Chapter 183: Delicate Tortures
Heavy and sticky eyelids, Dylan was awakened by a sharp pain in his forehead. The world was still blurry and spinning, but the clinking of the chains that held him, suspended in the air, eventually pulled him fully awake.
He opened his eyes wide and, despite the pain, scanned the room. It was a place without light, damp and filthy, yet still more welcoming than the first cave where he’d once woken up.
"Honestly, in this world, whether it’s humans or beasts, they all seem to share this hobby of chaining their captives up naked," he said, seeming to ignore the man who had just dragged him out of his sleep.
The man didn’t seem to understand Dylan’s words, but his gaze remained cold, steeped in sadistic pleasure—like that of a specialist who truly enjoys his craft.
"Ah, shit..." Dylan groaned, trying to gather his thoughts through the broken shards of memory that remained from before he passed out.
"Even with all the prayers in the world, I doubt I’d be lucky enough to end up in this room with a... specimen like you."
The man’s voice was hoarse, resonating with a low violence. Dylan lifted his head and shot him a disgusted look, the metallic taste of blood still fresh in his mouth.
He was completely naked, all his bandages removed, exposing the mark of his stigmate on his back and arm, glowing with a faint white light—too weak to illuminate anything, but still visible in the dark.
"What is it exactly, the power of your stigmate? Accelerated healing? Wound negation? I noticed that after every hit you took, it lights up faintly, and your wounds fade away. I’m curious," the man said.
"They say curiosity can sometimes be a virtue," Dylan replied. "But I beg you... this sin might just consume you, brother."
Dylan spat out some blood-tinged saliva, a tight smile on his lips—more drawn from pain than from genuine provocation. His voice trembled with the remnants of fever, but there was a mocking, almost tender honesty in his tone, as if he were speaking to an old friend about to make a terrible mistake.
The man didn’t answer right away. He tilted his head slightly, shadows sliding over his angular features, revealing a half-smile that had nothing human in it.