CHAPTER 295: CHAPTER 295.MASK OF EMPATHY.

"Time up" Kailen’s calm voice pervaded the whole arena.

His movements halted, he turned, gaze locked on Jin—feeling every ounce of universe energy, every bit of strength drain from him.

The effects of the temporary strength inducement elixir kicked.

Jin coughed a mouthful of blood.

His movements staggered.

He almost fell.

A clear proof of how weak he had become.

"Shit," he cursed.

Although he was extremely weak, his weak, terrified gaze lingered on that of Darkhaven:

A smile, a terrifying one.

A cold, malevolent expression bleeding bloodlust.

Then, Darkhaven disappeared.

Jin felt a hand grip his head, halting his fall.

Then a calm voice that felt like a death sentence, extremely faint, resounded in Jin’s mind.

"Art of torture, first skill—Mask of empathy."

(A/N Mask of empathy is the first skill of the Art of Torture: The victim is forced to feel the negative emotions they’ve caused in others—pain, betrayal, loss, etc.—projected onto them one by one.)

The onlookers observed with different expressions as something entirely out of their expectations happened.

Kailen Darkhaven leaving Jin to himself after placing his hand on the defeated opponent’s head, squatted before Jin, watching him calmly.

Had he showed Jin mercy?

Would he let Jin off?

The rumors of his ruthlessness to his enemies were not exaggerated right?

Then it happened;

Jin started weeping, under their gazes, silent, quiet tears.

"What is this?"

Jin couldn’t talk, he couldn’t move.

All he felt was an overwhelming sense of loss overtake him, one that he had never experienced before. It was as if the ground had been pulled from beneath his feet, leaving him suspended in a void where even breathing felt like a struggle. The feeling of loss, so extreme, made him feel as if a dagger was twisting deeper into his chest. The emptiness wasn’t just around him; it seeped into his very bones, hollowing him out until he wondered if there was anything left of himself at all.

At one point the loss was that of a parent who had lost their child to a barbaric and powerful entity.

At one point it was that of a lover who had just witnessed their beloved murdered right before them!

At one point it was that of a helpless child who watched their parents ruthlessly butchered before them!

Jin felt it all.

His silent tears bled into a pool before him.

Then came several other emotions: bitterness—clawing into his heart in different overtones, each one representing the bitterness of a single person.

He experienced it all—numbering the thousands, in but a moment.

A feeling of betrayal, anger, death. They crushed into him like an avalanche!

He lashed around!

He screamed in pain.

He bellowed in rage.

He cursed!

He writhed on the floor like a slain snake, gasping at the straws of life in its final movement!

The onlookers were confused!

What was happening here?

What had Kailen Darkhaven done to Jin during the moment he held the fellow’s head?

Multitude gazes filled with expressions of curiosity, fear, amongst others, fell on Kailen Darkhaven, watching his opponent go through unimaginable torture with a faint, almost indiscernible smile playing at the edge of his lips.

He was enjoying this!

The expression in his calm crimson eyes, the deep crimson horn nestled on his forehead, pulsing with malevolence, made him look all the more like a ruthless spawn of malevolence.

This guy was a crazy person, a ruthless, vengeful fellow who would put his enemies through unimaginable pain, savoring in their torment before he killed them!

Crimson Devil huh!

This name was a perfect fit for him.

He was a devil!

The arena had turned completely silent, as Jin experienced the most hellish torment of his lifetime at the moment.

Kailen finally deactivated the first skill of the art of torture.

Jin currently had an extremely lifeless expression in his eyes as he lay lifelessly on the ground in his own excreta—a natural biological response to the extreme emotional torture he had just endured.

His lifeless expression was a testament to the fact that Kailen Darkhaven had broken him.

Kailen proceeded towards Jin, then lifted him by the hand.

The fellow’s weak, pathetic form dangled weakly, supported barely above the ground by Darkhaven’s hand.

"Look at her," Kailen spoke calmly, his voice calm, domineering, and malevolent, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Kailen’s gaze snapped towards Cimeris, seated in the bleachers, tears of pain snaking down her face.

She couldn’t even stand the sight before her.

It was obvious that the pain she was experiencing by looking at Jin—her lover, and senior brother, and someone who could partly be considered some sort of mentor to her—was too much for her to bear when she stared at him.

Therefore she decided to look away.

Kailen voiced, his voice cold, yet playful, causing her to shake in fear.

It was obvious that he was enjoying this.

"Let’s have a life and death battle, huh?"

There was no rule preventing individuals from having agreed upon life and death battles with multiple opponents at the same time. So Kailen would not break any rules by his actions.

As long as Cimeris agreed to it.

But could she even resist in her condition?

Cimeris felt an extremely suffocating malevolent intent pour into her at those words spoken by Kailen Darkhaven!

She didn’t even know when she nodded in fear, turning to look at Sanguine one last time before she darted, in fear, controlled by a weight of fear and powerless at Kailen’s words, into the arena.

Also at the moment, her life was already in his hands, her fate sealed.

What more could she do to resist, when the only hope of her freedom had been reduced to a broken defeated shell of himself?

Noticing the expression of fear in Sanguine’s eyes, Kailen chuckled.

"Thanks Cimeris. Almost forgot about him."

His gaze bore heavily on Sanguine. The fellow tagged along weakly, soiling himself with urine from the avalanche of fear that encumbered him.

As for the onlookers, except from Kailen’s acclaimed enemies, most of them not only laughed at Sanguine’s predicament, but they laughed at Darkhaven’s statement.

He was thanking Cimeris for making him realize that whatever he was planning, Sanguine was supposed to be in on it too?

Apart from being extremely ruthless, how could someone be so shameless?

Under the gazes of the onlookers, Jin watched weakly as Cimeris and Sanguine appeared on the battlefield.

His lifeless eyes narrowed weakly, flickering with a faint yet discernible pained expression as he stared at Cimeris.

Cimeris couldn’t help but feel more heartbroken at Jin’s state.

Kailen voiced.

"Since you are all here now, let’s begin." Kailen stared into Jin’s hollow eyes, then turned to look at Cimeris.

"You wanted to kill me right?"

He clicked his hand at those words.

Suddenly Cimeris started screaming.

Her form started bloating, and turning greenish, eventually, her screams turned muffled, terrified.

Under the gazes of the multitude of spectators, Kailen did something extremely ruthless.

Jin’s former hollow eyes revealed tears in them at what Kailen Darkhaven was doing.

Kailen Darkhaven wanted Jin to experience despair in his last moments before he killed him.

This was more than ten times what would have been Kailen’s fate had he lost to Jin.

Kailen Darkhaven wanted Jin, in his broken, and helpless state, to observe him kill the woman he had fought Kailen to save!

"Would have kept her alive and let her live as my slave. But you just had to play hero."

These were the last words Kailen spoke to Jin before Cimeris’ form blew apart, scattering across the arena, her innards lying here and there.

’Ah yes, Carnage,’ Kailen thought.

Kailen reveled in it. Apart from the hatred he held for the Arcane Empowerment Sect for the invasion of earth and placing a target on his back in the academy, and desire to end his enemies in the most gruesome way possible, he directed all the carnage he felt in the Asura Enlightenment Physique form towards these bastards! He reveled in it.

The arena was completely silent...

Kailen Darkhaven was too ruthless!

Was this not too much?

Several people in the crowd felt horrified; they gasped in fear at Kailen’s brutality, their stomachs churning at the sight of Cimeris’ scattered remains. To them, this was not victory—it was monstrous.

Yet others admired him. They whispered among themselves in awe, praising his ruthless decisiveness. To them, his cruelty was not weakness but strength—the kind of strength that erased enemies completely.

The crowd was divided, fear and admiration blending together in a heavy, suffocating silence that settled over the arena. One thing was certain—no one present would ever forget this moment.