"Then let's hurry up and deal with them?" Asura asked cheerfully, burning with anticipation.
"Don't rush, everything in its own time," I said, leaning back in my chair. I was very tired today; I needed to catch my breath. The sweetest and most difficult part remained: I not only had to torture them but also extract all possible information from the inner circle disciple. I didn't think she would be so cooperative.
"What's going on here!" the light mage was the first to come to his senses. He was practically driven mad by the sight that greeted him.
Me, sitting in a black suit, all stained with blood and other filth. Seven corpses, so disfigured that they were unrecognizable, and one mass of flesh that had already dried out. The screams and shrieks had mostly stopped by then, leaving only agonizing moans that even irritated me and tried to drive me insane. If it weren't for the immense moral impact on the survivors, I would have finished them off long ago. They don't feel anything anymore anyway, and the moans are a reaction to the constantly present irritant; there is no more reason in these toys, and there never will be again. I think even in the Parthenon, they would have trouble restoring them, but overcoming all the problems afterward would be simply impossible.
"Ah, there you are, my friend, you've woken up," I remarked sarcastically. "As you can see, I'm glad you brought me to the right place, so don't worry, a little more cooperation, and I'll grant you a quick death," I said calmly, smiling slightly, though it wasn't visible through the mask.
"You're a monster!" the light mage screamed explosively, trying to break free. "What normal person could do such a thing?!"
"Oh? You mean all this?" I asked, gesturing with the knife in my hand at all the broken toys. "Yes, I just don't have time, and I didn't really want to bother, so I did it quickly, without any finesse. No, if you want me to perform a special treatment for you, just say the word, I don't mind. But if you want a knife in the heart and that's it, you'll answer a couple more questions, okay?" I said, waving the knife. The light mage shuddered at my words and vomited, but after a moment's thought, he nodded. "Excellent, then tell me, do you know about other groups like yours in China?"
"A little, Max knew more, that lightning mage guy who talked to you on the wall," the light mage said in a doomed voice. "Only a couple of groups came, as we can't afford to station a group in every big city in China. Ours was supposed to monitor the informant, your friend's mother. She should know more." Finishing, the light mage pointed with his head to the woman hanging next to him, who was still unconscious.
"I see, so you know if your high-level mages have arrived in China?" I asked the next question, as he hadn't said anything particularly new.
"As far as I know, perhaps one has arrived, but he's on duty in Shanghai, as it's the most likely place to find you," the light mage said. "But this is just a rumor; information about the movements of such powerful mages is not disclosed to us."
"Alright, last question," I nodded in agreement. The previous ones had mostly said the same thing, so this could be considered the pure truth. "Do you know of any ancient knowledge? Spells, relics, artifacts, other ways to get stronger?"
"No, only inner circle disciples can access that," the light mage said sadly, then added in a pleading voice, "If that's all, kill me, please, quickly! I didn't want to provoke you initially, but once you join the clan, there's no turning back!"
"Okay," I said, shrugging. His information was truthful, confirmed by the five mid-level mages before him. "After she wakes up, I'll kill you, but for now, think about repentance and why everything turned out this way," I said, pointing to the woman, who was also starting to wake up.
"Huh? What happened? Where am I? Aaaaaah!" she screamed after a couple of minutes, fully regaining consciousness. The woman had no legs below the knee; if I hadn't helped her immediately, she would be dead now.
"Hello, which option do you choose: quick or long? Simple or complex?" I asked sarcastically, shifting my gaze to her.
"Who are you to dare do this to the disciples of the great guardian clan!" she screamed, trying to break free from the ropes, but only reminding herself that her legs were gone. A dagger scratching her hand also cooled her ardor.
"Elena Dmitrievna, that's the target," the still-alive light mage said sadly, who had been sick a couple more times while we waited for her to wake up.
"And you are free; I told you, when she wakes up, you'll die," I said, pointing my dagger at him.
"Thank you. Finally, this will all end!" the light mage exclaimed joyfully. These were his last words. After that, my dagger left a hole in his chest, and he hung there unconscious. Even the moans stopped for a moment, as if the remnants of his mind and soul were paying tribute to someone who could leave this world so easily. After that moment, the irritating moans continued, and the woman, apparently named Elena, contorted her face in disgust and looked at me.
"What do you mean, 'target'?" she asked doubtfully, looking at me with a face contorted in disgust. It even seemed to me that she wasn't going to talk to me, and I was about to kill her, but I quickly changed my mind.
"See for yourself? Do you recognize my voice?" I asked, shifting the mask slightly to the side so that my voice was no longer distorted by the speaker, and my face was clearly visible in the dim light of the basement.
This was the first time I had essentially taken off my mask since the beginning of this whole mess on the wall. At the sight, her face contorted in horror even more than it had been contorted in disgust before. The stench that permeated the basement hit my nose with renewed force, so I hurried to put the mask back in its rightful place.
"You... you're Jiaxing Yun, but you're not even nineteen yet! Where did you get the strength to kill, no, to capture and torture so many mid-level mages to death!?" she screamed, thrashing in the ropes. Another flick of the dagger refreshed her, and she calmed down slightly. "And what about those three who were sent to capture you on the wall? I don't see them here?"
"They've probably already fed the local undead, or joined them. I don't know," I shrugged. "Capturing them then was a bit problematic, so I just killed them. But that's not important now. I decided to ask you a couple of questions before you die, and your answers will determine your fate. Will you repeat the fate of the blob, or this mage?" I said, first pointing to the dissolved figure by Vita, and then to the light mage. "It's all in your hands."
"Yes, I'd rather die than betray my clan!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, demonstratively turning her head away from me.
"Alright, you've decided for yourself," I said, standing up and approaching her with the dagger. With a few light movements, I stripped her right leg, sharpening it so that the bone could now pierce someone. Then I placed a dose of good anesthetic on the table and, returning to my place, said, "If you start telling the truth, I'll inject it for you."
"You... you..." she panted, sometimes breaking into screams, unable to endure the pain any longer. Meanwhile, blood poured from her leg. "Alright, ask what you want," she finally surrendered. In a little while, I thought I would bandage her wound at least, otherwise, she would die prematurely.
"Excellent," I said, injecting her with anesthetic and bandaging the wound. "You know about the forces sent to China to track and intercept me, right?"
"Yes, but it's also done to prevent your kidnapping by other clans," she said, her voice carrying a hint of despair. "One team in Shanghai, a couple of small ones in Huzhou, Suzhou, and Bo City, and two medium-sized ones in Xi'an and Guangzhou."
"Do you know the strength of the mages in Shanghai and other cities?" I asked calmly.
"Yes, a high-level mage specifically came to Shanghai, and there are about seven peak mid-level mages, another dozen or so mid-level mages, and about fifteen initial-level mages," Elena said with a smirk. "You can't defeat them... p-p-p-p-ull!" Before she could finish, my dagger left a deep gash on her second leg. Although she was right, I couldn't defeat them at the moment. But on the other hand, there's no need to worry about them too much, as I'll only return to Shanghai to enroll in Minzhu, and it will be very difficult for them to reach me there.
"Continue," I waved my hand, interrupting the long silence. "What strength do the small teams have?"
"One or two peak mid-level mages, a couple more mid-level mages, and two or three initial-level mages," she answered calmly.
"I see," I nodded, taking out a notebook and pen. I needed to write down all this information just in case. "You are currently in conflict with the Khabarovsk guardians, aren't you? What's the situation?"
"What? How did you... ah, never mind," she said, surprised at first, then quickly calmed down. "Yes, they decided to snatch the dragon's tooth from under our noses, which you have now. I don't know how they found out about you, almost simultaneously with us, but they've been putting obstacles in our way from the shadows from the very beginning. It's precisely because of their constant surveillance of all our actions that the elders didn't dare to just kill you and initially wanted to take the tooth peacefully. But now that you've killed so many of ours, be sure, they will give the order for your liquidation!"
"I see. So, what's the situation with the Khabarovites?" I asked again, pretending to have missed her words. "Have you had direct clashes? How do you distinguish each other?"
"No, in China, we act quietly, just like everywhere abroad. The Holy City is not sleeping and is waging a shadow war with the guardian clans. If it weren't for Russia's protection, we would have perished long ago," Elena answered calmly, shuddering at my words. We distinguish each other by showing special magical badges, which also help monitor a mage's cultivation level.
"Alright. So, these are your badges?" I asked, taking out a small round badge with some kind of coat of arms. I found it in the pockets of every guardian. I hadn't paid attention to such things before because I didn't have time, but now I did.
"Yes, exactly," she nodded affirmatively. "They are issued to all of us upon joining the clan."
"I understand. Now, the next question: do you know the forces of the Khabarovsk guardians and where they are approximately located?" I asked, putting away the badge. "And also the exact location of your bases?"
"I only know that the Khabarovites have probably stationed their forces in the same places as us," she answered calmly, but she didn't want to answer the second question. "And I won't give up my own, so you don't attack them!"
"Oh, how noble. Have you forgotten who is the master here?" I asked, cutting off both her legs completely. Blood gushed again. She wouldn't last long like this; I needed to finish faster. "Well, should I continue?"
"No!" she screamed. "All the information I know about our, the enemy's, and your situation is kept in my room, in the safe!" she screamed, almost crying from the pain.
"Excellent. Last question: you are an inner circle disciple, which means you should know the ancient knowledge of the clan, right?" I asked the last important question.
"Yes, there is one spell. It's called 'Wind Blade Squall'," she said almost immediately. "This is a mid-level wind magic spell; it creates many wind blades that, unlike a vortex, are directed at one point, at one target."
"Can you describe the star chart of the spell to me?" I asked. Finally, success! This knowledge is exactly what I need.
"Yes, but only if you give me more anesthetic and bandage my wounds," she said. I nodded in response, taking out another dose and some rag bandages.