Chapter 305
Kael flinched, his eyes narrowing, while Rhys instinctively stepped back. Baldur stood firm, but even he looked disturbed. The man let out a long, broken scream, not of pain—but pure ecstasy, as if he was enjoying the torment.
His flesh started to split in thin lines, small cuts at first, but then they tore open wider. Blood sprayed out like a fountain, hitting the ground and nearby guards. His teeth cracked, falling one by one, yet he kept laughing with a voice that no longer sounded human.
Kael muttered under his breath, "What the hell..."
Then his body began to shrivel, like something was being sucked out of him. His limbs bent and twisted like branches in fire. His eyes popped out, dangling by the veins, before falling off and splashing into the blood pool.
For one final second, he stared at them, still smiling with no lips. Then, with a wet crack, his head snapped backward and dropped. His body collapsed into a pulpy heap, steam rising from the gore like something still boiled inside.
Silence followed, thick and heavy.
Even Baldur didn’t speak for a few seconds.
"That...what happened," Rhys finally said, voice low.
The air in the tunnel grew still, heavy with something unseen. Even the flickering torches seemed to dim.
"It’s a curse..." a guard muttered, stepping back as the restrained man’s skin bubbled and pulsed like boiling tar. Veins crawled over his body like black vines, twitching and wrapping tighter.
Baldur’s voice was low and sharp. "Seal it before it takes root."
A priest moved without hesitation. He knelt behind the man, his fingers glowing as he drew a trembling holy symbol over the man’s spine.