Blood Feast

"You killed them all."

Lorenzo's expression turned grave. He looked at Sabo, wondering what kind of person was beneath the Bull's mask.

"Yeah, they're all dead. Mentor ordered it. When they came back, they thought they'd be rewarded. And they were: good food and drink, as much hallucinogen as they wanted. Then I sealed the room and poured lamp oil through the cracks under the door. By the time they died, the hallucinogen had already taken effect. They only felt the gentle embrace of heaven, and fell asleep in it forever."

Sabo spoke calmly, without the slightest sense that he had committed an atrocity.

"Why did you kill him..." Lorenzo started to say, but then he realized everything. His expression changed, and at last he tightened his grip on the Winchester in his hand.

"Is this why you're willing to tell me all this?"

The great detective finally understood what was so strange about all this. Kindness was never without a reason. That was true for Lorenzo, and it was true for Sabo too.

"Yeah."

Sabo nodded. There was neither joy nor sorrow in his voice. Lorenzo had seen that look before, at Victoria Central Hospital. The dying often wore it. Nothing in the world could affect them anymore. They felt neither joy nor sorrow, only helpless resignation and acceptance of their approaching end.

It was a fate already decided, with no room for change.

"That isn't something mortals can come into contact with. Even knowing it exists is a grave sin... like the blazing sun. Just looking at it comes at the cost of having your eyes burned."

"So this is their price? Death," Lorenzo said.

Sabo didn't answer him directly. His small figure hopped off the chair and staggered as he walked, his movements impossible to describe.

"Death is a release. At least it's far better than living. Great Detective, you don't understand what that thing really is."

"So that's why you're being so kind? Everyone who learns about these things has to die, whether they're the crew of the Silver Fish or us here now. Everyone in this place tonight has to die, right?"

That was why Sabo had been so frank. Lorenzo's arrival was just an unexpected bonus. Everyone who entered this feast tonight had to die. They were sacrifices for touching the forbidden, and only blood and flesh could appease it.

The deadly Shotgun was aimed at Sabo. Lorenzo kept his eyes fixed on him. The moment he pulled the trigger, the Shotgun would unleash a cone of buckshot. With his small stature, Sabo couldn't possibly dodge it.

"Then what about you? You know all this too. Are you going to die tonight as well?"

Lorenzo demanded. If the Sacred Coffin really was something unspeakable and untouchable, then Sabo should be among those who would be punished.

Sabo answered without hesitation.

"Yes. I'll die tonight too."

Sabo had never intended to let anyone leave alive. The wager earlier had just been a final game for the condemned. His few remaining fingers picked up the rapier, and a light flick sent it whistling through the air. Then the blood on its blade fell like rain.

"Stop!"

Eve picked up the revolver from the gaming table. There was only one bullet in its chamber, ready to fire. Now two guns were pointed at Sabo. They had won.

"Wait, Eve!"

Lorenzo suddenly stopped her. His cold gaze wavered, and he realized the danger, his expression turning fierce.

"So this was your aim. This is why you had the leisure to play the coin game with us, isn't it?"

Sabo nodded. The rapier in his few fingers was swift and deadly.

"You're Lorenzo Holmes. During the Blood River Massacre, you killed hundreds of gang members with gun and sword. You're less a detective than a practiced murderer. And I'm a freak. In a direct confrontation, I'd never be your match. Fortunately, you needed information, which bought the hallucinogen a long time to take effect."

It was the hallucinogen wafting through the air. Its concentration hadn't been high to begin with, but Sabo had deliberately drawn things out, and Lorenzo had already inhaled quite a lot. Now hallucinations were appearing in his vision.

The Bull's mask seemed to come alive, blood flowing over its strange face. Only then did Lorenzo realize that the mask didn't look like a bull at all. It was just a horned monster. His assumptions had led him to think it was a bull.

"Get back, Eve!"

Lorenzo roared as he pulled the trigger. He was already hallucinating and couldn't be sure what he was seeing. All he could do was get Eve to move away so he wouldn't hit her by mistake.

But Eve didn't respond. There was a hint of fear in the girl's eyes. She was clearly trying to calm herself, but her gun hand was trembling. She was hallucinating too.

Thunder rang out beneath the dome.

There was no time for Lorenzo to hesitate. The scattered pellets shattered the gaming table but missed Sabo. The small figure was far more agile than Lorenzo had imagined. The rapier traced a silvery arc through the air, like a ribbonfish swimming, then slashed sharply toward Lorenzo.

In the moment of danger, Lorenzo could only raise his cane to block. The rapier's chipped edge was like a saw. It cut through the wooden outer layer, then sparks burst out in a dazzling flash.

"A sword like mine!"

Sabo shouted, then continued slashing down along the cane. The wooden shell split apart completely, revealing the bright gleam of metal beneath.

The slash drove Lorenzo back several steps. He could hardly imagine how such a small body could produce so much force. The Winchester was no longer much use in close combat, so Lorenzo slung it behind him and gripped the Cane Sword in his hand.

Sabo was right. It was the same kind of weapon as the rapier, with only a blade and a hilt. The handguard, meant to protect its wielder, was long gone.

A handguard protected the swordsman. When two blades locked together, it kept the descending blade from cutting into the swordsman's hand. But neither of their weapons had one now. Just like their owners, they never cared about protecting themselves—or perhaps they were so confident they would kill their opponent before he could hurt them.

"The hallucinogen's affecting you too, isn't it?"

Because of the hallucinogen, the world before Lorenzo's eyes had begun to warp and twist. He couldn't trust what he saw, and a gun couldn't track an enemy. But a sword was different. Like a blind man's cane, it touched what was real. It wouldn't deceive Lorenzo.

"I've gotten used to swinging my sword in hallucinations. You get used to it. I was born weak, so naturally I have to use more underhanded methods. I hope you can understand."

Sabo held his sword at the ready. The world was warped in his sight too, but he had lived in it for so long that it could no longer affect him.

He was a born freak. He couldn't run fast or jump high, and he'd lost most of his fingers in the wager. He wanted to win. He wanted it so badly. Ever since the day he was born, he'd been a failure. He had nothing, so he had to seize everything he could.

"Long ago, I got into the habit of keeping sand in my pocket. The moment I threw it in an enemy's face, I'd slash their throat."

As he spoke, Sabo put his other hand behind his back and bent into a bow. The next moment, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

Sword clashed against sword, sparks flying. Under the influence of the hallucinations, they seemed to ignite into a roaring blaze. Beyond the fire, the horned monster came snarling.

Sabo could only exert force with those few fingers. He was nowhere near as strong as Lorenzo in a direct clash, so his rapier moved like a snake. After each clash, it used the impact to strike from another angle, never lingering any longer than a dragonfly touching water.

The Cane Sword stayed close to Sabo, but then Sabo leaped into the air and turned, his hidden hand suddenly darting out.

Lorenzo had been waiting for this chance. Sabo swung his hand, and Lorenzo immediately threw up his coat to block Sabo's view. But to his surprise, Sabo hadn't thrown sand. He had thrown something like powder.

The cramped battlefield instantly filled with red smoke. Lorenzo knew something was wrong after inhaling his first breath.

It was hallucinogen. A massive dose of it.

Holding his breath, Lorenzo rolled out of the cloud. Behind him, Sabo stood motionless in the middle of it, breathing steadily, with no idea what he was doing.

His nerves were under attack. Lorenzo retreated and pulled a cigarette from his pocket with a trembling hand. It was his favorite, filled with herbs that sharpened the mind. He didn't know how long it would help counter the hallucinogen, but it was better than nothing.

But before Lorenzo could light it, a hellish vision swallowed him. The ground beneath his feet began to soften, and he felt a faint heat on his skin. Then the chandelier under the dome blazed like the sun.

"So this is what you see after taking it... This is no heaven."

Lorenzo hadn't seen anything like this in a long time. It was like some blasphemous ritual in hell. Beneath the dance floor, people's bodies rotted and came apart as strange creatures grew inside them. Their cries of pleasure had become endless screams. Amid it all, Sabo slowly emerged from the smoke. The metal mask had grown into his skull, steel and flesh fused together. As he grinned, the mask slowly split open into a dark maw.

"Aren't heaven and hell relative? To me, this place is already heaven."

Looking out at this crimson world, Sabo's voice crackled with static. He raised the rapier, its sharp point aimed straight at Lorenzo.

"Mr. Holmes, weren't you once a priest? Go on, pray for yourself."

The small figure grew monstrous. The air grew hotter with the change, as if they were bathing in molten rock.

Lorenzo knew it was all an illusion, but he couldn't find a way out. Now his senses were being deceived too. He thought he was standing, but perhaps he had already fallen. Even the sword in his hand could no longer be trusted.

As for praying... would anyone really believe in that?