Read Contract with the devil :: repetition, boredom

Chapter four : repetition, boredom

The hands multiplied around him, racing to mutilate his body and drag more screams of agony from his lips. He struggled to hold onto even a sliver of hope, but he was trapped in an endless vortex of horror and despair. The pale hands crept closer, as if promising him an inescapable fate shrouded in darkness…

And so, the cycle of tearing and destruction began anew—starting with his eyes, then spreading to every part of his body…

…

At some point, the hands began to shift, taking on shapes eerily similar to human forms. Yet their faces were twisted in grotesque, monstrous distortions—some bore mouths where their eyes should have been, others lacked features altogether, and some had nothing but a single, grotesquely large ear.

Ik, now accustomed to agony after enduring hundreds of cycles of dismemberment, stared at the creatures that tore into his stomach and feasted upon his entrails. A strange thought crossed his mind, and a look of curiosity flickered across his battered face.

"That’s strange… The creatures always started by tearing apart my head, but this time, they began with my stomach…"

As his flesh was being shredded, Ik studied the creatures intently. With what little strength he had left, he clenched his fist and swung it toward one of the monstrosities. His blow struck its head, and in an instant, it exploded into a spray of blackened shreds and pale, tattered skin.

Ik glanced at his fist, now coated in the thick, inky substance.

"It seems I’ve grown stronger since the last time I tried to kill one of these things. Back then, I could barely pierce their heads. But now… I can obliterate them."

He shut his eyes once more, waiting for the next cycle to begin…

After some time, he felt his body begin to mend. Shattered bones fused back together, growing stronger with each reconstruction. Torn flesh knit itself whole once more, becoming more resilient. His organs regenerated, healthier and more refined than before. And when the cycle completed, Ik’s body stood restored—reborn.

This time, however, he did not lie motionless, awaiting his inevitable end. He had made a decision. He would move.

With newfound resolve, Ik rose to his feet.

Then he ran.

Faster than ever before, so fast that afterimages trailed behind him like lingering echoes of his form. As he sprinted, he surveyed his surroundings, truly studying them for the first time since his endless, futile attempts at escape. His enhanced vision allowed him to see in greater clarity than ever before.

Ik’s sight stretched over a thousand kilometers in every direction. He observed his surroundings carefully. A ground of dense, black liquid. A sky painted in lifeless gray. A sun of unyielding black. And mountains—pale, sickly white structures that loomed in the distance.

To an ordinary person, they would appear as mountains.

But to Ik, with his newly awakened vision, they were something far worse.

They were not mountains at all.

They were heaped masses of pale, twisted creatures—contorted, writhing monstrosities stacked upon one another, an endless range of grotesque, white horrors.

Yet even among these bleak discoveries, one revelation stood out.

Ik had gained a new ability.

A strange, unfathomable gift that allowed him to conceal himself within darkness, shadows, and anything that bore the color of pure blackness. But the most significant aspect of this newfound power was its ability to let him bypass the surface of the inky liquid below him. He could now dive beneath it, slipping past what was once an unbreakable barrier.

Furthermore, he no longer required air or sustenance. The darkness itself had become his sustenance, feeding his body, restoring him whenever he was harmed—so long as he remained untouched by light.

This power was his sanctuary.

And in this abyssal world of eternal night, it was his greatest weapon.

Ik activated his ability, sinking into the black liquid below. The once-solid surface parted for him as though welcoming its own.

"If there is nothing on the surface… then the key to escaping must be below."

With that thought, he swam downward, deeper into the abyss, his eyes scanning his surroundings with sharp precision.

He ventured further into the depths, searching…

And then, after what felt like an eternity, Ik spotted something.

A faint dot of dark green light.

At first, it was no larger than a grain of rice, a mere speck in the vast ocean of blackness.

But as he swam closer…

The dot began to grow.

It became clearer.