Count’s Youngest Son is a Warlock

Chapter 153: Teasing with Tongue (2)

As the enemy’s watchtower collapsed, Lucion acted decisively.

“Please wait a moment. I will contact you soon,” he assured Kran before turning his attention to the sword on his belt, Hume, and Peter.

A signal came from Russell.

[Heint will handle the soldiers, and I will hold the captain’s collar.]

Lucion eagerly anticipated the information Gartio Menn would reveal.

“Let’s go, Peter.”

Ratta’s eyes sparkled in the shadows as Peter nodded.

—Then let’s go!

Lucion grabbed Peter and Hume by their clothes.

As they were surrounded by darkness and it gradually subsided, they found themselves facing a man about to eat a snack at a table.

Lucion attempted to cover the man’s mouth with darkness, but he dodged and reached for his sword, only to find it missing.

The man blinked and turned to Lucion.

“Are you looking for this?”

Lucion waved the sword, which had already been taken by another darkness.

“Who are you? Where did you come from?”

The guy asked calmly and looked at Lucion.

“Gartio Menn.” Lucion said, causing the man to hesitate for a moment.

Lucion’s mask turned yellow with confidence in his actions.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a while.” Lucion said to Gartio, hiding one hand behind his back before clicking his fingers.

Knowing that Gartio was a royal knight, Lucion knew there was no room for error. 

He signaled. Ratta to use debuffs by sending shadows into darkness.

—Yeah! Ratta is focused now!

As Lucion sent out the darkness, Ratta moved it towards Gartio’s shadow. 

Gartio was surprised and asked how they found him.

Lucion teased him, distracting him while Ratta wrapped darkness around his legs. 

Lucion then cast a spell and commanded to tie Gartio’s legs.

‘Darkness, tie his legs.’

Only then did Gartio notice and look down.

A stigma appeared on both legs.

‘Tied.’

Lucion smiled, and the man’s face instantly distorted.

This was dangerous.

It seemed like he was thinking the same thing.

[See. Training is the answer, right?]

Russell said it proudly.

Lucion looked at Russell, grateful for his mask that hid his emotions. 

“You think I’ll tell you, idiot?”

Lucion’s voice toward Gartio was filled with irritation.

“…?”

Peter, who witnessed the entire process, was taken aback. Despite observing the movement of the darkness, the silence made it seem unreal.

Gulp.

He felt fortunate to have survived encountering a dark wizard during the last escape incident.

“Damn…”

Gartio struggled to stand with aura, but his face turned red from the effort.

[Even those blessed with light have a hard time shaking it off, so how hard can it be for that guy with mana?]

Russell raised one corner of his mouth.

Nevertheless, Gartio persisted, displaying a strong desire to take down Lucion in one swift move.

‘Darkness, increase the speed of his legs.’

Lucion saw this as an opportunity and didn’t hesitate.

As Gartio reached out towards Lucion, his speed suddenly increased beyond his control, causing him to pass by Lucion.

Lucion, seizing the moment, turned to Hume.

[Go, Hume.]

Russell nudged Hume.

Hume reached out and forcefully slammed Gartio to the ground, spreading the darkness of Lucion across the floor, consuming the sound.

Gartio shuddered violently from the impact, causing his body to tremble as high as his waist. 

Hume looked at his hands for a moment.

What methods are effective for subduing enemies?

Hume seized Gartio’s wrist and forced it down onto the floor. 

Shaaa.

A chilling sensation emanated from Hume’s hand, causing Gartio to grimace in intense pain. 

Despite Gartio’s attempts to protect himself by wrapping his arm around the Aura and trying to move his other arm to break free, he found himself immobilized.

“You… you crazy!” Gartio exclaimed, realizing that this power was beyond human capability.

As Gartio briefly glanced at the door, Hume swiftly grabbed his neck, silencing him.

“Cough…”

“Please be quiet. I don’t like noise.”

Master.

Hume knew why Lucion had come straight to Gartio Menn’s room.

The purpose was to handle work more efficiently without being noisy.

When Hume released his grip, ice formed around Gartio’s neck. 

Struggling, Gartio tried to free himself as Hume stood up from his position. 

Although injecting more cold into Gartio’s heart would have been fatal, killing him was not the objective at that moment.

“It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”

At Lucion’s gaze, Hume slammed his leg into Gartio’s leg.

Crack.

“Ugh!”

Lucion then used darkness to block Gartio’s mouth, muffling his protests.

‘Crazy, crazy, crazy!’

Although Gartio had used an aura to protect himself, his leg was broken in a clean and precise manner, causing him to tremble with excruciating pain. 

Hume did not hesitate to break Gartio’s other leg, eliciting a silent scream and tears from him. 

No one present showed any sympathy towards Gartio.

“Your legs are broken.”

Lucion made a pitiful voice and handed the sword to Hume.

Hume broke the sword into pieces with his strength and gave it back to Lucion.

Lucion, who dropped the sword in front of Gartio, said in a voice mixed with laughter, admiring the spirit of the knight who did not faint.

“Are there only two arms left?”

Eup!

“Oops. I’ll give you a mouth to talk to.”

Lucion removed the darkness covering Gartio’s mouth.

“W, wh, what do you want?”

Gartio gave up his resistance.

It was a natural reaction. After all, he had seen what the Hand of the Void and its allies were capable of and how they treated people.

Above all, he knew that death was not the end.

In the face of such terror, even the most skilled knight would break, and Gartio knew that drawing another line on his already-sold conscience would make no difference. To him, he and the Hand of the Void were all the same.

“What can you offer me? Tell me,” Lucion asked without paying attention.

“Where are the rest of the branches?”

“No.”

“Hand of the Void.”

“I know you joined hands with the Hand of the Void.”

“It, it’s also in the royal palace. The ones I know are a total of 13!”

“Tell me.”

It wasn’t the information Lucion wanted, but he didn’t want to just throw away the tantalizing fruit that had fallen into his hands.

Gartio desperately revealed the whereabouts of all 13 members and then looked at Lucion with a pleading expression, hoping to be spared.

“Admirable, but this is not the information I want.”

“In, in the east…”

“I know that too. They’re gathering corpses in the east. They’ll create soldiers who don’t die. But the situation must have been delayed, right?”

Gartio fell silent.

With a look in his eyes, asking how he knew, Lucion tapped Gartio’s head in the dark.

“Who is your master, the owl?”

Owl.

Gartio reacted strongly and fell silent for a moment.

‘Alright. Go ahead and weigh as much as you want. The result will be obvious.’

Lucion waited patiently.

Gartio’s lips twitched repeatedly before finally opening.

“He, he will participate in the Festival of Purification of the Sea of Death, held in the east. He will wear a brooch with a red gem—no, a dark red gem on his chest! It’s, it’s true!”

Peter flinched at that answer.

This information was practically revealing the owl’s true identity.

[Finally, we’ll find out the owl’s true identity.]

Russell looked at Lucion. Even though his face was hidden behind a mask, he could tell Lucion was pleased.

“Well done. The dog is useful,” Lucion praised Gartio sincerely.

Gartio, who had been rejoicing, quickly stiffened at Lucion’s next words.

“Now, you have to tell me one more thing.”

“W-what are you talking about?”

“You have to tell me the leader’s name of the Hand of the Void,” Lucion insisted.

That name did not appear in the novel either.

They were simply referred to as ‘boss’ or head.

“I don’t know that! I really, really don’t know!” Gartio stammered, shaking his head and added, 

“I, I don’t know the owl’s name either. I heard that information, just for a moment, I mean, with my hearing. I am, I am a knight, after all.”

He tried to smile despite his pain, hoping for mercy. 

As his legs were broken, he considered seeking help from a temple to regenerate them with the power of light, still holding onto hope.

Not yet.

“Did you hear it?”

“Yes, it is! I don’t know if the owl’s servant made a mistake, but he said so.”

Gartio desperately wracked his brain.

Maybe if he thought that they might spare his life, his mouth moved on its own.

“Ah…! The owl’s servant That guy mentioned the auction too!”

‘Auction house…?’

Lucion’s ears perked up for a moment, but the scope was too broad.

How many auctions could be held in a day?

―Lucion also went to the auction house not long ago. Ratta thinks that’s the auction house. Hehe, Ratta is smart!

Ratta said excitedly.

Russell looked at Ratta and smiled. There were too many variables to conclude that this was the auction house that Lucion went to.

“A bracelet! Yes, he, he even made a gesture of tapping his wrist!”

―Woah! Ratta got it right! Ratta is indeed smart!

Ratta hopped around in Lucion’s shadow.

Hahaha.

Even Bethel laughed.

“Don’t you think the scope is too broad? Are there any auction houses that don’t sell bracelets?”

But Lucion was being stubborn.

The words he spat out with confidence were still uncertain information.

“…I mean, I mean.”

Gartio’s face was distorted and crumpled, as if it were about to collapse at any moment.

“Is there anything else?” Lucion asked, causing Gartio to tremble.

“It was a really nice dog.”

At the words that seemed to announce the end, Gartio crawled on his arms and approached Lucion.

“If you give me time, I will find out more. No, I will get the information! So, give me a chance, a chance…”

As Hume stood in front of Lucion, Gartio’s breathing became rough, and he urgently hid his hands.

The pain of his broken legs seemed to come back, along with the fear.

“I… I will really find out everything. I promise.”

Gartio’s voice was now filled with sobs.

But now he was no longer important. Someone more important than Gartio had arrived here.

[Lucion. You must have felt it, but Heint is here. This discomfort is only from the light.]

Russell said as he looked out the window.

Lucion acknowledged the news and sat on the sofa, while Gartio’s attention followed his movements. 

“Good. I’ll give you one chance.”

Gartio’s face immediately brightened.

“Think carefully and tell me everything you know. If you don’t have anything, it’s over,” Lucion said after looking at Gartio and then at Peter.

“Peter, get ready.” Lucion’s words to Peter seemed to go unheard as Gartio closed his eyes tightly, deep in thought.

[He’s coming up.] Bedel urged, and as she spoke, Ratta, who was dispelling the debuff on Gartio, suddenly trembled.

—Why is Ratta suddenly trembling?

[Calm down, Ratta. You don’t need to be afraid.]

Russell comforted Ratta, but there was still a mix of anxious emotions in Ratta’s voice.

—Yeah. What if Lucion gets hurt? Ratta hates that. Ratta really hates that.

[Ratta. don’t worry. I will protect Lucion.]

—Really?

[I will swear on my sword.]

—Okay! Ratta believes in Bethel.

[Thank you, Ratta.]

Bethel smiled as she looked at Lucion’s shadow and then looked at Lucion.

Now it was time for possession.

Peter stood in front of Lucion, and Bethel possessed Lucion from behind.

[Wow, this is almost like a showdown.]

Russell said, sticking out his tongue after briefly going downstairs.

Heint, with nothing to lose, was relentless in his advance, cutting and dodging his way to the top floor without hesitation.

‘Looks like he’s getting closer.’

Lucion began to feel unwell from the light emitted by Heint.

‘I suppose a battle is inevitable if we want to talk, isn’t it?’

Lucion could resist the light by summoning darkness, but he didn’t attempt it. 

It would be most natural for his identity as a warlock to be revealed.

[He’s at the door.] Bethel announced, taking Lucion’s hand and gripping the sword.

Quang!

“Gartio Menn!”

Gartio jumped in surprise at the threatening sound of Heint’s voice and looked toward the door.