Epic Of The Demonic Sage

While Lucius appreciated individuals who were a testament to willpower and with the capacity to think beyond themselves in search of something greater them… he did not appreciate it for his enemies.

It simply meant that he would have to spend more effort into getting what he wanted.

The Tharian Theocracy was a good example.

The most devoted followers of Thara were willing to sacrifice themselves all for the purpose of worshiping their goddess and would gladly lay their lives in service of their perceived greater good.

Members of the Barrom Clan would find themselves frustrated with the most zealous members of the Theocracy, who wouldn't flinch or break under their torture because of how fervent they were in their faith in Thara.

Of course, it was also possible to put cracks into those beliefs and plant seeds of doubt into their spirit, and Lucius knew that there were methods that could make even the most pious waver…

Given the right amount of knowledge and method, even the faithful would break but that was once again effort and time that could have been used elsewhere.

Lucius didn't waste that much time with June, he simply gave her a cold look and watched as the tiniest hint of resistance that she had with her broke.

When given the chance, most people would selfishly choose self-preservation out of protecting the group, and with a broken mind and spirit, June started to relay the information that he wanted.

Lucius listened to it all silently, taking note of everything that would prove valuable to him. While he did not have his photographic memory like in the past, the current body of Lucius was starting to catch up.

​ However, something that June says suddenly caught his attention.

"…This member of ours has a gift called Penetrator Arrows, and while it is of rare rank, similar to mine, because of its lack of use in the infiltration or spying methods… he is only a low ranked member."

Lucius blinked and remembered the rune crystal that he had with him matched June's story. This was the very same crystal that belonged to the man that Doyle had killed a while back.

Not only that, but even the man's method of spying was similar to June which was no doubt a thing that was instilled in them.

"Can you tell me more about this man? Is he still around?" Lucius wanted to verify first if this was truly him or someone who simply had the same gift as the spy that he had found.

"His name is Cine, and he was assigned to a mission before he disappeared," June explained, before looking a little fearful. "I… I do not know the specific details of his missions. I'm so sorry, Young Lord. I'm not lying at all!"

Lucius took note of her trembling, but simply ignored it as he felt the connection between the two become more apparent than ever.

"Disappeared?" he asked.

"He had not returned in a very long time, and we were unable to find any news about him either. Arkaves believes that he has probably abandoned the mission or was compromised."

Lucius nodded in satisfaction.

"I see, it's quite likely that this Cine that you've spoken about is the one that I've encountered in the past. The chances of him coming to kill the Count seems probable as it would have truly weakened the Inanis Territory if he had succeeded."

June's eyes widened and a shudder went down her spine. If the Young Lord believed that she knew even the slightest thing about this, then she might get punished for something that she didn't even know about.

"I-I do not know about this mission at all, Young Lord." June frantically said. "Assassinations are completely out of my territory. I don't have the appropriate skills nor strengths for them and so nobody would have informed me about this at all."

Worried beyond belief, there was a desperate look on June's face as she pleaded innocence from her former group member's actions.

At this point, she didn't even care about whether he was dead or alive, as long as she would be unharmed by his actions.

"Yes, I believe you." Lucius said.

"T-thank you, Young Lord!" June said, a look of relief visible on her face. Her shoulders went slack for a moment as she escaped what she believed to be an even more terrible future.

Lucius didn't say anything and simply eyed her. If June was someone who had actually assassinated someone in the past, she would have probably been of a stronger mind.

However, based on Lucius's use of the Veil of Terror, that was extremely unlikely.  Instead, she actually grew a lot more obedient than he had expected.

While June showed a bit of a backbone with her hesitance in revealing information about the Arkaves mercenary group members, everything quickly went downhill after that.

Now, June didn't even seem to mind or notice that her wrist was still broken and that it needed to be treated immediately before further complications could arise.

And that wasn't even mentioning the fact that she was still grossly soiled by her own bodily fluids.

Actually, Lucius had a feeling that if he applied the Mark of Obedience on June right now, it would be a simple process since she was practically forgoing everything just to survive.

Of course, Lucius didn't do it though. While he could easily do it now with the surplus of hell energy he got from the Necklace of the Damned, he didn't think it was entirely necessary at this point.

With June trapped in the laboratory, Lucius could easily kill her afterwards. For now though, Lucius still wasn't done with the woman. He would wring out every last drop of information he could obtain from her.

"…is there anything else that you would like to hear, Young Lord?" June asked. "I can continue with the rest of the members of Arkaves and their gifts again."

"No. Tell me about the base location of Arkaves instead."