Little by little, Matt's eyes opened and the blurry world revealed itself before him.
Amid the confusion, the first thing he felt was the ruthless wind crashing against his face. It tensed from the icy sensation and his body shuddered when the pain hit him, as if a thousand needles were piercing his flesh.
His mind sank into the sensations of his surroundings—the icy scent of water and the howls of the river flowing a few meters away.
He tried to move his hands but stopped as soon as he started. Something was ruthlessly tightening his wrists...
When his vision returned, a few meters away he saw Garren watching him from above.
His hair stood on end and for a moment he trembled in terror. His mind recovered thanks to the emotional shock and he was able to feel what he had previously ignored.
His numb hands and his face were disfigured by the blows and the cold sensation of the ropes binding his wrists and now his legs. All the previous pain intensified a thousand times.
'Why!'
He wanted to scream, but only a muffled groan came out, drowned by the rope in his mouth. Its taste was cold and bland.
Then Garren crouched down, taking a rope and wrapping it around his legs.
His pupils dilated in ecstasy shone, ignoring the deep bleeding wound running across his eye.
A detestable smile appeared on his face when he pulled hard on the rope around his legs.
Then the crunch of his leg bones echoed. Matt's eyes opened, almost popping out of their sockets.
And a muffled scream escaped his gagged mouth.
At that moment, Garren turned and smiled more strongly, his prey had awakened.
"How was your nap, trash?"
Matt trembled in fear. It was like seeing his true face, one he kept hidden from most people, but that he had seen countless times before.
His smile completely contrasted with the madness and hatred contained in his eyes. It felt like being trapped in the claws of a demon.
Ignoring his predator, he moved, shook, and tried to scream with all his strength.
'Someone has to hear me! Someone has to save me!' he thought. Unfortunately, his movements were useless and the faint murmur of his screams was covered by Garren's maniacal laughter.
Matt was on the ground, with his hands tied behind his back and his legs stretched out and immobilized.
He moved his head to look toward the village.
But his vision was covered by Garren's group.
At that moment, he understood he was lost. But his stubborn mind searched for salvation, even if he knew no one would help him.
He looked at each of their faces.
Brok looked at him from afar.
The resentment could still be seen in his eyes and in his smile, which was no less than Garren's.
Norman, he couldn't even see him, the bastard always hid in the shadows, but his presence was so cold and unique. He had no doubt he was also enjoying the show.
Then, he stopped in front of Aria and Connar.
A murmur of pleas escaped his mouth.
These two were the least ruthless of the group.
Connar, despite following Garren and never contradicting him, was upright and did not enjoy mistreating people.
'Maybe this time will be different!'
But it only took one look to realize it wasn't going to happen.
His fists clenched tightly and his gaze was filled with guilt. He didn't enjoy his suffering, but he wasn't willing to look away either.
Matt's hope ignited when he saw him take a step, but unfortunately, he stepped back in regret.
Then he looked for Aria.
The beautiful and promising young woman whose presence was charming and kind. She had even helped him on several occasions.
Matt always wondered what she was doing in Garren's group.
However, now…
She couldn't even look him in the face.
She simply clenched her fists, lowered her gaze to the ground, and tightly closed her eyes with tears escaping from the corners of her eyes.
Then Matt felt rage.
His fate was sealed and he knew it at that very moment. His attempts to ask for help faded and silence reigned.
While he felt Garren's eyes nailed into his back, Matt made sure to look with hatred at each one of them.
'So, you won't do anything…'
At least he had to leave a deep mark on the souls of those people. But it would not be fear and terror they would remember, but the hatred in his gaze.
"Hey, hey! How disrespectful of you not to look at me when I talk to you!"
"AAARGHH"
Matt groaned in pain when suddenly, Garren's fierce claws dug into his skull.
Of course, he didn't use all his strength, otherwise, his head would have exploded into a thousand pieces, but even so, it felt like it was about to.
His head turned, meeting Garren's eyes.
The bastard wanted to enjoy the suffering. However…
'Not this time…'
As soon as they were face to face, Matt clenched the gag with his teeth and pushed his head, hitting Garren's with force.
A sharp pain ran through his head as the blood fell down his face.
When he recovered, he used all his strength to ignore the pain in his body and the despair in his mind and cover them with a mask of burning hatred.
The impact had little effect on Garren's enhanced body. But it did on his twisted mind.
Unlike Matt, on Garren's face, there was a small, barely painful wound.
However, his face… went from confusion to anger in a single instant. But that anger also disappeared, or rather, it was covered by a poorly faked but no less terrifying smile.
"I see, I see… So you haven't given up yet. I see… I understand…"
His words were senseless, repeated again and again.
Matt had understood that Garren had been lost in madness a long time ago.
At first, he wondered what the reason for his hatred was. Had he hurt him? Had he done something to upset him?
In the end, the truth was much simpler and therefore more brutal. Garren needed a target on which to pour all his madness, his rage, his need to dominate and destroy someone.
It wasn't that Matt had hurt him, there was no revenge, no hidden reason. He had simply chosen him, had seen in him the perfect prey. Someone he could break to empty all the chaos from his twisted mind.
While the world saw his masked face as the ideal and noble avatar, before Matt that mask fell, revealing the sadistic monster contained in the deepest part of his being.
Then Garren grabbed him forcefully and threw his body against the railing of the bridge they were on.
Under absolute force, Matt flew like a mere puppet.
The stone of the bridge's railing cracked from the impact.
Garren's voice echoed, almost breaking from the rage.
"Did you really think you were going to intimidate me?" His steps echoed like thunder as he slowly approached his prey.
"Did you think that by looking at me with hatred, injuring my eye, and hitting my face, I was going to leave you alone?"
A beastly fist smashed into the stone beside him. The stone cracked again.
Matt trembled.
No doubt he would have died if that fist had been aimed at him.
But Garren's words didn't stop.
"Let me tell you that's not the case, Matt!"
Garren's claws dug into his back as he was grabbed by the shirt and forced to look at the raging river below them.
"With how kind I've been!"
"With how carefully I've treated you!"
Garren forcefully pushed Matt's head against the railing.
"And this is how you repay me!?"
"It's unacceptable!"
Then the pressure he applied began to increase little by little. Matt's movements became desperate, shaking and hitting however he could with his hands and legs. But it was all to no avail.
'So, this is my end?' He thought with his last breaths.
Clearly unsatisfied.
'I would've liked to take at least one of them with me…'
It was then, when everything seemed to be over, that the skies lit up in a striking red glow, drawing the attention of everyone present.
Suddenly, the force crushing his head eased, and Garren stepped back a bit.
After a long silence, a sigh was heard behind him before speaking.
"I almost got carried away by emotion…" He remained silent for a few moments before grabbing him again by the back.
"Hey, the moon is at its peak. It's time to give him his gift…"
Although Matt couldn't see, he heard the group's footsteps slowly approaching.
Then Garren lifted him over the railing, making sure he had a good view of the furious current of the river.
"You see, Matt…" he said, smiling. "Soon we'll be going to the cultivation academy. Unfortunately, this will be the last time we see each other. So, I've prepared the best final gift for you…"
His voice sounded cold and distant, almost disappointed, far from the ecstatic emotion from the beginning.
But Matt was too overwhelmed to notice that change.
His blood ran cold as his body was thrown off the bridge.
Then, the vertigo shook his brain and the wind howled in his ears as he watched the water quickly approach in what seemed like an inevitable crash.
Until suddenly…
Matt felt a strong tug from his legs, his bones cracked as the ropes tightened around him.
With his body being held by a rope from a ledge, Matt swung in a pendulum motion beneath the bridge.
For a moment everything went silent, despair invaded him while centimeters away the water ran, splashing his face.
He searched everywhere desperately for a way out, but there was nothing left in this situation.
'At least I'll die by the current and not by the filthy hands of that bastard…'
Matt had already accepted his fate.
When suddenly, a red light lit up beneath the bridge.
His eyes met it and he was surprised, for there was a strange and tiny creature hiding among the cracks.
'A fairy?'
The creature had two wings with fine dark details that split into four. At its center, a tiny body was lost in the light, however, the features of its face were clearly visible.
'Impossible.'
He thought, surprised. For the strange fairy had an adorable and at the same time demonic face.
Two antennae protruded above its head while its two completely dark eyes stood out on its tiny face. Two red lines appeared in a constant dripping flow of tears.
The image gave the sensation of being before a beautiful and divine being that was wrapped in misfortunes until falling into Hopelessness.
For a moment he forgot about his pain and cruel fate. However, he was brought back to reality when Garren's voice echoed from above.
"I'm sorry… I had planned to bother you for a while from there."
One of his claws approached dangerously close to the only rope holding him but stopped at the last instant.
"Happy birthday."
Then he cut the rope.
Matt fell into the raging river.
Despair returned to him as the current dragged him.
He struggled with all his might, but the ropes still bound his hands and legs, preventing him from swimming or even resisting.
The water made its way through the gaps in the rope that gagged his mouth and his lungs filled with it.
Then his consciousness began to fade little by little.
The image of a red-haired girl and one last thought passed through his mind.
'So, will we never see each other again?'
His eyes closed and darkness enveloped him. The howl of the water became distant and his last glimpse of consciousness vanished.
Just then, a small red light detached from the bridge and flew quickly toward Matt's body.
And in the midst of that darkness, a message shone.
[The Hopelessness of a fairy rests upon your shoulders.]