718 717. Interrogation

“May the Holy Light enlighten us.”

“Nice… fake beard.”

“Demons?”

“Who dares commit heresy?”

“Are we slaves?”

Geralt, Felix, Julius, Soulbreaker, and Aurora greeted Sylvester in that order. They had readily arrived at the port of Blackhart Kingdom.

Sylvester felt irked by Felix’s remark about his disguise and fake beard but ignored him. “You all have worn commoner’s clothes, yet you don’t look like them. Too clean, too beautiful, that’s not what slaves are supposed to look like.”

“So we are indeed slaves,” Felix exclaimed. “Why us?”

“The demons in the Central Continent have trapped and forced merchants from Sol to kidnap people and sell to them as a sacrifice to whatever heretic ritual they are committing. I suspect they’re trying to do something to the Soul Tree. I masqueraded as an old merchant named James Bond and caught a Demon’s eye, who made me a slave merchant as well,” Sylvester briefly explained and walked to them one by one to make some cuts on their clothes, ruin their hair and smear some dirt on their skin. “You’ll be acting as my slaves and wreak havoc with me.”

“Yes, boss!” Aurora saluted.

“Put the chains on your wrists.” Sylvester gave them metal chains and guided them to board a small ship manned by another human trafficker that he had caught and forced to do as ordered or die.

Bam!

Sylvester suddenly smacked Felix on the back of his head. “Move your ass, slave!”

“You! That was intentional!” Felix barked back.

Sylvester scoffed, smiling the whole time. “It’s meant to be intentional, my friend. This is the genuine slave experience.”

Bam!

“Move!”

Felix knew all too well Sylvester was messing with him. But he couldn’t do anything right now and accepted the beating. However, what annoyed him was that he was the only one getting the so-called ‘genuine slave experience.’ It was frustrating.

“Hit them too,” he grunted.

Sylvester scoffed. “Julius, Soulbreaker, and Geralt are older than me, so I can’t do that out of respect. Meanwhile, Aurora is a woman, and I don’t hit women.”

“Bull**! I’ve seen you rip women’s skulls apart,” Felix barked.

“Hey, don’t you underestimate me?” Aurora also added.

Sylvester chuckled and rubbed his palms together. “Really? Then do you want me to hit you, Aurora?”

“Ah… I’m just a little maiden, Sire.” Aurora instantly changed her tone.

Bam!

“And that is why you, my friend, get to experience this.” Sylvester continued bullying his best friend. “Maybe I should also make you bald.”

“Don’t you dare! Just because you can’t grow a beard doesn’t mean you have to hate people’s fabulous hair,” Felix barked and finally took a seat on the lower deck of the ship.

Sylvester scoffed, leaving him there, “I’ll tell Isabella what happened that day in Prince Daemon’s castle.”

“Ah, Master… mercy.” Felix changed completely in an instant.

‘This guy… Always knows when to mess around.’ Sylvester laughed and went to the ship’s main deck and started his journey towards the Central Continent.

… 𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ

A day later, they arrived across the sea at the shores of the Northod Kingdom. Sylvester gave his ‘slaves’ instructions and led them out, making sure they looked utterly dejected and hopeless from the voyage—pure cosmetics.

“Ah!” Sylvester saw a familiar face. “Merrifield, my friend. How’s your teeth now? I hope the wenches didn’t reject you with that face.”

“Pff…”

Sylvester glared at Felix and Aurora, who suppressed their laughs with snorts. After all, Merrifield did look utterly disgusting, his face swollen like a balloon from one side and his mouth lacking the support of teeth.

“Sire, Lord Two will be pleased with your service.” Merrifield acted kind and submissive.

‘A mere ruse, the scent of hatred is through the roof.’ Sylvester didn’t change his decision to kill the man. ‘Just a few more days.’

“Where should I take the slaves?” He asked.

“Leave them to me, Sire. I’ll lead them to the warehouse for further processing. Meanwhile, I have prepared a comfortable stagecoach to take you to Lord Two. He wishes to speak with you.” Merrifield gestured towards his back, where the two men who had kidnapped Sylvester previously helmed the horses of the carriage.

Sylvester quickly spoke with his five ‘slaves’ mentally.

‘Be careful, and follow the command. Guardian Julius, you’re the team leader for this.’

“Very well, my friend.” With that, Sylvester left his group and got into the carriage. He maintained a Solarium Web connection with their minds the whole time in case any grave emergency arose.

Soon enough, his carriage moved and transported him into the North City through the same old streets, beyond the river, and then into the area near the Royal Palace. There were multiple warehouses in the area, and yet there seemed to be no activity going on around them.

‘What were those red crystals under the tree?’ He still hadn’t forgotten the repulsive sight from under the Soul Tree.

“Maxy, I smell something…” Miraj voiced all of a sudden. “It’s like those burning bodies.”

Confused, Sylvester closed his eyes and focused on his sense of smell, heightening it with the help of magic. ‘Could these warehouses be… filled with people?’

“We’re here, Sire.” The reinsmen finally stopped the carriage.

Sylvester got down and looked behind. “You’re not coming?”

“N-Not today, Sire.”

‘I smell fear? Must be something special planned for me.’

Nevertheless, Sylvester walked into the warehouse through the normal door. It was massive from the inside, empty, airy, and almost dark. But in the middle, he could see Lord Two’s back, standing alone with something in front of him.

‘Blood?’

“Greetings, Lord Two.” Sylvester walked meekly closer and maintained some distance while approaching. “I-I have brought the slaves… my lord.”

“Watch.”

At the demonic voice, Sylvester silently approached closer and looked at what was before the Demon. And sure enough, it was something demonic, pitiful, and distressing. A human man was kneeling. His eyes appeared overcome with pain and panic.

Completely naked, he was bleeding profusely as his chest lay open, along with his ribcage, as if he were a machine. His moving lungs and beating heart could be seen as he was somehow kept alive.

‘The more I see these demons, the less confident I feel about making them my allies,’ Sylvester thought and maintained the disguise.

“Humans… such strange creatures, so weak by birth. Less gifted in magic, less gifted in mind, what a pitiful world you have,” Lord Two addressed Sylvester without looking at him. “You should rejoice that we have arrived to usher your world in the marvels of technology you cannot even perceive. Devoid of sorrow, devoid of illness, devoid of wars—your kind will serve us well.”

‘Here to conquer?’ Sylvester tried to surmise. ‘Why do it so openly then?’

“I-I am… grateful for your mercy, Lord Two.”

“Hah, of course you should be. Being the first among those to serve us, you shall be rightfully rewarded. Do you have family, human?”

Sylvester replied, showing hesitation. “I… I do not, my lord. They died during the earthquake and famine in the Blackhart Kingdom.”

“Pitty.” It was just a word; Lord Two showed no such emotion. “You may choose a wife for yourself and make a family—anyone you desire from Sol. You have my blessing, consider it a gift from your master, for your willing service.”

“W-Who is he… my lord?”

“A traitor,” Lord Two said, malice oozing from his being. “A spy of that despicable Pope of yours… A so-called Clergyman.”

“A Clergyman?!” Sylvester’s personality suddenly changed, and any submissive attitude he had in his body language disappeared in an instant. “What’s his name?”

Lord Two noticed it and turned his face to look. “What will you do after knowing?”

Sylvester ignored the Demon’s words and stepped forward to the kneeling man in pain. Still in disguise and unrecognized, he raised his palm towards the Clergyman. A blazing golden light of warmth came out and covered him, then followed the green, healing energy. The very basic unit of magic, solarium, got to work, and under the ensuing painful groans, the rib cage closed up, and his blood was replenished.

Finally, once Sylvester felt sure that the Clergyman wouldn’t die, he stopped and replied to the Demon. “What will I do? Reward him, of course… as his Pope.”

BOOM!

As if the sky exploded, the ceiling of the massive warehouse was ripped apart as if a tornado had taken it away. All its walls chipped away and turned into dust, but to the utter confusion of the Demon, there was nothing outside—it appeared as if they were standing in a void of white light.

Thud!

Lord Two fell to his knees, grunting and gritting his fangs, squinting his four red eyes. He felt unprecedented pressure on his shoulders, bringing his knees to the brink of breaking if not knelt. “P-Pope?”

Sylvester grabbed his beard and threw it away, and then removed his facial disguise, made of clay using Earth Magic. “I was going to continue playing this game, but I couldn’t just stand and watch a brother of mine be killed… by filth like you!”

Bam!

“Aaaargh! The generals… won’t let you go!” Lord Two bellowed and fell on his back, sensing the earth pulling him down, the gravity seeming manifolds higher suddenly. “W-What have you done?!”

Not his own death, but the void of whiteness everywhere scared Lord Two more.

Sylvester cracked his knuckles and made a claw in one hand before raising it towards Lord Two’s chest.

Crack!

Just like the poor Clergyman, Lord Two’s chest was ripped, and the four-layered ribcage of his, something alien to Sylvester, was forced open, revealing gruesome insides that made no sense to Sylvester. Multiple hearts, no lungs, and something more. It was an alien anatomy.

“The moment I stepped inside this city…” Sylvester stepped closer to him and knelt down on one knee to his eye level, starting the interrogation. “…It fell into my Supreme Void.”

“N-No!”

Sylvester liked the panic on the Demon’s face.

“Yes, including that Royal Palace… With your so-called General.”

_________________

Thank you for reading. Gifts and GT votes are highly appreciated.

𝘦𝑎.𝒸ℴ