You Betrayed Noble Red

Tommy didn't stay in the Interrogation Room, nor did he go to the prison to use the treadmill.

He was held very carefully in a secret underground room of the Bureau of Supervision in the Red Queen District.

His hands were bound by glowing shackles, and his bare back was branded with a seal that shimmered with a silvery-white light. He wore only a pair of pocketless shorts, nothing else.

Tommy's contracted Greater Demon was chopped down by the Grand Guardian in ten minutes. After being imprisoned, he was searched to make sure he had no jewelry or materials on him—they even pried open his mouth to check for any dentures.

As a Demon Scholar, he should have been disarmed... but even so, the Law Mage had placed a strong seal on him, preventing him from drawing upon his magic. The same Light Attribute magic, which in the hands of a priest could heal and dispel darkness, became a binding force and a seal in the hands of Law Mage.

Although Tommy knelt down and surrendered without hesitation in front of the Grand Guardian —he already knew he couldn't escape when he saw the Grand Guardian.

If Tommy had run away then, he would most likely have been caught by the griffins that were watching. He might even have been personally brought over by the Grand Guardian riding a griffin.

He couldn't even defeat Grand Guardian without a griffin, let alone one with one.

Even if he does escape... he will become a fugitive and be wanted.

After all, he wasn't some Nameless; "Tommy Lloyd" was a household name throughout Lloyd District. His physique was also clearly unsuitable for concealment.

Most importantly—he didn't want to die like this.

The coldness and anger in the Grand Guardian's eyes frightened him.

If he didn't surrender in time, even if he wasn't killed but merely knocked down or wounded, he would still be killed by Meg's Word of Power. But the reason he surrendered wasn't because he wanted to die more quickly... but because he was genuinely confident of survival.

—Because he has too many cards in his hand.

Tommy was 100% certain that Boca knew far less than he did. Not even a tenth as much.

He usually takes on the most important part of the work himself, just in preparation for this moment.

He knew too much about people: at least two-thirds of the knights in the entire Round Table Hall had directly or indirectly sought his financial support, and he had carefully preserved at least 80% of the evidence against them.

He also knew the Noble Red Society's strongholds and codes throughout Avalon; he knew where the spies who had infiltrated were now and what they were doing. He also knew which knights or members of knightly families were in contact with the spies of Star Antimony or Iris, and which important figures had committed serious crimes... He had kept all this evidence in different places.

Even if we take a step back, he is at least a Demon Scholar at the peak of the Fourth Level.

He only needs to complete the advancement ritual to reach the Fifth Level. He can guarantee the advancement of a designated person to the Fifth Level during the ritual—after all, failing to advance to the Fourth Level would severely damage the soul and could even be life-threatening. There are very few Fifth Level powerhouses in the entire Avalon.

However, he is physically strong and can withstand the backlash of the ritual. The birth of a large number of Fifth Level superhumans is also meaningful; even if he himself advances, it doesn't matter, after all, he is Demon Scholar without a contracted demon, and in a sense, he is harmless.

Regardless of whether he successfully advances, he can serve as a living detector for those Path of Transcendence. As long as the authorities send in someone who is suspected, he can determine whether that person has reached the level of Path of Transcendence.

—He was incredibly useful, in every sense of the word.

This is precisely why Tommy became more defiant after being imprisoned. He was convinced that once he revealed everything, the Bureau of Supervision would have to reconsider. And to save his life, they would force Meg to release the Word of Power.

Although Tommy has been sealed away, he can at least commit suicide to prevent the Law Mage from searching his memories— the Demon Scholar's last power is to sacrifice himself to summon demons. Not to mention, he knows far too many secrets, many of which Tommy himself cannot remember, requiring him to rely on hidden texts and codes for analysis.

Searching memories only allows you to search for recent sights and sounds, but thoughts and skills remain unviewed. In other words, no one knows his password, and even if you obtain the encrypted document, it's difficult to decipher.

This was Tommy's preparation specifically for the Law Mage's memory search.

"If he is killed, these secrets will never see the light of day," he threatened.

Thus, the situation entered a phase Tommy was familiar with—a game of strategy, or rather, bargaining.

If he doesn't cooperate, he will be cursed to death by Meg; but if he dies, Avalon will lose a lot of valuable clues, and Avalon will not be able to find a more valuable source of intelligence than him.

Many secrets are known only to him, and even searching his memories doesn't reveal them all.

In other words, Tommy's death would be an outcome neither side wanted; however, he was ultimately carrying a ticking time bomb that would kill him if left unremoved for three days, and the initiative in this matter lay with the Bureau of Supervision.

The two sides were caught in a game of wits. The Bureau of Supervision did not want Tommy to die, but it had to use him to threaten the other side into revealing more information; while Tommy knew he was very useful and that the Bureau of Supervision did not want him to die, so he gritted his teeth and refused to budge, trying to gain more benefits.

This puts Tommy in his comfort zone. His greatest strength lies in strategic maneuvering.

Tommy did not ask for the removal of the Word of Power, but instead requested at least a suspended sentence, extended to thirty days—if the Bureau of Supervision agreed, he would reveal three recent secrets, including the missing Iver, as their first deal.

As a sign of sincerity in their cooperation and to prove that what he said was true, he asked the Bureau of Supervision, who was conducting the interrogation, if she had any knights she disliked.

After the other party named three knights who were hostile to the Queen, Tommy did not hesitate to reveal their crimes and the location of the evidence.

"These are samples."

Tommy's eyes gleamed with cunning. "You can try and see if I'm telling the truth."

"If possible, please loosen the noose around my neck a little, Lady Meg... I will be more valuable."

The Bureau of Supervision is not to be underestimated. They want more, so the initiative in the cooperation cannot fall into Tommy's hands.

So they locked him in the absolutely safe basement, intending to leave him there for the time being.

A day has passed, Tommy has only two days left to live. When he has only one day or half a day left, even if he knows the situation, he will definitely be anxious. Don't be fooled by Tommy's calm and cunning now; once his blood pressure spikes, his giant bloodline will naturally cloud his judgment... It won't be too late for them to discuss cooperation then.

There was no food, no light. There wasn't even anyone to talk to.

Tommy was thus sealed in a dark, silent room.

This is a very effective method of interrogation.

Now that most of the day has passed, he has lost track of the time outside. He even feels that three days have already passed, or that the time is about to come... The fear in his heart has caused him to hallucinate, and childhood memories are playing out like a slideshow.

Those he had seen and killed appeared before his eyes like hallucinations. Their voices, their laughter, their dying screams echoed in his ears. Tommy lay curled up on the bed, his eyes open but motionless.

Tommy is Mixed-Blood Giant from three generations later.

At the same time, he was also a Half-Elf.

He has only one-eighth of giant blood in him, but one-quarter of elven blood.

Logically speaking, he should just be a grumpy Half-Elf.

But by his generation, the giant bloodline within him suddenly reverted to its ancestral form, becoming unusually active...

His father disappeared before he was born; and his mother remarried after giving birth to him, but died of illness less than two years later.

When Tommy was three years old, his parents were no longer related to him by blood. But even so, his father continued to raise him.

—Until he was five years old, he couldn't suppress the rage in his body and kicked his grandmother's knee, breaking it.

He was then beaten up by his stepfather, who was not related to him by blood, and abandoned in Lloyd District.

At that time, the Noble Red had not yet entered Glass Island, so Lloyd District did not have many Demon Scholar in dire need of materials. Therefore, he would at least not decompose into humanoid walking materials on the spot.

Although the heart, bone marrow, liver, and kidneys of Mixed-Blood Giant can all be used as rare alchemical materials to make Giant Strength Potion, Wrath Magic Potion, Strong Fetal Protection Pill, and Long-lasting Stimulant, a five-year-old giant doesn't look much different from an ordinary human child, and no one would suspect he's a Mixed-Blood Giant.

However, an adult carrying expensive items would likely be in danger if dropped into the Lloyd District; but a child would be safe in the Lloyd District.

Because here, children are a commodity, essential material for training assassins. Especially strong, intelligent, and agile children.

At that time, Ms. Gray-Green was just a high-level assassin, not yet a manager in this field. But her superior... was the "mother" who raised her from childhood.

Her "mother" took Tommy in and put him to train as an assassin. However, Tommy lacked the talent to Path of Adaptation —the raging anger within him made it impossible for him to remain silent and still, let alone calmly observe everything in the dark.

So Tommy was abandoned again. Coincidentally, the previous Lloyd needed more adopted sons, so he bought Tommy from her.

Including Lloyd President's own wife, Tommy had seven parents in total. Yet he never felt any family affection.

No one knows that Tommy was not actually chosen by his adoptive father to inherit the Lloyd name.

Tommy's sister was the most likely successor to Lloyd at the time.

There were seven brothers, Tommy was the fifth.

The fourth-ranked "Rowetta" possesses Equilibrium Path, is intelligent and beautiful, and is ruthless enough.

When she was fourteen or fifteen, she made a fortune selling intelligence from overseas. And when she was eighteen, she even became close to a Prince —if he hadn't been cursed to death, she might have even had the chance to become a princess.

Even so, she used her Prince status to infiltrate Avalon's high society. With her graceful demeanor and extensive knowledge, she quickly became a darling of the social scene. At that time, she was already the vice president of Lloyd's.

Tommy realized he couldn't possibly win against her. And once the ritual of the "Serpent's Many Sons" ended, his potential for cultivation would be drained.

So, after planning it all, he carried out a murder through a ritual he studied. He cursed his sister, causing her to develop bestiality, and had her mate with a bull, which was then accidentally discovered. She then committed suicide.

But her suicide attempt actually failed— Tommy disguised her body as another woman's. He raped and sacrificed "Rowetta," using her and his two brothers as offerings to summon the Maze Demon.

His father, unaware that Tommy was behind it all, bestowed the name Lloyd upon him. To prevent him from realizing what had happened later, Tommy dragged his father into the maze and starved him to death.

At the time, the supervisors suspected him, but they couldn't find any evidence.

Because their bodies were either in the labyrinth of the Maze Demon or melted away upon entering the Dream Realm. Their bodies were not in the Material Realm at all, nor did they even die in the Material Realm.

Immediately afterwards, Tommy, who was only sixteen years old at the time, wisely realized that he needed to complete the chain of evidence in order to clear himself of suspicion.

He then fabricated evidence that his two younger brothers had stolen the family property, bought boat tickets, killed their older siblings, and seriously injured him. After Tommy was willing to pay the price of being shot six times with a pistol, the disappearance of his two brothers became perfectly plausible.

As for his older brother and sister who were killed—of course, he did it himself.

He didn't think he had done anything wrong.

The ritual of the Serpent's Many Sons inherently permitted, even encouraged, mutual slaughter, while the laws of Avalon forbade it. Thus, he both completed the ritual and circumvented the law.

As for murder—

Anyway, he's not human. Tommy remained quite calm about it.

He felt no discomfort when he killed for the first time; he even felt excited and thrilled—he comforted himself by thinking that since those people regarded him as a giant, there was nothing wrong with him killing.

It was this thrill that sometimes drove him to roam the Lloyd District at night, hunting down those who dared to wander the streets in the Lloyd District of night, turning them into ritual objects... and then cursing those he had wanted to kill during the day. He only stopped roaming after he grew taller and taller than the average human.

He was almost discovered at one point, but luckily, "Jack the Ripper" came along and generously took over all the crimes he had committed.

Later, Tommy was targeted by the Noble Red Society.

Speaking of Noble Red...

Tommy suddenly frowned.

... Speaking of which, has the Bureau of Supervision prepared any countermeasures against the curse?

If he betrays the Noble Red, they will likely curse him to death. They can easily obtain his hair, and even without knowing his whereabouts, they can still curse him to death.

So, his trade list should also include "having a priest accompany him for protection." If he's cursed, he needs to dispel the curse immediately... Considering that, perhaps asking for a female priest would be better.

Just then, he suddenly heard faint footsteps.

This instantly revitalized his stagnant mind.

A second person appeared in the dark room. His first reaction was joy—but then he immediately became wary.

Why didn't the other person turn on the light? Why did he just approach without saying a word?

Tommy, wary, kept his mouth shut, rolled over and sat up, his muscles tensing. Although he couldn't use his Path Power, his body was still healthy. He surrendered in time and wasn't injured. Even if he were gunned down, he could use his giant muscles to catch the bullets and survive.

"—His Excellency Tommy Lloyd."

A deep, hoarse voice rang out. "Is that so?"

"... It's me."

Tommy asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"

The next moment, Tommy saw a flash of red light.

That was the ring he knew well, "Noble Red".

Did they send someone to rescue me?... No, that's not right.

"You're here to kill me, aren't you?"

Tommy sat on the bed and answered definitively, "You are Aleister —who exactly are you? If you're going to kill me, at least let me hear your real voice."

After a brief silence, a soft, sweet, honey-like female voice rang out. "Yes, I'm going to kill you."

"—Because you betrayed the Noble Red."

As soon as she finished speaking, Tommy was pierced through the entire body by the Shadow Fiend. But he didn't let out a painful scream, because something was wrapped around his neck.

At that moment, he wrote on the bed with his own blood, "Aleister", "Woman", "Noble Red".

—Even if I die, you won't have an easy time.

Tommy thought bitterly.

A long chapter of 4,700 words! Another update of over 7,000 words today!