Bludgot

Ryan's POV:

I walked into the basement of a different part of the estate. Our estate extends for many acres and holds many buildings. This place was nowhere near where my residence was. 

It was near the middle of the estate while I lived at the front. The building I was in served as a prison for high-tier offenders. It also wasn't far from where the elders of the clan hid. This was in case we had escapees, the elders could immediately catch them. 

"As expected, they don't want to talk." I said. 

"They are experienced geezers. They will not squeak no matter what torture we use." said Ebis Wade, one of our family "guards". He was actually the man in charge of interrogation. 

He's also the person I learned my tricks from. 

"These 3 old men are at the end of their lifespan. They don't have anything to lose." he added. 

"Damn it!" I cursed and punched a wall. The best interrogator we have couldn't get anything out of those old men. There was nothing I could do about that. 

"They would never send their more talented to attack our clan. That would be suicide and a waste of resources. Damn, those cultists. They actually use their brains well."

I started ranting to Mr.Wade who just sighed and listened to it. He knows how I get when I can't think of a plan. 

I was also frustrated and overwhelmed with what Elina had revealed. A war with the neighboring kingdoms followed by multiple wars against equal or stronger realms. 

There was so much to plan and prepare that my brain was starting to falter. This was especially true when I learned that coming back caused Elina harm. 

She needed to find super-rare herbs to increase her physique or she would not be able to handle the power she had brought back. 

I needed to find some herbs for her too. I can't help but try to take the burden all on myself again as it was a habit. 

"How about you let me try." A hand touched my shoulder as I looked back. 

It was Celes. 

I looked at her as if she had changed her outfit. She was wearing something similar to the robes that eastern swordsmen wore back on earth. 

It was all black and had red flower patterns sewn all over. She had put her hair in a high ponytail which flowed all the down her back and up to her waist. She still kept her bangs though. 

"You sure. As good as you at interrogations during the war, these guys aren't those spoiled sect girls." I asked while looking into her ruby red eyes. 

"Do you remember the screams you used to hear from the prison tents at night?" she asked. 

"Yeah. I couldn't fall asleep sometimes because of how loud they were. Everyone in the camp would be tired the next morning." 

I remembered those fun days at the frontlines. The girls from the Purple Phoenix Sect seemed to have the most horrible cries. Those sheltered brats would cry at the smallest of cuts. 

"That was me. I couldn't sleep sometimes so stab them for fun." she said with a dangerous glint in her eyes. 

"That was you?"

"Yup!"

"Fuck you! Give me my sleep back!" I demanded jokingly. 

"Sorry. If I can't sleep, neither can you." she retorted.

We laughed a little at our fun times during the war while Mr.Wade just stared at us. I could feel his scrutinizing gaze. He might be getting the wrong idea. 

After we were done lightening my mood, Celes walked towards where the old men were being kept. 

"Good luck. I hope you can prove to be more useful than I was today." said Wade as he rubbed his beard in lament. 

He didn't mind giving someone else a try as he was unable to do his job today. He never got jealous of others. He was satisfied as long as the family won. 

Celes nodded to the middle aged man and walked in. I followed her in. 

Three old men in red robes were shackled to the wall, standing up. There were metal chains around their waist, ankles, wrists, and necks. 

All the shackles held them upright, with their back against the wall. 

The old men had missing fingers and toes with shallow cuts all over their faces and different parts of their bodies. One of them was even missing a leg. I wondered if it happened during the fight or after. 

The old men looked at us. Their eyes seemed to have lost all hope as they had lifeless expressions. 

'Watch this." said Celes as she pulled out her thin longsword from its black and red sheath. 

Unlike most swords, the metal it was made from was not shiny and reflective. It was dull and gray. To me, it looked like a sword made from cement. 

It was quite the opposite of the elegant sheath that it belonged to. 

Celes walked up to one of the men. I think he was the mage as he was fully bald head. Most old mages are bald. Unlike warriors, they don't reinforce their bodies as much. 

Add on the stress of research and they turn bald. 

Celes held the sword to the middle of the geezer's chest and slowly pushed through the sternum. Unlike how dull it looked, the sword cut through like butter. 

Celes stared at the man's lifeless face. It looked like he didn't even feel the sword going in. He just stared at Celes. 

"Hmph!" she scoffed as she no longer took it slow. The old man not having a reaction must have bothered her. I was wondering how this was any better than Wade had done when-

"WAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGHHHHH!"

As soon as the sword pierced out the back of the man, he let out a ghoulish scream. It sounded much worse than what I had heard during the war. 

Celes quickly took the sword out of the man and went on to the next. She repeated the same thing to all of them while I stood in awe. She didn't even ask them a single question while doing this. 

"WRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY!"

"BHHHAAAAAAARRGGGGHHAAA!"

"YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

All the old men seemed to have been given a new life as their faces finally had an expression. 

Granted, they were scared out of their wits and all of them had pissed their pants. At least their eyes seemed to finally have some emotion in them as they trembled while looking at the sword in the young woman's hand. 

Celes turned to me with a proud smile and asked "How is it?"

This took me out of my slack-jawed expression as I returned a smile. "It was impressive. It's like you received a bunch of corpses." 

"This is only my warmup. I'm not stopping till lunch. It's been too long since I've heard some good screams." she said excitedly. 

"It's only been 2 months since the war ended." I mentioned. 

"2 months is too long. My sword needs to taste blood at least 3 times a week. I haven't been able to feed it recently." she explained. 

'Feed? Is it an artifact?" I asked. The screams were too painful to be natural. We had cut their limps and appendages but they did not react then. 

Her putting a sword through their chest not only didn't kill them but gave them immense pain. Her sword had been a rare artifact to pull that off. 

'Yup. Bludgot is an artifact I found in my adventure of mine. It causes pain directly to the soul. It also doesn't kill when inserted into the chest." 

Celes then went on to me them about how she had once raided an ancient temple during her adventuring days and found the sword there. After experimenting, she found that the more blood she feeds the sword, the sharper it gets.

"So Bludgot sucks blood when inserted into a person's chest. It then heals the wound to keep them alive." I said with intrigue. 

"Yup! High quality blood packets shouldn't be wasted!" 

Celes was as unhinged as ever but I like that about her. She treated these 7th tier mages as blood packs. She didn't even see them as human. 

"Let me feed Bludgot a couple more times and they will spill whatever you need!" She said as she once again repeated her actions to the poor old men. 

She had this eerie look in her eyes while doing it and it made me smile wider. 

A weapon capable of giving pain to the soul. It should be why my school had recreated her for the war. It's why they made one of their rare exceptions for commoners and let her into a school for nobles. 

Everything was becoming clearer now. I had never asked exactly how she cleared her missions with such speed and came back unscathed. I never asked about the sword she never let go of even when asleep. 

I was a fanatic for swords and had collected many swords. I had even gotten some artifacts but nothing as good as hers. 

"I had many chances to take a good look at your sword but I was too much of a gentleman," I said when the mage had finished his second ghoulish scream. 

"A gentleman does not touch a lady or her belongings when she is asleep. Right?" she said. It was one of the pieces of etiquette taught during noble etiquette classes at the SSS. 

"Yeah...sometimes I wish I had not cared about that and done."

"You would never. I was sleeping on your bed after all. If you tried to take my sword, I would have sliced it into pieces." she chuckled. 

'My bed costs quite a fortune you know. Portable beds are hard to make." I chuckled as well. "Maybe I should have let you sleep on the floor." 

"Heh. I would climb in when you were asleep anyways." She would definitely do that. Her teasing knows no bounds. She didn't like to be shy when it came to these kinds of things. 

I looked at the cultists who were still screaming and had even more fear as they saw us 2 younglings play around in such an environment. 

They probably thought we were lunatics. They would be right. 

---------------------

And the scream rang throughout the soundproofed basement until it was lunchtime. It didn't take much more to make the old men speak. 

They thought the worst that could happen to them was the usual torture and then they would be killed if they didn't cooperate. 

They were on the brink of their lifespans ending so they had no fear since they would die naturally soon after. 

That is why they were directed to go on this suicide mission, hoping to contribute some more healthy souls to their Blood God and be granted a better place in the afterlife. They would also be able to get some quick revenge on the people who killed their fellow brethren last night. 

They knew they would die without being able to kill more than one of Vornix clan's higher-ups but they were ready for that. 

They also had some escape artifacts in case things went awry. But who knew that Commander Rothensburg would be on the scene? 

They don't know why their scouts hadn't informed him of his presence. That man was someone they would never double the 7th-tier individuals. 

Rothenburg was an enigma of a 7th-Tier Warrior who could easily fight against 8th-Tier practitioners with ease. 

They ran as soon as he entered the fray. Unfortunately, the man had an artifact that nullified their escape tools. with his speed and the crowd-control ability of Thomas Vornix. They were caught with ease. 

Then they met with this devilish child and her evil sword. A sword that reminded them of the blood god they worshipped. It reminded them of his strength and the fear the Blood God brings. 

Against this familiar feeling, they blurt out everything they knew to the devil-no she should be called an apostle. 

"She must be a future apostle of our BLOOD GOD!" their minds delusional minds thought.

They didn't dare say it out loud. They were content with the presence of the god's apostle. 

"We can now die in peace."