24 Life is meant to be cruel.

Her body was hanged from the roof, two chains were being used to maintain her body mid-air. Where before a peerless beauty was, now not even the shadows remained.Her before smooth skin, was now dull and aged, her once gorgeous body was now a disgusteful mess and her before almost perfect face was now an horror scene.

An putrefact smell was coming out from her body and frightening wounds were seeing everywhere, her feet's burned toes, her hand's nailless fingers, her back full of skin strips, her distorted face, the hole in her skin here and there showing the muscles below. Testimonials all of how unfair life was, she knew that what she did didn't had forgiveness but it hardly deserve a punishment like this.

Once ago she was a beautiful lady in a countryside town and as almost any person there, she had a joyful life since childhood, a humble life but joyful. Thanks to her beauty she had tons of suitors but who earn her heart was a valiant young.

He was a well-know character in the town as his skill with the axe was without pair, besides he was also quite handsome. Furthemore he was also a very loving person and thus he won her heart, after a bit of effort. They were made the one to each other and were a destined couple, at least that were the comments around the town.

Her married life was even joyful than her life before then, and with just a few time passed she got pregnant, making the couple even happy. But life was hard and not matter how happy they were, they were also very humble and her husband desired for a better life for her and her unborn child, so he decided to join the army.

Life was still good, and the happy moments didn't stopped even once until war came and her husband had to attend the call. That was the last time she saw her husband and the moment the happiness was deemed to end.

After giving a birth to a beautiful child, a girl who she named Neith , she was now a single mother and in a town were everyone mostly lived from hazardous tasks she gaining an earning was even harder. But there was still the pension from her husband, from who she not long after heard about, breaking her heart, the army in which her husband was enrolled was wipe out, not survivors were found.

Life just became harder and harder afterward and in some points people around were purposely making her life harder. No matter where, beauty without a backup was always akin to doom, and her's arrived soon.

The captain from the garrison of the town took a liking to her, and with his power as a Energy Gathering expert, which mortals could only look up to, who would forbid him from doing what he wanted. She was soon inmersed in a personal, man-made, 'hell'.

The captain was full of fetishes and 'fantasies' and throw all of them in her body, some time just by his own, sometimes inviting friends, and the worst? She could only endure, endure the torture as she shut herself in her mind.

She thought of ending her life many times but who would take care of her daugther even if she was tainted, even if she didn't deserve life, her daugther was innocent and at least for her, she needed to endure. At least, at the very least, may Gods know why, the captain deliver the pension to her every time as this were the times when he also came to enjoy himself.

And as 'passerbys' and 'neighbours' were never blind and less deaf, rumours started spreading of how the most beautiful girl in town was now a slut.But evil didn't last long or people like to thing this way, and with the recent invasion from the Holy Empire, the 'captain' and his entourage were pushed to retreat.

It just that not every change is always good, an this one particularly, to her was nothing close to good. After conquering the town a 'witch hunt' begun intended to unroot all the 'evil' around and she was pointed as one of those evil doer. Her sin? Being a whore who sell his body to demons.

She was soon jailed and brought to a dungeon, from that point on just torture followed next in an attempt to make her acknowledge her wrongs before 'cleaning' her body.But was as easy as it sounds? She was the victim all the time and now they were asking her to acknowledge her wrongs? It took her a while to be in peace with her own and she was almost ready when she came to understand that by 'cleaning' they meat burning her in the bonfire. She was ready to die, but had she to die like this? This was how fair was the god of them, this was how fair was life? Would she never see her daughter again?.

The pain his body felt was nothing as the pain in her mind, and after an unknown amount of time she reach a point where she could separate her mind from his body. A wonderful state, a state who many wished for but that didn't had any other use for her than subduing the pain....

The metallic sound alerted of the door of the dungeon being opened and a middle aged man came in with a lazily pace. Slowly he reached a table in the side of the room at top of which tens of 'purification' tools were displayed. Taking a lash in hand, his prefered tool of choice, he walked calmly to behind the hanged woman.

"Are you ready to admit your wrongs?" He asked indifferent but got not response.

"Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash""Slash" "Slash".....

The sound of he lash striking the flesh was heard a great number of times, but besides that and the panting of the man no more sound was heard. No even the watering sound of the splashing blood as there weren't much remaining inside of her body.

"WITCH, HOW DARE YOU TO PROSTITUTE YOURSELF IN THE LANDS OF THE LORD".

"Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash".....

"ADMIT YOUR WRONGS DAUGHTER OF THE EVILNESS, ADMIT YOUR WRONGS AND THE LORD MAY FORGIVE YOU".

"Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash" "Slash".....

Still not sound was utter from her mouth, whether she didn't want or she couldn't, nobody knew.

Sighing the man seemed as if he lost his interest.

"It is so hard? Just recognize your evil nature and our god will provide a better life for you, the next time, it's the best for you." Said softly the man as talking to a dear person but to no avail as he didn't get any response again.

Raging inside, he tightened the grip over the lash and was about to strike again when he felt as if was set ablaze and then, suddenly, his body was mid-air and moving backward quickly until it met with the room's wall, blood splashed all over the wall as his conscious retreated into the darkness.

The moment before when he was about to strike, out of nowhere, a person surrounded by black colored flames appeared, and without even looking in his direction launched a punch to him, resulting in him flying.

The flames around the new appeared man subdued as he walked to the hanged woman, two unseen hits broke the chains around her arms, and he held her before she could fell. Caressing her face with great tenderness and love he softly murmured "I am sorry, i am late".

If she could talk for sure she would replied " Welcome back hubby".

Moments before, she was sure her time was ending, she was regretting, regretting she couldn't see any of her loved ones again and wished with all her might she could see them just only once again.