Part 3
Rei walked in silence, escorted by two guards dressed in white robes with golden plates bearing the symbol of the god Yoru.
His footsteps echoed over the polished marble of the hallway.
Everything was too clean. Too… perfect.
He didn't ask where they were taking him.
He knew it wasn't to a training room.
Nor a registration office.
It was something else.
Finally, the doors ahead creaked open with ancient weight.
A high-ceilinged chamber, windowless, lit only by a circle of candles.
At its center, an altar with a statue of Yoru, the creator god of this world.
And before that altar stood a man in black robes trimmed with gold.
The High Priest of the Church.
"Rei Kanzaki," he said, without raising his voice. "What a curious case you are."
Rei didn't answer.
"Your panel… shows nothing. No class, no stats, no level. You are an anomaly. An error within the structure of this world. One might even say… dangerous."
"Then… what does that mean?"
The priest turned slowly. His face was lined with age, but his eyes were the coldest Rei had ever seen.
"It could mean one of two things," he replied in a calm, almost academic tone.
"The first: that your class is so unique it lies beyond the knowledge granted by Yoru. Perhaps something brought from your world… something never recorded before."
"And the second…?" Rei asked, swallowing hard.
Though deep down, he already sensed the answer.
"That you may be a demon."
"Red panels are often signs of heresy, curses… or, in the worst cases, a future Demon King."
He paused for a second, then added calmly:
"And if the panel reacts that way… it's best to be prepared."
Rei clenched his teeth.
"So what are you going to do? Expel me? Send me back to my world?"
The priest closed his eyes, as if the question were naive.
As if he had centuries of practice delivering grim news with a steady voice.
"I'm afraid that's not possible. The summoning is a one-way path."
"Your very existence goes against our god… something that must be corrected."
The priest raised a hand.
A golden seal lit up on the floor, surrounding Rei like a prison of light.
"You are a risk. A variable beyond control."
"The god Yoru has decreed: you must be… purified."
"Purified?" Rei repeated, voice low.
"The Kingdom of Valdheim thanks you for your presence… but it cannot allow your existence."
"You may pose a threat to the nation—or the entire world," the priest replied with chilling calm.
The seal beneath his feet began to glow brighter.
The flames of the candles flickered violently.
And then he understood.
"Wait, wait!" he shouted for the first time. "Aren't I supposed to be one of the heroes?! You can't do this!"
"I could stay in the city, I don't have any hostile intentions… I don't even want to be part of this!"
At that moment, a figure stepped out from the shadows of the chamber.
King Aurelius Valdheim.
"Do you think this is something we want to do?" the king said solemnly.
"We're merely following the will of the god Yoru… it's nothing personal, boy."
"There has to be another way! You can't just make me disappear like this! What will my classmates say when they find out?"
The king let out a dry laugh, not bothering to hide it.
"From what little I've seen… you seem invisible to them."
"But if you'd prefer," he added, ironically, "let them decide."
And in that instant, Rei knew.
There was no escape.
"Damn it… if this keeps up, those bastards are going to sacrifice me themselves…"
The king gave a signal.
Two guards approached and cuffed him, then chained him to a massive wooden cross reinforced with magical runes, tightening the restraints so he couldn't move.
Immobilized. Exposed.
Like a profane relic.
He was brought to a circular chamber, bathed in golden overhead light.
Around him, his classmates were already seated in an elevated gallery, like spectators at a trial.
"Dear heroes," the priest said, raising his voice with theatrical drama, "during the reading of the panels, we discovered that one among you bears the mark of the Demon King."
A murmur rippled through the room.
"His panel turned red. It shows no class, no stats… proof that he is contaminated by demonic energy."
The spotlight descended directly onto Rei.
The murmurs turned into poisoned whispers.
"Not surprised. That weirdo always looked like a villain," said Kazuki without a shred of remorse.
"That's not true! I—!" Rei tried to speak up, but a sharp crack cut through the air.
A whip lashed across his back, forcing a cry of pain from his throat.
"Silence, heretic," growled one of the priests.
"That's excessive!" Kaede shouted, frowning. "Kanzaki might be reserved, weird, even a bit stupid, but that's no reason to treat him like this!"
The king raised both hands, calming the crowd with theatrical authority.
"I just want to say this…" he said solemnly. "If we let him live, he could become a demon at any moment."
"That's what the commandments of Yoru tell us. This isn't the first time we've seen a heretic like him!"
"Red panels are the symbol of demons!"
Doubt began to spread.
Glances exchanged.
Whispers turning into fear.
"Why are we hesitating...?" Renji said with a twisted smile. "We all know the German kid, no matter how Japanese his last name is, could kill us when we least expect it."
He raised his hand and lowered his thumb.
"I vote we get rid of him."
"He's right..." added Tougo seriously. "We don't know when he might turn on us. He could kill us the moment our backs are turned."
"Are you hearing yourselves?!" Kaede shouted, on the verge of breaking. "You're really going to let strangers sacrifice one of your own?"
"I agree with Renji," added Shunta, arms crossed and wearing a malicious grin. "He's a long-term problem."
Without another word, he lowered his thumb.
Hikari Tsukino stepped up to Kazuki, clearly upset.
"And you're not going to say anything?" she confronted him. "You, who always give speeches about justice and leadership?"
Kazuki looked down.
"The guys are right… We don't know if that German might betray us later.
And being a candidate for Demon King makes him even more dangerous."
"You're really going to believe that crap?"
"If we let them kill him, we might be next…"
Rei remained bound, his wrists bleeding beneath the chains.
But he no longer felt fear.
He felt rage.
"I knew it… they're using my mother's nationality as an excuse for their cruelty."
"I'm proud of my mother. And of her country. That has nothing to do with this."
"But them… they just need a reason to keep doing evil."
"Then we're all in agreement," said the king, without a shred of remorse, as if they had just voted on something trivial.
It was too late.
There was no turning back.
"For the heroes to succeed in the future," he continued, "we will use your sacrifice as a blessing."
A white portal began to form beneath Rei.
It spun slowly, like a whirlpool of light devouring everything.
"You shall be sent to the Void Pit. A forbidden place, where a cosmic creature resides…"
"Legend says it once tried to challenge Yoru himself and was imprisoned there for all eternity."
The king's tone grew more theatrical.
"A fitting place to meet your end, demon…"
The rage in Rei's chest kept building, like molten lava on the verge of eruption.
Until something clicked in his mind.
"I'm going to kill you…" he murmured, barely audible.
"What did you say, heretic? Any last words?" asked the priest with mockery.
Rei lifted his head.
His eyes were no longer the same.
"You're right…" he whispered, his voice teetering on the edge of madness. "I want to kill you all."
The silence grew thick.
His breathing was erratic, his pupils trembling with a fury that could no longer be contained.
"If I really am a demon, like you say… then I'll come back."
"I'll kill you one by one! And I swear… you'll regret everything!" he shouted, his voice slicing through the air like a dagger.
"Especially you… and your stupid trash heap of a kingdom!"
"I hope you're right. I hope there's a demon inside me…"
"Because if there is… I'll come back."
"I'll take my time."
"Your death will be slow, filthy, pathetic."
"And when I'm done, I'll rip out your tongue and spike it on a pike, as a reminder of how useless you were."
"I'll dance on your grave… and use your skull as my personal spittoon."
"Yeah… that sounds good."
A laugh burst from deep within his chest.
Amid tears, rage, and despair, his voice cracked into laughter—
Laughter that sounded like it came straight from hell.
"Heh… heh, heh heh… HAHAHAHAHA!"
His eyes were utterly deranged.
And for the first time, everyone present felt true fear.
The priest swallowed hard.
The king, speechless, lost his solemn tone completely.
"Y-yeah… enjoy the Void Pit, you lunatic," he muttered, his voice tinged with anger.
The acolyte nodded, and the portal snapped shut like a white trap, swallowing the cursed boy whole.
And so, Rei Kanzaki vanished from his classmates' sight forever.
Falling… straight into the deepest darkness of the abyss.