Chapter 560: Skin Bag
But despite his obvious terror, the man was still holding on.
He was still maintaining his resolve. And he was visibly relieved to see that Mika’s hellfire had stopped burning.
It seemed like a one-time use item that needed to be recharged. He was just grateful the flame was no longer a threat.
But unfortunately for him, Mika had another trick up his sleeve.
He showed his palm once again, and another item materialized.
This time, it was just a simple, regular glass jar.
But inside the jar was a creature that made everyone in the room recoil in disgust.
It looked like a centipede, but it was even more repulsive.
It was completely blood red all over, with thousands and thousands of tiny legs swarming around its body.
Large pincers sat right on top of its head, clicking menacingly.
The creature writhed and squirmed in the jar, its body moving with an almost hypnotic rhythm.
It was utterly repulsive to look at.
Charlotte covered her eyes with her hands, unable to bear the sight.
Even Anya herself, who had been looking forward to whatever new tool Mika would unveil, immediately frowned.
She was not fond of insects at all and had no interest in this.
Mika turned his attention back to the jar in his hand, observing the creature within with curious detachment.
The centipede-like monster was slamming itself against the glass with desperate urgency, its thousands of legs scrabbling against the transparent walls as if it could sense the feast awaiting it.
Finally, with a casual flick of his wrist, Mika opened the lid.
Immediately, all three sisters took several steps backward, their bodies instinctively recoiling from the creature.
None of them wanted that thing to jump on them—it was just too horrifying to look at..
Even Anya, who had seen and done unspeakable things, found herself retreating.
Fortunately, Mika moved with practiced speed.
Just as the creature tried to launch itself out of the jar, his hand shot forward, his fingers closing around its body.
He held it between two fingers, not squeezing hard enough to kill it but tight enough to prevent escape.
Seeing it out in the open, made even the two remaining prisoners try to jump away.
"N-No, don’t bring that thing near me—!"
"Fuck—! Where did you even get that vile abomination—!"
They had steeled themselves for all the physical torments that could be inflicted upon them.
But seeing a creature like this, and imagining what Mika was going to do with it, was a different kind of terror entirely.
The second man opened his mouth, his lips forming the first syllable of a plea—
But Mika didn’t give him a chance.
He suddenly grabbed the man’s jaw and pried his mouth open, his grip iron-tight and unyielding.
"Wai—! Noo—! Arghhh—!"
The man thrashed and screamed, his words garbled and desperate, trying to beg, trying to bargain, trying to do anything to stop what was coming.
But Mika was relentless.
With his other hand, he slowly brought the creature toward the man’s open mouth and—
—dropped it inside.
"KREEEEEEEEE—! "
The moment the creature landed on his mouth, the creature acted as if it had found its home.
It immediately scurried forward, its thousands of legs propelling it deeper into the man’s mouth and down his throat.
"GRHKKK—! GOK—! GAAK—! AHHH—!"
The man gagged and choked, his body convulsing as he felt the horrifying sensation of those tiny legs scrabbling against the inside of his throat.
He begged and pleaded, tears streaming down his face, but Mika held him firmly in place, his expression utterly unreadable.
Finally, when the creature had completely disappeared inside, Mika released his grip on the man’s jaw.
"BLERGH—! BLERGH—! ARGHHH—!"
The man immediately started coughing violently, his body doubling over as he tried to vomit, tried to expel the horror that had just been forced into his body.
But unfortunately, it was too late.
To the shock and horror of everyone in the room, the centipede-like creature that had gone inside his throat seemed to have already burrowed into his flesh and skin.
They could see the movement against the skin of his neck, a distinct bulge that traveled downward, as if the creature was making its way deeper into his body.
"NO! NO!" The man screamed, his voice cracking with pure terror. "GET IT OUT! GET IT OUT, PLEASE!"
"NO! IT’S GOING DEEPER! IT’S GOING CLOSER!"
He thrashed and screamed, but he couldn’t do anything at all.
He could only watch in horror as the creature moved down his chest, the bulge visible against his bare skin.
He could feel it, could feel every single one of those thousands of legs scraping against his insides as it made its way downward.
Finally, to his absolute horror, it went toward his crotch.
This made him scream like never before.
"AHHHHHHHHHH—!"
His voice rose to a pitch that seemed almost inhuman, his body convulsing with desperate terror.
"NO, NO! NO, NOT THERE! I BEG YOU, TAKE IT OUT! NO, PLEASE!"
He looked at Mika with a terrified gaze, his eyes pleading for mercy.
"I’LL TELL YOU ANYTHING! ANYTHING YOU WANT! JUST TAKE IT OUT! PLEASE!"
But Mika just watched, his expression unreadable, as the creature finally made its way right over to the man’s crotch.
The moment it did, the man immediately shut up.
"Ah—!"
His body froze, almost as if he had been paralyzed.
His eyes went wide, his mouth opening and closing soundlessly as he started making inaudible noises, like something was happening to his body that he couldn’t even begin to describe.
"My...My balls..." He managed, his voice barely above a whisper. "Don’t...help...help me..."
Soon, his body began to tremble.
Not the shaking of fear, but the convulsing of something fundamental changing inside him.
His skin also rippled in a strange manner. Bulges appeared and disappeared across his torso, his arms, his legs.
Not just one movement anymore—but dozens.
Hundreds.
Charlotte watched with her hand clamped over her mouth. She could see the shapes moving beneath his skin, like something was crawling just underneath the surface.
His stomach swelled slightly, then deflated.
His arms bulged in places they shouldn’t.
His neck throbbed with unnatural pulsations.
"What’s...What’s happening to him?" She whispered, her voice trembling.
No one answered.
The man’s eyes grew wider and wider, until they seemed ready to burst from their sockets.
His body convulsed one final time, a violent, full-body spasm that rattled the chains and shook the chair.
Then his eyes closed.
And the most horrific thing Charlotte had ever seen happened next.
The man’s body, which had been sitting tall and straight just moments ago...deflated!
It was like watching a balloon lose all its air. His skin sagged, his flesh collapsed, and his entire form slumped forward like an empty sack.
The shape of him remained, but there was nothing inside to support it. His head lolled forward, his arms hung limp, and his entire body drooped down onto the chair like a discarded coat.
A pile of skin. Nothing more.
Charlotte felt her knees go weak, while the third prisoner let out a strangled scream.
"WHAT—WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?! WHY IS HE LIKE THAT?!"
Astrid had also gone pale. Even she, who had seen countless deaths, was staring at the empty shell with undisguised horror.
"Mika...explain. Now."
Mika crouched down beside the chair. He poked the pile of flesh with a single finger, watching it jiggle obscenely.
"The creature that I fed him right now is called the Four-Thousand-Legged Innard Eater."
He said, his tone casual, almost academic
"The name comes from its dietary preferences."
He pushed his hand deeper into the flesh, searching for something.
"Unlike most carnivorous creatures, which eat meat, the Inner Eater isn’t interested in muscle or fat." He shook his head. "No. It prefers the insides of a person’s body. Organs. Marrow. Nerves."
"Everything that makes a person tick."
Anya, for the first time since Charlotte had known her, looked genuinely disturbed.
A chill ran down her spine.
"Normally." Mika continued. "It would simply enter a prey’s body and slowly consume its insides over the course of several days."
"The prey would be fully conscious, fully aware, as piece by piece, they were hollowed out from within."
He paused, his hand finally finding something inside the flesh. His eyes lit up.
"But the one I used just now? It was pregnant."
The word hung in the air like a death sentence.
"The pregnant ones are different. More...efficient. The moment they enter a host body, they head straight for the reproductive organs."
He pointed at the man’s crotch. "In this case, his testicles."
The third prisoner let out a small, terrified whimper.
"It lays its eggs there. Hundreds of them. Thousands. The injection takes less than a second, and the eggs hatch almost immediately."
"And the babies are born hungry, you see. And with an entire body right there, full of delicious nutrients...well, where else would they go?"
Astrid’s face was ashen. "So you mean they..."
Mika nodded, a terrifying smile appearing on his face.
"They devoured him from the inside out. Every bit of flesh, every organ, every bone, every drop of blood. All consumed by those tiny little centipedes. What’s left is just..."
He gestured at the pile.
"...a skin bag."
The room fell into an eerie, suffocating silence.
Charlotte felt she was going to faint. Anya looked like she was fighting the urge to vomit.
Even Astrid, usually the most composed of the three, was staring at Mika with a mixture of fear and disbelief.
But Charlotte forced herself to ask the question that was burning in her mind.
Her voice was small, trembling, but she pushed through.
"Mika...What about the baby centipedes? Where are they now?"
Mika’s eyes glinted. He pointed at the pile of flesh.
"They’re still inside!"
Charlotte’s face went pale as death.
"As long as I take a knife..." Mika said, reaching for a blade on the nearby table. "...and slit open this skin...they’ll come pouring out."
"Do you want to see? They actually look really cute. You’d even want them as a pet after seeing how cute their little legs can be."
He held up the knife, like he was ready to dissect the skin and show the thousands of babies inside.
