Chapter 97: Evidence (1)

Mihail Ryanblom slashed down with his greatsword, splitting the ogre's head open. With this, all the ogres were eliminated. Mihail Ryanblom wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief.

Looking around, most of the orcs had already been dealt with. The knights were chasing the remaining orc stragglers.

"One, two, three... four! I got one more! So I win, right?"

Veronica Sanchez, standing right next to him, said with a smug look. Mihail gave her a puzzled expression.

"You took two of the ones I almost finished off. This match is as good as my victory."

"Where is that logic? Anyway, I killed more!"

"You have to consider the process. What's with all the complaints when you took someone else's prey?"

Mihail and Veronica Sanchez glared at each other, growling.

"Fine. Why would I talk to you? I'm going to Sir Damian... I mean, I'll go to Sir Damian. You just play around here."

Mihail barely managed to shake off the still grumbling Veronica Sanchez and headed towards Damian Hassen.

He had been watching him even while fighting the ogres, specifically when Damian Hassen was fighting the Chimera.

'Sure enough, my brother is amazing.'

Mihail Ryanblom knew a bit about the Chimera.

The most terrifying monstrosity in this world.

A demon that must never be underestimated.

The nicknames symbolizing the Chimera were countless, indicating just how dangerous it was.

Yet, Damian Hassen pressed the Chimera without any hesitation.

Even Mihail Ryanblom, always brimming with confidence, didn't think he could do what Damian Hassen did.

'Especially the technique he used to slice the Chimera at the end was incredible.'

Auras are typically strongest when bound to a sword. When released externally, their power inevitably diminishes.

However, Damian's aura, when released externally, still exerted tremendous power, enough to make Mihail, who was far away, feel a chill.

Mihail couldn't even fathom how Damian managed to do that.

'Now that the extermination is over, I need to learn a lot from my brother.'

The lessons he received from Damian Hassen the other day significantly elevated Mihail Ryanblom's level.

Without Damian's help, he wouldn't have become a mid-class in such a short period.

'If I learn from my brother this time, I might get a clue on how to reach high-class...'

Mihail Ryanblom was lost in these thoughts when—

"Kuaaaah!"

A sudden scream broke his reverie. Mihail, startled, quickened his pace.

He could clearly see the gruesome scene.

A black mage lying on the ground, screaming.

"Please, stop! Ahhhh! Kuaaaah!"

The black mage's eyes were rolled back, and his body trembled violently.

Mihail looked at the scene, bewildered.

There were no visible signs of torture on the black mage's body.

He couldn't understand why the black mage was in such agony.

"You shouldn't be in this much pain. I still have more to show you."

Damian Hassen pointed at the woman's back. Her eyes widened.

"Rather, kill me! Kill me... Ah! Ahhhh!"

Mihail, watching the black mage, was horrified.

As soon as Damian stabbed her back, her muscles began to twitch like snakes, clearly visible to the naked eye. Each time the muscles twitched, her screams grew louder and more desperate.

"Ahhh! Ahhhh!"

"It's not working. Should I do it like this instead?"

When Damian pointed at the black mage's shoulder, a terrifying cracking sound of joints could be heard.

Now, the black mage couldn't even scream properly.

'Bone-crushing...?'

He had seen the nobles' knights use this method on criminals before.

It involved infusing the victim's body with mana to artificially twist their muscles and joints.

According to rumors, it was created by the empire's top torturers to interrogate traitors and spies.

'No, it's different from bone-crushing.'

Bone-crushing required continuous contact with the victim's body.

But Damian was causing pain with just a touch of his finger.

It was a much higher-level technique than bone-crushing, though he couldn't be certain.

"Please! Stop! Please! Just kill me!"

"You can end this pain if you tell me. How did you communicate with your comrades in the capital?"

"It... It was just letters... Letters, I swear!"

"You're still not thinking clearly. Spouting nonsense like that."

"Kuaaaah!"

Damian pointed at the black mage's body again.

The sound of muscles tearing and bones breaking was vividly heard.

Mihail shuddered at the terrifying sound.

But the most frightening thing here wasn't the technique.

"Tell me, and I'll stop the pain."

Damian, torturing the black mage, was smiling.

His smile clearly showed his enjoyment, as if he was mad with pleasure at this moment.

This made Mihail Ryanblom fear him to the point of being unable to bear it.

"Brother Damian..."

Mihail cautiously called out to Damian, who stopped just as he was about to point at the black mage's body again.

"Did you finish with the orcs and ogres?"

"Y-Yes, I finished. I finished, but..."

Mihail swallowed hard, staring at the black mage still screaming.

"Do you need to continue? It seems enough, doesn't it?"

Mihail was startled by his own words.

Defending a black mage? The church would not let this go if they found out.

"Enough... enough..."

Fortunately, Damian Hassen didn't criticize Mihail's actions. He just asked a question.

"Are you sympathizing with these creatures?"

"It's not that..."

He would be lying if he said he didn't feel pity.

Damian's use of bone-crushing was that terrifying.

"You're wasting your emotions. Since it's a good opportunity, let me tell you what kind of beings black mages are."

Damian pointed at the bald woman's neck, and her muscles calmed down.

The pain stopped, and the screams ceased. The bald woman panted on the ground.

"What price did you pay to use the black magic to control the orcs?"

"It... It was... I offered sacrifices! I threw people to the orcs... and cast black magic to enslave them when they were eating!"

"How many people did you kill?"

"Three hundred! Three hundred! I went around the peasant villages to find sacrifices!"

Mihail felt as if he had been hit in the back of the head.

Three hundred peasants thrown to the orcs? They were eaten while he cast the enslavement spell?

"Next, you. What did you do to make the poison?"

Damian looked at the haggard woman, who hesitated.

"I can't hear your answer."

"I... I didn't kill many! I only kidnapped people to test new poisons!"

"You kidnapped people and tested poisons?"

"Yes, yes! But I didn't waste the test subjects! If they were about to die, I tried to save them and use them again! I really did!"

Mihail Ryanblom's face hardened.

In other words, he forced people to stay alive and used them repeatedly for poison tests.

The test subjects undoubtedly suffered for a long time.

"Mihail, do you understand now? Black mages are all like this. They don't deserve sympathy."

Mihail slowly nodded at Damian's words.

"Then, I'll step back. There's still a lot of information to extract from them."

As soon as Damian finished speaking, Mihail stepped back.

I understand how terrifying black mages are. But Mihail was worried.

He couldn't forget the smile on Damian's face when he was torturing the black mages.

Mihail looked at Damian with a worried expression.

* * *

"Sir Damian, what do you mean...?"

Back at Walnut Castle, Damian revealed the truth to Oliver Apple.

"Uncle conspired with the black mages... and planned to make the extermination fail to put me in a corner...?"

"That's not all. Every incident that His Majesty has solved so far was a staged act by these black mages."

Oliver Apple staggered at the sudden truth.

"Why... Why would he do such a thing? Why...?"

"Doesn't Your Highness already know the answer?"

Oliver Apple's expression hardened at Damian's words.

"For the throne..."

Oliver Apple sighed deeply. He still couldn't accept the truth.

"Sir Damian, what should I do?"

"Your Highness has only one task. Expose the truth and bring down His Majesty."

Oliver Apple's eyes trembled at these words.

He respected his uncle. He admired his dignity and outstanding abilities.

It was difficult to think about dealing with a family member and a person he admired.

"Your Highness, pull yourself together. This is not the time for hesitation."

Damian pressed Oliver Apple.

"Alexander Apple, a royal, conspired with black mages. Not only that, he deliberately caused chaos in the kingdom to strengthen his power and even tried to harm you."

Damian was right. Alexander Apple had crossed the line long ago.

Showing sympathy to such a person was not just foolish but insane.

"...Sir Damian is right. Alexander Apple is nothing but a traitor who caused chaos in the kingdom."

Oliver Apple looked at the black mages, who were not in their right minds due to prolonged torture.

"I will take them and expose all the truth."

Damian smiled in satisfaction at the resolute answer.

"Thank you for your excellent decision. However, this alone won't be enough to bring down Alexander Apple."

"What do you mean?"

"Alexander Apple could deny his connection with the black mages and claim we framed him."

Oliver Apple had to nod at Damian's words.

"To cut off his escape route, we need more solid evidence or witnesses."

"What should we do?"

"I have a good plan."

Damian pulled something out of his pocket. It was an old, yellowed piece of parchment.

"A magical tool the black mages used to communicate with each other. I learned how to use it after interrogating them."

Damian whispered something into Oliver Apple's ear.

Oliver Apple laughed loudly after hearing the whole story.

"That sounds interesting. I'll follow Sir Damian's advice."