This happened after Alex killed one of them, he slowly approached Ludic and this marked the beginning of his hell.
His flesh was sliced piece after piece.
His nerves were cut off one by one.
His blood was forced to flow backward.
His entire gut was twisted upside down.
He would suffer pain beyond death itself, but he wouldn't die.
'Th-This man…'
Ludic shuddered amidst foaming at the mouth from pain. It naturally came to him as soon as he saw those heterochromia eyes looking at him like a squirming insect pinned under a needle.
That languor was neither fatigue nor boredom.
A dreariness only those who found murder as tedious beyond tiring could have.
It was the result of killing people over, and over, and over again.
Ludic became one of the miraculous lucky(or unlucky) few to learn what Alex truly was underneath all that innocent face. The man is the devil incarnate, no he was worst than the devil.
Pow—!
"Grrrgh?!"
"Who told you to think about something else?"
Getting kicked in the rear, Ludic completely forgot his train of thought as he felt a thunderous blow to his head.
Limon burrowed his sword into his spine.
"Don't forget this."
It was closer to advice than warming, or a declaration for Ludic to erase any hope left within him.
"You can't escape reality anymore."
Whether it be regret, self-reflection, atonement, concern, losing consciousness, or insanity, Ludic would not be allowed to feel anything aside from a single sensation from now on.
"For the next hours, all you will be able to do is beg to be killed," Alex said lowly as he prodded his long knife around Ludic's body.
Underneath all the pain, Ludic tried to think.
He tried to believe.
He tried to give up.
All of this is a dream.
Reality will be waiting for me once I open my eyes.
He tried isolating his consciousness to escape the mental and physical agony.
But as Alex declared, he would not give him the chance to go insane.
He kept Ludic sane by meticulously probing his pain receptors as he butchered his body one cell at a time.
And Ludic agonized under the pain.
He yearned for anyone to save him.
To let him die in peace, even.
That he'd do anything, pay any price, to get saved, whoever they might be.
Just then.
A miracle occurred.
[I can help you but the price will be heavy, do you accept.]
Ludic didn't think too much before accepting the devil's offer.
Normally, he would have been suspicious.
As much as he had climbed his way up with lies, he wasn't one to blindly buy into an unexpected fortune.
But now, after having lost everything with only an awful death awaiting him, Ludic could not afford to cast doubt on the sudden voice when his sharp wits were already thrown out the window.
Like a drowning man clutching onto a straw, he frantically gave his answer.
"I-I accept!"
Bdump.
As soon as he cried out, Ludic could feel it, power like never coursing through his body.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
He could feel an immense power swallow him.
He rejoiced.
Ludic rejoiced at the fact his prayers were heard.
That with this newfound omnipotent power, he wouldn't just escape his impending doom.
There was now rekindled hope that he could kill Alex and the bitch Valery who put him in their current situation if only she hasn't misjudged the enemy's strength. He was quick to forget that he was at fault as well, humans are such creatures after all. Always trying to find a scapegoat when things turn awry, shifting responsibility onto someone else to lessen their guilt.
Swoosh!
Boom!
Ludic was swallowed by a gray mist.
'What was that?'
Valery who happened to have opened her eyes a few minutes ago thought Ludic had finally gone mad when he bellowed "I accept".
After all, it's common for someone driven into the deep end to go insane.
But Valery had no choice but to accept that her judgments were wrong this time.
Pow—!
It wasn't because Ludic, who had been squirming around with a knife jammed into him as he barely held himself together from the after-effects of overheat, had just shot up and kicked Alex.
It wasn't just because his nearly severed hips had healed in the blink of an eye, either.
Nor was it his explosion of energy that made Valery's skin crawl just from being in Ludic's vicinity.
His aura.
There was no doubt that this was him
But the feeling of displacement felt like he was looking at something else underneath that familiar mask.
The sense of an awful alienation that she was looking into an abyss she wasn't supposed to.
The sickening repugnance of her soul getting drained from simply looking at it.
'Just what the hell….'
'Had it felt her gaze?' Valery wondered.
Ludic's head rotated 90 degrees to face Valery.
Locking eyes with her, Valery instinctively took a step backward.
At that moment Valery could have sworn to have seen something horrifying.
'A crackle in the blackness, a rustling of leaves, and suddenly you're greeted by a gargantuan entity of sin and grime. Two barren eyes stare at you with agonizing spite, and another crackle echoes from its shrunken mouth at the sight of you.
Four thin horns adorn its rugged head, which itself is glowing with incredible intensity. An infernal light escapes the creature's thin nostrils set within a cadaverous nose.
Its rugged head sits atop a massive, powerful body. Scorched ropes are tied around its torso, suggesting this being's not alone.
The creature treads forward, its two legs calmly carrying its draconic body with disturbing energy. A thin tail sweeps behind it, which itself almost seems like a separate, serpentine creature.
Two draconic wings extend themselves fully. Spiky bones and feathers of flesh stretch upward before coming down again with force. You can feel the creature's eyes continue to stare you down.'
~
Back to her senses.
This was what Valery saw and she felt chill crawling up her spine making her feel dizzy.
Grimace.
Ludic smiled at her.
His smile was so wide, the corners of his mouth tore apart as blood started dripping out.
He jeered as he licked the blood with his elongated tongue.
It was a laugh that made Valery delirious just from looking at it.
She wanted to avert her gaze immediately.
She wanted to erase that awful smile from her memory.
She wanted to run away and forget that any of this ever happened.
But it was no use.
She tried shutting his eyes.
She tried running away.
But the dreadful image would stay engraved in her memory.
Then, she came to a realization, just in time.
Ah, yes. That's right.
If it was engraved in her eyes, she'd just pop her eyes out.
If her mind wouldn't erase it, she'd just dig out her thoughts.
If her guts were in a twist, she'd just take them out.
It was truly the perfect solution.
There was only one way out of this dread.
''Fireball!''
Boom—!
Valery blasted an intangible fireball at the monstrosity.
It was weaker than usual, as her skills were still weakened by the shock she felt after having their scheme revealed.
But Ludic still flew back, completely unprepared as if he hadn't expected Valery to attack.
Thanks to propelling him away, the sight that ate away at Valery's mind faded away as her thinking returned to normal.
Nevertheless, a repulsion remained like her brain was drenched in filthy oil.
Valery clenched his jaws.
"What did you do?"
That was no cognitive skill.
She could feel her mind going into delirium like she was falling just by looking at Ludic who had turned into a monstrosity.
"Rather, what are you?"
That was just the shell of a human.
Ludic was no longer there.
He had already turned into something that could no longer be considered human.
But what was once Ludic did not answer.
It stared at Valery, fiery eyes filled with anger.
A mere human dared cross it?
It reached one hand out.
''Fireball!''
Valery's eyes widened.
It wasn't because she had just gotten attacked by the same skill she used, nor was it because its force far exceeded hers, even in her normal state.
Valery had reflexively used her movement skill as soon as she saw its hand reach out.
But the moment she locked eyes with Ludic, it failed to activate.
She was frozen in place, as if an invisible snake had wrapped around her entire body.
Having missed her time to escape, the fireball landed on her, swallowing her.
KABOOM!
She experienced pain like never before until her mind blanked out. She instantly understood that she was not the transformed Ludic's match, it was then she heard the sound of fingers flicking.
''Welcome back!'' Alex said and it was then both understood that most things they went through were an illusion.
''Yo-you are a demon!'' They both shouted with their weary minds. They would have preferred dying than going through all of this.
''Thank you for the compliment.'' Alex's lips curled up into a smile as he continued torturing them. Xavier was lucky to have gone first, if he was still alive he would have gone mad.
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