Author's Thought: I probably butchered the antagonist haha, he's one of my favourite characters too...
2059 Rising Age, 154 years ago /// Ebony Earth, the 4th Grand Sector – Belharad Continent
The night was dark and cold in a way that wouldn't be affected by simple fires. A group of soldiers in chainmail silently walked along a path, flanked by dense ranks of trees that made one unaware of what lay behind them. Among them, a single cart pulled by two horses, no one knew what was inside, though they had their guesses.
'What do you think is in there?' One soldier whispered.
'Some criminal, obviously. Just wait, they'll bring it out once we reach the prison anyways,' the other whispered back.
The first soldier nodded.
The soldier group consisted mostly of mid-tier supernaturals, with the only high-tier supernatural following behind.
The noise of the cart's wheels felt terrifyingly loud, making them flinch whenever it shook. Some soldiers at the front had begun to kick away rocks on the path, hoping to lessen the shaking.
One of the soldiers took a deep breath, staring up into the night sky and admiring the beauty of the World Tree's branches which isolated the stars into unique canvases. For a moment, the tension in his heart disappeared, replaced by awe.
'The sky is especially beautiful tonight,' the soldier's reverie was broken by the knight's voice, who had moved from the rear to the middle of the group, and then to the front.
It had been hours, perhaps the whole night they had spent walking when they finally saw lights in the distance.
…
Perram Trench Penitentiary was one of the many old military bases which had lost their original use. Now, it had become an underground prison for vile criminals.
Standing on the surface castle's battlements, a guard signalled towards his companion below upon seeing the approaching soldiers. The companion, in turn, alerted the warden and lowered the drawbridge.
The warden, a grizzled soldier with a large build and yellow-brown clothing, walked out to meet the escorts.
'Michael,' the warden spoke in a commanding voice.
'Warden Harding,' the mounted knight answered, 'nice day?'
'Bring him out,' the warden spoke, ignoring the knight's attempt at conversation.
The knight nodded, signalling the soldiers to turn the cart around and open the door.
Once the door opened, a large man with tan-brown skin walked out, his entire body covered in sackcloth except for his face, which was fitted with a metal helmet with no eyeholes.
'So it was a giant,' one of the soldiers muttered.
The giant took a few drowsy steps before being stopped by the prison guards, who then lowered him to his knees. Due to the man's height of over 2.7 metres, he was still almost as tall as the warden.
The warden took out a scroll and began to read its contents, 'Name and age unknown, race: giant, confirmed high-tier supernatural, specific tier unknown…'
The soldiers had a shiver go down their spine upon hearing the man's tier, still unprepared for the man's crimes.
The warden's gaze hardened as he began to list the crimes, 'The giant has confessed to multiple counts of rape, torture (physical and psychological), stalking, murder, inciting suicide and violent assault.'
The warden paused, taking his time to read before speaking once more, 'The first incident involves a 9-year-old boy named Carl Singer…'
One soldier tightened his grip around his spear.
'The giant admitted to deceiving the young boy into entering an abandoned building at noon, promising him a surprise. The boy then described seeing the giant raping his mother, though he was unfamiliar with the word. The boy died by starving himself due to the trauma of the sight.'
The soldier began to visibly shake.
The warden went on to list almost a dozen others over the course of a few minutes, each worse than the last. The list contained a disturbing amount of information outlining how the crimes were committed.
Multiple guards and soldiers showed offended and outraged expressions.
'For secondary confirmation, how do you plead to these accusations?' The warden asked.
'Hm?' The giant seemed to have regained his senses, and upon registering the warden's words, began to laugh in his deep voice, speaking loudly with arrogant joy, 'GUILTY!'
The soldier suddenly rushed forward, and before anyone could react, stabbed his spear into the giant's torso, piercing through it.
The giant's voice hitched for a moment before continuing to laugh, blood dripping from his helmet's mouth hole.
The knight rushed forward, pulling the soldier back and holding him as the man broke down. The boy was his younger brother, and the woman was his mother.
The warden commanded the group of soldiers to leave before telling his men to drag the giant inside.
…
Perram Trench Penitentiary was over eighty metres deep, its main cell chamber had around twenty floors, descending in a circular manner. Once every 3 floors, there would be a guard room, and there were bridges between all floors and many of the jail cells. There were also corridors and rooms that diverged outwards from the guard rooms, leading to other facilities. The entire prison was lit up only by torches, giving it a gothic appearance.
At the top of the cell chamber was the Overseer, an Artifact in the form of a Cyclops' head that would alert everyone in the prison if something went wrong.
As the giant walked down the stairs, many prisoners made noises and yelled in gibberish.
The giant was placed into a cell right next to the guard room, and the door was shut. The giant's cell had metal walls rather than bars.
'Yo! What's your name? Yo! Can you hear mee?' a prisoner across from the giant, a woman with long black hair, tried to interact with him, but the man's prior joy seemed to have dissipated, 'He must be deaf!'
The giant sat in his cell, unmoving, as if he were dead, but the prisoners knew better, and so did the guards.
'Leave him alone,' an old voice spoke from below, 'you can ask him whatever you want in the morning. Right now, some of us just want rest.'
'Ugh! Stop ruining the fun Harlem!' a different prisoner called out.
At once, a hundred more voices rang out, perhaps agreeing or disagreeing with the man, but no one could be understood.
'SILENCE!' the warden's voice boomed from above, and everyone suddenly fell silent, trembling in their cells.
Fear won over reluctance, and the prisoners all went to sleep one by one.
The giant, still motionless, smiled under his helmet.
The warden was a Transcender, the very peak of the high-tiers, and his Source Element was Order.
…
The warden was in his office, sitting across from a young girl around 15 years old. She had light brown hair and an innocent appearance. Sitting beside her was a man who seemed to be around the warden's age but had a softer appearance. There was another man who stood outside.
'Your daughter wants to observe and interview the guards and inmates in the prison… why?'
'I am training to be a member of our parliament and would like to be well informed about things like civil and criminal matters,' the girl replied quickly.
The warden spoke as he turned to the man, 'Are you sure about this Mars?'
'Absolutely, as long as you're with her, what could possibly happen to her?'
Did you learn nothing? The warden sighed, clearly reluctant, 'There are some procedures we must go through, but it should be okay.'
The man turned to his daughter and winked.
The warden got up and spoke to the girl in an official tone, 'Verity Atwell, I need you to sign a formal agreement, is that fine?'
'Yes!'
…
Noon, on the battlements, a guard read a newspaper which he had ordered while eating his lunch.
'What's going on?' a man asked, walking up to the soldier with the newspaper.
'Nothing good, apparently. I mean, what? Devil Baron attacks a village, over seven thousand dead. The battle to defeat that Devil Baron also took the lives of almost a thousand people.'
The man stayed silent, 'Damn. And we have like eight people in this facility with the same power as that Devil, just think about that for a second.'
'Shit,' the man muttered, 'stop being creepy and get back to work.'
The other laughed, saying, 'Barons are only Praetors! We've got two Elites in here too!'
'Shut up!'
…
Two days later, In the guards' break room, two soldiers, a man and a woman, played chess while the others conversed and gossiped.
'What d'you think of that new giant? He was really creepy when he first came in, but now he's just become a recluse,' one woman said to the man beside her.
'I don't know,' he replied, thinking of what to say next, 'There is definitely something up with him, though. I heard he laughed at his accusations and didn't even stop when a soldier stabbed him.'
'Red flag!' another man said, 'That dude is not normal. In fact, I'll bet you… thirty Okkra he turns out being some devil.' He then turned back towards the chess game.
'I think calling him a devil is a bit of a stretch. Men with sick souls are everywhere.'
The woman nodded, getting up and walking towards the stove before beginning to brew some coffee.
'On another note, y'all seen Anthony yet?'
The man playing chess was about to reply when his brows furrowed, 'No…? Is he on holiday?'
'Don't think so, that's why I asked.'
The people in the break room felt a horrible premonition in their guts, as if they had swallowed a candle and its flames were burning their stomachs.
Anthony was well known for always being on time, never breaking protocol and always being careful.
'Where could he be?' The woman playing chess asked.
'Who knows?' A man replied.
After a few seconds of silence, the woman got up from the table, saying, 'I'll go look for him.'
'I'll help,' another man replied.
…
'Alex?' a young girl called.
'Yes?' a young male voice belonging to a handsome knight answered.
'How far are you willing to go to protect me?'
'I'm willing to die.'
'How far are you willing to go to serve me?'
'I'm willing to die.'
'If I ask you to live no matter what, then what would you do?'
'I would pull the sword from the stone.'
Verity giggled.
…
They searched the entire prison, looking through cells, kitchen, storage etc. but their search yielded no results.
'Gina!' a man yelled, 'What are you doing down here? You're on break.'
'Hey Tom, Anthony is missing, have you seen him?' Gina replied.
The man paused, 'No? Have you checked his room?'
'I'm heading there now,' Gina replied.
'Alright, hope you find him.'
…
Approaching Anthony's room, Gina saw the man who had been helping him search, staring into Anthony's room in terror.
'Riley! What happened?' Gina felt an overwhelming anxiety take hold of her.
The man did not reply, staring into the room.
Walking up to Riley and staring inside, a Gina felt a shiver go down her spine.
Anthony wasn't inside, but his weapons and armour were. The room was small and tidy, like all guards' rooms, except for two things, a broken mirror and an eyeball in the middle of the room.
Gina let out a singular hiccup.
'Gina, do we have any prisoners with the abilities to do this?' Riley's voice shook.
'I suspect the giant.'
Gina could not hide the hesitation in her voice.
'How are you sure?'
'Well…' Gina began but found herself unable to continue, 'let's just report to the warden.'
…
The warden listened to the two guards' report, his brows furrowing.
'We have no evidence of the giant being involved in this.'
The two guards stayed silent.
'But you bring up a good point, I shall have some men keep an eye on him. You are dismissed.'
…
The next morning, while the guards handed out food, the woman from the night of the giant's arrival attempted to converse with him again but was once again met with silence.
'Maybe he just doesn't find you cute unlike the other lechers in here,' a young man from below teased the woman.
'Obviously not! You haven't seen him, right? His whole body is covered up; he can't see shit!'
The young man laughed at that.
Nobody knew if the giant ate, in fact, nobody knew if the giant was still alive.
He was bleeding when he came in… Could he have bled out? The woman asked herself but quickly gave the thought up as the guards would have realised.
The prisoners conversed freely, discussing everything from personal matters to food and philosophy.
At one point, Harlem and two other old men discussed the nature of humanity, with all of them putting forth different viewpoints and debating respectfully. If one hadn't known, they would never think these men were criminals.
'What do you think, sir giant?' Harlem asked and another man scoffed.
'He's not gonna reply to yo-' but was cut off.
'What is humanity?' the giant spoke in a slow, deep voice, 'I asked that question once to the wisest man I ever met. I shall echo his response to you: The Corruption said it was flaws. Chrollon said it was genetics…'
The prison fell into silence.
'Father of True Men said it was sin.'
'Father of True Men isn't a real person, dumbass!' One prisoner mocked.
'The Abjurer said it was defiance and ambition. Agnaranthis said it was history. Cryptos said it didn't matter…'
'And?' Harlem asked, sensing there was more to be said.
'Lastly, he said, the Sufferer said it was a lie, for it had experienced all, and humanity wasn't part of it. And the wise man did not need to speak anymore.'
Harlem and the other prisoners fell into silence, trying to figure out what point the giant was making.
'But what do you think?' one of the old men asked.
The giant didn't reply.
'Who's the Sufferer?' a woman from the upper floors asked.
Nobody replied, continuing on with their meals and conversations.
'Thanks,' she said dryly.
Verity, who had watched it all unfold, was perplexed, turning towards her guardian, 'Why would they all quiet down just to listen to his words?'
Alexander answered truthfully, 'I don't know.'
…
A soldier hummed softly in the shower, the splashing water concealing his embarrassment.
After a few minutes, the man had finished cleaning himself, turning around and walking to the exit.
Pang!
A bucket of water fell over.
'What the hell?' the soldier mumbled, reaching over to pick it up.
As he reached down, he suddenly saw a movement, causing him to flinch.
After looking around for a few seconds, he once again reached down to pick up the bucket.
'Hm?'
The soldier disappeared.
…
Every day, they questioned different prisoners who could've been involved, but nothing yielded answers.
The warden, even if he didn't show it, was panicking.
…
The door of the giant's cell creaked open.
The giant still had not moved from the spot they placed him in last night, and his food was still next to the entrance.
'Over a dozen of my men are missing, where are they?' the Warden asked.
The giant didn't reply.
'You came in here less than three days ago and a problem never seen before occurs.'
The giant turned his head towards the warden, staring directly at the man despite not being able to see.
'If you do not answer, we will place you in the torture chambers,' the warden said, his eyes fixated on the hole in the giant's clothing where he had been stabbed.
The wound is gone.
The giant did not react.
'Final chance, if you don't answer, you will be placed in the-' He was cut off by the giant, who spoke quietly.
'Warden, I agree with your judgement but must ask, which among your torture devices can reach far enough into my mind to pop the bubble of terror within it? Why even try when you know I won't utter what I won't utter?'
Why is he speaking that way? The warden furrowed his brows, the giant's speaking tone reminding him of old myths that elders in his village would use to scare little children when they misbehaved.
The warden ordered his men to escort the giant (whom the warden subconsciously felt wary of) to the torture chambers.
…
The torture chamber was small, making one feel a sense of claustrophobia when inside. The room was unnaturally dark despite the torches inside.
The giant's helmet and clothes had been removed, being left only with a loincloth and revealing his bearded face and long black hair. He was chained down to the floor, and the chains could be adjusted in whichever way one wanted.
Under the supervision of the warden, torture began.
First, the giant's limbs were stretched until the muscles and ligaments seemed to just barely hold on. The giant stayed silent.
Next, the torturer took out a whip and began to repeatedly strike the giant, ripping his skin open and revealing the flesh underneath. Blood flowed like rivers from the wounds and repeated strikes defiled the giant's smooth skin, raising the flesh in bumpy and uneven manners. Some strikes went multiple centimetres deep and the barbed whip ripped chunks of flesh off of his body. The giant stayed silent.
The torturer was then instructed to rub a sticky, non-combustible liquid over the whip wounds. Though this action would usually cause immense pain, the giant stayed silent.
The torturer picked up a torch and held it close to the wounds one by one, heating up the liquid rubbed over them to cause even more pain. The liquid would be absorbed into the flesh and skin, preventing quick cauterisation and instead boiling the flesh around the wounds. The giant stayed silent.
The warden began to feel disturbed, not due to the torture itself, but due to how the giant reacted. The giant did not make a single sound, not a groan, not a puff. He did not struggle and he did not flinch, taking the torture as if he couldn't feel pain at all.
The warden instructed the torturer to feed the giant a supernatural leaf that would amplify the amount of pain felt by any who consume it. But it was useless.
They tried dozens of methods, from freezing to drowning and waterboarding to humiliation and electrical shocks to simply beating, yet nothing worked. They tried the most inhumane and disturbing torture techniques, yet the giant never spoke a single word.
They dressed the giant once more and placed him back to his cell.
On their way out, the warden glanced back at the giant, seeing the monster mocking him by sticking out his milk-white tongue.
…
'I knew torturing that giant was a bad idea!' Thomas whined, covering his face with his hands as if he were crying.
The next few days after they had tortured the giant, more and more people began to disappear, causing a great disturbance. This, in turn, led to more shifts and greater attention towards the problem, interfering with the guards' lives.
'Why don't they just stop?' Gina asked rhetorically, patting Thomas on the back.
'No clue,' another man answered, though he and all the others had their guesses.
Life went on.
…
As more men disappeared, the warden's wariness increased exponentially, breeding doubt and fear. Now he stood, looking down at the prison chamber, wondering whether the giant even was the culprit. Perhaps he was only a decoy, an emotionless decoy who couldn't feel pain, allowing outside forces to infiltrate the prison.
Letting out a deep sigh, the warden returned to his office.
On the way, he noticed Verity Atwell reading the prison records which she had insisted had to be read "for greater understanding of how prisons operate". The warden could not help but feel that the girl was too innocent and naïve for her own good.
Do my words not make me hypocritical? The warden had an anxious expression.
…
Verity was in her room, reading the records of the giant's torture as she hadn't been allowed into the chamber. She could understand why, even the mere descriptions of the torture were enough to make her want to vomit.
'I wonder how the giant endured it…' Verity wondered. Perhaps the giant used to be a monk, training his body to the absolute limit to the point where pain was nothing to him. Perhaps the giant had the ability to knock himself out, skipping the torture entirely. But that couldn't be true, as the giant was clearly described to be awake throughout the whole procedure.
If I had known that prisons could be so disturbing, I would've hesitated to come here. This is just… too much.
Kicking her feet up and down on her bed, Verity's mind wandered aimlessly through unrelated thoughts and questions, some of which she'd ask the day after.
Eventually, her eyes landed on the mirror beside her bed which the guards insisted had to stay covered with some ugly black cloth.
But why?
Verity got up from her bed and walked towards the mirror. What would happen when she lifted it? Nothing had happened when she first came to the prison after all.
She reached out towards the cloth and pulled it aside.
The reflection seemed completely normal, no parallel dimension, no monsters, no demons staring back at her…
'Boring.'
As Verity was about to place the cloth back over the mirror, she suddenly noticed movement behind her in the mirror.
She spun around, but found herself facing the mirror once more, and behind her own terrified eyes were hundreds of other eyes staring at her with unending madness and degeneracy.
Letting out a scream, Verity hurriedly covered the mirror with the cloth and began to cry.
…
Alexander had been getting ready to go to sleep in the room next-door to Verity's.
As he lay down on his bed, a sharp scream echoed from the young girl's room.
Jumping out of his bed, Alexander opened the door so quickly that it almost came off of its hinges.
Alexander ran into Verity's room without knocking, finding the terrified young girl curled up on the floor.
Slowly approaching her, Alexander nudged her gently, causing her to recoil before slowly opening her eyes.
'Alex!' Verity practically jumped towards her guardian, wrapping her arms around him.
'What happened?' Alexander asked with barely concealed worry.
'The-the m-mirror.'
'You lifted the cloth?' Alexander's voice was free of accusations.
'Y-yes…'
'Then what happened?'
Verity tried to answer but the shaking intensified too much for her to speak.
A few seconds later, the warden and two of his officers walked in, assuring Verity that she was safe.
After a few minutes, Verity finally described what she saw.
She described a demonic man covered in countless eyes which shone like stars, making her feel an existential terror unlike any other.
The warden nodded before calling the men outside, leaving Verity with some of the guards.
…
'It has to be the giant,' the warden said.
The two men agreed.
'Why don't we just kill him?' Alexander asked.
'I'm trying to figure out how to do that without risking everyone's lives.'
They discussed for an hour before deciding on a very reckless yet simple plan.
…
The men checked on Verity once more before walking to the giant's cell.
Warden took a deep breath, reaching his hand out to open the cell door. He did not know what to expect, perhaps the corpses of the missing people would show up inside the cell, perhaps the giant would be missing, perhaps the giant would attack them as soon as the door opened, ripping open his throat before he could react.
But none of that happened.
The door opened, allowing the men to see the giant, who had not moved an inch.
The giant began turning towards the warden.
'Stop' the warden said, and the giant obeyed, standing perfectly still.
The warden then unsheathed his longsword and stabbed it into the giant's neck, and then his heart. The giant did not resist, falling onto the floor, limp.
'An ignoble end,' the giant muttered as his last words.
Ripping open the sackcloth to confirm the giant's death, the men were perplexed upon seeing a healthy body.
'Didn't we torture him?' Alexander asked.
'Not even a scar…' the warden spoke.
The three men then picked up the giant's corpse, dragged it outside, tied it up in chains and cloths, and tossed it into the river with a purifying amulet.
…
The next few days passed without any problems, though the anxiety remained.
Sometimes, the prisoners would ask, 'Where'd the giant dude go?' but the guards had been instructed to ignore them.
The warden increased defences and called for the entire prison to be checked multiple times, and all mirrors were confiscated.
…
On the last day of Verity's visit, she could not wait to leave. After the mirror incident, she failed to sleep properly for many nights, having to be comforted for hours.
Now, she was sitting beside Alexander, waiting for the morning.
…
Past midnight, the guards checked through every room in the prison as instructed by the warden. There were no torches on, leaving all the rooms and passageways shrouded in darkness and every room ice cold.
Thomas walked lazily through the corridors, ready to meet up with the other guards on duty. Letting out a deep sigh, Thomas tried to warm himself using his lantern by rubbing his face against it, but it made no difference.
Pat!
The loud sound caused Thomas to flinch.
Despite his fear and apprehension, Thomas slowly moved forward towards the sound, finding himself inches away from a guard room.
Checking the door number and finding the key assigned to it, Thomas's hands shook as he prepared to open the door.
Do I really have to do this?
Taking a deep breath, Thomas slowly unlocked the door and pushed it open.
Stepping inside, Thomas observed his surroundings for any changes that might occur.
Everything was in disarray, there were shards of broken metal on the floor, pieces of broken armour plates.
He raised his lantern, trying to discern more details from his surroundings.
Plop!
Something cold and wet hit his face, running his hand along it, he realised it was blood.
Thomas slowly looked up, readying himself for the sight of a corpse stuck to the ceiling, but it never came.
Something changed.
Looking back down at the room, Thomas was met with the sight of perhaps four corpses, all of whom had been brutally dismembered and ripped apart. The room was covered in blood and gore, and a corpse lay next to a table with its helmet and head cracked open like a walnut.
As panic and terror spread throughout his body, Thomas's movements became erratic, unsure whether to run or stay. As he looked around the room, he noticed a small broken mirror placed at the corner of the room.
'Warden prohibited mirrors,' his voice could barely be heard.
Something large moved across the reflection.
Thomas turned around and sprinted out the room, hitting his lantern on the door and breaking it.
'Help! There is an emergency! Help!' Thomas yelled as he ran through the corridors, constantly bumping and crashing into the walls and tables.
Eventually he reached a room that was lit up. In it sat Gina, who got up as soon as she heard Thomas's screams.
'Thomas! THOMAS! Calm down! Explain what happened.'
Thomas erratically began to explain what was happening, 'There are um… there are people dead in the rooms, there were mirrors and-' his voice hitched as a sharp pain slowly spread across his chest.
He had been stabbed.
'What?' Straining himself to turn back towards Gina, he felt an immense feeling of betrayal, but instead of getting the chance to ask her 'Why?', he instead saw her lifeless body hit the floor.
It was only then that he realised the swelling and bruising around Gina's neck.
Tearing his eyes off of Gina and into the room, the last thing Thomas saw before hit the ground was a tall, brown skinned man grinning at him through a mirror.
…
The prisoners' conversations had died down, and the main cell block had fallen into silence. The torches had been extinguished, and the cells were in absolute darkness.
Harlem was laying in his cell, thinking about his old family and his dead daughter. He kept trying to sleep, but his past kept disturbing him.
Suddenly, a bright light shone outside of his cell.
Is it morning already?
Opening his eyes, he realised that every light in the prison had been lit at once.
He hesitantly stood up and walked towards his door, trying to look outwards when he suddenly stumbled forward, finding himself outside his cell.
The other prisoners who had been woken up saw this happen and rushed to their cell doors, and to everyone's shock, joy and terror, they were open.
It wasn't only that, but all the prisoners could feel their ability to control their essence returning to them.
The old man looked up, seeing the Overseer burnt down to charred bone.
Harlem, realising what was about to happen, ran back into his cell.
Perram Trench Penitentiary held eight high-tier supernaturals and over three hundred mid-tiers, all of whom were vile criminals!
…
Elodie was a Praetor with ice-related abilities who had been imprisoned for murdering hundreds innocent people while showing off her powers. She had been stuck in her cell for over a decade, and her new interest, the giant, had apparently been killed.
It was a pleasant surprise when she suddenly realised that the doors of her cell had been unlocked, allowing her a free way out.
Looking around, she saw the creepy lechers who had coveted her body from behind their bars and felt a heat rising through her spine.
Dashing forward, she grabbed one of the men by his throat, sinking her fingers into his throat and ripping it open.
After that was complete chaos.
Many mid-tier supernaturals trampled over each other, trying to escape while the high-tier supernaturals slaughtered guards, trying to reach their confiscated weapons. Some violent mid-tiers even began to attack others without any reason.
Blood and viscera filled the prison as the guards arrived and began trying to hold back the prisoners while the prisoners simply did as they wished.
In less than two minutes, over a hundred and fifty mid-tier supernaturals had died, stabbed, crushed, burnt, beheaded, poisoned…
On one of the floors, Elodie was battling against a high-tier supernatural guard, one of the warden's personal assistants.
Though she had no weapon, Elodie's experience and physical prowess was enough to place them on equal footing.
The knight swung his longsword, almost chopping Elodie's arm off.
Elodie dodged and swung her fist at the knight's helmet, who parried her strike and countered.
The two kept at a stalemate, neither side willing to waste any essence. The most Elodie would do was summon weapons and obstacles out of ice, while the knight refused to go further than using Force to weaken her blows.
Their melee battle eventually fell into a rhythm which echoed through the chamber, consisting of parries, counters and wary attacks.
Elodie managed to disarm the knight, who then pushed her away using Force as an attempt at slowing her down.
As Elodie was about to dash again, she saw the knight's eyes widen.
The knight screamed, 'IN YOUR EYES-'
A loud crack echoed throughout the chamber as every single person froze.
Elodie stared in disbelief as the knight's head twisted 180 degrees.
That was not the most terrifying part, though. Holding the man's head was a tall man with tan-brown skin and long black hair.
Such power! Elodie's instincts kicked in, causing her to take some steps backwards.
'I apologise for not introducing myself when you first asked me.' The giant spoke in his usual deep voice.
He crushed the knight's head with one hand before throwing him down.
Colourful words flashed across everyone's eyes, temporarily blinding them.
DEVIL
EARL
OF
MIRRORS
INGAR
On one of the floors below, a Preator recoiled, instinctively casting a spell.
BOOM!
A huge explosion occurred, causing multiple floors to collapse and causing the mass of supernaturals to fall into chaos once more.
Men trampled over each other, trying to escape the collapsing prison with their lives.
At the bottom, four high-tier supernaturals had surrounded Ingar. One of them tossed a glaive towards Elodie, who caught it before getting into a defensive stance.
'Three Praetors and one Elite is an awfully weak force to try and kill a Transcender, isn't it?' Ingar spoke, standing above the fallen rubble.
Ignoring Ingar's words, one of the Praetors suddenly dashed forward, having heated his two axes to red-hot.
Ingar swung his arm, the impact caused one of the Praetor's arms to be ripped off, mangling the other. He then grabbed the man by his throat and lifted him into the air.
Ingar's mirror-like eyes shone, eventually releasing two beams of light which obliterated the man's head in less than a moment.
A high-tier supernatural died just like that!?
Elodie, abandoning all delusions of victory, bent her legs and jumped up towards the upper floors, catching herself on some jail bars and climbing up towards the exit.
Another Praetor, a man, followed.
The final Praetor hesitated too long.
Ingar turned towards her, his eyes reflecting her frame. Behind her, Ingar approached before picking her up and strangling her, though he stood in place physically.
Believing he had a chance, the Elite pulled out his bow and aimed it at Ingar, quickly compressing his essence into the arrow.
The arrow shot forward but suddenly stopped mid-air.
On Ingar's body, dozens of eyes grew, all of them fixated on the Elite. One reflection of Ingar held the arrow while one of the hand-eyes began to glow.
The Elite dashed away as the beam of light melted through the rubble where he stood.
He jumped up, climbing to the top of the prison like the others.
Ingar simply watched, his gaze turning towards a single cell.
…
Harlem was terrified, though he was unable to see most of what happened from his cell, he had heard the name 'Devil Earl of Mirrors' which was enough to make him retreat into a corner.
A broken mirror was suddenly tossed up from below, landing in front of Harlem, but the old man did not dare touch it.
…
Verity was in her room, writing about her experiences in Perram Trench Penitentiary, entirely oblivious of the chaos unfolding outside. Specifically, she was writing about her experience talking to an old conspirer named Harlem, who happened to have had a daughter who looked and sounded similar to Verity. The two had bonded over the last few days, and she had learned many things from him, for the man had once been a king's advisor.
Bam!
Verity jumped as her door opened and Alexander stepped inside, 'Quick! We need to leave, forget about your stuff, just follow me.'
Verity, though confused, complied with her guardian's orders.
The two walked out from the sleeping quarters and went down the stairs, running into the warden, who had changed his prior attire for a suit of armour made of dragon scales and steel.
'What happened?' Verity asked.
'We're all uncertain, apparently all the prisoners managed to escape from their cells. Many ran into the woods, but the others are being held inside the prison right now.'
'What do we do?' Alexander asked, 'Do we run or stay?'
'Verity needs to get out of here, you should be able to reach the city in a few hours if you stay careful.'
Alexander nodded, and without asking questions, bolted out with Verity on his back.
The warden watched them leave before turning towards his two men and commanding them to descend into the prison chambers.
…
Elodie and the other Praetor (who was named Omar) had barely managed to escape the Devil Earl of Mirrors, taking a quick rest before moving through the now empty corridors of the prison in hopes of reaching the surface.
Turning a corner, the two were unexpectedly stopped by the warden and his forces.
'What are you doing here?' The warden asked, pointing his head toward them.
Elodie took a deep breath as Omar quickly answered, 'Devil Earl of Mirrors, he released the prisoners (I think) and I'm pretty sure he just slaughtered two high-tier supernaturals.'
'Devil Earl?' The warden's face showed shock, 'The giant?'
'Yes,' Elodie answered this time.
He's the same tier as me… The warden felt a chill.
After a few seconds of consideration, the warden spoke, 'You will come with us and confront the Devil.'
Elodie sneered, glancing towards Omar who seemed equally as reluctant.
'Or I can just kill you here.'
The two Praetors came to a non-communicative agreement, deciding that following the warden would be better than fighting him.
The group travelled through the labyrinthine prison, approaching the main chamber.
The warden signalled for them to stop. The veteran supernatural seemed to be listening to the surrounding environment.
Suddenly, the warden pulled out his sword and swung to his left, colliding with Ingar's hand which slid past the Lunar Steel blade and destroyed a wall.
'Ah, Warden! How nice to see you.' Ingar smiled, destroying the vase he had emerged from.
The warden did not waste time, instantly engaging in melee combat with the Devil as the others attempted to support.
The warden, despite his build and appearance, surprisingly used a Frenzy fighting style which forced Ingar's Heavy fighting style into constant defence.
Whenever Ingar retreated, the warden would manipulate the space between them to pull the Devil closer.
Ingar managed to land a punch on the warden, sending him back multiple steps.
The warden, in turn, created a slash on the Devil's left leg.
Ingar's muscles were like steel, being able to match the strength of the warden's blade with ease, making him question how they even managed to torture a beast like Ingar.
He's clearly stronger than me, how is he not an Interim yet?!
Elodie attempted to freeze Ingar but was stopped every time, while Omar's abilities weren't suited for tight spaces.
The other high-tier supernaturals could do more, occasionally holding Ingar down with chains and managing to cause minor confusion, but were largely useless.
The effectiveness of high-tier supernaturals are reduced to that of mid-tiers or less, the warden felt that the men's hard work had been futile and that they had been reduced to something only fractionally more than cannon fodder.
Bam!
Ingar's fist was deflected, smashing into the ground.
Taking advantage of the opening, the warden attempted to sever the Devil's throat with a slash.
Ingar dove into the reflections on the ceramic shards on the floor from the shattered vases and other items.
The warden kept his eyes open as if beckoning Ingar to enter them.
'I thought Transcenders could destroy cities! Why hasn't that happened I wonder?' Omar asked.
Doom!
Ingar's fist flew towards the warden as he reemerged from the reflections.
'We're not in a city. That is obviously a generalised estimate. And lastly, supernaturals are capable of holding back, you know.'
Omar shrugged.
The fight between the two Transcenders increased in ferocity.
Ingar began to use his eyes to shoot powerful beams of light, melting the walls as the warden dodged.
The Praetors, realising that the fight had way gone beyond their realm, ran to take cover behind walls and doorways.
Realising that his sword alone wouldn't be enough, the warden began to create shockwaves to impede Ingar.
He would generate over 200 decibels of noise which would be transferred directly into Ingar's body, causing internal damage.
At the same time, he began to use Order to limit Ingar's attacks.
'Dim!'
Ingar's eyes lost their shine, causing him to growl in frustration.
Inger began to grow more eyes around his body, growing to around four metres tall and becoming increasingly more monstrous.
His fighting style and actions also became more unpredictable.
He also began to attack the warden through reflections.
He cannot win against me in this environment. Warden assured himself.
Then suddenly, the fight changed. Rather than defending, Ingar began to attack like a rabid animal.
This caught the warden off-guard, causing him to take some heavy hits which sent him back multiple metres.
As the warden lunged with his sword to attack, something unexpected happened.
Ingar, having gained some unholy speed which had not been there before, dashed into the warden, punching him in the chest and cracking his armour.
Just like that, the four Praetors were left completely vulnerable.
Ingar teleported behind one of them, snapping the man's neck before he even realised it.
Omar reacted instantly, pouring his essence into the ground and causing a giant explosion
The explosion made a powerful boom that seemed to crackle through the air.
A large part of the prison collapsed, Elodie, the warden and Omar were sent flying while Ingar and the other Praetor's fate was unknown, though it wouldn't be hard to guess.
Omar landed in the forest and immediately began to run away, his olive-coloured skin covered in burns and bruises.
Elodie crashed into some trees and was knocked unconscious.
The warden had been caught off-guard, wasting his essence and being unable to defend himself against Omar's explosion. Just because he was of a higher tier did not make him invincible!
Nor did it mean that the battle was over.
Ingar looked up, his monstrous transformation gone and his legs bent and spread apart.
The second he saw the warden in the air, his eyes began to shine.
'All the Great Dragons roared as they fell! Wearing the skin of their descendants, do you think yourself to be one of them?! Let us see how you cope with death!'
Less than a second later, a tremendous beam of white light shot upwards.
The warden began to bend space, making the light slow down and enter a rainbow orbit around himself, imitating the vast galaxies above. The colourful rings of light expanded outwards, seeming to darken their surroundings as their brilliance stretched over the skies before shooting off into the Cosmos.
The warden grabbed hold of the space in front of him and pulled himself towards Ingar, instantly accelerating to lightning-fast speeds as he pointed his sword at the Devil's heart.
This manoeuvre made Ingar sneer as he placed his arms in front of himself for defence.
At the same time, the warden had begun to charge up a sound pulse.
A single moment later, the two collided.
BOOM!
A violent thunderclap echoed throughout the forest.
Trees were blown out of the ground and the left wall of the prison collapsed entirely.
The warden was blown away while his sword pierced Ingar's heart.
Ingar coughed up a mouthful of blood, then ripped the sword from his chest and shattered it in his hands.
The wound quickly began to close.
The warden slowly stood up, looking at the prison which had now begun to burn (which he guessed was due to oil lamps), then down at the tall, dark figure walking towards him.
Ingar spread his arms to his sides as he slowed down, mocking, 'All that power and experience just to make a mistake as amateur as letting a Devil into your facility…'
Ingar stopped 10 metres away from the warden, then turned around to look up at the full moon.
Ingar spoke in a casual manner, 'Do you prefer death? Or-'
'Kill me, I would rather give up my life than join the ranks of Corruption,' the warden spoke with anger and hatred in his voice.
Ingar grinned as he turned back towards the warden, his eyes shining with blinding white light.
The cold night sky, even if for a moment, became as bright as a summer day.
…
'Stand still or you'll make it worse!' Verity cried.
The two had made it a few miles out into the forest when Alexander encountered one of the Praetor escapees. Although Alexander won, managing to kill his adversary, he had been wounded by the enemy's mace which ripped a chunk of his torso off.
Alexander let out a hiss, 'It's hard!'
Verity was currently attempting to use a fast-healing ointment to regenerate Alexander's wound or at least stop it from bleeding.
Alexander clutched his sword tightly as another wave of searing pain began. He rocked back and forth, gritting his teeth and letting out stifled grunts.
Verity's face twisted and she closed her eyes, quietly muttering, 'Sorry.'
A rustle came from the woods.
Verity jerker upright, staring into the abyssal darkness surrounding them.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A frenzied man with wide eyes bolted out of the woods, stopping upon seeing them.
Alexander had gotten up, pointing his sword at the man (whom Verity now realised was missing his left arm).
The man took a few steps back before running off back into the woods.
Alexander let out a deep breath, lowering his sword to the ground and closing his eyes in an aloof manner.
Fweet! Ching!
'Augh!' Alexander groaned, his sword-holding hand instinctively reaching towards his shoulder which had been pierced by some kind of dagger.
Verity's eyes darted to the direction which the dagger had come from.
How did it break through my armour? Alexander asked inwardly as he, too, looked in the same direction.
'How unfair, right?' a deep voice bellowed.
Alexander's body felt heavy.
'Why?' the voice came again, now with a mocking tone.
A giant with long black hair and tan-brown skin walked out from between the trees.
'Why?' Ingar repeated, 'Out of all the people I could have killed, why did I choose you?'
'Run,' Alexander said, picking his sword back up.
'You're going to die…' Verity said with a weak voice.
'I'll be fi-'
'No!' Verity interrupted.
'How adorable,' Ingar's voice echoed.
'You can be certain! I will survive.'
Verity, although reluctant, turned around and ran into the woods.
'Naïve little girl!' Ingar yelled behind her.
Calming his breath, Alexander poured his essence into his sword, activating one of its enchantments.
'Hm?' Ingar's lips curled into a smile, 'A Demon Slayer's blade? Now I understand your confidence.'
This blade had a high Affinity to Good, making it especially effective against the evil demons and devils.
Though he held this blade, Alexander was reluctant to make a move.
'But…'
Ingar's body once again changed, hundreds of eyes growing over his body as his size increased to over three metres.
'Certainty of preservation is an arrogance not even an Immortal can boast of, so who are you to claim it?'
Alexander's body shook as he let out a cry, rushing towards Ingar.
…
Verity ran, through trees, over rocks and across a river, yet she did not stop. Not when her legs cried for rest, or when fear burdened her spine.
Snap!
'Woah!'
Until she did.
Crawling towards a rock and seating herself next to it, Verity lifted her skirt up to her knee, dread gripping her heart as she looked down at her injured knee.
I should have gotten away by now…
Looking up, Verity realised that the full moon had become shinier, allowing her to see further into the forest. And to her delight, the road to the prison was only around ten metres away from her.
Crack!
Spinning her head around, she saw a trembling old man, looking as if he was in immense pain…
'Harlem?'
And next to him…
'Ingar,' her voice was below a whisper.
The giant stood still, holding Harlem by his neck with his left hand, holding Alexander's half-destroyed head with his right.
Her jaw trembled as her mind regressed to a phrase her father used to say, 'If only the world were larger…'
Hearing this, Ingar burst out laughing.
'Do you truly think that a larger world would save you? Huh? Do you not think fate would have brought us together, and tempted me with the thrill of your murder?' The laughter continued.
Verity stopped trembling, her face now emotionless.
'The Grada, it is called the World of Cruelty for a reason!'
Grabbing Harlem by his head, he forced the old man to stare up at the moon.
The change was instant. Harlem's body lengthened and grew furry, his mouth turning into a snout and his hands turning into claws.
Throughout his entire werewolf transformation, Harlem kept uttering, 'No, no, no…'
When the transformation was completed, the old man's eyes had filled with madness and seemed to be craving violence.
It was then that Ingar, dropped Harlem to the ground.
The werewolf's eyes locked on Verity as he lunged towards her.
Verity let out a scream as the werewolf bit into her arm, abandoning lethality due to his madness.
Verity kept trying to hit the werewolf as the monster thrashed around, ripping chunks of skin and flesh off.
Ingar walked over and sat down on a rock, watching the scene with a smile.
Crunch!
The young girl let out a blood curdling scream as her arm bones snapped.
Then, the wolf began biting into her abdomen, causing her guts to spill out along with her viscera.
'I think Chrollon was right, what is humanity except genetics?'
As the werewolf bit open the girl's intestines, it suddenly recoiled due to the excrement within.
Seeing this, Ingar got up, pushing the werewolf's snout into the girl's guts, tormenting the monster like the girl.
'What makes them different from any other animal?'
As the werewolf ate, it suddenly felt an urge to vomit, spitting out the undigested flesh and bones back into the girl's guts. Still, Ingar forced the werewolf to eat the girl, preventing him from vomiting anything back out.
Verity could not scream anymore, her voice falling down to weak whimpers.
The girl already would have lost consciousness by now if not for Ingar keeping her alive using his Anatomy Affinity.
'Sapience? Morals?'
After the intestines were devoured, Ingar let go, allowing the werewolf to continue eating the girl. He ate the girl's womb, liver and kidneys, she still had sense in her.
'Regret?'
The werewolf then moved onto the girl's legs, her healthy thighs coming apart like fresh bread under the monster's jaws. The muscles and tendons ripped as the werewolf moved down from her thighs to her knees and feet.
'Could an ant be human if it had such qualities?'
The monster then moved onto the girl's chest, her breasts tearing off of her body as it chewed.
The more he ate, the more his mind calmed down, it was becoming daytime.
Harlem bit down on Verity's neck, tearing it open before continuing his unholy feast.
'Would a Devil be human if it felt regret?'
As the sun came up, Harlem slowly transformed back into a human.
'What? Huh?' The old man asked, finding himself covered in blood and standing over a defiled body.
His eyes searched the corpse from the feet to the hair, and upon seeing the face, broke down.
'What have I done?' he cried, the only sensical words he uttered.
He covered his face and eyes as he wept, unwilling to open his eyes again and see the face of his daughter on the hideosity he created.
A hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and spun him around.
Before he could even register what was happening, Harlem was face to face with Ingar- no- something infinitely worse.
He saw realm of havoc occupied by a being of absolute chaos, malevolence and Corruption. It could not be described in any meaningful sense except to say that the creature's form would never be the same as it was a moment before.
Harlem's consciousness fell into an abyss within his mind and spirit he did not know existed and watched as something else took hold.
Ingar dropped the demon on the ground, saying, 'You better get out of here, they'll arrive soon.'
By the time Demon Baronet Harlem had looked up, the Devil Earl of Mirrors was gone.
…
Mars Atwell and his group of five moved through the forest towards Perram Trench Penitentiary. All of them were high-tier supernaturals, and two of them were Elites (including Mars). Mars had dropped off his only daughter off at the prison after her insistence and had been busy pursuing a fugitive since.
'Mars? How long until we get there?' Reynolds, the other Elite, asked.
'An hour or so.'
'Is it urgent?'
'Not much, why do you ask?' Mars asked, stopping his steed and turning towards his friend.
'I think there's a corpse over there.'
The party froze, looking at each other in confusion.
Mars got off his horse and walked over to Reynolds, who pointed him towards a bloodied rock behind some bushes.
Seeing this, Mars calmly walked over to the rock, wary of his surroundings.
Looking down at the corpse, he couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity.
The next moment, his expression softened as he fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.
'Mars? What happened? Are you okay?' Diana, another member of their group, asked.
There was no reply except for what sounded like sobbing.
The group instantly realised what had occurred.
'Ohh, fuck…' one man felt like he was about to vomit.
A few minutes later, Mars walked back to the group, holding the heads of his daughter and nephew (Verity's head had been hanging by a thin piece of skin, and had ripped off when Mars touched it).
Mars was breathing unsteadily and had a very dark expression.
He wrapped the two heads in some pieces of cloth and jumped onto his horse without saying a word.
The group proceeded towards the prison at galloping speed.
How could Harding let this happen? How could I let this happen? Tears fell from Mars' face.
…
Mars had imagined excuses, he had imagined indifference, he had imagined half-assed apologies.
But he did not expect to see his old mentor impaled on a metal rod in front of a collapsed castle. Charles Harding, the Warden of Perram Trench Penitentiary, had had his eyes burnt off, scorching the rest of his skull and brain to the other side. On top of this, his sword had been snapped and stabbed through his heart.
Mars fell on his knees, now having to mourn not only his daughter and nephew but also his mentor.
The entire group was speechless and terrified; the same thoughts ran through their minds.
What monster could have done this?
But their questions had already been answered.
On the half-collapsed wall of the prison entrance, three words were written.
"INGAR WAS HERE"
Conclusion