Chapter 31: A Thousand year of Torture

"Fool"

"...Eh?"

[Caution: Mind control skill detected]

Aron's body froze as his eyes turned back to black, and the 'life' in them vanished, leaving only a blank and lifeless look.

In that exact moment, the pressure that had kept everyone on their knees, struggling to even breathe, suddenly disappeared.

"Cough… Cough.."

"What was that? I almost... choked to death."

"Yeah! …Cough…Same here"

"Good thing that... Master Dealer lured him to his Spell."

Vincent's bodyguards began talking among themselves as they regained some strength to stand.

"Phew! That was intense." Vincent took a deep breath as he stood on his feet, gazing at Aron, who was frozen in place.

Grabbing Aron's hair and pulling his head towards him, Vincent was enraged.

"Your foolish actions cost me a client."

He was about to punch Aron in the face, but he stopped an inch away when he heard a woman's voice yelling at him.

"Vincent, don't you dare hurt his face. I told you I want him for myself, and I want him unarmed," Lady Adara spoke as she crawled back onto the sofa.

It was only when Adara spoke that Pethra snapped back from her thoughts of murdering the woman. She looked around and saw Aron on the ground while Vincent was violently grabbing his hair.

Immediately, Pethra started changing her magic in secret. Prior to entering the building with Aron, Pethra had placed many magic spells around the building at Aron's request. If things didn't go as planned, Pethra would activate these spells, which would set off a chain reaction underground.

This spell was simple and underrated by many. Why? First, the spell only worked on objects. Second, its effect was size adjustment, with a low radius and a short duration of a few seconds, after which the object would return to its original size. Many mages had abandoned this spell in favor of alternatives. Alternatives that Pethra had not yet learned.

But Aron's strange way of thinking surprised Pethra once again. How? Well, by placing this spell multiple times underground, when activated, it would shrink small chunks of the earth momentarily. The earth would naturally fill the empty space, falling deep below the surface level.

Now repeat this many times in a circle and in a small area, and voila! You just created the perfect recipe for an earthquake. Moreover, when the spell effect ends, that part of the earth will not find a place to fit in, effectively pushing and forcing it to take up space and making the earth unstable.

A brilliant use of a simple defective spell

Vincent snorted, but he wasn't going to retaliate against Lady Adara, as she was a noble and ranked higher than him, not to mention she was one of his best clients.

"Fine, let's just break his will, then he'll be yours," he said as he pulled Aron's hair. "Look into my eyes." Vincent's eyes glowed in green light.

After successfully entering Aron's mind, Vincent found himself in a completely dark place.

'Strange? Usually it's a white place' Vincent thought, his eyes catching a distant red light. Focusing his sight on the light, Vincent found himself being pulled towards it.

"...Eh?"

Suddenly, the world around him started shaking violently, and the red light began to spread beneath him like water cascading down from mountains.

"W-What's happening?" Vincent shouted, finding it hard to remain standing. But then…

Chains.

Chains emerged from the ground, wrapping around Vincent's body and tightening with each passing moment. He struggled to break free, but it was no use; the chains held him tightly.

ROOAAAR.

A loud roar of a beast echoed, making the world around Vincent tremble.

"!!!" Vincent's heart raced as fear took over his body. He tried to use his magic to break free from the chains, but it was useless. The roar grew louder and closer, and Vincent could feel the ground shaking beneath him.

Then, suddenly, everything went still. The next moment, eyes

Two giant, flaming crimson eyes were gazing at Vincent, melting him from the inside.

A beast—a huge beast made from shadows and flames—stood in front of him. The beast instantly made a move and cut off both of Vincent's arms.

"AAAAHHHH!!" Vincent screamed, but the beast didn't care. It went on to cut off his legs, ears, nose, and tongue, even making a hole in his stomach, pulling out everything inside him while burning his skin and breaking every bone in his body. The only part the beast left untouched was Vincent's eyes; it seemed that he wanted him to watch everything.

Vincent tried everything in his power to escape, but nothing worked. His skill didn't cancel, so he couldn't escape Aron's mind. He was trapped with a crazy, bloodthirsty beast made from shadows and red flames.

The only way left for Vincent to escape is to die. If he died inside Aron's mind, then his skill would automatically cancel, throwing him out. So Vincent felt relief when he saw the beast open its mouth to release a stream of fire.

"AAHHHH!"

Flames consumed Vincent's body. He felt everything inside him melting. He knew that this wasn't real and that the damage he was experiencing was only in his mind, but that didn't mean that all the torture he endured wouldn't affect him.

Vincent closed his eyes as he tried to endure the pain, but suddenly he felt something strange—he couldn't move.

When Vincent opened his eyes, he was shocked. He found himself still inside Aron's mind, and his body healed back to its original form.

"How? Why? I should have returned to my body by now. Is my skill still active?" He thought so, but when he glanced in front of him, he widened his eyes in shock.

The beast was there, with an evil smile that showed all of its strange, sharp teeth.

"No! No, no... This can't be happening." Vincent quickly realized that the beast was the one keeping him trapped there.

"Hehehe~"

The next second, the beast cut off Vincent's arms, then legs, ears, nose, and tongue again. The beast repeated the same thing as before, finishing with flames coming from its mouth. After that, Vincent found himself healed again, and the torture would start all over again.

"HAHAHAHA~" The beast laughed. He was excited, and he was really enjoying this torture.

This cycle repeated itself hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of times. Vincent wasn't sure since he lost count and his sense of time. He was sure of one thing—he had spent thousands of years enduring this torture, at least.

In the real world, only seconds passed. But inside Aron's mind, many years have passed for Vincent.

…

"AAAHHHHH!" Vincent's sudden scream shook everyone in the room—Adara, the bodyguards, the slaves, and even Pethra, who was still channeling the magic.

Vincent fell to the ground, shaking violently.

"P-Please….N-No more. I…I...Take …any M-More"

What shocked them even more was that Aron suddenly stood on his feet. He looked unharmed and still had his own will.

"That was dangerous," Aron spoke.

[Of course, Master, that…..*AAAAH! You dumb lizard! How can you be so stupid to fall into his trap? AAH? You're lucky that he was a weak human who didn't train or develop his skills, or he would have taken over your will and made you his slave.*....]

[...*Got that? Just don't be a dumb lizard and fall for the same trick again*...]

[Sorry, Master, but I have to agree with my other self here. You need to be careful in the future.]

Aron listened in silence. He didn't refuse the System's harsh words, as he was fully aware of his mistakes and what could have happened if Vincent had managed to control him.

'...But stop! Calling me a lizard.'

When Aron was resting in his room with Pethra, he asked her about dragons. From one of her descriptions, dragons are giant, flying, lizard-like creatures.

Because of this, Ruam and the System started teasing Aron by calling him Lizard, and he didn't like it at all.

[....*Stop being a bitch and go kill everyone. Just don't hurt the slaves; they have nothing to do with all of this.*....]

Aron dropped the subject and immediately looked around. He saw the shocked faces of the people around him. Only Pethra had a gentle smile on her face when she saw him standing there unharmed. Aron raised his hand, and Python instantly appeared in his grasp.

"Now, you die."

His voice made the bodyguards snap out of their stupor, and when they saw the greatsword in Aron's hand, they immediately took a fighting stance and charged at him.

"KILL him!"

"Protect Master Dealer!"

Aron swung his sword horizontally, striking the first guard who came close to him. The guard realized his mistake, as he had leaped too forcefully and gotten too close to Aron. He tried to shield himself with his sword, but Python easily cut through the sword and the man's waist, splitting him in two.

Another guard appeared from the side and attempted to attack Aron, but a black greataxe came from nowhere, slamming into the guard's face and sending him flying, landing directly on top of Lady Adara.

Aron smiled when he saw the greataxe helping him and made a mental note to name it later. Then he continued to move forward, swinging his sword left and right, slicing through the bodyguards with ease.

As the fight continued, the slaves quickly gathered in the corner, watching the scene with wide eyes. They didn't know the man or why he was killing the bodyguards, but deep down, they were cheering for him.

They saw a glimmer of hope to escape the hell they were living in. Among them was the slave with violet eyes. She watched Aron's every movement like a hawk, her eyes sparkling with excitement for some reason.

Pethra was amazed by Aron's fighting skills; he moved like a wild beast, his swings were fast and deadly, and the way he dodged the attacks, well actually he wasn't dodging at all. If a bodyguard got close to him or tried to attack him for a blind spot, Aron would command the Greataxe to block or counter the attack, and he would use Python to finish the enemy off with a swift strike.

For Pethra, Aron looked like a Mountain—an unshakable and unbreakable force of nature. At that moment, Pethra realized that, just as a mountain towers over the surrounding landscape, Aron will tower over his enemies and allies alike. The man is screaming dominance, and that was Aron's charm, in her opinion.

'Kyaaa! He's awesome. Fight! Aron Fight!...Hmm? Found you!'

In the chaos, Pethra moved in secret, avoiding everyone's attention until she stood on top of a woman—Lady Adara.

When Adara sensed that someone was close to her, she tried to ask for help to push the "heavy" guard off her, but she stopped when she saw Pethra's 'gentle' smile.

"Hello, bitch," Pethra greeted her.

"Who do you call a bitch? You lowly slave!" Adara immediately shouted in anger.

Pethra's eyebrow twitched a little, and she lowered herself to Adara's level.

Slap!.

She slapped her hard on the face.

"Whaaat?! How dare you place your filthy hand-"

Slap!.

She slapped her again.

"I'm a Noble, touch me again, and I'll have you skinned alive."

Pethra paused for a second, and Adara smiled wickedly when she saw that her threat worked.

Slap!.

Or so she thought.

Then Pethra pulled her hair back and gazed into her eyes.

"You know? Not too long ago, I was a slave, a slave to my own will, chained by fear of Nobles, debt, weakness, and poverty. But now I am free. Free from the chains that bound me and free to do whatever I want,"

Pethra then pointed to Aron, who was still fighting the bodyguards.

"You see that charming man? He broke into my life and melted my chains, making me 'His.' He gave me freedom and the strength to be able to do anything. I know for sure that no matter what, he'll support me. He became my family."

"B-But you..." Pethra started shaking as she pulled Adara's hair.

Gulp.

Adara gulped when she saw the look on Pethra's face. Her light-blue eyes were as deep as a black hole.

"....A BITCH! Like you… You tried to take him away from me! Take away MY freedom. He's MINE, mine... mine... mine... mine~..."

'Oh my god! She's insane; she's completely obsessed with the man,' Adara screamed in her head.

Pethra's grip tightened on Adara's hair as she spoke, her voice low and menacing.

"I must protect him from women like you who are only trying to use him. So, you have to die, okay? No hard feelings, right?"

Adara broke into a cold sweat when she saw that Pethra raised her staff, and earth magic started gathering at the tip of the staff in the shape of an arrow.

"What?! No, no, stop! You wouldn't kill a Noble, would you? Your life will end-"

"For my happiness." Pethra wasted no time and pierced the pointed tip of her staff right into Adara's throat, effectively preventing her from screaming and giving her a painful end.

Blood splashed on Pethra's face as she displayed a seductive and obsessive smile while glancing at Aron.