"Tch tch tch. You failed this mission as well, Old Idril. Just what I expected from you. Another pathetic performance. Another excellent reason to punish you."
The Paladin of Pain– Reva Rain said in a condescending tone. She smoked from her pencil cigarette as she continued.
"At least take responsibility for your failure and stop screaming. A high-ranking entity like mine has to come down in this filth to teach you a lesson in humility.
You should be glad that I'm giving you special treatment. And you are not even grateful for all that I do for you. What a shame… what a shame…"
The green-eyed old man had lost all the anger in his eyes. It was because that emotion was lost along with the huge amount of blood his wounds had gushed out due to the torture. His Adept-ranked body was only allowed to assure its survival. Otherwise, he would have died long ago.
Reva also had to admit that this old man had a special talent for bearing the torture he was subjected to. All of her reasons for torturing him were nothing but bullshit.
The Paladin of Pain wanted to see this old man break in front of her completely. So she would find ways to do just that– giving him tough missions knowing he would fail and then blaming the failure on him. This was so she could torture him on her whims.
Shalen Craft was Eren's handler. She was standing not too far away from the two. This was a scene she had seen countless times. Even an assassin like her felt a bit of pity for the old man. But it wasn't enough to make her stop the Paladin of Pain from what she was doing.
Eren coughed some more and spat sideways, prompting Reva to retract her neck. The tortured man looked lifelessly at Reva before replying in a lifeless manner.
'How… How was that my fault? The info was all wrong. The healer in that party was nothing like the profile you had given us of him. He could use silent sound-element spells to heal himself and his allies.
No matter how we tried… no matter how boldly we attacked, those fuckers kept on getting up until we understood the reason behind that. By the… cough… cough cough…'
Eren started coughing again because Reva had released another cloud of smoke on his face. His eyes, which were already bloody, had managed to turn redder than before due to his severe coughing. He was only able to continue after a while.
'By the… by the time we realized it, it was already too late. The mission was doomed to fail from the very beginning with the wrong…'
Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap. Slap.
Eren's face turned from left to right and then from right to left under the constant barrage of slaps Reva had unleashed on him. His cheekbones and his jaw were about to crack before Reva stopped slapping him.
Eren's face turned bloody and his cheeks bled from many places at once. The skin tore from extreme blunt force trauma instead of getting cut.
"Tch. Tch. Tch. Excuses and more excuses. Is this how an Escalon guild member conducts himself? Didn't Shalen teach you any manners?
And what's this bullshit about wrong information? You should be able to accomplish any mission successfully with the wrong information or with no information at all.
You could target the healer first. You could yank out their vocal cords to prevent them from casting spells. You could have become a fucking killing machine and butchered your opponents up before they even had a chance to retaliate.
Whose mistake is that? When will you take responsibility for your lack of skills and planning?"
The green-eyed man remained silent when he heard Reva Rain's explanation of why he was responsible for the mission's failure. He became silent because he found it to be logical.
A chuckle was heard in the underground facility for the first time since its creation. Soon, that chuckle turned into laughter.
'She finally broke him.'
Shalen Craft sighed as she watched the green-eyed man laughing like a maniac. Some shred of life returned to his emerald-green eyes as he spoke in a grim tone.
"Heh! You are right. You are absolutely right, Paladin of Pain. That was my mistake. That was all my mistake. You'd have to forgive me. Here's what I have learned from my mistakes. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
First- Always take out the healer first.
Second- Yank out the healers' vocal cords to prevent them from casting silent spells.
Third- To butcher my enemies, I must become a fucking killing machine.
Noted… all duly noted. By the way... Madam Paladin of Pain… There was this question I had that I wanted to ask. Would you mind answering?"
Reva Rain was a bit taken aback by the old man's demeanor and the peculiar shine in his eyes. She felt like she was messing with someone who she shouldn't mess with at all. But she discarded all of her instincts after considering the situation he was in.
"Speak."
Eren smirked at Reva Rain before responding.
"You are a healer too, right? What happens when your enemy adopts the same strategy for you as well? With your dying breath, will you curse your enemy at that time? Or will you be awed by their efficient killing mechanism?"
Reva Rain was tongue-tied when she heard Eren's grim voice that sounded like a prophecy to her ears. For some reason, goosebumps formed on her skin as she looked into his emerald-green eyes.
"No answer, huh? I guess there's only one way to find out. Hehehehe!"
The Paladin of Pain stepped back as she felt Eren's presence that was turning sinister by the second. It was Shalen who found out that the X-shaped torture device had malfunctioned for some reason and allowed Eren to use mana for himself. She operated the device and controlled the old man's presence.
Reva Rain cursed herself for getting scared by an old helpless man. She made an unsightly expression before operating on the runes on the X-shaped structure Eren was pinned on. The stakes lodged inside his body started rotating and spilling blood. However, this time, the old man didn't scream.
"Hehehe… uuuugh! The cure for pain… is more pain."
The green-eyed man thought out loud as he faced the mindless torture he was undergoing.
