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n“I’m sorry! Please! I won’t do it again!”

nNick shouted in absolute terror as he did his best to beg for his life on his broken legs.

nBANG!

nThe next moment, Nick’s face was kicked in by a metallic boot.

n“Plehs, ahm surry,” Nick cried through his crushed face.

n“You are the reason why Young Master Wyntor is dead,” one of the three armored people in front of him spoke. “Your carelessness is why the Lord is now grieving.”

n“I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry!” Nick said through his crushed teeth.

nBANG!

nThe metallic boot crushed Nick’s forearm, and Nick began to scream even more.

nNick tried to get his crushed forearm out from under the boot, which was grinding Nick’s forearm into a crunchy paste of meat and bone.

n“You think saying sorry will help you?” the person spoke calmly and coldly through his black gas mask.

n“But don’t worry, you won’t die today.”

nThe black gasmask was coming closer to Nick’s face.

n“You will stay alive for as long as the Lord commands it.”

n“He has many ways to keep you alive when your body begs to die.”

n“No! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please!”

nNick just kept shouting garbled words through the crushed mess that had once been his face.

n“Take him away,” the man said as he turned around to walk away.

n“No! No!”

nNick just kept shouting as the two other people grabbed him.

nThe next moment, Nick found himself impaled onto a wooden cross with three spikes.

nTwo were going through Nick’s wrists, and one was going through both his legs.

n“Interesting, isn’t it?” the disfigured and small man in front of Nick said with a loud but awkward chuckle.

n“This is the most popular and famous torture method from the old world!” the torturer said. “We found many depictions of this torture method in the ruins.”

n“You should consider yourself lucky! After all, not everyone gets to reenact such a monumental piece of history with their own body.”

nAfter deciding for a while, the disfigured man took hold of a thin and small knife.

nNick didn’t show any reactions.

n“Alright, you know how this goes. Just don’t move too much, okay?” the man shouted with an awkward laugh.

nThe next moment, the torturer stepped on a small ladder behind the cross and put the knife on the underside of Nick’s right big toe.

nAnd then, he cut into it.

nThe knife methodically moved towards the center of Nick’s foot.

nWhile this was happening, Nick’s body was shuddering, but he wasn’t saying anything.

n“Alright, that’s the first one. Keep holding still. If you do a good job, you get a couple of days of peace in the drowning cage.”

nThen, the torturer slowly cut down from the second toe.

nThen, the third, and so on.

nEventually, all the cuts met in the middle of the underside of Nick’s feet.

n“Now, let’s see…”

nThe next moment, the torturer grabbed both sides of one of the cuts and pulled to the side.

nRIIIIIP!

nAfter ripping them to the side a bit, the torturer took hold of the knife again while the other hand kept Nick’s skin off from his flesh.

nThe next moment, the torturer slowly and carefully cut the connective tissue between Nick’s skin and his flesh.

nNick gritted his teeth, but they had already been filed into thin needles that weren’t aligned with each other, essentially forcing them to dig into the opposite gums when he closed his mouth.

nNevertheless, this was all Nick could do.

n“Now, look at this beautiful toe,” the torturer said as the skin of Nick’s big toe lay on top of Nick’s toe like wrapping paper for a present.

n“Alright, let’s do the second one.”

nAs Nick felt a sharp and intense pain come from his second toe, he just opened his eyes lifelessly.

nWhat greeted Nick was the sight of a human’s skin hanging from the ceiling a couple of meters in front of him.

nBesides that piece of skin were several more. 𝒊𝒃𝙧𝙖𝓭.𝙘𝒐𝙢

nThere were over ten sets of skins, all having different levels of quality.

nThey had all belonged to Nick at one point.

nHe had gone through this torture many, many times before.

nWhenever the torturer wanted another set, he would pull out Nick’s skin and then bathe him in healing liquid.

nAfter that, Nick would get to relax in a cage that was almost completely underwater.

nOnly by pursing his lips on the top could Nick get a bit of air, and only when the water was calm.

nAnd worst of all, they had cut out Nick’s tongue and vocal cords to stop him from saying The Sentence.

nThis was his life.

nThis was what his life would become.

nIt was hopeless.

nIt was eternal.

nThe torture was never-ending.

nNick just closed his eyes again.

n“Nick?”

nNick felt the reality shake.

n“Hey, Nick!”

nThe next moment, Nick’s mind began to swim, and he felt himself getting transported somewhere else.

nNick opened his eyes, and he saw a white light shining onto him.

n“Huh?” Nick said in confusion.

nNick’s left arm moved upward and touched his head as he grimaced a bit.

n“Everything alright?” Albert asked.

n“Yeah, I think so,” Nick said as he slowly righted himself. “I feel a bit confused and groggy.”

n“Also, I think I had a really bad dream, but I don’t really remember. It’s all foggy.”

n“Right!” Nick said louder as he looked around the white room.

nHe spotted the Dreamer standing in one of the corners, looking at him.

nThen, Nick to his left.

nAlbert was standing left of him.

n“Are eight hours already up?” Nick asked in a bit of confusion.

n“Yep,” Albert said. “You slept very calmly. No one would think that you were going through a nightmare.”

n“You did go through one, right?”

nNick’s brows furrowed. “I think so. I feel all exhausted, and I feel like I cried and went through hell.”

n“But I can’t remember. I know that something horrible has happened, but I just don’t know what exactly.”

n“It’s a strange feeling.”

nAlbert nodded. “Well, whatever you went through worked. You produced a lot of Zephyx. Want to see?”

nNick slowly stood up and shook his head again.

nHe was still tired.

n“Yeah, sure.”

nVisit 𝙡𝙞𝓫𝙧𝒆𝙖𝓭.𝙘𝙤𝙢 for the best novel 𝘳𝑎𝒹ing experience

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