"Argh," groaned Annabelle as she stirred from sleep.
"Great, you're awake. Right on time too."
Her body stiffened involuntarily.
"No," she muttered. "No... please, no! NOOOOOOO!" The scream tore from her throat as reality crashed down on her—everything she remembered wasn't just some nightmare. It was real. All of it.
At this point, Eren had tortured her so much that she had developed this... fear. A strange, foreign feeling she only ever experienced once in her entire life—when she'd watched the imbecile before her drive his sword through the chest of her love. But now, just the sight of him triggered that same terror, and she hated this feeling, despised it with every fiber of her being. But she was no hypocrite. She'd known this was bound to happen the moment he'd somehow managed to overpower her that day.
His aura, everything about him, had turned dark, so sinister she could barely recognize him anymore. Was he still the same weakling? Still Ashley's brother—that waste, that mere imbecile fortunate enough to be born a noble but nothing more? He'd been just like any commoner out there—worthless trash, a waste of air with no talent whatsoever.
Well... that was who he was supposed to be.
Until the day he snapped. The day he turned into this—
"Monster," she spat, panting heavily.
Drip. Drop. Drip.
Incessant and dreadful, the sound of her blood hitting the floor, staining the ground a gruesome, bloody red. A pool spreading beneath where she hung suspended. She was scarred all over—cuts and bruises everywhere. Her once-beautiful face, ranked among the top beauties in the entire academy, was now disfigured beyond recognition. She had gone through hell and back in his hands these past five days, and by the looks of it, it was far from over.
"HeheheheHAHAHAH!" Eren clutched his forehead, his laughter echoing through the chamber. His body trembled with barely contained excitement.
He had no idea what was wrong with him, couldn't explain it. But the moment he'd used that forbidden technique, he'd lost all trace of humanity—all compassion. Now, he found a twisted sense of pleasure in tormenting the so-called heroine. Oh, how he could already imagine the ecstasy he'd feel tormenting the true protagonist.
"Monster?" he muttered, his voice suddenly soft. His hand dropped from his forehead.
Then—
BAM!
He seized a dagger, stabbed it into her neck, and dragged it down to her abdomen in one smooth motion.
"KYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Blood gushed from the wound, but he barely registered that her death was imminent. He never did anymore.
"Oh, you haven't seen how much of a monster I actually am," he said, tossing the dagger aside with a clatter. He walked toward the table in the corner. "I've reserved these... tools of yours for this moment."
Woom!
An array of potions, daggers, even small explosives manifested from thin air, clattering onto the table's surface.
"Wow," he muttered, genuinely amused. "You came prepared." He laughed.
"Torture me all you want," Annabelle gasped, her vision blurring at the edges. "It still won't change the fact that Jason will find you and kill you."
She should have been dead by now, should have died a dozen times over from what he'd put her through. But the very potions she'd brought—the highest-grade healing elixirs she'd packed in abundance to torture and extract the truth from Eren—were now, ironically, being used against her, keeping her alive, keeping her conscious. Not only that, but he'd also forced down her throat a strange potion that completely sealed her access to mana. If she still had mana, she would have fought back, would have combusted her own mana core if it meant taking him with her. But that wasn't possible anymore.
What made it more frustrating was that she couldn't fathom how he'd concocted such a thing. Mana-sealing potions were rare—not just expensive, but rare. Money wasn't the issue for someone of her standing. The problem was that the potion was nearly impossible to find, even on the black market. Yet somehow, some way, Eren had managed to create it using the very ingredients she'd had in stock.
"Kill you?" he muttered, his eyes widening in mock confusion. "Now, why would I do that when I could use you to torment Jason so much he'd beg for his own death?"
Spray.
She spat blood onto his disfigured face.
"I would rather die than hurt him," she said, her expression resolute despite everything.
"Heh. You truly have no idea what I can make you do." He circled her slowly, like a predator examining prey. "We have five days until the mission ends. That's more than enough time to break you." Another laugh.
"I HATE YOU!" she roared, the words raw with every ounce of remaining strength.
"Hmm. What a pity," he said softly. "Truly a pity." He picked up a transparent potion she knew all too well. Her eyes widened in recognition.
"I SWEAR—I SWEAR ON THE MOTHER OF LIFE HERSELF, I WILL KILL YOU!" she screamed, tears streaming down her bruised cheeks. Deep down, she wished Jason would walk through that door and save her, but that was impossible. She knew it was impossible.
"You know," Eren began, his voice taking on a strange, distant quality, "from the very beginning of my life, I only ever had one wish." With each word, something darkened in his expression. "I didn't want to be special, didn't want to be powerful, didn't want to be loved. I knew all that was asking for too much." He popped open the vial with his thumb. "All I ever wanted was to be... happy." His voice cracked slightly. "It didn't matter if I was alone—I just wanted to be happy."
With every step he took toward her, her fear deepened into something primal.
"But it seems it's just a fools dream." He stopped directly in front of her, meeting her terrified gaze. "If I can't be happy... if I am always meant to suffer, to be a steppingstone for others. Then I will just have to kill every one of you."
The laughter that burst from him was unhinged, echoing off the stone walls.
"W-what are you... talking about?" she stuttered, but he only grinned in response.