Small price to pay

Eris seemed a bit worried about this. It was normal to scream in this situation. This was why she gave Frederick a thick gum earlier, so he could bite on something. But the fact that he remained silent through all the pain surprised her.

'Did... Did he die...? No, my authority would have stopped if he died.' she thought while looking at Frederick with a highly puzzled expression.

Frederick's expression remained unchanged as time elapsed, leaving Eris's initial surprise to evolve into sheer shock.

He was obviously feeling a lot of pain, and she could easily see that, but she couldn't tell why Frederick seemed so ... peaceful through this excruciating process.

Frederick's breathing became increasingly intense as time passed, but he still did not make a single noise nor tried to struggle. Even if his gaze became blurry and his breathing became increasingly ragged.

As the process continued, the pain he felt never went away. Instead, it got more intense with each passing moment. 

The more she looked at him, the more confused she became. This pain was not something a human could get accustomed to. The feeling of having his bones crushed slowly while having parts of your bone marrow sucked out by an invisible force was something that should be indescribably agonizing. 

No human could take it and keep silent through all of this.

This pain should be inhuman.

Yet, he endured without a sound.

'How? Does he not feel pain?' she thought.

She did not know how incorrect this statement was.

Frederick would agree. It felt as if his bones were being crushed. The feeling of having his bone marrow sucked out was an accurate representation of what Frederick sensed at this moment, but ... It was nothing compared to the actual feeling of having his bones squashed to dust.

Back in Dyrroth, the number of times he died was not few. Of course, each time was as painful as the previous ones. He had been crushed countless times to death by a giant worm-like creature, impaled by cold icicles, poisoned by a toxic gas while suffocating as his organs slowly melted, transperced by unpredictable arrows, and eaten alive by bloodthirsty spiders...

But each time, he came back despite knowing that he would likely die once again.

This time loop was hell, but he never gave up. Power was his goal. And if it were required to pay with his own suffering for it, he would not hesitate. In fact, he would even consider this price cheap. 

'A small price to pay...' thought Frederick as he bit the gum heavily between his clenched teeth.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Eris sighed heavily. "I will start the next phase. Please prepare"

Her sweat completely covered her face. Even the mask she wore before the process was now almost entirely wet. This process was physically draining and highly stressful for her.

Each stage was more dangerous and risky than the last, but Eris quickly regained her calmness and continued. As she focused, the purple light shone more intensely than before.

Her brows furrowed as she watched over him. Because, once again, he did not scream or try to struggle. Frederick did not make the slightest movement despite his sweat profusely drenching his forehead.

It was almost impossible not to contort in his current state, yet Frederick stayed silent.

Soon, all his muscles contracted and convulsed. His whole body twisted, and his veins popped out from the stress. If someone were watching from afar, they would see all Frederick's muscles under his skin, forming a gruesome wave pattern on his body. Some parts of Frederick's skin even started to tear off because of the pressure of some muscles.

This excruciating process lasted for an entire hour, with each second feeling like an eternity. It was a slow and unbearable suffering. 

"We're halfway done! I will start with your organs. Hold on just a little more..." Eris said with a hint of tiredness. She was not the one who endured this torture. But seeing Frederick in such a state, she felt drained, even if the process wasn't entirely finished yet.

Frederick's body was covered in dark blood from head to toe. Some parts of his skin even tore off from the contraction of his muscles. However, this was only the tip of the iceberg. As time passed, the feeling of something being torn out spread through all his organs.

He was forced to feel everything that was happening to his body. He could not escape nor refuse this reality. He had to face this agony without mercy.

As the pain slowly spread through Frederick's internal organs, he suddenly felt a liquid accumulating in his lungs. At first, it was a small quantity. But after a while, Frederick was almost choking on it.

Quickly taking a short breath, he vomited a large amount of black liquid, leaving him a bit out of breath. But this did not end there, as it happened multiple times. Frederick couldn't catch his breath. He felt like he was drowning in his own body.

Frederick vomited a total of four times until there was seemingly nothing more in his lungs, and then it began with the other organs.

After his lungs came his heart. As if it had been punctured with something sharp, the organ suddenly sped up and started pounding furiously against his chest.

Each beat of his heart was so unbearable it made him gasp as his whole body slowly began to numb and become paralyzed. The more his heart pumped, the more he felt like it would jump out of his chest. And each pump made Frederick suffer at an unimaginable level.

After his heart came to his stomach. The excruciating feeling of his stomach's lining being torn apart and eaten slowly from within spread to every part of Frederick's body.

The feeling of having parts of his intestines and other organs being ripped off and eaten was the worst part. The sensation was indescribable. It was as if an army of small insects had begun gnawing at his internal organs. Or perhaps similar to his first death against a hunter.

With all that pain, his breathing became chaotic, but it didn't last long. Frederick soon felt the sensation of drowning once again. His throat closed as the liquid built up, leaving him with only a few seconds to catch his breath.

Soon, Frederick became increasingly blind.

A sense of suffocation hit him hard as the water kept building up inside his head and obstructed his view. It was like having your head constantly submerged underwater, which caused a tremendous feeling of discomfort.

Soon, Frederick's eyes started to bulge as they started turning red. It felt like he was constantly staring into the sun. His whole vision turned completely white, and he became entirely blind. He felt like he was crying. But what came out was not tears but black blood.

The impurities in his head slowly dripped out of his eyes as his whole face burned in agony.

All his body was being ravaged. Not even his genitalia was spared ...

Frederick couldn't hear anymore, but Eris quickly said in a panting voice, "Almost! I just need to expulse the filthy blood! You're doing great! Hold just a bit more, and I can heal you!"

The black blood was already covering all of Frederick's body, but soon more and more started seeping from all his orifices without exception. Even the wounds created by the previous muscle purification had a continuous bleeding of dark liquid.

The foul odor of decay filled the air as the iron table Frederick laid on was covered with a thick, dark, stale liquid. 

However, despite the pain, Frederick could tell that at this rate... He won't survive for long.