a split second, staring at the still-beating heart in her hands.

It thumped irregularly now, slower than before.

She swallowed and stepped forward.

The heart was placed into a carved hollow atop the tomb.

The instant it touched the stone...

Thoom.

A shockwave rippled through the chamber.

Several nobles were thrown back, crashing into the railings of their balconies.

Zavien grabbed the edge to steady himself.

The heart sank halfway into the stone as if the altar itself was swallowing it.

And it sent a shockwave that healed the demon, bringing it back from the dead.

Shax let out a low, broken sound.

[—ghh...]

It wasn’t laughter anymore.

It was pain.

"Good," Ralph said quietly. "You can still feel."

He slammed Shax’s hand onto the tomb.

The runes exploded with light.

Thick chains of crimson energy burst out from the altar, wrapping around the demon’s arms, legs, and neck, forcing his body upright against the tomb.

Shax’s six eyes fluttered open.

This time, there was no pride in them.

Only fear.

[You—] his voice cracked inside the chamber, [You dare—]

Ralph leaned closer, his face calm, almost reverent.

"We will finish what we started," he said. "Whether you want to or not."

Ralph began chanting this time as the other two demigods joined in.

Zavien looked at the chained demon.

"...A forced incarnation."

Shax screamed.

Red light poured out of the tomb, swallowing his body inch by inch.

The demon thrashed, chains tightening until cracks spread across his obsidian skin.

"AHHHHH!!!"

The demon screamed one last time before his body was swallowed by the tomb.

A still silence swallowed the hall once again as Ralph stopped.

Slowly, he walked toward the tomb and gently tapped on it.

A crack appeared on the tomb before it began to widen.

The crack spread slowly, like glass breaking under pressure.

Thin red light leaked out from inside the tomb.

Thump...

Thump...

Zavien felt it in his chest.

"...That’s a heartbeat," he muttered.

The tomb split open with a loud grinding sound.

A man stood inside it, his eyes beginning to flicker softly.

A smile bloomed on Ralph’s face as he looked at the man who slowly opened his eyes.

"Ancestor...." Ralph said, trying not to startle the man.

But as time passed, the man’s face began to change.

"A-Adam." That was the first word that came out of his mouth.

And immediately he sat down, curling into himself like a ball.

"No! No!" He screamed. "Leave me alone! Let me go!"

The man trembled violently.

His arms wrapped around his head as he rocked back and forth, breath coming out in sharp, broken gasps.

"No... no... don’t look at me... don’t touch me..." he cried.

The red light around the tomb flickered, unstable.

Ralph froze.

"...Ancestor?" he called again, slower this time. "You are safe now. The ritual is complete."

The man didn’t hear him, or maybe he didn’t want to.

"Adam..." the man whispered again, his voice cracking. "He’s here... he’s watching... I can feel him—"

"Ancestor!" Ralph snapped. "Adam is dead. He is long gone!"

Finally, the man’s cries stopped as he looked up at Ralph.

The man’s eyes focused slowly.

The panic didn’t vanish, but it dulled, sinking beneath something heavier.

"...Dead?" he whispered.

Ralph stepped closer, careful now. "Yes. Adam is gone."

The man stared at his own hands as if seeing them for the first time.

"...But I can feel him." He muttered. "I can feel... he is weak?"

The runes flickered again, reacting to the man’s shifting emotions.

Yukina whispered urgently, "Ralph, his mind isn’t stable."

"I know," Ralph replied without looking away. "But it doesn’t matter."

The man slowly stood up.

His movements were stiff, unnatural, like a puppet learning how to walk.

When he raised his head again, one of his eyes glowed faintly red.

"I can kill him." He said as a slow smile crept onto his face. "I can kill Adam!"

The Ancestor of the Hisoka family and the devout follower of Baal let out a hysterical laugh.

The man who was hunted down by Adam and Azrael....

....Zaratul Cad Hisoka was back.