Chapter 4
She glanced around. Perhaps because a heavy silence had settled over the place, it felt as though the air was choking her.
How much time had passed like that? An older woman appeared, cutting through the damp air, with several younger people trailing behind her.
Her attire, befitting someone of ‘high status,’ stirred the atmosphere. Someone even broke down in tears.
It must have been because of that word, ‘death’ that the woman in the neighboring cell had mentioned.
Lynette stared at the older woman, a figure she remembered not just well, but with a vividness that was almost horrific. She was the mage she had met every time, after performing Guiding, when she received the ‘body restoration magic.’
For years, they had met at least twice a week, yet that woman had never seen Lynette as anything more than a ‘test subject.’
If you meet even an animal two or three times a week, you’d feel some attachment to it.
Lynette gave a bitter smile.
“Hurry.”
The slightly androgynous yet sharp voice rang out, and the sound of the younger mages moving busily followed.
“This time, we must succeed.”
No one bothered to point out that they would need a ‘suitable one’ for that to happen.
Lynette pressed herself against the bars, trying to see outside, but there was nothing but the damp-stained walls and floors.
After a while, as though preparations to cast magic on a test subject were complete, a familiar voice called out.
“Bring one here.”
At those words, the mage’s loyal subordinates approached the cell bars. They didn’t seem to intend to go far, opening the door to the cell closest to them.
“Take me first!”
At that moment, Lynette shouted, her voice ringing loudly and echoing off the stone walls.
Everyone in the cell looked at her.
“I said take me first!”
Thinking shouting alone wasn’t enough, she grabbed the bars and shook them violently. This was the only way to save everyone else here.
If events unfolded exactly as before, the experiment would only succeed when she became the test subject.
‘Then the other slaves here wouldn’t have to die, would they?’
She couldn’t be shameless enough to pretend she didn’t know a way to save them. Besides, it was something she had to go through anyway.
“Can’t you hear me? Take me first!”
“Do you think you’ve become immortal or something?”
Someone in the neighboring cell muttered with a sneer.
Regardless, she shook the bars furiously. The sharp clang, clang, echoed painfully in the ears.
“Bring the noisy one first.”
The older woman’s voice carried a hint of amusement.
Lynette looked at the mages opening the cell door. She didn’t know their names, but their faces were familiar… they were the loyal subordinates of Archmage Shirin.
They seized her arms firmly and dragged her to where the magic circle lay. She wanted to walk on her own, but her body, still unfed, had no strength.
After throwing her into the center of the magic circle, they fastened her wrists to the floor-fixed shackles before stepping back.
‘Who would’ve thought there’d be a day I’d feel glad to see Shirin.’
She looked at the older woman before her. Shirin’s hair was so completely white that its original color could no longer be guessed, neatly tied up. Her back remained as straight as ever.
Her cold, ash-gray eyes were exactly the same as before… the gaze one gave a tool for experimentation, nothing more, nothing less.
“Begin.”
Naturally, they didn’t bother giving a long explanation about the situation or the magic to a mere purchased test subject.
Lynette drew in a deep breath, then let it out. Her memories before meeting Euphen might be hazy, but this moment was firmly etched in her mind, it was the first time she faced the torment she would come to encounter so often.
As the younger mages began chanting in the ancient tongue from their positions, Shirin slightly raised her staff and tilted her chin upward. Then she began reciting an incantation in a low voice.
“Ah… ugh…”
Lynette clenched her teeth. Pain began seeping in from the tips of her fingers.
She had thought she’d grown accustomed to it after enduring it hundreds of times, but perhaps because she had regressed, her body had forgotten every bit of that pain.
“Haah… hhh..”
Cold sweat began to seep out. The only small comfort was the knowledge that the more times she endured it, the higher her pain tolerance would grow.
But reliving that first pain was far more dreadful than she remembered.
“Aaagh!”
Unable to bear it, she screamed. Her cries reverberated against the cold stone walls.
She struggled, but the shackles fixed firmly to the floor kept her from moving at all. Even so, the mages’ low voices continued their chants without pause.
Would fainting make the pain any less?
But the agony only sharpened her consciousness. Her body scraped against the stone floor, but she didn’t even have the presence of mind to care.
In that unending torment, she writhed until, at long last, she managed to regain her senses.
Her cheeks, drenched with cold sweat, were plastered messily with strands of hair as she panted for breath. Then a dry hand grabbed her chin and lifted it. Shirin’s gray eyes filled her blurred vision.
“It’s a success… a success! We’ve finally succeeded!”
Lynette stared blankly at Shirin’s face, which was lit with joy. Her lips parted slightly as rough breaths escaped.
‘It’s successful… again, it’s a success.’
She could meet Euphen again.
Still trembling from the pain that lingered like an afterburn, she finally let out a breath of relief… and then lost consciousness.
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