Sir! Don't close the net!

Hagen.

"I mean...when will my application be approved?!"

Valkyrie slammed her hand on the table in a fit of rage. Golden arcs of electricity that occasionally flickered across her forehead forced the receptionist to swallow all her formalities and repeat, like a robot, with a smile that was almost on the verge of tears: "I'm sorry, this is not something I have the authority to interfere with."

Valkyrie gradually became agitated, but before the table could be smashed, Valkyrie appeared and dragged Valkyrie away.

"Hey—what are you doing? This is headquarters!" Valkyrie pulled Valkyrie to a corner, looked around to make sure no one was there, and then lowered her voice.

"I'm just expressing my dissatisfaction with the unbelievably poor work efficiency at headquarters! I've been applying for so long and there's still no response!" Valhae Rei shouted, arms crossed as if to make sure everyone could hear, "Ha—this is the attitude of Galar Horn towards its veteran employees and long-serving heroes!"

"It's not that you're inefficient, but we've clearly told you that you can't be transferred."

Valkyrie sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead.

“You know who’s in Theresa Prison. There’s nowhere else for her to go but Theresa Prison.”

"That's why I'm being transferred there! That's the most dangerous Valkyrie! What if... what if she sets her sights on my man!"

Chapter Five: The King in Yellow is Running Wild

"Zzz—"

Li Yili, who was tearing the brim of her raincoat hood, exhaled and turned her head to look. There was a plate of pork chops in the middle of the corridor outside the prison door, with three sausages next to the pork chops and a bunch of grass next to the sausages.

Li Yili got up, shook the raincoat in her hand, put it on, opened the cell door, bent down to pick up the things in the corridor, turned around and closed the cell door.

As soon as Li Yili sat down, she heard all sorts of panting sounds, as if a group of people had been holding their breath, waiting for her to accept the tribute.

Starting from the second day, all sorts of things appeared in front of the prison gate, some of which could be considered tributes and others of protection money. At first, it was only from the sponge man next door who seemed to be named Simon. As his range of activity expanded, the tributes gradually increased and became more varied.

As for what he did... well, nothing much. He simply appeared when everyone was filled with fear, stood in front of someone's cell door without saying or doing anything, watching the person inside, appearing with fear and leaving with fear.

Simon gave him the inspiration: no matter how bizarre or strange an appearance is, all living things will feel fear, and the unknown is the most likely to evoke fear.

Although the underlying principle is still unclear, the sound heard at the Temple of Gowwitten reappeared sometime after Instas was submerged.

The verdict should be kept silent.

Steel will punish those who speak out.

According to his observations, the verdict was to be delivered at 11:59. As for what the verdict was, he had not yet observed it. However, everyone in Teresa's prison except him stayed quietly in their own worlds at that time, not daring to look outside their cells, clearly very wary of the unknown verdict.

As for the steel, it probably refers to the Iron Maiden who came with the monster dog. As for the evil deeds... he hasn't seen them yet, but judging from the Iron Maiden's appearance, they are probably more evil deeds than he can imagine.

He wasn't curious at all about what the Iron Maiden's interior looked like, and he had no desire to go inside and sit down.

Sit down.

But this was an opportunity. He couldn't stay in a cell forever. On the first day, he noticed a very serious problem with Teresa Prison: there were no mealtimes. People would die if they didn't eat, and there were no lockable cell doors.

No need to think about it anymore, I'll take care of my own meals.

But this Teresa prison is full of rare animals with unlocked cell doors, so finding food is one thing, but even moving around safely is a major problem.

Danger and opportunity coexist. Those few minutes of silence are his chance. He will use those few minutes of silence to intimidate the prisoners in his area by instilling the unknown fear brought by the Iron Maiden. Ideally, he should make the prisoners here have the illusion that the Iron Maiden is brought by the King in Yellow.

The only risk is being forcibly dragged into the interior of the Iron Maiden, which no one has ever seen or entered before.

It's impossible for everyone to be trembling at the exact moment. They can quickly move around while the prisoners are trembling, choose their victims, stand in front of the prisoner's cell door at the exact moment, and then just watch in silence before leaving.

Fortunately, the plan went very smoothly. During this time, he witnessed all sorts of expressions of being "scared to death," with Simon even crushing his own bones in fear being one of the more common occurrences.

The product of the plan was a variety of food and supplies placed in front of the King in Yellow's cage. The prisoners in his area seemed to be very timid. Many prisoners who had not yet been visited by him seemed to know about the King in Yellow's reputation, who brought fear with him, through the circle of prisoners in this area, and came to show their sincerity in advance in order to avoid being visited by him.

Li Yili shook the pork chop in his hand, opened his mouth and took a bite. It was very different from the delicacies he used to enjoy, but the current situation was not much better, and he could not afford to be picky.

Theresa Prison is a public prison, so naturally there are members of the Galar Horn. In order to balance the power of discourse, there are also Valkyries in Theresa Prison.

Li Yili had considered getting in touch with this Valkyrie, but after staying in Theresa Prison for so many days, the Valkyrie's attitude made him somewhat unsure of the situation.

If Valkyrie's influence had truly worked, she would have at least visited his cell once, or contacted him in some other way, leaving something to keep them in touch. But so far, she hasn't given any response.

Although he hadn't expected Valkyrie's influence to play any role from the beginning, he couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed when it actually did.

Li Yili couldn't help but sigh at the thought of Valkyrie patting her chest and making such a promise.

After checking the time with her pocket watch, Li Yili stood up, twisted her waist from side to side, turned to face the narrow window on the wall, leaving only an unfathomable back view to the cell door.

He calmly awaited the arrival of his time of freedom.

He didn't intend to give the prisoners here the setting that the King in Yellow didn't need to sleep. Although not needing to sleep would make him seem more unfathomable, it would be too much trouble. The only problem was...

He can't sleep now, as if every cell in his body is resisting the act of sleeping. Even if he closes his eyes and covers his head with a raincoat, no matter how many hours pass, he can't fall asleep. Over the past few days, his insomnia has not improved at all.

Li Yili let out a long breath and waited quietly for time to pass.

As the sun's brilliance faded, the obscured starlight spread like strange hands within a cage.

Li Yili knew that his free time was coming.

Today, Li Yili's target is the cell near the stairs on this floor. There's no particular reason; she just wants to maintain the mystery of the King in Yellow so that the prisoners don't see him running away. She has already visited eleven of the thirteen cells on this floor leading to the stairs. The other ten prisoners were so frightened that they closed their eyes and covered their ears five minutes in advance, and this time will continue to increase until only one cell remains.

Li Yili slightly raised her head, turned around, opened the cell door, and silently crossed the corridor in her yellow raincoat, heading straight for the last cell.

Coincidentally, this was the only prisoner on this floor who didn't come to offer him tribute.

Because the other prisoners cooperated by closing their eyes and covering their ears, Li Yili arrived at cell number thirteen a step ahead. After quietly catching her breath, Li Yili looked at the cell in front of her.

At first glance, Li Yili froze on the spot. The person locked in the cell was half a little girl who was as thin as a rake. Why half? Because the half of the little girl's body was rooted in the cell like a plant, and she was completely unable to move.

Upon seeing Li Yili, the little girl trembled and reached out to grab the fruit hanging above her head. With an expression of enduring pain akin to losing a limb, she picked the not-so-plump fruit and handed it to Li Yili.

Almost instinctively, Li Yili raised her right hand and reached it towards the little girl.

It was at the very moment that Li Yili's index finger touched the little girl's cell.

The Iron Maiden, flowing with viscous liquid, silently appeared behind Li Yili. Her sealed body opened in the gale, and her eerie tentacles, like blooming vampire flowers, lashed out.

Chapter Six: The Evils of Steel

[Will die]

An unbelievable chill made Li Yili instinctively retract his fingers, and the Iron Maiden behind him stopped moving. However, the tentacles extending from within the Iron Maiden did not retract but instead slid along the yellow skin on his body.

Colored raincoats are spreading.

Although we don't know what's inside the Iron Maiden, judging from the plant girl's pale face and the way she looks like she's about to scream, it must be quite terrifying.

But no, silence must be maintained during the sentencing.

The raincoat, with its irregular, jagged edges, fluttered slowly in the evening breeze. Under the starlight, a face that was incredibly blurry slowly unfolded into a crescent-shaped smile. Long, slender fingers, already wrapped in sticky tentacles, slowly rose up and stopped at the very center of the crescent moon, like the swaying hands of a clock.

The plant girl immediately raised her hand to cover her mouth, her pupils trembling slightly.

It was only then that Li Yili noticed that the girl's eyes were a fiery red, completely opposite to the plant's body, and that fiery eyes reflected an ominous figure.

They moved like ghosts, and stood before the calamity like statues, without any human-like appearance.

Is that me? Is this how she sees me, as a human?

Without any unnecessary movements, Li Yili lowered her fingers, which were already entangled by tentacles, turned around, and took a step, landing on her heels as she moved towards the stairs. The Iron Maiden followed behind Li Yili like a shadow, her eyes, which were constantly dripping with viscous liquid, staring intently at Li Yili, who was wearing a yellow raincoat.

Within the flowing, viscous liquid, strange dogs reared up and growled as they followed Li Yili.

If there's even the slightest extra noise, the tentacles will wrap around him even more, and if it gets to a certain point, this King in Yellow will most likely be dragged directly into the Iron Maiden's body.

Li Yili grinned. Only at times like this did he feel grateful for the yellow raincoat he was wearing, since there was no place to shower here.

Soon Li Yili arrived at the second floor.

The prisoner in the cell closest to the stairs stared wide-eyed. He heard nothing, but he saw an ominous, slender shadow, the end of which was boiling.

The King in Yellow!?

The prisoner recalled what had been circulating among the inmates at the very bottom of the food chain in this Teresa Prison in recent days.

The prisoner swallowed hard, the barbs covering his body standing up uncontrollably. The writhing shadow was like a giant hand gripping his vision, forcing him to witness what was happening.

No, no, no—

This is absolutely a scam!

The wind stopped, but the prisoner felt a bone-chilling cold creep up his limbs.

He saw it: a tall, thin, yellow figure whose features were indistinct. It had no overwhelming aura, like a gentle breeze that would disappear from one's memory immediately. But behind this thin and inconspicuous body followed the Iron Maiden, who seemed to come from a bizarre place beyond human comprehension.

Don't look this way—

The yellow figure paused, then slowly turned its head.

The prisoner saw it: a pale crescent moon beneath the serrated edge of the raincoat.

What did I just stare at?

Tiny cracks spread, and with a crisp cracking sound, the prisoner felt everything in front of him completely collapse. His rationality quickly vanished, and he turned around and frantically scratched at the wall.

"Help! Help me—someone help me! Someone save me!"

Li Yili, who had just raised her finger to shush, froze on the spot.

This prisoner was a very rare animal, with a body shape similar to an ape and long arms that reached to the ground, but his whole body was covered with dark barbs. Although it only lasted for a moment, the prisoner's face was covered with irregular scales.

It should be him who was so scared that he screamed.

The wind howled, making Li Yili's raincoat flutter loudly. The tentacles that had been wrapped around Li Yili broke through the gaps in the cage and pierced the prisoner's body. Amid the prisoner's screams, the tentacles quickly contracted, and the prisoner's barbed body slammed hard against the cell door.

The next second, the prisoner's body, torn to pieces, brushed past Li Yili and was pulled into the depths of the Iron Maiden. The terrifying chewing sound that followed made Li Yili turn around and look down at the hem of her blood-stained raincoat.

This is the evil of steel.

Thank goodness for this raincoat...

Li Yili suppressed the urge to sigh, closed his eyes, bypassed the Iron Maiden, and returned to the next floor along the stairs. Only after he returned to his cell did the Iron Maiden vanish like a bubble.

Li Yili glanced at the spot where the Iron Maiden had disappeared, then sighed deeply before slowly exhaling.

Even something so terrifying reminded him that staying in his cage was the safest place.

"Ha... how could I possibly stay here..."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Chris Dougher looked at the nagging jailer with some surprise and couldn't help but interrupt his complaints.

"The King in Yellow? Are you sure? Wasn't it said that the King in Yellow... wasn't dangerous?"

"This is it!" The jailer raised his hand and slapped his head. "Who knows what's wrong with those cowardly prisoners? They're talking nonsense all day long about the shadow of the King in Yellow, and that those strange dogs and the Iron Maiden are the King in Yellow's retinue."