Knives flashed in the air.
But the man moved like a specter.
The first assailant launched a slash straight at his neck. The man tilted his head at the last second and caught the attacker's wrist, twisting it brutally. The bone shattered with a snapping sound, and before the mercenary could scream, the knife plunged into his throat, sliding in with the smoothness of a scalpel.
Blood spurted in a crimson arc.
The second enemy tried to stab him in the back.
The man spun on his axis, using the corpse of the first as a shield.
The blade plunged into the wrong flesh.
The man took advantage of the confusion and slid his knife down the assailant's arm.
Just a small cut.
But the effect was immediate.
The mercenary's skin began to boil as if the blood itself turned to acid.
-Gods...! He smells!
His veins turned black. His eyes bulged as the corrosion devoured his body from within.
He fell to his knees, tearing at his own flesh in a desperate attempt to dull the pain.
The rest of the mercenaries backed away.
-He's not human! -muttered one.
But it was too late.
The man lunged at them.
He slashed, stabbed, and smashed.
Weapons fell to the ground as bodies collapsed, some still alive, groaning in agony as corrupted blood seeped into their organs.
One tried to flee.
The man reached him in two steps and plunged his knife into his side.
The flesh melted.
The spine was exposed.
The mercenary fell with a shriek that turned into a gurgle.
One by one, they fell.
When the last survivor, covered in his own melted skin, begged for his life, the man simply shoved him away.
He had no time for mercy.
The merchant was upstairs, along with the girl. And he would not be late.
The man advanced up the stairs, his breathing heavy but controlled.
One of the dying mercenaries had pointed out the merchant's location to him before he expired.
-Door at the end of the corridor. - were his last words.
Without hesitation, he lifted his foot and kicked the door with all his might. The wood splintered.
And inside the room... The Naked Merchant, Trembling.
The girl, sitting in the corner, was still in her clothes.
The merchant fell to his knees as soon as he saw the man.
-How is it possible that you are still alive?" His face showed intense fear, almost as if he was seeing death itself before him. "Please! Please, I didn't do it! I didn't get to do anything!
Tears and snot ran down his deformed face.
-Take it! It's yours! Let me live! -Let me live!
The man didn't listen to him. He approached the girl and knelt down in front of her. Carefully, he rested his hand on her small shoulder.
-Are you all right? -
She looked up. Empty eyes, there was no fear, no relief, just a bottomless abyss.
-Did he hurt you? -
She didn't answer.
The merchant swallowed saliva.
-Everything will be all right. -
Nothing, Nothing in her expression, how much damage a girl must have suffered to have that look... that same look...
At that moment, the man remembered something, the past hit him like a sledgehammer. A dark barracks, the smell of iron and sweat.
Whispers of terror among the rookie recruits, the superiors not only dominated with weapons, but they also dominated with fear, with pain, and took advantage of all the rookies.
He had learned that too young, and so had his friend.
The friend who had volunteered for him and taken his place more times than he could remember. Constant abuses were heard in the quarters, and his friend, who had believed that sacrificing himself would do any good, in the end, it did no good.
Because the man also fell, the superiors couldn't help but release such a young recruit... Because the powerful don't care who they break, as long as they can.
The man came back to the present. His jaw tightened, and His gaze hardened.
He stood up and slowly turned to the merchant, who was still crawling on his knees.
-Mercy! -he sobbed. "Please...!
But the man was no longer listening.
The merchant was going to pay.
The man took a deep breath.
Blood was still dripping from his knife, dripping on the carpet of the luxurious room. The merchant, still naked, writhed on the floor, sobbing in spasms of fear.
He was no longer the same arrogant man as before. He no longer smiled with contempt. He no longer mocked anyone. Now he only trembled, cowering, like an insect that knows it is about to be crushed.
The man said nothing.
She simply advanced, grabbed him by the neck with inhuman strength, and dragged him across the room, ignoring his piercing screams.
-No, please! Please don't!
Her nails tried to dig into the man's skin, but it was no use.
When she threw him onto the bed, the merchant tried to crawl backward, but his body was shaking so badly he could barely move.
-We'll do this the hard way," the man muttered in a cold voice.
He grabbed the bed sheets and, with unnerving dexterity, tore the fabric into strips. In a matter of seconds, he bound the merchant's wrists and ankles to the bedposts, leaving him completely immobilized.
The merchant was breathing heavily, his skin covered in sweat.
-W-what are you going to do to me?
The man did not answer.
He put a finger to his mouth and, with a quick movement of his tooth, he made a small cut.
A simple wound. A drop of acid blood began to form on the tip of his finger.
-No..." The merchant watched with wild eyes.
The drop fell on his wrist.
A sickening sound filled the room.
- Ssssshhh... -
The merchant screamed, his skin bubbled and melted instantly, exposing the red, steaming flesh.
-Gods! Ahhhhhhh!!!!!
The man ignored it and dropped another drop on his other arm.
-Please! -No more!
The blood burned like hellfire.
It was a pain unlike anything else.
The merchant struggled, but the bindings held him fast.
His flesh was slowly consuming, and his bones were exposed, blackened, and smoking.
His screams grew higher and higher-pitched, like the howl of a dying animal, but the man was not finished.
He let one last drop fall on his genitals. The shriek that escaped the merchant's throat was inhuman.
His face twisted into a grimace of indescribable agony, His veins were marked on his neck as if they were about to explode.
His body jerked with uncontrollable convulsions, The flesh melted in seconds. The smell of burning flesh filled the room, and then, the merchant fainted.
The man left him unconscious for a while, He waited patiently. When the merchant awoke, he could not speak; he was disoriented and could barely breathe.
-Where are you hiding your money? -
The merchant tried to move, but he no longer had wrists. Only charred stumps.
His eyes were swollen from crying, but he understood one thing: if he didn't speak, he would suffer more. With a trickle of her voice, she stammered out the answer.
He told her where his riches were, the chests hidden downstairs, the key in his desk drawer.
The man nodded and let him pass out again. When he awoke, he repeated the process.
-Who else works with you?
The merchant stammered out more names, betraying his own allies in order to stop the pain.
But the man had no mercy. Each time he awoke, his torture worsened. Drops of blood fell on what was left of his limbs. Little by little, he lost his feet, then his legs, then his arms.
The man repeated the process while using some of the money to buy medicine and care for his wounds so that he would not die so quickly.
It was a long torture, until his body was nothing more than a blackened torso, a living corpse that could do nothing but shiver and sob.
author's note: Remember to visit my website if you want to support my work. There you will find advanced chapters. patreon.com/SlipperyRaccoon - DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE POWER STONES EVEN