....[Scary]...
In times of begone.
A miller, who had gradually fallen into poverty, owned only his mill and a large mango tree behind it. One day, while gathering wood in the forest, he encountered an old crone with sunken red eyes, her face was a twisted labyrinth of wrinkles, and her hunched back seemed to have a camel's hump.
Her brittle voice was lustrous as she said, "Why waste time cutting wood? Promise me the delicacy behind your mill, and I'll grant you immense riches."
The miller thought to himself, 'There's only a mango tree there, nothing of value... but it holds sentimental worth, left to me by my grandfather.'
However, if he didn't accept the offer, his wife would soon die from hunger.
After a few minutes of contemplation, he took a deep breath and made his decision.
"Fine, I'll let you have it, but you must give me three years to prepare."
The old crone cackled, showing her toothless mouth. "Good! Very good! The delicacy won't disappear even if you prepare!"
The hump on her back sunk in, and she vanished, leaving behind a whisper, "In three years, I'll claim what's mine... Hahahaha."
The miller rushed home, distressed, and found his wife smiling, surrounded by riches he never saw before.
"Miller, where did all these treasures come from?" She asked, showing him a tiara filled with diamonds and platinum.
The husband explained his encounter with the strange lady, believing he had traded the mango tree for wealth.
However, his wife corrected him, "That must have been the witch. She didn't mean the mango tree, but our slave, who was sweeping the court behind the mill."
The miller's slave was a diligent, hardworking young man who asked for no payment, only a place to live. However, he had an unusual condition - ombrophobia, a fear of rain.
On rainy days, he would lock himself in the bun, making him unavailable when the couple needed him most.
This, however, made the couple's decision to secretly hand him over to the witch an easy one.
Oblivious to the danger lurking ahead, the slave continued to work tirelessly for the couple.
Three years passed, and the witch returned to claim her the slave. On that fateful day, the rain poured down relentlessly.
The slave, late to seek refuge, got drenched, and entered the Witch's sight. However what caught her attention the most was his bizarre behavior - screaming and running around in circles, even after the rain had stopped.
Her eyes narrowed, and she commanded the couple, "Chop off his legs, or he'll keep running whenever I touch him! Refuse, and I'll take all the riches I've bestowed upon you!"
The couple agreed, their faces twisted with cruel intent. Drawing their blades, they closed in on the slave. The young man's eyes widened in terror, his face ashen, as he desperately tried to flee.
...but, before he could escape, a brilliant golden light enveloped the world, freezing the whole scene.
When the light dissipated, Shinji stood in the slave's place, his eyes blazing with anger, yelling, "Who's playing things in a dead man's mind? I'll-!"
Shinji's words cut mid-way, his brown eyes noticing his surroundings, and he paled in fright, thinking, 'Why am I in a desert? And what are those three things – walking skeletons in weird clothing?'
Shinji ignored the three skeletons dressed like cowboys playing Russian Roulette and focused on the five ghostly creatures floating outside the red circle drown by blood.
The figures wore V for Vendetta Guy Fawkes masks, with rusty black chains replacing various body parts: legs, hands, face, chest, gut, and neck.
Shinji locked his gaze on the creature which had chains for hands, muttering, "You're the one who brought me here?"
Before he could ponder further, one of the skulls inside the red circle muttered, "Legs, chop off his legs... I'm hungry, I need to eat them!"
The two other skeletons charged at Shinji, their ocean blue eyes glowing malevolently. Shinji wanted to run, but something warned him that crossing the red circle would lead to hell.
Twisting his legs in the hot desert sand, Shinji engaged the skeletons in combat, matching their strength despite the disadvantage in numbers - he was trained by Tsubaki after all.
However, the blazing heat soon took its toll, and he began stepping backward.
When the back of his foot touched the red line, a skeleton threw a punch, which Shinji narrowly dodged, causing the arm to shatter into fine bone fragments when it passed the red line.
Shinji tried to repeat the move but received a sweep kick to the jaw, leaving his body numb for a few good seconds.
As he struggled to stay within the circle, the skeletons punched him mercilessly. Shinji endured every hit, drawing strength from his determination to survive.
Agarrar!!!
A fierce roar escaped Shinji's lips as he inched away from the red line. However, a red beam from the observing skeleton pierced his gut, and he fell to the ground, leaving the others to jump on him.
As the remaining skeleton approached him, Shinji screamed, "Why did I deserve this?! I was just trying to live like everyone else!"
Paying him no mind, the skeletons took their time to cut off his legs, as they giggled at how the pitch of his screams changed.
The young man was facing the ground, but he felt like he was seeing his legs get sliced by a kitchen knife, He attempted to free himself, but he couldn't over power the skeletons no matter what will power he summoned.
After a matter of hours, the skeletons finally finished chopping off all of Shinji's legs as they laughed in celebrations, throwing them in front of his eyes.
The young man, however, had his mouth wide open as his voice had faded a good number of minutes ago.
Suddenly, the area was enveloped in darkness, and Shinji felt an intense pain, indicating he was still alive.
A strained voice akin to a chicken being boiled alive echoed in his ears, "PROVE YOUR COURAGE."