Chapter 705: Torture

William scrambled backward, staring at his restored hands with horror, as though they belonged to someone else.

His body had recovered, but the memory of what had happened remained painfully vivid in his mind. Every time Elion moved his sword, he flinched, already expecting another blow.

"P-please..." His voice cracked as he shook his head. "Please, just kill me."

Elion regarded him with that same cold smile, though his eyes narrowed slightly at the plea.

He had spent so long imagining William begging for mercy before him, yet now that it was happening, it still failed to bring him the satisfaction he had expected.

"Why the change of heart? You were asking me to let you live a moment ago."

William’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. Behind them, Cody swallowed and took another small step backward, bumping into Aki without either bothering to complain.

They had both heard the rumors surrounding Elion, but hearing about someone and watching him do something like this were entirely different matters.

"Do you remember the dungeon?" Elion asked, stepping closer. "Or was what you did to me too insignificant for you to bother remembering?"

"I remember!" William answered immediately, his voice rising in panic. "I remember! I’m sorry!"

Elion raised a brow.

William had answered swiftly, without even needing him to explain which incident he meant. Of course he remembered.

Elion had been the one to suffer a near-death, while the one responsible had simply gone on with his life as though everything was normal.

"And Aria?"

"I’m sorry! I’m sorry about everything!"

"Tch..."

Another kick from Elion knocked William onto his side, cutting through the frantic apology. Elion followed, and before William could get up again, the screaming began again as Elion repeated the same sequence of cruel torture, snapping William’s bones very slowly.

Ava had woken up because of the loud screaming, but she didn’t bat an eyelid. It seemed she didn’t quite understand exactly what was happening.

"Ahhhhh!"

It wasn’t long before a searing hiss and the smell of burning flesh could be heard.

Elion was using fire magic to burn very specific parts of William’s body, mostly his back, where he couldn’t reach with his hands, and his head.

It burned until no hair remained, only a bloodied scalp that was flashing a bloody red. The sight was disturbingly disgusting.

The pungent smell of piss mixed with shit permeated the air, mixing with the smell of burning flesh. William had soiled himself, but perhaps it would have been more unusual if he hadn’t instead.

The pain wringing through his body was just too great.

It got so bad that it seemed like William was finally slipping away to his death, and yet, Elion healed him once again, spending yet another potent healing potion and forcing it down William’s wheezing throat.

The same sequence repeated itself.

Rina turned away, unable to continue watching anymore. She pressed her lips together, clutching the robe around her body while each sound made her shoulders tremble.

There was nothing she could do, and that helplessness was becoming almost as difficult to bear as what she had witnessed.

She had faced monsters stronger than herself and retreated when necessary, but standing here while someone from her own cohort begged for death made every lesson she had learned about leadership feel utterly useless.

Makho lowered his head, his hands hanging stiffly at his sides.

The others had stopped exchanging glances or whispering among themselves. Whatever opinions they had held about Elion earlier, none seemed willing to voice them now.

Mayumi stepped away from the group, quietly taking Eva back toward the camp.

The little girl tried to look over her shoulder, but Mayumi gently guided her onward, keeping herself between the child and what was happening behind them.

A few more minutes passed before Elion paused.

Once again William lay curled on the ground in a pool of his own blood, his pleas reduced to a broken repetition of the same words.

He was no longer trying to bargain with money, family, or anything else he had once believed would protect him. He simply wanted it to stop.

Elion stood over him, breathing lightly, his sword held loosely at his side.

’Why do I still feel like this?’

He had thought the anger would fade once William suffered enough. Instead, every scream seemed to remind him of another reason he hated the bastard, and every apology sounded painfully inadequate to sate his burning rage.

He couldn’t undo what had happened in the dungeon. He couldn’t make Aria’s suffering from that day disappear, nor erase all the days when he had been too weak to do anything about it.

William was at his feet now, completely helpless, and none of that had changed.

If he had more time to think about this, he would have realized that his anger had to do with more than just those events.

"Elion..."

Mira’s worried voice reached him from behind.

He looked back and found her watching him with a troubled expression, one hand resting around Isolde’s trembling fingers.

The elf was avoiding looking at him.

Her gaze remained fixed upon the ground, her shoulders drawn inward while Tessa stood close beside her.

’Ah, I must have frightened her...’

Torturing William hadn’t brought the satisfaction he had been expecting; in fact, it left him feeling empty inside. Was this all this bastard really amounted to?

He hadn’t even tried to fight back; maybe that way it would have been exciting. Instead, he had been left dealing with a spineless coward who did nothing but beg for mercy.

It was all so disappointing.

Revenge was supposed to taste sweet, he had heard, but in truth, he felt nothing but bitterness.

"I guess that’s enough, now" he said with a deep sigh.

Rina turned toward him, hardly daring to believe what she had heard. William lifted his head as well, a frail, desperate hope appearing in his eyes.

"Y-you’ll let me d—"

Kurogoroshi flashed in the ghastly moonlight.

William’s unfinished plea faded into the night, and his body fell still upon the blood-stained ground. Those watching trembled in shock, while Rina closed her eyes and let out a long, shaky breath.

It was finally over.

Elion remained where he was for a moment, staring down at the body. He had imagined this ending countless times, but now there was only the cold wind against his face and the strange silence behind him.

A thin stream of water washed the blood from Kurogoroshi, while a roaring pillar of flames rose up to burn William’s body to cinders.

He wasn’t going to leave a single trace of him on this world; the bastard did not deserve a burial, as far as Elion was concerned.

He watched the water run from the edge before putting the sword away, then turned toward the others.

His gaze passed over the second-years before resting on Mira, Tessa, and Isolde.

He wanted to say something, perhaps reassure them that there was nothing left to worry about, but the words felt strangely difficult to find.

Instead, he approached Isolde and stopped a short distance before her.

She looked up.

Elion held out his hand, his expression softening into a gentle smile as he waited. After a moment, her trembling fingers slipped into his, and he closed his hand gently around them.

"Let’s go back." He let go of her hand after a moment.

They watched him go first, exchanging glances among themselves. Whatever the case, it was clear that most of them would never look at him the same way again.

As Elion walked down the slope, another idea occurred to him, though it was a little too late now.

’Perhaps I should have burned him alive instead,’ he thought quietly.

He didn’t know why that particular stray thought had suddenly entered his mind.