“Rein!” Albert kicked down the steel double door. Friede told him where the kidnapper’s chamber was. Once he got the gist of the direction, it wasn’t hard to find the door carved with strange symbols and marking.

Silence and emptiness greeted him. Before his eyes was a circular room with a tall ceiling full of strange contraptions. The darkness was overwhelming, but he knew the place was different. The walls weren’t covered with moss or slime, and the rotting stench wasn ... no, the place had a different smell. The smell of fresh blood.

“Rein! Where are you?!” There might be enemy waiting for him, but he wasn’t afraid. He’ll cut anything and anyone standing in his way. “Re- What the ... fuck?”

Six women lay on the floor, arranged in a circular pattern around something that wasn’t there anymore. Knife wounds riddled their bodies. Their face- “N-no!” He averted his gaze. He didn’t want to think of it. He didn’t want to think of the possibility. That one of them might be Iris.

But ... but he wouldn’t run away. He mustn’t run away from reality no matter how cruel it was, or else it would just be a repeat of what happened thirteenth years ago. With heart weighed by fear, he moved his gaze towards their faces.

A great burden was lifted off his shoulder when he realized none of those women was Iris, only for it to be seized by guilt. Even if Iris was safe, he shouldn’t be relieved. Their bodies were still fresh, meaning they lost their lives not long ago. Something he could have prevented if he came faster. He could have saved them.

“No ...” This wasn’t the time to wallow in guilt and self-pity. Rein and Iris, he could still save them.

Yes. He wouldn’t let what happened in the past to repeat.

Raising his face, his gaze focused on the small door opposite from where he came in. The kidnapper must have taken Rein and Iris through that door. There would be obstacles and enemy waiting, but no matter. He cut them all the same.

He was just about to take another step when a drop of slime fell in front of him. The floor sizzled and smoked and turned charred black.

Albert stared at the source of the slime, the ceiling, and the demonic monstrosity stared back at him.

-----

“Now, let us continue.” The Dollmaker walked to the center of the room, where multiple summoning circles were stacked on top of one another. It took him weeks if not months just to make one of those. “Put her down here.” He pointed at the where he stood.

“Mhhhhh!” Iris struggled in Rein’s arm, but both of them had no power to do anything. Thin string controlled Rein’s limbs like a doll. Iris’ arms and legs were bound, her mouth gagged, and the arms that held her was stronger than his thin body suggested.

“Now, now, now, don’t struggle much. The door will open soon.” He walked backward, ordering Rein to stood behind Iris to prepare for the final act.

“Marcuss ...” A grim voice called him from the back. When the Dollmaker turned, all he saw was a goat-headed statue of a man with two sets of glowing eye. “How insolent ... Neglecting my sacrifice for so long ... and here you are, standing before me like nothing happened.”

The Dollmaker only smiled. “Ah, lord Balphegor. You see, I was fascinated by the supernatural, by what’s out there beyond our normal sphere of knowledge and understanding. By the demonic knowledge, by your power. WAS.” He inched closer and closer to the statue, giving zero care to the growing hostile energy surrounding it. “I sacrificed so much for you, and gained so much in return. But my greed knows no bound, you see. My thirst for knowledge of the unknown is unquenchable even by you.

“Now, I’ve seen beyond what you’ve seen. I’ve known ... things beyond your wildest dream, beyond comprehension. Beyond what human or demon or gods can fathom. Viler than the vilest demon, older than oldest god, irrational and transcendental in every sense of the words. It calls me every night in my sleep, drives me mad with each of my waking moment, asks me questions that never been asked, and shows me things that never been showed. And you, Belphegor. So proud of your kind, is nothing more than a speck of dust in face of this ... thing that I met. You can’t do anything to me anymore, I’ve purged your blood from my veins and severed all contracts. Soon, that ... thing will grace us with its presence, and you fools are going to bend your knees.”

“You ... puny-“ The Dollmaker smashed the statue with his fist. Without the demon blood within him, he was just slightly stronger than human. The act shattered his fist. But no matter, he won’t need it soon enough. He’ll leave this mortal vessel tonight.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Foolish, puny demon. Ehm-“ He cleared his throat and turned back towards the bride and groom he had prepared. “Now, where were we? Ah yes. Finish your last bride, Rein.”

Rein nodded. It was a gesture controlled by the Dollmaker, yet the Dollmaker still felt joy watching him follow like a good son. A son he never had. Rein’s hand, holding the same knife he used to kill the other six women and still bathed with their blood, moved closer to Iris’ neck.

“MmmmmmmmHHH!!!” Iris struggled wild, but the rope tying her didn’t budge. And her head couldn’t move. Rein held it so hard that her skin turned red.

“Ahh.” Tears dripped from the Dollmaker’s cheeks. Words couldn’t describe the joy he felt in his heart. After a decade of preparation, the thing he wanted the most on his life finally came to fruition. “What a beautiful sight.”