The screen quickly transitioned from the Ola Corp logo to a video.
As the audience stared at the screen, a sense of dread enveloped their hearts. The same feeling affected Atlex and a man in his twenties sitting next to him. However, instead of succumbing to this dread, they steeled themselves for what was about to unfold.
A moment later, Atlex started the video.
"Hello everyone! Do you miss me? Oh, you might not know me, or perhaps you do, but I can assure you that after this, you will remember every single word I have to say in this recording!" a cheerful voice echoed from the screen.
To their confusion, the feeling of dread only intensified rather than eased. Yet Atlex and the man beside him remained resolute. Unlike their usual procedure of preparing everyone before playing the audio or video, they had no time for that, as a message accompanied the audio.
And that message forced them to play the audio in front of the people.
"So before we get to the good stuff, let me ask you all. What do you feel, after all these years? You know imprisoning me for 520 years, must have a toll on your guilty conscience," he said with his voice full of sarcasm at his remark.
Now they all knew where the feeling of dread came. The person speaking was "him!"
Many held their heads as memories slowly appeared in their minds. His deeds were so unimaginable that not even any brain disease can make the person forget them.
The few smart ones that remained optimistic felt their hope get extinguished by one simple word. Silently, they looked through their memories, shivering from time to time.
Atlex stole a glance at the man beside him and saw that he was clenching his fist hard. Having known him for all his life, Atlex let out a sigh and made no effort to talk to him. Silently, he continued the audio.
"Well, I guess your vicious mind doesn't even have the words guilty in its dictionary," he said, his voice laced with sarcasm. Many clenched their fists at that remark; some were even about to shout, but the audio continued.
"Sigh, if only humanity didn't have such cruel minds, then they would've appreciated my work, my deeds! During the," there was a brief pause before continuing, his voice full of malice and hatred, "first phase."
That single word was enough to blow off the remaining effects of the amnesia out of his mind.
Screams echoed in Zach's ears as memories after memories of various people dying appeared in his mind.
The cold corpse of his childhood friend atop a mountain of bodies. The raining flesh of his best friend and his screams while being shredded alive. And much, much more.
After 1000 years of his brain being subjected to amnesia, all these memories became fresh as if it all happened yesterday. Slowly, the feeling of intense hatred replaced the growing dread in his heart.
Drip!
Releasing a sigh, Atlex looked towards the man beside him. He was clenching his fist so hard that blood was trickling down.
"Elijah, you got to hold yourself together. This isn't your fault," he softly said.
The man, Elijah, gave him a look before gradually but not entirely calming down after hearing what he had to say. Although blood was still oozing out, he paid no attention and simply stared at the audio, a glint of regret in his eyes.
Sighing, Atlex once again continued the audio.
"Hahaha! Surely those two words made a reaction out of all of you! Sigh, if only I were there to say it, that would have been fun." His laugh echoed around the hall, causing many to clench their fists more.
Zach stared at the screen with growing hatred. More memories of the people he cared about dying gruesomely surfaced. Everyone in the six halls felt their anger intensify at the sound of "his" voice.
"But you know, being imprisoned here does have its benefits," he said, his voice calm and soft.
That doesn't sound good.
Atlex and Elijah looked at each other, feeling the same premonition about to befall them. "He" never spoke in a calm and soft voice because his voice was always cold, sarcastic, joking, and full of hatred. So hearing him say it like that meant a disaster was about to strike them.
"For instance, being imprisoned here and constantly thinking of various scenarios and solutions to escape has greatly boosted my ability to calculate possibilities and probabilities. And you know this is why I created this audio in the first place."
Atlex and Elijah, like everyone else, were on the edge of their seats. Waiting to hear "his" reason for making this audio. Although their instincts screamed at them to leave, their curiosity drove them to hear his reason.
"The reason is," he paused briefly, but to the audience, it felt like an eternity. However, when he continued, everyone became too shocked to process what he was saying.
"I found a scenario to escape this imprisonment in four years."