The cellar was dark, damp, and slled like old wood. Dust particles danced in the dim light, filtering through a small, gri-covered window, revealing the worn-out stones and rusty chains that lined the walls.
Wooden shelves lined the walls, sagging under the weight of forgotten things such as pliers, needles, and other blood-covered instrunts of torture.
Cobwebs clung to the corners, silent witnesses to years of neglect of the cellar that served as a prison. The air was cool, carrying a musty scent of oldness. The wooden floor, worn and uneven, creaked underfoot.
It felt like a forgotten world, a place untouched by any human. The only sounds were the occasional drop of water and the distant murmur of the world above.
It was a place no one would accidentally stumble into, a perfect prison hidden below the Church that not even the Saintess knew existed.
Vesper stood in the cellar bound by chains, so her feet barely touched the cold, rotten floor. It wasn’t her first ti there, though it was the first ti she got to experience the horrors as a recipient and not as the donor of pain.
In the many years she spent in the Church, only she and the goddess Aria knew how many souls she had hurt. Now, it was her ti to repent and feel the pain she had caused others.
"Repentance? Ha, that’s bullshit..." Vesper weakly mumbled as she dangled along with the chains.
Just then, the rusted doors of the cellar opened with a creak. As Vesper lifted her beaten gaze, two paladins strode in, accompanied by a man in white, whom she imdiately recognised as the Pope.
The paladins wasted no ti, dragging out instrunts of torture while the Pope stood before Vesper.
"How long will you drag this out, my child?" The Pope asked, his voice filled with kindness, but his eyes betrayed the voice. "Haven’t you been through enough?"
"Huh? Do you think this will be enough to break ? Growing old did a number on you, didn’t it?" Vesper asked, laughing as loudly as her frail body could muster.
"...I take you won’t reconsider-"
"Wait... I have an answer for you... different one," Vesper softly mumbled, sounding defeated by the continuous torture.
The Pope inched closer, thinking Vesper finally saw the error of her ways. However, when his face was close to her, Vesper grinned and spat a mouthful of blood at him.
He swiftly conjured a magical shield, protecting himself and his pristine attire from her pathetic attempt at marking him. A sizzling sound was heard as her blood burned a hole through the wooden floor.
It was one of Vesper’s signature abilities where she could turn her blood into the most potent venom that only she was immune to, no one else.
She had killed hundreds of the Church’s enemies similarly. The Pope knew about it, yet let his guard down and almost paid the price for it.
It wasn’t that he had forgotten about Vesper’s ability. After all, the entire cellar was made such that her blood wouldn’t help her earn her desired freedom.
Besides, Vesper had already shown how lethal she could be when she managed to kill almost all the Ravens who had ambushed her. Had it not been for so precautions, she would have slipped away again.
"Tsk, you’re a bit too quick for a senile bastard," Vesper smirked, clicking her tongue.
The Pope’s face twisted with anger, and he seized Vesper by the hair, his finger boring into her face. For once, Vesper dropped her pretentious look and appeared angry. Her reaction only made his satisfaction grow as he tightened his hold on her, relishing the defiant look in her eyes.
"You dare defy , heretic?" the Pope sneered, his voice echoing through the damp chamber.
"You’re the one who worships demons, yet I’m the heretic?" Vesper said, her lips curled in a smile, but it didn’t last long as one of the paladins hamred a nail through her heel.
Without wasting ti, the other one followed suit, forcing Vesper to let out a bloody scream. The Pope backed down, smiling as tears flowed down Vesper’s face.
"You had your chance, my child. But you were too stubborn to take it," The Pope sighed, bringing his palms together to pray.
"Hahaha!" Vesper suddenly began laughing before turning her cold gaze towards the Pope. "You seriously thought these little needles would make scream? Guess you didn’t know even after all those years."
As she spoke, the paladins hamred another set of nails between her fingers, but Vesper kept laughing and refused to let the pain show.
Irritated, the Pope snatched her face once again, ready to snap Vesper’s neck at any mont. But he didn’t, and Vesper knew why. While the Pope was the highest authority figure in the Church, that power ca with a price.
"The curse of no-killing is a bitch, isn’t it?" Vesper taunted, and the Pope let go of her face.
While it was called the curse of no-killing, it was essentially a curse of non-violence. As the na suggested, if the Pope were to kill soone or cause them grievous harm with his hands, he would die instantly.
It was one of the reasons why he raised Vesper as his personal executioner, and now the Paladins had taken her place since the relationship between the two had soured.
"You think your rebellion will save you, but it only seals your fate," The Pope whispered into her ears. "You will serve whether you like it or not."
"Yeah, good luck with that," Vesper sneered, shifting her focus to the paladins. "If you boys are done ogling at my ass, feel free to get back to work, you perverts. And please, make it entertaining."
With a smirk, she added, "I could throw in so tips on torture if you need them. It might actually make you dimwits useful to the old man here so he would stop obsessing over ."
The Pope had had enough and stord out of the cellar, his face twisted with rage. The heavy door slamd shut behind him.
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