Traveler: Derek Walker 34
The underground prison beneath Coolong Lord's Castle had recently undergone renovations. During the reign of the former Coolong Count, it was said the cells were rarely full. Tradition held that a white flag was hung at the entrance when the prison emptied out, and according to Lienna, it had been quite some time since that last happened. In other territories, you'd never witness such a sight in your lifetime. Most lords didn't even bother stocking a white flag. Well, aside from surrendering, there's no other use for one, so from a lord's standpoint, why keep it around?
Coolong Lord's Castle's underground prison wasn't particularly large, but if it never ran short on space, that suggested a fairly peaceful rule. Or maybe they just lacked the chops to round up criminals. Some lords fabricate crimes to lock people up and squeeze out cash, but the Coolong Count was decent by comparison.
I descended into the underground prison with Delphy in my arms. They'd cleaned it spotless during the repairs, but the musty underground stench was unavoidable. Still, it looked pretty tidy on the surface. For a prison, anyway. No rust on the bars, no mold on the corridors—clean as could be.
The cells already held a fair number of criminals. A far cry from the old Count's era. I was even building a massive new penitentiary elsewhere.
Cells were ten-man units. Each one about a hundred square feet, with a tiny attached toilet, so per inmate space was less than ten square feet.
"My lord! My lord! I'm innocent! I swear!"
"I didn't kill anyone!"
"Ugh... my stomach hurts so bad. My lord! Please, let me see a healer!"
My arrival had the prisoners banging on their bars, begging for mercy. They looked just like zombies from a horror flick—grotesque ones droning on about their innocence. Criminal trait: "I'm innocent."
Delphy, nestled against my chest, buried her face there. In a voice as small as a baby bird's, she murmured. This place clearly wasn't pleasant for her.
"Are those people... really innocent?"
"Every criminal claims innocence. Filthy scum."
I hugged her tighter as I said it. With her limbs severed, she clung to me with what remained. Walking the corridor amid their pleas was a thrilling rush.
From the opposite end came the clack-clack of footsteps. Light and jaunty—definitely a woman. It clashed with the eerie prison vibe.
The footsteps' owner cracked a whip made of monster hide down the corridor. The sharp whoosh slicing the air silenced the rowdy inmates. They cowered like circus beasts tamed by the lash. And it wasn't just for show—they really were.
"Who said you could open your mouths, trash?"
Her words froze the underground air solid. The vengeful wraiths of prisoners fell utterly silent at her command. She stretched the whip taut between her hands like a show of prowess as she strode forward. I was thrilled. Watching this noisy hellhole straighten up in an instant was pure ecstasy.
The woman who'd tamed the criminals approached me.
"Back, boss?"
The sharp-featured beauty flashed me a bright smile. She was Sneisy, one of the Seven Martial Mountains, personally appointed by me as a bandit lord. Now she managed my underground prison. Her talents were perfect for wrangling this garbage.
When the new penitentiary was done, she'd be its first warden.
"Boss shows up, and you pull this disrespectful crap. Guess my training's been too soft."
Sneisy swept her serpentine gaze over them. The ones who'd begged me desperately now trembled like they might piss themselves under her stare. Mice before a snake.
She cracked the whip on the floor again.
"No dinner tonight. Lights out an hour late. Any objections?"
"No, ma'am!"
I could practically feel the terror etched into their brains. What kind of training turned them into this? I'd ask Sneisy later, make a manual, and teach it at Baek Jaesung Comprehensive University.
I nodded in satisfaction and spoke up. Couldn't let a scene this perfect go uncommended.
"Excellent! Perfectly excellent! Seeing these criminal scum quake in fear feels like a decade's worth of indigestion melting away. Useless trash that contributes nothing to my territory. Part of me wants to smash every last one... "
Lienna had talked me out of indiscriminate executions—they could stir up a panic. Do things my way, lop off heads left and right, and bad rumors would spread. Security would crumble, which wouldn't help me either. Coolong Territory needed development right now. That's why I let these bastards live.
"Here for that guy?"
"Yeah. Lead on."
Sneisy took point, heading deeper into the prison. The criminals barely breathed as we passed. Like privates before a division commander? Nah, more like spirits before the Grim Reaper.
Sneisy led me to the prison's deepest recess. A narrow staircase led further down. The ominous aura from those steps was on another level from the prison above.
We descended together. Just one level deeper, and the atmosphere shifted palpably. The upper prison had been gloomy enough, but this was leagues beyond. Death hung thick in the air from every direction.
Delphy's twitches intensified.
This used to be a wine cellar. I'd relocated it and gut-renovated the underground.
At the stairs' bottom loomed a massive door. Forged from mithril—no ordinary strength could budge it. Dwarves had slaved over it; durability was guaranteed.
Sneisy slotted the key from her belt into the lock.
"Every time I see this, it hits me how twisted your tastes are, boss."
She traced the inscription on the door with her fingertip. My eyes—and Delphy's—followed automatically.
All who enter here, abandon all hope.
I'd named this place Inferno. Inside lived up to the name: pure hell.
Sneisy shoved with all her might. Even as a Sword Expert, she strained to crack it open. Normals couldn't pass even if it stood wide.
Kreeeeak! The grating metal screech echoed as it swung wide. I heard Delphy's loud gulp against me. I stroked her gently to ease her nerves.
Sneisy and I stepped into hell together. Deeper into the lethal abyss, one fatal step at a time.
Blood and iron reeked in welcome, mingling with the thick underground fug into an indescribable disgust. The very air differed from the surface—deliberately staged that way.
We advanced slowly into the chamber. Scattered tools everywhere: instruments of torture. This was my personal torture room.
Not your standard one, either. This was built purely for torment.
Torture's usually for confessions or intel. Rarely is agony the goal itself. This was that rare exception—a de facto execution chamber.
The world's slowest, cruelest death row. Anyone stepping in would heed the door's warning and abandon hope.
A few steps in, we spotted a man chained to the wall. The one-eyed knight who'd attacked Delphy.
"Ugh... k-kill... me..."
He was mounted on a massive wagon wheel fixed to the wall, slowly rotating. Primitive fixings: sharp spikes protruded, piercing his ribs and hips. With limbs cleanly severed, those were the only spots left to pin.
Nearly killed him a few times rigging this. Burned through a bunch of orange potions.
His body spun lazily with the wheel—not dizzying, but mana stone-powered, it turned 24/7. No deep sleep or rest for him.
And that wasn't all. Poison-coated thorns studded the rotation path. Each turn drove hooks into his flesh. The venom itched unbearably, and limbless, he had no way to scratch. His skin rotted with pus, maggots laying eggs, a putrid stench rising. Slowly, his body became a vermin nest.
"Grrgh... there... stay... I was wrong... so wrong... please, just kill me..."
Both eyes seared shut with hot irons. That part was especially fun: healed his one good eye, then Delphy cauterized the right, Lilac the left. Maisie sliced off his dick; gladiator girls beat him with clubs. Nine potions there. Heavy investment, zero regrets. Their rage was unreal.
Flayed his skin thin, seared with hot irons, whipped before new flesh grew—whole body festered. Without my preemptive Life Vessel, he'd be beyond revival.
I'd cast Life Vessel on him. No escaping us in death.
A noose tightened slowly around his neck—death by strangulation every thirty hours or so. Die, revive, repeat.
←Skill→ [Life Vessel 1Lv] (SSS-grade)
↳Creates one Life Vessel for a target. On owner's death, the Life Vessel shatters instead. Cannot create another for the same target for 24 hours after destruction.
←Skill→
I'd learned how viciously offensive Life Vessel could be. Revivable every 24 hours meant killable every 24 hours.
"M-mis... er... a... ble..."
Must hurt like hell. But no rest for him. I wouldn't kill him—Lilac and Delphy would.
"Can you hear me?"
"Y-you...!"
Delphy's voice drew a groan of pure agony from him. Since losing his right eye to her, he feared even her voice.
"Want to die?"
"Yes... please kill me... I was wrong... so wrong... I want to die! Sob... sob... sob...!"
"But I want you to live."
He convulsed at Delphy's words. We hadn't even touched him yet, but he jerked like electrocuted. Delphy smiled in satisfaction.
"Once my revenge is done... I'll kill you. After you kill Count Bastrey."
"Hic...! Hic...! Sob...! Mercy... please..."
"Let's go."
Delphy leaned into my chest. I nodded.
"Don't go...! Please! This pain...! Hnggh...!"
Kreeeeak! Hell's door slammed shut.
Sweat beaded Sneisy's forehead—not from exertion. She muttered softly.
"Never betray the boss..."
I carried Delphy back to my office. No sooner had we arrived than she started coquettishly whining.
"Prince! No matter how I think about it, I wanna get stronger too! Like what Sis did—I wanna do it!"
Witnessing the dying one-eyed knight had hardened her resolve. Her bright, clever eyes shone with determination rivaling her sister's.
"You know what price your sister paid?"
"Yes. No clothes, no food. Gave up shelter, food, and clothes—well, clothes and food."
"Constraints vary per person. Yours might be different."
"I'm prepared."
No trace of a little girl's soul lingered in Delphy's blue eyes. Like her sister, she was a vengeful wraith now. And I didn't mind that one bit.
"Once chosen, no take-backs. Got it?"
I handed her the constraint's price. Delphy nodded, mouthing the amethyst since she had no arms.
Light poured from the gem.
"......"
She pondered long. The light brightened—she'd accepted.
But she didn't stop. Like her sister, Delphy took two constraints.
She placed the gem in my hand. Unlike her sister, whose clothes vanished instantly, Delphy showed no change.
"What're they?"
"First: sleep 20 hours to stay awake 4. In exchange, +300 Intelligence and Luck, plus 3x growth rates for both."
Spending most of the day asleep. Better than some, but halving your waking life—tough penalty. Fitting for the massive gains.
"The other... Yawwwn...! Sorry, Prince. Time for dreamland..."
With that, Delphy drifted off.
