## Chapter 1072 – Ancient Beings

“…”

The moment I showed him the swordflame, he clamped his mouth shut.

Did he finally realize he could actually die after witnessing my overwhelming swordflame? Well, yeah. I wasn’t trying to kill him when I was beating him up earlier. He probably thought he could withstand it.

Anyway, I’ve roughly grasped the power he’s been hiding with this.

He was spouting nonsense about activating his brain or whatever, but considering he can launch such high-level mental attacks, it seems he still has a decent amount of power stored.

And most of that power is probably still preserved.

I absolutely don’t trust a word this bastard says… These kinds of guys are psychopaths who habitually lie, adding 99% lies to 1% truth. They inevitably live a life of deceiving others, and even if their own mother’s life were at stake, they’d lie to the very end and screw things up. And when their mom dies, they’ll shed tears. Of course, even those would be fake tears.

How should I deal with this bastard?

It goes without saying that even the most legendary liar will spill everything, right down to the day their parents first hooked up, under torture. But this guy is a bit beyond that in terms of his biology, so there are limited ways to get to him.

“I can never forgive you for trying to deceive me…! I don’t know how, but I can destroy you!!!”
“…”

—Snatch!

I grabbed him again and shook him.

“Ugh, uaaaaagh!!! Please!! Pleeeease!!!”

It must be incredibly painful, as he screams again.

“Shoot your mental waves! Shoot them! Go crazy like you did before, you ancient son of a bitch!!”
“Kheuheuheuk…! I won’t resist! I won’t resist anymore! I’ll cooperate with you, so please stooooop!!!”

Even that plea for pain is probably a lie to lower my guard.

—Shake it!

And so, for a long time.

“Hahahahahaha!!!”

For almost an hour and a half, I diligently shook and rotated him, occasionally slamming him into the ground and walls like I was doing a dunk shot, giving him shock therapy. This was also to drain all of his hidden power, but he didn’t shoot any more mental waves.

He just groaned.

“Gelegelegele.”

Soon, he made a sound like he’d lost his intelligence.

“Hoo.”

I guess I can say the appetizer is over.

I’m thinking of extracting information from him with moderate cooperation accompanied by torture, and when I deem it safe, taking him home and shaking him again for another eight hours.

If I torment him like that for a whole month, what he says might become credible… No.

“Maybe even that will be an act.”
“Gelegelegele.”
“Dare you try to deceive me? You’re dead, you bastard.”

—Swish.

I immediately drew Vugal and ignited the swordflame again.

“Wh, what!!”

The guy, who had been out of it, screamed as if having a seizure, and I immediately brought the burning blade to the top of his head.

Just like that.

—Swoosh.

With a single downward stroke, a long scratch appeared on the gem skull, which had been incredibly hard.

“Iyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!!!!”

The loudest scream erupts.

“Hehehe, you bastard. I could just slice you up and be done with it, huh? I’ll take out your brain and boil it.”
“Aaaagh…! Stop, stoooop…! I’ll cooperate! I’ll cooperate with anything, human ruler!”

But why has this bastard been calling me a human ruler since earlier?

“Shut up!!!”

In that manner, I used Vugal, burning with swordflame, to carve my name, Kim Kat, in Korean on the surface of his skull.

“Kkiiiiiiiiik!! Kkiiiiiiiiik!!!”

This proved it.

That I can kill him.

“…”

The guy, who had been having a major seizure, lost his words, probably shocked by the fact that his skull was being dissected in real time. Good. More than anything else, this seems to have become the biggest threat. He’ll be a bit more obedient now, right?

“So… you gem skull. How much power do you have left?”
“Not much… left.”
“No. No, you can’t answer like that. That mental wave was quite powerful… Do you think I’ll believe you if you say that?”

I might have to take out his brain once and put it back in.

“It’s true! That attack that directly targeted the intellect’s mind was just using the little remaining power for self-defense…! There’s almost no stored power left now!”

There was appeal in that voice, but there’s no way I can believe it.

“Really? You need blood to use your power, right? What’s the difference?”
“I’ve sealed most of my knowledge within my brain, but I haven’t sealed things like the use of language and the means of self-defense…! I need to let the discoverer know my usefulness!”

In other words, it seems like about 99% of his knowledge is sealed. Leaving only things like communication methods and means of self-defense.

“But not other knowledge! Just being aware of this vast amount of knowledge requires a lot of energy! Even taking out the contained knowledge is the same…! That’s why I had no choice but to seal it!”

Well, I guess I understand.
It’s not an unacceptable explanation.

“Therefore, knowledge can only be released when I receive sacrifices!”
“So that’s why you can’t reveal your identity?”
“That’s right!”
“Saying your name probably doesn’t use much energy… That’s a lie, right?”

No, you have to reveal your identity first so the discoverer will want to use you.

This bastard looks like he’s scamming me no matter how I look at it.

“No, it’s not…! Please! I apologize for launching that mental attack just now!”
“You even launched a mind control attack, do you think it’ll end with an apology?”

I slipped the blade of Vugal slightly into his mouth.

“Spare me…! If you spare me!!! I’ll do anything!!!”
“Hehehe, an ancient being is begging me for his life. Do you have no pride or honor, skull head?”
“Please, pleeease…!”
“You want to live that badly?”
“I can’t die in a place like this!!!”
“But you son of a bitch. It’s useless even if you say you’ll do anything. You want human blood, right?”
“Th, that is because you are likely the ruler of the human race… I am making this proposal because I do not believe the numerous slaves you possess hold such great value…!”
“What?”

There it is again.

That baseless belief that I’m a ruler.

Could it be that in the era when this bastard was active, all those with mana were rulers? And all those without mana were slave class? If this hypothesis is true, and the guy’s common sense is trapped there, it’s quite interesting.

“What are you talking about?”
“Just one person urgently. One person’s worth. Even the blood of a prisoner or death row inmate, as you humans call them, is fine. If I can get just one person’s worth of blood, I’ll force myself to tell you my identity and usefulness. And valid knowledge.”
“Hey, you son of a bitch!!!”

Putting everything else aside, I’m just disgusted that this bastard is a race that craves human blood…! In my eyes, it’s obvious that the moment I give him blood, he’ll awaken his power and go crazy, hitting me in the back of the head!!!

“Don’t shut up!!! You, you’re no good!!!”
“Uaaaaagh!!”

In that manner, I carved my father’s name, Kim Mal-soo, on the guy’s forehead. Seeing how well this is carved in, it seems I have a talent for gem cutting.

“Hehehe, the tattoo is very cool. Well, now that it looks decent, I’ll go a little easier on you.”
“…”
“Answer me!!!”
“A, aa…! I understand!”
“But you son of a bitch. It doesn’t seem like you’ll be useful at all.”

I have no intention of feeding human blood to such an evil being, even if I die and come back to life.

Well, I kill murderers and cultists like I eat meals, and their blood is overflowing, and I can happily slaughter them at any time, but offering such blood as a sacrifice to an evil being goes against fusion-Confucianism.

I won’t do such a thing.

I just feel so shitty.

“You skull bastard. Can’t you do anything without blood? Then I guess you’ll have to die here.”
“Heo, heoeok…! Why!!! Don’t you want knowledge! Blood! I don’t care about origin or status! If I have just one person’s worth of blood from the most lowly being you humans speak of! I can tell you the old knowledge!!!”

When I said I would kill him, he screamed.

I was just chuckling and looking down at that scream.

When suddenly, I thought of Vugal.

Oh.

Could this possibly… be absorbed?

“Hey, Andro.”
“…!”

When I called him, Andro, who had been silent, cried out as if he had just woken up.

“Andro, are you awake?”
“What on earth…! I couldn’t contain my curiosity and momentarily lost consciousness!”

This crazy bastard.

How crazy do you have to be about curiosity to faint?

“Where is this, and what is that energy…!”
“Quiet down for now. Do you happen to know about the performance of the sword you’re in?”
“Of course!!!”

He answered my question energetically.

“This Andromalius has explored the sword I’m trapped in within the darkness. As a result, I was able to find out several things. This sword was the shell that the demon race of Pandemonium wore. I know about this race because I’ve explored it once.”

Explored is written, but it’s read as murdered.

“Ooh.”

But Vugal’s identity is being revealed now?

“Therefore, I understand why I’m trapped here. This capable shell absorbs souls and power. Originally, it would supply the absorbed power to the main body inside the shell, but now that the main body is gone. Only the effect of strengthening the shell remains.”

Andromalius spoke as if he wasn’t the main body.

My friend Vugal was a shell.
Well, I don’t care about that.

“Aren’t you the main body now?”
“I hate to admit it, but I can’t become the main body… Because I became part of the shell.”

A slightly gloomy voice.

I don’t know if it’s real.

I immediately whispered to the guy.

“Then that… Can that be absorbed too?”
“That strange energy…! But I don’t know! I can’t know if it can be absorbed or not! Then I must explore! I must quickly stab this sword into that!”
“Okay. Then go in and sleep now.”
“What!!!”
“Sleep.”

When I poured in my will, Andro became quiet for a moment.

“Ooh… My mind…”

He remained silent.

Andro said he didn’t know, but it seems like it can be absorbed by Vugal. Then I’m very curious about what will happen. Could it be that Andromalius will inherit the guy’s knowledge?

“Was that just now a great demon? Why does a human have a great demon?”
“That’s just how it is, you bastard. Anyway. You’re going to die now.”

I grabbed the gem skull.

“Goodbye. If you’re useless, you’ll just die. I can’t keep a blood-eating monster alive.”
“Aaaaaaaaaaagh!! Nooooooooo!!!”

While pretending to stab him with the sword, I ignited the swordflame again, and he screamed very loudly and begged me.

“Save me!!! Save me!!! Save meeeeeeeee!!!”
“Nice to meet you, monster.”
“Wait!!! Waiiiiiit!!! Uaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!!”
“Heuaaaap!!”
“Ugh!!!!”

When I pretended to stab him like that, he screamed as loud as thunder and then fell silent.

—…

Silence.

Of course, nothing happened.

Killing him was a lie.

But even though it was a lie, I actually put killing intent into it, and if he felt the threat of death, it was obvious that he would have done something.

But even so, he didn’t attack me and just screamed.

“What…? You’re not going to kill me…?”

That means… as this bastard said, he seems to have used up all his power and can’t resist anymore. No matter how much power he hid, he would have done something if he was on the verge of death.

Then that means safety is guaranteed to some extent now.

“No, you bastard. There’s still something to test. I’ll spare you for now.”
“Sa, spare!”

A voice filled with joy.

“Thank… Thank you! Thank you, humaaaaan!!!!”
“Live your life thanking me forever.”

Then I guess I can show him to Risha.

If safety is guaranteed, it doesn’t matter if I take him home.

Would I bring a dangerous bomb like this to my women? Risha is an expert at dealing with these things, so she might be able to do something.

Actually, it’s very selfish for me to see such a mysterious skull by myself.

Yeah. Once I get loot, everyone has to see it together. It’s better to take him alive first, do everything we can to deal with him, and then finally do an experiment using Vugal.

“Thank you…! Thank you, thank you for saving me…!”
“Then let’s go out.”