Chapter 265: Peace In Death

Panic spread through the crowd—but Luca quickly raised a hand.

“Don’t worry, Leona. You have nothing inside you. From the very beginning, you never had a worm at all.”

Everyone stared in shock.

“I took your blood sample too. Surprisingly, yours was completely clean—not a trace of anything.”

“In fact, your stats were perfect. Healthier than anything I’ve ever seen.”

He looked at her with genuine curiosity. “Almost as if your body is extremely pure—no pollutants, no toxins, no parasites.”

Leona looked unconvinced.

“You’ve also never felt that pain, have you?” Luca added. “The gut-wrenching agony everyone else described?”

Realization dawned on her face. She had never experienced it. Not once.

Luca looked down at Julius, who was in utter despair.

“For some reason, even though he put worms inside everyone else, he spared you.”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Or rather than saying he spared you…maybe he tried to infect you too, but it didn’t work.”

Leona’s eyes trembled in memory.

“He did try something on me back then. He put that bandage on my hand back then.”

“I felt the sensation for a few seconds…but then it stopped. It just went away.”

Luca rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Interesting. It seems the worm tried to burrow into your body, but somehow your body rejected it. Maybe you have some kind of unique constitution.”

Leona looked surprised, then thoughtful, as if she was beginning to understand something and she couldn’t help but think of a certain unicorn that helped her out.

“But as intrigued as I am by that…”

Luca said with a cruel smile.

“…I’m much more curious about something else.”

He picked up the worm from his shoulder and brought it close to Julius’s horrified face.

“Has Julius ever tasted his own medicine?”

Julius shivered as he saw the slimey legs touch his nose.

“Maybe I should push this into your body. No complicated procedures—just stab my hand into your belly and let it go.”

He pulled his hand back as if to strike.

Julius panicked.

“Wait! Wait, hold on!” He scrambled backward, his voice desperate. “It still doesn’t make sense!”

Luca froze, one eyebrow raised.

Julius’s mind raced.

“Even without mana, I still have a faint connection to the worms. I can still feel them—I can sense them moving inside the villagers’ bodies and I definitely activated them.”

“They’re still alive in there! So how could you have possibly removed them?”

He was hyperventilating.

“If I can still sense them inside someone, then they must still be inside! So what did you actually do?!”

Luca stared at him for a long moment.

Then he let out a cruel chuckle and leaned close to Julius’s face.

“That’s because, Julius…after I pulled those worms out, I didn’t just let them go idle. I didn’t want them to starve, you see.”

He patted the worm on his shoulder affectionately. “I’m quite the animal lover. Even worms like these don’t deserve to starve to death.”

His expression darkened.

“So I put them into other bodies.”

Julius’s face went white. His mouth opened, but no words came out.

“W-Whose bodies?” He finally managed to whisper. “Who did you put them into?”

Luca’s smile was terrifying.

“Let me show you.”

He got up and announced to everyone,

“Let me show all of you where the rest of the worms have gone!”

He grabbed Julius by the back of his neck and hauled him to his feet, dragging him forcefully away from the village square.

The male healer offered no resistance, his legs barely functional as Luca pulled him along.

The other villagers, confused but compelled by morbid curiosity, followed in Luca’s wake.

Nyx was particularly enthusiastic, her eyes gleaming with anticipation, sensing that she was about to witness something she’d find deeply satisfying.

She moved faster than the others, her lips curving into a smile.

And she was not disappointed.

As they made their way through the forest toward the outskirts of the village, the sounds began to reach them.

Screaming.

“ARGHHH—!”

“KNRHHHH—!”

“NARGHHHHHH—!”

But not normal screaming, but something far worse—screaming born of pure, unbearable agony.

Miserable, heart-wrenching wailing that suggested suffering at levels that transcended normal pain.

And it wasn’t just one voice.

Multiple screams overlapped and intertwined, creating a symphony of torment.

The villagers exchanged confused glances as they moved deeper into the woods.

“What is that?” One elf whispered. “Who’s screaming like that?”

“They sound like male elves. Don’t tell me…”

Realization dawned on their faces, each one processing the implication in their own way.

Some looked shocked. Some looked horrified.

Nyx, however, looked absolutely thrilled.

She pushed through the crowd, moving faster and faster, until she burst through the bushes into the clearing beyond.

And stopped.

The encampment was supposed to be a place where the male elves gathered—drinking, laughing, acting as if they ruled the world.

But what lay before her now was not a celebration. It was a scene straight from the depths of hell.

Dozens of male elves writhed on the ground, their bodies contorted in agony.

They clawed at their own skin with bloodied fingernails, leaving deep gashes that wept crimson.

Their eyes were wild, bloodshot, desperate.

“HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME!”

“IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO MUCH!”

“JUST KILL ME! PLEASE, SOMEBODY KILL ME!”

“MY BELLY—WHY DOES MY BELLY HURT?!”

Some were bashing their heads against the ground, trying to knock themselves unconscious.

Others had taken knives to their own hands, stabbing themselves in the palms, trying to distract themselves from the agony in their guts.

A few had picked up hammers and were smashing their own legs, the bones crunching sickeningly with each blow.

They drew deep gouges in their own skin, blood streaming down their arms, their chests, their faces.

They didn’t seem to notice. They didn’t seem to care.

The pain they were inflicting on themselves was nothing compared to the pain inside.

They looked less like intelligent beings and more like animals trapped in a cage with no escape, driven to madness by suffering.

Leona and most of the female villagers turned away, unable to bear the sight.

The brutality of it, the self-inflicted nature of the injuries, was too much for their sensibilities.

But Nyx…Nyx continued to watch, her breathing becoming heavier, her body beginning to tremble in a way that had nothing to do with horror.

Her face flushed deeply as she observed the male elves’ suffering. She pressed her thighs together, her fingers gripping the fabric of her clothing, and her eyes gleamed with something that made those around her deeply uncomfortable.

She was aroused. Actually, genuinely aroused by the spectacle of their suffering.

But while Nyx silently fingered herself—Julius collapsed to his knees.

He had suspected it. He had feared it.

But seeing it. Seeing the men who had followed him, who had supported him, who had believed in him writhing on the ground like this…

…it was too much even for him.

Even for someone as ruthless and ambitious as Julius, the sight of his own companions suffering because of his choices was overwhelming.

Luca stood at the edge of the carnage, arms crossed, watching the scene with cold satisfaction.

“You know.” He said conversationally. “At first, I didn’t think this would work. I thought the restrictions might bind me—that I wouldn’t be able to put those worms into any male elves.”

He shrugged. “But shockingly, it didn’t stop me.”

He tilted his head thoughtfully.

“Well, I suppose it makes sense. Those worms, when they’re in a dormant state, actually help the host. They remove toxins, improve gut health—they could almost be considered medicinal.”

“So the restrictions probably saw it as a treatment rather than an attack.” He smiled. “And I was able to put them into their bodies without any issue.”

Julius looked up at him, his voice cracking.

“But how? How did you do it? They would never have let you near them—they would never have trusted you!”

Luca patted his head like a child.

“It was easy. I just went over to them and offered them some free food that I made.” He chuckled. “Those idiots ate it all up, not knowing that I laced it with a mild sedative—nothing harmful, just enough to put them to sleep. And then…”

He gestured toward the chaos.

“I used my spatial abilities to create a tiny portal inside their bodies. Just a small opening, a few milliseconds, and I pushed the parasites through. Direct passage, safe and efficient.”

He smiled down at Julius.

“The worms thanked me, by the way. They appreciated not having to go through the hassle of burrowing through flesh.”

Julius’s face contorted with horror.

“So how does it feel, Julius?” Luca asked, his voice soft and mocking. “How does it feel to have your plan backfire so spectacularly?”

“To watch your own followers—the men who supported you, who believed in you suffer the same fate you designed for the women you despised?”

Julius couldn’t answer. He could only stare, paralyzed by guilt and despair.

Especially when the male elves, realizing their situation was hopeless, began to call out to him directly.

“JULIUS! JULIUS, PLEASE HELP US!”

“I BEG YOU! YOU HAVE TO SAVE US! PLEASE!”

Their bloodied hands reached toward him, their eyes pleading, their voices desperate. They looked to him for salvation, just as they always had.

But there was nothing he could do. Nothing that would save them.

Julius felt as though he were dying—and perhaps that was fitting. Perhaps that was justice.

Luca watched him for a moment, then turned to the crowd.

“I should warn you.” He said, his voice grave. “I’ve already tested this on someone in the human continent. I know the final result.”

The elves looked at him nervously.

“So if you don’t want to see something extremely gruesome, something that will probably live in your nightmares forever—I suggest you look away now.”

The more timid elves didn’t hesitate. They turned away immediately, covering their children’s eyes, burying their faces in each other’s shoulders.

But most of them stayed. They had to see. They had to know.

It didn’t take long for them to find out.

One of the male elves, the one who had been stabbing his own foot—suddenly stopped.

His eyes glazed over. Then, with a terrible calm, he turned his hands to his own belly.

He clawed at it. Digging his fingers into his flesh like it was made of sand.

Scratch! Scratch! Scratch!

At first, nothing happened—just scratching, just bleeding.

But he didn’t stop. And soon, his nails tore through skin, through fat, through muscle. Blood gushed out. He didn’t seem to notice.

He kept digging until he broke through.

And then—he pushed his hands inside.

Pachuk!

He rummaged through his own intestines, his face a mask of grim determination.

His fingers squelched through the wet, warm mess of his insides.

“Where are you!?” He muttered. “Where are you hiding!? Come out. Come out already!”

He pulled. His intestines slithered out of the hole, coil after coil, spilling onto the ground like a nest of pale, glistening snakes.

But he didn’t scream. He didn’t whimper. Compared to the agony inside his gut, this was nothing.

Finally, his fingers closed around something small and writhing. He pulled it out—the black-blue parasite, twitching in his grip.

When he found it, his face transformed. For the first time since the pain began, an expression of peace crossed his features. Relief. Almost ecstasy.

He’d finally found the source of his suffering. He could finally understand what had been killing him.

And in that moment of recognition, he couldn’t last any longer.

His body simply gave out.

He collapsed, his hands still gripping his own torn intestines, a peaceful expression on his face as death finally claimed him.

The same scene played out across the clearing.

One by one, the male elves turned their hands against themselves.

They tore open their bellies, ripped out their guts, and pulled the parasites from their own bodies.

Some used knives. Some used their bare hands.

One elf, the one who had been bashing his head

against the tree simply fell over and didn’t get up, his brains leaking from his cracked skull.

Within minutes, over thirty of them were dead.

Yet what was most disturbing was the fact that every single one of them wore a peaceful expression on their face.

As though in their final moment, they’d achieved some kind of understanding. Some kind of enlightenment.

They’d transcended their suffering and found peace in death.

It was cruelly beautiful, in a way. Which made it all the more terrible.

The female villagers couldn’t bear to look anymore.

They turned away en masse, their faces pale, their stomachs churning.

Except for Nyx.

Nyx remained fixed in place, leaning against her sister for support, her entire body trembling.

She was experiencing an orgasm. An actual, uncontrollable orgasm born from witnessing the suffering and death of the male elves.

Her body was responding to the violence, to the brutality, to the sheer devastating spectacle before her.

And she had no way to hide it, no way to control it.

Her liquids were actually leaking down her thighs, soaking into her clothing, evidence of her perverted response to the horror around her.

Leona, noticing her sister’s state, felt her own face flush with a mixture of embarrassment and confusion.

She moved closer to Nyx and wrapped a supporting arm around her, standing beside her sister even as she silently wondered how she might address or even begin to address this deeply disturbing aspect of her sister’s nature.

Lulu, meanwhile, was still watching, her eyes unable to look away from the carnage.

And then she noticed something that made her point urgently at the corpses.

“Look, look, look!” She cried out, pulling on her mother’s clothes. “The worms! The worms are trying to escape!”

Everyone looked to where she was pointing. And indeed, among the scattered corpses, movement could be seen!

The parasites, no longer anchored within their dead hosts, were beginning to crawl and writhe, searching for new bodies to burrow into.

They were free, loose, and very much alive.

The villagers panicked at the sight.

The thought that these abominations might crawl into their bodies while they slept, that they might have to endure the entire process again, sent fresh waves of terror through the crowd.

But Luca simply smiled, apparently unconcerned.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

He walked forward with casual confidence, and suddenly, a shimmering portal appeared beside him.

From within that portal, he withdrew an apparatus—a metallic bag that he slung across his shoulders.

Connected to the bag was a thick pipe that ran down his arm and connected to what initially looked like a gun in his hand.

But it wasn’t a gun.

The villagers watched in confusion as Luca approached one of the corpses.

He pointed the device downward and pulled the trigger.

But instead of bullets, a rapid burst of flame shot forth!

The inferno was immediate and complete.

The corpse ignited, flesh beginning to blacken and char, the body consumed by fire that seemed impossibly hot.

The flames spread with incredible speed, reducing the corpse to ash in mere moments.

It was a flamethrower. A weapon Luca brought over just for this purpose.

And Luca intended to use it to destroy every corpse and every parasite remaining in the clearing.

Methodically, with an almost meditative calm, Luca moved from body to body. The flamethrower never hesitated, never wavered.

The corpses melted under the intense heat, their bodies reduced to charred remains. The parasites, those horrible creatures that had caused so much suffering, were burned away to nothing.

One by one, over thirty corpses were reduced to ash.

One by one, over thirty parasites were destroyed.

The forest itself seemed to recoil from the intensity of the flames, the heat driving back the surrounding vegetation, creating a scorched and barren clearing that would serve as a permanent reminder of what had happened here.

When it was done, when every last trace of the parasites and their hosts had been consumed by fire, Luca powered down the flamethrower and turned to face the villagers.

His expression was calm. Almost peaceful. As though he’d simply completed a necessary task, no more significant than sweeping dirt from a doorway.

But his eyes held something different. Something that suggested he’d found satisfaction in the act of destruction.

That burning away the parasites and the male elves who’d harbored them had brought him a sense of completion.

The female villagers stood in stunned silence, processing what they’d just witnessed.

Justice, yes. Retribution, absolutely.

But also something far darker—evidence that Luca himself was capable of casual brutality on a scale that rivaled or exceeded even Julius’s wickedness.

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