(A/N: Chapter can be dark for some. This is a warning.)
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There was one thing Simon ignored and forgot before he was tortured by Pellin.
He had never experienced true torture before.
Due to his past life, Simon was not new to pain. Although he was in a new body whose body had not experienced pain for fifteen years until a few days ago, he could make his brain to have an idea of what pain was.
As a hero, he had been stabbed, cut, punched, and kicked during battles. Each of these might seem like minor things where the pain one received was little, but it was not.
If a boxer were to land a punch on an average human’s face who has never been punched before, the pain they’d feel after would be something they’d never expect.
It was the same thing for him when he began his journey as the Halo of Earth. He had not been used to pain at first, but then he got used to it.
However, he had never been tortured before. The worst that had happened to him was some people punching his face and beating him up like the demon dog did, but a slow, methodical, and cruel torture?
Simon had never experienced and he was not ready for it in the slightest.
After Pellin twisted and pulled out three of his nails, he just kept on humming and didn’t say anything else.
He then went to another tool of his and took a thumbscrew.
Simon had never seen a thumbscrew before, and Pellin did not seem to be in the mood to explain.
He merely hummed and held Simon’s right hand with a light smile. He then placed his ring finger and his middle finger in the thumbscrew, and the moment he did this, Simon’s eyes widened in realization.1
Above his finger in the holes were tiny spikes, and on top of the thumbscrew was a literal screw which Pellin turned while humming an unknown song.
"No. No. No."
Simon shook his head because he could already see just how much pain this would cause him.
But aside from the pain, Simon did not want this for one major reason.
His right hand was his sword wielding hand, and if his fingers were permanently damaged or lost, it would severely affect his ability to wield the sword.
"Stop. I already told you that I don’t have the blood essence!"
"Wrong answer." Pellin grinned with excitement in his eyes, and then...
The holes closed right on Simon’s fingers, and the spikes tore into his flesh and bones.
"AAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!"
Simon screamed as his fingers were being crushed and torn apart by the spikes and the thumbscrew itself.
His screams echoed across the corridors of the prison cell and into every other cells, but some of the prisoners who were familiar with Pellin merely shivered while wishing Simon death.
From the moment they saw Pellin walking down the corridor, they knew that the best gift Simon could ever get was death.
They didn’t know Simon or why he was in this godforsaken prison, but they knew he was a kid, and that in the hands of Pellin, he would forever be scarred.
Simon’s screams lasted for some seconds before it stopped.
Beneath Simon’s feet was a pool of blood mixed with the bones and flesh of his fingers.
"Hmm. Hmm. Hmmm. Hmmmmmm."
Pellin kept on humming as he loosenened the screw of the thumbscrew, and Simon groaned in pain as the spikes were removed from his fingers.
His fingers fell limply with blood dripping from it, and Simon glanced at it before staring blankly at the floor.
"Now, are you ready to play my games, boy?"
Pellin grabbed his hair and forced Simon to look him in the eye.
There was immense pain in Simon’s eyes, but Simon remained silent.
Despite having three of his toenails removed and his fingers crushed, his pride as the Hero of Earth and the Slayer of Demons refused to bow down and play to the whims of the pig in front of him.
’Oh, how life is so funny and full of surprises. If anybody ever told me that I’d be tortured by a demon pig, I’d have slit the throat of the person who told me such disrespect.’
’How could I, the Slayer of Demons and the Halo of Earth be tortured by a lowly pig?’
’But here I am now... Is it because of the countless demons I slayed in my past life I’m in this situation?’
’Does the world naturally hate me? Or is it because my life as a human was full of advantages from the start, but now, it’s just full of disadvantages.’
’I guess one can’t expect to enjoy their first life but still expect to enjoy their second life... You can’t eat your cake and have it.’
’But a major part of why I’m in this situation is because of my greed honestly. What if I had not stolen the Devourer’s blood essence back then?’
’Sure, it might have been difficult for me to advance in the path of power, but I would definitely not be suffering like this.’
’Everyday is for the thief and a day is for the owner. What a fitting description for the reason behind my current situation.’
"I see... You really are a strange boy, and I’m going to make sure you break."
Pellin chuckled with malice and cruelty in his eyes, then he grabbed a hammer with spikes on it, and slammed it on Simon’s remaining two toes on his right foot.
BANG!
BANG!
"ARRRGGGHHH!!!"
Every single toe on Simon’s right foot was destroyed, and Pellin laughed loudly in madness.
"Let’s play, boy! Let’s play and have some fun!"
Pellin placed the hammer on the bench, then he carried a whip filled with thorns.
Simon trembled when he saw this, and his breathing became uneven.
A flicker of fear flashed in his eyes, but it went as quickly as it came.
Fearless made him to feel no fear.
Pellin did not see this, and even if he did, he wouldn’t have cared. He was in a state of both euphoria and madness.
With a wide smile, he struck Simon with the barbed whip.
TWACK!
"AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!"