He who Bends Time-Chapter 68 - fear worse than death

"What’s so handsome about them, huh? Is it the fair skin that looks like it’s made of snow? Or is it the wide chins that look like they’re holding a damn flat stone? Maybe it’s the muscular body with those six tiny muscle packs on their stomachs—or eight if they’ve maxed it out. Or is it those sharp fingernails on their hands? Or that smell, the one that seems to attract every woman within a mile?"

Henry’s complaints kept going on and on. He was so caught up in venting his emotions that he didn’t realize his own mana had started to react—stirred by the strong emotional conflict building within him.

"Ugh! That was... painful!"

Suddenly, a sharp pain cut off Henry’s rant. He looked around and found the source of the pain: a beam of light refracting from the shard of glass that had fallen in front of him.

"Damn, it’s... so hot," Nimuk muttered, squinting at the glass. He couldn’t look at it directly anymore—the light reflecting off the shard was almost blinding, and the heat that came with it was unbearable.

Ugh!

It’s getting worse...

Moment by moment, the ray of light intensified, and with it, the heat increased exponentially.

In this miserable situation, Nimuk glanced toward the street—the only part of the world he could still see. A few people were walking past, and some even looked in his direction. But just like before, they ignored him completely.

"Do I look like a fish being grilled? ...Damn it, am I really going to get roasted alive out here?"

Ugh!

But Nimuk didn’t give up so easily. He struggled as hard as he could. His body twisted left and right, the chains creaking with every motion. Though he couldn’t free himself, his movement started to shift the structure of the fragile rooftop.

The material—already unstable—was slowly beginning to give in.

"A bit more..." Nimuk muttered. At that point, his whole body felt like it was burning. Sweat poured from him, dripping onto the ground like a burst of water.

Tik!

A sudden sound echoed, followed by a strange sensation from within Nimuk’s body.

"Huh?"

Nimuk noticed something fall from his body and land where he could see it clearly.

"A scale..."

Recognizing the object as one of his own fish scales, fear truly sank in. For the first time, he felt the genuine fear of death.

"I’m really starting to get grilled..."

His movements became more frantic. As he thrashed, more and more pieces of the roof loosened. Eventually, with a loud crash, the entire structure collapsed.

A heap of debris fell onto Nimuk’s body. The only thing he could do was brace himself against the weight, still tightly wrapped in chains. Buried beneath the rubble, he realized something even worse—the portion of the roof that had been reflecting sunlight hadn’t shifted. The beam of light was now focused on the pile of debris covering him, and with it, the heat intensified.

The dry wood and other flammable materials around him began to smolder, catching the wind.

Seeing it unfold, Nimuk was speechless.

"That escalated... very quickly..."

The words escaped his exhausted mouth.

He tried to move, but between being bound by chains and buried beneath debris, there was no sign of escape.

The heat intensified immensely from the fire, and as it reached the point where Nimuk felt like he was being burned alive, the sound—

Tik! Tik! Tik!

—kept repeating as more and more of his scales fell off.

His body was drenched in sweat, and the heat was causing his body to scream for moisture. His tongue was dry, desperately needing something to wet it, but there was nothing around. In this situation, Nimuk began to suffer from extreme dehydration and heat exhaustion.

The fire spread rapidly, expanding and searing everything around him—even burning above him. Thankfully, close to him was a metallic object that had first fall into his body. However, that metal had also absorbed the heat, and now it felt like a branding rod, pressing against his skin.

Nimuk felt like his skin was being ripped away, but then—somehow, for an unknown reason—he suddenly felt the chains wrapped around him begin to loosen.

Ugh!

"I can move again! If I can crawl forward, I might be able to slip through this metal and reach a safer spot," thought Nimuk.

However, while movement was possible, his hands were still bound, limiting his ability to crawl.

"Oh, come on! Isn’t there any way I can free myself?" he cursed in frustration.

But just then, he sensed something. A forgotten instinct sparked, and he remembered something obvious.

Suddenly, Nimuk opened his mouth, and his tongue shot forward, stretching unnaturally until it latched onto something nearby. With a swift pull, he dragged himself forward through the chains, slipping through like an eel.

Phew!

After squeezing his way free, Nimuk barely managed to stand. He leaped, passing over the fire.

"Ah, crap!"

The clothes he was wearing caught fire, and he had to toss them off before they could burn his skin. Without further thought, he bolted away from the burning hut and into the street.

"I need to get out of here... I don’t need a woman... hell, I don’t even need to live in this world anymore..."

This dark thought crossed his mind halfway through his sprint.

After stepping into the road, Nimuk looked around and—above—he located the giant crystal he had seen in the distance earlier.

"That way!"

After deciding on a direction, Nimuk ran, mustering up all the speed his weakened body could handle.

Huh!

While running, he noticed something strange—everyone around him was staring.

"Do I look that hideous? Guess it’s because I’m nearly burned, bruised, and... don’t have any clothes on. I’d better get out of here before someone catches me again."

With that thought, he increased his pace.

But...

"Kyaaa! My prince!"

A high-pitched scream echoed through the entire road, and suddenly—a woman jumped into the street, reaching out to grab Nimuk.

"Whoa—!"

Nimuk narrowly dodged, avoiding her grasp.

"What just happened...?" he thought, but didn’t dwell on it. He kept running.

"Maybe it was an accident," he concluded while sprinting.

But then—another woman jumped into the street.

And then another.

And another.

Soon, a whole group of women began to chase after him, shouting praises and gasping in excitement—all behind a half-naked man running down the street.

"What the fuck is going on?!"

Seeing the crowd of women chasing after him, Nimuk felt more fear now than he did even when littery about be fried alive.

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