Prota... I'm sorry...

Trigger warning

***

"Host, please cease your anger. The presence feeds off you- "

"I told you to shut up, didn't I?" Frozen Milk stepped through the clay hallways underneath the arena. Behind him an unsightly blood trail appeared as Frozen Milk still dragged the opponent by the hair along with hiim.

"Host, you need to leave now. You cannot feel it because of your current state but your body's in pain. The presence found you. At this rate, you will disappear. Host, system told you sacrifices must be- "

"I'm not leaving anyone behind. So, shut your damn system off."

Frozen Milk crouched down to match the opponent's height before harshly pulling on his hair, "Where?"

The opponent was too scared and too hurt to speak. He silently winced as he looked up at Frozen Milk.

Frozen Milk's mind was a chaos of intense negative thoughts and emotions flying around. He held up his finger, stared at it for a while before it entered his opponent's eye, bawling it out to crush it beneath his fingers.

"Where?"

The opponent didn't even dare to scream in pain. He painfully raised his arms and pointed at the direction to their left.

The underground that was underneath the arena was an iron maze.

As Frozen Milk walked, each step felt heavy and he knew his body was at its limit. If only he had made up with Prota earlier then none of this would've happened.

No one would've needed to suffer and Frozen Milk would've never experienced how frightening uncontrolled emotions could be. How frightening it was to push one's own body to the limit and continue to push and push and push without going back.

Frozen Milk would've also never experienced, never knew he could go so far for a single person. Would sacrifice himself, would disregard his own safety and life for that of a sole person. Frozen Milk didn't know if he should be happy or despair at this new revelation.

He would've never guessed, he was capable of those emotions, those urges and desires that welled up inside of him and submerged him in deep waters in an unknown territory.

Frozen Milk finally stood before the door that supposedly held his protagonist captive. He pressed the door handle down, but it was locked.

"How do you open it?"

"W-With a key."

"Force should also work," Frozen Milk's body ached, screamed in anguish as he lifted the opponent by the neck and then slammed his head into the door.

Again, and again.

Again, and again-

Until the opponent's head turned into a bloody mess, yet the door was still locked.

Frozen Milk let go of his victim and grabbed his chest. The pain was unbearable. Frozen Milk could see the black threads that now bit into his skin, deeper and deeper.

They wrapped tightly around every part of his body and cut him until more and more blood poured. However, that was nothing compared to the excruciating pain his heart went through. Frozen Milk figured the black strings he saw also tied around his heart until it'd squeeze him to death.

"Host," system's robotic voice carried an undertone of pain.

Frozen Milk leaned against the door, when it suddenly opened and he stumbled into the room.

There were masses of blood tainting the floor, large enough to fill buckets. An iron smell and pungent stench rose to Frozen Milk's nose.

In the midst of the room, surrounded by several people, someone sat on a chair tied up.

His skin, cut open, skinned, all sort of thick and thin coloured liquid oozed out of his wounds. It was a sight far more brutal and skin-crawling than Frozen Milk and the mushy opponent together.

The lifeless eyes stared at Frozen Milk and Frozen Milk's heart sunk. This was unbearable for him.

His protagonist, his bright and innocent protagonist tortured like this. Not even when Frozen Milk wrote how his protagonist was beaten by the villain, was it this brutal and bad.

He only gave the protagonist a few injuries but being this cut open, this massacred even if Frozen Milk was a sadist, this would make any sadistic person convert.

Yet when Prota saw Frozen Milk's wounds, it was him who had a pained expression and Frozen Milk clearly saw the worry and anger in Prota's eyes.

"Frozen... Milk, why... are you this... hurt?" each word tugged on Frozen Milk's heartstrings. Despite his own situation, Prota cared more about Frozen Milk than himself.

"Who are you?" the supposedly torturers all turned to Frozen Milk.

However, Frozen Milk couldn't summon his strength anymore and fell to his knees. The black strings cut through his skin and entered his body to wrap around his organs. Frozen Milk coughed blood.

When Prota witnessed this, not even thousand iron walls could contain the furious wrath that pulsated in his veins.

Frozen Milk staggered to his feet. After everything, he was still a powerless and helpless person. Nothing and no one could change the fact.

Frozen Milk didn't care for any of the bystanders, he just wanted to apologise to Prota. He groggily teetered to his protagonist and then caressed his face,

"I'm sorry. It's my fault... it's all my fault. If only I could turn back time, you wouldn't have suffered like this."

Frozen Milk's tears fell onto Prota's cheeks as Frozen Milk hugged him. With this one hug everything seemed to fall into place, everything seemed to be lighter.

Nothing else mattered.