The Slayer Ascension: Cursed and Blessed.-Chapter 44: Silent Torture

Chapter 44

Roy left the place where he had met the man, their conversation short and heavy. His face still wore that warm smile, the one everyone knew him for. But anyone who truly knew Roy would see it immediately.

He was not okay.

Not even close.

He sighed softly. Could his day not be normal for once, just once, he thought.

Then his mind drifted. Unwanted. Unforgiving.

The crawler’s vessel.

Roy was not weak. Never had been. He was one of the strongest agents of the Shadow Legion, a man who had completed missions that would have buried others six feet under.

He had faced demons, Shurals, things that crawled out of nightmares and refused to die. He had even killed two crawler vessels before, cleanly, without taking much damage.

But the last one was different.

That fight was on another level.

The truth was as clear as daylight. The crawler vessels were evolving. Rapidly. Alarmingly. If this continued, destruction was not a possibility. It was a certainty.

The weight of what was coming pressed down on him, crushing, merciless. Roy exhaled slowly. This was not what he wanted. This was not what he asked for. But he was already trapped in this mess, and whether he liked it or not, he had to face it.

Then it hit.

His heart thumped violently as a searing pain tore through his chest. Roy staggered, almost falling. His eyes shut tight as agony ripped through him, but he forced himself to stay upright.

Too late now.

The time had already passed. Midnight was close. He needed to get home.

Taking a detour, fully aware that the real pain was only beginning, Roy headed back. Slipping through a window, he entered the upper floor of the building and moved quietly toward his parents’ chamber.

He peeked inside.

Both of them were fast asleep.

A breath he did not realize he was holding escaped him. Strange emotions welled up in his chest. Relief. Guilt. Pain.

It was a good thing they believed he was fine. If they knew the truth, would they be able to bear it. More than anything else, their happiness mattered to him.

After double checking they were truly asleep, Roy stepped away and entered his own room. He shut the door tightly.

The preparations began.

He filled the bathtub to the brim with icy water. Then the chains. Heavy. Thick. Wrapped around his wrists, his legs, even his mouth, tight enough to silence any sound.

When everything was ready, Roy stepped into the cold water. He closed his eyes.

And waited.

For the first few minutes, nothing happened.

No pain. No reaction.

For a moment, a foolish hope flickered. Maybe today would be different. Maybe he would be spared.

He should have known better.

The pain erupted from his chest, white hot, savage. It spread through his blood, tearing through his entire body. Roy’s face twisted as agony ripped through every fiber of his being. He struggled, chains rattling violently, teeth clenched as he fought back the scream clawing at his throat.

The seconds passed.

The pain only grew.

His skin began to glow red hot, burning yet unburnt, intact but altered, like metal pushed to its limit. Worse still, the torture was not only external. His organs burned from the inside, every part of him screaming, yet nothing was destroyed.

Just endless pain.

This was the price. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The consequence of allowing that entity to take over his body during the battle with the crawler’s vessel.

Power always demanded payment.

Roy’s eyes snapped open beneath the water, wide with agony and something darker.

If this was only the beginning, how much longer could he endure before his body, or his mind, finally gave way.

It had happened a few times now, yet Roy could never get used to the pain.

Never.

If anything, it grew worse each time. More vicious. More unforgiving.

Reaching the very limit of what he could endure, Roy screamed. His chained hands and legs thrashed violently, muscles straining as he tried to break free, but it was useless. He was weak now. Weak and drowning in agony.

The scream tore out of him in a muffled sound, swallowed by the chains around his mouth. The icy water he had prepared to dull the torture had turned hot, bubbling like it was about to boil.

Roy thrashed harder.

Too much.

It was all too much.

Behind him, carved deep into his back, a red tattoo began to glow. An axe formed by two crossed daggers, burning fiercely as the torture continued. The light pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.

Roy felt like dying would be better than enduring this pain.

Anything would be better.

The agony stretched on, warping time itself, turning minutes into something that felt like eternity.

Outside his room, watching through the cracked door, stood an older man and woman.

The woman’s hands trembled as she covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face as she struggled not to cry out. She hated this. Hated it more than anything. Her chest ached as she watched her son suffer through this hell again.

The man pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.

"He will be fine," he whispered, though his own voice was heavy. "Our son has always been strong. Upright. He will not break. He never has. Have faith. Tonight will be no different. He will be fine before daybreak."

They were Roy’s parents.

Roy believed they knew nothing. That they lived happily, unaware, unburdened by his pain. That his suffering spared them.

He was wrong.

They knew everything.

Because this was their fault.

"I’m sorry, son," the father murmured, his face hollow. "We had no other choice back then."

The memory surged forward.

--------

Seventeen years ago.

Deep inside a dark cave, a young couple knelt on the cold stone floor. Their faces were pale, twisted with pain and tears as they bowed before a woman dressed entirely in black. Her face was hidden, all except her lips, glowing purple beneath the dim cave light.

The woman spoke. Her voice was sharp, cold, empty of emotion.

"I have told you already. There is nothing I can do to save your child. The cold in his body is too great. It has already reached his heart. Soon it will stop beating. He will die. There is no remedy."

The mother shook her head violently, tears streaming as madness crept into her eyes. If her son died, she would not survive it. She could not.

Her child was afflicted by Cryosis, one of the deadliest illnesses in history. Even a fully grown man would survive at most ten days with treatment. The fact that her child had lasted fourteen days was proof of his abnormal resilience.

But he was dying.

And the parents could not accept that. Not even for a second.

They begged.

They pleaded.

The woman before them was known for miracles. And darker things. They clung to hope like drowning people clutching air.

After a long silence, the woman spoke again. Calm. Flat.

"There is one way."

The parents froze.

"Due to his extreme coldness, what is needed to relieve him is extreme heat."

Hope exploded in their eyes.

But the woman continued, her tone unchanged.

"This procedure is extremely dangerous. Your child has less than a ten percent chance of survival. Even if he lives, he will be in constant pain."

She looked down at them.

"So tell me. Knowing this, will you accept?"

The cave fell silent.

The parents exchanged a glance.

Then spoke together.

"We accept."

TO BE CONTINUED