It was a dark room with walls shaded under red shadows. The interrogation chamber of the Church’s inquisitor sect used the blood spilled in this room to construct a conceptual field of dread and pain. The foreboding air was heavy and weighed on the human mind, breaking many before the inquisitor even began to approach. They considered all who entered bound in chains undeserved of mercy.

With the survival of humanity on the line, there were no risks too small, no price too costly. The innocent would not suffer in vain, and the guilty would pave the way for salvation.

The obsidian cross Rana was bound to was a torture device, yet its true purpose was far sinister. It was made to inflict pain, and inquisitors mastered the manipulation of pain. Runes that were etched deep within the construction once invoked would tear towards the surface and into the captive in the form of bleeding veins. The magic took the shape of blood and infected the mind of whoever was bound. The edges of the bindings on the wrists and ankles made sure the poison seeped into the captive.

“To think the amnesiac traitor a hundred years ago carried a book detailing her treachery, how vain,” the bald man said as he slapped a book onto a desk filled with tools that promised pain of unspeakable degrees. “I can relate to that. Even the vilest of men crave the vindication of their achievement. It is one of the baser desires, one that even I am starved of. The terror you wreaked upon the kingdom is second only to the most ancient of demons, and now, I will deliver you to the Archbishop. I am already salivating at the thought.”

Rana ignored the man’s cackling that echoed within the chamber. Her mind was numb. The field of dread was ineffective against her, but her own despair took away her fight.

She would've been surprised to be here as inquisitors cared not for monsters, but it seemed like they made an exception for her. Paladins were swords, but nquisitors were the shield protecting humanity from the evils of men. She was neither a man or a monster, but she was undeniably an evil born of men.

A small chuckle left her lips. She had agonized over her own humanity over the past several months, questioned her state as a monster with a human mind, and cursed the foul joke that lead to her awakening. It turned out she never had to struggle. She was a human that chose to become a monster, and her zombie state was befitting of who she was. She was one who lived but killed her heart.

“Do you find this amusing, paladin?” the man asked as he paused from his animated laughter. Rana ignored him. There was nothing more to be said. Her second life would be over soon. The man frowned then turned to the two guards at the door. “I shall now begin the process of extracting the truth, you two will leave the room.”

“It is dangerous,” Kai started but was quickly interrupted.

“Do not worry. Even the most powerful marked one cannot break free from these contraptions. I’ve studied the long lost inquisitor secrets for decades and can assure you I will not be in harm's way. It is you two, who do not know of the depths of their power, that will be in danger once I begin.”

Kai wanted to protest but Henry quickly grabbed his shoulder. The two exchanged a look but Henry simply shook his head. His captain then turned to their superior and said through clenched teeth. “As you wish, Bishop Lain.”

When the two stalked out of the room, Lain turned towards Rana with an exasperated sigh. “Paladins, too shortsighted and laughably foolish. They see you as a monster, someone to be judged and condemned to death, but you are not a simple traitor. You are someone who achieved a greatness few dreamed of even accomplishing! That is why you are one of the greatest achievements I can offer the Church. With you, the heights I’ll be able to reach is immeasurable.”

Lain twirled and strode as he proclaimed his path to success. When he turned and saw Rana’s apathetic expression, he raised an eyebrow and chuckled. “I seem to forget you are also one of their ilks. You should be thankful towards me as it was my order that you were captured alive. Don’t worry, I do plan to kill you, but not until I have proof of your identity. I do not wish for anything to risk the chances of my success.”

Lain then returned to the table of tools. He pulled a bag soaked in dark patches from under it and removed several large syringes from inside. Rana’s eyes widened. It couldn’t be. The mad man could not be thinking of doing something as terrible as what she was thinking.

“Well, we do need to keep you alive during the process. It was such a hassle to gather them on such short notice. Thankfully, no one would notice if they were gone,” he said and then smirked at her. “Do forgive me, however, as my studies to the lost secrets of the inquisitors gave me plenty of knowledge, but I do not have the finesse and technique required to control the runes of the contraption. We might be here for quite some time.”

Rana glanced at what Lain was holding. It was a metallic circlet with needles within, an inquisitor contraption that detected truth and would generate the deceleration of it into a scroll. It used pain to wrestle the truth out of screams. A person did not confess, they suffered until the truth was declared.

“I am honestly quite thankful for what you have done, all things considered,” Lain said as he fastened the circlet on her head. “Although I personally preferred if you had wiped the paladins out instead of the inquisitors, your actions gave me such a fascinating field of study and the means to do so. The stories we were told, honestly frightening. It was a relief I did not need to dread every waking hour every time I paid off kingdom and Church supervision. It was such a genius plan too. With the Church losing its arm in enforcing the doctrine of the One Deity, you allowed the darkest parts of humanity to fester, and in time they tore themselves apart. Unity was humanity’s greatest strength and you single handily destroyed that. I admire such work.”

“You seem to admire your own insanity as well,” Rana said. She did not understand why, but Lain bothered her. What he revealed was troubling, humanity not having inquisitors was not something to be taken lightly and it was downright maddening the Church did not rebuild the sect. Inquisitors were merciless, but they also were the reason traitors and corruption never took flight in the Church. Lain was the sort of Church officials inquisitors hunted. Now, because of her past, he was left to roam free and harm the kingdom.

“Well, I will be admiring your screams, very soon.”

Without any warning, Lain began to chant. The words were lacking in conviction and the flow of mana was haphazardly guided, but it was enough to invoke the magic sleeping within what Rana was bound to. She felt the liquid ooze out of the metal and into her body through the puncture wounds. When the poison seeped into her veins, her mind was assaulted by a pain that pushed through her gritting teeth and into the air as screams of agony. She heard questions but the only answers she gave were even louder screams. Her mind race through information like a torrent, and each frame of the past sliced and ripped until it was out of the body. She flailed as she was abused by spasms, the pain guiding her every move. She did not know how long she suffered, but when her mind threatened to black out the pain abruptly stopped.

In her daze, Rana could hear Lain mutter something but she couldn’t hear him. All she could see was that the man was reaching for the syringe with dark red liquid. He was about to inject the blood of the innocent into her. The thought ignited her awareness and her eyes flared.

“Don’t you dare,” Rana managed out of gritted teeth.

“Interesting. You’ve slain thousands and caused the death of millions yet here you are refusing the blood of one reject of society. As respect for your misplaced honor, and the gifts you have and will give me, I shall grant you your wish.”

Once again the pain like lightning exploded in her veins. She was screaming before she knew it. She was going to die. It might’ve been a solace, knowing that the world would be rid of a monster like her. However, there was something calling her, the same tether of light that pulled from the voice. For a moment it was as if time had stopped, as if a single question held her entire being.

Was she willing to die?

Rana didn’t know if she was willing to die. However, she knew that if she were to die, she refused to be at the hands of a corrupt coward like Lain.

The torrent of pain continued. However, within the torrent she found a familiar sensation, something she knew of in her past. Her mind was too tormented to recognize it, but her mind struggled against the current of blades that was her memory. She resisted and followed, and then she felt her bindings loosened.

Rana opened her eyes and she was already upon the man man. His eyes were wide, his lips agape and failing to form words. She pounced and dropped him through the table. She was on top of him.

“It can’t be,” Lain stammered before Rana knocked him out.

Rana stood up, her mind still burdened by lingering pain. However, her conviction for the truth was reignited. Within the pain, the torrent of truth, there was something amiss, something that rejected the stories she heard. She would not allow herself to die before knowing what was true and what were lies.

She had to get to an Altar and reactivate her Status.

Luckily, there was a priest right here.