Madness

Sig's eyes gazed at the space where the charming man was standing mere moments ago. The rhythmic sounds of steps slowly receded with every passing second, until it was not audible anymore.

There were now numerous thoughts passing through his numb mind, as he tightly clenched his injured hand.

'....Why me?'

And the thing he wanted to know the most was most likely not going to be answered. Ever.

His lips slowly trembled, as he let out a deep tired breath. 

Is this going to be the end?

He felt his body go limp, slowly losing all of its will and energy. Plunging on the earth suddenly, his head felt unusually light and tired.

Was this perhaps the punishment? Did the saying really turn out to be true?... With this finally being the inevitable and excruciating end of a robber. 

A death worthy of him?

'...To hell with that!!!'

Unfortunately, there was nobody who could answer that for him. Sig lingered for a moment on the ground and looked at where his fingers used to be. 

However, now there was nothing but a stream of crimson blood gushing out.

'...S-Shit!'

With every passing second, his mind felt turning and his breathing was getting shallow. As though the lights in front of him were slowly parting away, swaying a long distance away. And the distance between them seems only to increase.

"Hey!!! Wake Up!!!

"What are you standing here for!!? Go! Get something to stop the bleeding with."

Suddenly, Sigurd felt a strong pull on his body, as though a current jolting through him. His whole body seethed with surprise and pain, giving away a frightening tremble. 

Following that, his breath again became a lil faster and consequent, his mind slowly clearing out and responding to his body.

His eyes slowly fluttered open and stopped at the buff guard in front of him. Who in turn was pushing onto his chest periodically, also while muttering something to himself.

The man's expression looked horrifyingly solemn, yet at the same at the very bitter cusp of madness. As though he was on his last rope of sanity.

However, the moment his eyes meet with Sig's. The guard abruptly stopped. His eyes slowly scanned through the body as the lights of life slowly returned to him. 

Letting out a heavy breath, the buff man let his body sit on the ground. And for the first time ever, Sig took a good look at the face of his torturer… and his momentary savior.

The man looked well above his 40s, probably nearing his 50s. He had a small beard extending from his left ear all the way to the right, along with his twirly mustache. Which kind of looked funny together.

His muscular body looked rather more terrifying, comparing him to the charming man. There was also something about his demeanor that looked strangely torn. 

Something bearing him down from the inside, at the same time, taking away his sanity and reason with every passing second.

However, what surprised Sig the most was the horrified expression he wore when he was trying to save him. The eyes which were painted with guilt… he knew them all too well.

Nonetheless, it all still felt like a lucid dream. Sigurd, who was now on the ground, both of his shackles removed from the wall, slowly turned his face.

At the gate of the prison cell stood the other guard, severally out of breath. The man also looked at the older side, his head and wheatish face shaved completely clean.

The bald man took a good look at the buff bearded guard, before staring at Sig on the ground.

"...I thought he died"

At his response, the bearded guard stood up with a little chuckle and added.

"He did… but for a very brief period. It was a Cardiac arrest caused by intensive shock and blood loss."

He then went on to sigh, adding in a deflated tone. 

"Fortunately or unfortunately, I was present at the moment."

The bald man nodded and entered the prison cell with a larger-than-usual first aid kit in his hand. He kneeled near Sig's lying body and started tending to his hand.

Which for the whole last minute has never stopped bleeding. Causing him to feel unnaturally weak, dizzy, and lightheaded. 

Sig was silent throughout the treatment and didn't give much response. Or to be precise, he couldn't muster up enough energy to lift his body, much less to form a response.

There were many things he wanted. However, none was stronger than his urge to live.

For the past week, he remembered being burned, whipped, gutted, and now also dying. If only for a brief moment.

All the time, his will shook to the core. Seducing him to give away his stubbornness and embrace the oblivion. Let the horrid torture end. Finally, to be truly freed from all of the shackles.

However, that meant leaving everything behind.

"....D-Dying just because some motherfucker wants me to? …. I don't think that's ever going to happen."

Sig mumbled in an inaudible voice to himself, or probably it was just his lips moving and no sound. Nonetheless, he had no way of confirming it either way.

"....So what do we do now?"

The buff guard asked, looking at his companion with a grim expression suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

The bald man was surprised and momentarily stopped tending to wounds.

"You know… about the kid."

The bearded guard mumbled slowly.

"I am pretty positive that he is a human."

The bald man was silent in response, his face looked as if he was out of the retort. He silently tended to Sig's wounds for the next few minutes before standing up and turning to the buff guard.

"So What do you propose we do huh?"

The bald man's expression distorted completely, his voice keeping the flare of his anger.

"People are dying every day, Marshal. Their only false hope of survival is the kid being Invigilator….. Now What the heck do you want me to say to all of them?

{Oh! As it turned out, we tortured a kid for a whole week for no reason. He is no invigilator and we are all going to die at best in the next 3-4 days.}

As he completed his sentence, he turned his head upward. The bald man's eyes suddenly turned bloodshot and went inside his head, as he looked at the very cusp of despair. 

"We are all going to die! We are all going to die! We are all going to die! We are all going to die! We are all going to die! We are all going to die! We are all going to die! We are all going to die! We are all going to die!"

The silent mumble slowly turned into a chant. As the bald man suddenly took a seat on the ground unexpectedly, his body started bulging all of a sudden and his skin color started to darken.

"...W-What?"

Sigurd felt dazed looking at him. In a matter of seconds, what the heck happened? He couldn't understand any of this.

However, he felt something change in the air all of a sudden. The maddening feeling slowly crept onto him, as he felt his head going unfocused. 

Slowly, a voice came from deep within his subconscious.

"...You are going to die, no matter how much you struggle, Sig."

His body gave a jerk and he felt blood rushing to his head. The feeling of fear was insurmountable and… strangely vile. 

Surely, something was coming. Something so terrible that his body was reacting to its frightening gleam even before the appearance.

However, he suddenly felt his lying body rise in the air. His eyes focused on the buff guard, who was shaking uncontrollably while trying to open the prison lock.

"...N-No No! Not Frank! Not Frank too!"

While the bald man named Frank in the back was slowly turning completely black and his body swelling. The feeling of utmost dread and something extremely vile was oozing out of him.

Nonetheless, the buff guard didn't turn away and opened the prison door. Moving out of the cell Sig caught a glimpse of his facial expressions. Which had gone completely pale as visible drops of dread fall through his eyes.

He threw Sig in the corridor of the prison and turned to the gate again. His trembling hands were trying to close the prison gate.

"AAH…"

Sig groaned, his body trembling at the impact of the ground. Despite the pain before he could curse or try to speak for that matter, he suddenly felt goosebumps all over his body. 

It was at that moment that he finally understood.

Something terrible had arrived!

And it was closing on…. 

His body was begging him to run away, gripping him in despair. In terror of the situation, he turned to where the buff man was standing a moment ago to gauge the situation.

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH

Yet his eyes stopped completely and went wide instead, looking at the scene in front of him with the deepest pit of despair.  

THUD

Suddenly a headless body fell in front of him.

As Sig's eyes trembled and slowly turned to the prison gate, he caught a glimpse of the flying head of a familiar bearded man falling to the ground.

The huge black hand slowly moved in between the cell bars. Which without a doubt also the one who had pulled it apart from the body.