838 Hidden Darkness of Ilios

Before the wyvern devoured the corpse, Arthur used a rune that allowed him to read memories. It comprised four lines working together to translate the fading electrical signals in this man’s brain, telling Arthur core information like his ident.i.ty and close acquaintances.

Since this man was quite ruthless, he didn’t have many friends, and his name was George Larson. Then, Arthur allowed the wyvern to eat it and take revenge on the human. The monster was pleased, and it devoured him whole, leaving no evidence.

Arthur then left the pit and closed the cell, but the monster didn’t mind. Instead, it slept peacefully inside the cave. Although Arthur could release it and say, ‘oops, it was an accident,’ he doubted that the many hunters would let it go. Furthermore, he might need an escape method from this prison.

“We are still mid-compet.i.tion, Georgie Boy!” shouted one of the guards as it saw Arthur walking toward the gate. “Have you given up on our wager?”

Arthur knew this was a friend of this guard and that the two of them were having a wager over the biggest kill. Thus, he merely waved his hand and said, “That stupid halfling ruined my mood. Let’s call it a draw!”

“I would never agree to that!”

“As if I care, b.a.s.t.a.r.d!” shouted Arthur as he pushed his bracelet toward the gate, and it opened. “I’ll see you around unless your sorry a.s.s gets eaten by a monster!”

“Heh, selfish b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” muttered the other guard under his breath before taking a spear to keep hunting. As for Arthur, he was already on the other side of the gate.

The arena was surrounded by a long hallway with many windows, allowing whoever was inside to see. Arthur found guards watching the show and servants bringing them food. However, none of them paid him any attention as he walked out.

‘Grandma Mo’s map outlined this place, and it’s not far from the records room. Although that information was cla.s.sified, it was left alone because no one cared about the prisoners. The emperor chose the most corrupt to run this prison.’

The prison was created from bluish concrete as if one mold was there to pour it together. This must be the doing of a strong awakener or some sort of absurd blessing. However, while Arthur found it excellent, there was no fortification on the walls.

The records room was crowded with servants, who glanced at Arthur for a second before returning to work. They were jotting down information before stamping it with some sort of artifact.

“Is there something I can help with?” asked a servant who stood by the door like a butler of records or something. “Are you here to report deaths again, Mr. Larson?”

“No, nothing of that sort,” said Arthur, wondering how normalized deaths were here. “I want to examine a few records. You can leave me here.”

“It might be hard to examine them since there are over a hundred thousand records dating as far as the previous century. Please tell me their name and admission date so I can find them for you.”

“An admission date, huh? It happened early this year. I’m not knowledgeable about their name,” said Arthur. “Guide me to the section of this year’s prisoners. That will be all.”

“But…”

“That. Will. Be. All,” said Arthur word to word, with a glare that left the servant sweating bullets. Then, finally, he nodded and rushed down the aisles of records, with Arthur following him.

The servants worked around the clock as if their lives depended on it. As for the one leading him, he took him to a different section, where there were at least a hundred rows of records.

“We made eleven thousand arrests since the beginning of this year. The closer the shelves are, the earlier their arrest is. Is there anything I can do?”

Arthur waved his hand, and the servant nodded before running away. As he walked through the shelves, he marveled at the number of arrests. Eleven thousand prisoners were all taken for the sole crime of supporting him, although it could be less.

The first record he grabbed was covered with leather, with several papers inside, all containing detailed information about the prisoner, which was either public knowledge or obtained through torture.

“A farmer, arrested for confronting a n.o.ble who raped his daughter, sentenced for life,” Arthur summarized the different sections he found on the record. Then, he continued reading the next one, “A baker who was arrested for… talking against the emperor. He was sentenced to life.”

The more he read through the records, the more he felt sick of this place. It was not a prison but a place to hide the true crimes of the upper cla.s.s. Arthur went through ten records before stopping and deciding that he couldn’t search them all.

[Search: allows the user to search for specific shapes inside a ten meters radius.]

Arthur could use this rune to look for texts inside these records, which he did. First, he looked for the name Ivy but found nothing. Then, he looked for the crime of spying on the royal family and found several records. Finally, after going through them, he found Ivy’s picture.

His hands froze as he was flipping through the papers because he almost missed recognizing her face after it was cut and struck so many times. Ivy was staring at the camera with dead eyes, but there was no mistaking her ident.i.ty.

“Name: unknown. Affiliations: unknown. Age: Unknown.”

Most of her information was unknown, and the doc.u.ment’s end was a record of all the torturing that failed to break her spirit. Arthur could feel the wrath within him explode as he read the paper but managed to fight it back.

“All of this… done to her in a few months?” the papers almost crumbled in his hand before he relaxed his arm. “Her cell is 2930.”

Arthur memorized the number before looking for Zonas’ cell and leaving the records room. The servant tried to talk to him, but Arthur was too angry to be certain he wouldn’t kill them.

No human being should suffer what Ivy had to go through, and the mere thought that it was for his sake left Arthur full of rage. He wanted to see her and erase her memories of what happened, but would she agree to such a thing?

Cell 2930 was on the third floor, as the map instructed. However, Arthur had to take an elevator that took him upward before he reached the porcelain floor. There were a hundred cells in this Section 10, which had cells from 2901 to 3000.

Groans of agony left the cells, and Arthur glanced into them to find broken men and women living inside this world of white. They flinched, screamed, and backed away as soon as they saw him. They looked at him as if he was the devil.

“What is this rotten place?” muttered Arthur with rage before storming deeper into the floor, rushing straight toward Ivy’s cell. As he reached the thirtieth cell, he stopped and stared inside. Ivy was sitting against the wall and raised her eyes to look at him.

Unlike the rest of the prisoners, Ivy wasn’t scared. Instead, she stared him in the eyes and even grinned in his face. Her spirit has yet to be broken. Arthur used his bracelet to open the cell and then walked inside.

“Are you here for another round, sickening f.u.c.ker?” said Ivy as she spat at him and then tried to stand. Unfortunately, her hands and legs were chained to the wall, and it seemed she couldn’t use mana. “As I said a thousand times, I won’t talk.”

“I know that you won’t, Ivy,” said Arthur as he closed the door and used a rune to make the room soundproof. Ivy stared at him with surprise before looking at the rune hovering above his hand.

“That power and that voice…” muttered Ivy with recognition as tears flowed down her face. “Is this a new form of torture?”

“There will be no more torture, Ivy. Your junior is here,” said Arthur as he touched his face to change it back to his original appearance. “I made you wait long enough.”

p-A- n-d-A-n-0-v-e-1、(c)om “You f.u.c.king did, idiot,” said Ivy as she tried to wipe away the tears. “Turn the f.u.c.k around and let me compose myself. I look like a mess.”

“There is no need,” said Arthur as he walked toward her and used a different rune. “Let me heal all the scars they’ve given you and all the pain you are feeling now.”

“I don’t want that,” said Ivy as she stopped crying and stared at him with a grin. “I want to remember all of it until I take revenge on everyone. Only then would I heal these scars.”

“That sounds like something you would do,” said Arthur with a smile as he retracted his hand. “I was the one to make you go through all of this, and I was too late to stop it. Would you ever forgive me, Arthur?”

“It was a mission that all of us took part in, so I have no regret. I only feel ashamed that I failed,” Ivy said. “I missed you, Arthur. I missed all of you d.a.m.n f.u.c.kers every day.”