The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 75: The Man Who Laughs

"There's nobody in the garden beside the Poacher's Den," DicingDevil said softly as he descended from a tree looking over Mokra.

"So we can enter the shed and reach the Den through the wall between them?" Akshel replied.

"Yes. There's a small crowd of children watching a Chinaman at the edge of the residential area, I'm not sure why. But most adults are up North or in the safezone, the remaining three or four can be distracted by some bombs which Gastlem set up."

The group of DicingDevil, Akshel, Crucis, Vladimir, and another Assassin named [Firegrey20] crept around the edge of Mokra, using cover and [Stealth Cloak] carefully to avoid detection. Most of the people still in the village were only around level 20-30, so while being detected would be a hassle it wouldn't be an immediate danger. The village's adults had mostly been told to stay in the residential area for safety, and a few who had caught wind of what happened had fled through the portal to Kaxil.

The rest of the DeathGang members, other than Gastlem who was lurking near Mokra, had gone up North with Starfighter to find a bridge which could also be used to enter the Hunting area. While the bridge was guarded, the players without redname could spread across the bridge and distract the guards while the redname players vaulted off the bridge and then hid in a large, empty burrow nearby. Grisier was still in DicingDevil's party, and was giving occasional updates from the journey North, where they were taking a detour Eastwards to avoid the woods.

Grisier: There are a few groups searching the woods for a bear, but we're taking a shortcut across the hills to avoid them.

DicingDevil: trekking eh?

Grisier: Yes, Dion is wearing lighter armour because it's a bit tiring.

Grisier: Konstantin is walking around edge of woods and warning us if anyone is near, he is a kid so the patrols will not attack him.

Akshel: good luck on this odyssey

Grisier: We're Greek heroes?

Crucis: um akshually

Crucis: yes we r heroes in many ways

As the Assassins entered the empty garden shed through a window, they heard the sound of commotion from the residential area. Peeking out of the shed door, they saw that an old, bald Chinese man, with stiff, unmoving arms held to the side, had started limping awkwardly towards the garden as they made their way over. Part of his paralytic skin seemed to almost be rotting and crumbling away.

A group of children was loudly gathered at the edge of the residential area to watch and shout at this man, but were being held back and prevented from leaving by a few adults.

"Who's this?" Crucis whispered to Vladimir.

"Oh, this man? The children all love him. He is called the Laughing Man, because his face has big scar and is frozen in place, it looks like he laughs or smiles all the time," Vladimir replied. "He plays with the children sometimes, but he is strange man, will walk into dangerous areas without think."

"I see, thanks."

Looking closer, the group could see the man's face, with calm, level eyes that seemed almost paralysed, and large scars across his mouth which made it look like he was exploding into laughter. The man's username was [FengShuiGent], but the village knew him as the Laughing Man, and he was seen as a symbol of hope overcoming the persistent fear and paranoia surrounding the village.

"He's coming towards the garden. He'll see us if anyone messes up the Agile Step, maybe raise an alarm," DicingDevil whispered.

"We can see if he walks away, if not we'll drag him in here and attack once he's out of sight of the residential area crowd," Crucis said. "It shouldn't be too hard. The enemy of man is his own decay."

"Yes, we should be able to handle it."

The old man smiled occasionally towards the children in the residential area, but Crucis noticed that the Laughing Man harangued any adult within an earshot with a series of slightly ill-tempered questions about 'poison' and bears. This meant that most adults cautiously guarding the village began to veer towards other parts of the village, seeking to avoid this peculiar interrogation.

The Laughing Man, however, continued trudging stiffly until he neared the garden. He bent down slightly as he approached it, as if inspecting the flowers. The watching children cried out asking the man why he was wandering so far out of the safe zone, going to the garden where they were not permitted to follow him.

"I am testing for poison," said the obstinate old man.

The children were understandably confused by this answer.

Crucis quietly typed in the party chat.

Crucis: well, since this old fool hates poison so much

Crucis: i guess we should use poison

DicingDevil: ok i'll help

Crucis: i don't need help but plz. help, as long as there's poison it is good

Crucis: poison will cure selfish spiritual sickness

DicingDevil: that's the spirit

Akshel: we're attacking him?

Crucis: yea think about it. this man is smiling, maybe its bc he's happy abt the dead children?

Crucis: !!! that a man may smile and smile and be a villain

Crucis: how dare he, if only a hero would confront him

Akshel: u were smiling while killing them

Crucis: i am just edgy i am not truly evil

Crucis: it's different

Crucis: since i am not evil i must be a good guy ig

Grisier: You sure you're not evil?

Crucis: absolutely lol y would i become evil?

Crucis: u know me i'm a good dude

Crucis: there is a vast gulf btwn good and evil only nobody has ever seen this gulf

Crucis: ok he's here sec

As the Laughing Man walked past the shed, Crucis grabbed him in a [Chokehold] from behind. Meanwhile, DicingDevil used [Stunning Dagger] to paralyse the man, then shoved a dead child's tattered clothing into the man's mouth to prevent any noise. Crucis used this brief paralysis to drag the Laughing Man into the shed.

However, Crucis' captive began to shove him away with a strong arm. In order to keep his hold, Crucis was forced to kick at the man's gangly legs and drag the Laughing Man to the ground. Meanwhile, DicingDevil had drawn a [Poison Dart Dagger], a rare drop from the marshes far East of Kruxol. This dagger was jet-black, and had a thin, pyramidal shape with a sharp point. Other than a 5% chance of inflicting the poison status, it had a 30% chance of triggering a skill which gave a special poison status effect that debuffed the opponent's Constitution over time and had a cooldown of 2 days.

A series of explosions sounded out from the opposite side of the village, set off by Gastlem.

As Crucis held the Laughing Man down, DicingDevil slashed below the man's nose with the [Poison Dart Dagger] and caused gashes in the fragile skin where blood welled up and poured wildly. Finally, the dagger triggered its [Wells of Venom] skill, and glowed faintly green as it stabbed into the Laughing Man's face and caused a poison effect which drained HP incrementally. Crucis noticed that, since the opponent's Constitution stat was progressively decreased, the poison's damage would increase over time due to meeting less resistance.

The Laughing Man's eyes took on a panicked expression, and he began trying to claw desperately against the wall and Crucis in order to try and escape the shed. However, Crucis shifted his weight and stabbed the man's back just below the ribs, using [Silent Stab]. This caused the victim to writhe weakly in agony.

Crucis took advantage of this to pounce towards the Laughing Man's neck, and stab its back with a [Panoramic Strike]. He saw blood seeping across the floor, tainted slightly green and black. As he withdrew the dagger, he was surprised to see that the deformed man's skin seemed to almost fall away around the wound, leaving a large whorl of damaged, bloodshot skin around it. As he used [The Ripper] to chip away at the wound, he found that the stiff skin on the man's neck had congealed until it was layered and almost brittle, and cracked or collapsed at the dagger's touch.

The rest of the group used this opportunity to sneak through the shed walls and into the Poacher's Den, where they scurried into the hole. Gastlem joined them, and under his watch Vladimir vaulted out of the window and ran towards the Poacher's Den. Akshel stayed behind, in case any larger fights broke out or the Laughing Man started to break free.

So far, the Laughing Man's stiff movement had meant that he was unable to scream clearly and could be pinned to the ground almost noiselessly. However, the Laughing Man still had 40% HP remaining, and was somehow able to resist damage more easily than expected, in spite of the poison's Constitution reduction.

Crucis sprayed [Vile Toxin Gas] over the wounded back of the Laughing Man's throat, and as it touched the man's skin the skin seemed to dissolve away into nothing. However, he was surprised when the man mustered up enough strength to turn his head around and stare angrily at Crucis, mouthing the word 'poison.' The [Vile Toxin Gas] accidentally struck the man's face next to the nose, and caused the skin to dissolve away until there was a strange hole next to the nose.

DicingDevil shoved the Laughing Man's head back to the floor, then used a [Ripper] to slash across the back of the man's head as it stayed claustrophobically pressed to the ground. Crucis joined in by tightening the [Chokehold], then stabbing low on the bottom of the Laughing Man's head and using the wound as leverage to press the victim's face more firmly into the floor. At this point, the Laughing Man was beginning to suffocate on blood that he was finding it difficult to vomit out.

Crucis followed this up with a [Dagger Twist], and felt the Laughing Man attempting to writhe on the floor. Picking up some soil from the garden's edge, Crucis sprinkled it into the wounds lining the back of the neck, which caused the Laughing Man's abortive attempted movements to become more frantic. A slow, weak [Punch] to the edge of the wound caused it to tear painfully and haphazardly, and spread the soil more evenly through the wound. By now, the Laughing Man was down to 13% HP.

Crucis finally sprayed more [Vile Toxin Gas] over the wound, and it began to coat the soil.

"See? They've found the poison in the garden's soil now. What a great poison tester," Crucis said.

"Maybe they can die happy now," DicingDevil smiled.

"Well, for a man like this, happiness is easy. And so too after death, if you take good notice of what the priests say to their flock. So their death being happy is a bare minimum, they deserve even better."

"How compassionate."

Crucis scurried carefully to the edge of the garden, and reached out to grab a few insects who were swarming over a dead beetle. He lowered these insects into the neck wound, along with the beetle corpse and some soil which he had picked up in the process. The Laughing Man opened his mouth wide, straining the scars around it, in agony, as if trying to scream. Not much noise occurred, but some of his scars began to tear wider, spreading across his face.

"Indeed."

He got up, leaving the man to die from the poison. DicingDevil followed him, and they both ran through the wall into the Poacher's Den, where Vladimir and Gastlem were standing by the tunnel entrance.

The group of Assassins reunited in the tunnel, and followed the winding passage towards the Hunting area. As they neared the end of the tunnel, they slowed slightly as Gastlem went ahead and checked that the tunnel exit was safe.

"Why was the guy so paranoid about poison?" Akshel asked Crucis on the way.

"The man's fear of poison might be related to his own deformity," Crucis answered. "As you saw, his skin was strangely contorted and congealed, sometimes brittle and wont to collapse. It must have felt unnatural when moving or even breathing, as if it was contaminated by something that was weakening it and twisting it out of shape. While there was no actual poison involved, the image of poison may have stood out to him."

"True, when he was 'inspecting' the garden he wasn't making efforts to search for an actual poison. So it might have been a metaphorical thing," DicingDevil said.

"Yes, but why should nature bear his ailments, and be scrutinised for signs of such 'poison'? 'Man is born free,' but adults are only free through religion, that is by accepting their chains and treating the chains as their spirit. So they assume that children must be freed in this way. But still 'man is born free,' and once children accept this false freedom instead then they invert into something subhuman. Isn't this man quite like adults who try to free children through god from devils and demons, producing a counterfeit life for the children to live?"

"Funny you say that, my father was a televangelist," Akshel said.

"Well, someone has to fleece the flock."

"Precisely. But it's no fun being in the flock."

"At least you can sing 'Joy to the world' every Christmas. Is that not enough for you?"