Chapter 79 - 28: [Sittika’s Hunter and the Red-Brown Sage]

Chapter 79: Chapter 28: [Sittika’s Hunter and the Red-Brown Sage]

"Hmm..." Valak stroked his chin. "Considering the gifts you brought me are somewhat to my liking, I will allow you to pass through the Kana Plain. Also, the fruit is quite good, worth throwing in a piece of advice: don’t get too close to the Empire’s border."

"Yes! Thank you for your grace, Lord of Kana!" The two Demonized Ones bowed in salute.

Suddenly, shrill and terrifying screams echoed from underground, as if someone was being subjected to inhumane torture somewhere below.

The two black-robed Demonized Ones awkwardly exchanged glances, feeling as though they had stumbled upon Valak’s sadistic tendencies.

Torturing prisoners of war wasn’t exactly a niche hobby among the Demon Race, but it usually wasn’t done in front of foreign guests. Torturing captives together was a bonding activity reserved only for intimate friends of the Demon Race, and their relationship with Valak was obviously not that close.

"Alright, if there’s nothing else, you can get lost," Valak said, waving his hand dismissively. "Marlin, see them out."

The Demon Race Warrior nodded and led the two Demonized Ones out of the Throne Hall. The heavy doors slammed shut with a CLANG.

Valak stood up from the throne, casually closed the fresh-keeping box full of fruit, and walked toward the room behind the Throne Hall.

CAW! Seeing its master leaving, the Feather-crowned Demon Crow spread its wings and chased after him.

Deep underground, in a dim dungeon within the Inner Ring of the Valak Dungeon.

Pale demonic torches flickered in the corridor, casting long shadows of the prison bars.

Augusta... or rather, what was left of Augusta’s mutilated body, hung in a dark cell.

His limbs had been hacked off. Large, rusty iron hooks pierced through the rough, bloody stumps, suspending him from the wall with iron chains in a barbaric and terrifying manner.

He was still alive, still breathing faintly, but in this state, he could hardly be called human anymore.

Screams echoed down the corridor. Valak’s Burrower jailers, wielding crude giant blades, were hacking off the limbs of other captured adventurers alive, hanging them up in the exact same brutal fashion.

Several Demonized Wizards assisted nearby, pouring unrefined Healing Potions down the throats of the amputated prisoners to forcibly stop the bleeding and stabilize their conditions. However, the special Healing Potions would not regrow their hands and feet; they merely turned living people into horrific, limbless torsos.

The Monarch hadn’t given too many specific instructions for this task—such as "do not eat the prisoners’ severed limbs." Burrowers were not particularly intelligent creatures; they were more akin to beasts. As a result, some Burrower jailers simply opened their fang-filled maws and chewed off the prisoners’ arms and legs alive.

CLANG! The sound of a metal elevator hitting the ground echoed from the end of the corridor, followed by a series of respectful greetings and the happy cawing of a Demon Crow.

Augusta trembled, gasping for breath as he struggled to move his stumps, but to no avail.

CLANG! The metal barred door swung open.

FLAP FLAP! The weight of a creature landed on top of his head. Two bird claws stepped onto Augusta’s scalp, pacing happily, when suddenly—

"Ah!" Augusta shrieked in agony as gory blood spilled from his now-empty right eye socket.

CAW! The Feather-crowned Demon Crow flapped its wings, Augusta’s right eyeball clamped in its beak, and flew back to its master’s shoulder at the cell door.

"Oh, what tasty treat did you find for yourself, my sweet pet?" The figure at the door stroked the massive Demon Crow on his shoulder. "So clever. Did you know this was prepared just for you?"

Augusta began to tremble violently.

"Kill me..." he gasped. "Just like you killed my parents."

"Who are your parents?" Valak studied the disfigured remains hanging on the wall with great interest.

"David and Eliza Augusta," he choked out the two names with great difficulty.

"Never heard of them. Probably some trash that died in the Fifth Ring." Valak teased the Demon Crow on his shoulder. "Didn’t you choose to enter the Underground City yourselves? I even hung skulls at the entrance. It’s your own fault for not listening to the warnings—greed drove you to suicide. I was just taking a nap at home, so how did such a grave sin get pinned on me?"

Augusta gasped for air.

"You are just as stupid and greedy as your parents. If you had just quit while you were ahead and fled quickly like the other adventurers, I probably wouldn’t have had the chance to capture you alive. Such arrogance." He waved his hand. "An eleventh-level adventurer thinks he’s worthy to challenge me—you’d barely qualify once you reached the seventeenth level. Though, of course, you no longer have that opportunity."

Two Burrower jailers squeezed inside and unhooked Augusta’s iron chains.

His mutilated body smashed heavily onto the floor. Like a maggot, he was dragged by the chains toward some unknown destination outside the cell.

"What... what are you going to do?" Augusta asked, his face scraping against the filthy, blood-reeking floor.

"My compatriots of the Demon Race call me the Red-Brown Sage because I frequently research certain... great technologies from the Divine Era Ruins." Valak strolled unhurriedly in front. Dragged behind by the Burrower jailers, Augusta could barely lift his head, catching only a glimpse of an elegant back walking through the darkness.

"The Demon Race possesses a special Spiritual Energy. Through the sacrificial rituals of Magical Beasts, we can grant humans traits and abilities similar to those of Magical Beasts. This ritual is known as Demonization."

"Kill me! I will not accept your Demonization, and I will never pledge loyalty to you!" Augusta managed a weak, guttural roar.

"Reward you with Demonization? In your dreams!" Valak burst into laughter. "Ever since that Demonized Assassin betrayed me over twenty years ago, I no longer hand out Demonization as such a flippant reward!"