Chapter 68: A mind that punishes.
The two carriages rode into the compound, stopping right in front of the castle.
The guard standing in front of the massive stairs leading to the castle door, stepped forward and oped the door.
Merlin was the first to step out, her black dress dancing in the wind as she shifted to the side.
And th came Ha Joon, he stood at the door for a while, before looking at the guard.
"There's a lady in here, take her to my chambers, be careful, she could kill you if you let your guard down, no pressure." He issued with a smile.
The guard feeling anxious nodded his head in agreemt, before walking towards the carriage to see Sinex, tied up on the floor.
He trapped her and placed her on his shoulder.
Zex, still under the carriage, was noticed as her guard pulled out Sinex.
'There she is… my sses were right after all.' he said with a smile on his face, 'It shouldn't be hard to grab her, Sinex is smart, the momt i release her, she'll know what to do'.
As he was thinking of the next move to make, he felt a sudd presce, one he was very well familiar with.
First it was the leg, th the waist, until he finally got a good look of the person.
It was Ha Joon.
He was speaking to Merlin at the side as the guard was trying to get help from the other guards nearby, so as to avoid making a mistake with Sinex.
'There he is too… the man Mother st us to bring for her… this is it, I can take him in too…'
Ev with his flat square body, Zex was about to stretch out a part of his body into a ttacle like blade.
'If I cut off his leg, that should reduce the chances of him fighting back, I'm at an advantage here… I can bring him back to Mother…'
He paused.
'T..the hell?! What is wrong with me? He's right in front of me, slice off his legs already, hurry, before he goes! Am i… scared? Shi! I can't stop shaking.
Cut off his legs you fucking idiot!!! Ahhhh-'
Gasp !
In that momt, Zex felt his soul collapse within him, his eyes wided in terror and his tire being crumpling.
The man he had so desperately wanted to attack, was now looking towards his position with a side eye.
His red ominous eyes.
His aura was so intse it could make the strongest of forms suffocate.
Like flashbacks, the picture of Ha Joon exploding his body with a punch kept replaying in Zex's head.
'He's…He's a demon.' Zex blurted out internally, fear hitched on his face, 'I'm going to die again!'.
His breath kept pacing.
Suddly, Ha Joon began to walk closer, his feet stopping only mere inches from Zex's body.
At this point, Zex had already begun sweating bullets, all thoughts of rescuing Sinex and kidnapping Ha Joon had vanished from his head.
He didn't want to die by Ha Joon's hands again.
"Silly me, I almost forgot the key to the cuffs." Ha Joon laughed as he picked the key on the seat and placed it inside his pocket.
"Key?" Merlin tilted her head to the side, "didn't you throw it away?" She asked.
"Tsk! I'm not an old uncle, I know wh and how I do things thank you very much." Ha Joon scoffed, "Guard man, bring the girl and follow me".
With that , Ha Joon walked up the stairs, the guards and Merlin following behind him.
Seeing the oping, Zex whooshed away, finding a small closed place in the castle's vironmt to hide.
With his bed resting on the wall, he tried to catch his breath, his eyes closed.
'What is going on with me?' Zex whispered to himself.
Now looking at his hand, he could see how badly he was trembling.
"Tsk! Damnit, get a hold of yourself, you've died plty of times, this isn't any differ-"
The image of Ha Joon slamming his back against the wall played in his head again.
He immediately covered his mouth.
'Damn you Traveler… damn you!!!'
...
Baam!
The sound of impact echoed as Ha Joon tossed Sinex onto the plush bed.
He stood at the trance, his broad frame casting a shadow over the room.
Sinex's eyes locked onto his, but unlike the fear one might expect, her gaze was full of fascination, as if he were some rare, unattainable prize.
"This is your room?" Sinex's voice was smooth, teasing, her lips curling into a smile. "Bigger than I expected. So, love, what are you going to do with me?" Her tone dripped with seduction, each word carefully chos to provoke. "Tell me... I want to know."
Ha Joon exhaled slowly, controlling the rising fire in his chest.
'Like a man who quits smoking , th finds cigarettes waved in front of him again, it would only be a matter of time before he circumvts the habit and becomes what he once abandoned".
He breathed out.
'I'm in a similar situation, I thought I was done with it, I thought I no longer had it inside me…this girl…knows exactly what buttons to push, but I won't fall into that pit again, rather, I'll make her my wall to rest on wh that pit tries to consume me'.
'System, op the Playg.'
[Understood.]
[Accessing Playg stimulation…]
Before Sinex could react, the world a her dissolved into a blank, expanse.
She blinked in confusion, her body suddly weightless in the void.
"W-What is this?" she muttered, her earlier confidce faltering. "Where are we?"
Ha Joon stepped forward, his presce looming larger in the empty space.
His eyes, cold and calm, locked onto hers with a predatory intsity.
"This... is my world," he said, his voice ev, but laced with something darker. "As long as we're here, time stands still. A perfect place... to make you understand."
Sinex locked eyes with Ha Joon, but this time she couldn't sse the hatred he once looked at her with, this time, it was like she was looking directly at a demon.
"Do you want to know what I'm feeling right now?"
Ha Joon moved closer to her.
Sinex nodded her head.
"I don't care if we find the goddess or whatever mission you are on. If I did, I would have gott the truth out of you already, I have my means, but yet I'm still keeping you, why do you think that is?... You reminded me of something I had long forgott, you? A stranger? I feel utterly useless and pathetic right now, and that just seems to make me ev angrier."
He knelt in front of her, his hand on her cheeks as he smiled…
"You should be punished for that. Of course I can't let you just walk away… I'm going to make you loyal, submit to me, selfish or not, that is the only way I can regain my pride. You think you're obsessed with me now? You wait till I'm done with you, every thought of me will bring you pure joy and bliss, and th…"
His hand glowed a pink light, activating his Lust skill.
"And th… I'll pour all this hatred you've awaked in me…onto you".