Chapter 114: A Clash Between a King-Kong and a Hybrid Species (2)

Twisting the Flesh and Bones.

The brutal torture technique that was meant to separate the bones from flesh continued for over 30 minutes. Of course, the guy’s bones and flesh weren’t really separated, it was just meant to replicate the same amount of pain as when that actually happened. Nevertheless, that 30 minutes should’ve felt like 30 years to anyone who was subjected to that torture.

In fact, Roy Bant had become so haggard that he looked and became almost like a corpse. It was like there was so little life in him, to the point that it wouldn’t be strange if he were to die at any moment.

Though he had become so miserable now, he couldn’t do anything about it.

“Spiteful bastard. His mouth was so heavy…”

“But, it wasn’t. You were the one who stopped him from talking.”

“Oho?”

“…”

Yord closed his mouth at the playful warning that Lee Han gave to him.

He had witnessed the horrific sight of the guy’s muscles and bones being twisted into deformities before regaining their original forms back. There was no way that he’d dare to confront his senior after seeing all that. That kind of brutal violence he showed was something that would leave mental traumas for its spectators.

It made Yord understand why so many torture technicians became mentally ill due to their occupation.

Which was crazy to think that his senior was still sane after all that. Even though he had just performed such a crazy action, he was calmer than anyone else—as if it was just another day of work for him. Seeing that, Yord couldn’t help but let out a sweat.

Senior…is really perfect.

He didn’t completely understand the senior in front of him, but he felt like he understood him at least superficially. Someone who had no mercy for his enemies. The moment he defined someone as his enemies, he’d turn ruthless and uncompromising towards them.

Some people might ask, ‘Isn’t that something obvious?’, but those who knew, knew.

Knowing that principle and practicing it were as different as heaven and earth.

Even if in the future I’m forced to fight Senior, I won’t treat him as an enemy, but as someone to learn from…

That was what he genuinely thought.

On the other hand, when Yord’s understanding of the character of Lee Han kept increasing, Jake, who had always been in close contact with him for three years, showed indifference towards the sight.

“Thankfully, he knows much more than we thought.”

Actually, no, he wasn’t indifferent, he was just wearing a businesslike expression. He also didn’t show any sympathy for the other person.

“…I thought you would get angry at something like this…”

Seeing his reaction, Arren, who had turned paler than Yord—actually, he became like that after vomiting out the content of his stomach—flinched. He thought that Jake was the only normal person here. Without realizing it, he let out such a voice.

‘How could a knight do such a cruel and barbaric act like torturing a prisoner?’

He thought Jake would say such principled and normal words.

However, to his surprise, Jake’s response was…

“Isn’t he an enemy who threatens Pendragon? I am fully aware that torture is against humanity and chivalry. However, for the sake of the peace and order of the kingdom and its people, a knight should not hesitate to swing our sword even if we are dubbed as demons by the enemy. Wasting my emotions on the enemy of Pendragon isn’t something I want to do, Your Highness the Eighth Prince. I don’t think that person did anything wrong. It is something that has to be done, and someone needs to do it. The reason why the kingdom could continue to be peaceful is because there are people like him who’d willingly dirty their hands.”

“…”

“If you find what I and that guy did repulsive, I recommend you return to the capital right now. I will persuade him to let you do so.”

“…”

…Like that.

Jake, who had always called him ‘Knight Commander’ or ‘Sir’ up until now, used the word [Eighth Prince] for the first time. If Arren did not know the implication behind that, he would’ve been a fool in the truest sense of the word.

He was treating him as ‘royalty’, not a knight.

By expressing that statement, he was basically treating him like a flower that grew in a greenhouse. At the same time, he also told him that his attitude was unworthy of a knight’s.

Hearing that…

Clench-!

Hurt Arren’s pride. Then again, if it wasn’t, he couldn’t be called a man, let alone a royal.

“Watch your words, I’m not the Eighth prince, I’m the proud First Knight Commander of the Silver Lion. This is an order, Jake Farman!”

Arren bit his lip so hard that it bled and raised his voice in anger, but Jake just nodded his head indifferently.

“…My apologies, Lord Arren.”

“Damn it!”

It was clear from his expression that he was angry, and he couldn’t control his anger, but he wasn’t actually angry at Jake. Instead, he was angry at himself for showing such an incompetent side of himself, and behaving in a way that didn’t fit his status as a knight.

I’m also a knight from the Silver Lion!

Arren said that inwardly before turning his eyes toward Jake. While Jake’s words made him come to his senses, to be provoked like that still wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience for him.

“… Now I think I understand why you guys are friends with that monster.”

“Is that an insult?”

“Do you think it’s a compliment?”

“I see. It’s an insult, huh?”

“Heukkk!”

It was the moment when Arren realized that honorifics that were used against him could come across as unpleasant.

“…So Senior Jake can provoke someone like that too, huh? He really struck that guy’s nerves.”

Yord thought that if those words were to hit him, his pride would also get hurt by them.

From the perspective of an observer, he could see clearly how Arren was dancing in Jake’s palm. Since he had been thinking that the senior knight was a straight and upright person, he was amazed by this new side of him.

The provocative tone he used reminded him of ‘someone’.

And that someone was none other than…

“Ugh, that guy used to be so innocent. After going on a few missions with me and seeing a lot of bad things, his personality became a bit twisted. The saying was right. Being a soldier really would distort a person’s character.”

“…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I-It’s nothing Sir…”

“…I don’t like the look on your eyes.”

“I’m not lying! I didn’t think of anything!”

“Hmm…”

“…”

Yord closed his mouth and averted his gaze, keeping his silence.

There was no way he’d just blurt out the thing that was in his mind…

Senior… No matter how I look at it, you are the main culprit here, not the thing about being a soldier or whatnot…

He had the wisdom to know that one’s mouth was the source of all evil, so he saved himself by staying silent.

This was the moment when he gained the essential passive ability that a social person should have.

-O-One day, they approached me…

The information that Roy Bant gave mentioned multiple people, not just one.

-I don’t know how long they’ve been in the tunnel. But, they have been here for at least ten years for sure…

When Lee Han asked why he thought so, his answer was…

-…They used the tunnel as if it was their home. They knew its structure well, they even knew secrets that even the soldiers managing the tunnel didn’t know…

It was as if the prison—hell for some, an execution ground for others—was their own living room. This statement meant that they had completely figured out the tunnel’s structure, which was as complicated as an anthill and as incomprehensible as a maze.

After all, the tunnel’s structure would change frequently because of the worms.

This was proof that they had been wandering around here for a long time.

But still, for them to stay here for ten years was simply unbelievable…

-There are buildings and farms here—there are habitable facilities inside the tunnel.

…And then the next revelation came. Apparently, they had created their own residences and other facilities here in the tunnel.

These were facilities that would be impossible to create unless they had lived there for at least ten years. Although, this information was also hard to believe.

No matter how indifferent the soldiers were about the conflict, and how they never went inside the tunnel, there was no way they wouldn’t be aware that residences and other facilities were being created inside.

So, Lee Han twitched his hand again, bearing that suspicion.

-Hiiiek! Please, believe me! I-I’m telling you the truth! I-I’m only telling you what I saw!!

And that prompted Roy Bant to cry.

He genuinely didn’t want to experience that pain ever again, he felt like he was going crazy at the thought.

-I-I don’t know who they are! But they were extremely organized! They’ve been trying to persuade strong people in the tunnels! Most of them seemed to be looking for people with grievances, or those who were angry at Pendragons, no, at its nobles and royalty! They also had an antidote to restore Combat Technique somewhere! I even saw them teach Combat Technique to a worm farmer!!

Roy Bant tried his best to spit out everything he knew, and an unusual piece of information came out.

-I-I’m also the same. I was just a low-ranking soldier from Britain. They brought me here because I was plundering civilians! Back then, I was just waiting for my death, b-but then they taught me how to fight with their Combat Techniques! The potions you took from me were the exact potions I was talking about! It has side effects, but it increases your Combat Technique Power! It’s real! Believe me!

…The next information he just spat was also unbelievable.

Two years. That was how long he was imprisoned in the tunnel. Yet, in that span of time, a soldier who didn’t even know Combat Technique, a full-grown man at that, managed to learn it and reached the level he was now.

He wasn’t just at an average level either. This guy was stronger than the half-baked knights in the Silver Lion. In fact, he was stronger than the commander of the First Order, who led those half-baked knights.

And he achieved such a feat in just two years.

Considering that it took at least ten years for a knight to become good enough, it was an astonishing revelation.

-M-My mission was to recruit those who had a grudge against the nobility. I-I thought you guys were those kinds of people. Since recruiting you would guarantee my promotion and I could get more benefits, I— Ugh!

Roy Bant writhed in pain again as he uttered that information.

While Lee Han was listening, he used the terrible trick on the guy again, prompting Roy Bant to show a wronged look on his face.

-W-Why!?

I said everything that I know, why is he doing this to me?!

To that question…

-Because you lied to me. Just plundering? That wasn’t the only thing you did.

-!!?

-See? You lied. I knew it.

-Keukk…

After hearing the information the guy spitted out, all the knights were wearing stern expressions on their faces.

“This potion… It’s that, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it seems to be the case.”

“Hmm…”

The knights noticed signs of poisoning in Roy Bant—who had passed out in one corner. When they thought about his unusual growth…

“The potion is made from a monster’s flesh. I’m 100% sure.”

A monster’s flesh.

Something that was no different from poison to humans; a poison that would kill any human the moment they were consumed.

If an animal were to consume it, it’d mutate and ‘turn into a monster’, this was something that everyone knew.

…But, were they aware?

In a way…

“Humans are the same as animals. This proves it.”

Among the humans who ingested the flesh of a monster, there were some who survived. Those people sometimes gained great strength, regenerative abilities, and excellent learning abilities.

Like a blessing from the heavens.

However…

“Most of those who survive would turn mad. They’d get angry easily, commit murder easily, and their humanity would gradually wear away.”

This was probably proof that blessings and curses weren’t that far apart.

With that in mind, it wasn’t hard to see a monster’s flesh as a terrible curse and a nightmare at the same time.

“I’ve heard about it. The ‘Demon Disease’, where all the people ended up becoming [Demonic Humans]…”

“…According to the records of the royalties, the last Demonic Human was discovered 30 years ago. That person displayed power that could overwhelm a hundred soldiers just a month after they first came to power. It was only after a swarm of knights arrived that they finally managed to kill them.”

The end of those who survive after eating the flesh of a monster was always the same.

At the end of the day, they’d succumb to the instinct of a monster—the instinct to kill people, hence why…

“They even commit ‘cannibalism’.”

“Ugh!”

There was a case where a man failed to even recognize his own wife and child, and ate them. As this was a story that the knights had heard several times during their cadet days, they were staring at the potion with fearful and angry eyes.

Except for Lee Han, who was just rolling the potion on his palm, staring at it deeply.

“…Considering that the guy hasn’t lost his humanity completely, I assume that many of those side-effects have been removed. But there should be a limit to that.”

Lee Han was certain. He could smell an unpleasant stench as he stared at the potion. The thing only had a small amount of flesh mixed in so that someone wouldn’t just instantly die the moment they ingested it.

“They must have experimented on it a lot. Just how many people did they kill, I wonder?”

It was obvious that this potion was created after numerous experiments, especially regarding the immunity and tolerance of humans. Actually, the thing in his hand couldn’t even be considered as a drug or potion. It was a time bomb that could explode at any moment.

After all, anyone who ingested it would become a problem later in the future.

And in order to develop such a time bomb…

“They must have used tens of thousands of humans as test subjects at the very least. Ha! Those crazy bastards!”

Jake confidently said so. Since he often went to hunt illegal mages with Lee Han, such dirty experiments were something he had grown used to witnessing. Hence why he was confident that his estimation should be close to the real number.

And that only made it more terrifying.

The fact that a group of humans could even think about doing something so vile…

He could feel the madness, obsession, and endless malice that they possessed.

“After seeing this, it doesn’t matter whatever the fuck those Blood Cross fuckers are. We need to get rid of them at all costs. Otherwise, they’d only get more terrifying in the future.”

“I agree.”

The group was one that was filled with malice.

They even had a potion that could turn people into Demonic Humans—or rather, [Half Demonic Humans].

On top of that, they could even afford to teach them high-level Combat Techniques.

No one knew how many of these people were roaming around either.

If there were a thousand—no, just a hundred of them were enough to be a threat.

They were strong enough to threaten the kingdom.

With such an important fact in mind, the other knights’ paid attention to Lee Han’s mouth.

And as if responding to the knights’ expectations, he…

“Let’s go. We’ll clean them all.”

–Could only give out that refreshing, if not exhilarating, answer.