Leon had had enough. There was nothing more to say now. He was going to show this man what pain really looked like. Such shallow tactics could never work in the face of his strength. He was going to utterly crush him.
"
Kneel
," he saidâonly one word, but it struck like thunder.
The smirk on the manâs face vanished completely as his knees buckled with a wet
crack
, his body slamming into the ground with a heavy
thud
.
CRK!
A sickening snap echoed as the manâs knees shattered, forcing him to collapse with a scream.
AAAHHH!
His body contorted unnaturally, as though gravity itself had turned against him. Bones groaned and popped, one after another, beneath unseen pressure.
The rest of the group went dead silent, realizing that their God was not only merciless but utterly ruthless.
Yet there was no sympathy in their eyesâonly excitement. They wished this man dead even more than they had wished it for Mia, who was just greedy and obnoxiousânot evil like him.
"Let him be judged!"
Then the next voice:
"Kill him, God!"
The chants exploded like drums of judgment, thunderous and inescapable, pounding in unison as the man on the ground writhed and screamed beneath divine pressure.
"ARRGGGHHH! You bastards are all against me! Once Iâm back from my punishment, Iâll come for every single one of you!"
Leon scoffed at his words. What gave this man the confidence to believe he wouldnât be killed?
Interesting.
He had noticed young Lisa smiling for some reasonâa rare sightâwhen this man hit the ground. She had even joined in the chant, unlike before. He had thought she was gaining confidence.
But now, his thoughts werenât so simple, as just then the manâs voice reached her, and she shivered in place.
Goosebumps prickled her arms. The silver handle of her little dagger felt slick in her sweaty grip. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, every breath shallow, as if the air had turned too thick to breathe.
Leon knew this was the man who had bullied herâand tried to do other things. She had survived. She denied being raped, yet the marks on her body told him she had definitely been beaten and abused at the very least.
This made his blood boil, seething with anger.
He had already decided to nurture her talent, like Rudy, the boy outside, and a few others who were worth it in his eyes.
Touching his property? Unacceptable.
With his pressure, he slowly crushed the bones in the manâs body one by one, as the screams of agony rang out.
Taking his time.
ARRGGGHHH!
What is happening...
The man was now terrified. This wasnât how a god was supposed to act.
Slowly, every part of his body was crushed. Yet he was still breathingâdespite his bloody and battered body twitching from time to time.
He had lost the ability to even form thoughts.
Leon was even more certain now. This was the man who had abused young Lisaâher reaction, the way she smiled at the manâs screams, and even the slight tear at the edge of her eyes.
He was close to dying nowâbut that was not how Leon wanted to end him.
He would give him hope, only to let him meet his unending demise.
This could also serve as a reminder to allâthat his kindness doesnât always lead to mercy. Sometimes, knocking on his door meant entering hell.
With his life energy, he healed the man just enough that he could talk and walk again. He didnât want the pain to leave him.
He removed the pressure from the manâs body and ordered, his voice cold.
The manâs eyes were shaken. His whole body language had changed now, after experiencing the mind-shattering pain for the first time. But he had been healed magically by the very God who had brought him to the brink of death.
All thoughts of resistance and cleverness had left his mind.
Argh... I shouldnât have provoked this monster of a God. Even humans donât torture like this...
"Stand up."
He tried to stand, even as his whole body screamed with pain. His arms trembled beneath him, elbows scraping against the coarse grass as he pushed upward with a twitching motion that barely passed for human.
Each breath he took rasped in his throat, shallow and wheezing, like his lungs had forgotten how to expand. His knees buckled twice, and he tasted dirt and blood every time his face struck the ground again.
There was no sympathy in Leonâs eyesâonly cold precision. It was as if he were conducting an experiment, watching the man crawl from the edge of death just to see if he could. Not out of mercyâbut curiosity.
Everyone was completely silent.ânot a speck of noise, other than their breathing.
Only the faint rustle of shifting feet and the sharp exhale of someone trying not to gasp broke the silence. The heat clung to their backs, thick and sticky, as if the sun itself was bearing witness to divine wrath.
No one had imagined their God would literally torture a man slowly. They couldnât understand what was going on in his mind. He hadnât killed Mia, even when they chanted. He had forgiven her. There was only one explanation that made sense.
Our God has seen through this tyrantâs true nature and deemed that he needed to be tortured.
His methods terrified themâbut at the same time, made him feel even more revered in their eyes. They held their breath in anticipation of what he would do next, now that the man had been healed back to living condition.
As they watched the so-called tyrant fall down again and again, trying to standâ
Finally, he stood. His body language was like a shrimp out of water. Eyes down, head low, hands folded in front of him. A grunt of pain escaped his mouth.
Argh!
"Quiet."
He wasnât even allowed to scream now. Hearing Godâs command, he bit his own lip to keep from making any noise.
But the Godâs next words made the manâs body relax a little, despite the pain.
"Do you want to live?"
He really is a malevolent God...
The man truly appreciated this fact now.
Yet to Lisa, these words were like the rope she had been holding onto was suddenly cut. Her face lost all its color.
She could only watch, standing in her place. She couldnât intervene in Godâs decisionâbut she hoped he would at least take one of the bastardâs arms or legs.
If he tried something again, she was going to use the dagger she had. She believed she would kill himâif he had only one hand or one leg.
The man nodded continuously, his eyes filled with hope.
"Hmm. If you can run continuously for 100 meters without releasing a single painful sound, Iâll forgive your transgression this time."
One hundred metersâin this bloody condition. The man knew it was going to be torturous, almost on the same level as his bones getting crushed.
But he would do it. Because he felt like he would be crushed by the godly might again. He would rather run than be tortured helplessly, without control over his own body.
Another nod confirmed the manâs willingness, making Leonâs smile bloom fully.
"Alright. Complete ten circles around usâthat would be 100 meters. Easy, right?"
The man wanted to scream. How could it be easy, when just standing made him feel agony? But still, his lips remained sealed, bitten tight as he had been ordered to stay silent.
He nodded his head again.
Leonâs smile widened even more.
"If thatâs easy, I will double it and give it to you for making it challenging. Now do twenty laps. Easy, right?"
He bit his own lipâblood drawn from it. He was being played like an ant.
He regretted his decision to try acting sly in front of this monster.
This time, he shook his head at the question.
"Alright then, start running," Leon said, his tone freezing the atmosphere.
"But if you stop, I will personally kill you."
With a sharp
clap
, crisp and commanding, the silence cracked. The sound echoed like a judgeâs gavel slamming down in finality.
"Run now. I know you can do it."
What do you mean, you "know I can do it"? I HAVE to do itâyouâll kill me if I donât, you psycho...
While everyone remained tense and silent in anticipation of this torturous runâ
James was laughing menacingly in the background. His face, when rested, was averageâbut when he laughed evilly, it made him a hundred times uglier. And he knew that fact. But he never cared. As an assassin, this worked in his favorâand this sight was too exciting not to enjoy.
Ah! This is my true Lord. Torture this man to death!
Kek kek kek
He looked like a deranged squirrel whoâd just seen someone get roasted in the group chatâand that was exactly the kind of energy he wanted to embody.
But he never forgot to take a two-second break with every laugh and breath.
All the while, rooting for the man to make a noise or collapseâ
So he could witness the manâs glorious death.
Kek kek... will it be an ice statue? Crushed by my Lordâs pressure alone? Or something else entirely...
James was buzzing with excitement.
He loved this.