nyslfriends Chapter 50 Offering Loyalty to the Lord!
Chapter 50 Offering Loyalty to the Lord!
Just as the apprentices outside were waiting anxiously, the heavy metal door of the laboratory was suddenly kicked open!
"Bang--!"
Kyle, who had gone in earlier, was thrown out like a rag doll, slamming heavily onto the cold ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
"Boss Hick! I was wrong! I was really wrong! Please give me another chance! I..." Kyle cried, tears streaming down his face, struggling to crawl towards the door.
The next second, a flock of ravens materialized out of thin air, transforming into Hick's cold figure. He stood at the doorway, the ravens on his shoulder emitting low, mournful cries.
The cold, emotionless gaze first swept over Kyle, who was writhing on the ground, and then, like an icy probe, pierced through each of the bewildered and silent apprentices outside the door.
Wasn't the notification clear enough?
Hick's voice wasn't loud, but it was like ice scraping against everyone's eardrums, "Five thousand magic crystals, or—absolute loyalty! Do you really think this place is a charity?"
He took a step forward, and the invisible pressure seemed to freeze the air.
Or perhaps...
His icy gaze slowly swept over the cowering figures. "You naively believe that so-called 'loyalty' is merely a hollow phrase like 'loyalty'?"
Hick stopped looking at Kyle on the ground and coldly pronounced his verdict:
"Drag him away and lock him in a cell."
Before he could finish speaking, with a soft "bang," Hick's figure transformed into a raven once more and disappeared behind the door that had closed again.
"Boss Hick! I..."
In despair, Kyle still wanted to scream.
But one of the apprentices surrounding Kurt reacted very quickly, stepping forward in a flash of light!
"Silence spell!"
Kyle's voice abruptly stopped, leaving only a desperate "hoarse" sound in his throat.
He was then roughly dragged up and pulled toward the prison like a dead dog.
"Fool! You're in such a sorry state, penniless and still unwilling to pledge allegiance? Has your brain been blown apart by witchcraft?"
"Exactly! Boss Hick showed mercy and gave them a way out, and they still dare to try and get something for nothing? They're courting death!"
The group of apprentices surrounding Kurt burst into shrill laughter without any attempt to hide it, their voices particularly jarring in the oppressive corridor.
Those apprentices, in their wretched state and awaiting reformation, looked in the direction Kyle was being dragged away, their eyes filled with nothing but cold contempt—a fool who didn't even know how to cherish his last chance.
Kurt's face was so dark it could drip water. Kyle was the person he brought over, yet he dared to cause such a huge mess at this crucial moment!
They agreed to everything, but then went back on their word once they got to the lab?
Listen up!
Kurt's voice boomed like thunder, his furious gaze sweeping across the room, especially over the waiting apprentices.
"Anyone else harboring the same thoughts as Kyle, get out now! Right now!"
"Boss Hick has given you maggots struggling in the mire a chance to be reborn! This is an immense blessing! Instead of being grateful, you dare to bargain in here?!"
He practically roared it out.
"If anyone else dares to try anything funny in the lab—Boss Hick might not bother with it, but I, Kurt, will make them regret ever being born!"
Deathly silence. No one moved; only a oppressive silence and heads bowed.
Kurt snorted coldly and fell silent, but his icy gaze remained fixed on everyone as if it were a physical presence.
"Brother," Jona leaned closer to Kurt, looking at the group of desperate figures outside the door, her voice low and tinged with worry:
"We've made such a commotion, won't the instructors in the tower... intervene?"
Upon hearing this, Kurt's lips curled into an undisguised sneer:
"Interference? Back in the cave... oh, now it's called the Lava Lake, you witnessed firsthand how Lord Perrotta treated those 'mentors'."
He paused, his tone filled with absolute certainty.
"Unless the Tower Master gives the order, who in the entire Wizarding Tower dares to discipline Boss Hick?"
The two exchanged a glance, a knowing smile carrying a cruel undertone.
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
Sori's heart, pounding in his charred chest cavity, was now beating faster than ever before, as if trying to break free of its restraints!
Kyle's desperate gaze as he was dragged away, the cold mockery of the surrounding apprentices...
None of this could stir the slightest ripple in his heart.
In the depths of his eyes, there was only a frozen plain ignited by an even more fervent desire.
Fear? That insignificant fear had long been burned away by the greedy thirst for "new life"!
He stared intently at the heavy metal door; each time it opened, it was like the gates of hell briefly opening, releasing the lucky ones who were granted "rebirth"—
Their faces may still bear traces of pain, but their limbs are now intact, and what has been rekindled in their eyes is an almost greedy light for the future!
"Boss Hick... he really can..."
Sori's only remaining, still somewhat intact hand unconsciously caressed his burned torso, which was twisted and withered like a dead branch.
The path of wizardry was long gone for someone like him, a "piece of trash" with physical disabilities.
This transformation was his only way out, and it was also his pledge of allegiance, offering his soul and body!
He would never dare to have the same delusional fantasies as Kyle!
Finally, when another apprentice emerged, his body trembling but intact, his face showing the dazed look of someone who had survived a near-death experience, Kurt's icy gaze, like the forked tongue of a viper, precisely locked onto Sorey:
"Sorry, it's your turn."
Sory's mangled body trembled violently! The next second, without the slightest hesitation, he dragged his twisted leg and, in an almost tragic manner, limped but with unwavering determination, toward the door of destiny that he saw as a symbol of redemption and rebirth!
The door slid open silently.
A strong, nauseating stench assaulted my senses—the sweet, metallic scent of fresh blood, the pungent spiciness of the medicine, and something else... an indescribable stench emanating from the depths of a rotting soul!
Sorey's heart stopped for a moment, then began to pound wildly in his chest!
He took a deep breath, the scent of death and rebirth filling his lungs, and with a martyr's resolve, stepped into the darkness.
The light was suddenly swallowed up. The interior of the laboratory was far larger, deeper, and filled with an inhuman eeriness than it appeared from the outside.
At the center is a modified platform constructed of an unknown dark metal, covered with complex, shimmering runes and cold, sharp restraints, resembling an altar of some otherworldly creature.
Several grotesque mechanical arms, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, hovered above the platform, like predators poised to strike, exuding a chilling sense of oppression.
Beneath the dome, Hick stood silently, clad in a specially made protective suit.
His gaze pierced through the protective mask and landed on Sorey—cold, scrutinizing, and utterly unmoved, as if he were assessing a piece of ore about to be sculpted.
"You know the conditions."
Hick's voice came out, carrying a hint of cold indifference.
"Magic crystals? Or... allegiance?"
Without the slightest hesitation, Sori dragged his broken body and knelt heavily on the cold ground with a thud, his head bowed deeply.
"I offer my eternal loyalty to you, my lord! I will be your sharpest claw! For all eternity, I will never betray you!"
"Very good." Hick's voice was unreadable. "You are very clear-headed. Then, accept the contract for this magical artifact—"
As soon as he finished speaking, an ancient mirror with strange runes wrapped around its edges and a dark, deep pool-like surface appeared out of thin air in front of Sori.
"I grant you the right to pledge allegiance to me."
Suddenly, a ghastly green, distorted beam of light, seemingly capable of piercing the soul, shone directly onto Sorey!
Faced with this contractual light that pointed directly to his soul, Sori offered no resistance and even opened his mind and soul to accept it openly!
The moment that cold, slippery, lifelike light enveloped his entire body, a tremor from the deepest part of his soul gripped him!
He clearly felt that his life, soul, and even every inch of his flesh and blood had been completely gripped by an invisible giant hand!
With just a single, insignificant thought from Hick, everything he had would vanish in an instant!
A satisfied smile curved at the corners of Hick's mouth beneath his protective mask.
"Lie down."
Sori felt a violent tremor, as if his soul and body were being completely controlled, and struggled to his feet, staggering as he approached the cold metal altar.
He awkwardly lay down on the platform, the cold metal instantly sucking away the last bit of warmth from his skin.
The restraints closed automatically, as if they were alive, with a few crisp "clicks" locking his intact arms, crippled legs, and waist, rendering him unable to move.
The renovation is about to begin!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.
"Where is that bastard Hick?!"
A furious, storm-like roar suddenly exploded at the end of the corridor outside the laboratory!
The voice contained the suffocating, immense pressure of a formal wizard, surging in like a tangible tide and instantly engulfing the entire corridor!
Everyone—whether they were modifiers, waiters, or Kurt and Jona—felt their hair stand on end and felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave under this terrifying pressure!