“I suggest that when the paralytic effects of my attack wear off, you start speaking. At least then, I will give you a swift death instead of allowing you to melt from the inside.” With a sinister grin, Cynrik wiped off the blade of his Kodachi on the spy’s blazer before spinning it and sheathing it on his hip.

“Now, let’s begin the questioning; you see, I have many questions and not nearly enough answers to satisfy my budding curiosity.” Spinning the Kodachi in a circle which caused a wooshing sound, Cynrik rested the blade on his shoulder with a light tap.

“For starters, I won’t bother asking who sent you since I already have a reasonably decent grasp on it being either Lithlen Jetlensr or Viktor Opurn, so how bout letting me know if there is something like a bounty out on my head?” On his way down, Cynrik kept himself directly in front of the spy as he floated slowly to the ground.

Unfortunately, no matter how many questions Cynrik asked, presently, there was no way for them to be answered. The effect of the Paralyze status effect was simply too strong, rendering the man incapable of performing any means of communication.

Scared out of his mind and experiencing a level of pain he had only heard about, the spy’s bloodshot eyes vibrated upon hearing that Cynrik believed it was one of those two that set up this fiasco.

Unable to move or speak, the spy glared at Cynrik, wishing more than ever that he had the Psychic Affinity. At least then, he could scream and curse at this young man who had put him in such a position where all he could do was beg for death.

For several tense seconds, the only sound that could be heard was the faint sizzling coming from the now gaping hole on the spy’s face as the Omnipoison rapidly ate away at the flesh, exposing the white of bone hidden underneath.

“Oh, my bad, I appear to have jumped the gun, haha; silly me, you can’t even move your pinky finger; how could I possibly expect you to answer me verbally.” When he didn’t receive an immediate response, Cynrik chuckled and smacked his forehead with his left hand.

“Pesky thing that Paralyze status effect is,” Cynrik said as he raised his left hand and pressed his index finger and thumb together.

SNAP

At the sound of his action, multiple stacks of Paralyze wore off instantly, leaving three stacks of Burn, two stacks of Poison, one stack of Corrosion, and one stack of Permenant Poisoning.

Once freed of his paralysis, the spy collapsed on the ground, thrashing about and screaming in agony.

Before, he could only suffer in silence; however, with the physical restraint of the status effect no longer binding him in place, his body naturally reacted to the pain.

Seeing this, Cynrik rolled his eyes, lifted his right leg, and slammed it down on the spy’s chest, pinning him to the ground. Next, he spun his Kodachi off his right shoulder and pierced it into the ground beside the spy’s head, causing the man to stiffen and bite through his tongue, sending a spray of blood all over his face.

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Cynrik complained as he pressed down on the man’s chest using all of his weight, leaned forward, and poured a health potion down the spy’s open and closing mouth.

It took a little effort, but by using some Mana, Cynrik could force the potion through the flowing blood in the spy’s mouth, down his throat, and into his stomach, where it instantly healed the half-severed tongue.

“Stop being such a **ing baby and answer my goddamn question,” Cynrik growled. Then with a wave of his hand, a thin strand of tri-colored liquid flowed out of the festered wound, which had eaten a large hole in the man’s face and out into the open air.

This was the OmniPoison he had used earlier. Although Cynrik didn’t have an Affinity for it, he realized that by using his Umbra Mana, which had a dominating effect, he could effectively contain it and either implant or remove the strands of Poison at will.

Under his foot, and feeling the pain in his face lessen, the spy hatefully glared up at Cynrik and tried willing Mana out of his Codex, but the moment he did, he felt something draining all his Mana just as fast as he could manifest it.

His inability to channel Mana was caused by the Kodachi planted mere centimeters away from his head or, more so, a thick line of inky black Mana connecting his body to the Kodachi.

Cynrik had already predicted some form of retaliation from his enemy, and since the spy was a bonified Tier-4 being, he was taking no chances. Thus, when he stabbed the blade into the ground, he tethered a strand of Umbra Mana two fingers thick from the blade into the spy’s body.

In doing this, not only could he intimidate the spy by putting him in a potential life-or-death situation, but Cynrik could also utilize one of the main properties of his Umbra Affinity, which was the ability to subjugate lesser Mana particles.

“So, will you answer my questions, or am I going to inject this back into that nice fist-sized wound on your cheek,” Cynrik asked as he exposed an evil, toothy smile and waved toward the tri-colored floating liquid.

Realizing there was no way out, the spy felt his heart drop as reality set in that there was no surviving this insane young man, only the sweet release given by a swift and painless death, so he began spilling all the information he knew.

—

While Cynrik was beginning the interrogation, two kilometers away, Brance and the others had arrived underneath the massive Arena and were staring at it with complicated expressions.

“Ivar wants us to do what?” Benny asked while massaging his temples to curb the incoming headache he was anticipating.

“In his words exactly,” Brance cleared his throat twice and used two fingers to push down his eyebrows into the typical scowl he saw Cynrik wear.

“Observe the surrounding situation. I want you to have everyone spread out, locate any hidden enemies outside the Arena, and pick out the entry location carefully.” He even went so far as to mimic Cynrik’s emotionless voice as he quoted his older brother.

“Hahhh, seriously, does he realize how big the Arena is? How in the hell are we supposed to cover the whole thing and locate any hidden traps in 15 minutes?” Selene complained as she placed both hands on her hips and squinted toward the sky.

“Easy, Gabby; I want you and Milo to take the north exits. Since we have an underground view of the first floor, thanks to the nature of the Shadow Realm, we can see through the walls and get a decent layout of the Arena’s blueprint.” As he spoke, Brance pointed in the direction he wanted people to go.

“Kay!” Gabby gave a cute salute before having Milo transform, and then the two took off in the direction Brance indicated.

“Benny, you and Melody are heading to the eastern exits; check corners, walls, and any place that can be considered a good hideout, oh and don’t forget to mark anyone acting suspicious mentally. Loitering in one spot, aimlessly wandering, hell, if they look out of place or are too obvious, target them.”

“Copy,” Benny replied as he picked up Melody in a princess carry and took off to the eastern exits, which were the farthest away from their current location.

“Selene, the west gate is all yours; use your movement skill and Shadow Affinity. If anyone can spot those hiding in plain sight, it would be you, so I am putting my trust in your eyes and abilities.”

“Got it, moving out,” Selene said with a nod before turning into black gaseous particles and flying away.

With the other members of MyrkLys off on their mission, Brance turned around and looked over at Garrison, who was smacking Kurza and Rimsfel to wake them up.

“Sigh, why is it that everything always goes to ** when we go out on our own?” Brance mumbled as he walked over and used a weak healing spell on Kurza.

“What was that?” Instructor Garrison asked as he looked over toward Brance, who was working on waking Kurza.

“Sigh, I was just complaining about our uncanny ability to attract trouble while literally doing nothing wrong.” Finishing off his healing spell and seeing Kurza’s eyes flickering around under his closed eyelids, Brance gently laid the young man down on the ground before moving beside Garrison and replicating the process on Head Dean Rimsfel.

“I…I honestly have no idea how to respond to that Student Björn. I would like to deny your claim, but seeing the situation we are in right now, I feel that would be stupid.” Sucking his teeth, Garrison stood up and slowly observed his surroundings.

“It’s Brance; since my brother has you under that contract, it’s about time you learn that Björn and Ivar aren’t our real names.” After accidentally getting dragged into their bull** and becoming an unofficial member of the group, Brance made a split-second decision in which he knew he would be scolded soon and decided to be transparent with Garrison.

“Huh, wait a second. Are you saying you’ve been using an alias this entire time? Is it all of MyrkLys or just you and your brother?” Astonished that someone as young as Brance would use an alias, Garrison’s eyes popped wide open.

Checking over Rimsfel and satisfied that he would be waking up soon, Brance stood up, dusted himself off, and extended his right hand toward Garrison, which was received after half a second of confusion.

“Nice to officially meet you, Instructor Garrison; my name is Brance Jetlensr; until now, my brother Cynrik and I have been living under our alias as the Ragnarsson brothers precisely because of the ** show you have been dragged into.”

“All I ask is that you refrain from using our names in public or around those who don’t have a Soul Contract with me, my brother, or MyrkLys as a whole.” Wearing his trademark “likable” smile, Brance re-introduced himself to Garrison, who was still visibly confused at what was happening.

“Uh, nice to meet you…again I guess, wait, Jetlensr, as in the Headmaster of Finwan Academy?” Realization dawning on Garrison, he looked at Brance in a new light.

“Yeah, that’s kind of one of the reasons we are using our nicknames; it has to do with Cynrik flipping a verbal and physical middle finger at our grandfather, not once, but twice, and choosing to go to VSFA instead of Finwan during the selections. Well, that and my brother somehow ended up at odds with Viktor Opurn due to his pets.” Wearing a rueful expression, Brance turned and looked in the direction he had left his brother, only to frown a few seconds later.

“Sigh, he just couldn’t sit still and take inventory of our enemies.” Brance groaned as he observed Cynrik beating the spy to a pulp using his Mana Sight.

“I don’t envy you, kid, that brother of yours is quite the handful.” Chuckling at the sour expression on Brance’s face, Garrison smacked Brance on the back and chuckled just as Kurza and Rimsfel woke up screaming.

“AHHHH, TOOO FAST; YOU ARE GOING TOO FAST, IVAR!” Kurza howled as he crossed his arms over his face in a defensive posture.

“WATCH OUT FOR THE BUILDING!!!” Rimsfel howled while bolting upright.

“About time you two woke up; get on your feet; we have a recon mission to complete.” Garrison shook his head, grabbed Rimsfel by the shoulder, and pulled him to a standing posture.

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