Eternal Elysium

Rattle!

Rattle!

The rattle of chains pierced Hestor's ears. He groaned and forced his eyes open.

"You…" He growled, gritting his teeth at the figure in front of him.

Rattle!

Hestor strained against the chains, but they held firm—biting into his skin like cold steel vines.

Those eerie silver eyes stared at him, utterly devoid of emotion and whispered. "It's no use. I have made sure they are tight enough to hold you down."

Hestor felt drained, his body aching—though he couldn't remember why.

The last scene he remembered was of Arnus being punched in the face. After that, in the next second, Lath was on the ground, and no one was around him.

But what happened after that…?

"You look confused, but let me explain what happened."Asher leaned back in the chair with a tired, almost bored expression.

His clothes were a mess. Blood stains all over them, and his face also had some splashes of blood on it.

But Hestor knew—none of that blood belonged to Asher.

"You are in my captivity right now, that's it."

'What the fuck is happening?' Hestor thought.

"You must be tired, right? I have made sure to hit you hard enough to not move, but just in case, I also chained you up."

Hestor gritted his teeth once more as his jaw felt like it had been hit by a metallic pole. As an awakened, he had great physical powers, enough durability to withstand several hits and not lose consciousness.

For him to lose consciousness, the opponent's strength had to be way beyond his own— Something hard to believe after all he was a body type, his ability made him quite robust!

However, it was also possible that Asher had used some kind of sleep-related powers and then beaten him up—

"Argh!"

A sharp pain came from his abdomen, as his vision cleared, Hestor turned his head to look down. Below his vest, down the pointed side of the armor, blood was oozing out. Blood oozed out sluggishly—like someone had stabbed him, then made a clumsy attempt to stop the bleeding.

Tink—

Hestor flinched at the sharp clink of metal against stone. His face darkened as he saw a purplish black sword in Asher's hand, leaning downward with its pointed tip touching the ground.

"Y-you lunatic, did you stab me?!" Hestor choked on his words, unable to comprehend the situation.

He didn't care if Asher had cheated, lied, or ambushed him. None of it mattered now. His life was at risk. He needs to run— and then come back to kill Asher.

"Oh, this? Don't worry, I didn't stab you. At least not from this, I used a normal knife. How else was I supposed to make sure you don't fight back? This artifact of mine is quite strong. I had previously thought the poison would not be very strong, but it turned out that the more origin it absorbs, the more potent and deadly the poison will be. Quite fascinating, isn't it?"

"...But don't worry I haven't used this on you. Not yet."

Asher explained with a subtle smile and then asked—

"Do you want a taste of this?"

"N-No, listen, let me go. I didn't do any of this! I swear— I was forced to come here!"

Hestor hastily shook his head and spat out whatever he could think of at once.

"I see… then tell me everything I ask for."

Asher leaned forward, fingers running through his blood-matted hair, his lips twisting into a manic grin.

*****

Sadly enough, by the time I reached Hestor, the storm of emotions in me had calmed down a lot. It didn't mean I wasn't in rage anymore— I was angry, very angry!

However I don't know what to do with it anymore, so it led to this moment with Hestor.

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Unlike with Lath or Arnus, who were merely rank 1, Hestor was an awakened, a proper rank 2. His durability was much higher than those two, and even more than what I had expected it to be.

So, while his time was frozen, I had relentlessly hit him like a punching bag while avoiding all vitals. To make sure the attacks also were effective, I needed to undo the [Static] before each strike with precision, otherwise Hestor could have retaliated back.

But since under the effect of [Kairosflow] time was always moving slowly for me, managing such feats was as easy as flipping the page of a book!

'I ended up overdoing it…'

Hestor was in bad shape…

I had hit him with everything that came in hand— Punches, kicks, metal poles, scraps of wood—anything I could find, I used.

Hestor's face was swollen, blood was trickling down his head, and most importantly, I had stabbed him once as well— Just deep enough to make him lose strength and have no will to fight.

One look at his eyes told me—he was terrified. No question about it.

I wanted this outcome— For him to think I was crazy enough to torture him to death without any mercy.

But in truth, I could never do such things… While I had killed Lath unknowingly by using too much force, and I don't regret that one bit. But it didn't mean I was going to torture him to death, I would have killed him sooner or later after some interrogation.

This was the reason I wanted Hestor to think I could go way beyond what I currently had— That I was crazy enough to be the worst possible person for him to have met in his life.

Sitting here, gripping the Sword of Repose, was all for show. To make him believe I was a lunatic.

'Yes, I am acting. Just acting, nothing else.' I thought inside my heart and looked down at Hestor on the floor.

"Now tell me who sent you here?"

Hestor exhaled a deep breath as he looked up with blood leaking from his lips. "Huff– Will you let us go?"

"I will, but you better answer now. Or your friends might not be lucky enough." I said, pointing my sword over his neck.

Hestor flinched, feeling the cold steel above him and nodded.

"P-Palot, that damn merchant sent us here."

"Why?"

"I- I don't know— He released us from prison and said to bring you to us."

"So he didn't say to beat the people here?"

Hestor's face darkened instantly, his eyes started to shake as he looked me in the eyes, then in a desperate tone, he added.

"No, no, he told us to also, uh, destroy your workshop! Yes, he said that, believe me!"

"Really?" I asked, totally not baffled by his shameless approach.

Nod. Nod.

Hestor nodded back, his mouth hanging open as blood started to leak from his abdomen a little faster with each second that passed.

'He isn't going to last long. But he isn't showing too much pain. Is his pain tolerance that high?'

I sighed. And again smiled at him.

"Why did he send you here?"

"He told us… That— You were the one who robbed him."

"So, you believed him?"

"No, no we didn't!!"

"Well he isn't wrong. I am the one who did it."

"....."

Not minding his silence, I thought for a while as my mind wandered what else I could ask him.

But—

'He probably doesn't know much. In the end, he is just a mindless dog following orders.'

"Did he tell you how he found this out?"

I had a guess, but asking wouldn't hurt.

Just as Hestor was about to open his mouth, he closed it, words not forming in his throat as his breathing slowed down.

"No… Huff– he didn't."

"Where does Palto live?"

Hestor's eyes widened further as he watched my smile turn into a small grin. He hesitated for a moment but then told it in a clear-cut voice.

"You didn't lie right? Or I won't forgive you."

"...No, no I didn't— Will you let us go now?"

"Yes, I will. But after you answer one last question for me… Tell me all the crimes you and your friends have committed."

Hestor's face darkened, and his body started to shudder in fear. "W-what?"

"Don't make me repeat myself. If you want to be let go. Answer me truthfully."

"O-Okay. I, we…"

I heard his words with an expressionless face, but I knew my face had hardened in between. These people were worse than animals— Killing people, robbery, extortion and even sexual assaults, they have done everything— And all of that was recently done.

I stood up and placed my hand over his heart.

"Thanks. Now I will let you go to hell."

Instead of accelerating his heart to burst, I tried something different.

Slowly, his heartbeat started to go dull…

Hestor's mind started to go hazy as he felt a chill all over him. His chest started to tremble, his vision got blurry, and fear started to sink in.

"What—" he whispered, but the word evaporated with his breath.

Darkness pinched the edges of his vision. Air refused to fill his lungs fast enough. His arms felt distant, numb.

A second later, his pulse was a ghost beneath his skin. His thoughts turned to fog, then vanished.

And then—

Thud!

I sighed and didn't look over at his face.

I didn't know if he had died peacefully or painfully, but now it didn't really matter.

Part of me hopes it hurt. The rest of me... doesn't care either way.

I turned my gaze to look beyond Hestor's fallen figure. Lath and Arnus lay there without moving— But now the next most important question remained.

'How should I dispose of them?'

I thought for a while, then looked at my storage bracelet. By now, I had understood how it truly works and what were the rules governing it were… but I don't think it has enough space inside of it right now.

I pressed my lips tightly and thought for a while.

'Let's hide them on the second floor, it is still empty.'

With that thought in mind, I first confirmed no one was watching from above. Seeing no one present above, I slowly started to drag their bodies one by one.

This took some time as I was also very tired right now from using my abilities for such a long time, and my mind started to go dull for a few moments from fatigue.

However, it was something that I could handle.

Covering their bodies with a blanket and then some leftover wood used to make compartments in the workshop.

I had hoped to make some furniture with the leftover wood as a way to pass the time, but now I will need to burn it away.

Phew… at least one less thing to deal with now. Just need to make sure no one comes here for the next two to three hours. By then, I will be able to get rid of them somehow.

I sighed and looked at the stairs at the corner of the second floor and clicked my tongue.

I still needed to think of a reasonable excuse for what they had seen and make sure they kept their mouths shut.

'Some of them will probably try to even leave…'

Such thoughts made my blood run cold. I couldn't let everything crumble, not when I was here.

Exhaling a cold breath, I finally took a step forward.