Time rewound to an hour ago.
Looking at Lynn sitting on Sealed Object 3-0098, Milani yelled somewhat frantically.
Her small fists were clenched tightly, rapidly rising and falling on her flat chest.
It was unclear whether from fear or panic over what Lynn was about to do.
Sealed Object 3-0098, the Torture Chair.
Anyone who sat in it and fastened the helmet to their head would instantly suffer unbearable pain.
This was generally used by the Princess to interrogate stubborn prisoners.
As it turned out, no matter how tough someone claimed to be, anyone who tried this Sealed Object ended up screaming for mercy. Going insane was rather the better outcome; most couldn't last even ten seconds.
It wasn't a slow torment like boiling a frog, but a rapid infliction of pain magnified hundreds or thousands of times upon one's spirit and will.
The only one who had lasted the longest was probably the Great Priest Askin of the Creation Sect.
However, it seemed now that was merely one of his avatars.
Hearing this, Lynn, who was adjusting the Sealed Object, casually said, "Right now, this is the second step I've prepared for the outburst incident of the Sealed Object."
"If the plan goes well later, everything will likely end after this step with only the final third step left to wrap up."
"But what does this have to do with what you're doing now?!"
Milani tried to pull him up from the chair.
Although she truly wanted to see Aphia and the others return alive, and someone to save the perpetually solitary Princess...
She didn't want Lynn to get hurt for it.
Even though he annoyed her daily with his flowery speech, Milani, always engrossed in her research, had surprisingly grown accustomed to this routine in less than a month.
Unconsciously, she had come to see Lynn as an indispensable companion.
Thus, Milani couldn't bear to watch him walk towards his death.
"Let me tell you a secret, Ms. Milani." Lynn placed his index finger on his lips, "Remember, keep it a secret for me."
"I have an ability where I can absorb pain from the outside without limits and store it as energy, which can be released all at once when needed."
"You're not a 'Divine Sense' believer..."
"That's why I said, keep it a secret for me."
Saying this, Lynn gently patted her head.
Milani cried again, "Everyone who leaves the Torture Chair either dies from the agony or goes mad. Even the strongest wills could not possibly..."
"Perhaps, I could be the first?"
Lynn removed the helmet from behind the Torture Chair.
Then, nonchalantly, he placed it on his head.
In an instant, it felt as if a massive electric current surged through his entire body, or as if he had suffered mutilation dozens of times in just a few seconds.
"I... damn damn damn damn damn damn!!!"
Inhumane pain swept over his entire body.
In just an instant, he regretted his pretentious act, wishing he could kneel and beg for mercy from the Sealed Object.
Because it was just too painful.
In comparison, being thrown into a meat grinder felt as glorious as wading through gold.
How much time had passed after that?
When the darkness veiled Lynn faded and he reopened his eyes, he found his body drenched in sweat.
Milani stood in front of him, tears overflowing, holding his hand and gently caressing it as if to alleviate his physical pain.
"Enough... it's really enough."
Looking at Lynn's pale face, for some reason, Milani felt a sharp pain in her heart.
He was just an under eighteen-year-old boy who had just faced a major family tragedy, stripped of his powers, and exiled to Orn City, a remote area from the Imperial Capital.
Ideally, he was supposed to be the youngest among everyone.
Yet at this moment, he had silently taken the heaviest burden onto his shoulders.
"How long... did I last just now?"
Lynn felt as though his body had fallen apart, his muscles twitching spasmodically.
His brain seemed ready to explode, as if at any moment the protective mechanisms would kick in and knock him out from the pain.
"Twenty, twenty seconds... that's enough, really enough..." Milani looked at him, "You've lasted the longest in my knowledge, you..."
"Ms. Milani." Lynn took a few deep breaths, trying to regain clarity amidst the chaos, "If the pain of one execution is counted as one point of pain energy, how much did I accumulate just now?"
Milani, who knew the Sealed Object like the back of her hand, immediately reported this number.
In other words, in just over twenty seconds, Lynn had suffered twenty-six times the agony of execution.
About one point per second?
Lynn lay back in the chair, his eyes dull, staring at the ceiling.
After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "What if... I mean, if."
"If you wanted to create a sufficient mental shock to a demon who once held a Divine Position but is currently in very poor condition and only about Sixth Rank, approximately how much pain energy would need to be accumulated?"
Milani seemed to guess something and shook her head.
"You're lying, Ms." Lynn slowly sat upright, "Tell me, I've braced myself for the worst."
"You will die, you definitely will!"
Milani bit her teeth, unwilling to back down.