*WARNING!*

*This chapter contains violence!*

*Viewer discretion advised!*

Ric turned his attention towards Jimmy, his stride deliberate and menacing. As he advanced, something brushed against his foot - it was the low-ranked health potion that Jimmy had dropped when struck by Ric's barrier. Picking it up, Ric wore a smirk as he examined the bottle.

“Oh, what's this? A low-ranked health potion," he mused. "You have something useful. Maybe your head isn't entirely empty, after all.”

Jimmy, wracked with pain, remained silent. Ric stashed the bottle in his pocket and resumed his approach. Jimmy, his heart heavy with agony, couldn't hold back his emotional outburst any longer.

"Why? Just why is this happening to me?" Tears streamed from his eyes as he continued, "I-I've lived such a tragic life. Born into a commoner's household, we were destitute. My father was an alcoholic; he would drink every day and brutalize me and my mother. I was compelled to beg on the streets, struggling to get one or two pieces of bread each day, barely enough to fill my and my mother’s empty stomachs. But, one day—”

"If you feel like telling your tragic life story… I am not a good listener," Ric interrupted, a smirk playing on his face.

Jimmy was momentarily flustered. "Huh? W-what are you—"

Ric continued his advance, his voice stern, "There are always choices, and your current state is the result of the choices you made. Don't say 'Why is this happening to me' and all that. This happened to you because you made the wrong choice of betraying my friend!"

Ric halted, pointed a finger at Jimmy's uninjured leg, and shouted, "Barrier shot!"

A barrier formed and sped toward Jimmy's unscathed leg, puncturing the skin, tearing through flesh, and striking his patella bone with a resounding crack. Jimmy howled in agony, screaming for help to no avail. Blood spurted, some of it landing on Ric's worn shoe. Annoyed, he muttered, "Tch!" and tried to wipe it off with Jimmy's clothes, only succeeding in leaving a stain. Ric suppressed his annoyance; there was no time for such concerns.

Ric reached into Jimmy's pocket, extracting his own locket, which was presumed to be lost. He flaunted the locket with a frivolous demeanor, a smirk adorning his face.

“Wondering when this got here? Haha, I slipped it into your pocket earlier when you tried to punch me, Why? Because I had doubts that people like you would give up this easily. Am I right?”

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Jimmy, his spirit broken, responded only with tears flowing down his face. He resembled a wingless bird with its legs severed, helpless and awaiting its fate. Ric approached Jimmy's head, seizing him by the hair and lifting him up. Jimmy screamed in agony; even the slightest movement was excruciating.

Ric chanted, "Cube," conjuring a small barrier in his hand. He examined it, commenting, "Hmm… this size should be enough." With that, he shoved the barrier down Jimmy's throat with force. Jimmy struggled to swallow it, but it lodged in his throat, making it difficult to breathe. Ric withdrew his hand, yet maintained his grip on Jimmy.

In a sinister tone, Ric taunted, "Try your best, but you won't be able to spit out my barrier. You'll writhe in pain, and no one will help you!" He leaned in closer, his voice dripping with sadistic pleasure, "Now, tell me, on a scale of one to ten, how much pain are you in? Oh, you can't talk, can you? Let me guess… it's probably a 10, right?" A murderous smile spread across his face, his bloodlust slowly consuming him.

He muttered to himself, “Should I kill him? Should I? Yeah, let's kill him!” he contemplated, but then he had a stinging headache which loosened his grip on Jimmy, making him fall down with a thud. Then suddenly, the faces of Yota, the old teacher, and all the children in the orphanage flashed before Ric’s eyes, a wave of guilt washing over him and quelling his murderous intent. Compelling him to reconsider.

“Ugh!” Ric groaned in pain, slowly coming back to his senses. He wondered, “What is this thing? I don’t even know how to use this. It just starts without me noticing, like it's trying to consume me. Is this an ability I have? Even so, this is dangerous. I should only use it when needed.”

Ric, now calm, looked at Jimmy and said, “Oh, you were here too, right? Yeah, let’s just continue what we were doing.” Ric then sat down in front of Jimmy and looked into his eyes, void of any hope, and exclaimed, “You look like you’re in a lot of pain.”

Jimmy just listened silently without answering, but Ric continued, “Well, it’s obvious that you went through all that. You’ll probably die of blood loss or not being able to breathe properly, not being able to accomplish anything. Your dreams and everything you strived for will be useless. But… there is a way in which you can save yourself.”

As soon as Jimmy heard those words, his hopeless eyes saw a glimmer of light and brightened up. Seeing all this, Ric smiled and asked, “Do you want to know that way? If yes, then blink twice.”

Without hesitation, Jimmy blinked twice, showing his determination. Ric then pointed toward the edge of the pillar and exclaimed, “You know what to do, right? Like I said, the barrier down there is definitely connected to a healing center. I saw your friend getting teleported after she passed through it. Well, it’s up to you. If you want to die, then it’s your choice. My job is done here anyway.”

Ric got up, and Jimmy started to think. But after walking a few steps, Ric stopped and said with a stern and unyielding voice, “But, if something like this happens again, then I will make it so that you will wish for death! Got that?”

Jimmy instinctively blinked twice in agreement, fear evident on his face. After that, Ric left and started going back towards where Yota was. Jimmy, even though moving an inch was terrible for him, crawled like a worm as he endured the excruciating pain. He crawled, crawled, and crawled as tears flowed from his eyes, and blood spurted from his injuries, leaving a trail. He had a single thing in mind that propelled him to do this: “I don’t want to die!”