Chapter 232: Tolerance

Warning just in case; you may feel a little uncomfortable reading this.

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Staring at the naked man, Joseph maintained his cold smile as he closed the cell door. His black eyes promised pain.

Frowning slightly, Adryan took several steps backward away from the Devil.

"Sorry mate but I don't bat for that side." 

Letting out a small dark chuckle, Joseph walked until he was a few feet away from Adryan. He shook his wrist and hidden legs emerged from the corners of the briefcase.

Setting the now table aside, the man removed his black coat along with his low-slung hat. As he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, he finally spoke.

"Scoff all you like Mr. Kenway, that tongue won't be there long."

Gritting his teeth, Adryan raised his arms in guard.

"I'd like to see you try Corpse Lover." 

"That's flattering to me, Mr. Kenway."

Snorting at the redhead's words, Joseph opened the briefcase with his left hand at the same time snapping the fingers on his right hand.

The ivies covering Adryan's body immediately shot toward the wall and embedded themselves in it, bringing their prey with them.

His arms and legs were outstretched and his body was now an X on the wall.

Grunting at the blow, he tried to break away from it but the ivies didn't even flinch and on top of that he could feel his strength fading.

"Adryan if you have any ideas then do it now!" Flora warned catching Adryan's attention who returned his gaze to Devil.

'If I had one I would have done it already don't you think?' Answering in his mind, he didn't hide his frustration and tried to pull himself out of the ivy. But it was useless.

In hands that now wore black gloves, a potato peeler lay. 

"You know Mr. Kenway? There's a beauty in corpses that just... fascinates me."

Joseph began to explain as he walked, he gracefully held the peeler in his hand as if it were a holy blade.

"My family believes that true beauty lies beneath us..." 

Stopping in front of Adryan, Joseph smiled as with his free hand he slowly stroked the red-haired man's V.

His finger trailed up, stroking, tracing, and feeling the man's chiseled abs.

"Don't touch me you son of a bitch."

Growling, the Pyromaniac tried to jerk away but no matter how hard he tried he was completely immobile.

Completely ignoring what he was saying, Joseph continued to speak as his finger moved up toward the man's prominent chest.

"Our skin is simply clothing that hides the true beauty underneath. Muscles, perfect human architecture. That, Mr. Kenway, is the true beauty of being human. Not this dirt." 

After pressing lightly on the right pectoral, his gloved hand went up to the shoulders.

Veins laced the neck of Adryan who was doing his best to pull himself away from the ivy but it was useless, as soon as he tried to force the thorns sucked his strength away.

This process was repeated again and again, his muscles swelling and relaxing.

For Joseph whose hand never stopped exploring Adryan's body, it was the hottest thing he had ever seen. 

"You know Mr. Kenway... If I didn't have to keep you alive, I would have killed you so I could taste you." The man said laminating his dry lips.

If he could have, Adryan's face would have turned green with disgust. His pupils shrank to mere dots.

"Your death will not be slow that I swear to you on my soul." The red-eyed man spat with pure venom.

There was no way he was going to let this monster have his way with him without doing something about it.

Letting out a small chuckle, Joseph's hand finally stopped touching the redhead's body.

"You say that like there's a chance of that happening Mr. Kenway."

Adryan didn't respond, just glared daggers of death at Joseph who wasn't in the least bit frightened.

"Don't worry Mr. Kenway, my lord ordered me that I couldn't kill you or 'play' with you..." Licking his dry lips, the Devil continued.

"Though he also said that your body was all mine as soon as the anniversary was over~"

Adryan and Flora arched in disgust.

"Fuck you sick fuck!" The redhead spat at Joseph who laughed darkly.

"Don't tell me I'll have to watch that sewer rat has his way with your body while I die! Damn it Adryan what the fuck did you get us into?!" Flora roared furious and fearful for her future.

Despite their connection, she would not die at the same instant Adryan did but it would take some time, perhaps a few hours or minutes she had no idea. While that normally meant time to escape, because of the connection she had with the princess she seriously doubted she could get out of his body even if he was dead!

That meant that while dying, she would see all the atrocities that man would do to the red-haired man!

"This is a good time to pray to your lord! I'm sure someone like 'Him' can afford a little of his power to save you, his blessed one, right?" Flora asked in fright.

'There would be no problem if my Lord existed!!!' Adryan shouted in his mind as he writhed in the ivies.

Suddenly, Joseph grabbed the man's thigh, and using the peeler, he sliced a long red slice of skin.

Gritting his teeth and as the peeled area wept its warm crimson liquid, Adryan watched in disgust as Joseph took the piece of skin he had removed and stuffed it into his mouth.

With wet sucking and chewing sounds, clearly enjoying the taste, the man moaned softly before swallowing with a loud Gulp.

Licking the blood from his lips, Joseph kept his grip on Adryan's thigh and went back to slicing off another piece.

"But that didn't mean I can't take it out on you after what you did to me!"

Grinding his teeth, Adryan only let out a small grunt of annoyance.

Of so many things he felt, feeling his skin peeled like a potato was at the bottom of his pain level.

And this was noticed by Joseph who finished swallowing another slice of skin and then smiled.

"Mmm Tough eh? That's the way I like 'em." 

Turning away, he lazily tossed the potato peeler aside discarding it as trash. The man returned to his 'tool' table.

Letting out a long sigh, Adryan looked down at his right thigh and clicked his tongue at the sight of the missing patch of skin.

"...If you're not asking for help, it's because you have a plan right?" Flora asked the man and she couldn't help but feel very uncomfortable at the sight of the missing piece of skin.

'Something like that but you're not going to like it at all...' the redhead thought. What the Devil just said gave birth to a possibility.

Doctor had said something similar so his theory was pretty sure to be correct!

'They don't know that I can revive!'

'If they knew I could resurrect then they would never give my body to this idiot... He he... The plan never changed just the situation.' He thought a little amused as he shook his head.

Again, the plan was to die.

Watching as this time Joseph pulled out long bolt cutters, Adryan clenched his fists tightly.

'I can't believe the last thing I ate was burnt eggs and a cup of bitter coffee...'

Returning to his side, Joseph forced Adryan's hand open and placing his ring finger between the teeth of the clamp, he squeezed.

This time his grunt was louder, and his finger fell to the ground and was ignored by Joseph who grabbed another.

With quivering lips, Adryan gave a strained smile.

"There won't be any way for you to explain to me what this Anniversary is, right?"

He couldn't miss any opportunity to gather information. If he planned to use this event to his advantage he needed as much information as possible.

'The only thing I know is that it will be celebrated in 2 days and as soon as it passes I will be killed, after that my body will be given to this guy...'

'Can it be a sacrifice?'

'It has something to do with a ritual I'm sure...'

If Blood Moon had orchestrated the kidnapping of over 100,000 people that could only mean a large scale sacrifice.

His heart squeezed with a little fear but also some excitement.

'Let's see what you can do Hunters Hallow...'

This was a gamble. His entire being was placed on this dark horse being strong enough to protect his soul.

If it failed, he seriously doubted that he would be able to revive. But if it worked...

Gritting his teeth, Adryan let out a long, heavy sigh.

This was the only option. And until then...

'I have to resist...' Clenching his right fist, his eyes glowed with determination.

Joseph looked at the man and after thinking about it for about 3 seconds, he slammed the clamp down hard, cutting off another finger and earning another grunt. 

"And ruin the surprise? No thanks, Mr. Kenway. Now a little question; the left or the right?"

Frowning, Adryan replied in annoyance.

"I won't play that game. No matter what you do I'm not going to scream."

Smiling at the man's provocation, Joseph nodded.

"We'll see about that Mr. Kenway."

The bolt cutter's teeth were placed around his left heel and with a sharp clench, his foot fell to the ground in a thud.

Crimson blood gushed out.

Veins swelled in his neck but despite the pain, Adryan did not scream.

With sweat beginning to cover his body, he smiled provocatively at the Devil who looked at him somewhat impressed that he didn't scream.

Rolling his shoulders, Joseph held the bolt cutter in his right hand and closed his left hand.

Pum! 

A powerful blow sank into the stomach of Adryan who coughed up blood and all the air left his lungs.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Without giving him time to recover, Joseph placed the teeth of the claw on the remaining heel and squeezed.

Plop*

Gritting his teeth, the red-haired man could barely swallow the scream of pain.

Seeing that he was still resisting, Joseph's smile grew even wider. Another blow sank into Adryan's stomach who couldn't contain it and threw up his breakfast.

Cough! Cough!

Having turned away from the vomit, the Devil hit Adryan's stomach again.

Pum! Pum! Pum!

Saliva mixed with blood dripped from his mouth, his breathing was agitated and his vision somewhat blurred. Groaning, Adryan raised his head and spat out a bloody crawl at Joseph's feet.

"That's it?"

Black eyebrows shot up in surprise before a small chuckle tugged at his lips. 

"Oh, Mr. Kenway. You and I are going to have a fun time!" 

Tossing the bloody clamp aside, Joseph returned to his briefcase.

"By the way, my lord will come every 4 hours to treat your wounds. Your body will look like nothing happened." The man commented as he pulled out a simple silver spoon.

"That's why you woke up without any wounds." He added as he stood in front of Adryan and held his face.

Adryan tried to struggle but his body was weak and it was a futile struggle.

"That means I can hurt you very... Very badly." 

The Devil's black eyes glowed as the spoon plunged.

Adryan squirmed and tried to move but his torturer's iron grip held him in place.

Loud grunts and groans along with a struggle could be heard in the cell.

Turning the spoon in long, slow circles, the devil slowly pulled the eye out of its socket.

With a final twist, the eye fell free and hung on the nerve. Surprisingly, Adryan noticed how he could still see a little through it...

This did not last long as Joseph grabbed the eye and yanked it forcefully out of his face.

Adryan was breathing heavily and agitated, a large amount of blood was coming out of where his eye once was in the form of thick red tears.

Staring at the scarlet eye in his hand for a few seconds, Joseph grew bored and clenched his fist, with a wet Plop the eye exploded.

His attention returned to the pale Adryan who gave him a tired smile.

"Is...huff...that all?"

In all that process, he hadn't cried out once. He let out moans and loud grunts but never screamed.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Joseph tossed the spoon aside.

"You're lucky he only allowed me to gouge out one eye." 

An eye was harder to heal than a broken bone so his Lord only allowed him to damage one.

Turning away, Joseph went back to his briefcase to grab the next tool.

Adryan for his part looked at this with a tired smile and a single half-open eye, clear red tears falling from his face.

"How come you're not shrieking in pain now?! HE TOOK YOUR FUCKING EYE OUT!!!" Flora screamed in disbelief.

Despite being a Demigod she would have already screamed a little when she lost a few fingers. This lunatic endured having his feet chopped off and his eye taken out in the slowest and most brutal way she had ever seen!

Now that she thought about it she had never heard him scream in pain...

"I hope this is part of your plan as otherwise, you are the biggest masochist I ever had the misfortune to meet!" Flora yelled. Knowing the redhead, she refused to believe he would put up with this without a plan in mind.

'If I compare to the pain I felt when I touched my body in that limbo... This is merely the caress of a rabbit.' Adryan replied mentally, his entire body covered in a thick layer of sweat. His one eye moved to the wounds on his legs and hands. His lips pursed as he saw that from wounds that should have been bleeding non-stop, not a single drop of blood was coming out.

It was as if someone had turned off the faucet or bent the hose, preventing its life-giving liquid from flowing out.

Clicking his tongue, Adryan immediately knew why.

'The Devil Pathway is not only known for its abyss-related powers but also for its powerful rituals... I bet each of those tools is enchanted through rituals to prevent the people they hurt from bleeding to death...'

He knew from experience that the man was quite skilled with rituals. The dirty bomb in the fishing house proved it.

A ritual to stop the bleeding would be nothing to him.

Clenching his fists, Adryan hated himself for being so weak.

Turning back to him and now with scissors in hand, Joseph held the redhead's jaw again and forced his mouth open.

"I should have done this first." The man muttered as he shoved the scissors inside his mouth.

'These 2 days will be a pain in the ass...' Adryan thought really annoyed.

With a resounding Zap, a pink tongue dropped to the floor.

...

Wednesday, August 15. 2:00 a.m.

At the Raphael Cemetery.

Crimson moonlight bathed the cemetery, illuminating several of the graves in it.

One grave that had been recently placed stood out from the others, as the stone slab over it was shaking, as if something wanted to come out.

After a few minutes of struggling, the stone slab moved and a pale hand emerged from the earth!

The hand convulsed for a few moments before it settled on the edge of the stone slab and pushed it aside.

A headless body wearing a black tuxedo sat up suddenly, the part of the neck where its head should have been was twisting.

Quickly and bizarrely but miraculously, a head began to reconstruct itself.

After about 4 minutes and with his head restored. Klein looked around in a daze.