Then Make Him Speak for Himself

To avoid causing confusion, Kei ordered the attack to be kept under wraps.

After rooting out several hidden spies, the inner keep quickly returned to its usual state and continued operating smoothly.

As for the Black Sword Knight, after undergoing treatment and barely managing to keep his life, he was thrown into prison for interrogation.

However, after two straight days, they still had failed to pry any valuable information from him.

"That guy must have undergone anti-interrogation training. No matter how we torture him, he refuses to talk."

In the Council Hall, Brad reported the results of the past two days' interrogation.

"I say we crush his bones one by one. Let's see if he can still endure that," Jordan sneered.

Brad shook his head. "It's useless. He seems to possess some method of blocking out pain. He showed no reaction whatsoever when we tortured him."

"There's such a method?" Jordan's eyes widened in astonishment.

The other knights also looked at one another.

How were they supposed to interrogate him now?

Kei frowned deeply and turned to Sunan, who was seated nearby. "Sunan, do you have any good ideas?"

Sunan nodded. "Leave the interrogation to me."

Hearing that Sunan seemed to have a solution, everyone immediately perked up.

Led by Brad and Jordan, Sunan arrived at the prison where the Black Sword Knight was being held.

The moment he entered the cell, he saw the Black Sword Knight, his limbs tightly bound to iron pillars by chains, looking utterly miserable.

Burn marks left by the Lightning Rune gem still covered his body. Combined with the torture of the past two days, there was barely a patch of intact flesh left on him.

Yet even so, there was not the slightest trace of pain on his face.

When he saw Sunan enter, his expression changed slightly before a disdainful sneer appeared.

"Don't waste your effort. You'll never get a single piece of information out of me. If you've got the guts, kill me!"

Sunan said calmly, "If you truly wanted to die, there are plenty of ways to kill yourself. Why cling to life until now?"

Those words clearly struck a sore spot. The Black Sword Knight's eye twitched violently, and with a cold snort, he stopped speaking.

Sunan paid him no mind and walked calmly up to him.

"Since torture doesn't work on you, then I'll make you speak for yourself."

At those words, the Black Sword Knight looked even more contemptuous. Just as he was about to sneer at Sunan, his entire body suddenly shuddered the instant their eyes met. Sunan's eyes seemed like an unfathomably deep pool, and he felt as though his soul was about to be sucked into them.

In just a few seconds, the Black Sword Knight's face became utterly vacant. His eyes lost all focus, as though he were sleepwalking.

"Name," Sunan said slowly.

"Yuri Ellick," the Black Sword Knight answered blankly.

"Age."

"Thirty-two."

Brad and Jordan, who stood behind Sunan, were already dumbfounded.

What was going on?

How had this guy suddenly become so obedient, answering whatever he was asked?

The two quickly noticed the unusual look on the Black Sword Knight's face and vaguely came to a realization. Lord Sunan had most likely used that strange power called a spell again.

They simply had not expected that there was a spell in this world capable of making someone lose their senses and obediently answer questions!

Before such power, wouldn't no one have any secrets left?

Brad and Jordan drew in quiet breaths, and the looks they gave Sunan's back became even more reverent.

Sunan did not notice the two men's reactions behind him. His gaze remained fixed on the Black Sword Knight.

Charm Human could influence the target's perception to a certain extent, making them regard the caster as a trustworthy companion.

The caster could issue commands to the target and make them do things they normally would not do.

However, commands that were clearly harmful to the target, such as suicide or self-harm, or that threatened their life and safety, had a high chance of failing and ending the spell's effect.

But if he was merely asking for information, Charm Human was still very useful.

"Who sent you to assassinate the lord of Blackstone City?"

"Priest Casper."

A priest?

Sunan raised an eyebrow. "Where do you come from?"

"We belong to the Starfire Cult and worship the great Star God who created this continent!"

At the mention of the Star God, a trace of fanaticism appeared even on the Black Sword Knight's vacant face despite the spell's influence, showing just how deep his faith in the so-called Star God ran.

The Starfire Cult...

Sunan was somewhat surprised. He had not expected these assassins to come from the Starfire Cult that had attacked the Storm Earl.

"What is your relationship with the Golden Rock Marquis?"

"I don't know." The Black Sword Knight shook his head blankly.

Sunan frowned slightly. It was beyond doubt that the Golden Rock Marquis had ties to the Starfire Cult.

Since this man did not know, the ones responsible for contacting the Golden Rock Marquis were likely higher-ranking members of the Starfire Cult.

"How many companions do you have in Blackstone City?"

"Four in total, including me."

"Tell me the names of the spies you know."

The Black Sword Knight rattled off six or seven names in one breath.

Several of them were precisely the traitors uncovered over the past two days.

Without needing Sunan's instruction, Brad dutifully wrote down those names and hiding places. He then left the prison with Jordan and hurried off to make arrests.

Sunan then continued asking about the Starfire Cult's organizational structure, the distribution of its strongholds, its members, and other intelligence.

According to the Black Sword Knight, the Starfire Cult was a sect devoted to the Star God, dedicated to spreading the Star God's glorious radiance across the entire continent.

They secretly cooperated with many nobles. In exchange for assassinating the nobles' rivals, they used those nobles' influence to steadily expand their sect. In barely more than a decade, their reach had spread throughout the entire Starry Sky Principality.

As for which nobles they had worked with, the Black Sword Knight knew little. The ones he knew of were all barons and viscounts.

Noble collaborators of higher status were beyond the reach of a member at his level.

After all, above ritual officers were priests, chief priests, Grand High Priests, and the Pope who controlled the entire sect.

"Even Grand Knights are only mid-level cadres. The Starfire Cult's foundations seem quite substantial."

Sunan pondered silently.

He had previously guessed that the Starfire Cult might be connected to Wizard Apprentices, but it now appeared he had been wrong.

The Starfire Cult clearly followed a path of religious faith, the complete opposite of wizards, who pursued truth and believed that power belonged to oneself.

As for strongholds, the Black Sword Knight knew little as well. He only knew of three located within Golden Rock Province.

He knew nothing at all about those in other provinces.

After silently committing the personnel structures of those strongholds to memory, Sunan asked about the Starfire Cult's actions in Golden Rock Province over the past years.

What he learned shocked him.

It turned out that seven or eight nobles who had died in Golden Rock Province over the past decade had all been killed by the Starfire Cult.

They manufactured all sorts of accidents and coincidences to kill those nobles, disguising the deaths as accidents or illness.

If the target was particularly troublesome, they simply carried out an assassination.

That included Sunan's nominal father.

He had seemingly died in battle, but before the war even began, the Starfire Cult had sent someone to disguise himself and replace one of the guards at his side. Then, on the battlefield, they secretly acted against him, causing him to die at the enemy's hands.

Although the Black Sword Knight did not know the true purpose behind this series of assassinations, Sunan could guess with his toes that the mastermind was undoubtedly the Golden Rock Marquis.

Kill the vassal nobles, then support puppets in their place, achieving the goal of controlling their territories by indirect means.

The Golden Rock Marquis's ultimate goal was to completely control Golden Rock Province.

No, perhaps that was not even the ultimate goal.

Simply to gain complete control over Golden Rock Province, there was no need to go this far.

The Golden Rock Marquis most likely had an even deeper objective!