Torture

The thick of the night wrapped around like a veil over a certain building. And there were screams from inside, escaping through the cracks in that veil. 

A red haired girl could be seen waiting outside a certain room, her expression unreadable, and 20 survivors from outside waiting in tow behind her.

"Thank you so much for your help, kind miss."

An elder among them bowed and thanked her. The others followed in his stead and bowed too. 

She only nodded, however, and turned back to face the door. They couldn't help but feel something uncertain about her character... though they ignored those thoughts. 

"Enter."

A deep, detached voice came from beyond the door. Sophia opened the door and entered, the others filtering in after her. 

And what they saw shattered their illusions. 

A man wearing a black coat fluttering with the wind from the open balcony, sitting in the middle of the room on a throne-like chair, his cheek resting on his fist, while bloodied and broken bodies, alive as well as dead, laying at his feet.

They had not been saved. They had been doomed. 

Sophia started handing out each of them a box cutter as they stood there with their mouths hanging open, some actively repelled by the scene before them.

"W- what is this?" One of them asked Sophia as he was handed one. 

Before Sophia could reply, 

"Cut yourself."  The man's voice commanded them. 

For moment, no one moved. But then, 12 if them, lost the light in their eyes and mechanically moved to make deep cuts on their arms while the others stared in horror. 

"Sophia." He commanded again. She gathered and took the 12 people outside the room. 

And now, 8 remained.

"Kneel." The voice rang as if asking someone to dare to defy him.  

The survivors stood there, frozen in fear and shock. 

"It seems, I will have to speak louder."

[Your Title is speaking for you!]

[Your Title: 'Architect of Genocide' is demanding obedience.]

A sudden, indescribable pressure overcame the whole room. The world itself turned a shade darker. And they fell to their knees despite themselves. 

There wasn't even a question of fighting against this monster. 

"Each of you, point to one person among you. The person most people point to will be the first to die." He declared and stood up. 

"Now, or else you all die."

None of them wanted to die. This man was clearly not bluffing. Hesitantly, each person raised their hands slowly, their fingers curling and raising at someone besides them. Except one. 

Three of them pointed at the elder. The elder bowed and pointed at no one. 

"You can kill me first." He accepted his Fate and embraced it. 

A kick landed straight into his stomach and he flew back and hit the wall. 

"You're gonna tell me what to do?"

He grabbed the hair of the woman kneeling beside the elder and pulled it hard. The woman shrieked and sobbed with pain. 

"Point at someone, geezer, or this woman will die because of you."

□King knew the ultimate form of torture...□

The old man slowly raised his hand and pointed at one of the men who had pointed at him. 

It was fine, he thought, since according to the rule, he should die first anyway. 

□... was not physical pain.□

King smirked and grabbed the man the elder had pointed to. And stomped on his hand with full force. The hand broke away and extracted a loud scream from the man. 

"Th- this is isn't what you said..." The elder protested. Tears were streaming down his face. Others were trembling and crying as well. 

King ignored them. 

"You sure are noisy."

He said as he shoved his feet in his mouth with force, breaking several teeth and almost his neck, his screams muffled and suppressed. 

He continued to beat down the man, punching and kicking him relentlessly.

Even Sophia, watching the horrific sight, flinched somewhat. 

"This isn't what we agreed upon..." The elder pleaeded once again. 

King paused his assault and turned towards the elder. 

"Ah? Is it so? Don't worry, I haven't broken the rule, he is not dead, is he?"He started striding towards the elder. "Of course you will still be the first to die."

The old man saw his last moments. A strange, insanely powerful man, smiling at him and slicing his head apart, splattering blood everywhere and on his face. 

There were muffled screams and the woman vomited in disgust and sheer terror. 

"Oh, don't you just hate it when they dirty your floor? Guess you'll have to be next."

He moved towards the woman and kicked hard on her shoulder from behind, instantly knocking her down.

King slid his foot under an adjacent man's chin and pulled up his face to look up at him. 

"Either you or the woman will die a slow and gruesome death, while the other will die a quick and painless one. You choose."

The man looked up at him pleading, his eyes quivering.

"P- Please don't make me do this... please..."

"Oh, sure, if you don't choose, you'll both get the gruesome one."

King smiled as if he were being benevolent. 

The man looked down and quietly responded. 

"I...I choose the painless death..."

A laughter filled the room and shivers ran down everything that dared to breath. 

King grabbed the woman again, hung her upside down by her foot and began punching her face ruthlessly, disfiguring her permanently. He screams had ceased now. He kept kicking till her last breath and then kicked away the body. 

He then moved to the man who was crying uncontrollably and punched his gut hard.

"You know, I'm gonna spare you. So it's a pity you got selfish and gave her a slow death. If only you hadn't been selfish."

The man shook even more and King continued to assault him, and then ripped both his arms. He shrieked at the top of his voice. No one was coming to save them. 

King picked up and threw his body beside the man with the broken hand. 

And then proceeded to kill the rest of the survivors in a single swing of his sword. 

"Get the healing potions."

King ordered Sophia and she bowed and the man without arms and broken hand were made to drink them. Their bleeding ceased and some of their energy returned, however the arms it the hand didn't come back. 

Most importantly, the monster still stood in front of them. 

King proceeded to beat them again, and recover them and then beat them again and so on till deep into the night, till their senses and reasonwere shattered beyond belief. 

They lay there, defeated, beaten and completely broken. 

"This should do it. Throw them out now." He commanded to Sophia and went back into his seat.

Sophia bowed once more and took the two men outside the room. 

Now, King was alone, accompanied only by the dead. 

[Your Goddess has resumed watching you!]

It had been quite some time since he had heard that message. He hadn't needed her in the meantime, and it seemed she had been busy as well.

[Chat Channel with your Goddess has been opened!]

[What was all that I just saw? What has been going on while I was away?] She questioned, a hint of curiosity in her tone.

"I am sending a message."

King got up and walked to the edge of the balcony, staring at the darkness beyond. 

[Meaning?]

The Goddess had revealed every truth she could and helped him. Now it was King's turn to talk.

"See, the day the Walkers came, he made plans for mass evacuation, hoping to eventually cure the Walkers and killed sparingly.

Though ever since he fought me, he hasn't made a move."

[And why is that?]

"You see, that guy may be hot headed at times, but he is quite intelligent. He figured out that at my level of stats, my quests would be equally impossible. So he waits and hopes that my Quest would end me if he is patent."

[But he knows his daughter is with you. He's abandoning her?]

"....I didn't believe it at first either. I waited for 5 days, thinking he should regroup and strike anytime but no. He chose his city's safety over his daughter.

Then I searched for him for 12 days, even invested in my servant's Agility and had them search for him, but he was still nowhere to be found.

So I decided to send messages through the survivors. Even if I die I will take a huge portion of the survivors. All those other servants I gather, some of them being other survivors here, and some kill any survivor they find. 

This chain reaction of killing and gathering now killers, it has wiped out a quarter of the city. So he should start moving once again, in fear that so many are dying and so many will."

[Hmm. Whatever you're doing, you have to be fast. Only ten days remain till the second Quest.]

King closed his eyes tightly and slowly opened them. 

"I know."