The further Arvin walked penetrating the darkness of the underground prison, the situation began to change. The prison cells that were previously empty were now starting to be occupied. Behind those rusted iron bars, he could see one to three prisoners in very deplorable conditions, huddled in the cold in the corners of the damp rooms.
However, Arvin did not let the tragic sight disturb his concentration. His focus remained sharply locked onto the single ethereal black thread stretching in the air, guiding him toward Kaydan's position.
His calm steps suddenly halted.
"Ah... please stop..."
A stifled moan from a man, mixed with a heart-wrenching pleading tone, could faintly be heard echoing from within one of the prison cells next to him.
Unconsciously, Arvin turned his head toward the source of the sound. Through the gaps in the iron bars, he saw a Victoriaz Kingdom soldier with a half-open uniform, forcefully copulating with a miserable youth whose hands and feet were tightly bound on a rickety wooden bed.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
The burly soldier thrust his hips very brutally, completely ignoring the moans of pain escaping his victim's mouth.
However, as Arvin was about to avert his gaze from the disgusting sight, his eyes were suddenly drawn and fixated on the back of the soldier's left hand, which was roughly gripping the poor youth's arm.
On the skin of the soldier's left hand, there was a massive stack of broken black contract symbols. Yet, the most striking thing was, among the pile of broken black symbols, there was one contract symbol glowing purple and continuously flickering with an unstable rhythm.
Wait, the Life-and-Death contract symbol is supposed to be absolutely engraved on the back of the right hand, not the left. Arvin thought, his brow furrowing with a sharp glare at the soldier's actions. How many people has this bastard soldier raped? Then, why is there an unstably flickering purple light on the back of his left hand? Is this some sort of effect from the broken black contract when in close proximity to the victim?
Something that made him incredibly curious guided Arvin's steps. Still in his invisible form, he stepped inside through the gaps in the iron bars, approaching the soldier and the youth with very calm and completely soundless steps.
I wonder if the Life-and-Death contract symbol of this forcefully raped victim is also engraved on the back of his right hand or not. Arvin thought while standing right beside the bed of suffering.
Once he was at a very close distance, Arvin looked down and observed the back of the hands of the miserable youth who was struggling weakly.
It turned out his assumption missed the mark. There were absolutely no contract symbols of any color there, neither on the back of the youth's left nor right hand. His skin was clean of any contract symbols.
"Ah... damn it... you bastard soldier!" the youth cursed between his ragged breaths, while continuously receiving the soldier's brutal thrusts without being able to fight back. Tears of despair flowed down his temples. "I was imprisoned... for no clear reason... and now, I'm being raped! Bastards, all of you!"
Slap!
Unaccepting of the curses, the soldier slapped the youth's face very hard, until the loud slapping sound echoed, bouncing off the walls of the narrow prison cell.
"Just accept your fate, whore!" the soldier retorted in an arrogant tone, without even a shred of guilt on his face. "If only you hadn't refused His Highness Prince Wiltan's request to surrender your beautiful fiancée to the palace, there's no way you would be dragged to this underground and suffer a fate like this."
"You all are indeed bastard scumbags!" the youth groaned, glaring at the soldier with full hatred.
"Hahaha!" The soldier only laughed out loud feeling victorious, then resumed thrusting into the youth even more brutally. "Damn it! It seems right now, my colleague at the end of the block there is also having fun with that traitorous Larde tribe youth. Even though since he was first captured, I really wanted to taste and enjoy his body first."
Boom!
Arvin's heart seemed to explode right then and there. His eyes widened hearing the casual words that had just slipped from the soldier's filthy mouth.
'That traitorous Larde tribe'. That description referred to only one person in the palace: Kaydan.
An overwhelming feeling of worry and panic suddenly seized Arvin's chest. Imagining his spouse suffering the same fate, or even currently enduring barbaric abuse like the youth before him, almost completely snapped his rationality.
Without caring about anything else happening, Arvin turned around and hurried to leave the prison cell at full speed.
Forgive me, I truly do not want to cause a commotion in this block right now because it will endanger all of your lives if the palace guards intervene. Arvin thought full of regret while looking at the crying youth for the last time. But I promise you, I will definitely return later and free you from this hell after I successfully free my spouse.
In his invisible mode, Arvin sprinted through the dark corridor like a gust of night wind. Thanks to the sound-dampening magic enveloping his feet, the sound of his hurried footsteps could not be heard by anyone.
His eyes never left the black thread stretching straight ahead of him. His brain continuously cursed himself for arriving late.
After several minutes of running down the seemingly endless corridor, his footsteps abruptly stopped in front of a prison cell located at the very end.
His eyes widened looking at the scene inside.
Kaydan was inside that prison cell, lying unconscious on a bed. And what made Arvin's blood freeze and boil simultaneously, his spouse was already completely naked, with both his ankles and wrists bound by iron chains nailed to the edge of the bed.
Beside the bed stood a burly soldier who was also completely naked. The soldier let out a disgusting laugh while rubbing his already erect shaft, preparing to copulate with Kaydan's helpless body.
With a sharpening gaze, Arvin stepped in and approached the soldier.
Grab!
An invisible hand suddenly gripped the soldier's jaw and muffled his mouth.
The burly man was instantly jolted in shock. His eyes bulged in horror as he felt something invisible gagging his mouth so tightly. He tried to struggle, but...
Zeb!
Mercilessly, Arvin stabbed a sword made of the wind element into the soldier's left chest until it pierced his heart in an instant.
The soldier died instantly with his eyes bulging.
Very calmly, as if disposing of a pile of trash, Arvin slowly laid the blood-soaked, lifeless man's body onto the stone floor to avoid making a crashing sound that would draw attention.
After ensuring the soldier was dead, Arvin hurried over to Kaydan, who was still lying stiff and unconscious on the stone bed.
Arvin's slightly trembling hand began to gently pat the youth's right cheek, trying to transfer warmth while whispering right into his ear.
"Kaydan... Kaydan! Wake up!"
Shortly after, the youth's eyelids fluttered. Slowly, he opened his eyes, blinking a few times trying to adjust his vision to the dim torchlight.
However, as soon as his consciousness gathered and he felt the cold air on his skin, Kaydan jolted violently. He was so shocked and panicked that his breath hitched upon realizing that he was currently lying helpless on the bed, bound by chains, and completely naked.
"Why am I naked—"