Chapter 198: Eternal Prisoner

Ishiki’s grip tightened on Sorrow’s Edge as those red eyes bore into him with an intensity that made his skin crawl. The figures head had turned with that horrible grinding sound.

His bones creaked and flesh teared as the ruined neck muscles struggled to support the movement.

For several long seconds, neither of them moved. Ishiki stood frozen, weapon raised defensively, while the chained figure simply stared with that singular burning gaze.

Then something unexpected happened.

The rotted figure’s cracked mouth opened, and a sound emerged. There were no words spoken, just a rattling noise that could have been a laughter of sob, but there was no way to tell.

The figure’s right hand, with fingers that only had bones—lifted as much as the chain would allow. It reached toward Ishiki with trembling desperation, golden blood dripping from a wound at the wrist.

“Some…one…” The voice was barely recognizable as human. Each syllable was dragged itself from that ruined throat like broken glass. “Someone… came…”

Ishiki took an involuntary step backward, his whole body protesting. “Stay back.”

But the ancient creature wasn’t threatening. Its entire body shuddered, chains rattling as it tried to move closer despite the metal binding it in place. His red eyes were wide, almost manic, drinking in the sight of Ishiki as if he were water and this creature was dying of thirst.

“Hu…man…” More of that wet rattling sound. “Human… here… HUMAN…”

The desperation in that broken voice sent chills down Ishiki’s spine. This wasn’t rage or hatred, but it was loneliness so profound it had driven the being to the edge of madness.

“How long have you been down here?” Ishiki asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer.

The figure’s head tilted at that impossible angle. Now that it had come closer… Ishiki could clearly see that it was human indeed. But the skin on his face had rotten and was sticking to his skull, with yellow pus flowing down from several wounds that could have only been caused by scratching.

Its mouth worked and jaw moved with wet popping sounds as it struggled to form words.

“Long…” He paused and took a shuddering breath. “So… long… Dark… always… dark…”

The figure pulled against its chains with sudden violence. Flesh tore at the impalement points, golden blood spraying in thin arcs. But it didn’t seem to feel pain—or perhaps his body had become incapable of registering such a thing.

“Please…” The word came out as a desperate wheeze. “Please… stay… Don’t… leave… no… leave…”

Despite everything that was happening and had happened to him. Even though the creature’s appearance was horrifying. Ishiki felt something twist in his chest.

This broken thing wasn’t a monster. It was a prisoner and one that had suffered beyond comprehension.

He lowered Sorrow’s Edge slightly. “I’m not leaving. The tunnel collapsed. I’m trapped here too.”

The figure went completely still. His red eyes widened, the pupil contracting to a pinpoint. For a moment, Ishiki thought he’d said something wrong. Then that cracked mouth pulled back into something resembling smile.

“Trapped…” The word came out soft, almost reverent. “Both… trapped… not… alone…”

The figure’s body relaxed against the chains, as if an immense weight had been lifted. Golden blood continued to ooze from its wounds, but the frantic energy had dissipated into calm and deep despair.

Ishiki was careful and didn’t move closer, Instead he approached a wall and sat with his back against it, keeping Sorrow’s Edge ready despite the Demigod’s apparent docility.

The purple flames cast dancing shadows across the creature’s grotesque form, highlighting every crack and fissure in sickening detail.

Up close, it was even worse. Ishiki could see things moving beneath the skin where it hadn’t split completely. Maggots or something worse, writhing through corrupted flesh.

The smell intensified and made Ishiki uncomfortable… it was that cloying sweet rot mixed with infection and decay.

“What are you?” Ishiki asked with curiosity.

The creature’s head tilted toward him and suddenly one of his eyes fell to the ground… a gush of white substance oozed from the eye socket and Ishiki almost vomited out everything, but he controlled himself.

The creatures remaining eye tracked his face with disturbing focus, as if memorizing every feature.

“Was…” A long pause. “Was… something…” Another rattling breath. “Now… this… For…gotten…”

The figure’s gaze shifted to the walls. To the thousands of repeated phrases scratched into stone. Its cracked lips moved, forming words silently before sound emerged.

“I… will… not… be… for…gotten…” A wet, bitter laugh. “But… I… was…”

Ishiki followed its gaze, watching the walls and soon made out several phrases written in the ancient language. There were also several pictures that were carved on the stone.

Ishiki’s eyes suddenly went to the figures hand and he saw that the bones of its fingers were worn out and he immediately understood that the figure had done that.

“You… you made all that,” Ishiki said quietly. “Do you know Mandecium?” he asked at the end.

At the words, the person’s entire body convulsed. Not violently this time, but with something that looked almost like recognition. Like hearing a name after forgetting it for centuries.

Suddenly tears started flowing out of his remaining eye… and even they were glistered with gold.

The chains rattled ferociously as the figure thrashed against its bindings with sudden, violent energy.

“DON’T…” The voice came out as a shriek that echoed off the chamber walls. “Don’t… speak… that… NAME…”

The outburst lasted perhaps five seconds before exhaustion claimed the broken body… then he sat down quietly and started breathing. Every breath rattled in and out of its ruined chest, accompanied by a wet sucking sound from the exposed organs.

Ishiki was already standing, Sorrow’s Edge raised defensively. His heart hammered against his broken ribs, each beat sending fresh pain through his chest.

Finally, the figure spoke again. Quieter and controlled now. The words that came out of its mouth shook Ishiki to his very core.

“He… he was my… father…” The words dripped with disdain and anger. “He… gave… me life… gave me… power” That cracked mouth twisted into a grimace. “Then… took… it… all… away…”

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