Osiris' mouth opened and closed, no words coming out.

His brain was telling him to say something, but at the same time he didn't have enough brain power to decide what to say.

"Short of words?" Noah joked. "Don't worry, I can do the talking for both of us."

He walked to the side of the room, grabbing a chair and dragging it till it was in front of Osiris. With a smile, he took a seat.

And in that moment, even Osiris' mind went back to that day, three months ago. That day he had entered the cell and introduced himself to Noah. He too has taken a seat. But now, the roles were reversed.

"So, do you like our new location?" Noah smiled like he was asking about the weather. "Trust me, it was hard to get this place."

"The Academy has a lot of abandoned buildings and rooms, but it took some time to find one that was truly abandoned." Noah chuckled, remembering the effort. "Some buildings were actually places for lovers to have their secret rendezvous. In some places underground parties were held. I needed a place with an actual lack of traffic. Fortunately, I found this place."

"It's an old lab. And I'm glad it was. If not, cutting off your hands and legs would've been too messy." Noah gestured to the side, and when Osiris' looked at it, he blinked furiously.

Lying on a dirty sink were his limbs, chopped up and laid haphazardly, blood pooling around them.

"But that's neither here nor there." Noah grinned, pulling the attention back to himself. "Let us move to the matter at hand."

He made his way to his feet, moving to stand before Osiris. He'd tied up the man in such a way that their faces were on the same level, looking at each other eye to eye.

"After I came back to the Academy, there was only one thought burning in my head. I want Osiris Lawless to feel pain. And so I asked myself. Just what would be the perfect recipe to inflict the perfect amount of pain on this man?"

"And I found it. Step 1. Destroy his legacy. That means destroying Galahad. With no Galahad, Osiris will lose one of the main driving forces behind his actions. The legacy he would leave behind. I couldn't touch your position as director of the Investigation Authority, but the king already did that for me."

"Step 2, have you at my mercy." Noah grinned. "So, how does it feel to know that your life is in my hands, Osiris?"

At that moment, Osiris looked deep inside the eyes of the young man standing before him, and he saw a darkness so great, his heart began hammering away in his chest.

His stomach twisted itself into knots, and his entire body began trembling. And through it all, a tiny part of his mind wondered.

'Is this what terror feels like?'

Noah raised his palm, and a spell formation bloomed to life above it.

Osiris' eyes widened as he recognized the formation. "Soul Pyre." His voice was raspy, the fear plain for all to hear.

"Ironic, isn't it? That the same spell you use to break your prisoners is the same thing that would be used on you?" Noah grinned.

"I'm going to show you, Osiris. The same terror. The same helplessness that you've inflicted on others. And I'm not going to stop until you beg for death. I only hope you shall prove to be more fun than Galahad ever was."

Osiris opened his mouth, a single word escaping, before the spell slammed into him.

"No— Aaarrgghhhh!" He screamed in pain, his entire world dissolving into pain.

It was like a thousand itches layered on each other, that he couldn't scratch. Like he'd been kicked in the balls a million times, but at the same time, and in his soul.

Flashes of light passed through his vision, stars blooming and dying just as fast.

An instant stretched to an eternity, and for the first time in a long time, tears rolled down Osiris' eyes.

When the pain finally stopped, Osiris' blinked the tears out of his eyes, spittle drooling down his lips to see Noah standing there with his hands crossed.

"I'm sorry, Osiris." Noah grinned. "No breaks for you."

The spell slammed into Osiris again.

Time lost all meaning. Hours passed in the real world, with lifetimes passing in Osiris' consciousness.

His soul slowly became a patchwork of experiences, held together by threads of despair and hopelessness.

If one was to see the man, they wouldn't even be able to recognize him as the former director of the Investigation Authority.

His hair was matted to his body by sweat, he was limbless, and tears ran down his face, his shirt stained by sweat and spittle. The man looked gaunt, like he'd been kept in captivity for months, not hours.

"Please let me die." The man muttered, spit dribbling down his cheek. "Please let me die."

Noah tilted his head, wondering what to do with the man. As much as he would like to stay there and torture him forever, Noah had more important things to do.

And so, an idea settled in his mind. A final fuck you. Give the man hope, then brutally yank it away.

"Please let me die." Osiris kept muttering.

Noah stepped closer to the man, a smile on his lips. "Have you ever heard of this quote? He who desires to live will die, and he who desires to die will live?"

Osiris trailed off, blinking away tears to focus on what Noah was saying.

"How about this? I'll let you go." Noah placed a hand on the chains binding the man.

He watched as his words slowly entered the man's consciousness, and a wary hope began to shine in the eyes of the man.

Time to twist the knife.

"I wondered how effective the blood loss would be to you, and I already have my answer." He grinned, holding Osiris' gaze. "Did it ever occur to you that you could've just used your skills to get out of this?"

He watched as Osiris' eyes widened, the man realizing that he could have gotten himself out all along.

And at that moment, when there was a light of hope in Osiris' eyes, when he realized that he had a way out all along, Noah cast the spell.

"Devour."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.