Return of the Demon Sovereign (Book 1) [MxM]

62. The Hive (2)

Erebus moved quickly through the shadows, trying to crawl out of the Devil hive without anyone noticing. But he was weakened by depleting so much mana. He knew he was close to the entrance but then felt a pain rip through his head, and he stumbled out of the shadows and fell heavily to the ground.

He groaned a little. He thought he had enough time to escape the Hive before they started the torture.

He promised he would dampen the pain with his mana, but he didn't tell them that this meant he shared their pain. As someone who has endured the Phonoi Heart over two lifetimes, he believed a Devil's torture would be child's play.

As he writhed on the ground, he realized he underestimated the Devils' means.

He heard footsteps shuffling further down the hall, and he threw his weakened body into the shadows. His vision was blurred, and the pain was still piercing through his skull. He clenched his teeth until he tasted blood in his mouth. He waited for a while in the shadows, trying to keep lucid.

He moved slower than ever, taking one step at a time. He felt some relief as he saw the light from the entrance ahead, but then he felt another jolt of pain rip through him. They started torturing another woman. Because he asked them to endure, he accepted the pain tenfold as penance.

He stumbled and propped himself up against the wall. He gasped for air and felt blood running down his chin. He kept moving, his surroundings fading in and out of his vision.

He heard someone else approaching, and he fell into the shadows. He cursed his poor luck as he saw the King Realm Devil nearing. Erebus knew he was too weak to hide all of his aura. He tried to move into the shadows hidden inside the rocks but almost lost consciousness when tired.

He dug his nails into his arm to stay awake. The moment he let go and lost consciousness, the mana protecting the women would disappear, and they would take the full brunt of the pain.

The Devil seemed to have noticed something and looked in Erebus' direction. He started to move towards him, but another Devil called out to him. The King Realm Devil halted and stared in Erebus' direction before he cursed and turned around, disappearing into the Hive.

Erebus let out a broken breath and ran out of the Hive. He wearily staggered on the flat ground and almost fell, but two strong arms held him up. He saw that Rhys and Claus had caught him. They didn't ask what happened but brought him to the safety of their camp.

Erebus sat down and closed his eyes, holding a small knife. He focused on meditation and negating the pain he was suffering, but several of the women were being tortured at the same time, and he felt his pain multiply.

He coughed up blood and swayed a little. When his mind faded a little, he savagely stabbed his leg with the knife, letting the physical pain wake up his mind to keep him conscious.

The High Serpent members cried out in shock. One started to bandage up the new wound and checked over his body.

"Lieutenant General, what happened?" Rhys muttered under his breath.

Erebus was still able to hear. "Ten... Alive... Can't faint." He forced out.

The sect members collapsed around him. Ten... alive. Their ten comrades still lived. But something happened with Erebus where he couldn't lose consciousness. The men split up their watch and waited for Erebus to recover.

However, the pain that Erebus was suffering didn't subside. It seemed to worsen. He was extremely pale, and blood dripped from his mouth continuously. The group observed him and noticed the weak fluctuation of his mana. It became menacing at times and filled with malice, and then it would disappear as if he was fighting a monster within himself.