CHAPTER 144
Ganibal, the Deadly Sinner.
His intelligence could be described as foolish.
A young child will put anything and everything that touches their mouth into it.
The oral stage.
It is a period before the age of two when a child explores and learns about the world through their mouth.
Ganibal’s intelligence was at that exact level.
A moron who, following his Ability, would eat anything he came across.
But separate from that, his combat prowess was the real deal.
Anastasia had said that if he had fought with strategy instead of instinct, she couldn’t have guaranteed a victory.
He was a case of someone who became a Deadly Sinner purely through instinct and combat ability.
Pure evil.
Perhaps Ganibal was the one closest to that description.
And ironically, it was because he was that kind of person that he was most suited for interrogation.
Smart people know what they shouldn’t say and how to use that information as a bargaining chip.
That’s why the information they provide can sometimes have a negative impact.
But a stupid person doesn't properly grasp the importance of information. A word uttered carelessly could become a crucial clue.
However, the stupider one is, the more stubborn they become.
Just like the saying “you only see what you know,” they will only insist on their own righteousness.
For that reason, there was a chance he wouldn't answer at all, even under torture. Not for the benefit of his group, but because his own pride was more important.
Therefore.
“Aaaaargh! You son of a bitch! Why are you doing this to me?! Say something! Say it!”
I made him feel extreme animosity towards me.
Because he was a fool, I continued to torture him to the point where he would harbor a desire for revenge against me.
Torture that was repeated, without offering any explanation.
Under this torture, Ganibal cried out in frustration and pain, but it didn't matter.
“Is it because I targeted you?! That’s because you have Resurrection magic! Why are you taking your responsibility out on me—Aaaaargh!”
He knew very well who I was.
He had targeted me for my Resurrection magic, and he would think I was getting revenge for that.
But I didn’t answer him.
I just repeated the torture.
Under the continuous torment, Ganibal’s mental fortitude was being worn down to nothing.
The most important thing in enduring torture is knowing what your captor wants and debating whether to talk.
But Ganibal couldn’t do that.
He had no way of knowing what I wanted.
Because only the torture was repeated.
“You bastard! I told you to talk! Why are you staying silent like that?! You want something from me, don’t you—Aaaaargh!”
There was no limit to the intensity of the torture I was currently inflicting.
I was simply torturing him as if I truly intended to kill him.
Death could not be a means of escape.
Even if he died from his last breath, I would just use Resurrection magic again.
I could inflict limitless pain.
Ganibal coughed up blood and shed tears of blood.
Pain without reason drives a person mad.
That’s why, from a certain point on, his eyes were fixed only on my mouth.
He couldn’t take his eyes off me, as if waiting for me to say anything at all.
Ganibal didn’t realize that his gaze had, at some point, become one of submission.
When faced with a whip that is too harsh, a person begins to long for even a sliver of the carrot.
Just as water tastes sweet after extreme training.
In the midst of unending torture, he began to desperately wish for just a single word.
I squeezed him even tighter.
Through the relentless torture with no rest, I ground down Ganibal’s mental fortitude.
What did I want, what did I desire?
I pushed him to the point where he was gasping to know that truth.
And so, a total of three days passed.
I repeated the torture without a single break.
My body, already trained as a Holy Mage and now enhanced with Divine Power, could go for a week without food or water without any issue.
But Ganibal was different.
Befitting the Sin of Gluttony, his Ability inflicted him with constant hunger.
Pain and hunger.
This one-two punch pushed him to a point of no return.
Over three days, Ganibal lost consciousness a total of 12 times.
Among those, he reached his physical limit and died twice.
Of course, Resurrection magic and Holy Magic were performed, and he was in a healthier state than ever.
Which made his mental anguish all the more excruciating.
His endlessly eroded psyche could no longer maintain its state.
“Ganibal.”
And now.
Finally, the moment he had been waiting for, my mouth opened.
“Uh, uh, uhh! Uhh uhh uhh!”
Having lost the ability to speak, Ganibal reacted by just moving his lips.
His tattered mind clung to the reward system of conversation, desperate to achieve it.

“Black Dawn has been completely captured.”
The first words struck Ganibal’s carrot-starved brain with intense force.
And these words cleanly formatted all the thoughts Ganibal might have harbored until now.
Only the words I had just spoken now drifted through his mind.
“What I’m doing now is just personal revenge.”
I very calmly activated my Holy Magic again.
The pain could not become dull for him.
His body was always like new.
Ganibal writhed in pain, just as he had at the very beginning.
“So I don’t want anything from you.”
The reward Ganibal had so desperately craved.
I thoroughly trampled and shattered that reward.
Ganibal’s face fell limply.
It was because the possibility he had desperately clung to—an end to the pain in exchange for information—had crumbled.
A person feels the greatest sense of futility when what they desired most becomes meaningless.
It was the same even for a Deadly Sinner.
“That’s a lie.”
Ganibal clung to me again.
Even through the pain, he screamed.
“It’s a lie, isn’t it?! You want something from me! There’s no way you’d do this unless—!”
Again, no answer came.
Ganibal’s face trembled.
If only he could die, he might have found some peace.
But for him, death was just a part of the process of being revived.
An inescapable purgatory.
That had become his reality and swallowed him whole.
Another day passed.
I continued the torture as if I was doing it simply because I wanted to.
The sun set and the sun rose.
The next morning dawned.
But Ganibal was unaware of this fact.
In the prison carved from the Void World, there was no way to tell time.
Thus, this time felt much longer to him.
In this moment, time was relative for him.
Ganibal, who had been muttering “it’s a lie” all day, eventually fell silent.
His eyes were opaque, and he only reacted to pain reflexively, without any will.
It was proof that he had broken as a person.
“Ganibal.”

Ganibal no longer screamed.
He just looked up at me with vacant eyes.
It was the look of despair from someone who had realized there was no salvation for him as long as he was trapped in this purgatory.
“As I said before, Black Dawn has fallen.”
Ganibal’s lips moved.
In his mind, Black Dawn had already met a crushing defeat.
There was no longer any rescue for him.
“But the Artificial Transcendent remains.”
And here, I rebuilt a small part of the goal that had crumbled. A tower he would build even if it meant breaking his own body.
With that, the conversation was cut off again.
I didn't ask questions.
There was no mutual conversation between us.
I was just speaking one-sidedly.
Ganibal’s mind searched frantically.
He wracked his brain to find a glimmer of hope, a chance to end this purgatory within my words.
What do I want?
What words must I utter to end this purgatory?
“Kor… den Island.”
And finally, the one piece of information he produced.
“……They said they were preparing the Artificial Transcendent there.”
Korden Island.
A name I had never heard before, but it was the information he had spat out after careful consideration, thinking it would be the most valuable.
It was high-grade information obtained over five days.
I etched the information in my mind and smiled sweetly.
“I already knew that.”
Ganibal’s face crumbled once again.
Of course, it was a lie.
Black Dawn was a more thorough organization than I thought, and they had completely blocked information sharing with anyone other than the Deadly Sinners.
So Ganibal’s information was likely priceless, something no one else had obtained.
But there was no reason to end this torture just yet.
I had to wring out every last drop I could.
Ganibal.
If you want to escape this purgatory, then tell me everything you can.
On the day you have squeezed out your limits and relayed every piece of information, you will be granted your rest.

By the time Ganibal had told me everything he knew and had fallen silent again in endless despair, I stopped the torture the moment his breathing ceased.
If I used Resurrection magic anyway, it would feel to him like he was waking up right after today’s torture session.
His purgatory could be continued at any time.
With this, I had extracted all of Ganibal's information.
From now on, Ganibal was worthless.
As I walked out of the prison, Inferno, who had been waiting, stood up.
“You’ve worked hard.”

“It was nothing.”
“Here, food and water-ssumda!”
Lululio, as if she had been waiting for me to come out, handed me a meal she had kept ready.
After drinking some water and downing the soup, vitality returned to my body.
“This is the information Ganibal gave up.”
I relayed everything about Korden Island and related details.
Korden Island.
This island was an experimental site that Black Dawn had hidden in the 2nd World, separate from the Void World.
Because Black Dawn could freely enter and exit the 2nd World using the Void World, they had been preparing the Artificial Transcendent there.
“We’ll move out immediately.”
“Should I handle the Sin of Pride as well?”
“No, this information is enough. That one won’t talk easily anyway. We’ll assign a professional interrogator to him. If they question him based on the information Ganibal provided, they should get something.”
Inferno said, patting my shoulder.
“And you should get some rest now. It’s going to take a while for that murderous intent in your eyes to fade.”
Ganibal had confessed everything.
In the process, he had talked about how he had killed and eaten people.
There was no grand cause, no reason.
He was the worst kind of trash, beyond recycling.
Ganibal was a man who truly deserved the title of Deadly Sinner.
Perhaps that was why a deep loathing for him had settled in my eyes.
I was working so hard to change the remaining lives of the Transferees, and the one who had caused all this was such scum. It made me even more furious.
Black Dawn was the same.
As fellow humans, they had committed countless acts that were beyond comprehension.
Disgust rose from my throat to the top of my head.
It was a sickening feeling, as if I was about to start hating humanity itself.

This-worlders and Transferees alike. If they're all just uncivilized brutes in the end…
If this is how things are…
And I am…
“You’re right. I think I need to get some rest.”
My vision was a little blurry.
After staying up for five days doing nothing but torture, even I was at my physical limit.
Just then, I saw Aigis walking towards me in the distance with Ririran.
“Ah, Harua-nim, are you finished?”
Aigis greeted me with a bright face.
Additionally, as soon as Ririran saw me, she let out a sigh and looked behind her.
“Go on, hurry.”
The moment Ririran finished speaking, someone ran towards me.
As I lifted my head, the person who ran up embraced me tightly.
Warmth spread through my body.
Perhaps because my body temperature was low due to my missing heart, that warmth felt much warmer.
The owner of the warmth embracing me lifted her head.
I could see tears welling in her eyes.
The most beautiful girl I had ever seen.
She bit her lower lip slightly and looked up at me.
“Harua.”
That voice called my name.
And with it, the disgust that had filled my body vanished to a distant place.
Because the person in front of me was someone I could never hate.
“Aranseol.”
She, who had left to train with Soun.
She was here, right in front of me.