After healing Ruby's wrist with his healing magic, Lucifer seized both of Paul's wrists in his hands with blinding speed.
The instant he had Paul's wrists locked in his grip, Lucifer spoke, his voice cold and deliberate.
"The hands that dared to hurt my aunt… those hands are better off not existing at all."
The moment the words left his mouth, Lucifer's grip tightened with savage force. He crushed Paul's wrists with such overwhelming pressure that the sickening, sharp cracks of bones shattering echoed clearly through the air—multiple bones snapping and splintering at once like dry twigs under a boot. But Lucifer did not stop there. He kept squeezing, grinding the bones into fragments until every single bone in Paul's hands had been utterly pulverized and shattered.
The terrifying, vise-like power of Lucifer's grip was so monstrous that Paul's palms swelled grotesquely, ballooning outward as blood began to ooze and then pour from his fingertips.
Paul's wife Delya and Aria made no move to stop him. They knew this time the fault lay entirely with Paul, and they knew that provoking Lucifer meant inviting death—slow, agonizing, and inevitable.
On the other side, Paul was screaming at the top of his lungs, his throat tearing with raw, guttural howls of agony. Tears streamed down his face as he wailed and sobbed uncontrollably, his entire body convulsing from the unbearable pain. Lucifer had not merely broken his wrists—he had completely shattered every bone in his hands.
Paul had believed that if he screamed loud enough, someone—anyone—would rush to his aid. After all, even though the Holycross Duchy had willingly surrendered to the Westirifer Duchy and had now merged to become the Holycross State, he was certain that among the 8,100 soldiers who had arrived with the Holycross delegation, at least one would come to help him.
But no one came. Not a single soul.
Every soldier was fully occupied with the first phase of the test Lucifer had given them. And even if they had not been, none would have dared to help Paul and risk facing Lucifer's wrath.
After crushing Paul's hands, Lucifer turned his gaze toward Aria Holygrill and asked her politely, "Lady Aria… would you now prefer to tell me everything… or do you want me to skip his hands and simply snap his neck instead?"
"Lady Aria… as far as I know, I have never once set foot in the Holycross State. So tell me—how, when, and where exactly did I kill Paul's uncle?"
"I want the truth now… otherwise I must tell you this: I have no desire to maintain relations with those who refuse to show me honesty."
"If you wish to keep secrets from me, then here is what you can do—take all the people who came with you and return to Holycross at once. I will also release Holycross from Westirifer's rule."
Lucifer's voice remained calm and polite, yet the words he spoke carried a completely different weight.
Hearing them, Aria grew terrified. In the end she made her decision. Without even glancing at Paul, she spoke to Lucifer.
"Young Master… the Holycross State truly wishes to remain under your protection… please do not cast us aside after accepting us."
"I will tell you everything."
The moment Aria said she would reveal everything, Lucifer replied, "Lady Aria, I am not running anywhere, nor are you. As for Paul, let him lie there as he is. I was going to kill him, but I have kept him alive only for your sake and Lady Delya's."
"For now I must set up camp for everyone. I cannot simply abandon my wives, my mother, my aunt, and all of you like this. On top of that, my wives and the women of my Velmora family are pregnant right now. Taking care of them is also my responsibility."
With that, Lucifer cast a minor healing spell on himself. The small injury on his head—a mere scratch that had been bleeding—vanished in the blink of an eye.
After healing the scratch, Lucifer first set up the portable houses. Then he placed several beds and chairs outside them.
Next he called out to Vance, who was supervising the Velmora family's training and the Holycross soldiers' test.
"Vance… Come here."
The instant he heard Lucifer's voice, Vance ran over, dropped to one knee, and said, "Yes, Master."
Lucifer handed Vance one of his space storage rings and spoke. "Vance… look how many people are here, and how hard these soldiers are working. Besides, I doubt my mother and the others had much breakfast this morning—the tenth bell of the morning hasn't even rung yet."
"Go north from here. Once you cross the light forest, the Nightbloom Forest begins. Go a little deeper inside. There you may find a herd of Blazehorn bison, or Cluckhorn drakes. Blazehorn bison look like oversized bison, but flames always burn on their horns and tails. Cluckhorn drakes look like a mix of chicken, lizard, and snake. They have two heads and two necks on a single body, long muscular legs, two drake-like wings, and a long, thick, boneless tail. Their size is roughly the same as the bison."
"Go to the Nightbloom Forest and hunt seventy Blazehorn bison. If you cannot find them, Cluckhorn drakes will do. If neither is available in full, hunt both. I need them one way or another. You have two hours."
"Now go."
Vance listened carefully, then immediately set out to hunt.
Meanwhile, everyone in the camp had settled down. Ruby had reserved ten portable houses for the Velmora family, the Keilname family had four houses, and Holycross State had the same number. The remaining nine portable houses were kept for general use.
While Ruby was assigning the houses, Mia, with the help of Lady Talmora, Lady Aria, Jeffrey, and Elder Guntor, had arranged a large number of beds and chairs in a circular area. At that moment all the people were sitting on the beds and chairs, enjoying the weather and the scenery. Some were eating fruit, some were chatting among themselves, and all of them were waiting for Lucifer to return—because only after he arrived would they learn who Paul's uncle was and exactly when, how, and where Lucifer had killed him.