[Nightmare]
Unknown Universal Calendar.
Earth, year 1431.
Location: France.
Prison Tower.
The place in which both the Saintess and the Undying were imprisoned was a tower castle that went all the way up.
It was a square tower that, in terms of floors, should have more than ten floors.
Each floor was ranked by the severity of the criminal's judgment.
For Jeanne and Ren, who were sentenced to death by decapitation and burning, they were undoubtedly at the highest spectrum of this tower.
Jeanne simply stared at him in horror as she saw his hands freed. On her beautiful face was an expression of pure dread.
Not to mention the look on his face.
His inner voice, which she couldn't hear before—rather, his inner voice which had been silent—suddenly burst out, filling her with terror as she coughed out involuntarily.
More like she almost vomited.
"*Cough! Cough!*"
—But she held it in.
"Hmnp!"
Normally, it was a mild sensation, like an headache, she would experience, but with him, the emotions she felt were overwhelming.
'Just—'
It was like she was on a boat adrift at sea, tossed over by violent waves. An intense vertigo.
However, it was just then—
"What is all this rattling about?"
The noise of their chains had drawn the attention of the wardens.
The prison's structure was as follows:
It was a square building, with four corners, and the hallway by the south served as the only route where the staircase was located.
There was only one staircase that led to the lower and upper floors. Ren did not yet know this but had already planned to find out.
"You! Don't get closer to him!"
Jeanne had warned, looking over to the Aristella's cage while also looking towards him, shaking her head as though to warn him in earnest.
However—
CLANG!
The warden struck her cage with his long sword, making the Saintess freeze in place.
"Shut your mouth, witch. I've heard enough of your lies."
PTUI!
Next, he spat into her cage.
Jeanne, despite this, didn't seem to mind. After all, she was trying to protect this very warden from a greater threat.
No, she was trying to protect this beloved city from danger.
"P-please–! He's—!"
"If you say a word, I'll cut you down where you stand! Tui! Deceiving everyone like that.."
The man sneered once more, spreading his arms with a smug smile.
If anything, this seemed to displease Ren further, though his face showed no apparent emotion.
Now, he understood why Jeanne had bruises on her face.
France and England had been at war.
From what he knew, she had helped pacify the fighting between the two nations, but the damage had already spread far beyond control.
Even after she had eased tensions, the war still continued, though not as bitterly as before.
Thanks to her, it had become manageable.
But to the Church, she was a threat.
Such a youth, they had seen as a threat, since they saw her influence over the ruler of France and England was immense enough to stop both countries from going to war.
'Tsk.'
The church.
It just had to be them again.
He didn't mind if they preached about their so-called "One True God." However, their actions were anything but pure.
Additionally, the way a mere servant treated the so-called "Saintess" made even Ren displeased.
"Please, listen here. I don't mind what you do to me, but under no circumstance should you go near him."
Jeanne, despite the insults and mistreatment, still tried to reason with him.
Yet, they all fell on deaf ears as the man raised his eyebrow.
"Again? Must I teach you a lesson before you—"
"You. Come over here."
Ren had gone back to feigning imprisonment, sitting by the corner while looking over the dimly lit passage.
He glanced at the small opening that could loosely be called a window.
It was nighttime.
Even better.
"Huh? Who's that? You lowlife!"
"Wait! Hahaha! I remember you; you were the one accused of murder, weren't you? As if killing your parents wasn't enough, but also the ones who adopted you—how comical!"
The man laughed mockingly, but Jeanne's expression grew tense with dread.
"Don't—!"
"Shut up!"
"Kuh."
Jeanne gritted her teeth, but this was beyond her. Then, as if to ridicule her. Ren from his angle had added.
"So much for the saintess. If you can't stop him, then this entire town will go up in flames in one night."
"Ren! Don't! Don't do it! It's not worth staining your hands in bloodshed for!"
"I SAID SHUT IT, BOTH OF YOU!"
It was nothing short of a chaotic display between three of them.
Ren's calmness, Jeanne's nervousness, as well as her desperate attempts, and the warden's annoyance.
Not only was he stuck here with these nuisances, but his pay wasn't enough to make ends meet, especially during wartime.
He was frustrated with both of them.
One was a so-called saint whom the Church had exposed as a fraud and a witch.
They claimed she manipulated the masses and used the war to bolster her reputation, or something along those lines.
Certainly, for a commoner like him, of course, it had been nothing short of disgusting.
It hadn't been only him that thought so.
While everyone was suffering the aftermath of the war, she was out there manipulating the masses perception of her.
And the second one too was another who was no good.
Murderer.
Not only did he kill his parents, but also the ones who had done him a favour and adopted him.
The blasted kid should be thankful for his life.
Now, he had to monitor these twats twenty-four seven; the church especially had been pressing him for it.
Rather, they were pressing the chief warden, who in turn was pressing him.
The reason it had to be him was because Jeanne was already influential across the land.
Knowing her followers, they would want to do anything for the release of their dearest Patron saint.
Hence, only a select few were allowed to guard the tenth floor, especially Jeanne's cell.
"By the way, warden, my ears hurt; your voice is too loud."
Ren had calmly taunted. And though he had never almost done this, as this was his first time, surprisingly, it was successful.
The warden snapped.
"You little shit—! Fine! I'll teach you a lesson!"
As she heard this, Jeanne's breath hitched. Her chains clattered as she grabbed the iron bars of her cell, clutching it tightly.
"It's a trap—!"
Yet, no matter how much she tried to warn. The man had ignored her.
He had completely ignored her, putting his hand into his pocket, removing some keys, and opening the cell door.
As he did that, Ren's head hung low as his lips parted thin.
Despite his goal being achieved, it wasn't time yet. No, he had to continue laying low like this.
Closer, more closer.
As it happened, Ren's thumping heartbeat had drowned every noise surrounding him.
Jeanne's voice had drowned out, and from here, he knew there was no going back.
However, at this point…. does it matter?
"Weren't you acting all mighty some seconds ago? Come on—"
Ren's face was caught in a left hook that made a resounding sound upon impact.
What followed was another punch to the gut. "What about this! And this too!"
The man seemed to be having fun; however, Ren was holding out well. For someone like him who had experienced pain in several forms…
This level of pain was like an ant's bite, if anything.
And slowly, as he was receiving the hits from the warden, his hands were slowly freeing themselves.
"Hahaha. What? Can't fight back? That's what I thought. In the end, prisoners are the same, acting all mighty, but you're nothing really."
The man had said, leaving the ground, with a self-satisfying smile on his face as he did.
However—
"Look out!"
"Too late."
By the time Jeanne would warn the warden, the man had let his guard down and had been too lax.
Except for his immortality, Ren was anything but superhuman. His strength was slightly above average for his age, and tackling a trained warden whose guard wasn't down would be tough for him.
This much Ren had reasoned with himself.
When his guard is down, I'll strike—Ren thought, and he did.
Tying the chains on his left arm and then swinging it in a wide arc, it had collided on the man's face with a painful yet resounding TWACK!
The steel chains had whipped the man's face.
"ARGHHHH!"
He let out a painful yell; however, Ren had closed in on him and silenced him by chains around the warden's mouth and neck, tightening his grip on it.
"MMPH!"
Though he let out a piercing scream, Ren's hands only tightened on it, as a smile painted his lips.
Slowly, like that, his grip continued till the man's body went lifeless, knees first on the ground as he then fell.
As this happened, Jeanne could do nothing more than stare at him in horror as he executed the man.
For Ren, on the other hand… felt it.
Freedom.
Not from chains—but from restraint. But from himself.
He had held himself back for too long.
But no more.
Was it remorse for the person he killed? Certainly not.
It was a liberating sense that… he wasn't being held down anymore.
A very… tremendous satisfaction~
"No… why? Lord, why?"
Jeanne clutched the bars of her cell, her breath ragged, as her eyes widened. She had seen men die on the battlefield—but this?
This was not war. This was something worse.
The way Aristella smiled, the way he watched the warden's body fall... It was not the look of a desperate prisoner.
It was the look of someone who had finally found his purpose.
"Ren…"