Chapter 76. Torture
Leo’s fingers brushed the woman’s trembling hand, his voice deceptively gentle. "Are you gonna answer my questions or not?"
Her bloodied lips twisted into a grin, and she spat, "Fuck you."
Without hesitation, he drove it deep under her fingernail, piercing the tender flesh with surgical cruelty. Her scream erupted, a primal, guttural howl that ricocheted off the walls, but she clamped her jaw shut, stifling it into a shuddering gasp.
"Impressive," Leo said, his tone laced with mock admiration. "Still holding on." His fingertip sparked as he channeled a precise surge of lightning mana into the needle. The electric current tore through her nervous system, her body convulsing violently as muscles seized, her scream fracturing into a choked, animalistic cry.
He cut the mana flow, and she slumped forward, her blindfold soaked with sweat, her chest heaving. The pain was unlike anything she’d endured—a searing, soul-deep torment that clawed at her very being.
Leo’s voice is almost playful. "Thought I was done?" He snatched a jagged cutting blade from the table, and with a brutal yank, he pried the nail from her finger, the sickening crack drowned out by her agonized shriek. Blood gushed, pooling, and her body shook as she fought to hold onto her defiance.
"You’ve built a fortress in your mind, haven’t you?" he murmured, his voice low and chilling. "Let’s see how it holds." He selected another needle and drove it into the nerve cluster just below her collarbone.
The pin sank deep, and he unleashed a sharper pulse of lightning mana, a storm of electricity raging through her veins. Her scream shattered into a ragged sob, her body thrashing against the ropes, the chair creaking under the strain.
Serion stood with arms crossed, his face cracking with a grim fascination. Vaelem, usually unshakable, averted his gaze, his jaw tight. The other professors outside the cell were statues.