Chapter 106: Blood And Ash

*From that point on, my life was a living hell. Gaines is not a man to be underestimated!* Glint thought as the sensation of metal biting into his wrists made his arms go numb. Glint's face contorted bitterly as he thought back to countless sleights, verbal and physical abuses, even murders he had to witness since becoming Gaines' nearly one year ago.

Things quickly turned sour the moment they willingly accepted Gaines' proposal to join the chapel. He, Ashe and Fargo quickly learned the position they were in -- the first act Gaines used to cement his dominance over them was to toy with Cyn in front of them. Unlike before, having been full of life and enjoying herself, Cyn's eyes were more like dead fish. Blank and devoid of feeling. The only time she showed emotion was when she and Glint made eye contact. She averted her eyes in shame as Enzo Gaines gripped her by the hips and pounded her asshole viciously as everyone watched, helplessly. Glint would never forget the unfettered savagery in Gaines' gaze, he never broke eye contact with the Fighter -- almost as if he knew this act would pierce to the heart of him.

Gaines' ability, as Glint would come to learn some weeks later, was called 'Slave Maker'. Anyone who willingly or unknowingly accepted a magical contract from Gaines would be marked by a magical seal. This seal manifested in the image of a Skull with a coiling snake bursting from one of the hollowed eye sockets. Once marked, Gaines could then enforce restrictions against a target. The moment Fargo and the others agreed to become a member of the Memento Mori chapel, Gaines enforced the restriction that they could never utter the words to void their contract.

This was only the first of many restrictions which made their lives a living hell and any attempt to ignore or defy a restriction was met with a world of unceasing pain. The marked would suffer as foreign mana entered their body causing paralysis and a sensation Glint would be hard pressed to describe.

If he had to liken it to anything, Glint imagined it would be acid coursing through one's veins and flesh at the same time. The pain was like countless needles constantly pricking from the inside out, each of his cells. Just a few seconds of the pain as enough to drive most people into a docile state and place them solely under Gaines' thumb. Furthermore this sensation grew in intensity the longer one attempted to defy Gaines' will, eventually resulting in a most painful death -- that is if Gaines felt inclined to allow one to die…

Gaines forced everyone in the chapel to work for his benefit, what's more as 'the marked' a significant amount of experience was syphoned from everyone and given to Gaines himself. This further hobbled any hope of ever escaping Gaines grasp.

"Never speak ill of Memento Mori."

"Never reveal the secret of my abilities or communicate them in any way."

"Never utter the words, 'Release me from this contract.' "

"Never defy or harm Enzo Gaines or Zipher Einrei."

"Never leave the chapel without specific instructions."

"Never take your own life or allow others to do so in an attempt to escape."

These were just a few of Gaines' restrictions but perhaps the most terrifying part of Gaines' ploy was to checkmate any foolish or gullible enough to deal with him. Glint recalled watching what happened to one such person in vivid detail. Having failed Gaines, the man seemed unbothered and was led to the large fountain in the true chapel lounge. For some pain simply wasn't enough and others would allow their pride to shield them from any amount of suffering--no matter how cruel. Such was this man, thus he didn't seem particularly bothered when he was led to stand before the fountain.

Gaines ran the man through with the hidden blade in his cane, which of course simply won a smile from the defiant adventurer. His blood quickly left his body and he fell, motionless with a smile on his face as he drew his last breath. It was apparent that the man felt released, finally from Gaines' grip.

Unfortunately that was not the case. Just moments later the same man was dragged back to the spot of his earlier execution. He was completely unaware of the fact that Gaines forcefully changed his respawn point to a location within Memento Mori's walls. A particularly vengeful gleam of delight filled Gaines' expression as he grabbed the weakened adventurer by his hair, lifting him with one hand. He used the adventurer's face like a punching bag, brutally defeating the severely weakened man. Finally, after several agonizing minutes venting his anger, Gaines snapped the man's neck like a twig, nearly twisting his head off with his bare hands.

Everyone gathered watched as his body was consumed by the familiar black flames of second death, eventually all that remained was blood and ash. And even that faded away into the hereafter.

Glint used being absorbed in his thoughts as a way of coping with the terribleness of it all. To think about it would drive one to madness, and even Gaines had a name for them -- the broken. Glint shuddered as he thought about the sub basement where dozens of broken souls dwelled. Where *she* dwelled.

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Glint's eyes burned with unfettered hatred, an emotion that he was forced to swallow on the daily. He fantasized about breaking the unseen chains which bound him, going so far as to cut the mark from his chest at times. Unfortunately it would regenerate along with his flesh, still the act was strangely gratifying -- if not insane.

*Maybe I am already broken.* He thought to himself as he watched Zipher, who seemed to be lost in thought. Each of the five men dealt with torture in their own way. Ashe was always silent, yet observant. Fargo tried to send his mind far away from the pain. Glint often thought of days long past and the others seemed more broken by the minute.

"Ah. He did say one or two….let's see." Zipher repeated this phrase a few times more before Glint snapped back to the reality of his current predicament.

*Two? What?*

But it was too late, Zipher had already moved towards his chosen target.

"Wait… no. Wait you bastard!" Glint shouted as he struggled in vain against rattling manacles and his own sluggish body.

"Zipher! What are you doing!? Stop!! I SAID STOP!" Glint bellowed as tears of desperation began to issue forth from his eyes. He heaved with all of his might, so much so that his body creaked, almost as if his arms would snap.

"Please. Stop. I'm begging you." Glint whimpered as he resorted to using words he despised the most. Yet to Zipher Einrei this was simply music to his ears-- a beat to spur him to action. A demented smile curled the edges of his lips as he shot a glance over to Glint's face.

*That's the one I wanted to see. He he he.* Fipher savored the sight of Glint's defeated, pleading expression as he walked over to Ashe and, for a moment, paused. He maintained eye contact with Glint before shrugging and turning to walk off.

"Fine. I'll let you guys off the hook for now. You've suffered enough." Zipher walked over towards a lever and pulled it, allowing the manacle chains to slacken and all five of the remaining men to fall to the floor with a thud.

"Th-thank you. We won't fail agai--" Glint said as he glanced up from his position on the floor, but the sickening expression on Zipher's face told him all he needed to know. The black tendrils of Zipher's Blight magic darted across the room and speared a startled Ashe through the heart. Ashe's body shook from the force of the attack, causing blood to gurgle out of his mouth and spurt along his chest.

Ashe seemed just as bewildered and surprised as Glint. This reaction only lasted for a moment, suddenly he just seemed weary. Ashe cast one final gaze at Glint. It would be the final seconds they shared before the black flames burst forth from Ashe's body, his flesh melting from his bones as second death claimed him.