Marcelina’s point of view:
My feet feel like lead, my body is stiff from my toes all the way to my head. If my willpower falters even a little, I will fall to my knees. How is this possible? This killing intent and Imra are not even directed at me.
My companions are not doing any better, out of all of us I am the best at using Imra. If we are suffering from just the aftermath of this power, I don’t even want to imagine how the targets feel. I raise my gaze slightly to see the two men completely frozen.
The expressions on those bastards’ faces are pure fear and confusion, I can even see that one of them lost control of his bladder. Watching those sons of bitches suffer is comforting, I hope they suffer even more before dying.
“Sorry, I lost control a little.” I hear Emago’s soft voice.
A second later, the suffocating power around us disappears, as if someone removed the hand squeezing our throats. I can hear my friends breathing heavily and see their chests rising and falling desperately for air.
For a moment I thought the worst. Emago released the pressure from the bastards so we wouldn’t be involved, I raise my head with a bit of fear. I let out an internal sigh of relief when I see those two still frozen, they are suffering even worse than before.
“I reached ruby rank recently, sometimes it’s difficult to control my Imra when it’s released suddenly.” Emago speaks again when he sees us recovering our breath.
“Don’t worry, we’re fine.” I answer immediately, I am in the best condition among the elders. I can see him trying to smile, but his smile never fully forms and there is some guilt on his lips.
Emago easily moves the bodies of those bastards with his mana, only a few meters away is enough to no longer feel the suffocating pressure of his ability.
Now that I’m calmer, I realize what he just said. He reached ruby rank recently? I have met thousands of ruby ranks, fought beside them hundreds or thousands of times, none of them ever transmitted such an overwhelming amount of strength in my entire life. This child is a monster.
His control was careless for only a few seconds, the moment he realized his mistake, he corrected it instantly. The pressure around us disappeared as quickly as he wished, a splendid and exquisite level of control, using Imra with such precision is not common among people this young.
Now comes the most important fact. This teenager captured two ruby ranks as if they were simple children, completely subduing and terrifying them. They deserve that and something much worse.
Just imagining myself in their position makes my whole body shiver, we wouldn’t last even a few seconds before our bodies started breaking apart from internal and external damage. I look at the teenager’s back a few meters away from me, now he seems much bigger and stronger.
My perception of him changed in an instant, now I respect him even more. It’s not just me, the other elders must think the same. I am very grateful to be on good terms with him and happy that he is a good person, someone with his potential could cause disasters wherever he goes.
Maki’s point of view:
I feel quite embarrassed for indirectly involving the elders. My emotions were not out of control, they simply leaked slightly into the surroundings because of the force created by the union of my mana, Imra, Laws, and Dominion.
Adjusting those small details was complicated, but in the end I managed to do it. My ability has become more airtight than before, now the pressure is completely focused on them.
I look at the omnipresent voice notification and smile internally. I received the opportunity to learn a new ability, I’ll check it later once I finish all this, first I need to focus on what matters most.
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I apply even more pressure, I can feel the bones in their feet shattering into tiny pieces. They cannot scream for now, my gravity is suppressing every sound. I wait a few seconds, they are ruby ranks, they should have some way to dull the pain.
I slightly release my grip around one of their mouths to begin the interrogation. I cannot fully merge with their Imra to know all their emotions, but I have broken enough of their defenses to know whether they are lying or not.
“What organization do you belong to?” That is my first question.
“Fuck you, idiot! Release me and fight like a man. I’ll break every bone in your body and grind your skin apart until you die.” I had to control the amount of sound so the children locked upstairs wouldn’t hear.
Cipe, Kly, and Maele did a great job following my orders, they went to the safest rooms and are hiding until we go pick them up.
I seal this bastard again, I have no desire to answer him. I simply break every bone in his limbs, freeze his intimate parts, and shatter them into pieces. I can see tears running down his cheeks, mucus gathering, and his desperate urge to scream.
I give his companion a little movement in the neck so he understands his situation, I have more hopes for him. After all, he is already afraid of me, his eyes and pants do not lie.
“Same question you heard before, if you provide useful information things will be easier for you.” I speak as calmly as possible.
This man is an idiot, but at least he isn’t a complete bastard like the other one. When he made those comments, I just wanted to grab him by the neck and strangle him to death, it was harder to contain myself than to capture them.
“Bindings and contracts.” He gives me a simple and precise answer.
I understand the meaning immediately. They are bound by contracts where spreading information will trigger punishment, most likely a painful and quick death, some aggressive internal destruction.
I know obsidian ranks have ways to break contracts tied to the cube, unfortunately I am still far from that level, if I try, I will only end up killing him.
“There must be a loophole, give me any useful information and I’ll kill you in the least painful way possible, maybe I’ll even fulfill what you’re thinking about.” I answer softly, my tone was calm, the intention behind it was the complete opposite.
People do unexpected things in many situations, fear is one of them. They also step forward when they have something to protect or a final wish, I’m taking advantage of that to get information. This man hasn’t stopped staring at his necklace ever since he regained movement in his neck, it must be something important to him.
“Do you promise? Will you fulfill my request if I give you the information?” His eyes look distrustful, but I can also see a bit of hope in them. I need to take advantage of that.
“You are not in a position to make me promise anything, speak first and I’ll decide.” I apply a little more pressure with my Imra. He hesitates for a moment, finally after a few seconds he decides to speak.
“In this necklace there’s a photo of my wife and son, and also the location where they live. Can you promise me you’ll do something for them? I’m their only source of income right now, they have nothing to do with what I do.” He himself lowered part of his defenses to transmit his emotions more clearly, he is not lying.
“I’ll investigate their situation first, if your information is valuable and they are good people… I’ll do what I can to give them a prosperous and safe life.” I answer after thinking about it for a moment.
His eyes change completely, he has decided to speak for the sake of his family, this is his only chance to secure their future, he understands he is already a dead man. I am not a monster who would leave an innocent family alone, but everything depends on how useful his information is.
“I belong to a relatively new organization called: Laxus.” He begins giving details as quickly as possible before the contract activates on his body.
He is quite skilled at speaking, twisting his words slightly to buy himself more time. He keeps talking for several minutes, I had to assist him with my Dominion and death mana, the contract already started trying to kill him, and I’m doing everything possible to delay it as much as I can.
The man continues speaking while enduring the pain, for now it is mild thanks to my help. When he finishes saying everything important, he falls silent, accepting his death. My concentration increases as I construct a spell strong enough to kill him in two blows, one directly to the neck and another to the brain, at least I can give him a death without so much pain.
I torture the other one for a while, breaking more of his bones before finally killing him, I don’t like being sadistic, I only did it to release a bit of the stress in my body.
I slowly approach the first man’s lifeless body and take his necklace. When I open it, I see the picture of a beautiful young woman and a little boy around four years old, the child looks very similar to his mother, they live in the empire, I’ll go see them as soon as I can.
I take my time thinking about everything I just heard. This person belonged to the intermediate ranks of the organization, he didn’t know many internal details, but at least he managed to give me the bigger picture of the situation. In conclusion, this is much bigger than I originally thought.
At least I excluded the elders from hearing any of this, they could become targets if someone discovers they know this kind of information. It’s better if I’m the only one who knows, I can take care of myself on my own.