Craftsmanship

Inside the dark prison cell.

Soren saw dried bloodstains everywhere, indicating they had used it quite a few times.

Beside them were burning charcoal, branding irons, whips, knives, saws, and other weapons. The young man before them was no longer the same as before; his body bore dozens of whip marks, looking bloody. Branding marks were on his chest and cheek, and a Slave's symbol was branded on his forehead and body. His fingernails had been pulled out one by one. This bloody scene caused the two girls behind the middle-aged woman to change color slightly, seemingly almost vomiting, but they managed to hold it in.

"You!... you bunch... I curse you all..."

The young man's speech was somewhat slurred, seemingly due to the exhaustion from bleeding, but his gaze remained malevolent, and he cursed them with a ferocious expression.

The sheriff, seemingly trying to regain his authority, picked up his whip and lashed the man hard, drawing blood and tearing his flesh. He gasped, "Reverend Tinaer, look! He's been completely possessed by the Evil God. No matter how you torture him, all he says is this."

The middle-aged woman's expression changed slightly; she seemed to have always been pampered and had never seen much bloodshed.

She turned to look at Soren, seemingly wanting to ask him if he had any ideas. Soren, however, remained calm. He had seen far too many situations to be alarmed by this. He simply said slowly, "Could you treat his injuries? He'll die from blood loss very soon if this continues!"

The middle-aged woman hesitated for a moment, then raised her hand and cast a healing spell on her injuries.

The Divine Magic began to take effect; the bloodstains on the young man quickly healed, and he seemed to have regained much of his strength. He opened his mouth to curse, but Soren stuffed a rag into his mouth, silencing the vile words he was about to utter. He turned to look at the others and said softly, "What's about to happen might be a bit inappropriate for children. I think you'd better leave."

Those present were visibly hesitant.

The middle-aged woman frowned slightly, then turned and walked outside, her intuition telling her that the Adventurer before her might be telling the truth.

She didn't want to see anything too unbearable.

The sheriff's expression was grim, but he didn't leave, wanting to see what methods Soren intended to use. The young man before him had withstood almost all the torture, not uttering a single word, only cursing them incessantly for over an hour. He didn't believe the Adventurer before him could possess any remarkable skills.

"Step back a little."

Soren glanced at the others, gesturing for them to stand far away, and then said, "Don't talk, don't interrupt me. I need to concentrate on what I'm about to do, and I don't want anyone interrupting my work."

"Do you understand?"

The tone was extremely unpleasant, but the icy gaze sent chills down everyone's spines, causing them to shiver involuntarily.

Soren smiled, but his expression was somewhat ambiguous.

He walked up to the young man and whispered in his ear, as if talking to himself, "You know what? I'm so frustrated today! After seeing what you guys did, I suddenly feel like the past month has been a joke. I took Vivian so far, away from one dangerous place, but it feels like we've plunged headfirst into another."

"This is truly unbearable!"

"It's really hard to find a safe place to hide away. I'm not that afraid of fighting, nor am I that afraid of death, I just want her to have a relatively safe environment to grow up in."

"After all, she's only eight years old. It's not too much to ask that she grow up happily, away from bloodshed and Slaughter, right?"

"But it seems like fate is against me."

"Maybe there really is nowhere to escape, and no matter what, there's no escaping it."

"Think about it now."

"Goria's divination of Vivian said she saw countless blood and fire; perhaps this truly is Destiny. Along this journey, we always encounter so many things, and no matter how hard we try to avoid them, we still meet them. I don't know if it's my Destiny or Vivian's Destiny. Perhaps it's just our shared Destiny."

"Actually, I don't know what I want to say. Maybe I just want to say something random."

"Because what I'm about to do is something you absolutely won't want to see. But you have to see it, and experience the whole process, because you are my work."

Soren slowly drew his Scimitar. His hand trembled slightly, but quickly became as steady as a rock. Only his knuckles were white, probably from using too much force.

He looked into the young man's eyes and said softly, "The followers who Maiden of Pain are actually quite annoying."

"Because you possess a Feat to resist painful torture, normal interrogation is basically useless against you. When I was in the Underdark, I saw many of the Spider Queen's Priest helpless against you. Unfortunately, however, I know a method that works quite well for you, and coincidentally, I once foolishly learned this method from someone."

Do you know what it is?

Soren leaned close to the other's ear, and the eerie whisper increased the other's psychological pressure, making him uneasy. He twisted his body, desperately trying to get away from him.

Soren smiled, but his smile made him look like Demon, and whispered, "Skin him!"

"My skills aren't actually that great. My best skills are in the Abyss and Hell, and then the Underdark. But I suppose my skills are still better than those of executioners on Earth, since I've received some professional training. Do you know the Underdark? It's the territory of the Drow. They are masters of torture, and some of their methods are even more cruel than those of Demon!"

"Skinning is a delicate craft; only when you can completely peel off a human skin can you be considered to have just entered the beginner level."

"Back when I was being a jerk, the Drow who trained me was a master torturer. Do you know what he was wearing? A very powerful Legendary Equipment, stronger than many Knight Armor. That thing is called [Demon Skin Armor]. Only the most Evil people, destined to fall into the Abyss Hell after death, would wear this thing!"

"He told me that a qualified the Flayer's work must remain alive after you've completely peeled off a human skin."

"That's what truly constitutes a qualified level."

"Actually, I'm not sure I can keep you alive, but you should be able to live for a while. After all, I'm also Superhuman Dexterity, and there's a third-tier priest outside."

Soren spoke in a low voice, so that only the people being tortured nearby could hear him; those standing at a distance could not hear anything.

The young man hanging there was trembling all over, his fear growing stronger. He opened his mouth to say something, but his mouth was gagged, and he could only make muffled noises.

Soren raised his Scimitar, smiled at his opponent, and said as if chatting with a friend, "Actually, I would never have done something like this before!"

"Unfortunately, you guys made me lower my standards a bit today, because I was really angry."

"Very, very angry."

"It's said that those who Goddess of Torment's followers enjoy the pain. I wonder if you'll be able to enjoy this process. I know you all have great Endurance, and I doubt you'll tell me what you want to know right now."

"But it's okay."

"I'm an honest person. I think it's better to let you experience my skills first before deciding whether to tell me or not."

"Right?"

Soren raised his Scimitar expressionlessly, then slowly but steadily sliced along the top of the other man's head. The force was not great, but his hand was very steady, cutting steadily from the scalp down the back of the neck, then down the skin of the spine, all the way to the end of the spine, making the first line very steadily.

The victim was trembling all over, and the fear in his eyes almost completely overshadowed the pain. He struggled desperately, but he could still feel the skin and flesh on his back being torn apart. It was no longer just pain; the pain was no longer as terrible as he had imagined. What was truly terrifying was not the pain that the other party was inflicting on him!

The others present seemed to realize something as well; the sheriff's expression changed slightly as he turned away, not daring to look at Soren again.

"Don't move."

Soren gently gripped his neck and said slowly, "If you move around, the work won't be complete. This is only the back; next are the arms and thighs. It's said that skilled the Flayer can peel off the scalp first and then deal with the other parts. I don't have such advanced skills, so I can only deal with the others first and let you see the rest of your body."

Fresh blood dripped down.

Some of the Guard couldn't bear to watch any longer and turned to flee outside, as if looking at it any longer would give them nightmares.

Soren carefully cut along the other person's arm, then looked up at them. The other person made muffled sounds, their eyes filled with fear and pleading. He said calmly, "It seems you want to say something?"

The victim nodded frantically, with tremendous force.

"Very good." Soren slowly sheathed his Scimitar, then said, "This job is actually quite tiring, and it's good that you're willing to talk about it."

Smack

Soren snapped his fingers, removed the rag from his mouth, and said to the back, "Please let the priest in. He's willing to speak."

The sheriff stiffened for a moment, then walked outside. For some reason, his calves trembled slightly, and he almost stumbled and fell to the ground.

Soren, with his back to the condemned, slowly sheathed his Scimitar, his hands trembling slightly.

But he quickly took a deep breath, and all his emotions gradually calmed down.

(P. S.: I've been updating twice a day for the past two days. I'll take a short break to recover before continuing with more frequent updates.) (To be continued~^~)