PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

530 Chapter 530 Karma And Madness

The cell was pitch black; the silence inside was only broken by the occasional sound of a drop of moisture hitting the floor. The cold and uneven floor made it unbearable to stand on it; every feature of the room was designed to increase the stress of those who reside in it.

Perhaps, a well-trained person could withstand long-term isolation in such a cell. After all, without additional torture, nothing there was outside the most basic parameters of the interrogation methods in clandestine prisons used by the army.

To the misfortune of the person residing in said cell, he had neither the training nor the conviction. It had been only a day since he had been locked up here, and his mind was already showing signs of deterioration, though perhaps the poison in his system had contributed a lot to his condition.

Thinking about the poison fills the person with anger and disbelief, still having difficulty believing that this woman would do this to him. In the prisoner’s twisted mind, that woman should be flattered that he was interested in playing with her; he was a powerful and influential person. The vague memory of the taste of that woman’s body came to pass through the prisoner’s mind, but that only reminded him that it was precisely after having enjoyed a violent game in bed with her that she poisoned him.

To tell the truth, the prisoner did not know how much time had passed since then; he only remembered waking up in this room. The prisoner’s first instinct was to try to use his gravitational control to escape his bonds and his imprisonment, but he realized, to his horror and utter dismay, that he couldn’t do what he wanted.

It was probably due to his imprisonment that it took him so long to notice, but now that he had attempted to use his powers, the prisoner noted their complete absence and disconnection. For someone like the prisoner, who abused his powers and authority for years, being in a cell without access to his powers was driving him crazy.

Eventually, someone visited the prisoner’s cell, slowly opening the heavy, creaking metal door and letting some light into the room. The sudden presence of light blinded the prisoner for a few seconds, and when his eyes adjusted, there was that woman, but there was something different about her.

Looking at her standing there in silence, the prisoner realized the difference; she was not afraid of him. After so many abuses, that woman got used to not even looking up in his presence, and that submissive attitude full of misery was one of the things that the prisoner enjoyed the most. Seeing that woman standing proudly as she looked at him with chilling coldness, the prisoner suddenly realized their roles had been reversed.

Unable to accept the new reality in front of his eyes, the prisoner screamed hysterically. “Damn bitch set me free. Do you have any idea what you’re doing? Do you have any idea who I am? Do you think you’ll get away with it?”

.....

The more he shouted, the more confidence began to come to the prisoner, realizing he was not necessarily lost. With his position, one would have to think twice about getting rid of him; since the consequences were too brutal, the army would not let him pass easily.

Before the prisoner could open his mouth again to make more claims, the woman stepped forward and mercilessly kicked the prisoner’s face. The prisoner felt that he had been beaten by a bear instead of that curvaceous and submissive woman he used to abuse frequently.

“Save your breath, Rundert. Did you really believe that I went this far without thinking of the consequences? Or that I would do something like this without having a backup? You have no idea, Rundert, how much I hate you and want revenge to make you suffer. But I knew that was an unrealistic dream, something out of my reach, and that my end would probably come when you got bored of using me as a toy. I didn’t want to end up like this, I wanted to have control over my own death at least, and it was when I tried to kill myself that salvation found me.”

Rundert couldn’t give a shit what the woman had to say, but her first words were already alarming enough. As if that wasn’t enough, he was beginning to feel that there was something wrong with Ana; she was different from how he saw her. She looked more violent, confident, and...crazy, with a fanatical gleam in her eyes.

It must be said that Rundert could be a scumbag, but his instincts were second to none. Sensing that things were getting dangerous, he tried with all his might to stand up and run away, as only his hands were restrained. The attempt to escape was only met with another strong kick aimed at his chest. Rundert felt all the air in his lungs run, and as he fell to the ground writhing in pain, Ana began to speak again.

“At first, her offer seemed too good to be true, but the charm in her words was like the sweetest of hellish whispers; I just couldn’t escape. I ended up accepting her offer, giving them the information they asked for, at first, even when they didn’t give me anything in return, just the thought that I was betraying you behind your back was enough for me.”

At this point, Ana approached her prisoner, and without showing any signs of remorse or doubt, she began to beat him brutally. There was no clear technique or goal; Ana just wanted to beat the man up and physically abuse him in one of the many ways he did to her.

Ana didn’t stop her speech. “But they kept their promise. I still remember what it felt like when that tiny spark of energy always inside me grew stronger. It was there that I understood that they were serious; the temptation became irresistible.”

Amplifying Aura’s output a bit, Ana kicked Rundert in the stomach, throwing the man across the room, where he slammed into the stone wall. Pain flooded all of Rundert’s senses, igniting his survival instincts, but neither his pathetic attempts to defend himself nor his screams of agony had any effect.

“Every day that passed, I realized how pathetic and ignorant those who I considered invincible were. That place revealed so many things to me, it gave me so much, and although I never forgot the revenge I wanted, I realized that they could give me much more; the only thing I had to give them was my loyalty.”

Holding Rundert’s hair, Ana lifted him off the ground so that she could punch that disgusting face repeatedly. As Ana pummeled Rundert’s face with her fists, her tone began to fill with reverence, fanaticism, and mockery.

“Do you even know what the Arcana is, Rundert? What about Aura or Mana? What do you know of those powers of which you are so proud? You don’t know anything, this world doesn’t know anything, but I can find all that and more in that Garden. I had even given up my revenge and limited myself to capturing you for Master to decide what to do with you.”

In Rundert’s mind, there was no longer the slightest doubt that this woman had lost her mind. His only consolation was that it seemed that she would not kill him; she would probably just beat him until she was satisfied. Secretly, Rundert couldn’t stop thinking about that garden Ana was talking about and that so-called Master, swearing that he would take revenge on them if he had the chance.

Even amid the pain, Rundert felt complacent, believing that he would live another day until Ana spoke again.

“I was so stupid; I am ashamed to have thought so little of the Master. Sara told me that your life had its uses, that we had to use you as much as possible, make even your death an asset for us, and that we should have done that, but the Master disagreed. The Master wanted me to have my revenge, to kill you with my own hands, to pay for what you did to me; so generous and loving is the Master.”

The awful sound of bone snapping in two echoed through the room as Ana broke Rundert’s leg with a stomp. The purest sadistic ecstasy ran through Ana’s entire being. Few could understand all the pain and abuse she suffered and what it had done to her mind, but one thing was for sure, she would enjoy every second she spent torturing Rundert.

“Unfortunately, I am not like Sara and her companions; they can work close to the Master. They have earned his trust and have the honor of serving alongside him. But Natalie told me something I will never forget: we are all important to the Master, he loves us all, we are his beautiful flowers, we fill his Garden with our glamor for his enjoyment, and we cut with our thorns people like you. ”

The torture only became more brutal by the second, while Ana’s maddened smile kept increasing.

“My only regret is that part of my mission will die with you after I kill you. How will I be useful to the Master? I want to be of use. I want to be as beautiful and important as the rest of the flowers. Sometimes I feel jealous of them, but they are my sisters now; we all took our oaths and wore the necklace of Master.”

As she hardly realized it, Ana stopped to see the bloodied and pathetic man on the ground. Rundert was still alive, but his appearance barely seemed human. At the rate he was going, even without Ana doing anything else, he would be dead in minutes.

“It doesn’t matter; I’m sure I’ll find a way to be useful to my Master. As for you? I’m already bored. Were you always so pathetic? Revna was right; compared to Master, things like you can’t even be considered men.”

Seeing that she didn’t get any reaction from the dying Rundert, Ana looked disappointed, but a spark passed through her eyes, and she brought her face closer to Rundert to whisper something in a teasing tone.

“Come to think of it; you don’t even know who Master is. I would normally be forbidden to reveal that information, but I didn’t think there would be a problem telling a dead man, his name is... Desmond Astryd.”

A feeling of sardonic pleasure ran through Ana’s body; she demonstrated her cruelty and loyalty by killing Rundert just a fraction of a second before saying her Master’s name. As Ana said, there was no problem telling someone dead.

In the end, Rundert met his death in a dark dungeon without ever understanding how he had ended up like this or who ordered his death. The only knowledge Rundert took with him to Hell was that his death was nothing more than the result of his actions since the woman who had murdered him, in a way, was a monster that he created.