A lot of time had passed since the tragedy. A total of 4 months actually. It was time for Sariel to pay a price.

System was visibly angry. “You… useless fool. Why didn't you keep your contract agreement and choose to run away?!”

Sariel thought she knew why he had done so. How could he have run away? After all the hell that had been inflicted upon him, he needed to make him suffer.

He needed to humiliate him! He needed to do anything that would make that bastard feel even a tiny bit of what he had gone through.

Sariel kept repeating what she said in his head, slowly getting angrier.

Run away?! How could you ask that from me? Who wouldn't have done what I did? You gave me an impossible task. Didn't you hear how he mocked the kids death?! He was sick and twisted. Sick... Answer me, all powerful mind reader.

“You are a fool, a fool. A selfish piece of shit,” she spat out.

Selfish?

Had she lost her mind? Sariel was definitely anything but selfish. After all he had done, she regarded him as selfish?

HAH! What a damn joke! He had risked his life multiple times for those kids. He had been willing to die for them… and she called him selfish? Was this her payback because he broke her contract? Was the payback just her spouting bullshit?

She read his mind. “What? You think you aren’t? Oh, how could you be? After all, you helped those kids. You rescued them, and you nearly died for them. Hahahhahah… I can read your thoughts and feelings.” Her devious laugh faded as she smiled with confidence. “You only helped them so you could feel better about yourself. You must keep the promise you made to yourself and Sariel, the original; otherwise, you would think your life is worthless. If you watched kids die in front of you without doing anything, it would destroy your filthy self-esteem. It would remind you of… of how much of a disgusting coward you are. So you cosplay… you believe if you act like someone brave, you will become brave. You think if I, me, I, I, I. Everything is about you, and how it affects you in some form. After all… even when they are dead, all you can think about is how it affected you.”

He was almost at a lost of words. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Nothing she said was true. How could it be true? How could she know his feelings better than him?

The conviction in her voice grew stronger as she leaned toward him. “Really? Are they really lies? Or are you lying to yourself right now? How can you be a bad guy, right? You are good, right? You are the biggest victim in the world, right?”

He understood he broke the contract, but... she was going too far. Her comments were so hurtful, yet he didn't shout at her. Of course he was angry, but he was so angry that he was chill on the outside.

"YYou know I cared for them, so don’t try that load of bullshit with me. You utter trash… If you offered more power, if you were more useful, then all this load of crap wouldn’t have happened.”

“The irony is strong, isn’t it? Well then, you can suffer for all eternity.”

Irony? She was the one acting high and mighty. “Maybe I would die too! And take you along with me.”

She slowly walked out from her throne, roughly grabbed his shirt, and pulled him close, leaving only an inch between them.

“Do not think lightly of me. I may not be ‘Wrath,’ but I can say, I will say, I will honor what I said would happen to you if you broke the contract. I await the pain and suffering that will be brought to your life, and I will joyfully wait for the moment you beg me for the permanent contract that will assure that hell continues.”

The space then faded away, and Sariel awoke.

He opened his eyes, but everything was blurry. Despite that, he didn't care. He was just thinking about the encounter.

Maybe he should not have been so aggressive with her?

No, no way in hell. Not after she accused him of only helping Kai and Lilan to make himself feel better.

Sure, her anger made sense, but the fact she said such things… She could die or disappear forever for all he cared.

Where am I anyway?

He looked around. He was in a fancy room, currently laying on a large, comfortable bed with soft bedding and a stylish headboard. Moon light streamed in through curtains covering the windows. A nice lamp sat on a bedside table, and a cozy chair was tucked in a corner. The walls were painted in a calming color, and a simple rug covered the floor, adding warmth to the space.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Then he noticed a woman with black hair, of average height, sleeping on a white couch. She was snoring, causing her mouth to slightly open and revealing a single longer canine teeth on the upper right side. Sapphire.

Sariel immediately thought of what System said. And then thought, he had failed to kill Lurock.

After all, when Sariel had exploded back in that dungeon(for the lack of better words), he had lost consciousness, and only now did he regain any. As a result, he was unaware that he was rescued. And due to System words, most of his experiences with people, and believing he had failed to eliminate Lurock, he quickly assumed he was in an enemy territory.

And to make matters worse... this person level was far greater than Lurock's. So they were most likely a hunter or a slayer.

He bit down on his lips as his fingers began trembling. Sudden pains similar to being squeezed and restrained encompassed his body. It felt as if he had something tightly wrapped around him.

His heart beat was increasing.

He blinked, everything was set on fire, and his body felt like it was being cut up.

“Stop! Stay back!” he screamed as he tried to run away, only to end up tumbling and thrashing around.

“Huh, you are up.” Cutting through the sensations of pain, a voice invaded his ears.

His heart went cold, and the ghost pains, fire, everything disappeared. But his fear was far greater.

He didn’t want to suffer anymore.

His stomach felt hollow, his chest tightened, and a sudden migraine gripped his head. All he could envision was Lurock returning at any moment. All he could see was more pain.

He vomited.

He could see them now. Those two kids and their dead bodies flashed in his mind.

The pain grew worse; his tongue felt heavy and hard to move…

His heart ached, and it became hard to breathe. He gasped for air, desperately.

Sapphire moved closer to him.

He tried to run, to move, but his legs refused to obey him.

“Stay back! Stay the hell back!” he screamed like a feral animal.

He knew it wouldn’t work, but what choice did he have? His damn legs must have been broken.

The door opened, and a group of people walked in: an older man, a young man, and a woman who looked like a servant. And… there was another, the doctor, Olivia.

Fuck.

They were all here to attempt to kill me. This was all a sick joke…

He kept jumping from one bad scenario to another. With functionless legs and no weapon at hand, he would be a victim again?

This wasn’t funny… nothing about this was funny!

What had he truly done to deserve all of this? From day one until now, it had been nothing but endless suffering. Yet… they all thought he deserved it, but… maybe he truly did. Maybe this was some kind of karma for what he did before losing his memories.

He didn’t care if he ‘deserved’ it for what he did in the past. He didn’t want this life.

He looked around with barely any energy and realized there was a table nearby with an arrangement of metal and glass tableware. He pulled it toward him, causing everything to crash and the glasses to break.

He grabbed a sharp piece of broken glass.

Would Sariel even die? System had referred to him as immortal, and he had literally survived being blown apart. Still, he didn’t care. He would just try it, determined to blow them away along with him.

He attempted to slit his throat. Before he could even scratch his skin, his arm was grabbed, and he was restrained.

“I get it. You’re scared and have gone through a lot. But maybe slitting your throat would be a bit painful,” Olivia said, her grip firm as she held him.

“Let go of me!” he shouted, struggling against her hold, but her strength was too much.

“Okay, Sariel, is it?” Olivia tried to calm him down by initiating a conversation. He offered no response.

In a frantic moment, he opened his mouth wide and bit down on his tongue, severing it.

“What… I didn’t expect him to bite his tongue off!” She was shocked.

"Who the hell would expect that?”

"The hell..."

Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by familiar faces—William, Neil, Natasha, Kai’s dad, and their mom, along with Soria

Natasha, a tall woman with long black hair, turned toward him, extending her hand. “We’re waiting for you.”

He reached for her hand, but everything around him blew away like smoke.

Drip. Drip.

Something was constantly hitting the floor near him. What was it? It couldn’t be rain…

Looking up, he was met with a horrifying sight: Kai and Lilan’s bodies suspended above him.

No… Stop this!

To make matters worse, hundreds of red energy whips pierced through their bodies, restraining him.

The world faded, and he awoke with a loud gasp, his body drenched in sweat.

A dream...?

Even in sleep, he couldn’t escape hell.

He realized he was strapped to a bed, with restraints from his legs up to his shoulders. They really weren’t taking chances with him escaping this time. Ignoring that, why wasn’t he blown apart? Didn’t he explode upon ‘dying’?

Zaphael, Olivia, and Hazel turned their attention to him as he regained consciousness. Sapphire was oddly absent.

How disappointing it was not to die after attempting suicide. What a cruel joke—he was so pathetic he couldn’t even kill himself.

Was he no longer able to explode? Was that power part of the contract he had broken, or was it temporary?

Olivia observed him closely. “It seems you have some sort of healing factor. Incredible.”

He avoided her gaze and simply asked, “Are you going to torture me?”

Everything felt hopeless.

To him, they looked evil and rotten, like figures from an uncanny valley.

“Of course not,” Zaphael replied.

“Do you want us to—” Hazel began, but Zaphael cut her off with a wave of her hand.

Olivia murmured as she circled him. “Your imperia vessels are repaired… This should be impossible. Your brain chemical balance is…” Sariel didn’t care to pay attention to her analysis.

He interrupted, “Can you remove the belts from me?”

“Yes.” Zaphael gestured toward the older man, he was a gray-haired servant with a small beard. Despite his grey hair, he looked well built.

He quickly cut the restraints.

Sariel sat up on the bed, knowing it was pointless to try to run away.

His arms began to tremble uncontrollably. No matter what he did, they wouldn’t stop.

Zaphael stood tall and composed, preparing to make a speech. “I'm Zaphael Museigen, a High-miss, and you'll be under my care.”

He barely paid attention to what she said. He didn't care.

He asked, “Can I sleep alone? I want to be left alone.”

Honestly, he didn’t genuinely want to be alone with his thoughts—the thoughts that replayed everything he had endured, everything those kids went through.

This surprised Zaphael and the servants. But Zaphael didn't press further.

“Of course.” Zaphael and the others left the room, closing the door behind them.