"I could kill you right now. But first, I'll extract every secret you're hiding."
Leon's voice was low, yet heavy with intent. He stepped forward, and the atmosphere thickened—like the air before a storm.
"I want everything about the Cult of Diablos... and every detail you know about Sherry Barnett."
His tone was neutral, almost apathetic, but his gaze—icy and full of contempt—made Lutheran clench his teeth in rage.
"You really think I'll cooperate with you?"
"Of course you will. And if it were up to me, I'd love to personally torture a bastard like you. Modesty aside, my skills in that area are near-legendary. But I'm in a hurry, so let's speed this up."
Leon raised his hand and lightly touched his left eye.
"In my name, I command you: answer all questions truthfully. And yes, you still have the right to be... yourself."
Lutheran frowned, confused.
"What... what did you do to me?"
"Something practical. Now, speak. Everything you know about the Cult."
"I already told you I never—"
The words died in his throat. His eyes widened.
"The Cult is conducting research on the [Sacred Realm], where the corpse of the demon Diablos remains sealed... But progress is slow. We urgently need descendants with the blood of the heroes. Only then can we access the secrets of the [Sanctuary]..."
Lutheran was stunned.
His mouth kept moving against his will. The words escaped like his will had been shackled.
Leon had been kind enough to leave his sanity intact. Cruel enough that he knew exactly what he was saying.
Beta, standing beside Leon, was recording every word at an impressive speed. However, the silver-haired elf looked uncomfortable.
(I don't want to record the words of this filthy old man... What I truly want is to transcribe every magnificent phrase spoken by Master... Ah~ He's as perfect as ever. This collar on my neck... It makes me feel like his property... Wait... That's inspiring!)
Later that night, she would probably write improper novels meant for no one but herself. And her bedsheets... probably wouldn't be dry by dawn.
"You... you have the power to control others! Hahaha! Now it all makes sense. That's why those women crawl at your feet! They're just puppets—"
"Shut up."
Leon didn't let him finish. His sword had already pierced Lutheran's tongue.
The blade, infused with intense magic, instantly seared the flesh it struck.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The scream tore through the air.
"Your words sealed your fate. You won't die easily. How dare you tarnish the purity of my subordinates' loyalty? As the object of their devotion, I will not allow such an offense."
"Ahhh~ Midnight-sama..."
The girls around him were visibly emotional.
But their actual thoughts were far more... intense:
(If Master used that power on me, I wouldn't complain for even a second. To be dominated by him? What a divine blessing...)
After all—
To activate his Geass, Leon needed direct eye contact.
Just the thought of being stared at by those amethyst eyes, seeing their reflections captured in them even for a moment... was enough to make their hearts race and their faces flush.
"You also killed Sherry's mother, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"Then tell me everything."
Lutheran stared at Leon with hatred and helplessness.
But under the Geass's command, the truth was inevitable.
"Twenty years ago, I gathered a vast collection of relics and ancient artifacts in search of a cure for my disease. Sherry's mother was brilliant, so I partnered with her to analyze the objects."
"She had no status, no fortune. A woman marginalized by society for being too smart... and not connected enough. A useful tool, nothing more."
"Eventually, I discovered the [Eye of Desire], an artifact with the power to cure me. But she insisted it was dangerous and should be handed over to the kingdom for safekeeping. So... I killed her."
"I pierced her heart with my sword. Without hesitation."
By this point, Lutheran had accepted that he couldn't shut his own mouth. So he told everything—every sordid detail of the murder of a woman who had trusted him.
After Sherry's mother died, the analysis of the [Eye of Desire] stalled — the necessary knowledge had been buried with her. However, even as a child, Sherry showed a talent for research that surpassed her mother's.
"I adopted the girl for that reason alone," said Lutheran, laughing like a madman. "The sweet, innocent little girl had no idea I was her mother's killer. And yet, she dedicated herself tirelessly to helping me finish her work! What a useful... and foolish daughter! Hahahaha!"
Those words weren't pulled out by Geass — Leon hadn't even asked a question. Lutheran had spoken on his own, pouring out his cruelty with perverse pleasure.
The warriors nearby frowned, their eyes sharp as blades. Some gripped their sword hilts so tightly their knuckles turned white. The urge to cut him down on the spot was nearly unbearable.
"That's enough."
Leon's voice cut through the air like a silent blade.
Without changing expression, he removed a small silver device from his arm. Then, with disdain, tossed it at Lutheran's feet.
"What... what is this?"
"Do as you please. I've seen enough. Now show me — the thing you've chased for decades."
The old man hunched over eagerly and grabbed the device like an addict in crisis. His hands trembled with excitement. He could barely wait to connect it to the magical accessory.
The moment the two pieces joined, a transformation occurred: they fused into the shape of a silver rose brooch encrusted with crimson stones — the true form of the [Eye of Desire]: the [Rose of Desire].
Lutheran pressed the artifact to his chest with an ecstatic scream.
"Yes! Yes!! I can feel it! The magic — it's back! The disease is gone! It's wonderful! Wonderful!!"
Overcome with insane euphoria, he drew his sword. A red and black aura surged around him, making him look like a reborn demon.
"Do you see?! This power transcends human limits! Now I'm invincible! INVINCIBLE!!"
"You sound just like every defeated fool before you," murmured Leon.
"What?"
"Every idiot who claims to be invincible always meets the same end."
"Then let me show you what this 'idiot' can do!"
Lutheran screamed, drunk on arrogance, and charged at Leon. The golden chain around the young warrior's hand loosened — the artifact's effect had ended, and the girls' magical power had fully returned.
DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG!
Lutheran's blows came like a raging storm, each attack carrying dozens of times the power of an average mage. But none of it seemed to matter.
Leon blocked each strike with one hand.
"Is that all?" His voice was cold.
"You truly are formidable, Leon Fol Palettia... but now I'll use everything I have!!"
Lutheran poured an absurd amount of magic into his blade — so much that the air warped and the ground trembled. That sword could've torn a crack in the planet's crust.
But Leon didn't move.
"You really think that pathetic magic impresses someone like me?"
"What?!"
"If you love magic so much... then watch mine."
Leon's sword shone — a light so intense it devoured the darkness. His magical power was like an endless ocean, compressed to the limit. The blade turned black, as if it absorbed all light, and with a single motion, tore through the air, ripping space itself.
"Impossible... IMPOSSIBLE! How can a human have that much magic?!"
Lutheran's eyes widened in horror.
He had absorbed the magical power of thousands from the academy, and still, Leon's aura was thousands of times greater.
Inside the spatial rift at the young man's core was a magical ocean — so dense it had become liquid. If released into the real world, it could form an entire sea made of mana.
"Do you understand now?" said Leon, with disdain. "I only gave you that artifact so you could see the truth. Even with that power... you're still nothing but an ant before me."
BOOM!
Leon's strike was so powerful it tore through the very atmosphere. Lutheran's sword — once infused with the strength of a hundred warriors — shattered like fragile glass. If Leon had aimed directly at him, Lutheran would've been obliterated.
"Now that you've seen the difference between us... I'll be taking this back."
"N-no... don't take it... don't send me back to weakness!"
Leon ignored the protests. With cold indifference, he ripped the [Rose of Desire] from the old man's chest.
Instantly, the magic sustaining his body vanished. The disease, held at bay by the mystical energy, returned with a vengeance, leaving him more wretched than before — hunched, deformed, barely able to breathe.
This was true despair: to offer hope, then cruelly snatch it away.
Leon watched in silence, his eyes as cold as blades of steel.
"It's almost time to kill you."
(End of chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."