Chapter 153: Ch153: Chained
*Blink-Blink*
Daniel slowly opened his eyes, his vision blurry with a hint of dizziness. The smell around him was like dead rats rotting in the place.
Disgusting.
"Agh... where am I..." he growled, looking around.
He was seated on a cold, rusty metal chair. His hands were bound behind it with iron chains, and to make matters worse, even his wrists were wrapped tightly with coarse rope, making his skin chafe.
It looks like a prison...
The room was dim, with only faint light spilling in from outside, as if from a torch, barely illuminating the cell.
’Are those bones?’ he thought, narrowing his brows.
Tch.
Daniel pulled against the chains binding his arms and jerked his legs, but the iron shackles held them firmly in place.
It was no use.
Not long after, a guard wearing a full suit of metal armor unlocked the cell from outside.
Daniel raised his head.
Then a man stepped into view, dressed in a dark purple robe with gold embroidery along the sleeves, over which he wore a leather surcoat.
"Hello, Daniel. I hope the chains are comfortable," the man said with a evil smile.
"Status," Daniel whispered under his breath.
A translucent blue screen materialised beside the man.
——————
Name: Klaus Marrow
Age: 43
HP: 12500/12500
Mana: 10000/10000
Description: A man who works as an assassin under the shadow of the Saint Royals, assigned to eliminate the undercover exiled members hiding within the kingdom.
——————
Klaus pulled a necklace from beneath his right sleeve and held it up in front of Daniel’s face.
"This must be yours, right?"
Daniel stared at him without a word.
"By the way, how do you know the name ’Zane’?" Klaus asked, his tone curious.
... ... ...
"Oh, so you’re not going to answer? Fine." A faint smile crept across his face. "I should bring you the lady’s head instea—"
"Oi... If you dare lay a finger on her, I’ll smash your head to pieces," Daniel growled, his voice cold.
Klaus chuckled. "Now you’re talking. Don’t worry — I won’t do anything to her if you cooperate with me."
He bent forward until his face was only inches from Daniel’s. "If you don’t tell me how you know the name Zane, I’ll chop off your head. Before that, I’ll bring you hers, because I don’t like silence, and I’m dead serious."
Daniel locked eyes with him, his expression turning serious. "First, tell me. What is he to you?"
Klaus’s expression changed to coldness. "You talk too much. Guards!"
*Snap-Snap*
The guard nodded, then turned and walked toward the cell door.
"You really think harming someone I don’t care about will make me speak?" Daniel said, unfazed.
Klaus swung his right arm and delivered a firm slap across Daniel’s face.
*Slap!*
Then he turned and gestured to a guard by drawing his hand across his neck, mimicking a throat-slitting motion.
Daniel gritted his teeth and glared at him.
*Slap!*
Another slap struck the side of his face, snapping his head to the side.
...
For minutes, Klaus unleashed a barrage of slaps, hard and merciless, as though his palm were made of steel.
Then what Daniel saw made his eyes widen in utter shock.
The guard who had left earlier returned carrying a rusty metal bucket. Inside it rested a severed head.
It was none other than Esmeralda’s.
"No!!" Daniel roared.
*SLAP!!*
The force of the blow knocked his head to the side as it struck the back of his neck.
...
Daniel woke up on the stone floor, not knowing how long he had been unconscious.
"Agh... my head," he groaned.
Coming to his senses, he found his arms and legs chained. This time, different, they weren’t bound close together, but the chains were short enough to restrict his movements.
He stood up and walked forward, grabbing the cold iron bars as he glanced around.
"What the fuck is this?" he muttered.
In front of him were rows of cells. Some were empty, while others held prisoners. He noticed one of them gripping the iron bars, just as he was.
Daniel swallowed hard.
"Status," he murmured.
——————
Name: Marcus Frego
Age: 39
HP: 10300/10300
Mana: 9600/9600
Description: A member of the Halberd Group, a master of the fire element who works as an investigator and possesses vast knowledge of the Saint Royals.
Driven to uncover the truth behind their schemes.
——————
Just then, two guards wearing full armor approached from the front. One carried a bucket, while the other held a cup.
They stopped at the first cell and splashed a cup of water onto the prisoner.
One after another, they threw water on each prisoner without a word. Then they reached Daniel’s cell.
They didn’t stop.
*Splash*
The water struck him square in the face.
The guards moved on.
Once they had splashed every prisoner, they left the cell block.
"Fuck... my stomach," Daniel muttered, clutching his abdomen.
*Grr...*
Dehydration and an empty stomach clouded his mind.
"Hey, what did you do, kid?" a man asked from the cell next to his.
Daniel turned his gaze to the left.
A skinny-looking man with a long white beard that made him look like he was in his seventies poked his head through the cell bars.
"What? Who are you?" Daniel asked, his voice flat.
The man smiled and replied in a casual tone. "I’m the man who stole the Gem of Life from the kingdom’s vault. But you, you can call me Connor. And you?"
"Daniel," he said after a moment.
A moment of silence settled between them. Then Daniel broke it.
"How long have you been here?"
Connor lifted his eyes to the ceiling, then shrugged.
"Probably... five, ten years," he lied.
Daniel’s eyes widened upon hearing that.
’A decade, seriously? Fuck, how do I get out of here?’ he thought as he scanned the surroundings.
"You must be thinking about getting out of here, right?" Connor said. "Before you arrived, there was a woman named Daisie. She somehow managed to open the cell, but by the time I woke up, she had been caught and beheaded right before my eyes."
