While Mavis sat against the tree in a fetal position, I stood up, rubbing, burning the remains of my crushed with [Fire Blast] while using [Heroes Gaze] to get a better understanding of where we were; however, nothing was familiar.
To one side, we had a forest; to the other, a rocky mountain range. 'Well, looks like we're at least safe for the moment.' I must've immediately jinxed us as my heart rate slightly increased, warning me of danger, causing me to click my tongue.
"Hey, Mistr–Mavis, how long until they'll find us?" Dusting myself off, I removed my jacket, giving me more mobility while I approached Mavis, who didn't react. Scoffing, I squatted before her, grabbing her hair and yanking her head back, only for her to stab my neck with her nails.
"Because of you, everything I'd worked for has become for naught… I'll kill you first." Staring coldly at me, Mavis stood up while I backed away and grabbed my neck, slowing the blood loss as it healed. "Hey, listen-" I was interrupted as Mavis suddenly lunged forward, clamping down on my neck and sucking my blood voraciously.
Grabbing my head, she slammed me head-first into the ground while restraining my limbs with blood-tendrils. "Until they find us, I'm going to torture you." With a maddened look, Mavis stabbed her nail into my stomach before cutting downwards, only to rip open my stomach. "Argh! F-Fucking listen, you bitch! I can get us out of this!" Gnashing my teeth, I glared at her, suppressing a grunt of pain as she cut through my muscles before poking an organ.
"Get us out of this? Why would I believe you?" Tilting her head, Mavis emotionlessly eyed before stabbing under my chin, her nails poking into the top of the inside of my mouth. "You're the one who put us in this situation." Grunting, I used [Fire Breath], exhaling a powerful breath of flames at Mavis, causing her to back away, giving me a brief respite.
Closing the flaps of my stomach's skin, I sat upright while glaring at her. "It was part of my fucking plan." "Plan? You call that a plan? I shouldn't have expected anything from such a short-lived species." She spat on the ground, fury returning to her expression. "Listen bitch. I can get us out of this… Just release the slavery pact." Spitting on the ground, matching her fury, I slowly stood up, having fully healed, and pointed at my head, causing her to raise an eyebrow before suddenly roaring with laughter.
"Hahahahaha!" Tears began streaming down her face. As I watched her seemingly descend further into madness, I instinctively used [Blink], reappearing ten feet to the left, just in time to dodge a blood bomb that erased the very space where I previously stood. "I don't want to torture you anymore… I just want you dead." Mavis slowly turned to look at me, causing me to summon Trina.
'Hehe, divine judgment!' As Trina's excited voice rang within my mind, I poured half of my mana into her, activating her skill, [Divine Wrath]. Slashing at Mavis, a massive purplish arc of pure destruction, nothing was spared from its might; it passed right beside her, continuing onwards into the mountain range, slicing through mountain after mountain until it finally dispersed into the sky.
Stabbing Trina into the ground, the earth violently shook, and chunks of mountain slid down, crashing like explosions. "As I said before. If I could escape from you, you'd already be dead, Mavis." Narrowing my eyes at her, she gulped and glanced at the destruction Trina's skill caused, her eyes widening before looking back at me.
"T-Traces of divinity. That weapon, w-what is it?" I scoffed, not bothering to answer her. "Now that you see what I'm capable of, release the slavery pact, and I'll kill everyone." Mavis regained some composure, her brows furrowing in thought. "So, your plan was to blackmail me with my life to get me to remove the slavery pact? It's not something I hadn't considered, but I never would've thought you'd have done it so recklessly."
I clicked my tongue, annoyed that she had infact predicted an outcome like this. 'Tsk, suppose I'm lucky she didn't take into account that I'd do something so stupid.' While eyeing her, Mavis waved her hand, causing me to be pulled to the ground by four blood-tendrils grabbing my limbs.
"I admit, I overlooked the stupidity you were capable of, but I can just command you to kill them when they inevitably discover us? Perhaps you're a bit too stupid?" She squatted before me, grabbing me by the chin and forcing me to look up at her, though I just smirked. "No. I'm betting my own soul on this. I won't do a single thing until you release the pact."
In response, a wave of pain spread throughout the deepest part of my being, causing me to convulse in pain. "Argh, f-fuck! B-Bitch!" "Did you forget? I'm your Master, you WILL listen to me." Looking up at that smug, arrogant expression, I forced a smile, suppressing the horrendous pain. "T-Try me! I-I'd rather die, t-then live my l-life as y-your slave. H-Hehe. I-I'm willing to s-sacrifice myself, b-but tell me, a-are you?"
"Hmph. Let's see how long you can keep that act up for." Kicking me into a tree, Mavis walked away, leaving me to writhe in agony.
Minutes ticked by one by one as I rolled around the ground, convulsing in pain, grabbing my head, clutching my chest, coughing blood; my skill [Rebirth] did absolutely nothing to the pain in my soul.
'H-How long, has Arghh it been!?' Digging my head into the ground, I clutched my chest, my nails tearing my skin. 'Um, only four minutes, Master. Keep it up, you've got it!' Hearing Trina, I felt a wave of disbelief; it felt like I'd been experiencing this agony for hours. 'O-Only four minutes!?'
Rolling onto my back, I grabbed my head, pulling my hair while shutting my eyes, doing whatever I could to push the pain to the back of my mind, though it was simply too intense. However, I needed to withstand it; no, I had to.
I wanted to give in; this was more torturous than anything I'd felt. All I had to say was 'Okay, I give in, and I knew Mavis would stop this; however, if I did that, I wouldn't be able to return to my family. I wouldn't be able to feed Yuki, relax with Michelle, study with Lazuli, spar with Vanye, tease Jasmine, or spoil Chloe.
'Hold on, Master! Sister and I are rooting for you! We know you can do it!' Even though she was yelling, her voice was barely louder than a whisper to me, yet even if slightly, it motivated me to go longer, just one more minute, then another minute, and another.
I didn't try to endure an hour, or thirty minutes, hell, not even five minutes, I endured one minute at a time. Just one minute at a time; if I thought any longer than that, I was worried I'd give up.
"Argh, o-one more minute! O-one Argh m-more minute!' While gasping for breath, enduring yet another minute, the pain suddenly vanished, causing me to collapse like a wet noodle, desperate for air as I stared at the sky, which an impatient Mavis promptly blocked.
"To think you lasted an hour… Tch, fine, I'll retract the pact. Hurry, get off your ass, they're about to arrive any minute." Anxiously, Mavis grabbed me by the collar, hoisting me onto my feet. Nearly falling, I leaned against a tree for balance, my mind still a numb, disoriented mess.
"A-An hour? I-It felt like days." Mavis paid my words no heed and poured her blood into a bowl, handing it to me, which I drank, my arm feeling so heavy. As I drank her blood, Mavis grabbed one of the vials she had stored on her person.
"Goddess Nihil, your humble servant asks you to retract the pact in place." She raised the vial into the air before consuming it, causing me to suddenly feel slightly lighter while she dropped to one knee, violently coughing blood. "Ugh, the backlash is terrible."
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to bask in my freedom for long as eight people suddenly appeared in front of us, their smiles a bloodthirsty one. "D-Dammit! You better not go back on your word, human!" With an ugly expression, Mavis slowly stood up while glaring at me.
"Hehe, finally, we caught-" Pontimon wasn't able to finish speaking as he, along with the seven others, was slashed in half as I used divine wrath, a massive purplish arc bisecting them at the waist. However, even though the divinity prevented them from healing, they weren't fully dead, as Vampires had a tenacious vitality, but with the way they were, they wouldn't be a problem.
"MISTRESS!" Hearing that familiar voice, I turned, glancing at Marston, who was dashing towards us. "MARSTON, KILL HIM. KILL ALEXANDER!" Like the dog he was, he instantly shot towards me, his gaze hardening. Gritting my teeth, I used [Teleport], though as I disoriented, I was a second slower than normal.
Vanishing from the sport, I reappeared in the middle of the forest, near a river, though I dropped to my knee, gripping the shoulder of my missing arm. "F-Fuck… I-I need to get out of here." I was entirely out of mana, so I'd have to run, though as I went to take a step, my leg gave away, and I fell into the river, darkness consuming my mind, my mind having finally reached its limit.