Endless Leveling Done Right! - Chapter 577: O-Of Course Everything Is Negotiable!
Chapter 577: O-Of Course Everything Is Negotiable!
A groan escaped Diona’s lips as she struggled to open her eyes.
It didn’t take her long to realize that her arms and feet were shackled to the wall. One glance at her surroundings was enough for her to know that she had been detained inside some kind of prison room.
However, freeing herself didn’t cross her mind. Not yet. Her head was pounding, and she desperately wanted to get rid of the pain before attempting anything else.
Her ears were ringing and her throat was also very itchy. It was the consequences of her humiliating defeat at Alex’s hands.
The thought of her defeat brought back the traumatizing memory of the Oathkeeper’s damnable singing voice. Her entire body trembled uncontrollably.
“Stop it!” Diona shouted. “Stooooooop singing!”
There were times when people had that one song stuck inside their head. It was often referred to as Last Song Syndrome or LSS. But to have Alex’s song on loop playing on someone’s head wasn’t a form of entertainment nor pleasure.
It was torture.
Raw, unfiltered torture.
“Ahhhhhhhhhh!” Diona screamed as she shook her head from side to side. She hoped that by doing so, the song would be erased from her mind.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! DAMN IT!!! MAKE IT STOOOOOOOOOOP!”
The proud Beast Conqueror, who had defeated many foes in battle, wished nothing more than to be knocked out unconscious right now.
While she was busy screaming her lungs out, a presence made itself known outside her prison cell.
“So you’re finally awake.”
An icy voice reached Diona’s ears. When she stilled herself enough to look ahead, she saw Alex’s Master, Cairo.
The Catkin’s eyes glowed faintly in the dark. He had come to ask Diona some questions—like why she had targeted his disciple with the intention to kill him.
“You… who are you?” Diona growled like an animal about to strike.
“Cairo Hartwell of the Clawford Tribe,” Cairo replied. “I am Alex’s Master.”
After hearing the word “Master,” Diona’s expression became serious. With her superior senses, she could tell that the Catkin in front of her had just stepped into the Initial Stages of a Rank 5.
A lot of people might consider a Rank 5 strong, but in Diona’s eyes, it was just a small fry.
“Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?” Diona hissed. “The organization backing me can easily wipe this village from the face of the world.”
Cairo didn’t reply right away. Instead, he put on some high-quality ear plugs and took out Alex’s Megaphone from his storage ring.
“Wanna hear a fun fact?” Cairo asked with the slightest hint of glee. “This artifact has a recording feature.”
He gave Diona some time to process his statement before continuing. “Alex’s glorious singing is stored in this bad boy here. In other words, the only one who can ask questions is me. If you don’t want to answer, that’s fine. I can just press play and leave for twenty minutes.”
All the colors instantaneously disappeared from Diona’s face.
She had been prepared for torture.
She had been ready to get hurt.
She could endure pain.
But this… Was there anyone in the world who could endure this!?
Twenty minutes of Alex’s singing?
Even the Gods would weep if they were to hear it!
“W-Wait! I was just joking earlier!” Diona’s attitude immediately flipped after Cairo pointed the megaphone’s mouthpiece towards her. “I-I’m sure we can talk something out!”
Cairo’s face remained calm, but truth be told, he also feared hearing Alex’s song a second time.
He even wondered if his earplugs would be enough to keep him from fainting on the spot after Alex’s song started to play.
Although he couldn’t hear Diona’s reply, he could read her lips.
The future Heaven’s Sword sighed in relief internally. Fortunately, his threat was very effective.
To be honest, he was starting to see the appeal of Alex’s voice. He even hoped to use his own recording crystal to make a copy of his disciple’s… unforgettable singing.
’Imagine how easy it will be to interrogate people with this,’ he thought.
Some people had high pain tolerance.
But Alex’s singing penetrated right through the soul. Cairo didn’t believe anyone else but Lavinia could tolerate that voice.
Cairo attributed it to his little sister being blinded by love or, in this case, deafened by love. As her brother, he could only be happy that she had gained an immunity to something so destructive.
Cairo had already obtained some of Diona’s information from Alex.
The Catkin knew the Void-Touched were people no one, including their village, would dare to mess with.
While the village did not lack strong warriors who could fight the normal members, Morax was another beast entirely.
Morax had the power to dominate and control humans. All he needed to do was manipulate the leaders of each Human Kingdom and they would wage war for his sake.
His ability wasn’t a threat anyone could ignore, so wrapping up this incident nicely would be the best-case scenario.
“First, tell me your name,” Cairo said. Although he already knew her name, he wanted to see how amenable she was to answering his questions honestly.
“Diona,” Diona replied. “I am the proud Beast Conqueror of the Void-Touched!”
“Why are you targeting my disciple?”
“Because he is in the way of Charles’ evolution!”
“Evolution? What evolution are you talking about?” Cairo arched an eyebrow.
“That is none of your business,” Diona snapped. “I won’t give you an answer even if you threaten me with that bastard’s song!”
She would rather die than tell anyone that Charles’ End Game was to become a Dungeon Conqueror.
An existence so powerful that many nations in the world would want to make him a part of their power.
As long as they could get the Dungeon Conqueror on their side, it didn’t matter if they had to resort to marriage offers, coercion, threats, bribery, or any other methods. For many, Charles would be powerful enough for them to abandon all morals just to get him to join their side.
As such, Diona decided to risk suffering instead of betraying one of her people!
Cairo no longer talked about Charles and asked other questions. Diona answered some of them, but others she only responded with defiant silence.
She was adamant on revealing nothing regarding the Void-Touched, which Cairo respected. He would have done the same had he been in her position. Perhaps nothing in the world would prompt him to divulge the secrets of the Clawford Tribe to their enemies.
“Last question: Are you willing to stop targeting my disciple and make peace with him?” Cairo asked.
“N-Nev…” Diona’s voice trailed off as soon as she noticed Cairo cranking up the dial of the megaphone. “O-Of course, everything is negotiable! I mean, I am a Professor of Frieden Academy. I can’t possibly try to kill a student over and over, right?”
She planned to bullsh*t her way out of this conversation for now. Once she was back in the academy, she would be more meticulous with her plan to get rid of the obstacle hindering Charles’ growth and preventing him from becoming the powerhouse he was meant to be.
Unfortunately for her, Cairo had a special ability. He could easily see through people’s bullsh*t.
Since Diona didn’t want to abandon her plan of killing Alex, a little bit of suffering was in order.
The Catkin placed the megaphone on the ground, pushed the play button, and bolted out of the prison without looking back.
Cairo had set the recording to play after a delay of thirty seconds, which was enough time for him to escape the prison and shut its door completely.
A static sound that lasted for nearly thirty seconds played before Alex’s voice finally revealed itself.
“NigHt tiMe sHarPeN heiGhtEn EaCh SensAtioooooooooN!”
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
Alex’s song was played on loop for twenty minutes.
This meant twenty minutes of suffering.
Cairo only returned to the prison when exactly half an hour had passed.
When he returned to check on Diona’s condition, the proud Beast Conqueror was foaming at the mouth. Her now pale face was streaked with tears and snot.
