Chapter 44.5 - Investigation [Interlude]

"Cough-!"

When she felt her consciousness returning, this was the first reaction she gave.

The strangled sound escaped her throat, echoing through the oppressive darkness that seemed to smother everything. Pain surged from every inch of her body, a relentless assault that left her gasping for breath.

'I can't move.'

She was ensnared, bound by unseen forces that rendered her limbs useless. Every attempt to break free was met with the harsh reality of her restrained state.

'Disgusting .'

The air in the dimly lit space carried a thick, musty scent, wrapping around her senses like a suffocating shroud.

The only audible rhythm was the distant, haunting drip that resonated through the confines of her disoriented consciousness.

With a slow blink, her eyes opened to a world veiled in muted shadows. Stone walls, unforgiving and cold, loomed around her, their rough-hewn surfaces a testament to the bleakness of her surroundings.