Chains rattled as the sounds of knuckles hit flesh.
Over and over again, someone kept punching a chained prisoner, spilling blood from their wounds.
"Hmph."
The prisoner didn't wail in agony, nor did he resist or struggle against the beating. He just sat there, on his knees, with his arms chained to the wall behind him.
His eyes were shallow as he gazed at the cold stone floor, unable to muster any words.
"Tsk... this is boring, I'm not getting anything out of you! C'mon, start crying already! Show a little pain, maybe a whimper! Give me something!"
Pocchi stood in front of the prisoner with a bloodied brass knuckle around his fist. He shook his hand to flick most of the blood off before sticking his boot into their shoulder.
"Maybe you already broke—like a toy that has no value. What a shame, did Alice raping you really get under your skin?! Hell, if it was me, I would've been enjoying that shit! Slapping her ass while she rides me like a cowgirl, awoooo! Hell fucking yeah!"
Legolas glanced at the fraudulent imbecile, frowning.
The elf's eyes were shallow at first, but now they had depth.
Rage was kept tucked behind them, prepared to explode at any second.
"There it is... that's the look I wanted." Pocchi walked forward and crouched down to lift Legolas' chin upwards, "Reality is cruel, man. You're nothing more than a third wheel in their relationship. Jacob and Alice don't give a shit about your ass anymore. They're probably fucking as we speak. Ke-hah! Man that's so screwed up, I just love it!" He stood back up, stretching his arms above his head, "But hey, you're lucky to have a sick and sadistic bastard like me; they were gonna kill you since you held no value after you mentally broke from that little incident, but luckily, I told them to spare you and decided to make you my plaything."
"...." Legolas' scowl would slowly fade away, still unable to speak.
"I still find it pretty fucked up that they gave the players in the game pain receptors for their Game Avatars, but I guess it does make it more realistic, huh?" He grinned. "But it's not like I'm complaining! I love the fucking this shit!" He pumped his elbows back and would thrust his hips into Legolas' face, "Hell yeah! It's so wonderful! Pain lets us know that we're alive! Without it, what's the purpose of life!?! There is none!!!"
Pocchi took out a silver dagger from its sheathe, spinning it around his finger before jabbing it deep into Legolas' thigh.
The elf grunted, but bit his lip, refraining from giving any signs of pain to this sadistic freak.
"Oh? What was that? I heard a little grunt... maybe you're finally starting to come around, huh?! Then let's try multiple daggers!!"
"Pocchi, get up here, now."
"Huh, Isabella? What the hell do you want? I'm busy right now fuckface!"
"Lord Belial needs us, make your way upstairs, immediately." Isabella was standing in the doorway, crossing her arms, "Or do I have to force you?!"
"Alright... fine!" He sighed. "Just when I was about to have some more fun." He kept the dagger in Legolas' leg, walking towards the doorway.
Pocchi and Isabella left, closing the large metallic door.
Legolas glared at the door in front of him, now glancing at the dagger in his thigh.
Something clicked inside his head.
It was a memory—
[Flashback—four months ago]
"Here, use this whenever you're in a dire situation, I'm sure it'll save you some trouble, Legolas." (Jacob)
Jacob extended his hand forward, giving the elf a powerful artifact. It appeared to be a stone, with some ancient symbol carved in the middle.
"What is this supposed to be?" (Legolas)
"Oh, it's a summoning stone, I managed to get it for a fair trade. It can summon the Wraith Spirit." Jacob smiled with pride. "First you must draw your blood with a silver dagger, and let it drip over the artifact for it to activate, and then perform an incantation. Once that's done, the Wraith Spirit will spawn and complete the task you give it—but in return—your character will die and you'll go back five levels. I think it's pretty useful in some situations." (Jacob)
"Sounds worthless to me. What'll be the point of going back five levels? That's just effort gone down the drain." (Legolas)
"See, that's where you're wrong," Jacob crossed his arms, smug, "All Grim Reapers are level 100." (Jacob)
"W-What?!" (Legolas)
"Haha, yep! But you'll have a time limit for whenever they're summoned. I don't know how the time limit works, but I do know the lower level you're, the faster the Grim Reaper will disappear." (Jacob)
"Why're you giving me something so valuable?" (Legolas)
Jacob smiled, placing his hand on Legolas' shoulder, "Because, we're friends, and that's what friends do. We fight for one another, we protect each other, and most importantly... we stay by each other's side in the harshest of times." (Jacob)
Legolas nodded in contentment. "I owe you one. Thank you my friend." (Legolas)
"No, thank you for everything you've done for our party, Legolas; without your wits, we wouldn't have ever made it to where we're now." (Jacob)
[PRESENT TIME]
"..." Legolas was lost in thought, remembering his friends and their smiles.
It ignited something inside of him.
It was like a candle being lit in the darkness of despair.
He made up his mind—and decided to give everything up.
"I… won't let them… get away with this!" Legolas tugged on the chains wrapped around his wrists, yanking them forward, "Hrgghhhhh!!" He had to break free at all costs.
The elf kept tugging and pulling, using all his strength to escape. "Gaaaaaaghhh!!" Legolas arched his head, screaming in pain as the sounds of flesh scraped from his bones, "Gyaaaaaaahhhhh!!!" He ripped his hands from their sockets, leaving them hanging inside the cuffs above him.
Blood splurged everywhere, spilling from the sockets of his arms, yet he didn't bat an eye to it.
"I'm coming, Jacob… Alice."
Legolas leaned forward and raised his knee to bite the handle of the dagger before yanking it out.
"Ghhh! Hrrrrghh" He moaned in pain, dropping the dagger to the floor, finally opening his Personal Hub, "Unfold..." he went to his inventory, selecting a healing potion as it manifested on the ground in front of him.
He lifted his foot, stomping on the potion to restore life points to his game avatar.
"Fuwaaa…" Legolas would sigh in relief, closing his eyes from the pain disappearing.
At first, he couldn't open his Personal Hub from being tied by cuffs that prevented any use of inventories.
But luckily for him, he decided to go a step beyond, harming himself in the process.
Now he had a chance to fight back.
"Jacob… Alice." He mumbled—deciding to pick up the silver dagger next to him, holding it over his palm, "I will save you both. I'll give up my life in exchange for your happiness. You two deserve to be together—so I'll make sure that happens," Legolas carved the dagger inside his flesh, slowly cutting horizontally to draw blood from his palm, "Ghhh..." he dropped the weapon, exploring his inventory again until he found it—
The Summoning Artifact.
"Here it is."
He clicked on its icon, manifesting it into reality. The artifact fell into his palm, allowing him to carefully place it on the ground. "I'll stop these frauds, and kill them all. They deserve to die, for all they've done!" Legolas scowled, proceeding to hold his injured hand above the artifact, giving it his blood.
+
"What the hell do you want? I was busy and you took away my fun." Pocchi made his way into the Guild's conference room, setting his feet on the table, as he leaned back into his seat, "I don't got all day."
"Show some respect to Lord Belial, or I'll slap you into next week, Pocchi." Bertram sat next to the Mohawk punk, towering over him with his arms crossed.
"Pfft, next week? More like next year; you pack a punch, big guy, so I'll shut up, for now."
"It's fine. Pocchi and his rude behavior tend to make me laugh sometimes." Belial was at the end of the table, joining his hands together, and resting his chin on them, "I have come to discuss our next plan regarding the Phantom Mutiny, but first, I wish for you all to do something for me. If you complete this task, I'll offer greater rewards than that of the Rainbow Shell."
"Greater rewards than the rainbow shell?" Asked Viper Fang, astonished.
"Wooaaah, it must be super powerful if it's better than the rainbow shell!" Said Honora, leaning over the table, "Can you tell us what it is?! Please, please, please! I wanna see it!"
"M-Me too..." Dorothy said, shyly raising her hand.
"Yes, I can show you the item, but first, you must complete this task of mine—"
KABOOM!!!
The entire Guild headquarters shook from a massive explosion.
"What the hell was that??" Pocchi and everyone else stood up from their seats, hearing the sounds of screaming from outside.
"A-Are we under attack?!" Cried Archibald.
"Shit, this isn't good! It has to be the Phantom Mutiny!" Exclaimed Isabella.