The fourth leader trembled as Adam’s hand approached. "N-No. Please, sir. I... I can name every sect involved in similar activities. You can take our treasures or even become the sect leader!"
A sharp glint flashed in his brown eyes, his hand tightening on the dagger hidden beneath his robes. ’I’ve seen your movements when you killed Shang. You’re slightly slower than us, but good at reading and countering strikes. A few more centimeters, one strike. Your magic will be of no use at this range.’
"NOW!" With a desperate roar, he swung his dagger in an impaling downward thrust. Heart drumming in his ears, the embers of his snuffed hope reigniting at full force, he watched the glistening blade whistle between Adam’s sky-blue hair.
"This is my victory, arrogant fool!"
The delightful sensation of ripping the flesh of a monster registered in his palm. He grinned, only for his lips to twist into a pained grimace. It felt as if he had struck a wall of enchanted metal, but he couldn’t give up so close to salvation.
Groaning, he strained his muscles until they burned—all to thrust the blade deeper into the youth’s skull. Despite his labored breath and twitched arm, it didn’t move an iota. Instead, his eyes widened at the thin, almost invisible threads woven above Adam’s skin, among which a few snapped when he struck. "How did you condense a spell so fast?"
Adam’s soul mana-coated hand gripped him by the mouth, muffling his voice. He lifted him like a baby, his eyes narrowed.
"You keep insulting my intelligence." He shook his head. "Perhaps that’s the extent of yours? Would you approach an enemy without protection? Why would I be different?"
A smirk split his lips. "Don’t worry, though. My methods are far more tasteful than your crude torture."
His fingers turned ethereal as he pulled the man’s face.
The leader roared as an agony he couldn’t describe with words assaulted him. It was far worse than any battle wound he ever sustained, as if someone had scalded his soul while pulling it out of his body. Then, his eyes dimmed, and his tensed limbs sagged behind him.
He watched his body crash to the ground like a broken toy, his mind reeling in horror and disbelief.
"Impossible! They would never allow a mage to wield soul affinity!"
Adam raised a brow. "Who?"
"You don’t know?!" The leader scrutinised his spectral limbs, trembling. "Even if mages and cultivators hate each other, there is one thing they both hate."
"Demons. I know." Adam shrugged.
"No! I meant something else. Two things if you want." The leader bit his lip. "We all know what soul affinity can do. I swear on my name to tell you everything I know if you don’t use your methods and let my soul find eternal rest."
"I can use my methods to make you talk, anyway." Adam tucked his fingers around his chin. "But I can’t let you lie out of spite, right? You have one chance—only one to speak the truth."
The leader’s voice grew somber. "The mages in the western archipelago actively hunt down ghosts and anyone born with soul affinity to this day. They spoke about soul torture, manipulations and spectral armies obscuring the sky in haunting fogs." He clenched his jaw. "Showing this affinity would trigger a wild manhunt from both sides."
Adam nodded, not too interested since the magus had done just that. Anyway, he seldom used his soul affinity, mainly when he had to deal with disgusting individuals who didn’t deserve to die. "I believe you. Now tell me about your distasteful business. Which sect partakes in it? More importantly, I want a list of every village supplying you."
The leader remained silent for a second before a heavy sigh escaped his twisted lips. "Every sect partakes in illegal activities one way or another. We tried to raise mages’ descendants into alchemists to replace the witch. The others were used as materials for body-strengthening potions. We sold the cultivators’ descendants to the Phantom Cloud sect, who train the most talented into assassins. The others become slaves in their mines until they die in a tunnel collapse or because too much dust poisons their lungs."
Adam squinted his eyes. Most of what the leader said was true, but not everything. Rather, this was merely the tip of the iceberg. The list mattered more, so he closed his eyes and gestured for the leader to continue.
"You wanted a list of culprits? Triads ally with officials to kidnap city children, while village leaders buy them from wretched parents. It happens everywhere in the sect’s territory. As for us..."
He twisted his neck to gaze at the bloody threads running through the elders’ corpses. "You’ve already killed everyone involved."
Adam smirked. "Lies."
"W-What?" The leader’s soul throbbed in horror. "I swear I’ve only said the truth!"
"Who’s Haoran, Wang Long, and Li Qing? Mhh..." Adam’s smirk broadened. "If they’re all dead, why are you thinking about more names?"
As the leader opened his mouth to contradict him, his words shifted into a guttural howl of agony. Another searing pain, much more intense, coursed through his soul like a torrent of magma.
He tried to grip Adam’s forearm to free himself—something he hadn’t attempted yet because... he knew it would be useless. And as expected, his fingers phased through Adam’s smooth skin as ethereal tears trailed down his cheeks.
"Enough... I beg you."
"It’ll be over soon." Adam sneered. "Curse you accomplices who eat and drink in peace while you suffer to protect them. You’ve already thought of over a hundred names, so what’s a few more?"
"N-No... Most knew. Even disciples bought children for their ’amusement’. The only thing we hid was the suppliers and how we used the mage descendants. Please, stop this pain! Stop it!"
Surprisingly, the pain vanished. But instead of relief, he trembled twice more upon seeing Adam’s mocking face darken.
"You mean to say everyone in this sect is guilty?"
"N-No!" That was what the leader screamed, but Adam heard "Yes!"
"They continued to work for a sect of child slavers knowingly." His voice thundered through the mountain, causing the hidden disciples to tremble in their homes. "No one deserves mercy—especially not mine."
AN: Orion’s ability to read minds weaker than his for those who forgot.