Krulney knew what he was facing. As someone who knew too much, some things were unavoidable. He wouldn't die quickly, but he would face torture countless times worse than death.
Regardless of whether he talked or not, regardless of what he said, whether it was the truth, or whether his interrogators believed him or not, he had to be tortured until he broke down completely. This was the only way to ensure a truly reassuring interrogation outcome.
If given a choice now, Krulney would rather say everything he needed to and then be swiftly killed. However, he knew this was impossible, so now Krulney had a strong will to survive, because torture was unavoidable. Since torture couldn't be avoided, it would be better to survive after enduring all the agony. After all, getting killed after being completely tortured would really be a loss.
Krulney just didn't know that the process he thought he knew was all wrong, because he didn't know Black Demon was the one going after him.
