Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

“Sudden Death Inside”

From an unseen corner of the corridor, a spell incantation was recited. At the same moment, the men’s chests were assaulted by a heavy feeling.

“Ugh…!?”

“Ah...! Ahh…!?”

They could feel a suffocating sensation, as though their hearts were directly grabbed by a cold hand. Most people would be overwhelmed and lose their consciousness.

(W-What is going on!? Ugh, I can’t brea--)

The only exception was the boss of the bodyguards. As expected of a person whom the noble had formally employed and had lavishly geared him up. He was able to escape instant death due to the protection of the amulet hanging down from his neck. As he writhed and struggled against the heaviness on his heart, an inauspicious shadow loomed before him.

“Oh? You survived the instant death? I guess that’s what happens when the incantation is shortened. How disappointing. Tch. Don’t get cheeky, bug.”

It was a person with a bat-like silhouette. He drew closer with unsteady steps like that of a clown. One might think he was the god of death coming to claim their souls. And that was true.

“Hm, guess it made no difference. Let the bugs stay as bugs...”

“Ugh! ...argh!!”

The shadow appeared right beneath his neck.

“...Don’t step on me. Alright?!”

Without a shred of compassion, he broke the bodyguard’s neck. A trail of blood dripped from his mouth. The bodyguard died immediately. And like that, the entire Dorian’s defence force was annihilated. To make sure of that, the shadow turned around.

“Well then. Now I just have to let those activists take over. Man… Master has thought up such a troublesome plan. If he wanted to bring chaos, all he had to do was to tell us to level the city. I think that would be 100 times more satisfying. While I’m at it, I could pick up some lil’ ones too...”

He went on his way as he grumbled.

His body gradually transformed into a dark haze. Once he had completely transformed, he slipped out of the hall from a tiny opening of the closed window. His current form could only be seen by the dead, as though he was a vampire from the legends.

Some minutes later, the activists entered the hall and were perplexed by the bloody scene. But they continued with their exploration of the house. They found Viscount Dorian and his mistress comfortably in their rooms and killed them. The Viscount had chosen to take his subordinate’s advice and stay in his room, yet this was the outcome.

※ ※ ※

Gaston Justeau was extremely pleased. The comrades he led were successful in attacking and massacring the estate of nobles 4 times in a row. Of course, they burned everything to the ground once they were done. They could not continue to let the castles of vice and greed stand. Without burning everything to ashes, the place could never be purified. Gaston firmly believed so.

He wanted to watch the spectacle of a burning mansion, but could not afford to waste time. The imperial guards could appear anytime now.

So before that, they had to kill as many nobles as possible. They had to set ablaze as many mansions as possible.

With the burning loathe in his heart, Gaston commanded his comrades to set forth for the next victim.

“Let us move, gentlemen! We have no time to waste! The evils we must purge are still plotting their next crimes! We cannot let them escape! Let us quickly hunt them down!!

“Ohhhh! We are with you, Comrade Gaston!”

”Who is next!? Who is next!”

His comrades were in a frenzy. Even though they had divided themselves between the streets of the city and noble district, they still easily numbered over 100 here. Everybody here lusted for more blood. For the blood of the nobles who enriched themselves by exploitation.

Gaston responded to them and pointed at the next mansion.

“Look, the house of evil stands before us! Can you smell the stench!? ...That is the Oubeniel estate! The nest of the ‘Man-eating Snake’!”

The crowd paused in bafflement. It seems that the commoners were unfamiliar with the notoriety of the Oubeniels. Many of them started whispering to each other.

“Oubeniel…? Do you know who that is?”

“No idea.”

“Whatever it is, since Gaston said so, an evil noble unmistakably lives there!”

A man shouted.

“Heard about it from a passing rumour… but I heard a brat from the family frequents the slave market so that he could kill them for sport.”

“Killing slaves?”

“What for? Why would a brat…?”

“How the hell would I know! Surely the brat was a pervert!”

“E-Evil...”

“We can’t forgive such a shitty noble!”

The crowd’s anger reached a new peak. Now that the time was right, Gaston shouted.

“That’s right! We cannot forgive them! This is all a ploy by the nobles! Enslave us after we fail to pay them taxes! Enslave us if we try to fight for our freedom! The destination of slaves is that very hell!”

“Aaaaahhhhhhh!”

“Nooooo...Being killed for fun on top of becoming a slave!”

“Right! Surely you know of family who became slaves! Let me tell you how these people met their ends! They are sacrificed to the demons of that family! With the compulsion of the slave collar, they are forced to walk into the abattoir as sacrificial lambs!”

“You are kidding me…my elder sister became a slave because of our debt problems…! Ahhhhh!”

“Demon! The Oubeniels are demons! Nobles are all demons!”

“We cannot let them live! Kill! Kill!”

Kill the ‘Slave Murderer’. Kill the ‘Man-eating Snake’. Kill all of the Oubeniels!

The activists had a newfound justice to carry. The nobles who made the people become their slaves. And the most extreme of such nobles was the Oubeniels who killed slaves. They were now convinced that they had to execute the nobles who lived in the mansion that Gaston pointed out.

The morale was overwhelmingly high.

“Then let us make our move! Even if we have to give up our lives, we have to kill the Oubeniels! That is our justice!”

“Ohhhhhhh!!!!”

With Gaston every call, the mob cheered as they marched towards the Oubeniel residence. With their backs facing a scene of houses burning, they marched on. One might even think these people were demons from hell.

The two security guards at the front of the residence held spears. They immediately raised the alert after witnessing the huge mob approaching them.

“The crazy rebels are here!”

“W-Weren’t they just activists!?”

“Death!!!!”

The violent mob swarmed the residence like a wave. One of the guards thrusted his spear but only managed to strike some of the rebels at the front.

“E-Even if I have to give up my life...!”

“Ah!? How is this guy!?”

The spear had pierced the rebel’s stomach but he was still able to grip onto the spear and not allow it to be released. Realising the opportunity created, another rebel stabbed the guard. The two guards were quickly overwhelmed by the human wave.

“Die, die, dieeeeee!”

“Pawns of the demon! Die!”

“No, no, noooo! I did not...”

“Shut up and die!”

The guard’s plea for mercy fell flat and he was struck from all directions.

“What is this… What in the world is going on?”

“Like I would know! Whatever it is, kill them all!”

The soldiers within the residence were directly reporting to the Count. Compared to the security guards from before, these soldiers were different. Despite losing their calm for a moment, they quickly returned to their senses and stood in position. Afterwards, they sliced off the heads of the intruders successively and forced the mob back.

“Have you peasants gone mad!”

“Push them back! The Knights will be here soon! We need to endure till they get here!”

There were 10 of these fighting experts. Relative to the size of the mansion and the status of a Count, 10 was a small number though. Due to the Oubeniel’s notoriety, fewer mercenaries wanted to work for them.