Hah….Has it really been a year?
Louskas was lying down, his eyes closed and his thoughts hazy. After all, he had spent an entire year in this freezing, pitch-dark room. He slowly opened his eyes, and his gaze fell on a rope stretched between the walls of the room, almost like a clothesline, but it wasn't holding clothes—it held something else…
Dried, hardened human skin, severed hands and legs, scattered teeth, nails, strands of hair, and decaying fresh fragments. It was a sight that would make anyone faint, but Louskas had grown used to it. After all, this was his.
He sighed quietly as he stared at the horrifying scene above him.
"Why am I still resisting? I don't want this… I just want to be freed from this torment. If they want it, let them have it… It's a curse."
He closed his eyes, unwilling to see the terrifying scene above him.
"Alright, I'll let them take it today… I want to die."
Louskas didn't understand why his soul kept fighting to protect this curse. He had stumbled upon it by accident, and back then he had been overjoyed. After all, it was the reward for his long search that had lasted thirty years. who wouldn't be thrilled to find a shard that yields to them without resistance? And not just any shard… It was one of the legendary shards of forgetfulness.
"Ah… It doesn't matter anymore, it's the cause of all this torment."
Of course, finding a shard was like a miracle, but for Louskas, it was a curse. Ever since he found it, he had fallen into the clutches of demon worshippers, who had spent a whole year torturing him without killing him, just to try to break his soul and take the shard from him. After all, the shard follows its owner to the death. The only way to take it is to weaken its owner's soul or destroy it completely. So, they chose to crush his soul slowly, using every possible form of torment, both physical and mental.
But Louskas no longer cared.
"Even if my soul fights, I won't accept it."
After a moment, the door to the room opened, and two people entered. Louskas couldn't see them from his position; he was lying on a wooden slab in the center of the room, as if a sacrifice to some unknown god. There was no need to chain him, for he had no hands or legs to escape with, not even skin covering his body. He was just a tortured body, barely clinging to life.
The two men wore black robes with red stripes running from the shoulder, and on their faces were black masks with a single horn in the middle, as if they were embodiments of the devil itself.
When Louskas heard the door open, his heart shook violently. He knew his day had begun. His body trembled with fear, and all he wanted was to scream, to beg for help, to plead with anyone to save him from this hell… but nothing had changed for a whole year, so why would it change now?
One of the men stood beside him, and suddenly a warm white light enveloped him. He felt a strange sensation, one that was pleasant in a way he hadn't felt in a long time. His body began to regenerate—his limbs grew back, his skin reformed, and his teeth and tongue returned to their places.
Louskas opened his dark, emotionless eyes. His long black hair hung down over his face. His face returned to how it was, as if he had never tasted this torment. At a glance, no one would believe he was fifty years old.
The two men began to feed him quietly, even gently. The feeling was like a dying man from thirst being suddenly given a cold drink. But Louskas knew full well what lay behind this treatment… he had seen hell before.
Indeed, after a few minutes, the man who was feeding him left, while the other began to laugh softly. He took out his usual tools, preparing for another round of torture. This was his daily routine… being healed completely, only to be tortured to death once more.
Louskas gritted his teeth.
"No… This time I won't let it happen."
He had already made his decision. He focused all his energy on his shard. He intended to explode it, end his life, and drag his tormentor to hell with him.
He had attempted this before, but it had failed. He hadn't awakened his power yet, nor his core, making it impossible. But this time…
Suddenly, he was engulfed in a glowing white light, as if it was emanating from within him.
The man standing beside him trembled.
"Impossible… How?!!"
Louskas smiled, for the first time in a whole year.
Boom.
The entire place erupted. In an instant, the demon worshippers organization were utterly obliterated.
⸻
A young boy's dark, abyssal eyes fluttered open. He seemed to be ten years old, lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling of his familiar room.
"What?!!!"
He screamed and jumped from his bed, his eyes scanning the room quickly, his heart beating wildly.
"What am I doing here? Isn't this… my room? Impossible! Am I back?"
He was overwhelmed with mixed feelings: shock, joy, confusion… he didn't know how to feel.
Suddenly, a voice from nowhere interrupted his thoughts:
"Why are you shouting, you fool?"
Louskas's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Am I… hearing voices now? I must be dead, yes, there's no doubt—l'm definitely dead. Haha."
"Ah, you fool."
The voice echoed again, but this time… someone appeared before him.
It was a man… but he wasn't strange at all.
It was him.
But older… it was his future, or rather his past.