177 To Face the Divine (2/2)

Althea pursed her lips and crossed her arms, ”Good.” She looked up at me, ”You better tell me if she does anything.”

I rolled my eyes, ”I'll bring you the hand she does it with, alright?”

Althea nodded. She looked between us one last time before disappearing like a ghost. I turned back to the Skyburner, and I frowned,

”Look, I don't want to torture you.”

I heated up the armor. He howled out, but I growled over the beast,

”But I will do what it takes to stop this bullshit. Understand?”

The Skyburner glared at me,

”Kill me Harbinger. Tormenting me only belittles the standing of someone like you.”

I narrowed my eyes, ”How do you even know I'm called the Harbinger?”

The beast let out a pained laugh,

”Hah, do you not recognize what you are? When I first laid my eyes upon you, fire cycloned around your frame. You paced from the burning crater you left behind, and I understood what you were. It required no introduction. It required no words.”

I frowned, ”Hmm. Weird.”

A few minutes of torment later, and I gained a skill I never thought I would.

New Skill Gained! Torture(lvl 1) - Some bring their enemies to death in an instant. You bring your enemies to a line between life and death, bringing hell to life. +1% to physical pain caused to others.

I closed my eyes, grimacing at the skill. I sighed, turning away from the Skyburner. Tohtella adjusted her glasses, ”What is it?”

I shook my head, ”I'm not cut out for this. Let's just put him out of his misery.”

An amused smile trailed onto her face, ”Kind of you. Allow me to continue the interrogation.”

With cold eyes, Tohtella opened her dimensional storage. She pulled out a jar full of yana worms, the same pot from behind her desk. She channeled her mana, zapping the fluid in the jar. The worms writhed, eyes opening all along their writhing bodies.

Tohtella walked up to the Skyburner, ”Hello there. It's good you can understand us.”

The Skyburner snapped at her, ”Begone, weakling. You are nothing but a leech on the underbelly of this world. You feast upon the scraps of great warriors.”

She kept her amused grin on her face, ”Oooh, really? Good. This weakling has something like a leech in this jar. Care to take a look?”

The Skyburner peered down at the vial. His pupils turned into slits as he howled, ”Accursed Yana? You wouldn't dare...I've done nothing to deserve their desecration. I've done nothing that warrants such a trail.”

”You and I disagree on the matter. Tell us the location of the other camps. Otherwise, I will dip just enough yana into your mouth that you'll barely be conscious. We'll dump you out into silver territory, and your kind will remember you by your zombied corpse.”

He frothed out, ”There are three other camps such as this. One lays by the mountain of red and fire and ash. Another rests by the ocean of green and blue and the River of Tears. The last camp resides on the remains of Lehesion and Emagrotha's great battle.”

Tohtella nodded, snapping her fingers. The jar cooled, the yana's eyes closing. She glared up at the beast, ”See? All you had to do was follow orders.”

Tears poured out of the Skyburner's eyes. He wailed out, ”I am a betrayer of many. Kill me as I deserve it.”

Tohtella turned to me, ”Do as you will.”

She walked past me, looking away from the Skyburner. I kept my eyes on her, a different, icy side of her showing itself. She turned back to me, her eyes empty,

”What is it? Is there something on my face?”

I frowned, ”No...Not really.”

I turned back to the Skyburner, ”You resisted for a long time. There's no shame in dying in battle.”

He gasped, ”I died no such death.”

I melted and pulled the encased armor out from around him. After singeing him a bit, I jerked the metal back to me. My armor reconstituted it, the molten mass sinking into my skin. The Skyburner gasped,

”You...you give me a warrior's death? For what reason?”

I raised my fists, ”It's all I can give you.”

The Skyburner lowered his head. After a moment of thought, he peered up,

”My name is Draygalga Fire-Swallow. Tell my brothers that I fought with bravery. Tell my sisters that I was noble in defeat. Would you do this for me?”

I nodded, ”Yeah, you have my word.”

He nodded, ”No matter the Yana nor the agony rendered unto me, I would expose nothing. This, I give to you as payment for my debt.”

I raised an eyebrow. Draygalga gasped out, ”The one that leads us cleaved the sky with a swing of his claws. He is the oldest and strongest of our kind, the mightiest of us all.”

Tohtella jotted a note onto her clipboard, ”Tell us. Now.”

The Skyburner's eyes narrowed, ”He is known as Lehesion, the Army of One.”

My eyes widened as Draygalga leaped towards me. He snapped his maw, but I shifted on my heels, sidestepping him. His jaws clanked, sending out a shockwave in front of him. It left a dent in the metal as I countered with a left hook.

His bottom jaw dislocated turning sideways. He whipped his tail at me, but I deflected it with my forearm. I hammer-fisted the back of his head, slamming his face into the ground. As I raised my foot, he gurgled with his broken face,

”I return to Giess, honor to thine name.”

I squashed his skull under my heel. I lifted my foot and squatted down, I placed my hands onto his neck. My armor devoured him, thousands of needles sapping his strength. After he died, I turned to Tohtella,

”Did you hear him?”

She looked at me, her expression frozen in place,

”We must warn the public. Lehesion has returned. We need to evacuate areas near the base and arm cities.”

I frowned, ”Is he that big a deal?”

Her eyes hollowed,

”He is a living god.”