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[The Distinguished Mr. Rose] Chapter 46: The First of the Great Evils: Eyes of Prejudice
🕑 Added 2025-05-06 16:28:24 +0000 UTCMarco’s feet came to a sudden halt. His skin paled; his body shook; and his eyes grew wide as this thing, a demon whose kind had never once shown a hint of consciousness, now confronted him with a voice eerily clear.
“Am I a dirty Saracen? Am I a savage from the Moors?”
A feeling washed over Lucius’s party. It seized them all without relent, wormed its way into their heads and plagued them with a slow, building, creeping sensation that something was off.
“Mister Bernardi…” Lucius said very carefully. “I recommend that you move away. Now.”
They didn’t try to attack it. They didn’t wish to even provoke it. The countless beady eyes in its body covered in photographs stared down at them as if transfixed, waiting for a reaction, a response.
Lucius tried to pull Marco away; but he wouldn’t budge. The old mobster was unresponsive, standing still as if rooted firmly to the earth.
“Mister Bernardi?”
Marco opened his mouth. “I… I see a…”
Something was wrong with the man. He convulsed and trembled, head thrashing this way and that way in unnatural swings as if attempting to fight off a force invading his mind. Lucius had to back away lest he be smacked; Marco dug his fingernails into his own skin until it drew blood.
“I see how you look at me. Eyes, eyes? So filled with hate. Is it the color of my skin? Is it the shape of my head? You think I am inferior. Oh, why can’t we just be equals?”
Marco clenched his throat and gurgled, veins bulging in panic, in strain, in a final desperate attempt to escape whatever was infecting him.
But for all his strength and grit, he failed. Marco’s arms fell limp; and he froze in place without so much as a whisper.
When he spoke again, his voice had changed. It was angrier—delirious. His voice was one of unconstrained prejudice.
“You babbling cafones!” He turned around, frothing at the mouth, and pointed at Lucius’s party with a crooked finger. There was not a single trace of the Mister Bernardi they knew before. Now, there was only a reckless man, a frenzied mess of rage and hysteria. “How many times do I have to say it? I don’t give a rat’s ass about becoming a Jehovah's Witness. Stop botherin’ my boys and girls. Lupara bianco, ya hear me? If I ever see one of youse at my door again, I’ll rip yer heads off with my own two hands!”
It was nonsense: complete and utter nonsense. None of it made sense. It was as if Marco was speaking to someone else entirely, his eyes covered in a filter that made him see only that which he despised most.
And it wasn’t only him. Soon, Mili began to change as well.
She shuddered and clenched her guitar tight until the strings cut into her fingers. Lucius had not the chance to check on her before she started lashing out at everyone nearby, wailing and screeching with the fury of one overcome with madness.
“Oh, I see how it is. You jerks think I’m an easy target, huh!?” she spat at Lucius. “You think it’s fun picking on a little Asian girl, you white sons of bitches? So what if I wanna become a musician—Rock and Roll ain’t limited to your scrawny, pale ass redneck trailer trash lookin’ losers. You think you can dictate my life? Then eat shit, assholes!”
“Language, Miss Mili.”
“Oops, sorry.”
Static coursed through the air; lightning sparked from her fingertips. Lucius had barely a second to leap out of the way before a bolt nearly fried him into a crispy char.
“Oh dear,” Lucius said, readjusting his suit. “I believe I have an idea as to what is going on here.”
Racism.
It was racism.
>[EMERGENCY QUEST!]<
One of the Four Great Evils, the Eyes of Prejudice, has entered the battlefield. Take part in its subjugation, rid this land of its vile influence, or else Roncevaux Fortress will be destroyed - along with the lives of everyone spellbound by its control.
Reward: 1000 Cosmic Coins, a random C-rank skill book, and increased reputation with the Holy Empire
Failure: Death
The Demon of Eyes stoked the innate racism, and perhaps a bit of xenophobia and religious discrimination for good measure, within all around it. Even the normally good-natured Marco had his prejudice amplified, until his mind was bewitched and he could see only those he loathed. The same went for Mili.
The only one who wasn’t affected, interestingly enough, was Harper.
“What the hell’s going on with you two?!” she wheezed, backing away from their rampage.
“It is the demon’s influence, Miss Brooks,” Lucius said to her. “The thing has enthralled them as its loathful servants. There can be no reasoning with our companions now.”
The firefighter grinded her teeth and hesitated, but she knew it to be true. Words wouldn’t reach them. “Damnit, guess that explains the funny buzz in my head. I have a composure skill, keeps me calm and steady, so I’m probably the best bet at taking that thing down.”
She paused for a second, confused, and then turned toward Lucius. “Wait, how come you aren’t affected?”
“Me?” he replied, incredulous at her assumption. “I’m not prejudiced. I love humanity equally, no matter what shape or size or color they come in.”
A gentleman—racist? But of course not! It was no wonder why the demon’s power didn’t work on Lucius: You couldn’t amplify what didn’t exist to begin with.
The same unfortunately couldn’t be said about the surrounding people. Soon, players, priests, and paladins alike all fell victim to the Demon of Eyes and its baleful control. Allies once locked in arms began to turn against each other: maiming, brutalizing, tearing their friends limb to limb until a river of blood flowed through the land. Their madness was indiscriminate. They hesitated not to rip apart those they had shared drink and laughed with the night before.
It was truly a scene straight out of hell. Screams both of fear and hate beset the oppressive atmosphere; and nary a corner was spared from the delirium wrought from their heightened prejudice.
The only other two somewhat resistant to the demon’s control were the two Peers.
Ogier and Ruggiero came crashing down from the sky and landed next to Lucius. The paladins grappled with their heads and groaned, but otherwise kept their sanity and managed to stagger out.
“What is this?” Ogier said, looking around in a daze. “Why is a Great Evil here? Astolfo, that brat—where has he gone that this thing is allowed to come so near?”
Ruggiero clawed at the ground and yelled out in resistance, smacking his chest in an effort to clear his head. “We… we know not the affairs of the others. Perhaps another of the Great Evils has acted that required his attention.”
“Even so, this is not where the Eyes roam. It should not have been drawn here.”
Before they could recover, Marco and Mili lunged after the two Peers. Fortunately, Lucius managed to sneak behind and knock his fellows out with a swift chop to the neck; they collapsed without a word, momentarily brought to the land of dreams.
Harper winced at the sight, but she knew there was nothing else that could be done.
“It comforts me to see you both still in good health,” Lucius said, greeting the weary paladins.
Ruggiero exhaled in relief and tapped Lucius’s shoulder. “So am I, my friend. I knew a man of your skill wouldn’t fall to the influence so easily—ah, but there is one more! You are Lady Harper, a blessing it is to have another of sound mind among us.”
“Pleasure, sir,” she replied. “But we should really get moving.”
The conflict around them raged by the second. If nothing was done, everyone whether they be Frankishman or Player would perish.
Ogier seemed conflicted whether or not to allow the two players to join him in the demon’s subjugation. However, this was no time to be considerate. The lives of the many depended on them to triumph here; the Peer couldn’t afford to dismiss whatever aid he could gather, even if it meant their potential sacrifice.
“... I will hold no grudge should you flee here,” he said to them. “The Demon of Eyes is a fickle foe. It is likely one of us will die. Do you still choose to stay, given the danger?”
Harper immediately nodded, her face brimming with resolve. “Of course I will. I may not be a firefighter anymore, but I still follow the creed: to serve my fellow man and assist the populace when needed most.”
Ogier stood still for a moment, before breaking out into a loud guffaw and extending his hand in cooperation. “Then we will fight together.”
The four of them acknowledged each other one last time, and then charged toward the dreaded Eyes of Evil. Ogier and Ruggiero led at the forefront while Harper and Lucius followed next to their rear.
The demon reacted plainly to their bloodlust. It shivered and cast its gaze upon them, stretching out its limbs until long eyestalks grew out and snapped with the force of a whip.
“You took me away. You rid me of my name. So why do I still face such prejudice? Was erasing my identity not enough?”
The stalks lashed wildly, shredding the air and creating whirlwinds of gusts that tore at the paladins. The force surged on; but Ruggiero and Ogier batted away the inky tendrils and slowly advanced—closer, gradually. The two players knew well that the Peers were stronger. Going near would merely get in their way, so they provided support subtly by covering their sides and carving through what stalks they could.
Finally, they drew close. The demon was a few steps away.
Ogier’s skin steamed with a bright red. His lips curled into a snarl, body bulging with strength, and he wrestled free from the lashes, rushed forth, and swung down with the full might of his shortsword.
But before it could connect, he suddenly veered away.
“Do not look at me. Do not look at me! I cannot face those eyes. Those wrathful, unfair eyes . . .”
Ogier clutched his face and staggered back, blood dripping from his sockets. “I cannot… I cannot see…”
The stalks chased after him, but Lucius quickly leapt forth and repelled the attack with his cane sword. “Are you alright, my friend?”
The man grunted in affirmation and stood back up. “Do not look at it directly! Use your other senses.”
Easier said than done, but Ruggiero duly obeyed. He squeezed his eyes shut and whirled forward using only the sound of wind to anticipate where the demon would next strike.
“Guide me to the scourge’s position, Lady Harper!” He couldn’t look directly; but the firefighter was out of the demon’s range. She shot a jet of water from her fire hydrant, allowing Ruggiero to follow the trail and thrust true onto the demon’s squirming, papery flesh.
“Why do you still hurt me? How much more must I prostrate before I am finally accepted?”
A gaping hole was left behind by Ruggiero’s greatsword; however, the thing had not the body of a living being. It bled no blood - recoiled not in pain. It simply filled the space with more eyes. It grew larger, bubbling and distorting with hundreds and hundreds of more eyes.
The battle descended ever further, but no matter how many wounds Ruggiero and Ogier inflicted on the demon, it quickly recovered its injuries and extended to hideous, oozing lengths.
“We must destroy it in one blow, Ruggiero!” Ogier exclaimed.
But the man was too busy fending off the attacks. “I cannot—not now! I require another to take my place, but…”
Lucius slipped in as if on cue and redirected the demon’s attention onto himself. “Do what you must, Sir Ruggiero. I shall bear the burden in your stead.”
Ruggiero cursed his own inadequacy, but eventually relented and backed away, leaving Lucius to dodge and weave through the countless eyestalks. “You must survive, Sir Lucius! Do not make me bury another after this day.”
Ruggiero and Ogier retreated to compose themselves and then focused their might onto their armaments. The Balisarda and Cortain began to glow, the crystals on their blades shining bright and condensing into a sharper, deadlier, force.
Lucius had waltzed with the demon for minutes on end, before the Peers were finally ready and stepped forth to unleash their might.
But the moment they did, something blocked their path—something unexpected.
It was the paladins, and the players, and everyone else still trapped within a mire of prejudice. They blocked the way and attacked the very pair who sought to free them.
“Hatred. Disgust. See how they revile me so. Those I thought fondly of turned against me. We were never friends to begin with.”
The two stayed their blades, hesitant to kill their own. But there was no other way. The demon beset them with the most vile choice of all.
Slay your companions: the ones who trusted you, looked up to you, sought your words for comfort when the horrors of war became too much…
… or fall before their malice?
Ruggiero winced and hung his head in defeat. “I am sorry, Ogier. But I cannot—I cannot bring myself to…”
“You do not need to.”
Ogier took a deep, trembling breath, and he readied his shortsword. The man was cast in a ghostly aura.“ Let the burden be mine and mine alone.”
He needed to fulfill his duties. He had to protect the fortress no matter what. And so, with eyes dulled and heart stilled with grim resolve, Ogier slashed, and cut them down. Every life taken also seemed to steal away a piece of his soul along with it, but nevertheless he continued his sorrowful slaughter.
Ruggiero didn’t say a word. He knew the responsibility his fellow Peer had taken, and so he followed close behind, doing all he could to intensify his blade, deeper, even deeper.
“Lady Harper!” the man screamed.
The firefighter slumped, her energy nearly all but spent, and released a guttural cry before shooting another jet of water. The demon was too busy chasing after Lucius. It did not see even with its countless eyes the enlarged, crystalline blade of the Balisarda.
Ruggiero exhausted every last fiber of his being, and then brought his fury crashing down.
A flash of light enveloped the world, blinded the eyes of all nearby.
When it faded, there was only a small clump where the demon once stood.
“I struggle, and I fight, and yet I can never become one of them. We will never be equal.”
The demon, albeit puny, still lived and began to retreat. But the others were too fatigued to chase after it. Ruggiero crumbled from exhaustion; Ogier continued to hold back the mindless horde; and Harper collapsed near where Marco and Mili laid.
Here it was, the vile thing responsible for all this tragedy—exposed, vulnerable. And yet no one could slay it.
No one, except for Lucius.
The gentleman walked up to the squirming mass and beheld it with a look of intrigue.
“Well hello there, my good sir,” he said. “Are you in the mood for conversation now?”
The demon didn’t answer, at least not to his inquiry. It merely raised the last of its eyes and bid him a question.
“What do I look like in your eyes?”
Lucius smiled.
“A beautiful, tragic soul.”
It did not move for a moment, as if stunned by his reply.
“Your eyes . . .” it said. “They hold no prejudice.”
Slowly, the demon withered away. Lucius did nothing but speak his heart, but perhaps that was enough. Perhaps that was all the demon wanted from the very beginning: to be seen without prejudice.
“It is over. Over. Finally, I can rest at last . . .”
With that, it disappeared, fluttering into the sky as a trail of sparkling dust.
>[Congratulations! Lucius Rose has slain one of the Four Great Evils: the Eyes of Prejudice. The Emergency Quest is now complete]<
*(NEW!) EXP + 500
*Lucius Rose is now Level 29
*(NEW!) 500 Cosmic Coins
*(NEW!) 1000 Contribution Points
*(NEW!) Random C-rank Skill Book
*Your reputation with the Holy Empire has increased
>[In recognition of your great feat, you have been granted a new passive title: Nemesis of Demons]<
Nemesis of Demons: Whilst engaged in combat with the demonic race, your stats will be increased by 10%.
Comments
Arexio R.
hell yeah lucius
Beeees!
He may be evil at heart, but it's not based on a silly thing like prejudice. That would be very ungentalmanly
Jonas
I proofread this chapter like 4 times and there’s still mistakes 😭 thank you.
forgetfulposum
"your stats will be increased by 10%(.)" (missing dot) "Lucius Rose has slayed -> slain one of the Four Great Evils"
