Cassian pulled open the door, shoulders trembling in fear. However, inside was Cypher sitting on a cheap metal chair. His arms crossed, and a pout on his face.
"I almost got tired of waiting." He placed his fingertips together, playfully tapping each other.
"I am sorry that I am late."
Cassian held his breath, and his eyes opened in a semblance of fear.
"No worries, there will be no punishment."
Cassian let out his breath, relaxing slightly, but his mind started to race in an unhealthy way. 'Why?'
"Anyway, I have an offer for you?"
The pouty face switched to a grin faster than he could blink.
"I would like to ask what the offer is?"
Cypher showed his perfect white teeth, "Just like I gave you the pseudo-immortality skill, I would like to give you the sense enhancement skill."
"Sense Enhancement?"
"Yes, it will sharpen all your senses. You could see why I desire this."
It would enhance his sense of pain as well, but Cassian was more stuck up on the second half of his words. It felt like he was trying to hide something.
"You desire this, but why should I?"
Cypher froze, his eyes staring directly at Cassian's.
"That's a good way to think, sense enhancement will increase your power. It will also help you gain and level skills."
"It will help me gain and level skills?"
He was unsure of the validity of the statement.
As if to answer that doubt, Cypher said, "Your senses are not only how you perceive the outside world, but how you perceive yourself."
Cassian didn't really want to increase the pain he felt, but he needed more skills as an F-rank. He needed to get stronger, to not only protect himself but others, and he would use any means available.
"I accept."
A grin appeared on Cypher's smug face that immediately made him regret his decision.
Cypher walked up to him and pierced one of his fingers into Cassian's chest. A throbbing pain spread out through his entire body, and he felt the world around him becoming sharper.
The grout between the tiles stood out even more, and so did the sound of his own heartbeat.
He could instantly feel his muscles better, and with it came a feeling like he was in greater control of his body.
"Now let's get to torturing."
Cypher snapped his fingers, and a giant iron maiden appeared. It was extremely shiny on the outside and depicted a beautiful woman, arms spread out in welcome.
"All you have to do is stay inside until the sun rises."
He stripped down to avoid ruining his clothes and crawled into the iron maiden. Contrary to his expectations, there were no spikes or any protrusions inside.
'That only means this coffin does something worse.'
Cypher then closed the door of the iron maiden, leaving him in complete darkness. It did not take him long to figure out that there was no sound, even if he spoke out loud to himself.
Outside the iron maiden, Cypher and William were discussing.
"May I inquire as to why you did that?"
William was speaking respectfully, even bowing his head slightly.
"What could you possibly be talking about?"
Cypher was playful as usual.
"Why did you brush off his tardiness and grant him a skill instead?"
"This is why you stay as an intermediate grade torturer and cannot become an advanced."
Once hearing this, William's focus instantly sharpened.
"I request that you enlighten me."
"Humans are actually quite interesting toys. They can dissociate their mind from their body. Which means they can resist physical torture depending on how strong their will is."
William was surprised to hear this, as if human psychology were something entirely new to him.
"So you gave him the skill to enhance his sense of pain and weaken his will."
"That is only half right. The skill is a seed that will consume him later on, from the inside."
"I don't entirely understand, but that is brilliant. How about his tardiness? There must have been greater meaning behind allowing such a thing."
"This is why I like you, you can even see such a thing."
Cypher's eyes glowed a bright red.
"Thank you."
William looked genuinely pleased to hear the compliment.
"Cassian does not like coming to torture, if he is a couple of minutes late now and was unpunished. What will he think next time?"
"He will think that he can be a couple of minutes late and go unpunished," William realized but then frowned, "Isn't that bad? If he just shows up late, then you are just losing time for torture."
"On the contrary, Cassian can be considered upright in terms of morals. He will not dare be late if humanity is on the line; however, the thought will always be in the back of his head. He thinks he can be late, but can never cross that line."
William stood to comprehend the means Cypher had laid out.
"Are you sure that will work? Does it not seem superficial?"
"You dare doubt me?" Cypher gave him a cold look, which caused him to shiver.
"None the matter," He brushed it off just as easily, "while it seems like it could be ignored, Cassian is not so simple."
"How so?"
"Since the beginning of our torture, Cassian has slowly changed into a man of absolutes, and since he dissociated himself from pain, his mind has also taken some damage. That change has caused him to doubt everything around him, even himself."
"Doubt himself," William was putting it all together, "You mean that he is not the kind of person who can ignore such a desire?"
"Exactly."
Cypher seemed proud of the fledgling demon, like a teacher and student.
"Say, Cassian is in the iron maiden right now, inside he can not see anything, hear anything, smell anything, taste anything, and eventually he won't be able to feel anything with his skin. How do you think this is torture?"
"He does not have any of the five human senses, and has not developed mana sense yet, so he cannot perceive anything in any way."
"Correct, but how is it torture?"
"I do not know," He stared at the ground, "Is depriving the senses painful for humans?"
"Listen carefully, he cannot perceive anything, so the only thing he can do is think. He will lose sense of time without his perception, and what do you believe will happen?"
"I apologize, I do not know."
"Simply put, he will torture himself."
"Torture himself…" William looked as if he had an epiphany.
"You mean his mind will tear itself apart with doubt."
"Good, the reason you stay as an intermediate demon is that you haven't realized that real torture is not a physical battle."
Cypher grandly raised both his arms.
"There is an entire world of pain inside the mind and soul. I never intended to destroy Cassian physically; a true master of torture makes the soul torture itself."
He spoke majestically, and his breathing hastened like an animal in ecstasy.
"His doubts, fears, even his sense of justice will kill him from the inside; every part that helps or hurts him will be turned around on him. Finally, he will be entirely alone, wallowing in a despair few men have known till this day, completely broken in a way previous demons could only dream of."
The pleasure in his voice was malleable, and William was astounded.
"As expected of you, my lord, please allow me to accompany you on this journey."
"Very well, watch and learn."