「Shortly after the group touched upon the tomb of Odebus」
"I'm Odebus, manager of the lower dungeon floors. Do you want to become my vessel?" echoed through Alex's, the group leader's head. He felt an unbearable pain stinging through his head that was slowly driving him insane.
"N-n-no… Wh-why me? Wh-why c-can't I b-be lucky at least once in my life," whispered the young man as he was trembling uncontrollably.
"Alex! Are you ok?!" shouted his team members, Evie, Gab, and Luke, running towards the man that by now stood on his knees, grabbing his hair. The voices got drowned more and more till he heard nothing but a sinister laugh. But that wasn't the only sense that faded away since his sense of smell and sight were also getting drowned away. By now, Alex couldn't even move an inch as he stared angrily at the thing in front of him. A skeleton slowly and gently touched his chin with his cold fingers before pressing his bony forehead against Alex's one.
All his memories immediately shot through the head of the skeleton, who was also known as Odebus.
Odebus saw every memory of his life since the day of his birth. The memories of him getting separated from his family. The memories of him getting sold to a noble. The memories of him getting beaten daily and even sexually assaulted by one of the guards from the family. Even the thoughts of how he tried to escape with his comrades from their master flashed through his mind. He saw everything clearly, how they got caught and what happened after that.
The punishment for such an action was a few slashes and no food for a week. But this time, the female lord opted out for a different method. Instead, she would make an example out of them. Everyone shall know what awaits them if they think one could escape her place.
「A core memory」
All of the slaves got bound to shackles and wore blindfolds except the one leading them. He, however, only had one eye and had to lead the march through the scorching sun for hours as they were led far away outside of any human civilization.
The rustling sounds of chains were heard with every step these slaves took, and all of them looked more dead than alive. Their skin was hanging saggy from their bodies, as one saw their bones bony figures in tattered clothes moving tremblingly forward. But their eyes clearly showed that they had lost their courage to live and even the desire for freedom.
By now, all of them were aware that they would die sooner or later. They were looking forward to the day, praying that their suffering would end as fast as possible since nobody wanted to continue living like that.
But their waiting soon had an ending as a woman sitting on a horse stated with pleasure: "We are here. Thoughts and prayers to you all."
They've reached a dried-up well far away from any human civilization.
After her comment, the first man got taken away by two guards. His shrill weeping could be heard as he tried to defend himself in vain before getting thrown into the well.
The guard responsible for throwing him down merely counted down: "One…Two…Three… four," before his count got interrupted by the loud sound of someone crashing against the hard ground of the well.
"Well, you all really need thoughts and prayers to have any chance of surviving it," commented a different guard before they grabbed the next person whose blindfolds they immediately took down.
The slave's pupils immediately shrank. One could clearly see his fear as the latter lifted his gaze towards the guardian, who merely laughed loudly before throwing him down with pleasure. And so one after another got thrown to the depths of hell.
Alex, who expected his death by impact, however, survived. The dead bodies of the ones before him broke his fall. Alex only looked up as a fire of hatred was lit in him. He had to survive and take revenge. Revenge for all the misery that happened to his mates today. There were still a few others who survived. But since they broke a few limbs, most of them had to be left behind as Alex and a few others moved down the hill of human bodies. There, an underground tunnel lead them to the door for the dungeon.
「The end of the core memory」
None of his memories were safe from Odebus. But the worst thing was that Alex relived these memories. All his suppressed emotions such as hatred, shame, anger began filling every nerve in his head. The flame of hatred burning deep inside him that got damped by his daily fights of survival in the dungeon was set ablaze as he remembered his primary objective.
And with that, Odebus slowly moved his forehead away.
"Welcome, I'm Odebus, and I've chosen you as my vessel. If you are willing to render me your body, for the time being, I'll be helping you fulfill two of your wishes," offered Odebus as he stared at the man in front of him with amusement.
The rational man, known as Alex, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a monster stood in his place, as his eyes were glowing red. His face turned into an ugly grimace as his hatred was seen running rampant. It took Alex a while to calm himself and reply to the offer of Odebus.
"I want revenge… No! That's not something I should wish for since there is no fun in wishing it. I should take the matter into my own hands," laughed Alex uncontrollably as tears began streaming down his cheeks.
"As expected," nodded Odebus as a grin was forming on his face.
"I need strength. The strength to survive this shithole and the strength to kill these bastards. My second wish is to leave this dungeon after acquiring the strength to kill these bastards. If you can fulfill these wishes, I am ready to give you everything," shouted Alex enraged.
Unfortunally for him, he didn't realize how much he would regret the last sentence since Odebus was manipulating him. Odebus only showed him some of his memories and excluded a few important ones, such as how he found new comrades who were willing to fight with him to death.
"Splendid, splendid. I'll be fulfilling two of your wishes, as for the price of using your body. May my soul be destroyed If I'm unwilling to fulfill your wishes," Alex heard Odebus's voice laughing sinisterly.
I think I've stated in the earlier chapters what the conclusion of the deal between Odebus and Alex was.
Thx for the chapter!