Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Inside the dark cold prison, Soran saw bloodstains everywhere. It seemed like the guards had already tried many methods.
At the side were burning charcoal, searing iron, whip, knife and so on. The young man in front of him was gruesome. He had dozens of whip marks on his body and looked bloody. There were burned scars on his chest and the side of his face. There was a slave mark on his forehead, and his fingernails were pulled out one by one. The bloody scene made the two girls behind the middle-aged woman feel disgusted and almost vomit, but they managed to hold back.
“You!… You’re a bunch of…I curse you all…”
The young man’s speech was somewhat blurred, maybe because the bleeding had consumed too much energy. His eyes, however, were still vicious and his expression was still ferocious.
The marshall seemed to want to restore his authority. So he took up the whip and gave the young man a fierce whip, which made his flesh and skin rip open. The marshall gasped, then explained, “Look, Priest Tinar! He has been completely controlled by evil spirits, and only curses us.”
The middle-aged woman looked disgusted. It seems like she wasn’t used to such gore.
She turned to look at Soran as if to ask him if there was anything he could do. Soran’s expression was very calm. He had seen so many gory things that this was nothing at all. He just slowly said, “Can you treat his injury? At this rate, he will soon die of excessive blood loss!”
The middle-aged woman hesitated for a second but proceeded to cast Treat Wounds.
The power of divinity came into effect immediately, and the wounds on young man recovered quickly; it also seemed that he had also recovered a lot of energy. The young man opened his mouth to curse, but Soran swiftly stuffed a rag into his mouth, blocking the evil words that he wanted to blurt out. He turned to look at the others and said, “What I’m about to do may be unfit for children. I think all of you better go out.”
Everyone there hesitated.
The middle-aged woman frowned and then turned and walked out. Her intuition told her that the adventurer in front of her might be telling the truth.
She did not want to witness something very difficult to accept.
The marshall was not pleased and he did not go out because he wanted to see what Soran was going to do. The young man in front of them had resisted almost all the torture and only kept cursing at them for more than an hour. So he did not believe that the adventurer in front of him could have any better means.
“Step back a little please.”
Soran glanced at the others, motioning them to stand far away, and then said, “Don’t talk, don’t interrupt me. What I’m going to do next requires complete focus. I don’t want anyone to interrupt my work.”
“Understood?”
His tone was very annoying, but his stare gave everyone chills. They involuntarily shivered.
Soran laughed, but his expression was somewhat strange.
He went up to the young man and whispered in his ear as if he were talking to himself, “You know what? I’m depressed today! When I saw what you did, I suddenly felt what I have been doing for a month had all been a joke. I took Vivian so far away from a dangerous place, but it seemed as if I was heading into another dangerous place.”
“What a troubling world!”
“In order to find a safe place to take refuge, I am not afraid of fighting, nor death. I just want her to grow up in a relatively safe environment.”
“After all, she is only eight years old. I just want to bring her away from all the fighting and let her grow happily. That’s not too much to ask for, is it?”
“But God seems to have some issues with me.”
“Maybe there really is nowhere safe, and I have nowhere to run.”
“Now that I think about it, Gloria did do Fortune Tell on Vivian, and she saw endless blood and fire. Maybe this is fate. There will always be so many dangerous encounters along the way. Even if we desperately tried to evade them, we still run into them. I don’t know whether it’s my fate or Vivian’s. Maybe it’s both of our fate.”
“Actually, I don’t know what to say either. Maybe I’m complaining too much.”
“What I’m going to do next is something you won’t want to see. But you have to witness it and experience the whole process because you are my canvas.”
Soran slowly pulled out his curved sword. His palm trembling slightly but soon stabilized. His fingers were pale, probably because he had gripped too hard.
He stared at the young man and said, “The believers of the Maiden of Pain are actually very annoying.”
“Because you have an ability to resisting pain and suffering, normal torture is useless on you. When I used to be in the Underdark, I saw many Priests of the Queen of Spiders who couldn’t do anything to your bunch. But unfortunately, I know that there is a good way to deal with you and I just so happen to have learned it from someone a while ago.
“Do you know what it is?”
Soran went close to the young man’s ear, and his whispers only increased his psychological pressure on the young man; it made him feel uneasy, writhing all over, desperately trying to stay away from him.
Soran smiled, but he looked more like the devil. He whispered to the young man, “Flaying!”
“In fact, my craft is not very good. The best craftsmen were in the Abyss and Hell. But I think my skills are better than the executioners here. After all, I have received a lot of professional training. Do you know about the Underdark? It’s the land of the Drows. They are masters of torture and some of them are crueler than demons!”
“Flaying takes precision. If you could peel off all the skin of a person, they would only be a beginner.
“When I was learning this art, the Drow who trained me was a master of torture. Do you know what he wore? A very powerful and legendary piece of armor that was stronger than many Knight armor. It’s called the [Deadman’s Suit]. Only the evilest, doomed to fall into the abyss of Hell, would wear that thing!”
“He told me, that a qualified flayer has to peel off all the skin of the subject and still keep the subject be alive.”
“That was when someone would be qualified.”
“Actually, I’m not sure if I would be able to keep you alive, but you should be able to live for a while. After all, I am extremely agile, and there is a grade 3 Priest outside.
Soran communicated in a low voice such that only the young man could hear what he said; the others could not hear anything.
The young man who was hung up trembled all over, and the fear in his eyes grew stronger and stronger. He tried to say something, but his mouth was gagged. In fact, he could only make unwilling sounds.
Soran raised his curved sword, looked at the young man, and laughed. As if chatting with a friend, “Actually, I would never have done such a thing in the past!”
“Unfortunately, you have pushed me a little too far today because I’m really angry.”
“And I mean really angry.”
“It’s said that the worshippers of Maiden of Pain will enjoy the pain but I don’t know if you can enjoy the following process. I know you have good tolerance and you probably won’t tell me what I want to know right now.”
“But that’s fine.”
“I’m an honest person. I’ll let you experience my craft and let you decide if you want to talk.”
“Alright?”
Soran raised his curved sword expressionlessly, then cut down slowly but steadily along the top of the young man’s head. The force was not very strong, but his hand was steady. He steadily cut all the way from the scalp, down the back of the neck, then continued from the top of the spine to its end. He had steadily cut the first line.
The young man was trembling all over his body. The fear in his eyes was almost completely covered up by the pain. He struggled desperately, but he still felt the skin and flesh on his back being stripped away.
The other people in the room seemed to realize what Soran was doing. Even the marshall turned his face slightly and dared not look at Soran any more.
“Don’t move, boy.”
Soran grabbed his neck gently and said slowly, “If you move too much, the art can’t be completed. I’m only done with your back. We’ll have to do your arms and thighs. It is said that a Flayer could peel off someone’s scalp first and then deal with the other body parts. I don’t have such superb skill, so I am only able to deal with the other parts first so that you can see it yourself.”
Fresh blood dripped down.
Some of the guards were not able to bear it and turned to go out.
Soran cautiously flayed the other arm, then looked up at the young man. The young man started to mumble something out. His eyes were full of fear and appeal. Soran looked at him and said slowly, “It seems that you want to say something?”
The young man nodded his head desperately.
“Very good.” Soran slowly sheathed his curved sword and said, “This actually is very tiring work, so it’s good that you’re willing to talk.”
“Pa.”
Soran snapped his finger loudly, took off the rag from the young man’s mouth and said to the guard, “Please invite the Priest in, he’s willing to talk now.”
The marshall’s body was stiff for a moment and then he went out. He didn’t know why his legs were shaking and he almost fell to the ground.
Soran had his back to the young man as he slowly sheathed the curved sword. His hands were slightly trembling.
But he soon recovered after he took a deep breath.