Pain.
That was the first thing Rin felt.
Not in one place.
Everywhere.
It was as if his entire body had been shattered and stitched back together with fire.
Rin's eyes snapped open.
A broken gasp escaped his lips.
He lay twisted on cold stone, his vision blurred, the metallic taste of blood filling his mouth.
He tried to breathe deeply—
and agony tore through his chest.
A weak cough escaped him.
Blood spilt from the corner of his lips.
Rin's eyes trembled.
He could feel it.
Every bone in his body was broken.
His arms refused to respond.
His legs felt numb.
Even moving a finger sent waves of unbearable pain through him.
He was alive.
But only barely.
Rin stared into the darkness above.
His breathing became uneven.
At this rate...
I'll be dead in a few hours.
Fear clawed into his heart.
No.
He refused to die here.
Not like this.
Not before killing Ronan.
Rin gritted his teeth and forced his shoulder to move.
"AAH—!"
A scream ripped from his throat.
Fresh blood spilt from his mouth.
The movement only made the damage worse.
His body was far beyond saving.
Still—
Rin tried again.
His fingers twitched.
His torso shifted an inch.
Another wave of pain crashed over him so violently that tears gathered in his eyes.
"No..."
Rin whispered desperately.
"No... no..."
A sound echoed from somewhere within the darkness.
...Tap.
...Tap.
...Tap.
Rin froze.
His blood ran cold.
Something was moving.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
From the endless black beyond his sight.
Two faint lights appeared.
Eyes.
A massive silhouette began to emerge.
Rin's breathing stopped.
"No..."
His voice cracked.
"No... no..."
The creature stepped closer.
"It... wasn't a monster."
Rin's trembling eyes widened.
Standing before him in the darkness was—
a human.
An old woman.
Or at least... something that looked human.
Her body was hunched unnaturally, wrapped in torn black cloth stained with filth and dried blood.
Long strands of grey hair hung over her face like spider webs.
And her eyes...
her eyes gleamed with a strange, hungry intelligence.
Rin's heartbeat pounded in his ears.
Human...?
No.
The pressure radiating from her was far too terrifying.
This thing was worse than any beast.
The old woman raised one crooked finger.
Without touching him, Rin's broken body suddenly lifted from the ground.
Rin gasped in pain.
An invisible force wrapped around him.
Telekinesis.
He was dragged through the darkness like a dead animal.
"No... no..."
Rin could do nothing.
His body was too ruined to resist.
The old woman pulled him into a small cave-like hollow.
The moment Rin saw inside, bile rose in his throat.
Blood.
Bones.
Rotting flesh.
Piles of half-eaten remains are scattered across the floor.
The stench was so foul it felt solid enough to choke on.
This was not a shelter.
It was a butcher's den.
His butcher's den.
The old woman gently laid Rin among the remains as if placing meat on a table.
Then she turned away and began mixing something inside a cracked stone bowl.
A thick black liquid.
Steam rose from it, carrying a smell so disgusting that Rin nearly vomited.
The woman returned.
She gripped Rin's jaw with shocking strength and forced his mouth open.
Rin tried to resist—
But his body was little more than a corpse.
The liquid poured down his throat.
"GHK—!"
It was foul.
Bitter.
Rotten.
Warm like spoiled blood.
Rin gagged violently.
Tears streamed from his eyes.
The old woman watched him with a smile.
A smile far too wide for a human face.
Then she spoke in a raspy, delighted voice.
"Feed well..."
Her cracked fingers stroked Rin's hair almost affectionately.
"So I can eat you later."
Rin's pupils shrank.
His entire body went cold.
Cannibal.
She was a cannibal.
No—
worse.
She wasn't keeping him alive out of mercy.
She was preserving him.
Healing him.
Saving him...
for her next meal.
Rin's breath became ragged.
He had escaped Ronan—
only to fall into something even more horrifying.
Rin was planning to kill her somehow in the mind.
The old woman smiled at Rin, "Your tricks don't work here."
She can read minds, too.
Rin was smart, he made his mind numb so he wouldn't give any more information to her.
It was almost a day; Rin was practising the art of suppressing his mind.
The old woman continued to feed him.