Without hesitation, Dante threw a brutal punch, sending him crashing to the ground. He didn't stop there he kicked him again and again without mercy, every strike tearing into his exhausted body, intensifying the agony and helplessness he felt.
Dante's voice rang out, laced with cold fury and disdain:
"Learn it. Learn how to speak to your boss!
I don't care who your father is, or who you think you are. On my land, men like you don't exist!"
Mildo trembled with every blow, his whole body writhing in pain.
Then Dante shoved him hard against the wall. A burning torch hanging from the ceiling came loose, falling onto half of his face. The fire engulfed him in searing torment unlike anything he had ever felt before.
His body convulsed in shock, and a scream tore from his throat as unbearable pain paralyzed him.
Dante's words came, cold and sharp as stone:
"Take him to the dark room… no food, no water… until his mind comes back to him."
Enzo stepped forward, smiling with cruel delight, his eyes glimmering with twisted pleasure as he watched Mildo's suffering.
"As you wish, boss… leave him to me."
Henry, on the other hand, stood absent-minded, his cold eyes betraying no emotion. Then, slowly, he turned and walked out, leaving behind a heavy silence as he distanced himself from the brutality he had just witnessed.
Mildo collapsed, unconscious and drained, dragged mercilessly away.
They threw him into the dark room, the heavy iron door closing with a dreadful echo, leaving only the sound of his ragged breathing and the silent screams of his broken body.
He sat on the cold floor, struggling for breath, his eyes half-shut from the pain, while loneliness weighed on his heart heavier than any wound.
Enzo entered with slow steps, a sly grin etched across his face, holding a heavy iron rod.
"Well… well," he sneered.
Mildo raised his head with difficulty, one eye barely open, the other shut tight from pain.
"You bastard… what do you want now?"
Enzo laughed mockingly, leaning forward slightly.
"Don't be so cruel, I only came to have a little fun with you."
Breathing hard, his voice hoarse with pain, Mildo muttered:
"Leave…"
But Enzo only smirked darker, spinning the rod in his hand.
"Unfortunately for you, I'm not leaving anytime soon."
Just those words made Mildo shiver. Pain mixed with fear inside him, yet his eyes still gleamed with defiance as if his unbroken spirit was the only weapon left to him.
Enzo raised the rod and struck his back, then his stomach. Not satisfied, he pressed his hand against the burn on Mildo's face, deepening the torment.
A scream ripped through Mildo's lungs, echoing in the dark chamber. His body shook violently under the agony, his voice sharp and filled with fury:
"I'll kill you, Enzo! I'll kill you!"
His words dissolved into coughing, tears glinting in the shadows.
Enzo stared at the blood on his hand with deranged eyes, his voice trembling with rage and obsession:
"You humiliated me in front of the boss! You dared to disgrace me in front of him!"
He tore at his own hair, screaming with manic fury:
"He should be proud of me ، ME alone! Not Henry, never that bastard!"
Drawing closer, his eyes gleaming with madness, he hissed:
"I'll show you what it means to challenge me!"
He smashed Mildo's head against the wall, striking the burned side first. The impact made his body spasm, his left ear ringing with a sharp, endless tone, until the world spun violently around him. His body finally collapsed, limp and powerless.
Darkness swallowed him whole, and the world fell silent.
But Enzo wasn't done. He beat Mildo again and again with the rod.
"Wake up! I'm not finished with you ، wake up!"
Yet Mildo's body lay still, unmoving, as though pain had lost its hold over him.
Cursing under his breath, Enzo finally pulled away.
"Damn you."
He stormed out, leaving Mildo broken, silent, surrounded by suffocating darkness.
Hours later, Mildo stirred, his body aching with fire in every limb.
As soon as he lifted his head, the sharp ringing returned to his left ear. He touched it, only to feel blood seeping out.
A heavy sigh escaped him, tears filling his eyes. In a faint, cracked whisper, he murmured:
"I'm so tired of this… just kill me already."
His eyes widened suddenly as his hand pressed to his ear again. His voice trembled:
"My ear… I can't hear anymore…"
He leaned against the wall, trembling from the pain. A bitter laugh broke from his lips ،half despair, half horror.
"I've lost that too…"
Two days passed without food or water. His body weakened, his soul drained. With a small stone, he scratched into the wall: I will kill them all.
Then, in the corner of the room, his eyes caught something strange. He crawled closer, reached out and lifted it.
"A mask…?" he whispered.
It was worn and rough, its cold texture echoing the agony of whoever once owned it. Turning it over, he saw a single letter engraved upon it: M.
He brushed the dust off gently and lifted it toward his face, but the pain of his burns stopped him. He leaned back against the wall, holding the mask, staring at it quietly.
Suddenly, a throbbing headache thundered through his skull, the ringing in his ear louder than ever, filling his mind with unbearable noise.
"My head… it hurts…" he groaned, surrendering to the torment.
The world around him blurred, memories and sounds dissolving into chaos—until a whisper broke through.
"Andrei…"
His eyes shot open. He whipped his head around, but no one was there. The whisper came again, from all directions this time, driving him toward madness.
Desperately, he searched the shadows, but the room remained empty only the name echoed endlessly in his mind.
Suddenly, a hazy memory surfaced ،a hand reaching out, offering him a pendant.
Instinctively, Mildo clutched his chest and found the pendant still hanging around his neck, cold against his skin.
"That's enough! Who are you?!" he screamed in anguish.
And then someone appeared. A figure, as if born from the very darkness of the room.
"You think this silence will save you?" the stranger said, voice calm yet threatening.
Mildo's eyes widened. "Who are you? How did you get in here?"
The stranger smirked faintly.
"I'm no one. Call me whatever you wish. As for how I got here… I don't know."
"What nonsense is this?! Stop toying with me!" Mildo shouted, his eyes darting warily.
But the man's tone was unshaken, eerily calm.
"I'm not toying with you. This isn't the time for that. You should be thinking about how you'll escape this hell."
Mildo's voice broke with despair, his body still trembling in pain.
"No… there's no way out. I'll never escape. They're monsters. Look at me ،I've lost everything. They've taken everything from me."
The stranger's voice grew firm, edged with conviction.
"No. There is a way. You are different you are strong, and clever. Earn their trust. Then strike when the time is right."
Mildo sat clutching the pendant, staring at it blankly. His eyes widened as realization struck.
"Wait… why… why can't I remember who I am?"
He clawed at his head in a frenzy.
"Why can't I remember?! Why have I forgotten even myself?!"
His cries broke into sobs, like a child who had lost his home, his family, his entire world. His fists pounded the ground until his hands bled.
The stranger only watched, then finally stepped closer, his gaze steady.
"They've stolen the most precious thing from you. Will you keep crying like a child or will you fight for yourself?"
Through tears, Mildo lifted his gaze to him, then lowered it to the blood splattered on the floor. He shut his eyes, whispering:
"What can I do? I'm just a boy who's lost his identity… I remember nothing but fragments of what happened since I first opened my eyes in this place."
The stranger placed a gentle hand on his shoulders, smiling warmly, his voice calm and reassuring:
"It's alright… you can begin again. This isn't the end. We'll walk this path together, to find who you truly are."
Mildo's heart trembled, and before he could answer, the whisper returned, louder now: Andrei.
He spun around, but there was nothing there only emptiness. Turning back to the stranger, he muttered:
"I think… I know where to start. I have to find that person. I have to find Andrei."
The man's eyes gleamed with pride. He stretched his hand to help Mildo rise, smiling with a warmth laced in mischief:
"I'll help you. We'll escape together and search for Andrei. But first… tell me, what should I call you? Or shall I stick to 'the lost boy'?"
Mildo grasped his hand and stood, clutching the mask against his chest. His fingers traced the engraved letter as he whispered:
"M… Mildo. Call me Mildo."
The stranger grinned, lifting his hand in delight.
"I like that. Mildo."
To Mildo, this stranger was everything he wasn't bright, full of reckless energy, bursting with color while he himself was only a gray husk.
The man clutched Mildo's shoulders with boyish excitement, eyes sparkling with joy.
"And me, Mildo… I want a name too!"
Mildo froze, startled by the sudden closeness, brows raised.
"A… name for you?"
After a pause, he nodded slowly.
"Yes… I have it. Luca. It suits your strange nature."
The man's smile stretched wide. He spun lightly, giddy with childlike joy.
"Luca… I love it, Mildo. I am Luca."
But their moment was shattered by the heavy clang of the lock turning.
Mildo stiffened, eyes widening. He whipped his head toward Luca and whispered urgently:
"Hide! Quickly, before they see you!"
Luca glanced around the barren cell, then smirked with bitter amusement.
"There's no escape… nowhere to hide."