CHAPTER 46: RITUAL

Silva stood before all five on the ground. He picked up the chains they had and tied them all up. He sat each one leaned against the wall and stood before them.

Their faces were twisted in pain; each one had suffered quite the beating from him.

"Alright, let’s make this easy. Tell me why you have been kidnapping people in the dungeons, and I’ll allow you to hold onto the miserable lives that you have," he said.

"Screw you! We would rather die than tell you anything. A human like you will never understand the great goal that we have," the leader said. The rest kept quiet, as if agreeing with him.

"You say ’human’ like you aren’t one. It seems you believe you are not. Well, either way, it doesn’t matter to keep what you are and what you are not.

I’ll make this clear to you. I have no intentions of torturing you, because, well, I can’t. But—" he pulled out his phone, "this gate allows me to call outside from inside, and with one call, the members of the Rising Phoenix Guild will rush in here and handle you.

You could tell me the truth, or you could wait for them," he said, looking right at the leader.

The leader spat at him. "We will never—" BAM! Silva’s foot slammed into his head, cracking the wall behind it. The hit was so hard it shattered his nose and broke his jaw.

The four were stunned, looking at their leader’s head dangle as he was knocked out instantly.

Silva dropped his leg, took a deep breath, and walked to the wall. There was a faint purple glow in his eyes.

"Are you four going to mess with me as well? I thought telling you about the Rising Phoenix would make you talk and enable me to keep my hands clean.

But since you will only understand actions, I’m about to start taking a lot of them here," he said. He leaned on the wall opposite them. He could see the shock and fear in their eyes.

That kick was nasty. It was so fast that it could possibly snap their necks, and if it did, they would die for sure.

"So, are any of you going to talk?" he asked, but they were still hesitant. So he walked up to one, grabbed him by the hair, and lifted him. "Will you speak, or is what you are hiding worth more than your life?" Silva asked.

"I—I can’t," the man said, tears falling from his eyes. "They’ll harm my family."

’His family? I see, they can’t speak because of their families. Wait!’ As he was thinking, his senses picked up a spike in the man’s heartbeat. He frowned.

"You are lying to me?" Silva asked. The man shook his head as hard as he could.

"If you lie, and I find the help for your family, and it turns out to be a lie, death will be a relief for you," Silva said, speaking to the man’s face. Suddenly, the man swung forward with his body, teeth bared, and bit right into Silva’s neck, releasing something into Silva’s bloodstream.

"Arghhhhhhhh!" Silva yelled in pain. He threw the man at the wall with all his strength. Then he staggered back, grabbed his neck, and began to feel woozy, as if the world was distorting and twisting.

He slid down the wall and collapsed to the ground, passing out right there. The last thing he saw were the grins of the men.

[...]

His eyes flickered open, his head still spinning with dizziness. He felt blood rushing to his head. He could barely see anything; everywhere was dark.

’Where the hell am I? Arghh, my head hurts. I should have killed the fuckers immediately I had the chance,’ Silva thought.

Suddenly, the light turned on. Silva closed his eyes as it flooded in harshly.

"Hahahaha, look at you, all high and mighty, and now you have been reduced to a hanging sacrifice."

Someone spoke. Silva knew that voice, it was the leader.

He opened his eyes slowly. He was hanging over what seemed to be some sort of black acid vat, and under it was a circular pattern, like something for magic.

He looked at the man, who was dressed in black robes marked with blood-red inscriptions. There were other people, lots of them in black robes as well, all on their knees with their heads bowed.

"Because of what you did, I lost all three people I needed for the sacrifice, but you will be enough, since you are strong.

I also begged to be the one that handles your ritual. As payback for what you did, I’ll make sure that you suffer the most gruesome death for the sake of our cause."

"Your cause, your cause, you keep saying that on repeat, and you haven’t even explained your cause," Silva said.

"You still have the energy to speak? Well, it doesn’t matter, and there is no point telling someone who is about to die our cause.

Begin the ritual!" he said. A slow yet reverberating chant started. Everyone sang it, their heads swaying from side to side.

The leader raised his hands as well and began chanting. The tempo increased with every second, and their voices grew.

The circle under the vat lit up, glowing brighter the more they sang, until finally, the vat began boiling, and the chain holding Silva started lowering.

"Oh shit," Silva thought. He had to get away. His gauntlet had been taken away, and so was his cloak. They thought those were his only weapons.

The chain went lower, and then Silva saw a black, grotesque hand rising from the vat and reaching to grab him.

"Oh hell no," he said. Then he pulled out a random sword from his inventory and, without hesitation, slashed the hand. It cut off and fell back into the vat.

"You shouldn’t have been stupid and left my hands free, you assholes!" he yelled.