Ch.19How Many Hits Will You Take? (1)

I’ve been through it all, or so I thought.

Days spent wandering through back alleys with nothing but my venom.

When I became the captain of the Shadow Knights, I believed I had distanced myself from the emotion called fear.

Fear? Terror? I thought those were things only cowards possessed.

But.

“Oh? Not talking?”

“Grrrr.”

What a tremendous miscalculation.

Thud.

Seth, who boasted one of the highest endurance levels in the knighthood, collapsed with foam at his mouth.

This was already the eighth time.

At first, Seth had endured for thirty minutes straight, but at some point, his endurance time began to decrease, and now he was losing consciousness every three minutes.

I had confidence I could withstand any torture.

The Night Ravens were thoroughly trained individuals, always prepared to take their own lives if necessary. That’s why they hid poison pills behind their left molars.

The same happened just now.

‘Seth.’

‘Understood.’

As soon as Olivia approached to question them, they bit down on their poison pills.

Crack.

With a bitter scent, the poison flowed down their throats.

It was an extreme poison that could dissolve even a troll in one breath. It melted bones completely, making resurrection as undead impossible.

They prided themselves that there was no more effective method to prevent information leakage.

The pain would only last a moment.

Soon after, peaceful rest would come.

‘…That’s how it should have been.’

Why!

Why aren’t we dead!

The poison had successfully spread. If nothing else, that much was certain.

The evidence was that their aura stopped moving and their heartbeats gradually slowed.

“My, my. Who said you could die as you please?”

But Olivia completely countered by forcibly opening their mouths and shoving potions down their throats.

Just like now.

Glug, glug, glug.

As soon as Seth fainted, Olivia shoved a potion into his mouth.

The unconscious Seth’s instinct couldn’t resist the energy rushing in to restore him.

Not knowing what consequences that choice would bring.

With that overwhelming recovery power, his eyes automatically bulged open and vitality forcibly surged through his entire body.

“Kuheogh! Heogh…”

It was truly a miracle.

But Seth couldn’t be happy about it at all.

“What number is this now?”

Seth’s entire body trembled.

“N-ninth time.”

Originally, the principle when being tortured was to say nothing.

But since keeping silent meant being beaten until unconsciousness, he had no choice but to answer.

“Right. Isn’t it about time you started talking?”

“…”

“No? Alright, then don’t talk.”

Deep sighs flowed from both sides, but Olivia’s face showed it didn’t matter much.

“You know, I wasn’t originally the type to beat people like this.”

Calliophe looked at Olivia with a face that said, ‘What new nonsense is this?’

“But after beating one guy, two guys, ten guys, a hundred guys, I realized something. Ah, these bastards only listen when you hit them. Being nice and coddling them is completely useless.”

Olivia, saying this, had the face of a prophet expounding enlightenment.

How many users had suffered unfair treatment because of these stubborn NPC jerks while playing Lactea thousands of times?

Of course, the Night Ravens, not knowing the details, would consider Olivia a madman who had spent his entire life studying how to beat people.

“And.”

Olivia looked down at them with sharp eyes.

“What I’m doing is actually exactly the same as what you did.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You attacked me because I wouldn’t answer, saying you’d cut off my arm.”

“…”

Well, that’s true, but…

“Have I killed you? Have I cut off your arms? You should be grateful I’m only hitting you. I’m too nice, that’s my problem, too nice.”

“…”

Calliophe squeezed her eyes shut.

If that was being nice, then the back alleys were utopia and the demon realm was heaven inhabited only by angels.

She had met quite a few villains before, but none as vicious as this one.

‘What’s more annoying is that he’s not wrong.’

It was indeed Calliophe who attacked first, and Calliophe who sent the assassins. Olivia had merely provoked them.

It’s true…

It’s definitely true, but…

Why does it feel so unfair?

“Nothing to say? Shall I continue beating you?”

Just as Olivia raised her staff with a chilling smile.

“W-wait!”

“Hmm? Finally decided to talk?”

Seth shouted with all his might.

“Why, why do you keep hitting only me!”

“You want to know the reason?”

Seth nodded.

“If you tell me, I’ll tell you.”

“That’s…”

“You don’t want to? Honestly, after holding out this long, you can’t bring yourself to talk, right?”

“…”

Seth’s eyes filled with deep despair as he missed his chance to speak.

‘You just want to beat me.’

Those weren’t the eyes of someone trying to extract information. They were the eyes of a madman who saw people as stress-relief punching bags.

“Just. Say. It. You bastard.”

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

They say sometimes watching someone get beaten is scarier than being beaten yourself.

For Calliophe, this was that moment.

In that brief moment, Seth’s entire body had swollen up. It was now difficult to tell whether he was a human or a steamed bun.

‘He’s growing more skilled with each passing moment.’

A talent that shouldn’t be developing was developing.

“Drink, you bastard!”

“W-wait…!”

“Shut! I don’t want to hear it!”

Glug, glug, glug.

It was a sight impossible to watch with open eyes.

And what kind of witch carries around so many potions?

She had seen many who didn’t hesitate to kill people, but never someone who repeatedly beat a person to the brink of death and then restored them.

If the Empire’s torture technicians saw this scene, they would praise it as pioneering a new horizon in torture.

“Ku, kuheuheuk…”

Seth, who had already been restored for the tenth time, groaned. He was already at his limit, both mentally and physically.

“J-just use magic instead…”

“No.”

“…Why not?”

“Because then you’ll die. No.”

What a beautiful heart! Worrying that an enemy might die!

Calliophe smiled warmly.

‘Just kill him, you damn bastard!’

At this rate, his mind would break first.

Living as an idiot would be meaningless.

“Stop it now!”

Unable to bear it any longer, Calliophe shouted, and Olivia stopped the beating to look at her.

“Why? Will you speak instead?”

“…Yes.”

Calliophe accepted reality.

If the pain continues eternally without death, even a knight with the strongest willpower would eventually open their mouth.

If even Calliophe, who was just watching, felt this way, how much worse must it be for Seth who was experiencing it directly?

It was only a matter of time.

‘I’m powerless.’

It was frustrating that she couldn’t offer even a hint of resistance because her entire body was frozen.

“The one who sent us was…”

“Captain.”

“Seth. I no longer have confidence.”

“Captain!”

“I will bear all this dishonor. Resent me even after death. I’m sorry for being such a captain.”

Calliophe spoke with a composed face.

She had always thought this day would come. Although she never imagined her end would be such a dishonorable death, there was no point in dwelling on that now.

Still, if she was going to die, she wanted to die with dignity.

“Listen, witch. The one who sent us was…”

“Wait!”

Calliophe turned her head toward the sound, her face contorted.

What’s the problem now when I’m about to tell…

Seth?

“Why should the captain decide that! I can’t accept thiiiis!”

Seth was foaming at the mouth and choking with all his might.

“Did the captain get beaten? Did the captain faint? After just watching the whole time! Now that you might get beaten too, suddenly you want to spill everything? What kind of thief’s mentality is that!”

“C-calm down…”

“Waaaaaah! I can’t live with this injustice! You call yourself a captaaaaain!”

“…”

Calliophe’s eyes shook as if an earthquake had struck.

Am I hearing this correctly?

“If anyone’s going to talk, it should be me! Me! Meeeee! How could I have endured this for so loooong!”

“…”

They say extreme shock can leave you speechless?

That was exactly Calliophe’s situation.

“Hmm, that’s right. If anyone’s going to talk, it should be you who got beaten.”

And why are you over there now?

Calliophe looked at Olivia with an incredulous face.

Olivia was already agreeing with Seth’s words.

“Wow, that one’s a complete psycho. Hasn’t taken a single hit yet. At the very least, she should have been beaten similarly for you to accept it, right?”

Nod, nod.

“What a terrible person. What should I do? Should I beat her too?”

Seth glared at Calliophe for a moment.

And then…

Nod, nod.

“I see. He wants me to beat you. You should get beaten too.”

Calliophe’s face trembled.

‘Hey, you crazy bastard!’

‘The captain betrayed me first!’

‘When did I ever!’

If their limbs weren’t frozen, they would have lunged at each other immediately.

Olivia wiped her nose as she watched the Night Ravens falling apart in real time.

‘This is working much better than expected.’

While they’re naturally tight-lipped, there are ways to make them talk.

This is one of the most effective methods.

Beat only one person.

And sow discord.

“D-don’t come near! Stop! I’ll tell everything. I’ll tell!”

“So if you want to talk, you need to get beaten more than him?”

Wait, how did the conversation turn that way?

I’m confessing to avoid being beaten, but you’re saying I should get beaten if I want to confess?

“What kind of nonsense is that…”

Calliophe’s words didn’t continue.

THWACK!

Because Olivia’s staff struck Calliophe’s head directly.

‘Ku, kueok…’

My consciousness…

“Khehehehehehe!”

Beyond her fading consciousness, the laughter of a cowardly traitor echoed.