Don't Want to Know

A strange little sphere, mixed with blood and pitch-black liquid, was forcibly shoved into the mouth of Luther by the reanimated Sirius.

Viscous, foul-smelling, icy, and slick. The moment the sphere entered his mouth, it immediately transformed into a liquid, squirming rapidly like a living creature as it slid down his throat and deep into his stomach.

"Ugh!"

Luther's eyes widened.

He didn't know where he found the strength, but he shoved the now-motionless Sirius away, then knelt on the ground and began to violently gag himself with his fingers.

Whatever that old man had fed him, it was absolutely nothing good!

"Cough! Get out! Cough!"

But no matter how hard Luther tried to gag himself, that icy sensation refused to be vomited out; instead, it exploded directly within his stomach. It broke through the stomach wall, spreading and eroding through his limbs and bones, until every cell in his body was saturated with its influence.

Luther's hands and feet began to twitch uncontrollably, and the world before his eyes gradually plunged into darkness. Countless rustling whispers erupted all around him, like dense, malicious eyes opening in the dark, peering at and coveting his flesh and blood.

And in the deep, distant reaches of that darkness, an entity was watching Luther.

It was a giant, that Hanged Giant!

The degenerate and maddened sound of Whispers followed, and the other prying gazes seemed startled, instantly retracting, leaving only him and the giant to stare at each other in the endless darkness.

"Ah!"

The veins on Luther's forehead suddenly bulged. Pain—and something beyond pain, something that did not belong to him—was being poured into his brain. He felt something; he knew something!

"I don't want to know, I don't want to know!"

He screamed, but those things continued to pour into his mind unabated, twisting his perception and dragging him deeper and further into the darkness.

Degenerate, darkness?

No, it was that entity; He was right, but He was insane!

Hanged?

No, the world was inverted!

The sound of Whispers echoed incessantly, and Luther felt his consciousness dissolving, as if he were about to melt completely into the darkness and become a part of that giant.

Just then, he heard the sound of illusory tides once again.

Immediately, an illusory, damp sensation spread from the soles of his feet throughout his entire body. It was as if an ocean had suddenly appeared in the invisible darkness, with surging waves crashing against him.

Luther's body was soon submerged. He felt no pain of suffocation; instead, the seawater isolated him from the giant's gaze and the persistent Whispers. He felt safe, and the "influence" spreading within him calmed down, obediently merging into every one of his cells...

The darkness dissipated, and Luther realized his consciousness was floating above the room. His body lay on the floor, and Cecilia was anxiously shaking him, shouting something.

"Luther! Luther!"

Luther heard his sister calling his name, and his consciousness suddenly sank, returning to his body.

"Ugh!"

He woke up with a start.

"Luther, you're finally awake! Are you okay?"

Cecilia asked with concern.

"I'm fine."

Luther sat up, shook his head, and patted his sister's shoulder to soothe her.

Looking around, he saw two dumbfounded police officers standing behind his sister. They were staring at the tumor-ridden, mangled corpse of Sirius, their expressions as colorful as if they had seen a ghost.

"You... you stay right here and don't move!"

The older sergeant ordered nervously, arranging for his subordinate—a young, miserable-looking officer—to stay behind, while he himself hurried away in a panic.

Luther took a deep breath and stood up with his sister's help.

His head still ached, as if gripped tightly by a powerful hand, and his ears were ringing incessantly, mingled with the sound of whispering. The things his eyes saw were also strange; the colors were incredibly vivid, yet layered and overlapping. He saw the young officer's face as pale as a corpse, while his uniform was as black as coal; he saw his sister's eyes like blue lakes, shimmering with a charming luster.

He also saw that the corpse of Sirius was emitting ominous black mist, and every tumor had sprouted a bloody mouth, wantonly praying for something.

What the hell!

Luther shuddered in shock, but when he looked up and saw that neither his sister nor the young officer reacted to the corpse's abnormality, he realized that something was wrong with him.

What has happened to me?

Could it be because I ate that thing earlier?

Luther closed his eyes, shook his head, and tried to calm himself down. When he opened his eyes again, the things he saw were finally much more normal, though faint sounds and strangely distorted lines continued to emerge in the dark corners of the room, which he could only temporarily ignore.

Cecilia looked at Luther uneasily, as the state of the room was not like this when she had left.

What happened?

She asked with her eyes.

Luther lifted his chin to point at the officer, signaling that they would talk later and not to let that guy hear.

Cecilia understood immediately and nodded slightly.

And so, the three people in the room remained silent in a strange atmosphere; the young officer looked back and forth between the corpse and the siblings, appearing restless. The siblings continued to exchange glances, looking perfectly in sync.

Right, what about that letter?

At this moment, Luther suddenly thought of the letter written by Sirius. It was because he had been reading that letter that he had let his guard down and been attacked, but after scanning the floor, he couldn't see those sheets of paper anywhere. It wasn't until his gaze landed in front of the altar that he discovered the pile of ashes from the overturned cauldron was still smoking, with a charred corner of the letter paper left inside.

It must have drifted into the ashes when I was knocked over.

Luther thought to himself that it was quite a coincidence.

Just then, the sound of a carriage pulling up came from outside the house, and not long after, the sound of rapid footsteps approached. The old sheriff brought in three new faces; they were also police officers, appearing younger, yet the stars on their epaulets were more numerous than those of the previous two.

After bringing the people in, the old sheriff pulled his subordinates away, leaving the scene to these three.

Of the three police officers, the leader was a man of about thirty with deep, silver-gray eyes. After scanning the room, his gaze landed on Luther's face.

"Mr. Luther Rondal and Ms. Cecilia Rondal, correct?"

He asked gently.

"That's right."

Luther exchanged a glance with his sister before speaking to the man.

"Very well, then Mr. Luther and Ms. Cecilia, please tell me what happened here."

The gray-eyed officer said.

Luther began to recount the siblings' ordeal, from his own illness and their parents' accidental deaths to being invited to the house by Sirius, and finally being tied up for a ritual; he explained that he had seized an opportunity to subdue Sirius, but because the latter began to mutate, he had no choice but to shoot and kill him in self-defense.

He concealed the fact that his heart had been repaired after his resurrection, the contents of the letter, and the fact that he had been forced to swallow the small black sphere. He simply claimed that he had been knocked unconscious and had attacked Sirius after waking up.

The gray-eyed officer listened to his account quietly, without expressing any opinion. His two subordinates began their investigation on their own; one green-eyed officer examined the corpse and paced around the altar covered in flesh and blood, clicking his tongue, while the other brown-eyed officer pulled a yellow crystal pendant directly from his sleeve, muttering to himself while closing his eyes.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, looked at the pendant, walked over to the gray-eyed officer, and whispered something.

Luther noticed that the gray-eyed officer's gaze immediately became even deeper.

"Mr. Luther, let's find a room and have a proper chat."

He said to Luther.