OLD-WORLD EXTRA

47  Torture II

With each snap of Emir's fingers, the pain surged through him like a bolt of lightning.

The man seemed to take pleasure in causing him agony, and Emir could hear his laughter echoing in the small room.

Emir's fingers throbbed as the man moved on to his arms, pulling and twisting them with a sickening force.

He felt the bones in his arms bend and break under relentless torture.

The pain was unbearable, and Emir was starting to lose consciousness.

But the torturer wasn't finished with him yet.

"Ugh…"

Emir let out a whimper as his left arm was twisted, and the torturer laughed in triumph, finally managing to make him let out a groan.

He felt the sweat pouring down his face as the man finished his brutal work, leaving him with twisted limbs and both arms flailing at each side of the chair he was sitting on, causing him an indescribable amount of pain.

But somehow, Emir managed to endure it, gritting his teeth and taking slow, shallow breaths to stave off the pain.

But without any pause, the man moved to Emir's feet.

He took out a hammer and started hitting each of Emir's toes, one by one.

Emir felt his bones shatter with each blow, tears threatening to stream down his face as he tried to maintain his composure.

The torturer moved on to his legs, and with brutal efficiency, he snapped the bones in his legs one by one.

Emir tried to remain stoic, but the pain was almost too much, even for him, and he gritted his teeth further, causing more blood to drip out of his mouth.

The man finally took a step back, his expression unreadable as he spoke in a chilling tone:

"I'm not sure if you can hear me, but listen closely… I have exhausted all body parts to toy with. I can't carry on torturing you without killing you…"

"But don't be under the impression that you're safe now. I will heal you and do it all over again…"

"You will not get any rest until you breathe your last breath."

"…Now why don't you talk and make it easier for yourself?"

"…"

Emir remained silent, his inky eyes blankly staring into nothingness.

"Suit yourself."

With those words left behind, he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Emir in excruciating pain.

He reentered the room after a brief moment, carrying an old-world medicine box filled with pills.

In one swift motion, he jammed them into Emir's mouth, and despite the agony, he managed to swallow them.

Emir felt a wave of relief wash over him as he realized that things were going according to plan, something that he had begun to doubt.

"Relax for now, Emir, it would be the only time you would be able to." He said sitting down on a nearby chair.

As sensation slowly returned to his arms, the sound of metal needles hitting the ground echoed in the room, indicating the nails had been ejected from his fingertips.

Hearing that, the torturer resumed his cruel work, giving Emir no respite.

Despite the escalating agony, Emir remained more stoic than ever, his body rigid and his eyes fixed, waiting for an opportunity.

Hour after hour, the torture continued, each moment more unbearable than the last.

However, only one thing hasn't remained unchanged: the torturer's stamina.

He couldn't keep up and eventually switched over to another.

The new one acted the same as the first, it was like they were both imitating a code or book that explained intimidation tactics and such.

…

Emir forced himself to sleep a bit during each recovery period, striving to maintain concentration.

And soon enough, Lyra alerted him to the arrival of a new day by offering a cheerful morning greeting, to which he responded in kind.

Today, the torturer took his brutality to a new level, clearly infuriated by Emir's lack of response.

He repeatedly broke his fingers, arms, and legs, using old-world medicine to patch him up just enough to withstand the next bout of torture.

Emir's body was bruised and battered beyond recognition, yet somehow he managed to cling to life.

His focus was slowly waning, however…

Since the only thing he kept hearing was the same meaning question constantly repeated after every bout.

"How can you access the old-world network?"

"How can you do it?"

"Tell me how!"

'How, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how, how… JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!!'

…

Lyra's good morning, greeting signaled another day had passed, but Emir had lost track of time amidst the constant agony.

His mind was slowly detaching from his body, and the torture was becoming increasingly brutal.

They had always waited for Emir's injuries to heal.

And when his arms, fingers, and bones, grew back like hair…

They'd return back to the usual.

And the torture kept going, on and on.

Almost never-ending.

Over and

body.

Emir clenched his teeth until his mouth started bleeding more than ever before, but they just laughed and continued to inflict more pain.

But suddenly, during his few moments of healing and rest, someone came into the room, finally turning on the lights, almost blinding Emir in the process.

Clad in a C-rank augmented suit, the man strode up to Emir's torturer and shouted in his face:

"WHY HAVEN'T YOU MADE HIM SPEAK YET?!"

Stepping back, the man said:

"…I'm sorry, boss, there is nothing that I can do, he just doesn't say a word, he just grunts and takes in the torture all day."

In surprise, the man turned his gaze towards Emir, scrutinizing his appearance.

"How is this possible? Didn't the information we get say that he was only 13 and had it easy?"

[…Lyra….. Get ready.] Emir said telepathically.

[Just tell me when to start.] She replied.

Barely finding the strength to speak, Emir asked with a hoarse voice:

"…How did you find out about me being connected to the old-world network?"

The leader's eyes narrowed as he leaned in close to him.

"So you can speak....good, good."

"An acquaintance of yours snitched on you, they weren't sure about your connection to the old world, but that's what all the torture was for, right? Oh, and we won't tell you who that is, we have a policy not to disclose our friend's information, you see."

Emir attempted to nod his mangled head.

"...Okay, but before I tell you guys anything, I want to know more about my future killers."

"Well..." The group's leader paused for a moment, giving himself a moment to think.

"Sure, it would waste both of our time to continue this." He continued, agreeing to Emir's demand.

[Begin.] He said, announcing their demise, wanting nothing more than to kill them all.

Ofc, as hinted at previously this entire thing was planned by Emir, he wouldn't be giving himself away so easily now, would he?