Chapter 198: Unbelievable (Part 3)

  Although it was just a temporary conversion from a basement, the Magic Academy's capabilities still made this temporary cell very secure. Steel bars as thick as an arm; not even three elephants could break them, let alone three people. And the dozens of magic arrays temporarily engraved by dozens of mages and priests on the steel bars and the floor and walls of the entire cell made it even more impregnable.

  Ethan sat powerlessly slumped on the ground. It wasn't that he lacked spirit; if a gaze could really condense into substance, the Cardinal would have long been riddled with holes. But it seemed the only thing he could do now was just look with his eyes. The injuries on his joints were not serious, but they were just enough to make him unable to move. The anti-magic arrays and even a small-scale sealing array drawn by the mages inside and outside the cell meant that, let alone him, even Sedros, if trapped inside, would probably have no way to use magic.

  "What on earth do you want?" Ethan asked, looking at the Cardinal outside.

  His face still wore its usual mask. Javi and Rodhart had not exposed his true identity, only telling others that he was a very important prisoner who needed to be held and interrogated alone.

  "Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. I'll just ask you a few questions and then send you to Celeste. His Majesty the Pope seems to want to see you very much. Although I don't know what he wants to see you for, I can at least be sure it's not to give you an award. Perhaps he's interested in the Leaves of the World Tree and Sunwell in your body."

  "How could you have gone to Diya Valley and become a member of the Necromancer Guild? I know you previously had absolutely no connection to Diya Valley."

  "That's not for you to worry about. In fact, didn't you have the same opportunity as I did to get in back then? But you gave it up, and as a result, it caused Teacher Vedenina to be imprisoned."

  "So you're Vedenina's disciple? But when did she take you on as a disciple? Judging by the timing, that should have been..."

  The Cardinal smiled without answering.

  "Then what are you doing back here now?"

  "Back here?" Javi smiled lightly. "Of course, to take back what's mine."

  "Your things?"

  The Cardinal nodded: "Yes. The status, power... and of course, the person that should have originally belonged to me."

  "Person?" The light that suddenly erupted from Ethan's eyes was like that of a wild beast, and his roar became like a wolf's howl: "I'm warning you, don't touch her."

  Javi did not have any provocative rebuttal, but just frowned strangely and shook his head, saying: "Don't touch her? She seems to have been my wife in the first place. This is actually something I should have said to you over a year ago..."

  "In any case... in any case..." Ethan was so agitated that even his face twitched. He suddenly stood up from the ground. But the sharp pain and weakness in his joints made him fall down immediately. He was still roaring on the ground: "I'm telling you, if you touch her, I will absolutely make you regret it for the rest of your life..."

  Bishop Javi still seemed very calm, just nodding. With a tone of some gratification, as if talking to himself or whispering to Ethan, he said: "I can finally be completely certain. I have won. Whether in battle, in strategy, or in matters of the heart, I have won."

  Ethan struggled to sit up halfway on the ground and said harshly: "If you have the guts, kill me now. Otherwise, you will never win."

  "No, I have already won." Javi nodded calmly and affirmatively, a calmness that only appears when facing an undisputed result. "Do you think I would use some despicable means to get her? No, I'm telling you. I will pursue her openly and honorably. I don't want her person, but her heart, her feelings. And I can definitely succeed. I'm telling you, I am sure to win against you."

  "I know that in her heart, she still likes you. But in reality, every day she still has to face the endlessly tedious official duties, the trivial affairs of state. At this time, tell me, does she need someone who can accompany her by her side, share her worries, and live with her, or a shadow that only exists in memory, who doesn't even dare to see her face?"

  Ethan was stunned. Slowly, a pain as if being twisted by a knife grew and spread from his chest. This was even more painful than the sword that Rodhart had pierced through his chest. The greatest pain of this was that he knew very clearly that everything said by this opponent was indeed the truth.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Do you know? Your luck is really good. So good that I'm jealous. Not only did you inexplicably win her heart, you even have great backers like Bishop Ronis and Sandro helping you from behind. Even the Duke wants to find ways to win you over. And all of these are things I've dreamed of. In other aspects, I know you even obtained the power of the elven ancient divine artifact, learned the Meditations on Truth, and even Teacher Vedenina tried her best to bring you into Diya Valley. Do you know? Your luck is simply comparable to the protagonist of the most clichéd knight novel. But in the end? What about you? You've achieved nothing, just drifting along with the tide. And as for me, although the opportunity to get to where I am now was you, I walked here step by step through my own efforts." Javi looked at him quietly and said faintly. "So I am the one who should win, and win openly and honorably."

  "My win is indisputable. Don't you yet understand where you lost? You lost to yourself. You, the person, lost. I don't know where you heard this phrase, but I'm returning it to you once again: you lost in character."

  "No matter how good the opportunity, how good the luck, even if it was delivered to you on a platter, you did not seize it. But you are not the kind of coward who is completely incompetent in every way. You refused the Duke, refused Bishop Ronis, refused Teacher Vedenina. You had those powers but did not train and utilize them, because not only do you lack worldly desires, but you are rejecting this secular world. You probably think that we people driven by desire are ugly and boring, right? You want to maintain your aloof and free way of life? But you have clearly been inevitably drawn into this storm, how can you still refuse? Your attitude is no longer rejection, it's escapism."

  "And when I finally saw your anger here, I knew I had truly won. A person who is only willing to live simply by their own instincts and personality, who even has to escape from facts, on what grounds can you defeat me?"

  Bishop Javi kept talking, and Ethan just kept listening, listening in a daze. He knew these were all facts, that it was indeed so. Every word that came out of Javi's mouth struck his heart with a resounding crash.

  "Now I feel a bit lost, that a guy like you could actually become my greatest enemy, only to be so easily defeated by me in the end." Bishop Javi sighed, then looked at him with some smugness and said with a smile: "By the way, let me tell you, the reason I didn't expose your identity is also because I don't want to alarm her. I will use various methods to make her slowly forget you, and in the end, I will make her become my wife again. This time, truly and rightfully. Everything that belongs to me will eventually belong to me. You don't need to be unreconciled, because you are not worthy in the first place."

  "Cough," Ethan's body shuddered, and he bent over to cough up another mouthful of blood. The expression on his face had completely lost control, and his body was also trembling.

  Javi looked at the twitching Ethan on the ground and smiled faintly. He knew that this kind of helpless defeat and sorrow was the most desperate and painful. Then he raised his voice and shouted: "Bring the person in."

  Following Javi's voice, Rodhart brought in the bound Jessica. Everything here was a secret, so it was not appropriate for other subordinates to be involved.

  Rodhart was still as calm and composed as ever, while Jessica had a face full of mockery and disdain, looking at Ethan and sneering: "Your friend is really trustworthy."

  Javi pulled Jessica over and threw her on the ground, stepping on her face. Jessica grunted in pain, but had no strength to resist at all.

  "Alright. Our chat time is over. Now for the real business. I ask you, there should be a very secret place in the Magic Academy... perhaps a secret room, a cell, or something like that. Do you know where it is?" Javi asked.

  Ethan did not answer. He was still lying on the ground, curled up in a ball, his expression and body twisted from mental torment.

  "I know that it's very difficult for you to answer questions at this time, but I'm sorry, I am very eager to know this answer. This should originally have been known only to Bishop Ronis, and now the most likely person to know is you." Bishop Javi stretched out his hand, pinched the fingertip of one of Jessica's fingers and slowly applied force. Jessica grunted, but did not cry out.

  A faint sound like a crisp pea being crushed, Jessica's slender and long fingertip became a mangled mess of flesh and blood in Bishop Javi's hand. The shattered bone pierced the skin and muscle in a shapeless mess. But Jessica just grunted, her body twitching, without screaming.

  "Good backbone." Bishop Javi smiled faintly, flicking the blood off his fingers. "But I advise you'd better scream out and let your lover hear it."

  Jessica's face was already covered in cold sweat, but she was still sneering: "This is nothing, kid. The day you fall into my hands, I promise I'll show you the interrogation arts of the Drow. The first item on the list is to spend half a day slowly cutting off your thing, one slice at a time. I'll tell you in advance, that scene will be absolutely spectacular."

  "Hehe, what a woman with character." Bishop Javi's smile was still as sunny and brilliant as ever. "But I also assure you that Diya Valley will not lose to anyone in any art. These rustic things from Nighon are absolutely inferior."

  Bishop Javi chanted a spell in a low voice, and ran his hand over Jessica's body. First, a flash of white light, then a black mist faintly appeared from her body. As these two spells took effect, Jessica's freshly crushed finger immediately stopped bleeding, but the pained expression and cold sweat on her face immediately intensified.

  "The Pain Curse, this black magic, can amplify a person's pain nerves tenfold. Even if I just twist you a little, you'll feel no different from having a piece of flesh torn off. Rebirth in Flames, this white magic, can ensure your life force does not drain away. If controlled properly, I can even dismember you until only your head and heart remain and still keep you alive. And there's Divine Safeguard, which can make your nerves' tolerance limit exceed that of a normal human, so no matter how great the pain, you won't faint or die from it... How about that? These deeper arts are something that the bloody little tricks of a small place like Nighon can't compare to, right?"

  "Don't make things difficult for her. This matter has nothing to do with her originally; it's just between the two of us." Ethan struggled to sit up from the ground.

  "Still such a childish idea. I promised not to harm you, but I didn't say I wouldn't harm others. Of course, I can only rely on harming her to make you talk." Javi turned to look at Ethan and sighed. "You should also know that in this situation, either you give me the answer I want, or I will torture her to death... But I think that will be very difficult. With my skills and White Magic, she will probably have little chance of dying..."

  Ethan thought for a moment and answered: "There is a secret dungeon under the statue in the cathedral, but I don't know the method to open it..."

  Bishop Javi shook his head and said: "I already knew about that. I went to see it secretly too, and it doesn't seem to have what I want. Are there any others?"

  "I don't know about any others."

  Bishop Javi shook his head again and sighed: "It's a pity. I must get the answer to this. This is one of the tasks my teacher gave me. Although I also know that in this situation, it's unlikely you still have the willpower to keep any secrets, but even if there's a one in ten thousand chance, I can't give up. I can only continue. I hope this can stimulate your inspiration and memory, perhaps..." Javi's hand pinched Jessica's fingertip again, continuing to apply force.

  The sound of bones shattering was completely drowned out by Jessica's scream. The sharpness and hysteria of this sound could absolutely remind one of the wail of a legendary Banshee. This time, she seemed to have completely lost the slightest bit of her previous endurance. She struggled and twitched as desperately as a fish thrown into a pan of hot oil. If Javi hadn't been stepping on her firmly and her whole body was bound, she would have bounced up and hit the ceiling of the basement.

  Finally, she calmed down a little, but not because the pain had passed, but because the pain had already consumed her entire energy and spirit to its limit. Her whole body was soaked in her own cold sweat, and her originally satin-like black skin also took on a pallor of exhaustion. Her lips were trembling, and the whites of her eyes began to show.