In the next moment they were teleported into a dark hallway. The smell of blood and rusted metal masked their surroundings. Two rows of prison cells stretched through the long corridor. The cells themselves were as big as a apartment, with one ragged bed, a food tray for dogs, a small toilet seat in the corner and finally dimly lit lantern.
J's stomach clenched and his heart raced in fear. He looked at Noctis his eyes widened. Only to see a cold smile forming on Nocti's face. As strands of his hair turned white and his eyes glimmered.
Noctis spread his hands, his voice cold as it echoed through out the corridor. "Welcome to the Cellar — the place of agony and regret. Home to every big-time criminal. A prison of punishments, isolation, and torment."
Noctis gestured for J to follow. Uncertain of his surroundings, J obeyed. His steps were slow, weighed down by an uneasy tension.
Most of the cells were empty, offering a brief moment of relief to his heart. But as they went deeper, the air thickened with decay. The smell of blood, sweat, and rusted iron filled J's lungs, making his stomach clench again. From the corner of his eye, he caught the glimpse of a prisoner—his body battered, barely clinging to life. J nearly vomited. He shook his head and looked ahead, seeing many more prisoners both male and female—trapped in separate cells. Unlike the battered man, they didn't have any serious injuries, only a few bruises.
Noctis stopped in front of the battered man's cell and crouched down, his voice cold devoide of empathy.
"It's been a while, hasn't it, dear rapist?" Noctis said mockingly.
The repist barely lifted his head. His body trembled and his breath were weak.
"You are quite resilient are you not? So, tell me how did you survive the first hundred lashes?" Noctis continued
J's vision swayed as his mind spiraled. His knees collapsed on the cold stone floor.
The rapist's voice cracks, desperate yet defiant. "Y-you monster! Let me out of here already!"
Noctis chuckled, the wicked sound that sent shivers down J's spine.
"Monster? The only monster here is you!"
His smile didn't fade as he leaned closer.
"Even now, that girl cannot recover from the trauma you inflicted on her." Noctis continued, "After all my warnings… after all my rules… you still did it. And now, even in chains you dare raise your voice without asking for forgiveness?!"
"That is truly sickening." Noctis's voice filled with disgust.
Noctis rosed from the floor, his ever-present smile unwavering. He glanced at J who was barely keeping himself together.
"Oh, J… don't tell me you are done already. After all was it not you who wanted to find a flaw in my laws?" Noctis spoke with a wide grin. "Now look around you this is the perfect place for you to find my flaws so,—" Noctis brought his face to J's ears. "Find them and find an alternative for them."
J crawled backwards as he stuttered with his words. "W–what is this place?"
Noctis pulled back, his gaze sharpening, his voice cold and unyielding. "Have I not told you already? This is my domain the cellar the hall of agony and punishments."
"Punishment?" J's voice snaps. "There's no way in hell what you did to him counts as punishment—it's pure torture!"
Noctis chuckled, his smile widening. "Oh? So, you still oppose me, do you? If that's the case… tell me, J — what punishment would you give someone like him?"
J stood, his body still trembling.
"Life imprisonment, hard labor… or exile."
Noctis laughed in amusement, patting J's back as he walked deeper into the hall.
"You're brighter than I thought… or perhaps more wicked," he said.
J tilted his head. "What do you mean… wicked?"
Noctis's voice turned sharp and cold.
"You do know there's no food beyond Aurora Vale, right? If he were exiled, he'd have to enter the Misty Forest — a place crawling with mystical beasts and monsters. They'd play with him until the end. That's not justice… that's cruelty even worse than mine."
J lowered his gaze.
"But still… isn't life imprisonment or hard labor more just than this?"
Noctis motioned for him to follow.
"Maybe it's just… for the criminal. But what about the victim? He'll live. Eat. Do hard labor, sure. But what about her?! She lives with trauma every single day. What punishment compares to that?"
He pointed at the rapist, his voice dropping.
"Tell me, J — what would you have done… if the victim was Nita? Your… beloved?"
J froze. His pupils shrank. A vision flashed before him — Nita, broken and crying. He clenched his fists, his body trembling in rage.
Noctis tapped his shoulder.
"That's quite amazing, isn't it? And it hurts, does it not? When you imagine one of your own suffering the same fate as the victim endured?"
He continued, his voice lower, darker.
"The problem with idealists like you… is that you never imagine the victim being someone you love. You never try to feel their pain. Instead, you jump to empathize with the criminals."
"It's sickening. Truly sickening."
Noctis stood in front of the other cells. He spread his fingers and faced his palm downward. A portal hummed beneath his hand, releasing various torturous tools — rusted swords, chains, and buckets of hot and cold water — clattering to the ground.
His tone remained cold as he stared at the criminals. Their bodies flinched. Their eyes widened as they tried to hide in the corners of their cells.
"J, please take a seat and enjoy the show," Noctis said with a grin.
"This is true justice — an eye for an eye," He said, as he pointed towards his eye.
J stumbled backward, collapsing with a light thud. His heart clenched, breath ragged, vision beginning to blur.
"That isn't justice — no, it can't be!" he stammered. "Y-you're just sadistic. All of your laws… they're made to fuel this."
Noctis's smile remained as he tossed a few pictures at J.
"Check them out. Then tell me — what punishment would you give them, while being just to both the victim and the criminal?"
J flipped through the pictures, but on the third one, his stomach clenched. He vomited.
"Huh?! Can't handle the truth?" Noctis said, voice cold and sharp. "These are the people they enslaved — unknown to me. Used to fulfill their desires and fetishes. Some were tricked. Others were used to make money in the dark areas."
Noctis leaned closer.
"So tell me — what should I do to them?"
Not a single word escaped J's lips.
This wasn't his world.
This wasn't Earth.
It was a place of utter chaos… worse than Earth.
"No answer?" Noctis said softly, picking up a rusted sword and slowly turning toward one of the cells.
"Then let us continue with our punishments… shall we?"