NOVEL NEXT Chapter 99: Torture
Deklan stomped on the hand mirror, cutting the communication with his little brother.
Then, he folded his arms and held his chin in contemplation.
"How did she find out that easily?"
Considering the speed of his growth, it wouldn't take long before he reached the peak of the bronze rank or even higher. If he could raise his Exorcist and Ghost side to five-star bronze rank, he was confident that he would be able to really survive on his own.
Perhaps by then, he could fight someone like Agnar on equal terms without any help.
No need to summon Sasaki or Pumple.
So, he was banking on fooling Callen for the second time.
Showing Callen his 'corpse' should be more than enough to seal the lie, and then Agnar could demand a few months off as his reward for completing this assassination. That would certainly give him enough time to move about, free from Callen's scheme.
But that sharp woman ruined his perfect plan.
His perfect plan to buy a few months of time was completely and utterly ruined.
"Should I play dead longer?" He smacked his lips in displeasure. "I should've, huh? Stupid. Stupid!"
"Peeuh… I hate her. I really hate her," Deklan sneered and tapped his foot against the ground repeatedly, extremely annoyed that the woman was quick to catch on to the lie. "How the fuck did she catch me? She did say there's a flaw, but what? Shit… I should've asked her about it first before stomping the mirror."
Deklan panicked earlier.
He managed to keep it cool, but he couldn't restrain his impulse to end the conversation.
So, he said what he needed to say and quickly destroyed the hand mirror.
"Hey, idiot, come here and let me inspect you."
Deklan curled his finger at Agnar, gesturing for him to come closer.
"Fuck…" Agnar whispered through gritted teeth, fighting back the spell. "You…"
"Oh? You can still fight back this hard? That's good to know," Deklan nodded pleasantly, remembering that the Beta was stripped of its will entirely. This proved that, though it was a forbidden spell, it still had its own limitations. "But you're not in any position to resist me."
Deklan raised his left hand that was now riddled with dark symbols.
Strands of wires became visible from his fingertips—wrapped around Agnar's body like he was nothing more than a doll, and Deklan was the puppeteer. Other than dictating Agnar's movements, he also found out another extension of this forbidden spell.
From his observations, the Marionette Bind basically summons five mana wires from his fingertips.
Each mana wire could be used to control one limb.
By default, the wires would be wrapped around the target's arms, legs, and head.
But that's not necessary.
Deklan could control which part of Agnar he wanted to use.
Since Agnar retained his own mind, Deklan needed to use one of the mana wires on his mind, essentially paralyzing his thoughts for the time being. But that would mean he needed to let go of one limb, which he chose to be the left arm.
Now that the cover was blown, Deklan wrapped the mana wire back to the left arm.
It was how Agnar could think properly again.
He pulled on the mana wires, forcing Agnar to approach him.
"Now that I think about it, using the Marionette Bind for that stunt was rather risky," Deklan inspected Agnar from head to toe, circling around like he was observing a statue. "If Callen or that woman looked hard enough, they would notice the odd movements from the left arm."
"But still… what is the flaw she's talking about?" He muttered in confusion.
No matter where he looked, there didn't seem to be anything that's obvious.
Or maybe his eyes aren't the ones who could spot it.
After all, he couldn't even be considered a proper Exorcist.
"Let's go back and ask Kaelyn about this. She must be able to spot it," Deklan uttered, already trotting ahead. "Come on, doggy. You get to keep breathing a little longer. Don't blame me for this. Blame that woman—with the pretty eyes. If our stun had worked, you'd have had a few good months left to repent for trying to assassinate someone as innocent and handsome as me."
Agnar's eyes twitched when he heard this.
This was torture.
He couldn't speak, couldn't even mutter a sound anymore, but he really wanted to scream right now.
Moments later.
Deklan and Agnar headed to where he came from and were pleasantly surprised to find Kaelyn not too far away from where he was earlier. Seems like she didn't go back instantly to the carriage. She waited for him to come back first.
"That was quick," Kaelyn commented in surprise. "How did you manage that?"
She recognized the spell, grasping Agnar right now, the same one as back then in the Land of Flames.
But that forbidden spell was slow.
Agnar should be able to avoid the wires easily, even if he is caught off guard.
"Got a little bit of help," Deklan scratched the back of his head, smiling. "Pumple isn't the only one I have, you know."
"It's that ghost woman, isn't it?" Kaelyn asked, recalling the time Sasaki took down the Alpha Ghost.
"Yep. She's also a silver-rank Ghost, so taking this guy down is easy-peasy."
"Hahh… That ability is yours is a cheat."
"Thanks for the compliment."
Just as Kaelyn lowered her gaze, she caught Deklan's blackened arm.
It was gnarly to look at, and also seemed quite painful.
"Are you… okay?" She asked, eyes fixated on that arm.
"Hmm?" Deklan raised a brow, then realized what she was talking about. He quickly waved his hand, his other, normal hand, to dismiss her worry. "Just a side effect from using the spell. Not a big deal. It'll return to normal soon enough."
"Is it not painful?"
"Yes, extremely. To the point that I want to smack this guy for making me use the spell."
"Let me try Purify," Kaelyn said, moving closer. She took his blackened arm gently in both hands. "The damage is from a forbidden spell, right? If this is a taint, something tied to impurity, then Purify should be able to do something. It might heal, or at the very least, dull the pain."
Deklan didn't argue against her.
He allowed her to cast the Purify spell as a warm light bathed his blackened arm.
Considering that this forbidden spell was derived from something sinister and unknown, Deklan wasn't hoping much for a basic spell like Purify. But surprisingly enough, the pain lessened a little. Not that much, but enough for him to sense.
"It's working!" Deklan exclaimed. "The pain doesn't feel as bad now."
"Just as I expected," Kaelyn nodded and pulled her hands away.
No use in using Purify the second time, as the effect doesn't stack like other stronger spells.
Deklan tried moving his arm for a bit and nodded in acknowledgment.
It really did make the pain weaker.
He looked at Kaelyn, who seemed to be deep in her thoughts, and smiled teasingly.
"Are you that worried about me?" Deklan used his straightened index finger to poke Kaelyn's waist, causing her to flinch and react in surprise. "I thought you'd rather let me die than show you real power. You still would rather that, but I'm starting to slowly grow on you, am I?"
"Stop acting like a child." Kaelyn moved her waist away and slapped his hand. "Of course I'm worried. You're the only one who can help me."
"Really?" He kept going, taking pleasure in seeing Kaelyn's annoyed face. "Not because of something more than that? Something like my handsomeness is smiting your heart?"
"Please… Handsome or not, no woman wants to be with a child and a womanizer."
"Is that your way of saying you wanted to be my only one?"
"You hear only what you want, aren't you?"
"Something like that."
Agnar, who was watching them flirt from behind, stared at them with a blank look.
He was especially looking at Deklan, who was extremely shameless.
Just a few minutes ago, he was flirting with a Ghost by giving her a hairpin, and now he's flirting with Kaelyn, talking about making her the only one. He knew that Deklan changed completely, but he didn't expect this part of him also change.
It's really like he was a different person.
"Ah, you know, earlier, I was trying to fool my little brother again—right," Deklan shared what he did earlier, wanting to vent and complain as his golden opportunity was wasted. "But there's this woman with pretty eyes who saw through my lie,"
"Deklan…"
"No, no, no, wait. I'm not going to flirt with that woman. Don't worry. As I was saying, now my stupid little brother is aware that I'm still alive! We have to be careful when we reach town. He might already have people there waiting for us,"
"Deklan, wait, I need something to tell y—" Kaelyn tried to cut him again.
She was smiling wryly, like she was helpless about the situation.
But once again, Deklan talked over her.
"I'm not finished," He cut again, then continued. "I also saw a glimpse that he's butt-naked. I'm damn certain he's doing it with that woman. How shameless can he be? At least have some decency to wear something befo—"
"Deklan!" Kaelyn exclaimed loudly, stopping him in his stupor.
"What is it?" He raised a brow. "Is my story boring?"
"It's not that. We're not alone,"
"Not alone…?"
Just then, a voice seeped into his ears—someone was calling his name.
And it wasn't Kaelyn.
It was a familiar voice, one that made his entire body stiffen almost instantly.
On the side, right behind a rock, Deklan saw Victoria coming out of hiding.
She appeared out of nowhere—like a Ghost who was drawn by gossip, or a Ghost who already latched onto him and would never let go. Deklan's face stiffened as he forced a tight smile at Kaelyn, "Why did you not tell me that she's here…?"
"Can't you see that I tried? You're the one who kept talking."
"Better yet, why did you even let her stay here? Chase her away or something!"
"Is she a stray cat? How can I even chase her out?"
Deklan rubbed his face from top to bottom harshly.
He managed to avoid Victoria earlier with his genius stunt, but now she appeared again.
And worse, she saw Agnar in his current condition, and also heard what he was talking about earlier.
"Can you like… leave?" Deklan said bluntly, not even caring to sugar-coat what he wanted.
"We still have a lot to talk about," Victoria said shamelessly, not forgetting to cast a sharp glance at Kaelyn. "And I'm not going anywhere until we talk."
"There's something wrong with you in the head, really…" Deklan exhaled exasperatedly.