A few days before the commencement of the Lazarus Project.
Grandmaster Amory, Grandmaster Zethos de Montmorency, and Levine de Montmorency were seen heading deeper inside a tunnel, their footsteps echoing in the surroundings. The other end of the tunnel soon led them to a well-lit and spacious hall.
This isolated hall looked like it was part of the Array Formation. This was because all the walls of this hall as well as its high ceiling were etched with strings of runic symbols. There were loads of A-Rank Extols studded on the walls and ceiling at fixed intervals, indicating that it was an Array Formation meant to be used on Grandmaster Rankers.
"Where are we heading, brother Zethos?" Levine asked curiously as she looked around. She did not know that there was such a place inside the City of White Raven. It seemed Zethos was also clueless about their purpose of being here. He looked at Amory to provide Levine with an explanation.
"Hahahaha. It ruins the fun if I tell you what it is before you see it with your own eyes, lass. But I'm sure you will be happy to see what a nice little surprise that brat Eren has prepared for you," Amory laughed heartily as he guided the two Rankers forward, walking towards a grand altar that had 99 steps.
Levine scrunched her nose in dissatisfaction as she followed Grandmaster Amory. However, she did not complain anymore. She was curious to know what Eren had planned for her as well.
The trio of Rankers soon climbed up the altar's steps and reached the top. There, a sight of man laying flat on the raised platform was waiting for them. This man had a rugged face, grayish-white hair, and muscular physique. He had his eyes closed and his facial expressions tensed as if he was having nightmares.
This man was a clandestine figure across all of Anfang. However, Levina and Zethos knew this man personally as he was once part of their clan.
"DEMONMIR!"
Levine and Zethos practically screamed the identity of the man they were seeing in front of them. They were too shocked to act calm while receiving this special form of "gift" from Eren.
"LEVI– GET AWAY FROM THAT…"
Zethos was about to take Levine away with him. He stepped forward to protect her from Demonmir's potential attacks. But before he could take any action, he was calmed by Grandmaster Amory's words.
"Hahaha. Shocked, right? Relax, you two. He is not awake. He can't hurt you," Grandmaster Amory chuckled while enjoying the shocked and paranoid reactions of Levine and Zethos. He took a few more puffs from the pipe he was smoking before speaking further.
"This wretched man's consciousness is being judged by the Life and Death altar at this time. It will stay there for an indefinite amount of time until that brat Eren decides to do something about it. So there's no need to worry," Grandmaster Amory explained with a calm voice while enjoying his favorite leisure activity of smoking his pipe.
Levine took a breath of relief when she realized that Demonmir was practically forced to sleep and was unable to wake up. The relief soon changed into the hatred she had for him as she was reminded of what Demonmir had done to her clan before leaving it.
Demonmir had slaughtered half the number of her clan members from House Montmorency. He was also the one who was responsible for her father's death. He was also the reason why House Montmorency had lost all its former glory.
Levine had all the valid reasons to harbor a grudge against the despicable man in front of her. She decided to act on her feelings by killing the man lying defenseless in front of her. This was the kind of temptation she could never resist. She wanted to kill Demonmir so badly that her hands started shaking. It was as if someone facing withdrawal symptoms were suddenly offered the poison they sought for.
"I… I'll fucking kill this man," Levine's eyes turned red as she stepped forward. She was about to summon her weapon to kill Demonmir and vent out her anger. But just then, Grandmaster Amory's words made her halt in her action.
"Lass, I'm afraid we are not here to kill Demonmir. We are here to torture him. Or to be more specific, we are here to torture his body while his consciousness also gets tortured by Eren's nightmares," Grandmaster Amory said while releasing a lungful of shit smoke through his big nostrils.
"What… what do you mean, Uncle Amory?"
Zethos asked, turning towards Amory. He was as angry at Demonmir as Levine was. Perhaps even more than her because the wounds Demonmir had inflicted on his soul were relatively fresher and more personal. After all, his wife had been killed by Demonmir when he decided to betray House Montmorency and become a half-blood.
However, Zethos didn't let his emotions cloud his judgment. Since it was a gift from Eren, he decided to follow what Eren wanted from him.
Amory scratched his forehead to think of something. He then shook his head before taking out a simple scroll from his ID storage.
"Ummm… Eren has given us specific instructions on how to "operate" on this demonic scum," Amory said while opening the scroll. He cleared his throat to get rid of the tar from the pipe before speaking up.
"Rule number 1– we can not kill Demonmir under any circumstances. Rule number 2– we are to inflict his body with serious injuries that wouldn't kill him. Rule number 3– we need to let his body recover from wounds naturally before we can start injuring him once again.
Rule number 4– we are not supposed to target his heart or head that might force his consciousness to come back to his body. Lastly, rule number 5– we can't move his body away from the altar," Amory said out loud the rules of the torture that he was given by Eren.
"This…what… how am I…"
Levine was lost for words when she heard Eren's instructions through Amory's mouth. She felt like a moment of absolute bliss was taken away from her by taking Demonmir's death off the table.
"Don't worry, lass. This scum will meet his end soon. Eren will make sure of it. We are just here so that you could vent your frustrations," Amory looked at Levine caringly as he explained. Zethos went forward and placed his hand on Levine's shoulder before speaking further.
"This is already the best thing that could happen to us, Levi. I think we should place our faith in Eren on this one," Zethos said while looking at Demonmir's slumbering form.
Amory sighed as he looked at the two Rankers who stood at either side of the platforms, wielding their respective hands. He understood his role well in the situation. He was basically asked to be here by Eren to make sure that the two members of House Montmorency who had a lot of grudges against Demonmir did not end up killing him.
A controlled form of torture soon began, painting the platform red in Demonmir's blood. His Grandmaster-ranked body tried to heal his wounds while he was unconscious. However, it only prolonged his suffering.
Demonmir's consciousness battled endlessly against Eliza Samael's rendition inside Life and Death Altar's illusory space. Meanwhile, his body was getting injured methodically, as if reflecting the injuries his soul was suffering because of the Life And Death Altar's judgment.
The entire act was akin to tenderizing the meat before it was roasted to perfection on a grill.
Incidentally, Demonmir had ended up in a somewhat similar situation as his ex, Reva Rain, the Paladin of Pain. If Reva's consciousness was present here, she would have taken joy in watching the man, who had abandoned her after using her, suffer the same form of fate as her.
