Inside the prison, the doctor woke up inside a cage.
"W-Where?..."
He muttered, his voice dry.
Then his body trembled with fear, and he froze as he saw Albert's face.
"Y-You!!"
He screamed, trying to break the cage, shaking it violently.
Albert was sitting on a chair, his face filled with hatred and grief as he stared at the doctor.
As the doctor kept screaming, Albert vanished the cage with just a thought.
The doctor tried to run, but he couldn't open the prison gate.
It was locked with thick chains.
"Please!! I didn't have any choice... Albert, please let me go!"
The doctor begged, his eyes swelling with tears as he knelt in front of him.
Albert stood, his face unchanged.
"Looking at you acting like that... confirms that you know what you have done. And now you dare ask for your life to be spared?!"
Albert said, his voice loud and angry, teeth clenched.
The doctor crawled forward on his knees.
"Lessa and her father... T-They were bound to die anyway!! So please...
Uugghh!!"
Hearing those words, Albert did not hesitate to kick his stomach.
"Listen, Psychop..."
But another kick cut his words short.
"F-Forgi... Uuuughh!!"
Another kick landed, fueled by Albert's frustration and hatred.
"Shut up!!"
Albert shouted angrily, kicking the doctor until he crawled on the floor, blood pouring from his nose and mouth, leaving him unable to speak.
The pain from Albert's relentless kicks was unbearable, and it sent the doctor into unconsciousness, yet Albert still continued kicking.
As seconds passed, Albert began to cry.
He thought of Lessa.
"I may not be able to gain anything from this, but... it is what I want to do. Lessa!! I know you would not be happy with what I am doing right now. Please forgive me."
Albert thought. He couldn't understand his feelings anymore, as if his heart was being molded by a strange darkness that he wanted to release with every kick he threw.
The doctor was now unconscious.
Albert had originally planned to ask him the reason for his wicked deeds, and why he was so desperate.
"I might one day cause death to others who are loved by someone... I don't know anymore if I am in the right or wrong place."
He thought, both his hands buried in his pockets.
Then he dragged the doctor and opened the prison gate with a key that manifested in his hand.
He pulled the doctor along like a sack.
He planned to bring him to Zoey, the King, to officially record that the doctor was a hideous criminal.
But Albert remembered it was impossible for now, since the laws had been reset and not yet replaced.
This meant there were no instructions or proper ways to officially identify someone as a criminal.
"Ahh, it's a pain in the head... If I keep waiting, then I'll have no choice but to punish this devil myself."
He thought, staring coldly at the doctor.
It was still morning, around eight o'clock.
Albert closed his eyes and focused his mind.
He was going to create another spell for punishment.
[Soul Collected > (Positive: 31) (Negative: 226)]
[Spell List]
[Auto Regeneration]
[Undying Soul]
[Spell One]
[Spell Two]
[Spell Zero]
[Rider Spell]
[Memory Spell]
[Recently Created >
Ascending Spell
Life Spell
Buff Spell
World Spell]
Then, with his eyes closed, he began to create another spell through his mind.
[New Spell Name: Punisher]
[New Spell Effect: A spell that sends a being into an infinite void.]
He wrote it in reference to the same book of the Hell Knight, which belonged to the underworld.
[New Spell Activation Method: Mind]
This meant he didn't need to recite the spell's name like the others; he could activate it directly with his thoughts.
[New Spell Trait: Anyone sent to the void will stay there for eternity without dying, seeing nothing but darkness.]
He made sure to design it as painfully as possible, not physically but mentally.
Albert believed that physical pain had many cures, but mental pain was like being pierced in the heart. It was hard, almost impossible, to bear. Anyone would try to end their own life, but this spell prevented death, forcing the victim to suffer for eternity in loneliness, hearing only their own thoughts.
Then, without a second thought, Albert used the spell on the doctor.
"May you realize how important life is."
He said, watching the doctor fall into the void.
---
Meanwhile, outside the Kingdom Walls.
On every side stood Abaddon's camps.
There were four camps in total, each led by assigned generals.
Their soldiers' numbers had decreased due to their encounter with the mysterious wielder they fought in the North, Albert himself.
At the front gate was the camp where Abaddon's leader resided.
They were planning to attack tonight.
But they had to be careful of that man.
The one who killed Swan.
The leader sat inside a large tent, along with two generals.
He was still wary of someone strong enough to kill his soldiers, even though his artifact granted instant healing to those marked by him.
He also wondered why Setaria's power to reset time by a few minutes into the past, could not revive those who died at the hands of that man.
That was why, to successfully fend off the Kingdom's standby soldiers, they planned to use the celebration of the new King to infiltrate and launch an attack from inside.
They would not be struggling to plan like this if not for their experience with the one who had almost wiped out a fourth of their soldiers.
Abaddon planned to rule the world, but for what reason?
They claimed they wanted to protect the world from the catastrophe coming from beyond.
But could they justify their actions with the deaths they caused?
---
Wenthoriz Total Soldiers Including Wielders: 56,439
Consisting of:
Low Rank Soldiers: 34,693
Middle Rank Soldiers: 11,033
High Rank Soldiers: 10,696
Commanders: 10
Wielders: 7 (only two combatants)
This was the current number of all soldiers in Wenthoriz.
They were supposed to number more than 500,000, but because of three consecutive confrontations with Abaddon, they had lost heavily.
And not all Wielders were under the Kingdom of Wenthoriz. There were 300 Wielders in the world, and the number of artifacts had not increased. It might not be a coincidence that the total remained fixed.
Not all Wielders were combatants, as it was rare to be one. Success often came from business rather than force, since war was not common. That was why Wielders either fought for the world or lived as they pleased, their wealth guaranteed by their artifacts.
---
Abaddon's Total Soldiers: 2,737
Wielders: 14 and the Wielder of Life
They split into four groups, camping around the Kingdom.
North Gate: 1,000 soldiers and the Wielder of Life
South Gate: 704 soldiers and three generals
East Gate: 467 soldiers and four generals
West Gate: 566 soldiers and five generals
The other two generals were not present at the gates because they had separate tasks to fulfill.
---
Additional Information:
This world used barter and fair trade instead of currency.
Each village was not allowed to produce the same products to avoid conflict. Even the Kingdom could not plagiarize a product.
Albert's library was exclusive to their village.
Madam Merry was a mysterious woman who arrived out of nowhere and became a High Soldier in the Kingdom 13 years ago. She retired at the age of 28. Now, at 46, she still maintained a posture comparable to a teenager. She was also Seth and Albert's master.
The laws and cultures were separate.
Zoey was the fourth summoned person in this world throughout history.