Grandma Gennaro grabbed the butcher knife and charged straight at the pig demon. Though her face showed a hint of fear—after all, it was a demon—the blade in her hand gleamed with murderous intent.
The fat woman pig demon trembled at the sight of the killing knife. She didn't even have the courage to dodge, as if the weapon had completely subdued her.
A piercing squeal rang out as the butcher's knife sliced a bloody gash across the pig demon's neck. Flesh tore open and blood gushed forth, dyeing the entire pigsty crimson.
The pig demon collapsed to the ground. After thrashing about weakly for a few moments, it reverted to its original form—just an ordinary dead pig lying in the dirt. It had been slain!
The butcher knife proved incredibly powerful. This well-used blade, steeped in years of slaughter, carried particularly malignant energy. Confronted with it, the pig demon hadn't even dared to resist.
I never could have imagined this hunched old woman would actually slaughter the pig demon alive. But I understood where her courage came from—she was determined to save her grandson Gennaro.
"Grandma..." Gennaro choked out between sobs.
"Don't be afraid, don't cry," Grandma Gennaro said. "Even a demon is still just an animal. After raising it all these years, I'll decide when it dies—spirit or not!"
The old woman now stood clutching the bloodstained butcher knife, her pale face twisted with vicious determination. She looked like some evil Shura demon that had crawled up from hell itself.
"Killing this pig demon won't help," I warned. "You can't save your grandson this way. He must pay for his crimes!"
Though armed with a knife, she remained an elderly woman. Even if she fought desperately for her grandson, we could easily subdue her without fear.
"Those bones you found are just pig remains," Grandma Gennaro suddenly said with a strange smile, her toothless grin appearing particularly eerie in the moonlight. "Reporting it is useless—there's no evidence. My grandson can't be convicted!"
"Grandma, when did you..." Gennaro gasped in shock, unaware his grandmother had discovered his murders.
"You're just like your father!" Grandma Gennaro scolded. "Weak around women—and even worse with strange women! I uncovered your crimes long ago. By the time I realized, it was too late to stop you. But I salvaged those skeletons from the well and replaced them with pig bones. Now we've nothing to fear—no evidence remains, and no one will ever know."
"Thank you, Grandma!" Gennaro cried tears of relief, overjoyed at his apparent escape from justice.
"Where did you put the rest of those skeletons?" I frowned, then moved closer to examine the bones. They did somewhat resemble pig bones. When we first pulled them out, we had assumed they were human remains, so we hadn't inspected them carefully.
"Where did I put them?" Grandma Gennaro patted her stomach and said, "I stewed them for a week, dissolved them, and ate them. They're right here in my belly."
"Oh, no matter who you are, you'll never find even half of that woman's remains. And there's no way in hell I'll let my grandson be convicted!" Grandma Gennaro declared arrogantly.
"You're a real old fool," I snapped. "Your grandson killed someone—he has to pay for it. And you're harboring a criminal!"
Grandma Gennaro didn't back down. "That woman had the nerve to go home with a man after just talking to him online for a short time. She deserved to die. Gennaro's mother was no better—she cheated on him right in the pigsty. She deserved to die too!"
"All these misbehaving women deserve to die! Damn every last one of them!"
I was dumbfounded. What kind of nonsense was this? Now I finally understood why Gennaro turned out the way he did. How could anyone not grow up twisted with such a warped worldview shaping them?
"Enough of your bullshit! You three, get the hell out of here right now! Otherwise, I'll lie down and scream, and you'll regret ever setting foot in this place!" Grandma Gennaro brandished the knife at my face. Emboldened, Gennaro started cursing at Antonio, demanding he let go immediately.
Oh, so now they're trying to intimidate us? Her threat wasn't empty, either. We were outsiders—if she collapsed and accused us of breaking in to rob or kill her, the whole village would rally against us. The three of us would be in deep trouble.
"You damn old hag, you dare threaten us? And you—you dare curse at me?" Antonio, never one to tolerate disrespect, twisted Gennaro's arm harder, making him yelp in pain.
Stein, more cautious, knew this wouldn't end well for us. "Let's go back for now," he urged. "There's nothing more we can do for that girl tonight."
But Grandma Gennaro only grew more aggressive, slashing at Antonio with the butcher knife.
"Let go of my grandson, or I'll chop you to death! Lay a finger on me, and I'll make sure you lose everything you own—you won't leave this village alive!" she shrieked. Despite her age, she wielded the knife with terrifying force, each slash aimed straight for Antonio's vitals.
Antonio, unwilling to fight an old woman, held back. But even the best fighter can't defend forever against a blade. If he kept taking hits without retaliating, he'd be in real danger—especially while restraining Gennaro.
Frustrated but helpless, Antonio's face darkened with rage.
"Damn it, you old witch! Still swinging that damn knife, hiding behind your age?" Stein had finally had enough and started cursing at her outright.
"You damn runt! Go ahead, hit me if you dare! Come on, do it! Let go of my grandson!" Grandma Gennaro continued to provoke mercilessly.
Stein cursed under his breath but still didn't dare lay a hand on the old woman. He understood our predicament all too well.
Without solid evidence to convict Gennaro, and with this old hag threatening to frame us, we'd be in serious trouble if things escalated.
"Alright, you asked for it. I've never heard such a bizarre request in my life!"
In a flash, I lunged forward and kicked the old woman to the ground. After snatching the butcher knife from her, I delivered two more swift kicks for good measure.
Everyone froze in shock—including Grandma Gennaro herself. No one expected me to actually strike her.
Seizing the moment, I barked an order: "Antonio, get his phone and pin down his tattooed arm!"
"What... what are you doing?!" Gennaro and his grandmother demanded in unison. Though they didn't yet understand my intentions, their faces paled with dread.
"Got it, Mr. Roger," Antonio complied, forcing Gennaro's phone open via facial recognition. I quickly accessed it and transferred twenty thousand dollars back to myself.
"W-what the hell are you doing?!" Gennaro panicked, sweat beading on his forehead. All his earlier arrogance had vanished.
"Your twenty grand is returned. Now, my tattoo—I'm taking that back too!"
I raised the butcher knife high and brought it down in one brutal slash. Gennaro thrashed wildly, but it was useless—Antonio had his tattooed arm locked in an iron grip.
"N-no! Don't—!"
"AAAAHHHH—!"
An ear-splitting scream tore through the air as blood sprayed in all directions. With a single clean strike, I severed Gennaro's arm right from his body!