VS The Headmaster

  Why... a bow and arrow, not a gun...?

  Blood poured from her chest and mouth as Victoria's face twisted in pain. She opened her left hand, clenched her right hand into a fist, and slammed it against her ear!

  Blood gushed from both ears.

  Then, Victoria collapsed to her knees and fell to the ground.

  Got it, sis. You want me to use that, right?

  Ethan couldn’t send telepathic messages to Victoria.

  Even so, he understood her intent.

  From the ground in front of him, buried corpses began emerging one after another like zombies.

  Are these hallucinations too? But if any of them are real, that’ll be a serious problem.

  A naked man approached, and Ethan struck his instep with a Duality Martial Arts: Sonic Bullet (Finger Bullet).

  Normally, even a zombie would flinch from the impact—but there was no reaction.

  They're illusions!

  Ethan rapidly fired Sonic Bullets at the approaching undead. Because he had perceived them as hallucinations, the bullets worked—the corpses vanished one by one.

  Even if my senses are being manipulated, once I know it’s fake, it’s not that hard to handle.

  Ethan stood by the fallen Victoria, glancing at her.

  She remained motionless.

  “I’m sorry I ran away earlier.”

  Ethan froze.

  Beside him stood Ria.

  Not through the chat. The real Ria he had longed to see.

  But this must be a hallucination too.

  As Ethan readied another Sonic Bullet, Ria spoke to him.

  “I’m not an illusion. I’m real. See? I’m warm, right?”

  She was already touching his hand. Ethan could feel her warmth.

  “I’ve always wanted you to touch me, to love me. But I had androphobia, and I couldn’t. That’s why I joined Lumen Dei.”

  “Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”

  It had to be an illusion. A trick of the enemy. Ethan knew that, rationally.

  But feeling the touch of the woman he had always loved, his reason began to falter.

  “Because I loved you. I knew it was a shady cult, but I didn’t have any other options. But now…”

  Ria wrapped her arms around him.

  “So now, I can finally hug you like this.”

  Ethan had always wanted to hold her.

  Even if this was an illusion.

  Her scent teased his nose, stirring something primal within.

  Ethan was overwhelmed by a desire to stay like this forever.

  Stay calm. There’s no way Ria is here right now.

  Even so, he tried to pull away from her.

  But Ria clung to him with a vice-like grip, refusing to let go.

  “You…!”

  Unable to grasp the situation, Ethan focused on calming his breathing and regulating his ether.

  It was in that moment—

  An arrow struck Ethan’s shoulder. It was rigged with explosives.

  A massive explosion erupted, engulfing Victoria as well, filling the area with fire and a deafening roar.

  At the moment Victoria was shot with an arrow from behind, Beatrice was being forced to relive the worst trauma of her life through Kiril Varga’s Exceed: Reenactment.

  “Well done. Now I understand their entire operation. Oh, and don’t start slacking. Serving us is also part of your important duty.”

  Vilnis Dreimanis, with blond hair and ice-blue eyes, smiled in satisfaction.

  After her “work” was finished, Annika bowed and left the room.

  She rinsed her mouth with water and spat out the last of it.

  Is this really... for freedom? For peace? Father, Mother, Sister... I...

  Tears welled in Annika’s eyes, even though she thought she had long since forgotten how to cry.

  It was the year 1942.

  Annika Elfriede von Rosenthal was born the daughter of a noble family in a small northern country occupied by Nazi Germany.

  Now clad in worn, shabby clothes, she used a hand mirror to fix her appearance. Her red hair was damaged, and her teary green eyes stared back at her.

  Due to the Nazi invasion, countless Jews had been murdered, and the Holocaust was carried out in her homeland as well.

  The mansion where Annika lived had been seized for use by Nazi officials. Her parents and sister had sacrificed their lives to buy her time to escape.

  In pursuit of revenge, Annika joined the resistance.

  Of course, there were decent resistance groups.

  But the one Annika ended up in—Aurora Veritatis—had a very specific nature.

  As she walked through the underground tunnels of the resistance, she passed by a man—Edvīns Kalni??. She gave him a small nod.

  “I’m truly sorry.”

  Annika heard Edvīns murmur.

  He was a thirty-year-old man with grayish-blue hair and gray eyes. Formerly a seminary teacher, he was one of the few who, unlike the others, never laid a hand on the women—including Annika.

  She stopped and looked him in the eye.

  “It’s fine. This is war. If it means gathering intel, sleeping with Nazi officers is a small price to pay.”

  But the tremor in her voice told Edvīns she was lying.

  “...I’m truly sorry I can’t do anything.”

  Annika saw his tightly clenched fists trembling.

  At least this man... at least he pities us.

  “Thank you. I’m tired, I’ll go rest.”

  Annika knew voicing any dissatisfaction with Aurora Veritatis could be dangerous if overheard. So she parted ways with Edvīns and hurried down the corridor.

  She walked through the tunnels and entered a crude shared bedroom.

  What is this smell… blood?

  She knocked on the door—no response.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  She opened it cautiously. It was dark.

  She lit her oil lantern.

  There, her roommate Maija lay on the bed—her throat slashed, lifeless.

  Her eyes said nothing, but carved into her bleeding arm was the name “Vilnis.”

  On the torn bed sheets, scrawled in blood, were the words:

  “We are not whores.”

  Annika’s whole body trembled uncontrollably.

  Aurora Veritatis — Latin for “Dawn of Truth.”

  It was a resistance group led by the children of nobles and clergy, known for its skill in gathering intelligence and planning operations against the Nazis.

  But contrary to its noble name, what lurked there was deception and endless night.

  Women who joined the group were ordered to sell their bodies to Nazi officers to obtain intel.

  And when they returned to the base, they were used again—this time to satisfy the male members of the resistance.

  The leader, Vilnis Dreimanis, claimed it was essential for morale.

  “Maija…”

  She must’ve suffered something terrible at Vilnis’s hands.

  Annika held back tears, but the pain in her heart was unbearable.

  With the intelligence gained, the resistance gained the upper hand.

  Annika had lain with countless Nazi soldiers and officers—and with her fellow resistance fighters.

  Her body ached constantly. Her spirit frayed.

  So Vilnis, after each "service," gave her a drug.

  Injected with a syringe, it dulled the pain—but Annika became addicted.

  “Annika, are you alright?”

  Walking through the tunnel again, she ran into Edvīns.

  “I-I’m fine…”

  Her speech was slurred.

  “Let me see.”

  Edvīns grabbed her arm and rolled up her sleeve.

  There, fresh injection marks.

  His face went pale.

  “That bastard…”

  “Annika, listen to me. Don’t use this again.”

  He stormed off in the direction of their headquarters.

  Annika tried to follow—but collapsed.

  Her body wouldn't respond.

  She lay trembling in the underground passage.

  The leader, Vilnis, as always, prepared expensive liquor for Annika before their “session.”

  “Drink.”

  In Aurora Veritatis, a woman could not disobey a man’s order.

  Annika drank it—it tasted foul.

  Vilnis, in high spirits, said:

  “You did great this time. We’ve not only got intel on the Nazis’ operation, but also their wealth and property. Life after the war will be good.”

  He then pulled out a syringe.

  “C-could you not use that…? Edvīns told me to stop. I’ve been trying to cut back…”

  Vilnis punched her in the face. Annika tumbled from her chair.

  “He’s never coming back. Died an honorable death.”

  Her face went pale.

  She tried to stand—but her body wouldn’t move.

  “It was laced with a paralytic. You’ll be conscious, don’t worry.

  Edvīns drank the same stuff—died like a dog.”

  “Now Annika, let me tell you what’s going to happen to you.”

  He bound her with rope, grinning with glee.

  “Once the Nazis lose, you’ll be labeled a traitor who slept with the enemy to survive—and executed publicly.

  The people will need someone to blame.”

  Then he injected her.

  The cruel future he described and the drug’s impact hit her at once. Her mind couldn’t process it.

  Is this… is this the justice I wanted? Is this revenge?

  Mother… Father… Sister… is this what it all led to?

  Edvīns… even you are dead now…

  “Of course, that’s only if you survive.

  This drug is a synthetic analgesic similar to morphine.

  It gives a fleeting high—but then, hell comes.

  This time, I tripled the dose. Think of it as my gift to you.

  Now, let’s begin our ‘love.’”

  Vilnis smiled like a sadistic demon.

  (He never cared about peace or freedom.

  He used lofty ideals as an excuse—to fill the void inside himself by violating women...)

  Annika felt nothing but pain. Her entire existence was agony.

  As she was dragged to her public execution, pelted with garbage and shot repeatedly, one thought consumed her:

  If I am reborn… let it be into a world without this kind of suffering.

  Where no one must endure what I did...

  The film ended.

  When the screen disappeared, Beatrice collapsed as if the screen itself had fallen through the floor.

  She barely landed, but her whole body trembled, her eyes were unfocused, and she muttered unintelligibly.

  “Magnificent. You could win an Academy Award with that performance.

  Now, your mind must be completely shattered. Here—my service to you: I’ll end your suffering.”

  Kiril licked his lips and raised the demonic sword Gram, slowly approaching the motionless Beatrice.

  Then, he brought the blade down.

  While Beatrice was trapped in the hell of her past trauma, Maya had no time to mourn the broken form of Sophia—

  Her paralyzed body was already being restrained.

  “Maya. Love always comes with pain.

  Now it's time for you to understand that.”

  Ezekiel extended one of his arms, now transformed into an anaconda, and used its jaws to grab Maya by the ankles, lifting her into the air.

  She didn’t so much as twitch—whether due to the paralysis toxin or sheer shock, she was utterly unresponsive.

  “Sensei, if you go too far, you’ll mess up Maya’s pretty face,”

  Sophia said with a laugh.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be gentle,”

  Ezekiel replied with a refreshing smile, then began to spin the anaconda with centrifugal force.

  Maya’s body slammed into the iron grille with a dull, gut-wrenching thud.

  “This hurts me too. But to help you understand God’s love…

  Only thirty more to go.”

  Ezekiel wore an enraptured expression.

  A dark, sickening sound echoed thirty times through the corridor.

  “Oh, look—her nose is broken, and some of her teeth are gone…”

  Sophia began licking Maya’s bloodied face.

  “It hurts, doesn’t it?

  But you know, Maya... I didn’t like it at first either.

  But once I became one with Sensei, it felt so good.

  That’s why I want you to come with us.”

  Maya remained still as death.

  In this ambush operation, none of them were wearing tactical suits—they were all dressed in enhanced civilian clothes.

  Under her coat, Maya wore just a hoodie and jeans.

  Despite the severe injuries she had sustained, Maya’s Exceed still hadn’t activated.

  Her eyes remained unfocused, and her body paralyzed.

  Ezekiel had the anaconda bite into Maya’s wrists, leaving her suspended in midair.

  Then, he placed a hand on her waist.

  “Come, Maya. Let us make love.”

  For Maya, it was the worst possible moment.

  For Ezekiel, it was the moment he had craved more than anything.

  Special Thanks: Veerku

  (Of course, silently wishing for their victory is perfectly fine too.)

  Your voice helps shape the direction and heart of this story.

  Season 1 will conclude with Chapter 20.

  HELL'S RETURNERS will take a short break and return as Season 2 in January 2026.

  Chapter 19 will depict the turning point and decisive battles.

  I'd love to hear your thoughts and reasons in the comments!

  ◆Beatrice’s past was revealed in this chapter—

  How did it make you feel?

  Special Thanks:

  Lemongirl – The members of Luna Nordix have been pushed to the very edge. Among their enemies, who do you find the most infuriating?

  Assa131 – If you’ve made it this far, I’d love to know—which character stood out to you the most in this chapter?

  Your support helps this tale reach new readers—those who resonate with its light and darkness alike.

  check out my Substack article here:

  https://open.substack.com/pub/knishi2050/p/why-i-wrote-hells-returners?r=5wfkgu&utm_medium=ios)

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