Chapter 559: Cooked Just Right
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
All three prisoners were extremely intimidated.
Mika hadn’t said anything overtly threatening, had spoken to them in a rather casual tone, almost as if he were discussing the weather.
But the fact that Anya had brought him over to help her told them more than they needed to know.
They could only imagine what horrors this man was capable of.
But then they thought about the entity on the other side of the realm.
They thought about what it would do to them if they actually spoke up right now, if they revealed the truth.
Their resolve hardened almost immediately. Whatever pain they endured here, it would be nothing compared to what awaited them if they betrayed their masters.
Mika saw the obvious stubbornness in their eyes, the willingness to fight all the way to the end.
He rubbed his head in frustration, realizing he was going to have to do what he didn’t want to do.
He stepped forward...but then stopped.
A look of realization crossed his face. He slapped his forehead with his palm.
"Oh." He said, grinning despite himself. "I totally forgot."
He had gotten swept up in Anya’s flow. He had been thinking like a torturer, not like a man with abilities far beyond that.
After all, he didn’t need to torture them. He could just extract the information from their minds.
He definitely had the power to do so.
He glared at Anya, who looked back at him with complete confusion.
’Her influence.’ He thought. ’She’s more dangerous than she realizes.’
Of course, normally, he wouldn’t use his abilities. The strain on his mind was considerable.
But right now, he was not in the mood for torture. He would let this matter slide.
With that plan in mind, he looked at the three men.
His dark pupils began to glow, faintly at first, then brighter.
He was about to have a much easier day.
But the moment he looked into their minds, he was taken aback.
"...What in the world?"
Their minds were locked! Tightly sealed, as if some sort of spell had been placed around them, a barrier that could not be breached.
It was as if some entity on the other side had set this up, ensuring that no blessed with mind-reading abilities could pry their secrets loose.
But what surprised Mika more was the nature of the spell itself.
It was familiar.
Almost as if he had made it himself!
Unlike Charlotte, who hadn’t recognized the technology she had seen earlier, Mika found the magic code intimately familiar. It was like looking at a signature he had written long, long ago.
His mind immediately went back to the Maiden of Fate’s words.
’You’re the reason everything has come to this.’
It seemed like it really was true. There was something going on here that he was at the center of.
But the discovery only made him more curious.
Who, on the other side, had created a spell so similar to his own?
What kind of person had access to his techniques?
It gave him the energy to begin.
He made his way toward the first prisoner. He didn’t say anything—no interrogation, no threats. Instead, he held out his hand.
An object materialized in his palm.
It wasn’t a terrifying torture tool.
It was a torch.
A grand one, made of gold. At its top, a large blue flame flickered gently.
It was soft, mild, almost beautiful. Looking at it, anyone would want to touch it.
Mika’s voice rang out, casual but firm.
"All three of you. Take a couple of steps back."
They did so immediately, without hesitation.
"I’ll just say that you really don’t want to be touching this flame right in my hand even by accident."
He said, his voice carrying an almost playful quality.
"It could lead to a very, very, very bad day."
All three sisters were quite curious now. Astrid leaned forward, her eyes fixed on the beautiful blue flame.
"Anya, what exactly is that thing?"
"I have no clue. Mika has brought it out for the first time."
But then a smile spread across her face, one that made Astrid’s skin crawl.
"But that’s exactly why it’s so exciting. I get to find out a new method from Mika."
Astrid gritted her teeth and pushed herself away from her sister, disgusted by her enthusiasm.
"You’re crazy, you know that? Absolutely crazy!"
Anya just smiled serenely, unbothered by the insult.
Mika, meanwhile, looked down at the first man, who was finally looking up at him with wide, terrified eyes.
He cast the man an apologetic gaze, a look of genuine regret.
"I’m sorry, buddy." He said, his voice soft. "But this is a decision you made."
He slowly brought the torch down, and the man braced himself, expecting to be burned, expecting the searing pain of fire against his flesh.
But to his surprise and to the surprise of everyone in the room—Mika just touched the torch right over the man’s knee and pulled it back.
A small little flame remained, right over the man’s knee, right over his pants. It looked honestly a little bit adorable—a tiny, flickering blue light that barely seemed capable of burning anything.
Everyone thought that was all. Just a little flame that could barely do any damage.
But then the flame started to spread!
Whoosh!
It moved with terrifying speed, crawling over the man’s legs, his body, his hands. It rose up toward his head, and before he could even scream or do anything, it completely enveloped his entire body.
He was covered in those blue, beautiful flames from head to toe.
And the moment it did, the man started screaming—the most horrible scream of his life.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!"
He thrashed and shook, his body convulsing as if he was going through the most horrible pain imaginable.
And he most definitely was.
The flames that had seemed so gentle were now burning through him.
His flesh was being seared, the fat between his muscles melting, his skin grilling like meat on a fire.
"ARGHHH—! GRHKKKK—! GRAAHHHHH—!"
He was in so much pain that he couldn’t even speak right now. All he could do was thrash and moan and scream.
The other two prisoners were horrified.
They had thought for sure that the interrogator would burn them piece by piece, prolonging the investigation, drawing out their suffering.
But Mika didn’t seem to care about any of that.
He just burned them right from the start, right from the very beginning.
Meanwhile, Charlotte’s face went pale.
She wanted to look away, to run, but she forced herself to stay.
That was why she was here—to overcome this. She hugged Astrid’s tail tighter, using it as an anchor.
Astrid wrapped an arm around her sister, watching the scene with a complicated expression. She wasn’t scared, but she didn’t find it pleasant either.
Then Astrid noticed something strange.
"Wait." She said, frowning. "Why is he still burning?"
It was a good question. A man engulfed in flames like that should be dead in thirty seconds.
But two minutes had passed, and he was still screaming. Still thrashing. Still alive.
And his body wasn’t falling apart. His skin wasn’t peeling. He was covered in fire, but there was no visible damage.
Everyone turned to Mika.
Mika smiled easily, holding up the torch.
"This is Blueraven Hellfire from the Eastern Velvator Domain. It’s extremely rare, even there, because of its peculiar qualities."
He brought the flame closer to his face, admiring it.
"You see, this fire doesn’t actually burn through things. If you put it on a steak, the steak would be unharmed, even while it’s on fire."
"There’s no burning qualities to it."
His eyes turned cold.
"But the pain? The sensation of being burned? That’s still there. Stronger than normal, in fact. The victim experiences the full agony of being burned alive, without any of the physical damage."
Anya’s eyes were practically glowing with admiration.
She looked at Mika with the expression of a devoted apprentice watching her master at work.
Only he would be able to find such creative torture methods like this.
Astrid and Charlotte were also surprised, but they both let out a sigh of relief.
At least they wouldn’t have to see a gruesome scene of a man being burned alive. The lack of actual physical damage was a small comfort.
Astrid leaned forward, her voice hopeful.
"Then we should be able to ask him some questions, right? Right now, with how much he’s screaming, he’s definitely going to answer."
The other two men felt the same way.
Even though they already knew that the companion was extremely hardened, they felt as if even he might falter right now.
But Mika had a very awkward look on his face. He scratched his head, his expression sheepish.
"Unfortunately." He said, his voice carrying genuine regret. "I don’t think that will work."
Charlotte, who was still trembling, stepped forward.
"W-Why, Mika? Why would you say that? Why won’t it work?"
Mika sighed, deciding to show them. He touched the tip of the torch against the man’s body.
The moment he did, the fire completely went back toward the torch. Almost as if it was completely reusable, as long as the torch was by their side.
And to everyone’s surprise, it was just like Mika had said.
The man was completely alright. His skin was undamaged. His clothes were perfectly fine.
He just had a look of terror and shock on his face, as if he himself did not realize how he had survived this whole ordeal.
He opened his mouth to speak—
But then something shocking happened.
The man that was just completely fine moments ago slowly turned into a statue of ash!
His entire body seemed to collapse in on itself, turning into charcoal and soot before it all crumbled to the ground in a heap of black powder.
"Ahhh—!"
"What the hell—!"
Both of the other prisoners jumped up in terror, screaming at the sight of their companion suddenly turning into a pile of black ash.
It was just as terrifying to them as it had been to witness his torment.
Even Charlotte was taken aback, along with Astrid.
They stared at the pile of ash on the ground, their minds struggling to process what they had just witnessed.
Mika explained, his voice carrying an awkward edge.
"This is the problem with this hellfire."
"Not only is it impossible for the man who’s been subjected to it to speak because he’s in such overwhelming pain that his mind just can’t operate and his mouth can’t work."
"But also the fact that when the fire comes back, it instantly chars the person and makes them into a pile of ash. As you can see here."
He looked at the remains, his expression genuinely apologetic.
"So this isn’t a really good torture method to bring out information. It’s more like...if you want to just torment a person for a very long period of time, this is the most ideal solution."
Anya’s eyes practically sparkled. "Master! May I borrow your divine flame for—"
"No." Mika said flatly.
Astrid on the other hand stared at him, exasperated.
"Then why did you even use that method?! It’s completely useless! We got nothing from him!"
But Mika just have a eerie smile. He looked at the other two prisoners, who immediately shrank back in their chairs, their eyes wide with terror.
"Like I said earlier." He said, his voice carrying a cold certainty. "I’ve already given them a chance. And since they decided not to take it, I’m going all the way. Whether they answer me or not."
Astrid was about to protest, to say there was no need to be like that and they needed answers right now.
But Mika seemed to be on his own agenda.
He was already making his way toward the second man, who was shaking so much that the entire chair was rattling.
