It was the morning of the day following their group’s arrival at that dreary little village. Though, thanks to the miasma emanating from the swamp, one could barely tell day and night apart. The skies were fully enveloped by ominous dark clouds, highly contributing to the eeriness that set the mood for what was to be a rather unpleasant ‘adventure’— at least as far as the twins were concerned. Who, in their right mind, would ever consider venturing into a swamp? It was not something the noble, pampered girls could ever understand. And now, as if to just make matters even worse, the swamp was also covered by fog. A fog so damn thick that one might as well say it was like churned milk. It was impossible to see more than just a few steps into the distance.

“Do we really have to go?” Iris asked, clearly pouting as her beautiful blue eyes followed Steinar’s every move while he readied their gear.

“We do.” He answered, though not really bothering to look at her. Diligently choosing the clothes and armor for the two girls to wear.

Alice, who was still laying on their mattress, hid under the sheets as she heaved a long sigh. “I really don’t wanna go… The swamp looks so yucky.”

A dark swamp, filled with miasma and undead… Their reluctance was understandable, even for someone as stoic— and usually uncaring— as Steinar. If Bruna had come with them, she too would not want to venture into the swamp. In fact, that is probably the very reason why she didn’t come. Staying behind in order to do research was likely to have been just a convenient excuse that she came up with.

“We’re here for training, not for sightseeing.” Steinar said, pulling the sheets that Alice was hiding under— revealing the pristine beauty of her nakedness. “Now, stop wasting time and get dressed.”

Reluctantly, the two gave in and started donning the gear Steinar had prepared for them. Black thigh-high leather boots— apparently waterproof— that for some unknown reason had high heels. Long, finger-less lace-up gloves, lined with soft fabric and a black leather exterior. A fleece pantyhose for each of them, to help keep their beautiful legs warm. A pair of skin-tight undershirts, that supposedly helped their muscles during training. Shoulder-less blouses with long puff sleeves, under-bust corsets and a pair of short, flared skirts. As for their underwear… Well… Tiny black lace g-string thongs. Steinar seems to have a thing for women that wear erotic underwear. The twins already wore some pretty risqué ones to begin with, but Steinar’s tastes were even more extreme than theirs, to the point where they couldn’t help but wonder if in the near future he would just end up asking them to stop wearing panties altogether.

Iris held one of the thongs stretched in her hands, as if showing it off to Steinar. “So, are we here to train or just to have sex in the swamp?” She asked, a sly grin on her face.

“Both.” He declared nonchalantly. “And as you train, I want to have something pleasant to look at.” He approached Iris and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her petite body against his. “You look absolutely delicious wearing those.” He whispered to her ear, and then went ahead to shower kisses over her neck.

“Stop~♥!” Iris gave him a playful push to the chest, not really putting enough strength to separate their bodies. “If you get me in the mood I will definitely not want to leave the tent.”

“You two are making me jealous.” Alice complained from the side.

“It is your very own choice, my dear sister.” Iris told her, with a provocative glance. “Don’t you want your first time to be ‘special’?” She then asked, though her tone was one of mockery.

“I’ve been wondering about that myself.” Steinar interjected. “What is it you want exactly, Alice?” This was a topic that interested him greatly. Though Alice already exchanged heated caresses with him, and even serviced his member with her mouth, she still refused to let him go ‘all the way’.

“Well… I just want it to be something special.” Alice answered, while twiddling her thumbs. “I’m thinking of something like… Finding some innocent young man, one that has a bright future ahead of him, and making him fall madly in love with me. We shall spend some time together while I develop his pure feelings, without ever allowing him to even touch my hands. Then, once his platonic love finally blossoms and he creates enough courage to confess his feelings…” Her face flushed pink as she continued. “I will drug him and tie his body to a chair or something. Steinar will then enter the room and rough me up in front of him, taking my virginity while he watches in absolute despair.” She started nervously rubbing her legs together as a string of clear liquid ran down her inner thighs. “Ah~♥… His life will be forever ruined… I can almost cum just by imagining the tears that he will shed as he watches his beloved cumming her brains out while some random barbarian thug rapes her.”

“Waaaah…” Iris raised an eyebrow while her mouth hung open in surprise. “That’s... A pretty specific scenario that you chose, Alice. You might want to take break from binge-reading all those erotic novels, I think that they’re rotting your brain.”

“So I’m a ‘random barbarian thug’ now, huh?” Steinar maintained his stoic expression, like always. “I’m gonna remember that when next you ask for money to buy jewelry and dresses.”

“My, don’t be like that, my dear.” Alice offered him a sincere smile. “Doesn’t it at least sound interesting?”

“Don’t mind her, Steinar.” Iris didn’t bother to answer her sister, as she finally separated from Steinar’s embrace. “I bet she’d be just as happy if you bent her over in some dirty back-alley and fucked her into a coma.”

“My… That sounds so good~♥.” Alice nodded repeatedly, her eyes sparkling like the starry night skies.

“See?” Iris scoffed. “She might look all pure and innocent, but she’s actually a filthy masochistic pig.”

“Is that so?” Steinar almost let a smile show through his usually stoic visage. ‘But aren’t you exactly the same?’ He thought of asking, but ultimately decided that it would be pointless to do so. Iris would never admit it, even though she too had masochistic tendencies. Instead, she would start sulking and make them waste even more precious time. “I’ll think of something that will please you, Alice.” He told her, as he went ahead to leave their tent. “You two should hurry up and finish getting dressed. The later it gets, the worse it will be.”

##

“Weird...” Iris muttered, while comfortably sitting inside a small wooden boat that they had borrowed from Disto. “Shouldn’t this place be crawling with undead?”

“It is weird, isn’t it?” Alice, who was also sitting inside the boat, chimed in. “Steinar, how come we haven’t seen a single one yet?” She asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

“I don’t know.” Steinar answered, waist deep in swamp water while dragging the boat with a sturdy looking rope that was tied to it’s front.

It had been a little over four hours since the three of them left the village and went into the Sunless Swamp. The place was absolutely ghastly, just as the twins had anticipated. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the swamp looked haunted, given how dark and filled with fog it was. But, even with all that, their group had not been able to find even a single trace of an undead. No zombies, no wraiths, no skeletons… Not even a common ghost. This was extremely unnatural, because even without an actual ‘outbreak’ of undead, a few should still be roaming the swamp. Undead appear in places with high concentration of miasma, that is a given. Then why? Why weren’t they finding any undead?

“Steinar, can’t you find them using your senses?” Iris asked.

“I’ve been trying to.” Steinar answered her, still dragging the boat. “So far I haven’t picked up any unnatural scent, nor heard anything that sounded like an undead.”

“Then what is this weird noise we keep hearing?” It was Alice that asked, her face showing a cute puzzled expression.

“Crocodiles.” Steinar answered casually, as if it were just a simple matter.

“C-Crocodiles…?” Iris stuttered, her face going pale as she tried her best to maintain a smile.

“Crocodiles.” Steinar repeated himself.

“I-Is it okay for you to be out there, Steinar?” Iris asked, concern evident in her voice. Since they didn’t want want to risk the murky swamp water damaging their silky skin, they had borrowed a boat from Disto. He had no oars though, so Steinar tied a rope to it’s front and has been dragging it around ever since they left the village.

“I’m fine.” He told her. “You don’t have to—”

He suddenly stopped, before even finishing his words.

“S-Steinar!?” Iris’ face went even paler, as she practically jumped on her seat. “Is it the crocodiles!?” She asked. Even Alice seemed a little scared. Of course, they had heard many scary stories about crocodiles— the fearful swamp dragons.

“No...” Steinar shook his head, then resumed dragging the boat, though now in a slightly different direction. “I just caught a rather unpleasant scent that I have to check.”

Iris sighed in relief. “Is it the undead?” She asked.

“No.” His answer was short and harsh. Even though his stoic expression remained the same, it somehow seemed like he was angry.

“Then what is it?” Iris insisted, further pressing the question.

But the response never came. Silence reigned for around forty eight minutes, until they arrived at a large wooden hut, raised on stilts— right in the middle of the swamp.

“Stay here.” Steinar told them, as he tied the rope around one of the hut’s stilts.

“No way!” Iris raised her voice in complaint. “I also want to see what’s inside!”

“I’m curious as well.” Alice nodded, with the usual gentle smile on her face.

“Don’t…” He said, as he started climbing the ladder that led to the hut’s entrance. “There’s nothing for you two to see in there.” Soon his figure came out of sight, and the twins were left alone in the boat. They really wanted to go with him and see what was it that caught his attention, but they also really didn’t want to get anywhere near that murky swamp water. Even if they were wearing long, water-proof leather boots, they by no means wanted to risk that filthy water coming in contact with their perfect skin. And unfortunately, the access ladder was far enough from the boat that they couldn’t reach it without first jumping into the water. Was that perhaps done intentionally? Steinar really didn’t seem to want them to follow him inside…

##

Burning rage rose from the pit of Steinar’s stomach as entered the hut. He covered his face with a hand and clicked his tongue, an unusual reaction for him. He was evil, an evil man that had inflicted cruelty upon many people throughout the course of his life. He had taken lives by the thousands, lives of criminals and innocents alike. He severely lacked for empathy, and quite honestly, didn’t care one bit for the lives of those who were not close to him. But even with all that, the scene that presented itself before his eyes was still able to shake him.

He had an inking of what he would find, from the very moment that he caught that heavy scent of narcotics mixed with that hellish drug. He was even prepared, in a way, for what it would be. But what he found inside the hut was far worse than anything he could have ever anticipated…To say it was way beyond his expectations would be a massive understatement. Thankfully, the twins had not followed him inside. Else they might have ended up being scarred for life… This is not something a woman should ever have to see.

Twenty heavily pregnant women laid chained to the walls of the hut, their arms and legs amputated and their thigh-stumps forcefully spread to reveal their genitalia. Right bellow them, clay jars that were filled not only with their excretions, but also—

Steinar grimaced, instinctively punching a hole through one of the walls. A few sparks of his aura flew through the air as he fought to suppress his anger.

“Steinar!?” He could hear the twins calling him from the outside. They were probably concerned by the loud noise his punch had made.

“I’m fine.” He shouted in response.

Taking a closer look at the chained women, it was easy for Steinar to tell that they were not people from the village. Some had a musculature that had been developed for combat, while the more frail-looking ones had a decent mana pool. They were adventurers, no doubts. Probably the adventurers that had recently gone missing. Though their heavily pregnant bellies and the sheer amount of stillborn fetuses that filled the clay jars might have said otherwise. Might have, being the key word here. For Steinar’s nose had picked up the unmistakable scent of ‘Nephtra’s Depravity’, a hellish drug that was used to shorten the duration of a woman's pregnancy. Instead of months, it takes just about a week for a woman to reach the late stages and give birth. Though what comes out of them… Is unmentionable. The drug was originally developed to be used in slave prostitutes, to cater towards certain depraved fetishes. Though here, in this damned swamp, they were being used for a different purpose entirely.

In the exact center of the room stood a large, obsidian obelisk, with many profane-looking runes carved along it’s length. Steinar wasn’t knowledgeable enough to identify it’s purpose, nor tell exactly what it was. But from the sheer amount of miasma and corrupted mana that emanated from it, he could deduce that it was probably a demonic relic.

“Where are the bitches from the Black Tower when you need them?” Steinar grumbled, taking another look at the chained women. Their eyes looked empty and completely devoid of life. Though they were still breathing, that was about it. They showed no signs of resistance, nor tried asking for help. They were utterly broken, way beyond what could ever be undone.

“Shit...” He muttered, then turned his back to leave the hut. “This is going leave a sour taste in my mouth...”

##

Steinar came down the ladder and proceeded to immediately untie the rope from the hut’s stilts. “Change of plans.” He told the twins as he kicked the boat away. “The difficulty level of your training has increased sharply.”

“What happened?” Iris questioned him, while Alice just raised an eyebrow in surprise. They were pushed back a fair distance away from Steinar.

“Someone has been summoning demons around here.” He pointed towards the wooden hut. “That place is being used as a sacrificial altar to summon demons.”

The two girls fell silent for a few moments, their faces growing paler by the second.“What kind of demons are we talking about here, Steinar?” It was Alice’s question that finally broke the silence.

“I don’t know.” Steinar shook his head. “But from what I saw in there… I would say it’s the real deal.”

“Describe what you saw.” Alice continued. “We’re by no means experts, but we should have enough knowledge to take an educated guess.”

“Please do.” Iris nodded in agreement with her sister’s statement. “Trust us, Steinar.”

“I trust you.” He told them, as he turned his back and unsheathed his sword. “But there is no need for an educated guess, I know exactly what to do.”

“What are you—?” Alice got cut short.

“Merava, of darkness, death and rebirth, turn thine gaze upon me as I offer you this prayer.” Steinar raised his sword in a high guard, as obscene amounts of aura started pouring out from his body. Sparks of his dark hued aura flied in all directions, and It felt as if a strong wind was pushing everything away from his body. Even the swamp water was pushed back, now forming a vortex around him.

Reacting quickly, the twins put up a barrier to protect themselves from what was to come. Perhaps it was only thanks to the training that they had undergone recently, but they could tell that whatever Steinar was going to do would be extremely dangerous— at least for the two of them.

His sword glowed a mix of dark-blue and black, as he poised himself to unleash his blow. “They say that demonic relics are nigh indestructible, don’t they?” He asked to no one in particular, in a tone of mockery. “Let’s put it to the test.”

Steinar’s sword came down, in what at first seemed to be a simple vertical cut.

But then—

A blinding flash of dark-light tore through everything before him, followed by a loud, deafening roar— much like the sound a devastating thunderclap.

The twins, that had stood up on the boat in order to erect a barrier, fell onto their butts as the air itself trembled around them. It only lasted for a minuted, but certainly felt much longer.

“Ghh!” Breathing hard, they undid the barrier and gazed upon the results of Steinar’s attack. The hut had been completely erased, as well as a sizable portion of the swamp. In a straight line behind where the hut was, now stood a deep and wide crevice, into which the swamp water was pouring in. Even the fog had disappeared, leaving not a trace behind.

“Doesn’t seem indestructible to me.” Steinar spoke, as he sheathed his sword and turned back to face the twins. He had half expected to see them shaking with fear after witnessing the full-force blow of a grand-master, but instead… The two were panting, their faces flushed pink as they kept rubbing their legs together. Somehow, it seems that his display of power made them horny.

“You two… Seriously...” Usually, he would take this as an invitation to fuck their brains out. But right now, after what he had witnessed inside that hut, he was simply not in the right mood. “Have the two of you perhaps forgotten about the part were I mentioned demons?”

““S-Sorry.”” The two apologized in unison.

“No matter…” Steinar grabbed the boat’s rope and proceeded to start dragging it once more. “The fog has cleared up. Let us take this opportunity to find ourselves some demons to hunt, shall we?”

It might have been better to tell the twins about what he had seen in there, perhaps they could really offer some insight into what kind of demons were being summoned. But for now, and for as long as he could, Steinar wanted to keep them from learning about the true ugliness of this grim world.

##

End of Chapter 17: A Prayer to Merava.