Torture

"Wuuu, did you chop off the rest of my body?! Am I just a detached head now?! Wuuuu, you are too cruel. How could you do that to someone sleeping peacefully?! I want my body back! Waaa!" Shadow Two lost all his tough demeanor as soon as he realized he couldn't feel the rest of his body. And as he kept staring at Nick, tears streamed violently down his face. It didn't matter how tough a man was, nothing could be scarier than losing control of one's own body.

Nick looked on with nothing but shock on his face. So, is this what constitutes for an Assassin these days? From the moment he saw the tattoo on the man's forehead, Nick knew which Organization the man belonged to. Even someone as new to this world as Nick had heard the scary stories of Master Crow and his shadow assassins. Most parents used their incredible feats to scare children who didn't behave, and he had seen Peter use that story a couple of times to try and scare the twins.

Apparently, this group of assassins never leave a trace when they kill. And they took jobs from high-level assassinations with high pay grade to low-level jobs with meager pay, and even though there were only six people in the Organization, including Master Crow, these people were still able to maintain their high-efficiency rate.

"Stop whining, will you?! Why would I chop your neck off before even asking you a question? Don't you think torture usually comes after the questions?" Nick began feeling worried. Did he pick up the dumb one out of the group?

Shadow Two looked at Nick scornfully, as if he didn't believe him. He even smirked slightly and said, "I think I know my body best, thank you very much."

Nick enjoyed lying the most, but he hated it when others didn't believe his lies, let alone when he was telling the truth. So, Nick decided to prove he was telling the truth by a simple demonstration.

Pang!

"See that? I kicked your head, but it didn't fly away. You know why? Because your body is holding it down. Do you want me to demonstrate that again?" Nick whispered.

Shadow Two could swear on his life that he had never seen someone as violent as Nick. Nick could have just lifted his head so he could see the rest of his body, but no, Nick had to do it the eccentric way! And the scariest part was that no matter how hard Shadow Two tried to call his fellow teammates for help, he just couldn't seem to reach any of them! Which was weird since their secret technique enabled them to communicate mentally within a ten-kilometer radius!

"Do you know who I am?! Do you know what this tattoo on my forehead represents?!" Shadow Two calmed down from his initial panic as soon as he realized that his situation wasn't as hopeless or desperate as he initially thought. At least he still had his body attached to his neck.

"Yes, I do. The tattoo is your name, isn't it? I can understand being proud of your name, but why brand it to your forehead like that? Also, I would prefer it if you talked to me with a little less arrogance in your tone. I am the reason you are still breathing after all. You said it yourself, right? Master Crow will kill you by using this as an excuse, even though you did nothing wrong! But you will be safe here. No one can find this place, and you can stay here as long as you cooperate and give me the answers I want." Nick kneeled down on one knee and spoke to Shadow Two face to face.

"Hhahaha! Did you just say Master Crow won't find me here?! Do you even know who Master Crow is?! Or what he's capable of?! You think you are scary?! Let me tell you something buddy, the type of pain Master Crow will put me through if I tell you anything will be a thousand times worse than what you could do to me!" Shadow Two wasn't stupid, he knew how strict Crow was about keeping secrets.

"Oh, really? Do you really think this Master Crow fellow has a mind more devious than mine?! Challenge accepted!" Nick's grin was so wide, the corners of his lips were nearly touching his ears.

"But before I start this torture session, I will ask you the question first. Where is Loyd being held?!" Nick asked. He wasn't going to start the torture before the poor assassin even knew what Nick wanted to know. That would just be unfair.

"Where are you keeping Loyd?!" Nick asked sternly.

"I will never tell you! Hehe." Shadow Two wasn't afraid of torture because he was usually the one inflicting it. So what if he was on the receiving end today? At most he would get a few whips to the back, right?

"Sigh, I really don't get what's keeping you so quiet, is it your stupidity or your loyalty? Anyway, you brought this on yourself!" Nick warned as he frowned his head and tried to think of ways to torture someone. He wasn't an expert in this field, and this could very well be his first time, so he had to be careful, Nick wanted his first time to be magical…

"Why don't you try tearing his limbs off one by one?!" The Old geezer chipped in. He was always the first person to egg Nick on when it came to violence.

"No, that's too played out. I want to do something fresh and out of the box." Nick shook his head. If he caused such a mess here who would clean it up?! Obviously not him!

"How about shoving tiny insects through the man's nostrils and laughing maniacally as they devour his brain?!" The Old geezer was just a spring of ideas today.

"Hmm…that sounds fresh, but it is lacking in the thought department. How can I get the information I want if the man's brain gets eaten?" Nick didn't like bugs that much. And shoving them into a man's nose just didn't seem like something he would be keen on doing.

"Oh…then how about you buy a book on torture from the system?!" The Old geezer seemed to have a fetish for torture, and he seemed a little desperate for Nick to start.

"I have a better idea! What if I bought a book about torture methods from the system?!" Nick sounded like he had discovered the answer this time.

"…" The Old geezer was speechless.

Nick then searched for the keyword torture on the System's miscellaneous section and various books popped up.

[

How to make an enemy squeal like a pig, literally! Nick didn't like the fact that the book had the words literally on it.

Ugly people need to feel pain! Nick had no idea what kind of sick pervert wrote this book but he didn't like the person. Society tortured ugly people enough, why write a book to add on to it?!

How to turn a meat lover into a vegan, the ultimate torture! Nick began doubting the system's selection of books. Why didn't the system keep something that would actually help in the storage?!

What happens if you castrate a person, and saw it back on?! Now this book felt counterproductive to Nick, why cut it off if you're going to reattach it?!

]

And after a few minutes of browsing through titles of books, Nick finally found one that suited his taste.

'How to find happiness through torturing others.' Now, this was a book that seemed to know what it was talking about.

"Ahem, let's see what you will soon be facing, shall we? The first page says, and I quote, 'The true key to happiness is laughter, and no one can deny that tearing someone's skin off can sometimes be fun…'" Nick stopped in shock and felt like this book was a little dark, completely unlike its appearance as a fun and family-friendly book.

"Haha! Do you think I am worried about you tearing my skin off?! I know for a fact that it won't be long before Master Crow finds me. And tearing of my skin is nothing compared to what I will do to you when Master Crow rescues me!" Shadow Two spoke bravely. But his body didn't seem to be on the same page as him since a wet patch was growing around his crotch. And Shadow Two didn't know what was happening down there or how to stop it since he couldn't control that area down there anymore.

"Fuck this! This is a waste of my time! Silver, get out here!" Nick threw the book away to the side. He didn't need a book to tell him what men were most afraid of!

Oink!

But before the book even touched the ground, the Little Piggy had popped out of nowhere and bit the book mid-air before rushing back into the palace.

Huh? Nick felt confused as to what a pig could do with a book on torture written in human language, but he didn't let that bother him too long since Silver was now standing before him, looking at him questioningly, as if asking Nick why he called him out.

"Hello, my lovely HUGE pet! Are you still feeling horny?" Nick asked.

"Of course!" Silver grew excited. Could it be that his master had arranged a mate for him?! He knew how good Nick was with women, so he was certain that the beast Nick chose for him would be drop-dead gorgeous.

"Hehe." Nick then turned his head to Shadow Two and smirked evilly.

"What are you smirking about? So what if your beast is horny, what does it have to do with me?!" Shadow Two couldn't understand Nick's point to all this.

Silver grew confused as well. Why was his master starring at a human after saying something so enticing to him?

"Well, you see Mr. Shadow Two, my beast is kind of weird, no, weird is not the term to use here, I think different is a better term for it. I recently learned that some beasts are a bit…eccentric. For example, my beast doesn't like females, it likes…males!" Nick's evil grin grew wider.

"So, what does your beast's sexual orientation have to do with me?! I don't discriminate on humans or beast because of the gender they like!" Shadow Two said, sounding very politically correct.

"That's good. Because my beast really likes males, specifically male humans. But I am glad you are kind enough to accompany him in a little exercise." Nick could hardly stop himself from laughing. The terror in the eyes of Silver and Shadow Two were so identical it was kind of off-putting. This was Nick's last resort. Nick swore that if it was him who was facing such a scary threat he would have revealed not only his secrets but everyone else's! And if this didn't scare the man into confessing then he will just kill him and try finding Loyd on his own.