Those measures made clear that Zatiel was prepared in case of being captured. Oliver was not that surprised since the Sage informed him that Taboo Existences are very cunning and had means he could not even imagine, after all, they were able to cheat death and reincarnate.
'No matter how powerful or resourceful you were in your previous life, now you are under our control' There was a cold light in Oliver's eyes as he saw Zatiel's smile.
"Is there a way to deactivate the runes without killing him?"
"I am sorry my Lord but although I have knowledge about rune crafting, these runes are not only extremely complex, they are also made with a wild and chaotic type of blood that has very volatile properties. We need the help of an Origin Runemaster and even then I am not sure if it would be enough. We should ask Lady Vapula for assistance."
Oliver frowned when he heard that. Obtaining Vapula's help was impossible unless they could retrieve the pieces of her soul from the Eternal River of the Afterlife and then use the power of a Being of Laws to revive her.
The Heavenly race was very powerful and their civilization extremely old, but even to them, Origin Runemasters were rare and there was not a single one in the Beta Heavenly World.
"Lady Vapula's injuries during the battle against the swordsman were too severe so she was forced to return to the Heavenly Creator World to heal."
Tomas and Oliver had decided to maintain Vapula demise as a secret after all she was the discipline of a Rank 6 life form and an Origin Runemaster. The problems they would have once Gonzo finds out about her death would be grave, to say the least.
The duke had contacted Vermeil to make sure he remained silent since he was the only one besides Oliver and Tomas who knew about her death.
Pipit found Oliver's explanation very odd since if Vapula had returned to the Heavenly Creator World, she should have used the World Gate that was in Sain City and he would have found out. He did not dare to question the duke, after all, he was only an Angel of Supremacy, and defying the words of an Angelic Paragon would be enough to mark him as a Fallen.
"Since we cannot search his soul or meddle with his consciousness or brain, then we will have to adopt a more crude approach. Take him to Finibus, I don't care what methods he uses, just make sure he doesn't kill him and that he can still answer questions."
When Pipit heard Oliver command, he started to curse his luck.
'I will have to spend my days in that hell hole with that oddball.'
Of course, the Angel of Supremacy did not show his feelings and as soon he got the order he bowed at Oliver. "I will follow your command, my Lord."
"I need to recover from my wounds so unless it is an emergency do not disturb me. I will go after a few days to see how much you have advanced, do not disappoint me!." Oliver gave one last look at Zatiel and the anger on his heart grew as he saw that smile.
Pipit bowed as Oliver left and after releasing a sigh, he flew away carrying Zatiel on his hand. The plump man headed for a warehouse that was in a desolate area of the city.
The moment Pipit was less than ten meters away from the warehouse, the Angel of Supremacy felt as if he had passed through an invisible shield and immediately cries of unbearable agony reached his ears.
The expression of the plump man did not change when he heard those noises. He reached the doors of the warehouse and then he opened them.
The view in front of him displayed a level of depravity that you could only expect to see in the darkest circle of Baator or the deepest layer of the Abyss.
Hundreds of people, many of them little children, hanged from the ceiling thanks to chains that had pierced their bodies. Some of them cried due to the agony they felt while others were already too weak to even scream and you barely heard them beg for death.
There was a giant pot with boiling oil and you could see body parts in it that were too tiny for them to be of young children. Bubbles of air could be seen coming out from the oil meaning that recently someone had been thrown in there.
In a corner of the warehouse, there were piles of detached extremities. Some of them seem to have been sawed while others were ripped by force. There were monstrous and deformed rats the size of dogs that devoured them.
Cages full of living people were all over the warehouse. Many of them had already gone crazy due to the psychological torture they have endured. They all had magic collars that stopped them from killing themselves.
This place was known as the Silent House and is where some members of the Heavenly race come to satiate some of their darkest desires. Many of them spend little time in it but there is one who stays almost every day here.
That man was now in the center of the warehouse and was working. He was an Angelic Paragon and his wings were made of tiny blades.
Pipit felt nothing for the people he saw enduring such torture, after all, in his mind, they were nothing more than animals. The reason why he did not like to be here was the filth.
When he saw the man working, he chose to wait until he finished since he knew that Finibus would be very angry if he was interrupted while he created one of his "artworks".
Although Oliver had given them just a couple of days before he would come to check their progress, a few minutes of delay would not make a difference.
The Angelic Paragon had a living man lying on his belly in the ground. Finibus used his wings to tear through the flesh in the man's back. He did it with such power that he severed the ribs.
The man cried miserably while this happened. When Finibus heard that, zeal appeared on his eyes, and then he pulled and stretched the ribs outwards, like wings. After that, he removed the man's lungs through his back and wrapped them over the rib wings.
Finibus waved his hand and chains bound around the wrist of the screaming man rose him in the air.
The Angelic Paragon observed the scene in front of him with piety as if he was seeing something holy but there was also a wicked smile on his face that gave a unique contrast.
When Pipit saw that Finibus had finished, he came closer to the man.
"I still cannot understand why you do this type of thing. It is just a waste of type if you ask me. If you want to make them suffer you can just chop them into pieces, there is no need to hang them like some sort of trophy"
"Hahaha, Pipit, my friend, torture them is truly pleasant, but the reason I do this type of rituals is to purge their sins so when they die, they are cleaned of their filth. Anyway, it has been a long time since you came to the Silent House and it seems that you brought me a gift." Finibus gave an amicable smile to Pipit before he concentrated on Zatiel.
"Hmph, he is not one of your disposable toys. He is part of the Magi invader force and we need to break his will and make sure he responds to all of our questions. I will remain here with you to heal him and make sure he doesn't die due to the stress, so there is no need to contain yourself. I warn you, Lord Oliver gave us this mission and we can't fail, or else the consequences will be dire for both of us." There was a stern look in Pipit's face as he looked at Finibus.
"My friend, you offend me. Even those stern Fallen that fall in my hands do not withstand more than a couple of hours before they start to beg for death. With you helping me, breaking the will of this little doll will be a child's play, no matter how strong he is."
