The black cloth was removed from Katherine’s head and it took some time for her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the place she was in.

Her face was still the bloodied mess that it had been when she heard Ocean’s last words and now here she was.

Katherine tried to move but soon realised that her wrists and feet were incarcerated, the soft clinks of the rattling chain made another apprehending realisation dawn on her that she couldn’t feel her mana. These were the mana cancelling chains. She was on a hard metal chair in a dark cell that stank of blood and decomposition.

"Evening, Katherine."

The sleek, velvety voice greeted her and she jerked with a little whimper before she saw the man standing a couple of feet away from her. The darkness seemed to embrace his very presence and the only visible aspects were his hair, his face and those eyes that gleamed in the darkness.

"Whe-Where am I?" She asked, trying to keep some courage in her voice.

Ocean simply smiled as he pushed off of the wall he was leaning against and walked towards her. Katherine felt her heart hammering away in her chest as he grew closer and closer until he stopped a feet away.

"Y-You won’t get away with this, Marquis. You are forgetting that I am the Queen of this kingdom. Yo-You and your family and everyone will be executed!" Katherine started shouting making Ocean sigh.

"Lyall," Ocean spoke making Katherine’s eyes go wide before Ocean stretched his arms to the side, "earplugs."

Katherine didn’t even notice another man inside this dark cell.

The figure from the darkness moved and handed something to Ocean. Ocean touched his ears and then smiled at the man clad in black.

"Oh, and also hit the lights, our guest should see where she is, hm." Ocean spoke and the man bowed before he walked over and there was a sound of a clock before the light filled the dark space.

It was indeed a dark cell but what terrified Katherine was the dark red marks that were all over the walls and the metallic table that was on one side with the assortment of several tools which made her blood run cold.

"Y-You cannot harm me, Marquis! If there is even a scratch on me I’ll have you and your people beheaded!" Katherine shouted and Ocean chortled.

"Katherine, Katherine. Didn’t your witch warn you about me?" He asked, all the mirth in his voice never matching the dangerous glint in his eyes.

Katherine gulped, she had indeed been warned about Ocean by that woman. She had told Katherine that whatever happens this man should not know of their plan. He was stronger than them so, the only way to deal with him was to take help from the demons. That was why she had agreed to give her son the enhancement drink that the witch had given her but, it still didn’t work.

"Good, now we can start." Ocean announced and Katherine shuddered.

The another man who was clad in black with the large black apron reached out and picked up a pair of pincers making Katherine squirm in her chair.

"Marquis! I dare you! If you tried anything you will be-"

Ocean waved his hand, "Ah, enough with your hollow threats, Katherine."

Katherine felt the tears of pure anger and helplessness well at her eyes as she glared at Ocean.

"You think you’re quite a hero to tie up a woman and torture her? You’re the biggest coward I’ve ever seen!" She taunted and Ocean stared at her for a moment before he snorted and laughed.

"Ah, Kathy, you really crack me up." He laughed, "Well, you are the woman who assassinated the kind and rightful man along with his wife and child, killed even more to protect your position without mercy and you think I am a coward? You’re really funny."

Katherine gritted her teeth and then looked at the other man who stepped ahead and she felt her body trembling as adrenaline hit her bloodstream.

"No! No, you-you can’t hurt me! If you hurt me you won’t have any information!" She shouted.

Ocean raised his hand stopping the man, Katherine felt a little relieved thinking her words worked. Of course, Ocean would want information about the witch and though there was a curse of secrecy on her she could still give away some of the information, enough to get her out of this ordeal.

"Hm?" Ocean seemed to ponder over it.

"I-I know I can’t tell you much but I can tell you enough, but that’s only in exchange of you not hurting me or my people." Katherine said and Ocean stared at her for a moment before he chuckled.

"I was overestimating you, Katherine." He said, "after killing all these people it seems like your brain cells are really rotting away."

Katherine’s pupils quivered as she heard him, "I have enough information to locate you little Witch’s coven and also to get rid of your little plans. Besides, I had warned you to not pull anything, didn’t I? And what did you do? You went and got your son cursed."

Katherine frowned hearing the last bit, "C-Cursed?"

Ocean’s eyebrows shot up, "What? You don’t even know what you fed your son?"

Ocean shook his head, "You really are so naive and foolish, Katherine. You didn’t even notice what the witch gave you and you directly fed it to your son?"

The man dragged over a chair and Ocean took a seat in front of Katherine.

"Your son is possessed by a demon now and he will soon lose his soul and body to it. In simple words, you’ve just killed your son."

The blood drained from Katherine’s face as soon as she heard that. Possessed? Demon?

Ocean could see the confusion in her eyes before he sighed, "Foolish, Katherine. This is what happens when you are blinded by greed."

"Ho-How do you know it’s a possession? It was just an enhancement drink!" Katherine said and Ocean shook his head.

"You’re not in your right mind, Katherine. It almost makes me feel bad for torturing a mentally unstable person." Ocean said and Katherine clenched her jaw.

She couldn’t make sense of anything, everything was muddled inside her head now.

"But since I have brought you here, I will have some level of satisfaction by watching you in agony."

Katherine’s eyes widened as she heard that and she leaned ahead in panic.

"What? B-But why?!" She shouted and Ocean tilted his head a little.

"It’s your punishment, Katherine. Didn’t I tell you? If you pull anything funny, I’ll make sure you go through the most excruciating painful experience? Well, you’ve earned this."

Katherine watched the other man and then Ocean before she trembled.

"No, no!"

Ocean smiled, "Don’t worry, we won’t use any of those scary tools on you."

Katherine glanced once more at the glinting metal tools before she looked at Ocean again.

"You know that I can manipulate water, right?" Ocean said as he leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs one over the other.

"Well, it isn’t limited to only water. I can manipulate absolutely anything that’s made of water or is in the liquid form." Ocean clarified.

"And funnily enough, seventy percent of human body is filled with water. That includes your blood, other juices, and fluids, meaning, I can easily rip your body apart without moving my finger."

Katherine’s blood ran cold hearing that and she tried to yank her hands free making Ocean smile.

"You’re not getting out so easily, Katherine. You’ve angered me enough to earn this session. Had you just stayed in your room and let things unfold you would have saved yourself this agony."

"No, no!" She shouted and Ocean tilted his head looking at the other man.

"Plug your ears too, her screaming might burst your eardrums." Ocean said before he looked back at Katherine.

Katherine’s heart pounded in her chest as she saw Ocean raise his hand and a water ball materialized, hovering over his palm.

"Now, what happens to this ball is what happens inside you." Ocean said and Katherine opened her mouth to protest but at once the water ball started spinning and Katherine clamped her mouth shut as she felt the fluids in her stomach spinning.

She doubled over and regurgitated whatever she had eaten for dinner.

But that was only the beginning, the water ball slowly started bubbling as if it was being boiled and Katherine felt the blood in her body starting to feel like acid in her veins.

A heart wrenching scream escaped her lips as she thrashed in her chair trying to escape but the chains kept her down and Ocean’s face showed no hint of mercy.

Katherine kept screaming and screaming until she noticed her skin starting to bloat over and popping at several places as if it was rotting alive.

She opened her mouth to beg him to stop but even her mouth felt like it was filled with burning embers. Her eyes felt like someone had stuffed the red hot spikes in them and even her tears evaporated before they could be shed.

The water ball slowly stopped bubbling and then within a few seconds turned to ice.

Katherine shuddered in her chair, her body covered in a shean layer of frost, her teeth chattering and slowly she felt her heart coming to a stop as everything went black.