A guard stepped in ...well over two meters tall, shirtless and iron-helmed, his massive muscles glistening.
Frey was shackled with aura-suppressing cuffs. He wore only a tattered black pair of trousers, barefoot and disheveled, slouched silently on the cold floor.
The guard stepped forward, flipping a dagger through his fingers with a fluidity that betrayed long years of experience.
"So you're Frey Starlight, huh? You really are young... probably the youngest I've had to deal with so far."
He leaned down and gave Frey a light pat on the shoulder.
"Anyway, nice to meet you. My name's Vlad, and starting today, I'll be your executioner."
His tone was cold, laced with menace. The iron helmet on his head didn't help.
But Frey simply smiled.
"Pleasure's mine. I look forward to our time together."
Vlad froze for a moment.
Usually, inmates at this point were jittery ... left too long in solitary, only to be greeted by a monster assigned to torture them.
He was supposed to be afraid. But Frey Starlight wasn't.
Vlad adjusted his posture and continued.
Maybe the kid was just mentally unshakable... or maybe he was completely insane.
"Very well then, Frey Starlight. I'll be asking you a few questions. I expect full cooperation and honest answers. That'll make things easier for both of us. Understood?"
Frey nodded with the same casual smile.
"Understood."
"Good."
Vlad sat in front of him.
"First question ... You've killed many innocent people before, haven't you?"
"Yes."
"My report says you regret it deeply, and feel guilty. Is that correct?"
"That's a lie."
"What do you mean?"
Frey shrugged, answering calmly.
"It's true that I killed them. But I don't feel anything about it. Honestly, I couldn't even tell you what their faces looked like."
"So, you feel no guilt?"
"None."
"Second question .. Where did you get your sword and your fighting style?"
"From an ancient sect located in the eastern part of the Nightmare Lands."
"How did you even know it was there? The reports say you already had knowledge of what was hidden in that region."
"I just got lucky."
"Lucky, huh?"
"Yes."
"Third and final question ... What were you trying to accomplish with that attack?"
The suicidal ignition that nearly destroyed the entire Temple.
Frey answered without even blinking.
"I wanted to destroy the world. Or at the very least, Belgrad, the capital."
Vlad didn't know what to say.
Was the boy insane? That would explain the eerie calm... and those insane answers. Destroy the world?
Vlad twirled the dagger in his hand.
This wasn't what he wanted to hear.
He muttered under his breath ...
"That's wrong."
Dead wrong.
"Guilty!"
He roared, plunging the dagger deep into Frey's left thigh.
Blood splattered across the floor as the blade sank into flesh and bone.
Vlad let out a breath of satisfaction as he twisted the dagger.
But the scream he expected never came.
Slowly, he looked up and met Frey's gaze. The boy was staring at him with the same expression.
Those empty black eyes, silently asking ..
What are you doing?
Vlad immediately checked the suppression cuffs ... still active, meaning Frey hadn't used aura reinforcement. He was just enduring the pain... naturally.
Vlad yanked the dagger out and sat down again, facing Frey who was now bleeding heavily.
"I'm going to ask you again."
"Alright."
Frey replied with the same indifference, which only fueled the executioner's frustration. He repeated the same questions. Frey gave the exact same answers.
So Vlad began to torture him.
He sliced flesh, burned skin, broke bones, and crushed fingers.
But no matter what he did .. no matter how far he pushed ... Frey Starlight never flinched, never screamed, never begged.
He just sat there, quietly staring at Vlad from that blood-soaked chair.
Breathing heavily, trembling with fury, Vlad finally snapped and screamed in Frey's face ..
"What the hell are you?! Are you some kind of masochist who enjoys torture?!"
How had he not gotten a single reaction?
But Frey only shrugged.
"You're the one who asked me to be honest."
"Damn it!"
The torture continued, fruitless as ever. And thus, the first day ended with Vlad storming out, leaving Frey behind. bloodied, broken… and silent.
But when Vlad returned the next day, his mind brimming with new methods of torment, he froze the moment he saw Frey.
The boy sat there as if nothing had happened. No bruises. No cuts. Not a single scar.
Vlad rushed toward him, wide-eyed, and checked the cuffs suppressing his aura .. still active, still functional.
He snapped at Frey.
"How the hell are you doing this?!"
Frey tilted his head with the same deadpan face.
"Doing what?"
"This! The healing!"
He pointed to Frey's perfectly intact body.
Frey replied flatly.
"I didn't do anything. My body just recovered. It's been a while since you left."
Vlad clutched his face.
It had only been a day, but to Frey, it had felt like a full week. His subconscious mind had concluded that a week had passed .. and so, believing that was enough time to heal, his body simply did.
Regenerated on its own.
Without him even realizing it.
"You're messing with me!!"
"I'm not."
"Damn it!"
And so, the cycle of torture continued.
For two whole months ... which, to Frey Starlight, felt like two years.
By the end of it, Vlad was a wreck. He screamed, he shook, he wept.
"Why?"
"Why didn't this boy break?"
He began to question his own skills, the years he'd spent perfecting the art of agony. Was he truly incapable of doing his job?
But the problem wasn't him.
The problem was the boy in front of him.
On the final day, Vlad left the cell with slumped shoulders, utterly defeated.
Frey waved him goodbye with a faint smile.
"I'll miss you, Vlad."
Vlad flinched at the words, trembling with barely contained rage.
"I hope I never see you again. Go die somewhere far away from me!"
He slammed the door.
Frey chuckled to himself.
"I really do pity him."
Three months in Alcatraz had changed Frey Starlight.
The biggest change? The return of his pitch-black hair, now restored to its original state.
The white hair had merely been a side effect of the Moonlight family's curse ... and now, after enough time had passed, Frey's black hair had returned once more.
His features remained the same, but he looked more like the Frey of old ... his former self.
He sat, gazing quietly at the window that appeared before him.
Executioner: Vlad
Affection Points: -50
Vlad despises you. He sincerely wishes for your death.
Frey smiled… then sighed.
He had one more thing to worry about now, alongside his achievement points.
The system ... The new second-level system had brought him many perks ...many new abilities.
But it also seemed like it was going to toy with him more than the first one ever did.
Frey remained seated, awaiting his release, analyzing the system that now governed him.
And at the very bottom, one new section stood out:
[Quests]
A new final quest had appeared.
But its content…
Final Quest: ???
It was blank.
Just like Frey himself.
Empty.
Utterly empty.
...
...
...
A.N: That brings today's total to five chapters. I'm sorry, everyone ...I've reached my limit today ... We'll continue with the extra chapters tomorrow !
Thank you so much for supporting the novel !