A few days later, inside the Flynn Manor's dungeon, Alvertos slowly opened his eyes. As soon as he did, fear crept into his heart and thoroughly gripped it, for he knew just where he was.
The dim lights, the damp and bloody ground, the stone walls, and the Magi wearing the familiar clothes with the Flynn Family's insignia on them, all caused him to shudder.
"Mmph! Mmph!" He tried to speak but was horrified to learn that his mouth had been tied shut by a thick rope.
His eyes darted around to see the situation he was in. His hand and feet were tied tightly to the tal chair he was sitting on.
Glancing at his bloodied right shoulder and his missing arm, tears began to well up in his eyes. Without his hand, he would never be able to execute the physical components of spells. But casting spells was the least of his worries at the mont. He was certain that he wasn't going to leave this place alive.
He writhed intensely in his chair, desperately trying to gnaw at the rope around his mouth so that he could speak.
His eyes turned bloodshot as he thought to himself in panic, It can't go on like this!
If I'm subjected to Adam's torture thods, it will be the end of . I need to kill myself before he cos!
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!" He struggled to speak but was still unable to.
"Look at this traitor squirming like a pig," said one of the Magi standing guard.
He stepped forward and delivered a swift punch to Alvertos's solar plexus. Then, he spat right on his face. "I can't believe I took orders from a snake like you all this while."
Alvertos could care less about the humiliation he faced at the hands of a re Rank 1 Magus.
His first and foremost priority was to commit suicide!
The Magus turned around and instructed one of the other guards, "Inform the Patriarch and the eldest young lady that the traitor has woken up."
He paused for a mont before adding, "Oh, and send a letter to Lord Constantine as well." The Magus turned around and glanced at Alvertos, his lips curling up into a cold smile. "I'm sure Lord Constantine would like to have a long chat with this scumbag here."
Alvertos's eyes widened in horror and the intensity at which he tried to bite down on the rope increased significantly. "Mmph! Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
But it was all for naught. Within the next minute, he could hear hurried footsteps coming from the other side of the door.
Then, the door slamd open, and in ca several figures.
The one leading them was a lanky old man with dium-length white hair and a well- trimd beard. He was wearing a beige, silk robe and his very aura commanded respect and admiration from those around him.
As soon as this old man entered, every Magus standing guard inside the dungeon got on one knee and placed thier right hand on thier chest.
"We greet the Patriarch!"
This man was none other than the Rank 3 - Mana Vortex Magus, the head of the Flynn Family, Brigham Flynn.
Brigham stood right before the tied-up Alvertos, looking down at him with complicated emotions.
"All those years ago when Adam ca to and said that you might have poisoned , did you know what I said to him?" He asked in a somber tone.
Alvertos glared at Brigham, all the while continuing to nibble on the tight rope.
"I said to him exactly this: If you speak another ill word against Alvertos, I will forget your grace of curing and treat you no different than I would a stranger," Brigham continued.
For a mont, Brigham's dark brown eyes rippled with sorrow before they turned indifferent. "I took you in when you were but a teenager, and treated you like my own."
He bent over and tightly grabbed Alvertos's hair, lifting his head. "Tell , what sort of hatred do you have against that would allow you to endure close to two hundred years of servitude to ?"
Elysande, who was standing behind her father, looked at all the guards present and commanded, "Everyone, leave!"
"Yes, my lady!" All the Magi saluted her and then promptly left, shutting the door behind them.
"Tell , you damned snake." Brigham's words were filled with killing intent, causing Avertos to feel a severe chill crawl down his spine.
He looked at the patriarch's nacing countenance with trembling eyes, but soon he resolved himself and continued to bite down on the rope.
"Mmph! Mmph! Mmph! Mmph!"
"Father," Elysande stepped forward and said. "It looks like he wants to say sothing. Should I..."
Brigham didn't respond to his daughter, instead continuing to coldly stare at Alvertos's desperation.
A few days ago, when Elysande had brought Alvertos back to the Flynn Manor, she had inford him of all that the old man had said to her during their fight.
Ever since that day, he wasn't able to get a proper sleep at night.
The betrayal that Alvertos spoke of to Elysande... he couldn't be related to that person, could he? This was the thought that constantly echoed inside Brigham's mind for the last few days.
His lips parted and he suddenly said, "Kissinger."
Brigham deeply looked at Alvertos and asked, "What does that na an to you?"
Upon hearing that na, Alvertos's eyes first widened and then they turned maniacal. The speed at which he bit down on the rope turned even more ferocious.
"Kissinger..." Elysande couldn't help but involuntarily gulp.
She looked at her father and hesitated to speak, but in the end, she couldn't help but ask, "Father, this man... Kissinger, how do you know him?"
While tailing Alvertos inside the tunnels, Elysande and Adam had naturally overheard the conversation that took place between him and the other mber of the Umbra Thieves, Rawlins-who was now no more, courtesy of Adam.
She knew that this man nad Kissinger was the lord that Alvertos directly served under!
Wait a minute, Elysande thought to herself in alarm.
If Father knows the person Alvertos works under, then... could it be that all that he said was true?!
She looked at Brigham and called out in a hoarse voice, "Father..."
Brigham turned to look at her with complicated emotions. He placed his hand on her shoulder and forced a smile, "My daughter, I will tell you everything in due ti—"
Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he looked toward a certain corner of the dungeon. A mont later, the space in that area rippled ever so slightly and Adam appeared.
Seeing that it was Adam, Brigham heaved a faint sigh of relief. He had thought that an enemy had appeared deep inside his territory.
"Your teleportation skills have increased by leaps and bounds," he praised sincerely.
"Ehh, I still have a lot to work on," said Adam as he turned around and looked at the thick,
stone walls. "I nearly teleported right in the middle of that wall."
Brigham shook his head and sighed. "What's the point of having dozens of guards in my estate if a Magus can simply teleport straight into my house."
Adam looked at him and smirked. "Well, it's a good thing that we're allies."
The old man gave Adam a knowing smile before turning his attention back to Alvertos, who
was still desperately struggling to chew the rope.
"Heh, looks like he really needs to get sothing off of his chest," Adam chuckled as he
walked forward and stood right beside Brigham.
"Father, let's hear what he has to say." Elysande urged. "Besides, we've got all the ti in the world to get answers out of him later. He's not dying so easily under our watch."
Adam too waited for Brigham's decision.
Brigham thought for a long while before finally nodding. Elysande stepped forward and then began untying the rope around Alvertos's mouth.
By the ti the rope was untied, Alvertos's ghastly face was revealed to all present. Many of his front teeth had just fallen off, moreover, his gums were also deeply wounded from his attempt at gnawing at the rope.
Seeing this, forget Elysande and Adam, even Brigham's brows wrinkled into a frown,
wondering just what could have caused Alvertos to beco this desperate to speak.
Alvertos took deep breaths of air before finally bursting into maniacal laughter.
"Hahahahaha!!"
Brigham looked at the old man with narrowed eyes and coldly asked, "Tell , what is your
relation with Kissinger?"
Alvertos glanced at Brigham with eyes filled with hatred. "Patriarch, no, Brigham... do you
believe in the saying - you reap what you sow?"
Imnse fury bubbled up inside Brigham's heart and he slapped Alvertos, almost ripping his
head off. "Answer ! Who is Kissinger to you?!"
A few more teeth along with blood spurted out of Alvertos's mouth, but he continued to laugh maniacally as if what was happening now was the funniest thing in the world to him. Seeing this bizarre situation as well as Brigham's unusual reaction, Adam and Elysand
couldn't help but wonder just what was going on.
Who was Kissinger?
What was Alvertos's relation to this person?
More importantly, how were Brigham and Kissinger related?
All these thoughts continued to swirl in Adam and Elysande's minds.
"Brigham, oh, Brigham." Alvertos looked at the patriarch with a crazed expression. "He's
coming for you!"
He then looked at Adam and grinned from ear to ear. "And you! The Umbra Thieves won't stop until they kill you who has foiled their plans over and over again!"
"As for ..." he paused for a mont before continuing. "There is no chance in hell that I
would subject myself to your torture thods! If I'm going to die, I will do so on my terms!"
He took a deep breath and then glared at Brigham with sheer animosity. "You wish to know who Kissinger is? Fine, I'll tell you everything!"
Right at that mont, Alvertos's face twisted as a small bump suddenly erged on his head.
"Kissinger is he who you once called a dear friend!" Alvertos roared as the bump on his head
enlarged.
"Kissinger is he who you visited the inheritance of a Rank 4 Magus with all those centuries
ago!" The bump on Alvertos's head got bigger and bigger and his eyes turned bloodshot like a
feral animal.
By now, even Adam, Elysande, and Brigham were beginning to realize that sothing very terrible had gone wrong.
"Kissinger is he who you betrayed to get your hands on that mana extraction technique!!"
Alvertos's head was now double the size it used to be, and the thick veins on his face now
resembled large worms.
"Kissinger is he who is one of the three leaders of the Umbra Thieves!!" Alvertos continued to divulge secret information, causing the tumor inside of his head to enlarge rapidly and his face to bleed from all orifices.
A maniacal light flashed through his eyes as he steeled himself to face death head-on.
"Kissinger is... my father-"
SPLAT!!!
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