"Haah… Hah… Haah."
Eren's breath came in short, ragged gasps, his chest heaving with the effort of simply staying conscious. He tried to move, but it was impossible—he was bound completely, his body bloodied and broken beyond recognition.
"Someone… help…"
The words barely escaped his lips, so faint he wasn't even sure he'd actually spoken them. His eyes struggled to stay open, the weight of exhaustion pressing down on him like a physical thing. He had no idea where she'd taken him. All he knew was this room, this prison. It was bright—sunlight seeped through the window, but a curtain blocked his view of the outside world. Still, light pierced through the fabric, illuminating everything in cruel, mocking detail. It seemed like a house in the middle of nowhere, isolated from any hope of rescue.
Creak…
The door swung open, and in stepped the girl he had come to dread beyond death itself.
"…Anna," he rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "Please… just let me die already."
His eyelids were impossibly heavy. He was trapped—caught between death's door and what could barely be called living. She kept him alive with high-grade healing potions worth a fortune, potions capable of dragging a man back from the brink of death even when his body had already given up. That was the circle of torment he was trapped in—she would torture him until he could barely feel anything anymore, until his mind started slipping away, and just as he was about to embrace the sweet release of death, she would bring him back with those cursed potions.
At this point, he just wanted to die.
"Tell me—why did you attack Jason?" Her voice was cold, devoid of any mercy or compassion. "If you don't start talking, I will resort to extreme measures."
She moved toward the table beside the bed, the one he was tied to, her movements deliberate and unhurried.
"No one… Please, I'm begging you, just stop this…" Tears streamed down his cheeks, hot and humiliating against his ravaged skin.
She looked at him blankly, her expression unreadable. Then it contorted into something darker, something unhinged.
"Do you—do you even know how much I want to rip you apart?!" She snarled, her voice laced with barely contained rage. "A disgusting filth like you—a waste of air—tried to hurt the love of my life!" Her voice trembled with the intensity of her emotions, her hands clenching into fists so tight her knuckles turned white. "It drives me crazy! Do you know how much I want to skin you alive? How much I want to burn you and watch you endure every second of it?!"
She wasn't bluffing. He knew that. He had read the novel, knew exactly what kind of person she was. Anna had no compassion for anyone who wasn't Jason—she would go to any lengths to ensure his happiness, and right now, that meant extracting information about who might have paid Eren to betray him.
"Tell me who sent you… or I will make life a living hell for you." Her voice dropped to a chilling whisper, more terrifying than any scream.
"…No one. I've already said it a thousand times. I did it out of envy. Just… kill me already. There's nothing left to say." His voice was weak, drained of all fight, barely more than a breath.
But—
"It seems you aren't ready to open your mouth." She stepped closer, her footsteps deliberate and measured. Then, suddenly, a glass bottle materialized in her hand, appearing from thin air with a soft shimmer of mana. She walked toward him, cradling it delicately between her fingers like it was something precious.
"We have five days to ourselves," she murmured, popping open the transparent bottle with a casual flick of her thumb. "And I'm confident you'll talk before then."
"…What's that?" He instinctively tried to pull away, but it was no use—he was held too firmly, the restraints biting into his flesh. There was no escape.
She grinned, and it was the most terrifying expression he'd ever seen on a human face.
"Acid."
That one word jolted him awake completely. His eyes snapped open wide, all traces of exhaustion vanishing in an instant as he stared at her in absolute horror.
"Don't do it… I beg you! PLEASE! JUST KILL ME ALREADY! PLEASE!" His voice cracked as he thrashed against the restraints with renewed desperation, but it was futile—he couldn't move, couldn't escape, couldn't do anything.
She stepped forward, holding the bottle out over his chest, her expression calm and eerily detached.
"I'll ask you one more time—why did filth like you try to kill the love of my life?" Her voice was calm, devoid of emotion. Her eyes? Dead. Empty. Like she wasn't even looking at a person anymore.
"…No one sent me."
The moment those words left his lips—
Splash.
His eyes widened in sheer terror as the liquid made contact with his skin, and then—
Pain.
A scream tore from his throat, raw and animalistic.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Agony. Unimaginable, searing agony that consumed every nerve in his body. His skin melted, bubbling and peeling away as the acid ate through flesh and muscle. Oh, how he wished he could die now. How he wished his heart would just stop, that his brain would shut down, that something would end this torment.
Why?
That was the only question left in his mind as tears streamed down his face, mixing with the blood and melted flesh.
Unfair.
His fate had always been unfair. Born into this world unable to awaken, he had realized from the start that his life would be nothing but suffering. He had tried to escape it, to outrun his wretched destiny, but then came the goddess with her lies and false promises.
'Why?!'
The tears kept coming as his skin continued to melt, the pain so intense it transcended anything he thought possible. He was dying in agony, but he still couldn't die—the healing potions in his system wouldn't let him. This was torture, pure and simple. What crime had he even committed to deserve a life like this? After being betrayed and murdered by his girlfriend and best friends, dying in the most ridiculous way possible, he was reincarnated here. But even here, there was no peace, only more suffering.
Why? What had he done? What was his crime?!
'No…'
Then it happened.
A surge of mana flooded through his body, more powerful than anything he'd ever felt before. Consequences be damned—he had had enough. In that instant, he utilized a certain technique, one which would grant him instant strength but at the cost of destroying one's mana core forever.
But did he care?
No. No, he didn't.
'Fine.'
In fact, he accepted it. Life was never fair—all fingers were not equal. But that didn't mean he would accept this miserable fate lying down. He didn't want to die. No—he wanted to LIVE. That wretched goddess had tricked him, used him as a pawn, all for the progression of her precious story, all for her favored children.
So what was he then? Trash? A disposable tool?
'Fine then!'
Since he was destined to forever be a tool, to forever be in pain, to forever suffer for the sake of others—he would just end it all. He would destroy these so-called FAVORED ones as well as the bitch goddess who orchestrated everything.
"What?!"
The girl's eyes widened in shock, but before she could react, he moved. Faster than thought, faster than she could process. A blur of motion and pure, concentrated rage. His fingers locked around her skull with inhuman strength, and with terrifying force, he slammed her head onto the table.
CRACK.
The wood shattered in half, splinters exploding outward as her body went limp.
"…Enough."
His voice was hoarse, raw with fury and years of suppressed hatred. His face was disfigured, barely recognizable beneath the acid burns and dried blood. His once-blue eyes now glowed with an unfathomable, otherworldly hatred that seemed to pierce through reality itself.
He had had enough.
Enough of being the one who lost. Enough of being the pawn, the sacrifice, the collateral damage in someone else's grand design.
This time—they would be the ones to lose. Every last one of them.
If he wasn't allowed a peaceful life, if suffering was all that awaited him no matter what he did—
Then he would take that privilege from everyone else.