The Damned Demon

Pain.

Unrelenting, soul-searing pain.

Asher could feel himself breaking apart—skin splitting, muscles unraveling, his very bones cracking under the unbearable pressure.

Something inside him was collapsing, his body betraying him, his mana reserves emptier than ever—not even embers left to cling to.

His breath was ragged, choked, as he managed to rasp out through gritted teeth, "Wha…What are you doing to me…"

The dark green veins carved across his body pulsated, the foreign energy still spreading through him like a parasite feasting on his existence.

Skully's skeletal figure loomed closer.

Cold. Unfeeling. Merciless.

"You rely too much on what you already have," his hollow voice echoed through the vast ruins, as if speaking from the depths of the abyss itself.

"Let's see what happens when you have nothing."

Before Asher could process his words—

His body imploded.

Not with an explosion—

But a collapse.

Like a structure being deconstructed from the inside out, his body was breaking down at a microscopic level, his skin cracking, turning ashen before flaking off like charred paper.

His muscles tightened, thinned—vanished.

His vision blurred, colors losing their vibrancy as his nerves screamed in agonizing protest.

He was being erased.

Piece by excruciating piece.

Rebecca watched in horrified disbelief, her hands clenching into tight fists.

"The hell are you doing to him!? You are going to kill him!" she growled, her voice laced with something she hated—fear.

Skully didn't even spare her a glance.

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However, Valeria walked towards Rebecca and said simply, "He's being taught."

Rebecca's eyes blazed in frustration. "Taught what? How to die!?"

"That depends on him," Valeria murmured as a matter of fact.

Rebecca was about to lunge forward, but the undead had her still pinned on the same spot, and Valeria's gaze intensified.

Not with threat.

But as if to say—

"If you interfere, he dies."

And Rebecca, despite the fury bubbling inside her, understood.

This was something only Asher could overcome.

But the way he was withering before her eyes made her stomach churn in anxiety.

She wasn't sure he could.

Asher's breathing shallowed, his bones protruding against his thinning skin, his entire body shriveling as the burning veins across his form ate away at what remained of him.

And in the abyss of his suffering, Skully's voice remained distant, hauntingly calm.

"You have two choices."

Asher tried to raise his head, but his neck barely held together, his vision dimmed, the cold tendrils of death wrapping around him.

Skully continued, his eerie sockets glowing dimly,

"Survive—by sacrificing your life force to replenish your mana and restore yourself or survive without it. If you are able to do the latter, this will end."

Asher's lips barely parted as he gasped out, "That's…not…a choice…"

How the hell can he survive without replenishing his mana?

Skully tilted his head, the glow in his sockets darkening.

"Isn't it?"

Asher gritted his teeth, forcing himself to move even as his body protested.

No mana. No energy. No strength.

But if he could just burn his life force—

It was the only thing he always did.

A desperate measure. A way to keep himself standing when mana alone wasn't enough.

And right now, there was no other way.

He had to do it.

His fingers twitched, his chest rising faintly as he tapped into his very essence, siphoning the life within him to ignite his dying mana.

A flicker—

Then a spark.

Dark green flames licked across his skin—

Only for it to vanish.

Something was missing.

And then—

Agony.

A sharp pull, as if something was being ripped from his very core.

His breath hitched, his vision blurred into red, and he felt it—

His mana wasn't getting replenished as usual.

It was being stolen.

Taken from him the more he tried to replenish it.

His head snapped up, panic seizing him, "W-What… What the hell?"

He tried again—another flicker of life drained away.

Gone. Forever.

He looked up at Skully, his bloodshot eyes blazing with realization, horror—rage.

"…You're stealing it."

Skully simply stared.

"You only noticed now?"

Asher gritted his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, his rage bubbling beneath his failing body.

"Are you—" his voice was hoarse, his throat dry as death, "trying to kill me…?"

Skully tilted his head.

"That depends on you."

Asher wanted to curse, to scream, to lash out—but his body was crumbling faster than he could process.

His life force was almost gone.

His mana depleted.

He was standing at the precipice of death.

His so-called immortal bloodline meant nothing if there was nothing left to keep him alive.

He couldn't win this.

No—

He wouldn't win this.

But then suddenly he felt the pain ebb away, making his reddened eyes widen as he looked up at Skully in disbelief.

Skully spoke, his voice rattling the very air, "I promised you a month's time. So I won't let you or your friends die before then. But we will continue this until your time runs out."

Asher had a hundred things to say and curse, especially why Skully was planning to torture him like this.

But before he knew it, his vision blacked out, and he collapsed on the floor.

"Asher!" Rebecca cried out in shock and indescribable fear upon seeing him collapse.

Valeria turned to look at Rebecca and said, "He's yours until my master is ready to continue again," Saying so, Valeria walked away while collecting Lori's unconscious figure from the undead that was holding her.

Rebecca blinked her eyes as the undead that was holding her suddenly vanished and she was free to move.

Without even stopping to think she rushed towards Asher's unconscious figure.

Asher lay on the cold, ancient stone floor, his body drained beyond anything he had ever experienced before. He barely had the strength to move, his limbs felt weightless—not from rest, but from exhaustion so deep it gnawed at his soul.

His skin was paler than ever, his flesh drawn tight, and his mana circuits felt corroded, as if something inside him was rejecting his very existence. He had never felt so close to the void—so close to vanishing.

And yet, he was still here.

For now.

A damp cloth pressed against his forehead, and a sharp, irritated voice followed.

"Damn this...damn ALL of this," Rebecca hissed, her hands trembling as she ran the cloth over his sweat-drenched skin, "What kind of bullshit torture is this!? It's not as if you killed nine generations of his family to deserve this."

Asher's cracked lips curled into a weak smirk.

"…You should have not followed me…You might die with me here…" he rasped, his voice barely above a whisper.

Rebecca clicked her tongue, squeezing the damp cloth harder than necessary, "Ugh, I never thought you would be dragging me into a trap like this. If I had known I would have obviously walked the other way. But…" Rebecca's eyes sharpened with cold determination as she said, "...now that I am already here, I am not letting you die before me. You better find out what this deranged monster wants and somehow escape this place. All our lives are on the line here."

Asher let out a weak grunt—one that quickly turned into a pained cough.

Rebecca's eyes flashed with worry as she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. "Hey, don't you dare die on me. You hear me?"

Asher weakly looked at her, "You…I remember you relishing the sight of it whenever you saw me in a state similar to this…Do you feel the same now?"

Rebecca's eyes shook briefly before she said with a clenched jaw, "Why are you asking such stupid questions now instead of focusing on what matters?"

"I don't know…I was reminded of the pain I felt all those years ago…" Asher mumbled as he remembered the helplessness he felt when Skully tortured him which was similar to the one he felt as a soulless cripple.

Rebecca could say all she wanted, but her trembling fingers betrayed her emotions, especially upon seeing the broken light that briefly flashed in his eyes.

"It's just your pain making you talk like a madman. Just drink this medicine before you talk yourself to death," Saying so, Rebecca forced a vial of dark blue liquid into his mouth.

"You still want to save your people, don't you? Especially those women of yours? Don't you want to make things right with Rowena? You won't be able to do that if you keep having stupid thoughts," Rebecca said in a tone of frustration as she kept forcing the medicine into his mouth.

Asher had no choice but to swallow it all. But the moment the medicine began to work its magic, he was able to regain a sense of rationality and clarity.

Rebecca's words echoed deeply, especially about Rowena.

"I need to write something…Give me a letter to write on…" Asher said as he pushed himself to get up.

"Are you crazy?" Rebecca asked with widened eyes upon hearing his absurd request and added, "That undead bastard is going to be back any moment to torture you again. And yet you want to write a letter instead of focusing on recovering?"

"I have to do this…Otherwise, I might never get a chance again…" Asher said with a heavy, complicated look, making Rebecca's heart waver upon seeing the desperate look in his eyes.

"Fine. But you better make it quick. I can't let myself die just because you wasted too much time on writing a stupid letter," Saying so, Rebecca took out an empty scroll and a quill before handing it over to him.

Asher immediately tried to write, but his hands were shaking too much, and his body was weaker than he had thought.

Rebecca clicked her tongue as she snatched the quill from him and said, "I will write it down for you. Just make it quick."

Asher realized there was no other choice and nodded as he began to tell her what to write.

Rebecca's brows briefly raised as she came to realize to whom he wanted to send this letter. And as she wrote down his words, her eyes began to soften and a strange mix of envy and sadness took root in her heart.

Just a few hours later, Asher was already back to normal but he still couldn't understand what Skully was trying to accomplish by torturing him.

How could he survive the torture without sacrificing his life force? How can he replenish his mana without using the only method he knew?

If Skully really wanted to make him stronger, why go about this in such a torturous way?

However, just as he feared, Skully revealed himself along with Valeria trailing behind him.

"Let's continue." Skully's deep voice echoed, his empty gaze fixed on Asher.

Asher swallowed the frustration burning in his throat. He already knew that.

This was just the beginning of his suffering.

And the days that followed proved it.