MIDNIGHT PRINCE: Empire of Sin
Chapter 113 CH 109: RITUAL

(AN: Before beginning, a slight heads-up for everyone concerned. This chapter contains depictions of gore and rape; and rituals. Nothing descriptive, but beware. You can read the end of the chapter and pretty much understand what is happening. This chapter might make people really uncomfortable or perhaps it won't. After all, there are many more twisted things on the internet. Just wanted to give a short warning.)

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[Pacific Park]

A few moments before the incident that ensued utter chaos in the surroundings…

Walking on the surface with a trench coat over his body, his head low and a large hat on top, a man with his entire body covered from head to toe in clothing strolled around in the park.

From the humans' perspective, all they could see was a homeless man with an atrocious stench leaking out of his body.

Some gave insulting comments toward him and most just ignored him but, as always, there was a small minority that would only be happy by trampling the weak on their feet.

"Hey, old man. You should leave this place, you are smelling like shit."

It happened after turning into a rather deserted corner of the Park. The man wearing the coat looked up as five young men who looked like they were either high school students or young university students accompanied by a young black-haired woman, seemingly in her late twenties, wearing a white bikini were cleaning up the food on the grass after they had a short break for a snack in this area.

They had clearly chosen this place in order to not be disturbed in this busy park. The man had done the same since he was in search of a place to protect himself from the sun.

They could have just passed their way, but one of the young men held his nose and waved his hand, a gesture to show how disgusted he was by the stench pervading the air courtesy of the overly-covered man.

The other four chuckled uncomfortably, clearly not really at ease with the current situation.

Looking at them with tired eyes, the man was completely expressionless.

In his eyes, all he could see was a bunch of animals. Worth nothing more than being devoured by him for his cause.

Those people were the dregs of humanity. A part that needed to be removed for humanity to thrive.

People who did evil and people who watched on, not participating but not helping either, acting like the false hypocrites they were.

"Hey, dude. Didn't you hear me? Leave!"

One of the boys advanced and tried to push him away but all this resulted in was the young man being shoved backward while the one in the trench coat staying still in its place, immovable like a boulder.

The group of teens was startled and some started laughing at their friend, telling him that he was a weak ass for not being able to push such a scrawny-looking man.

The one in question didn't seem to be able to accept this situation and again advanced toward the silent man but this time he was clearly angry and ready to beat him up.

"Now you've done it."

He was about to swing his fist but was stopped by the young woman as she stepped in front of him to dissuade him from doing what was wrong.

"Guys, please stop this. Let's just get out of here."

Her voice was firm as she spoke those lines. The delinquent-looking man tsked under his breath and shrugged his shoulders…

"I was just joking around. Let's go guys."

"Wait…"

The woman shook her head and approached the homeless man with a kind and awkward smile on her face…

"I am sorry about earlier. My little brother went too far. If you don't mind, I would like to invite you for a brief lunch with us as an apology."

"Hey!"

"Stop this for once. Stop acting like a fucking child. I didn't even ask you to apologize."

The girl's shout startled the delinquent boy, infuriating him to no end. But in the end, there was nothing he could do.

"So, will you come with us? Once again I would like to apologize. By the way, Mike, since you are such a brat come and apologize to him."

"Sis, seriously?"

"Mike…"

"Sigh…"

The young man scratched his head, clearly reluctant and indignant about this matter. But in the end, he stretched his hand forward for a handshake with the end.

"I'm sorry. Let's shake it off. I was in the wrong."

The 'homeless' man ignored him and looked around. This was indeed the best place to end it all. He had been slowly placing sacrifices to point in this direction and now all he needed was one last sacrifice to finish the ritual.

Those hunters would never think that a vampire like him would walk out during the day like this.

Water, birds, sun, and November. The ideal moment to enact the calling.

"Then it shall be you."

Everything was ready for the 'His' descent.

"What in the fu— argh!"

The young delinquent had had no time to understand what was happening before his hand was twisted beyond recognition.

His scream startled his friends.

"You bastard!"

The woman took a step back in horror and dread at the sight of her brother's mangled arms, while his four friends, witnessing this sight, snarled before rushing at him all at once. There was no such thing as fair fights in the streets, they had no weapons on them but their fists were more than enough.

—At least that should have been the case if the one they faced was a normal man or even a normal 'human'.

Splash~

Blood splattered. Heads soared high in the sky and four bodies slumped on the ground simultaneously.

The homeless man looked down at the one he had broken the arms of. The face of the young man was stained with disbelief as the blood of his friend splashed on his face. So much so that…he even forgot the pain emanating from his mangled arm.

"You… Argh!! Sis, it hurts!"

He could only scream as the hand of the homeless man he had provoked, covered his entire face. The fingers tightened all around his skull, only leaving a gap for his eyes to see the expressionless and indifferent face of the man he had provoked.

"Please stop! Let's go of my brother!"

The woman tried to make the murderer let go by catching his arm. But her struggle was futile and meaningless.

"Please! Anyone!? Help!"

No matter what she did, no matter how much she screamed… He did not let go and she could only watch in horror as his hand continued to tighten around the head of her young brother, slowly deforming it in an inhumane display of strength.

"Argh…"

At first, the young man screamed and tried to fight back but soon it was clear that it was impossible to escape his inevitable faith with sheer power alone. He tried to beg, apologized in a broken voice, cried like a toddler, and screamed his lungs out.

But it was all for naught. His destiny was already sealed from the start.

The hand carved through his face like a knife cutting butter. His cheekbones broke down and were crushed like powder. His jawbone was fractured and broken. His eyes popped out of their sockets and fell to the ground. This continued until his entire head was reduced to mush after exploding like a balloon under the inhuman strength of the trench coat wearing man.

A mixture of brain matter, bones, flesh, and other fluids splashed all around while his eyeballs kept rolling on the ground.

The young man slumped on the ground. He was no more a part of this world.

The vampire breathed deeply. The odor of blood gave him such a rush and deep thirst for blood. He brought his hand to his lips and licked the blood and flesh splattered on top. Vampires did not eat flesh, unlike ghouls. But as he was, anything that had blood in it was a delicacy of the highest degree.

His eyes rolled as he groaned in ecstasy. Meanwhile, the young woman plopped on the ground in silence. Her expression was completely stunned and blank. Her brain had shut down as she continued to look down at the headless body of her brother and his friends.

"Young woman, are you alright?"

She looked up as the homeless man gave her a kind smile while giving her a gentlemanly bow…

"I am sorry you had to see something like that."

He approached her and she immediately screamed instinctually as she tried to move backward. A yellow puddle formed below her on the ground but she had no time to care for the unsightly display. She wanted to leave. She wanted to flee. This was just a nightmare that she wanted to wake up from.

She turned around and crawled away, her legs, unable to give birth to the strength necessary for her to stand up and flee.

"I am truly sorry."

The man caught her by the leg and made sure that she was face to face with him once more.

"Let me go!"

Her pleas fell on deaf ears as the vampire asked with the kindest smile he could muster…

"Are you a virgin?"

The woman was plopped on her ass, her eyes were trembling as tears fell unceasingly. She could not understand what was happening in front of her.

"I am asking a question, aren't I? Do not make me repeat myself."

The woman finally shook her head hurriedly, "I… I am not."

Her voice trembled as she said that line, her brain trying to escape the nightmarish reality that was in front of her.

Sadly…

"Good."

The creepy smile on the face of the man was enough for the woman to understand her fate. For this ceremony, it was important for the woman to be a non-virgin.

"I usually try to give them one last good memory but I am sadly unable to do so this time."

Horror flickered in her eyes as she saw him lower his pants. She had no time to answer as she felt a weight on her body. She tried to fight back but nothing she could do was able to thwart the inhumane strength of the man.

Her eyes grew vacant as she looked up at the clear sky. Her body shook and tears streamed down her face as she felt him enter inside her.

How long did this last for? She did not know. Even as the man released his filthy seed inside her depths, she did not move nor did she respond. Her mind was too far broken for her to put up any retaliation or display any form of resistance.

Her scarred mentality had simply decided to shut down. Fleeing in the deepest parts of her psyche.

Standing up, the man looked down at his handiwork and nodded in glee. He moved his hand inside his coat gently gazing at the last syringe he could use then moved to another pocket, taking out a red page that seemed to have been torn from a book of depraved origins.

He took a deep shaky breath. Simply holding the page made him feel like his mind was about to break. It was a page from the Codex Gigas [1]. Depicting a twisted evil ritual to summon a devil by using the womb of a woman filled with the seed of a monster. Before this, it was necessary to sacrifice five women and use the sixth as the mother of the devil on the 6th day of the week.

After all — Six was the number of the devil. It was also on the 6th day that humans were created.

Finally, after a long long wait… The moment came.

This page had been soaked in the blood, and proof of the copulation he had with all the prostitutes he had killed until now.

He approached his latest victim and placed the page on her stomach approximately around the place where her womb would be.

His eyes filled with tears as madness run amok in his face and his twisted mind.

The past him would have never done something like this. Something so uncouth and blasphemous. The experiment had affected his psyche way too much for him to be able to distinguish anything anymore. All he had left for him was his goal and his purpose. He was long past the path of no return. He was sure that he would burn in hell for his transgressions.

But it was alright…

"Everything for humanity…"

Sacrificing a few to bring salvation to the many.

He sighed as he consoled himself with that knowledge…

"Ayer avage aloren Asmoday aken." [2]

His words spread in the air and the smell of sulfur rose from who knows where. The air became heavy as the name of the Prince of Hell— Asmodeus, the Prince of Lust was called at that moment.

The page shone, and a pillar of light shot out into the sky, covering it in an ominous crimson hue.

A magical red circle, depicting a hexagram of devilish origins, formed above in the sky and subsequently on the stomach of the immobile woman.

"Argh!!"

The woman screamed, her consciousness returning, as the page slowly entered her body while the circle on her body seemed to have been carved and seared on her very flesh.

Her previously flat stomach started to swell slightly, giving the impression that she had become a few weeks pregnant in a matter of a few seconds.

In the sky, the image of a monster with the tail of a snake and three distinctive heads manifested from the deepest pits of hell.

It had the head of a man spitting fire, the head of an ominous sheep, and the head of a ravenous bull. The monster was riding a lion that had the wings of a dragon.

Once he was sure that everything was finally ready…

There was no going back anymore. He had placed all the pieces in their rightful places. Summoning a demon during its strongest month in the place that weakened him the most in all the realms.

Now— All he had to do was wait for the Director to come. His plans were finally coming to fruition.

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[1]: The Codex Giga. Also known as The Devil Bible is the largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript in the world, at a length of 92 cm (36 in). The manuscript was created in the early 13th century by a man named Herman the Recluse in the Benedictine monastery of Podlažice near Chrudim in the Czech Republic. The gist of the story is… A monk broke his vow and was sentenced to death. So he swore to write a Bible to honor the monastery in one night. One that would hold all human knowledge. By midnight, the dude realized he was fucked so he made a pact with the devil. The devil completed the manuscript, and the monk added the devil's picture out of gratitude for his aid. In tests to recreate the work, it is estimated that reproducing only the calligraphy, without the illustrations or embellishments, would have taken twenty years of non-stop writing

[2] Asmodeus or Asmoday is a Demon Prince of Lust. He is ranked 32 in the Ars Goetia and in the [Malleus Maleficarum].

It's said that he is at his strongest in November. At the same time, he hates Water and Bird because it reminds him of God.

He was summoned by Solomon to help him build a temple and his enemy is Angel Raphael. Finally, in some depictions, he married Lilith. This isn't the case in my story as you will soon see.

The sentence "Ayer avage aloren Asmoday aken" I used is supposedly the true phrase used to summon him. The ritual used is totally different as I created my own ritual for this chapter.