Chapter 119
Thanks to Virgo’s years of enthusiastic demonstrations, Marshall possessed a fair amount of practical knowledge about how to "torment" someone.
Getting a person to tell the truth didn’t always require conventional torture.
Marshall had mastered far more specialized techniques.
"W-What did you do to me?!"
Ultear watched helplessly as Marshall approached and inscribed a series of strange magical runes across her body with Script Magic.
A closer inspection would reveal that they weren’t ordinary offensive spells.
Instead, the runes dramatically heightened the sensitivity of her sensory nerves, making even the slightest impact feel far more intense than normal.
Ultear’s skin flushed as she struggled uselessly against the restraints.
"You’ve reached your limit already?"
Marshall gave her a pleasant smile.
"This is a formula I personally refined. It increases your entire body’s sensitivity to pain."
"I’m not a monster, after all. Brutally beating a confession out of someone doesn’t suit my refined tastes."
"So I prefer a more efficient method of encouraging honesty~"
"Don’t be frightened~"
Ultear became genuinely alarmed and shook her head desperately.
A moment later, Marshall lightly struck one of the activated runes.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
Ultear couldn’t suppress her scream.
"What did you do to me?! Stop!"
"My, my~"
Marshall examined the result with interest.
"How remarkable."
Ultear’s face turned red with humiliation and fury.
She had never experienced anything like this before.
The entire method was outrageously degrading.
Marshall was nothing but a shameless thug!
"Are you still planning to remain stubborn?"
He tapped the glowing whip against his palm.
"If you intend to delay me through sheer persistence, you’re being far too optimistic."
"You... Where did you learn such despicable magic?!"
Marshall’s technique was an alchemical and magical hybrid designed to amplify physical perception.
Combined with several old spells preserved within Super Archive—many of which had originally been created for interrogation—it could produce effects somewhat similar to Telepathy Magic’s ability to heighten awareness.
The historical records were surprisingly detailed.
"That isn’t important."
Marshall flicked the whip through the air.
"It seems two years apart have made you forget my personality."
"I suggest confessing before you make this any more unpleasant for yourself."
"Guh... Kill me!"
"So you refuse to surrender until you’re staring into the grave itself?"
An ominous crimson light appeared in Marshall’s eyes.
"Hehehe~"
...
Some time later, inside the cold, dimly lit basement, Marshall regarded Ultear, who now looked completely exhausted.
"Well?"
His tone remained infuriatingly casual.
"Have you decided to cooperate?"
"..."
"Hm?"
Marshall raised the whip again.
"Apparently, the lesson wasn’t memorable enough."
"What do you want to know?"
"There we go."
Marshall lowered the whip, looking perfectly calm.
"You should’ve cooperated from the beginning."
"I have too many questions, so we’ll take them one at a time."
"What is your relationship with Jellal?"
"I don’t know anyone named Jellal—ah! Stop!"
"You know lying to me is pointless."
Marshall’s expression cooled.
"Answer honestly."
"He and I... both work for Brain."
"Who is Brain?"
"The leader of the dark guild Oración Seis."
Ultear hesitated.
"He was once the director of the Bureau of Magical Development."
"Oh?"
Marshall raised an eyebrow.
"So the youngest Wizard Saint and two members of the Magic Council are secretly connected to a dark guild."
"How wonderfully ironic."
"What are you planning inside the Council?"
"..."
Ultear clenched her teeth.
"Marshall, what you’re doing amounts to declaring war on the entire Magic Council."
"I understand."
Marshall smiled.
"That’s why no one else is here."
"Killing me won’t solve anything."
Ultear forced herself to remain composed.
"If I die here—or simply disappear—you’ll immediately become the primary suspect."
"There will be no shortage of people eager to accuse you."
"Do you really want the crime of murdering a councilor attached to your name?"
"And?"
Marshall looked unimpressed.
"You know how strong I am."
"Do you honestly think I’m frightened of a Wizard Saint who barely qualified for the title?"
"Even if you aren’t afraid for yourself, aren’t you worried about bringing trouble upon Fairy Tail?"
Marshall’s eyes narrowed.
"Are you threatening me?"
"No."
Ultear quickly shook her head.
"Marshall, I know how extraordinary your talent is. I don’t want to become your enemy."
"Perhaps we could cooperate."
"Cooperate?"
Marshall laughed.
"Why would I work with a dark-guild infiltrator?"
"What could you possibly offer me?"
"I can serve as your informant."
Ultear seized the opening immediately.
"I hold no loyalty toward Brain. I have my own reasons to hate him, and I’m not particularly invested in his plans."
"If you promise to release me, I can provide information about everything they’re doing."
"Interesting."
Marshall leaned closer.
"Then what is your true objective?"
"My... objective has always been the same."
Ultear looked away.
"I want to obtain magic capable of traveling through time."
Marshall studied her expression.
"And what exactly did you do to Jellal?"
"Why is he building the Tower of Heaven?"
Ultear’s eyes widened.
"You already know about that?"
"Of course.... That woman escaped from the Tower of Heaven."
"She told you everything, didn’t she—ah! Stop!"
"I’m asking the questions."
Marshall struck the wooden frame beside her.
"You only need to answer them."
"I didn’t actually do much."
Ultear breathed heavily.
"I disguised myself as the Ghost of Zeref and convinced Jellal that reviving Zeref would grant him overwhelming power—and true freedom."
"He believed something that absurd?"
Marshall frowned.
"He never struck me as stupid."
"Jellal is even more obsessive than I am."
Ultear gave a bitter laugh.
"I only needed to manipulate him slightly before he became completely convinced that the ghost was real."
"Since then, he has devoted everything to reviving Zeref."
"But Jellal wasn’t the one who originally wanted the R-System constructed."
"That was Brain."
"My assignment was to assist Jellal on Brain’s behalf."
"The Tower of Heaven is merely one of many schemes Brain created to destabilize the magical world."
Ultear watched Marshall carefully.
"There. I haven’t lied to you."
"Now that the plan has been exposed, I’d even be willing to sabotage Brain’s operations from within if that’s what you want."
"All I ask is that you release me."
"I can’t waste my time trapped here."
"There’s still something I absolutely must accomplish."
"..."
Marshall fell silent in thought.
Ultear might be a thoroughly dangerous woman, but she could also prove extremely useful.
She was intelligent, well connected, and remarkably well informed.
Sparing her might not be such a bad idea.
"Ultear."
Marshall rested the whip across his shoulder.
"How about you stop working for those idiots and follow me instead?"
"I believe my chances of successfully developing true time-travel magic are considerably higher than your chances of finding whatever vague miracle you’ve been chasing."
Ultear stared at him.
"You... are you serious?!"
---------
Read 40 Chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator