Chapter 561: Elixir Of Immortality
"NO!" All three sisters shouted at once.
Charlotte stepped forward, her hands raised.
"Please, Mika! I know I’m trying to overcome my fears, but this—this is too much! I can’t—I’m not ready for this!"
Astrid nodded frantically, her tails bristling.
"Do you have any idea what would happen if those things got loose?! Imagine if they crawled onto me!"
She shuddered at the thought.
Even Anya frowned deeply. "This is too much, Mika. Even for me. Keep those disgusting things contained. Don’t let them escape!"
Mika paused, looking at Anya with a teasing smile.
"Oh? What’s this? The great Anya, who prides herself on extracting confessions from anyone, who’s never fazed by gore or blood...acting scared?"
Anya was extremely offended by that, her pride had taken a big hit.
But there was nothing she could do about it.
This was something that even she found quite horrifying. She just looked down in shame, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.
But luckily, Astrid was there to support her sister.
"Don’t you dare say anything to her, Mika!"
She stepped forward, her eyes blazing with protective fury.
"Especially since, you were the one who told us that you didn’t like such sadistic methods at all!"
She shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.
"But here you are, bringing method after method that are more horrifying than the others!"
Her tail lashed behind her. "What do you have to say about that?!"
Mika’s smirk faded, replaced by a slightly guilty expression. He scratched the back of his head, looking almost sheepish.
"Don’t misunderstand." He said quickly. "This isn’t because I specifically found these things for torture or anything else. It’s just that in my journeys all throughout the realms, I picked up things here and there."
"I just thought they’d be useful at some time in the future."
All three sisters stared at him with expressions of utter disbelief.
None of them believed him for a single second.
Even the third prisoner, who had been sweating buckets, looked at Mika with utter terror.
’This man...’ He realized. ’...is the true devil in this entire room.’
But nonetheless, Astrid thought that this would be enough to break down the third man.
If even Anya was scared by this, it definitely meant that the third man was also going to break down and tell everything right now.
But when she looked over, she was shocked.
The man, even though he was so terrified right now that he seemed like he was even losing hair on the spot, still seemed like he was going to keep his mouth shut.
There was still a bit of stubbornness in his eyes that hadn’t gone away. He was clinging to his resolve, even now, even after seeing his two companions die in such horrifying ways.
Astrid felt a chill run through her.
’What kind of entity is on the other side who’s so terrifying that even now he’s not willing to cooperate?’
Mika noticed it too. He walked over to the third man, looked at him for a long moment, and then let out an appreciative laugh.
"You really have some big balls, my guy." He said, clapping the man on the shoulder. "Even after everything you’ve seen, you’re still willing to hold your tongue. I have to commend you for that."
He crouched down until he was at the man’s eye level, and a cold smile spread across his face.
"But that just means I have to up my game. Bring out the worst of the worst. Just for you."
The man’s entire body shuddered. His defenses were cracking. His resolve was wavering.
Mika held out his hand, and another item materialized.
All four of them, the three sisters and the prisoner watched with dread, bracing themselves for another nightmare.
But to their shock, what appeared was...nothing special.
It was a jar. A simple glass jar. Inside, a clear, transparent liquid sloshed gently.
And in Mika’s other hand, a small dagger.
Nothing fancy. Nothing enchanted. Just a regular blade you could buy at any market.
The third man let out a shaky breath of relief.
A knife? He could handle a knife. He had been stabbed before. He had been cut before.
He was a hardened criminal. Pain was nothing new.
But then Mika spoke.
"This solution here..." He said, swirling the jar. "...isn’t something I found in some other realm like my other items. I actually made this myself."
He looked at it with a mixture of pride and awe.
"It’s called the Elixir of Immortality."
Anya drew in a sharp breath.
"The Elixir of Immortality? Mika, isn’t that supposed to grant someone eternal life? Why are you bringing that out? Isn’t that more of a reward?"
Astrid and Charlotte nodded in confusion.
The Elixir of Immortality was legendary. Entire kingdoms had been fought over it.
People would sell their souls for a single drop.
Mika just shook his head, a playful expression on his face.
"Even though it’s called the Elixir of Immortality and also functions to prolong life, it doesn’t work the way you think it does."
He held up the jar, letting the liquid catch the light.
"Instead of just drinking it and living forever, it’s more like as long as one gulps it all down—"
He made a swallowing gesture.
"—then in a few moments, slowly your world will start becoming slower and slower. Almost as if time itself is warping around you to become slower."
His voice grew more animated as he continued,
"Five seconds that will pass in real life will slowly turn into twenty seconds. Then thirty seconds. Then forty seconds. And finally, when the entire portion is completely absorbed by the body..."
He held up a single finger.
"One second. One single second will turn into one whole month in the mind of the person who drinks it."
A horrified look appeared on everyone’s face, especially the third man.
He had been calm before, confident in his ability to endure pain. But now he looked like he had heard the worst possible news in his entire life.
Mika continued, his voice taking on a calculating edge.
"Two seconds become two months. Three seconds become three months. An entire day in the real world..."
He paused, doing the mental math.
"...becomes over 7200 years in their own mind. And an entire year on the outside? 2,628,000 years."
The man’s lips turned white. His eyes bulged.
"And a normal human lifetime—say, eighty years on the outside and subtracting your current age..."
Mika’s smile widened. "That would be close to 118,260,000 years trapped inside their own mind."
The man’s face went pale, so pale that he lost all color in his skin. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air, but no words came out.
Mika then picked up the dagger, turning it over in his hands as he slowly painted a picture saying,
"Now, imagine if I were to take this blade and carve into that pitiful person’s body. Slice him open. Cut him apart."
"Basically, what happens is that while he’s experiencing the pain of every single cut, his mind is trapped in slow motion, feeling every second of that agony for millions of years."
He looked at the man with mock anticipation.
"Even though he can’t move. Can’t see. Can’t scream. He’ll be stuck in eternal darkness, feeling the pain of every wound I inflict, for eternity."
He leaned in close.
"Quite scary isn’t it? But now that I’ve explained your fate, it’s time to experience it yourself."
"Open up."
He grabbed the man’s jaw, ready to force the elixir down his throat.
But the moment the man realized what was about to happen, the lifelong suffering, the eternal torment, the endless pain—
—he broke down completely.
"I-I’LL DO IT! I’LL SPEAK! I’LL SPEAK!"
He pleaded desperately, tears streaming down his face.
"PLEASE, I’LL SPEAK, SO LET ME GO! LET ME GO, PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU! WHATEVER YOU WANT TO KNOW, I’LL TELL YOU!"
"JUST PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME DRINK CURSED POTION!"
His voice cracked with terror.
"I BEG YOU! EVEN IF I’M FROM ANOTHER REALM, THIS IS TOO CRUEL!"
"HOW CAN HUMANS BE SO BRUTAL AND SCARY?"
He stared at Mika as though he were worse than the devil himself.
Even the three sisters were terrified of him in that moment.
Astrid and Charlotte could hardly believe Mika had devised such a torture method, one capable of inflicting years, centuries, millennias of prolonged pain.
This wasn’t just torture. This was a hell of their own making.
But to everyone’s shock, Mika actually shook his head with a big smile on his face.
"Like I said earlier, I gave you a chance and you didn’t take it. Because of that, I’m going to take this all away."
He looked like he was going to do it, but the man pleaded even more, tears streaming down his face in a torrent.
"NO! I BEG YOU, PLEASE! I’M SO SORRY! I’M SO SORRY! I’M WILLING TO SAY ANYTHING! JUST LET ME GO! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE! I BEG YOU!"
He was sobbing uncontrollably.
"DADDY, DADDY, HELP ME! MOMMY, HELP ME!"
"HELP YOUR BABY BOY!"
He looked like he had lost his mind entirely right now. Without Mika even doing anything, his mental defenses had completely broken down on the spot.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t just his mental defenses.
Suddenly, a horrendous smell started to permeate the room, making all four of them cover their noses.
Charlotte couldn’t help but say in disdain. "He shit himself. He actually shit himself right now!"
Astrid actually looked at the man with something approaching sympathy.
"I can’t even blame him. With how scary the method Mika just used was...I’m pretty sure I would do the same if I was in his position."
Anya herself just gave a slow clap towards Mika.
"As expected of you, Mika. I thought before that I could reach your level one day, but now..."
She shook her head in pure awe. "I’m satisfied to know that I was once your disciple."
Mika just clicked his tongue in annoyance before putting the jar away and walking back.
"Send someone to clean this guy up. And bring him back so that we can ask him whatever we need."
He looked like he was about to go over and rest on his chair on the side of the room, but then he stopped.
His gaze traveled to Charlotte.
She was still trembling. Her face was still pale. Her hands were still shaking.
But she had watched. She hadn’t run away. She had faced every single horror he had shown her, and she was still standing.
A fond smile spread across his face.
He walked over to her and placed a hand on her head, ruffling her hair gently.
"I’m proud of you, Charlotte. You know that? I’m so damn proud of you, you brave little devil!"
Even though it was just such simple words, they hit
Charlotte like a physical blow.
Her eyes lit up, tears springing to them immediately.
Astrid and Anya saw this and knew that Charlotte wasn’t simply crying because she had overcome her fears and trauma.
She was crying because of Mika’s approval.
He was the person who had been most affected because of a mistake she had committed in the past and went through the most horrific suffering.
So, seeing that even right now he didn’t blame her at all, and instead was encouraging her, had managed to make her break down completely.
Astrid held her tightly, stroking her hair.
"Shh, it’s okay. I’ve got you. You can use my tail as a tissue, if you want."
She offered her fluffy tail, and Charlotte grabbed onto it, crying into the soft fur.
Anya watched the scene with a warm smile. Then she turned to her staff, who had been waiting nervously by the door.
"Clean this one up." She ordered, gesturing at the sobbing, soiled man. "Make him presentable. We have questions to ask."
—
It didn’t take long for Charlotte’s tears to settle down.
When she finally pulled back from Mika, there was a new glow on her face like she had been reborn.
She felt like a completely different person.
The man had also been brought back and placed on the chair once again.
He was wearing clean clothes, his body freshly washed, but he looked utterly broken. His eyes were hollow, his expression defeated.
He was much more obedient than before, basically begging to be asked his questions so that he wouldn’t have to go through the method Mika had described.
Mika settled himself in front of the man, his expression shifting to one of businesslike professionalism.
"Now then." He said, his voice calm and measured. "Let’s try this again. Tell me everything about the realm on the other side. About who you are and who sent you? What is their purpose?"
"And why are they so interested in our world?"
