The chains still creaked faintly. The steel links, stained with dried blood and filth, slid along Kenzo's wrist, marking his flesh with the cruel familiarity of routine. Yet this time, it wasn't physical pain that haunted him.
It was a word.A single word.
"Failure."
– « Failure… » he murmured to himself, incredulous.
Those words had left the mouths of the two alchemists without the slightest emotion as they observed him. He—Kenzo—who had believed that merely surviving this twisted and inhuman experiment would be enough to prove something… had been terribly wrong.
The female alchemist approached without a word, her silver mask gleaming under the pale torchlight. She extended her cold, gloved hand and took a little more of his blood. Silently, she placed it onto the stone tablet the other alchemist had brought. A few seconds passed… but once again, nothing happened.
– « Truly a failure, » she declared in a calm, mechanical voice.
Her colleague, more nervous, his face taut like a rope about to snap, exploded:
– « All these years of trying and nothing works! We will never be able to create a weapon for our god! »
At that, the woman slightly turned her head.
– « Delaxhe! »
She had just called the dungeon's warden. Delaxhe, then. Kenzo had expected a rougher, more brutal name. Something that would better match the monstrous, armored appearance of this man. But no. Delaxhe. Strangely fluid.
The colossus entered in silence. His heavy steps made the stone of the laboratory tremble, that sordid, medieval-looking place that seemed torn from another era. He detached Kenzo from the experimentation table, his movements precise, yet almost… gentle. Then he immediately chained him again. Once more restrained. Always.
Kenzo began to wonder if his wrists had ever truly been free.
– « We are done with this site, » the female alchemist declared coldly. – « None of the experiments, none of the subjects, has brought even the slightest progress. We will pack our things and leave this place tomorrow. »
A brief pause. Then a sadistic laugh escaped from beneath her mask. Deep. Slow. Insidious.
– « Feed all the prisoners well. They are all useless. You may use them all for your hunt. »
The hunt.
The words froze in Kenzo's mind. The hunt. The one old William, his cellmate, had told him about. A deadly hunt. A game of extermination. And no survivors.
Delaxhe drew a grin.
– « I thank you. »
Then, turning his gaze toward Kenzo, he added:
– « Come with me. »
Immediately, Kenzo felt that strange sensation invade him again… as if he no longer controlled his own legs. As if the warden's voice had slipped into his mind. He didn't know. But his feet moved. He followed Delaxhe without arguing. Like a broken puppet.
Thus ended his time in that nightmarish laboratory.
They returned to the dungeon. The same one. Wretched. Dripping with humidity and mold. The cold stone clung beneath his bare feet.
But one thing made his heart beat a little faster. A silhouette was waiting for him. Curled up. Exhausted. But still there.
– « You're back… »
The trembling voice of old William carried something comforting. Something stable. Like a fire that never went out despite the storm.
In his tired eyes, Kenzo saw genuine relief. The old man had lost decades through experiments and the Heart implantation; his decrepit body betrayed his condition, but his mind remained as sharp as that of a man in his thirties.
– « Yeah… » Kenzo replied hoarsely. – « It wasn't exactly fun. »
Each word echoed through his body, still traumatized. He felt drained. Even more fragile. Skeletal.
– « I can see that, » William replied with a grimace. – « You look even more corpse-like than before. The hollows under your eyes… they've gotten deeper. »
Kenzo chuckled.
– « Hey! Watch how you talk about my body! I remind you that you're the old man here. You're much closer to the grave than I am. »
A sincere laugh rose in the stale air. For a brief moment, there were no dungeons, no chains. Just two men, human again.
– « I really thought you were dead, you know. Not coming back for six whole days usually means you're dead. »
– « Wait, what? Six days? » Kenzo said suddenly, confused.
He had thought he had only passed out for a few minutes during the experiment. But now… he realized.
The day he had arrived in these dungeons, William had told him he would take part in the hunt in eight days. He had left for the laboratory the next day. And now… if he had already returned six days later… that left only one day.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow was the hunt.
Before he could ask another question, a sound echoed. That of a heavy iron door opening. The clinking of keys. Delaxhe's deep voice resonated through the corridors.
– « My dear laboratory rats! Starting today, no more experiments for you. »
Murmurs. Broken breaths. Everyone was listening.
– « And to reward you, you will all be entitled to a good feast. »
He laughed. A soft laugh. Disturbing, coming from that virile, sweat-soaked man, a colossus built to kill. Kenzo shuddered.
– « Eat well, because tomorrow… all of you, without exception, will have the chance to escape this place, during one final hunt. »
Silence.
The word "escape" first resonated like a promise. A dream. Then… reality returned. It wasn't freedom. It was a hunt. A pursuit orchestrated by a Transfigured and a Void Creature.
William lowered his eyes.
– « It's over, » he murmured.
Kenzo didn't answer immediately. His mind was buzzing. Tomorrow, he would run. Fight. Try to survive the unthinkable. All of that because he wasn't the weapon they wanted. Because he was nothing but a failure.
But he wasn't dead yet.
He was broken. Yes.
But not dead yet.
And as long as he could run, he could still hope.
Tomorrow.
The hunt begins.