Chapter 04: The Genesis of Mephistophelean

THE car came to a halt in the middle of the night, indicating that we had arrived. I had only just awoken when a man carried me out of the car. How long might I have been unconscious? When I opened my eyes, I noticed the tree branches all around me, and the only source of light we had was the moon.

Because of the unnerving quietness that encompassed this location, we could only hear the chirping of birds and noises from the surrounding forest. I altered my eyes to explore the environs of this location and ended up not finding neither buildings nor even a railroad near as possible except for the woods and bushes, hence I shrugged my shoulders. I’m not familiar with this location, and I have no clue where I’ve been because of my ludicrous willingness to inflict suicide.

“Stand up, buddy, you’re too heavy for someone like me to carry you until we cross the border at our departure point. Heh, I might be the first one to leave this world before you because of difficulty of breathing and neck pain,” the man said while carrying me in his arms.

“I’m sorry!” I apologize instantaneously. I didn’t know how challenging it was for him to carry me, but I presumed they had to hold me near to them until we arrived at our destination because I might attempt to escape.

I went down immediately and asked them, “Mister, what’s your name?” I’ve wanted to ask their names for a long time, but they petrified me they’d slaughter me if I tried to ask them because it was too confidential, and I’m getting pretty close to them.

The man pointed to himself. “Me or him?” Simultaneously, he pointed to his male companion, who was walking pretty fast in front of us. “Both of you, what’s your name?” I repeat the question. 

“I’m Sam—” he couldn’t finish what he was about to say when his male companion stared at him malevolently. “Are you a blithering idiot? You’re going to unveil our name, aren’t you?” he retorted.

He turned to face me and gave me a murderous death stare.

“Could you perhaps try to prevent yourself from asking questions?” he stated as though he was trying to warn me that if I asked again, he would undoubtedly shoot and kill me. “Gossip lad, the fuck! You’re planning on killing yourself, but you’re still asking a lot of unnecessary questions,” he continued.

His male companion approached him and put his arm around him.

“Hey, dude! Just take it easy. Your head would be too agitated. If I were you, I’d stop because you could die from high blood pressure,” he made a joke. The man removed his shoulder out from around his partner.

“Damn it! You two should go together! You’re both loquacious and obnoxious.” He hastened away from the man. 

The man moved toward me and put his hand on my shoulders. “Don’t pay more attention to my companion; he’s short-tempered because he’s going through menopause,” he said while laughing.

“By the way, my name is Samael, and the person alongside me who you think was extremely angry at the entire world is Claeg! We are Samael and Claeg, the most outstanding duo,” he said with boastfulness.

I removed his hand behind my back. His hand was excessively heavy; if he leaned his arm on your back, you’d wonder how many kilograms were on you. “What do you mean by the most outstanding duo?” I asked, even though I had a suspicion why they were called the best duo. 

He placed his index finger on his forehead as if he was pondering his answer, even though the answer was crystal clear. “Hmm... Why are we the most outstanding duo?” he asked himself. His eyes darted to mine. “What do you think why?” he questioned with a grin arched on his face.

I shrugged, killing malice. “I don’t know,” I replied. 

He nodded repeatedly, as if he was processing my answer. “You don’t know? Ah! Wait, I’ll ask Claeg. Maybe he knows why we are the most outstanding duo.” He walked away and approached Claeg.

I almost mumbled, ‘are you stupid? The answer is obvious!’ but I am the stupidest because I asked why even though I know that answer.

“Do you know why we’re the best, most outstanding duo, Claeg? Because our little captive here is asking,” he shouted, asking Claeg.

Claeg stared at me with a mischievous smirk on his face, which surprised me because I expected him to be outraged at the loudness of Samael’s voice. “Hmm? Why we are the most outstanding duo?” he questioned.

Samael suddenly raised his hand. “I know why!” he said naughty like a child, so Claeg looked at him furiously and murmured, “What a childish old man! He just wanted a student x teacher concept the fuck!”

“Me! Me! I know the answer,” he said repeatedly, so Claeg seemed irritated by his voice, so he asked him to answer. “You are so fucking annoying, so why we are called the most outstanding duo?” 

“Because we’ve killed so many people!” He answered to Claeg with a radiant face. 

I became frightened suddenly... I already knew the answer, but hearing it come out of their mouths was terrifying.

Claeg slammed a powerful blow into Samael’s shoulder. “It could be too frightening for him,” he said, but the smirk still lingered on his lips.

“Don’t worry, he doesn’t look like a coward man — Wait, what’s your name?” Samael asked me.

“A-Alejandro,” I stammered. Who among us is not a coward? Not me, because I hid all I want to do right now from my mother’s jeans, but I don’t have a mother now... Hahaha. 

“Alejandro, you’re not a chicken, right? Hahaha! Don’t worry because what I’m referring to when I said we killed many people, is the people we convinced to commit suicide in Live Suicide.”

Claeg coughed. “How about those people we killed because they tried to escape?” he asked, so Samael’s appearance suddenly changed. “Well, that’s another matter.” Samael looked at me wickedly. “So, if you want to flee from us, think carefully because you might not die in Live Suicide but at our hands,” he said in a terrifying voice.

When I heard his voice, my hair all over my body went up because it differed from what he had previously used. A solemn and menacing voice had replaced his soothing voice.

I immediately nodded repeatedly because of the nervousness and fear flowing through my body. “Hahaha! Why would I run away when I want to kill myself?” I explained 

Samael’s aura suddenly lit up, the frightening aura that had surrounded him before disappearing. “I told you Claeg! we’re not going anywhere! So take off your protective gear because we will not run!” he said while laughing.

“Tss, how can that lad run, when he’s already trembling with fear? He just needs to pee his underwear to be called a baby. What a wimp!” he said, with mixed insults.

I’m unaware that I’ve been trembling with dread for some time. Who wouldn’t be horrified if you were talking about killings? I wanted to commit suicide, but I didn’t want other people to murder me, so I didn’t give up myself on the authorities because I knew they’d execute me in prison if I arrived.

Samael looked at me. “Hahaha! Don’t be afraid of us, Alejandro, we are good people—” he cut off what he was going to say, “As long as you listen to us, but if you disobeyed us, you know what will happen to you, you’re dead meat,” he threatened while giving me a death glares. 

“I’m obedient, don’t worry,” I said.

I am a righteous person, and I am about to take over the role of God. I will accept the sins of others as he did, but there is a distinction between the two of us in that because he devoted himself to the sins of human beings, while I sacrificed myself for the sins I did not do to appear horrible in their perspective. But we still have the same reason we sacrifice ourselves: it is to protect our loved ones, or maybe I’m one of his apostles, but in the modern world? Hahaha.

“It’s good that we understand each other, Alejandro,” he said seriously.

“Yeah,” I simply said. 

I completely disregarded his threats of violence and focused my attention on others. We’ve been wandering through the wilderness for an endless period of moment. We seemed to have a lengthy pathway ahead of us before arriving at our intended location, and I was already fatigued from tiredness.

My shoulders slumped and my whole body dripped with sweat as I continued to walk and follow them. ‘Where are we now? Is it still far away?’ I asked in my mind. I’m so tired and thirsty. 

Live Suicide will not kill me, but I will perish from exhaustion and dehydration. They can not even provide the last supper for their subjugated? Or perhaps a little relaxation before we killed ourselves? Or a luxurious chopper transport me there? You will just go to kill yourself, but you’ll be tormented first while you’re still alive. What a hellish life!

I was about to ask them where we were going because we seemed to be lost in this enormous path when Claeg spoke ahead, “Be careful, we’re close, Samael! Keep an eye out for Alejandro and tie him up as well!”

“H-Huh? Why do I even need to tie?” I asked while my face filled with astonishment. “I will not run away!” I clarified. There’s no need to restrain me because my decision to commit suicide is permanent and irreversible. I will not run now that I’m halfway there.

“Well, you’re not sure about that,” Claeg said, and he motioned for Samael to tie me up now. “And it’s for your protection as well, because there are a lot of traps placed in the corners of this area, and one wrong move, you will die,” he continued. 

Samael approached me while holding the rope. “Don’t worry! If you want to get to where we’re going safely, just listen to what we’re saying. Many people have already died in those pitfalls because of the reckless move they made and deliberately trying to escape from us.” Samael had my two hands tied so tightly that it looks like he’s going to rip them apart with a rope before pushing me ahead of him. “Be ahead of me. I’m going to guide you here while you’re walking,” he said. 

I walked as I followed behind Claeg. We only walk in a one-directional lane with no turns. The traps seemed to be strewn throughout the road. I didn’t even attempt to run away because I had no intention of doing that.

“Do you know what traps are here?” Samael suddenly asked me.

“No, and I’m not interested in knowing that,” I replied. 

He ignored what I said and told me, “There’s a mine trap here where when you step on it, it will explode.”

“That naughty guy that Claeg and I used to deliver to Live Suicide suddenly ran away and ignored our warnings that there were traps here, and then boom! He exploded! The blood and flesh inside him spat out badly and you will think it was raining blood in the sky, hahaha!” he said as he laughed at the narration.

“Then you know, our boss scolded and punished us because we didn’t know how to deliver Suiciders without sheds of blood or wasted life, Hahaha!” he continued.

“Alejandro, guess what punishment we received?” he suddenly asked me. 

I scratched my head because I didn’t know what punishment they got, nor was I interested in knowing. “His guards beat you up?” I guessed.

He looked at me in disbelief at my answer. “You’re wrong! We did worse than that because Claeg and I just cleaned up the place where his body exploded! It’s disgusting to touch the flesh inside him that fell to the ground and the musty smell of his blood! It’s still terrifying every time I remember that!” he said in disgust. 

He was about to say something more when Claeg suddenly spoke in front of us. “Stop talking Samael! We are about to walk along a bridge. Support that lad because he might fall or try to jump,” he said.

“Roger, Claeg!” he answered and approached me to support me as I walked.

I saw the bridge that Claeg was referring to and noticed that it was quite old. There were also waterfalls on its side where the tremendous waters rushed down. I could also hear the waves roaring beneath the bridge and the cold windy breezes striking into our skin.

When we reached the bridge, Claeg immediately stepped on it, and we heard a loud sound signaling that the wood was frail and the bridge was about to collapse in the meantime.

Claeg had already walked to the bridge and invited us to follow him. “Just walk slowly if you don’t want us to fall off the bridge,” he told us, so we just nodded. 

As I walked across the bridge, I suddenly felt it shake when Samael entered. “Shit! that’s fucking scary. I thought I was about to fall!” I shouted at him. I almost had a heart attack because of the extreme nervousness.

“Hahaha! Don’t worry! You won’t fall, chicken!” he said while laughing.

I just ignored him because I knew they have been used to it. I averted my eyes to look at the surroundings and observed that this bridge was the only one I could see that may connect to the other side. I also realized that we were in a prominent position, and I could see the waves at the bottom of the bridge. 

Has anyone bothered to jump here? It seems like if you jumped down from the bridge, the water will devour your whole body and you will eventually end up dying in it.

“Just by staring at the waves beneath as if I’m out of breath,” I exclaimed loudly.

Samael gave me a bizarre glance. “Do you believe it’s merely a river? You’re mistaken because it’s highly crystalline acids, and your body will gradually dissolve if you fall in this bridge or touched it, which is where killing me slowly comes in.”

I was taken aback by what he said. “You’re serious, right? Has anyone dared to jump onto the bridge?” I wondered.

“Before, yes. But now we’re preventing people from attempting to jump in here because it’s already used as the passage to the LV building,” he replied. 

I was about to say something when Claeg shouted. 

“You guys should stop talking because we’re now so close to the building!” Claeg shouted at us. He had already left the bridge, so we immediately followed him. We walked fast until we reached the place.

“This is the place?” I asked them. I only saw one abandoned gigantic building and the open wide space across which we would pass through. “Yes, hahaha! What do you expect? Huh?” Samael laughed.

“He thought there was a marvelous grand entrance and a magnificent mansion that will welcome him. Dude, we’re not in a fantasy theme, you’re here to commit suicide,” Claeg said with a smirk flashed on his face.

I just ignored them and continued walking when we heard the sound of a chopper above. “What’s that?” I asked them, but suddenly their faces turned sour. They looked like they knew who had come. “Fuck! Freyja and Ciara are already here. It’s a good thing we got ahead of them,” Samael said.

“Who are they, and why are they on the chopper? Are they VIPs? “ I asked them and they looked at me with a grimace expression. “What VIP? Do they look like VIPs? They’re just the 2nd most outstanding duo as underlings in Live Suicide!” Samael told me. 

“Stop talking and let’s go!” Claeg said and walked faster. When we were walking, I asked them, “Why did they come over here with a chopper and we didn’t?” It’s so hard for us to walk till here and then I will see someone arrived here by a chopper? This is discriminatory against my will!

Samael suddenly coughed loudly. “Hahaha! Because they’re rich, come on and don’t mind them! You should go now to the entrance door,” he said. 

“You’re not coming in?” I asked, and they shook their heads.

“No, we will just guide you until the entrance door because we still have a lot of things to accomplish,” Claeg said, so I just nodded my head. “Okay!”

Before I could walk in, I saw two women named Freyja and Ciara come down into the chopper while holding a boy. 

‘Why is there a child here?’ I whispered in my mind, but I just ignored it and walked into the building.