The Victor's "Mercy"

Splash—!

A basin of icy lake water was dumped over his head.

Sotowa jolted awake from unconsciousness and began coughing violently, icy droplets sliding down his swollen cheeks.

He instinctively tried to raise a hand to wipe his face, only to discover that both hands had been tightly bound behind the chair with coarse hemp rope.

"Awake?"

A calm voice came from ahead.

Sotowa struggled to open his eyes. His left eye had nearly swollen shut, while the bruising around his right eye blurred his vision.

In the dim light, he could barely make out a cramped stone room, its walls covered in damp moss and its air thick with the smell of mildew and blood.

Where was this? How did I—

His memories came rushing back like a tide.

The Dock. That black-haired young man. The sudden fist. Then endless pain and darkness.

"You—you—" Sotowa's voice was terrifyingly hoarse. He tried to speak, but the wounds in his mouth made every syllable agonizing.

A figure slowly approached through the darkness.

Firelight illuminated that young face.

Xia Lin · Tolemo.

"You!!!"

Too lazy to listen to his nonsense, Xia Lin snapped his fingers.

Sera emerged from the shadows in the corner. The Tiefling warlock held a small black stone in her hand. As she softly chanted an incantation, the stone began to emit a faint, eerie glow.

It was a terror far beyond death itself!

Sotowa felt as though countless icy tentacles had wrapped around his soul, dragging him toward a dimension filled with endless despair and madness!

He even saw vague, enormous shadows writhing in the darkness and heard whispers tempting him toward corruption!

"AAAAAH—!!!" Sotowa let out a heart-wrenching scream. Tears and snot streamed down his face as his body convulsed violently, nearly wrenching the chair binding him