Chapter 220: Make Believe
Mishnar narrowed her eyes.
Then she placed a hand on the hilt of her sword and drew the blade only a few millimeters from its sheath.
The instant the steel caught the light, the entire world fell into absolute silence.
Every element came to a standstill.
The flow of Ether froze in midair.
Even space-time itself seemed to shudder before stopping completely.
She had drawn only a tiny fraction of the blade...
But that alone was more than enough.
A crushing, deadly sword aura descended solely upon Frethart, pinning him flat against the ground.
The former Leader of the Elders of Laws’ eyes bulged from their sockets, while the veins in his neck swelled to the point of nearly bursting.
The pain consuming him wasn’t physical.
It was a horrifying agony that shredded the very depths of his soul.
Mishnar spoke each word slowly, her voice carrying terrifying weight.
"Don’t force me to tear your soul apart piece by piece. I promise you, death will not be your mercy until I’ve extracted every last memory from your very being. Speak immediately. Who did you send, and what is your objective?"
Frethart writhed grotesquely on the ground, his body convulsing beneath the divine pressure.
Yet even as his soul was being chewed apart, he began to smile.
The smile twisted into a demented grin before erupting into a guttural laugh.
With great effort, he raised his head and fixed Priam with a gaze overflowing with nothing but hatred and venom.
"You killed my son... condemned my wife... Did you really think you’d get away with it, you little bastard?! Did you think you were untouchable? The great prodigy who could trample over everyone and keep smiling?! Listen carefully, brat. The more enemies you make, the easier it becomes to orchestrate your downfall!"
"Talk!" Mishnar roared, her voice as cold as a sharpened blade.
Frethart laughed like a man beyond saving.
Knowing his fate was already sealed, death meant nothing to him anymore.
His only wish was to watch Priam’s world burn.
He savored every syllable with vicious delight.
"Exactly three months ago... Elder Leader Validar finally achieved a magnificent breakthrough. It took him more than seven years of relentless searching, but he finally discovered the exact location of the surviving members of the Ylisse Clan. Haha... care to guess where my entourage just left for?!"
Priam’s face turned deathly pale.
The blood in his veins froze instantly.
The name of his clan echoed through his mind like a catastrophic thunderclap.
Mishnar stepped forward, her sword aura slicing through the air.
"Who did you send?!"
Frethart spat out blood, laughing uncontrollably.
"Hahaha... just a simple squad of ten Level 9 Master Mages. Decrepit old men at the very end of their lives, completely desperate and with no hope of ever advancing again. They’d all been demoted to sect workers, but they signed an unbreakable soul contract! I arranged their secret escape and offered them an incredible reward—enough for them to live out the rest of their lives like kings somewhere far away. By now, they’re already traveling through space toward the mortal plane at top speed... They’ll tear every last dog of the Ylisse Clan to pieces for me! Hahaha!"
The revelation hit Priam like a devastating blow.
Among the disciples, Shione, Lumiere, and Flaris stood frozen in place, unable to believe what they’d just heard.
Priam’s heart pounded wildly against his chest.
An overwhelming wave of panic, rage, and absolute terror swallowed his senses.
Driven by blind, desperate instinct, Priam spun around, ready to find some way—any way—to return home...
What were his chances of making it back in time? He didn’t even know how to do it now. But... he had to make believe it was still possible.
Before he could take even a single step, however, an overwhelming force enveloped him, locking his entire body in place.
Mishnar made a slight gesture, keeping Priam completely immobilized under her control.
Then she turned toward the Elders of Laws and commanded in a voice that shook the earth,
"Drag this trash down to the deepest level of the Prison! Extract every last bit of knowledge directly from his soul!"
"YES, ELDER LEADER!"
The Elders of Laws moved like shadows, dragging Frethart away.
Before the stunned crowd in the plaza could even process the chaos, Mishnar let out a deep breath.
Spatial distortions enveloped both her and Priam, and in the blink of an eye, they vanished.
The next instant, Priam found himself back inside Mishnar’s luxurious chamber.
The moment he turned around, he glared at her, his face twisted by rage and despair.
Mishnar spoke quickly and firmly.
"Calm down and listen to me! Those ten Master Mages are decrepit old men, but they’ve survived hundreds of years of bloody battles within the sect. Facing even one of them would be nearly impossible at your current level."
"FUCK THAT! Send me back right now! I’m going to save my family!" Priam roared, blinded by panic.
Mishnar let out a deep sigh.
"Very well. As a reward for helping me deal with that cursed race, I’ll lend you my personal Flying Ship. With it, you’ll be able to arrive before that group... assuming you have everything you need."
She gave a slight wave of her hand, handing Priam a spatial ring.
Then she continued without wasting another second.
"You can’t leave directly from the southern region of the Divine Plane. Our entire region is filled with dangers and enemy territories. So you’ll need to use a teleportation array to reach another region, then launch the ship from there. However... do you know the exact location of your planet in the Mortal Plane?"
Priam froze.
His mind began racing frantically.
When he had come to the Divine Plane with the members of his clan, they had used a guidance crystal that automatically navigated the vessel to the Thunderhead Sect.
"As I expected, you don’t," Mishnar concluded.
"The universe is far too vast. It’s impossible to navigate to a specific location by relying on memory alone. That’s why you’re going to wait here. Frethart definitely has the exact coordinates, since he bought them from that other Elder Leader. I’ll personally extract that information from his soul. Stay here, and don’t do anything reckless."
Before Priam could protest, Mishnar stepped into the void and disappeared into space, leaving him alone inside the luxurious chamber—
A place that was, naturally, completely sealed by the absolute power of a Sage.
He couldn’t get out.
Priam had never felt so insignificant.
So miserably useless.
He had never imagined that his simple determination to bring down an arrogant, lawless Super Genius during the sect’s entrance trial would spiral into something so catastrophic, dragging his entire family into it.
It was all his fault.
And the worst part...
There wasn’t a single thing he could do.
He couldn’t even run back in a desperate, futile attempt.
Weak.
He was still terrifyingly weak...
As small and powerless as an ant standing before a storm.