Chapter 8: Unbelievable (Part 3)

Although it was only a temporary dungeon built in a basement, the magic academy's capabilities had still made this temporary prison incredibly sturdy. Steel bars as thick as a man's arm, it was needless to say that even three people, or even three elephants, could never break them. Furthermore, the dozens of magic arrays etched by mages and priests on the steel bars and the entire prison's floor and walls made the prison as solid as a fortress.

Asa sat helplessly on the ground. It wasn't that he lacked spirit. If looks could kill, the cardinal would have already been reduced to nothing. But right now, all he could do was stare, as his injuries on his joints weren't severe enough to leave him immobile, but they were just enough to make him unable to move. The anti-magic arrays drawn by the mages inside and outside the dungeon, along with a small sealing array, ensured that not even someone like Theodorus could cast magic while trapped inside.

"What exactly do you want?" Asa looked at the cardinal outside the bars. He still wore the same mask as usual, and neither Jarvis nor Rodhart had exposed his true identity. They only told others that he was an important prisoner who needed to be interrogated separately.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. I'll just ask you a few questions, then send you to Celeste. His Holiness the Pope seems eager to meet you. Although I don't know what he wants with you, I can at least be sure it won't be to give you an award. Maybe he's interested in the World Tree's leaf and the Sunwell inside your body."

"How could you have joined the Necromancer Guild in Dehya Valley? I know you had no connections with Dehya Valley before."

"That's none of your concern. Actually, wasn't it you who had the opportunity to join just like me? But you gave it up, and as a result, it got Teacher Vadenina imprisoned."

"So, you're Teacher Vadenina's disciple? When did she take you as her student? According to the timeline, that should have been…"

The cardinal smiled but didn't answer.

"Then why are you here now?"

"Come back here?" Jarvis smiled lightly. "Of course, to take back the things that belong to me."

"Things belong to you?"

The cardinal nodded. "Yes. The position that should have belonged to me, the power... and, of course, people."

"People?" Asa's eyes suddenly flashed with fury, like a wild beast. His roar became like a wolf's growl: "I warn you, don't touch her."

Jarvis didn't offer any taunting rebuttal. He only frowned in puzzlement and shook his head. "Don't touch her? Isn't she already my wife? Actually, I should have said this to you more than a year ago…"

"Anyway... anyway…" Asa became so agitated that his face even twitched. He suddenly stood up, but the intense pain in his joints and weakness caused him to collapse immediately. He continued to shout from the floor, "I'm telling you, if you touch her, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your life…"

The cardinal remained calm. He nodded slightly, speaking in a tone that seemed almost self-reflective, as if speaking to himself but also to Asa softly: "I can finally confirm it. I've won. Whether in battle, strategy, or emotions, I've won."

Asa struggled to half-sit up on the ground, gritting his teeth. "If you have the guts, kill me now. Otherwise, you'll never win."

"No, I've already won." Jarvis nodded calmly, his confidence unshaken. This calmness only came when the result was indisputable. "Do you think I'd resort to despicable means to get her? No, I'll pursue her openly. I don't want her body, but her heart, her feelings. And I will succeed. I'm telling you, I've won over you."

"I know she still likes you in her heart. But in reality, she faces endless, monotonous government affairs every day, the tedious national matters. At this point, tell me, what does she need? Someone who can accompany her, share her troubles, and live with her, or a shadow that only exists in her memories, one that won't even dare to show its face?"

Asa froze, and slowly, a sharp pain like a knife twisted in his chest, spreading. It hurt more than the sword that Rodhart had driven through his chest, because the pain came with the cruel realization that what the cardinal said was true.

"Do you know? You're really lucky. So lucky that I envy you. Not only did you inexplicably win her heart, but you also have great support from figures like Bishop Ronis and Sandru, even the Duke has been trying to win you over. All these are things I've longed for. And besides that, I know you've even gained the power of the ancient elven artifacts, learned the Meditation of Truth, and even Teacher Vadenina tried to bring you into Dehya Valley. Do you know? Your luck is like the protagonist of a clichéd knight novel. But in the end? What happened to you? You ended up with nothing, drifting with the current. And me? Though my opportunity was provided by you, I've reached where I am through my own efforts."

Jarvis looked at him calmly, speaking slowly, "So I should win. I've won fairly."

"I won indisputably. Don't you understand where you lost? You lost in yourself, Asa. I'll send back to you the words you once said, you lost in character."

"No matter how good the opportunities and luck, even when they were handed to you, you didn't grasp them. But you're not entirely incompetent. You rejected the Duke, rejected Bishop Ronis, rejected Teacher Vadenina, and even though you had power, you didn't cultivate or use it. That's because you don't have worldly desires, and you rejected this mundane world. Maybe you think we who are driven by desires are ugly and boring? You want to maintain your lofty, free lifestyle? But you've already inevitably been dragged into this storm. How can you continue rejecting it? Your attitude isn't rejection, it's avoidance."

"When I saw your weapon with her, I had people investigate and learned that you actually sent it as a token to her. Then I kept watching the Prime Minister's mansion and found you didn't take the weapon back. I knew you didn't dare face her. At that point, I vaguely understood your mindset. And when I saw your anger here, I knew I had truly won. You, who only want to live purely by instinct and character, avoiding even the facts, how could you ever win against me?"

Cardinal Jarvis kept talking, while Asa was listening, stunned and absent-minded. He knew that everything he said was true. Every word that came from Jarvis struck his heart, creating a thunderous impact.

"I still feel a little disappointed. A guy like you, who used to be my greatest enemy, was so easily defeated by me in the end," Cardinal Jarvis sighed, then looked at him with a smug smile and said, "By the way, I didn't expose your real identity because I didn't want to alarm her. I'll use all sorts of methods to make her slowly forget you, and in the end, she will become my wife again, this time for real, for good. Everything that belonged to me will eventually return to me. You don't need to feel bitter about it, because you were never worthy of it."

"Cough," Asa's body trembled, and he bent over, coughing up blood. His expression was completely uncontrollable, and his body shook.

Jarvis looked at Asa, who was twitching on the ground, and smiled lightly. He knew that this kind of helpless failure and sorrow was the most despairing and painful thing. Then he raised his voice and said, "Bring her in."

At Jarvis's command, Rodhart brought in Jessica, who was bound. Everything here was confidential, so it wasn't appropriate to involve other subordinates.

Rodhart remained calm as usual, while Jessica wore a look of mockery and disdain. She looked at Asa and sneered, saying, "Your friend is really trustworthy."

Jarvis dragged the dark elf over and threw her to the ground, stepping on her face. Jessica groaned in pain, but didn't resist at all.

"Alright, our chat is over. Now, let's get down to business. I'll ask you, there should be a very secret place in the Magic Academy… maybe a hidden chamber, or a dungeon. Do you know where it is?" Jarvis asked.

Asa didn't answer. He was still curled up on the floor, his expression and body twisted due to the mental torment.

"I know it's hard for you to answer at this moment, but sorry, I'm very eager to know the answer. This was originally something only Bishop Ronis should know, but now the one most likely to know is you." Jarvis extended his hand and slowly applied pressure to one of Jessica's fingers. She groaned in pain, but didn't scream.

The sound of a brittle pea being crushed echoed as Jessica's slender, long fingertip was crushed under Jarvis's hand. The shattered bone pierced through the skin and muscle, turning the delicate finger into a mess of blood and broken bone. But Jessica only groaned quietly, twitching her body but not screaming.

"Such spirit," Jarvis said with a faint smile, flicking the blood off his fingers. "But I suggest you scream for your lover to hear."

Jessica's face was covered in cold sweat, but she still sneered, "What does this count for, kid? Wait until one day you fall into my hands, and I guarantee you'll experience the art of interrogation by a dark elf. The first lesson is to spend half a day cutting off your little brother. Let me tell you, it's going to be a spectacular sight."

"Heh, what a woman with character," Jarvis chuckled, his smile both bright and sunny. "But I also guarantee that the arts of Dehya Valley are second to none. The likes of Nigen and its rural tricks pale in comparison."

Jarvis muttered a spell, reaching out to touch Jessica's body. A burst of white light appeared, followed by a swirl of black mist surrounding her. With these two magical effects, Jessica's finger, which had just been crushed, stopped bleeding, but the pain on her face and the cold sweat pouring from her body immediately intensified.

"The Pain Curse, this black magic can increase your pain receptors tenfold. Even if I twist your body, it will feel like you've lost a piece of flesh. And The Rebirth from Fire, this white magic will ensure you don't lose your life. With proper control, I can even dismember you and still keep you alive with just your head and heart. And the Holy Spirit's Blessing can make your nerves exceed the limits of a human, so even the greatest pain won't make you faint or die... How's that? These deeper arts are far superior to those crude, bloody tricks from a place like Nigen, right?"

"Don't make things difficult for her. This was never her issue, it's just between us," Asa struggled to sit up from the ground.

"Still such a childish mindset. I promised not to harm you, but I never said I wouldn't harm others. I'll have to hurt her to make you talk," Jarvis turned to Asa, sighing. "You should know that in this situation, either you give me the answer I want, or I torture her to death... But I think that might be hard, with my skills and white magic. She probably won't die anytime soon..."

Asa thought for a moment and replied, "There's a secret dungeon beneath the statue in the cathedral, but I don't know how to open it..."

Cardinal Jarvis shook his head and said, "I already knew about that, I've been there and checked it out. It doesn't have what I'm looking for. Is there anything else?"

"I don't know anything else."

Jarvis shook his head again and sighed, "What a shame. I must find out about this. It's one of the tasks my teacher gave me. Although I know that with the current situation, you're unlikely to hold any more secrets, but even if there's only a one-in-a-thousand chance, I can't give up. I must continue. Maybe this will trigger your memory and inspiration..." Jarvis's hand pressed back on Jessica's fingertip, continuing to apply pressure.

The sound of bones breaking was drowned out by Jessica's piercing scream. The shriek was so sharp and hysterical that it could easily be imagined as the wailing of a banshee. This time, she seemed to have lost all of her previous restraint. She struggled and twitched violently, almost leaping out of her bonds and hitting the ceiling of the basement if not for Jarvis's firm hold on her and her entire body being tied up.

Finally, she calmed down somewhat, but not because the pain had subsided, but because the torment had drained all her energy and spirit. Her entire body was soaked in cold sweat, and her once-dark skin now took on a pale, exhausted hue. Her lips trembled, and her eyes began to roll back.