3-Two False Slaves

Teyat, lying on the ground in a pitiable state, subjected to torture, began bleeding not just from his mouth but from his ears, eyes, and nose. He writhed in agony, drenched in blood, overwhelmed by the excruciating pain.

His voice had grown hoarse from the torment, but still, he cried out with whatever strength he had left, screaming pitifully. He clutched his hand tightly to his chest, where his heart lay, and screamed at the top of his lungs, writhing in agony on the ground, soaked in blood.

Watching this painful scene unfold was his fellow slave, Alvin. He stood there holding a small, broken mirror that reflected the image of a black sea, a single black drop falling and causing violent waves. Alvin watched Teyat's suffering with a gentle smile, his eyes fixed on the tortured figure writhing on the ground.

Then, suddenly, the gentle expression on his face twisted into one of cold, dark, and terrifying malice.

He opened his mouth, his voice now a part of his menacing expression, and spoke.

"Isn't it ridiculous? Two lying slaves, deceiving each other endlessly, just for this meaningless and enslaved life. You lied to escape, and I, mindlessly obeying someone else's order, lied to fulfill this task, lied to bring you to this state, lied to destroy your soul. How stupid, don't you think?"

Alvin's once dark expression faded into one of despair and emptiness.

"I'm sorry… I couldn't control myself, even though I didn't want to."

Teyat didn't hear these words, didn't even notice the darkness in Alvin's expression. He couldn't, because there was something far more important at hand. The torturous pain consuming his very being.

Alvin first stared at Teyat with hopeless, empty eyes, then raised his hand to his head and sighed, shaking it in despair. He moved closer to his writhing companion, holding the mirror towards him, leaning forward until the mirror was just above Teyat's chest.

To Alvin, this was the final stage in the mission to imprison the soul that bore the legacy of darkness.

If necessary, it was his duty to shatter the dark soul.

The mirror was the key to this final step—to trap the weakened soul of darkness, the moment Teyat woke up in the white bed and a dark portal opened over his chest. Through this portal, something would emerge from the mirror, enter that place, and imprison his soul.

The reason something had to enter the region where the Book of Darkness resided was because that's where the soul was. That's why a dark portal opened there for the book to enter.

But what was inside that dark portal?

And why did the book, which was his core source of power, enter it?

Oh God… experience is necessary, isn't it?