Many were shells whose Divine Sparks had been gouged out.
They were not dead.
They had been imprisoned here as though for the sole purpose of being tortured.
And when they passed one cell, Dragon Guard Lan, inside System Space, could not help letting out a cry. Almost instantly, she covered her mouth, great drops of murky tears spilling from her eyes.
Because the prisoner inside was a woman.
Her entire body had long since become a bloody ruin. Her skull had been pierced through, leaving her hanging from the enormous chains. Her eyes were clouded, and her lips moved, but she could no longer utter a word.
A Dragon Guard.
She was a Dragon Guard, just like her!
"She's already dead..."
Lynn rushed to the woman's side and took her down from the chains, his brow tightly furrowed.
Her soul had shattered completely, leaving only a wisp of lingering consciousness too damaged to ever be restored.
"She's my sister."
Dragon Guard Lan's lips trembled as she spoke.
"I thought she... I thought she had died in battle long ago..."
They kept moving deeper.
What unfolded before them were scenes more horrific than the last.
He saw the Jailers of Hell.
He saw Knight after Knight, still bearing the barely discernible insignia of the Sea King Palace.
But without exception.
Every one of them had been tortured until their souls shattered.
Those Polluters had never intended to let them leave this place alive. They had simply kept torturing them, trying to break their will.
And Lynn finally understood why they had built a prison like this.
The reason this prison existed.
Was to hold those Jailers of Hell!
"My King..."
As he rushed up to another cage, Lynn heard a voice.
He abruptly turned toward the corner of the cell