Chapter 91: Mannel’s Interrogation

Chris slowly opened his eyes as the morning light entered the room through the window. For a moment, he remained still, feeling something warm pressing against both sides of his body.

Looking down, he found Astra and Stella sleeping beside him, each hugging one of his arms tightly. Their heads were resting against his shoulders, and neither seemed to have any intention of letting go anytime soon.

’Sigh...’

Chris shook his head slightly, wondering how he had ended up in this situation.

Looking toward the other bed, he noticed that Aelia was already awake and watching him with a teasing smile.

"Good morning," she said, clearly amused by the scene.

Chris gave her a helpless look. "Don’t say anything."

"I didn’t say anything." Aelia smiled even more.

"Your expression says enough."

Suppressing a laugh, Aelia got out of bed and approached them. Meanwhile, Chris carefully moved his arms, trying not to wake the twins. After a little effort, he managed to free himself and gently placed the two girls close to each other, making sure they were still comfortable before getting up.

"Let’s go."

Aelia nodded, and the two of them quietly exited the room before closing the door behind them.

Just as they stepped into the hallway, a soldier approached and bowed slightly.

"Sir Chris, General Aldric instructed me to bring you to him as soon as you woke up."

Chris nodded. "Lead the way."

The soldier turned around, and Chris and Aelia followed him through the residence. They soon arrived at another building nearby, where the soldier led them down a staircase into the basement.

Unlike the rest of the residence, the place looked more like a prison. Walking through the long corridor, Chris noticed numerous iron-barred cells on both sides, with several prisoners sitting inside.

He didn’t pay them much attention, however, and continued following the soldier until they reached the end of the corridor.

Opening a heavy door, the soldier stepped aside and allowed them to enter.

Inside, the three generals were standing around Mannel, who was tied to a chair with several restraints. His body was covered in wounds, and his clothes were torn in several places, but he was still conscious.

"You’re finally here!" Aldric greeted him with a smile. "Come in, come in."

Chris walked inside with Aelia before looking at the restrained man. "It seems you’ve had quite a busy morning."

"Not as busy as we would have liked," Howard replied, shaking his head. "We’ve tried everything, but this man hasn’t given us a single useful piece of information."

Richard crossed his arms. "Even after all the methods we’ve used, he refuses to speak. He simply keeps repeating that we will all die and that the demons will eventually control the world."

Chris nodded, already expecting something like this. Looking at Mannel, he approached him and extended his hand.

"Well, let me try."

A dark crimson energy began gathering around his fingers before slowly spreading toward the restrained man’s body.

The moment Dark Gwenor touched Mannel, his expression changed.

"AAAAAAARGH!"

A terrible scream escaped his mouth as his entire body began trembling. The crimson energy spread across his skin, consuming the demonic energy inside him while causing unbearable pain.

Chris watched him quietly, maintaining control over the energy.

"Now, why don’t you tell us everything you know?"

Mannel gritted his teeth and glared at him, refusing to answer.

"AAAAARGH!"

Another scream echoed through the room as Chris increased the amount of Dark Gwenor spreading through his body.

However, Mannel continued resisting.

Minutes passed, and the three generals watched in silence while Chris continued extracting information from him. Unlike ordinary torture, Dark Gwenor wasn’t simply causing physical pain. It was also consuming the demonic energy that had corrupted Mannel, making it increasingly difficult for him to endure.

After nearly an hour, the man finally broke.

"STOP! STOP! I’LL TALK!"

Chris withdrew some of the energy, allowing Mannel to catch his breath.

"Good. Now tell me everything you know."

Mannel panted heavily before finally speaking. "I... I don’t know anything important! I’m only following orders! The orders come from people above me, including other government officials!"

Chris narrowed his eyes. "What about the twins? Why did you need them?"

Mannel swallowed before answering. "I received orders years ago... I was told to adopt them, raise them, and keep them safe. I wasn’t given an explanation, but I didn’t question it. I simply followed the orders."

"And recently?"

"Recently, I received another order. I was told to sacrifice them at a specific place. That’s why I ordered my subordinates to take them away."

Chris raised an eyebrow. "You mean the kidnapping?"

"Yes... I made sure everything looked like a kidnapping so nobody would suspect anything. I wanted to make sure they were taken without causing too much trouble."

"Why were you supposed to sacrifice them?"

"I don’t know the exact reason. I was only told to bring them there. Their blood was supposed to be collected at that location and delivered to the higher-ups."

Chris remained silent for a moment, processing the information.

"So you adopted two children, raised them for years, and then suddenly received an order to sacrifice them, without even knowing why?"

Mannel nodded weakly. "That’s all I know. I swear! I don’t know who gave the orders or what they wanted their blood for!"

Chris continued looking at him for a few seconds, trying to sense whether he was hiding anything else. However, Mannel’s mind was already so corrupted that extracting more information was becoming increasingly difficult.

After a moment, Chris shook his head.

"That’s enough. I don’t think we’ll get anything else out of him."

He extended his hand again, and Dark Gwenor spread across Mannel’s body before moving toward his head.

The man’s eyes widened as he realized what was happening, but before he could say anything, the dark energy entered his brain and consumed it.

His body went limp, and his head dropped forward.

"He’s dead," Chris said, withdrawing his hand.

Howard stroked his beard thoughtfully. "It’s unfortunate. We could perhaps have used Lilith to control his mind and send him back as a spy. With his position, he might have been useful."

Chris shook his head. "I don’t think that would work. They would probably become suspicious as soon as he returned after being captured by us. Even if Lilith managed to control him perfectly, there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t notice something strange."

Richard nodded. "I agree. It would be too risky, especially considering how much they seem to control in Beldoria."

The others also agreed, and Chris looked down at Mannel’s body before raising his hand.

Flames immediately erupted around the corpse, quickly engulfing it until nothing remained but ashes.

"Let’s go. There’s no reason to stay here anymore."

With that, the four of them left the interrogation room and returned to the surface.

"Unfortunately, this wasn’t as profitable as I had hoped," Chris said as they walked through the building.

Aldric chuckled. "I wouldn’t say that."

Chris turned toward him. "Why?"

"We might not have gotten much information from Mannel, but we still achieved something important. Remember, we recorded everything that happened at his estate, including his conversation with us and his transformation."

Chris nodded slowly, understanding where he was going with this.

"With that recording, I can convince others in my country to support our efforts. We can also use it to approach the other countries and show them what we’re dealing with. Until now, many people refused to believe that something like this was happening right under their noses."

Aldric paused before looking toward Richard. "And most importantly, I finally managed to convince General Armstrong."

Richard nodded. "I admit that I was skeptical at first. What you were suggesting sounded almost impossible, but after seeing Mannel with my own eyes and witnessing his transformation, I have no choice but to accept the truth. I’ll inform His Majesty as soon as we return."

"That’s good," Chris said with a smile. "At least something came out of all this."

Aldric nodded. "Indeed. We still have a long way to go, but this is a good start."

After a moment, Chris turned toward Aelia, who had been quietly listening to their conversation.

"By the way, we never properly introduced everyone, did we?"

Aldric raised an eyebrow before looking at her. "Ah, that’s right! We were rather busy."

Chris smiled. "This is Aelia. She’s been traveling with me for quite some time."

Aelia nodded politely. "It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard quite a lot about General Aldric from Chris, and I’ve also heard about General Howard, but I don’t believe I’ve heard much about General Armstrong."

"Hahahaha! Is that so?" Aldric laughed. "I suppose Chris has spent more time complaining about me than talking about anyone else!"

Chris rolled his eyes. "I never said anything bad about you."

"Of course, of course."

Howard chuckled before stepping forward. "It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lady Aelia."

Richard also nodded politely. "The pleasure is mine. I hope we’ll have the opportunity to speak more properly in the future."

Aelia returned their greetings, and after exchanging a few more words, Chris and Aelia decided to return to their residence.

...

By the time they returned, the twins had already woken up.

However, judging by their appearance, they clearly hadn’t slept very well. Both girls had dark circles beneath their eyes, and they were still lying in bed, looking at the ceiling without saying much.

Chris approached them and placed some food on the nearby table.

"Come on, get up and eat something."

Neither of them moved.

"Are you not hungry?" Aelia asked gently, approaching the bed.

The twins remained silent, barely glancing in their direction.

Chris frowned. "You two need to eat. Staying in bed all day won’t solve anything."

Still, neither girl responded.

He sighed before looking at them. "If you don’t get up and eat, I’ll spank both of you."

The twins remained completely silent again.

Chris waited for a few seconds, hoping they would finally move, but seeing that they had no intention of doing so, his expression changed.

"Fine. You asked for it."

Stepping closer, he pulled the blanket away before giving each girl a firm spank.

"OW!" Astra immediately sat up, glaring at him.

Stella also jumped up, rubbing her backside with an offended expression.

"YOU BIG BAD MAN!"

"You’re so mean!" Astra shouted, pointing at him.

Chris crossed his arms. "Then eat."

The twins looked at each other before reluctantly reaching for the food.

"Big bad man..." Astra muttered under her breath as she picked up a piece.

"Really big bad man..." Stella added, giving him an annoyed look.

Chris shook his head. "That’s fine. You can call me whatever you want, as long as you eat properly."

Aelia, who had been watching the entire scene from the side, couldn’t help but smile. She had always known that Chris was soft beneath that tough exterior.