"Forgive me... me, Argh! Argh! Please... spare me. I promise, Argh! I will never dare raise my eyes to look at you again..."
As the words spilled out, Ruhan collapsed to the ground. His forehead was bloodied; his entire body, a crimson mess, was being washed away under the torrent of a cruel, unrelenting rain.
The spark of his life was flickering out. His body had endured so much torment that it had ceased to register pain altogether. With every ragged breath, blood bubbled up from his lungs. This was it... this was the end.
Slumped on the ground, he gazed up at a figure standing before him. Darkness suffocated the surroundings. The wind whispered ominously as a storm brewed. Lightning danced violently across the clouds, its sudden flashes briefly illuminating the man's face.
He had long, flowing hair. Ruhan's retinas were so damaged he couldn't discern the color, but the intense rage etched onto the man's face was unmistakable. A twisted, sadistic grin stretched across his lips, as if he derived immense pleasure from watching Ruhan writhe.
Ruhan's eyes were swollen with blood, the red veins bulging visibly. His vision was tinted with a crimson haze. His eyelids felt heavy, struggling to stay open against the weight of his exhaustion.
"Do you know where you went wrong? Huh?? Do you?"
Ruhan had no strength left to speak. His eyes were closing. He had lost too much blood. In the distance, through the gloom, he could see his own severed left wrist clutched in the man's hand. Was it still dripping fresh blood?
"Why aren't you speaking? What's the matter? Do you want more affection? Oh, my poor little darling! Come here, come to me!!"
The words were spoken in a mocking jest, but suddenly, the blood rushed to the man's head. He flew into a rage, screaming,
"Come here, you son of a bitch! You love playing the hero in front of everyone, don't you? Where is that attitude now?"
He waited a moment for an answer, then sneered,
"If you won't come—I'm coming to you! To give my darling boy the love he deserves!"
With a devilish smile, he stepped forward, counting his paces—one, two. In one hand, he held Ruhan's bloody wrist; in the other, a terrifying axe, crackling intermittently with arcs of purple lightning.
Seeing him approach, Ruhan's heart hammered against his ribs like a horse galloping at full speed. A surge of hysterical strength flooded his body.
It was a strange phenomenon. Moments ago he was paralyzed, drained of all energy... yet now, staring death in the face, he tried to rise and flee!
One of Ruhan's legs was bent backward at the knee. He couldn't walk. The bone had snapped, jagged shards piercing the muscle from the inside. Any normal person would have fainted from the sheer horror of the sight.
Yet, a frantic adrenaline drove him. He hobbled forward, dragging his broken body quite a distance.
Suddenly, he saw someone standing ahead. Perhaps help had arrived to save him. He felt a rush of joy unlike anything he had ever known. Delirious with hope, he tried to move faster.
The scene was blurry through his blood-soaked eyes, yet he pushed forward with a strange, desperate hope. This is it! My life is saved! Help is finally here!
Driven by adrenaline, he screamed,
"I... cough... I knew you would come! I, I knew it!!"
He collapsed onto the figure. It felt strange at first, but his mind was too shattered to process it. His senses were failing him. Leaning his weight on the man's arm, he closed his eyes and whispered,
"I knew it. You would never let me die! I—"
"What do you mean 'I'd come'? I was right here the whole time. Have you lost your mind? And I see you don't appreciate my affection... Why? Did you not enjoy it?"
Ruhan's soul shuddered. Now he understood why it had felt so wrong. It wasn't help; he had crawled right back to the monster. To this cruel, merciless demon.
He touched his stomach and felt the handle of a knife buried there. It had pierced him through to the back. His hands were instantly dyed red.
The ground around him was soaked in the crimson fluid. He vomited a mouthful of blood. His vision began to darken completely.
The man yanked the knife out. A fountain of blood erupted from Ruhan's abdomen, joining the deluge.
He slumped to the ground again. No, that is incorrect—he began to drown in the ocean of his own blood.
But the man was not yet satisfied. He swung the axe, striking Ruhan's left elbow. The arm was severed cleanly. Ruhan screamed.
Blood flowed from his eyes instead of tears. The veins had forgotten which way to carry the life force. The sea of blood swallowed him a little more.
Next, the man struck his right elbow. The severed arm flew fifty meters away. The nearby hill echoed with Ruhan's agonizing screams. His heart felt as though it would burst from the pain.
One by one, the man severed his right leg, his left leg, and his manhood. A look of twisted satisfaction plastered the man's face! It was as if he were laughing truly for the first time in a thousand years. Pure ecstasy!
"Are you a catfish? Do you have nine lives? You're still alive after all this!"
He observed Ruhan for a moment, realizing he would only be with him for a short while longer.
"Anyway! With my deepest condolences, I've mashed every kind of fish... and you are no exception!"
He raised the axe high above his head, aiming for Ruhan's neck. But then—
Suddenly, Ruhan saw a human skull lying in front of him. Its gaze was fixed. No movement in the eyes. No breath.
"Because you took care of me, I can offer you a favor. I can take you to another timeline," the skull seemed to say. "Where you might get another chance. But it will come only if you sacrifice your memories. And besides... I am a relative you have always known."
The skull did not speak aloud. But every word seemed etched into Ruhan's soul. He consented to this final recourse. He had no other choice.
"Very well! Oh, my child, your wish is granted. Through the sacrifice of memory, you receive a new opportunity."
Instantly, the skull vanished from existence, taking Ruhan's soul with it. After enduring a thousand tortures, a single found object gave him new hope.
Meanwhile, the man finished his work. Ruhan's head was severed, splashing into the canal water. As it drifted away with the current toward distant lands, a distorted smile remained frozen on his face…
On the road lay a torso—limbless, headless, and bloody. Around it, blood rippled like the waves of an eternal sea.
Content, the man turned to leave, his mood suddenly somber. As he walked, he muttered,
"It would have been fun to be entertained a little longer! Oh well, for what I was given, I am grateful to the Creator and to Ruhan."
He observed the corpse one last time and said,
"We shall meet again in another life, dear Ruhan! Bye-bye. Come to me again in the next life, because my love for you will never diminish!!!"
He gestured toward the sky with his hand. The white-blue lightning turned a deep, ominous purple, resembling a demonic dragon swimming through the heart of the clouds.
The next moment, the man pointed his hand at Ruhan. Instantly, the lightning descended from the heavens, a great destruction crashing down upon Ruhan's corpse.
The mutilated body, along with the surrounding blood, was incinerated to ash. All evidence of the unprecedented torture was wiped away.
Erased from existence—Ruhan Ahmed...