LUO YAN stopped just a centimeter above the wing. The red dragon’s small body shook like a leaf. He could no longer hide the fear in his eyes. Luo Yan smiled and made sure that he looked like a lunatic.
"Poor thing. Look at you shaking like that. Did you really think I will cut your wings when we’re just getting started? I haven’t even had my fun yet!" he said while tapping the cheek of the dragon with his dagger. "Let’s see, should I try to gouge your eyes next? How about doing it like a Russian roulette to be more exciting? I tell you what I’m going to do and you will guess whether I will really do it or not. So, will I gouge out your eyes or not?"
The dragon’s shaking became even more intense. He couldn’t even make himself utter a single word. He now truly embodied the phrase, ’too scared to talk’. Luo Yan made his smile even crazier.
"Since you’re not answering, I will just assume that you’re guessing that I won’t do it," he said. "Clench your teeth, okay?"
Then, he stabbed the dagger straight to the dragon’s eye. The dragon didn’t even have the time to close his eyes. In just a blink, the dagger was already right in front of the dragon’s face. But before it could truly pierce the other’s eyeball, Luo Yan stopped just a centimeter away.
"Oh, look at that, it seems like you won the gamble," he put down his hand holding the dagger. "Then, what should I do next? Your other wing or your belly? Maybe I won’t really stab you. What do you say, would you gamble again?" He leaned over, putting his face close to the little dragon. With his face looming over him in this distance, it would surely look terrifying as hell in the other’s perspective. "They do say that three times the charm. You will probably get lucky again, don’t you think? So, what would it be? The belly or the other wing?"
"I—I..." the red dragon said in a shaking voice, as if he was trapped in some freezingly cold area. Googlᴇ search novel✦fire.net
"Should I choose for you again? Hmm... how about we go for the belly this time?"
Luo Yan stabbed his knife straight again. But this time he didn’t stop a mere centimeter away from the other’s belly. He plunged the knife into the dragon’s gut.
"I- I will a-answer everything! I will! Just... just please, s-stop!" the red dragon suddenly cried out.
Luo Yan quickly pulled out the knife. And then he smiled. This time it was not the smile he was using to intimidate and scare Rowan. It was a triumphant smile. Because this dragon giving up meant that he’s strategy was successful.
He really didn’t plan to disembowel this guy here. He’s not that sadistic. He only needed for the other to believe that he would.
NPCs in this game were mostly programmed to be similar to humans in some way. They might have their distinct characteristic unique to their race, but for the most part, their behavior was still based on human nature. Because, where else would the game devs base them on?
So, it would be much easier to just think of this dragon as a human with too much pride. Breaking him would also be easier. Because unlike real humans with their unpredictable nature, an NPC was confined in the set of data that constituted them.
That’s why he decided to scare the red dragon to the point that his mental defense would collapse. There’s no need for him to make it gory and bloody. The fear one felt when they thought that they were about to be hurt was a good enough stimulus. After all, the worry and fear they would feel not knowing whether they would be stabbed or not was pretty nerve-wracking.
With his good acting and wonderful choice of words, Luo Yan was confident that he could amplify that stimulus even more. And the final nail in the coffin was him really stabbing the other at the end. With that, Rowan would have the illusion that he was really about to gut him and that his torture would really began then.
And look at this wonderful result. There was no need for bloody limbs to be flying off or for someone’s internal organs to be out of their body. All he needed was the power of his words and stabbing the red dragon on his stomach. Just as he expected, it produced the optimum result.
Luo Yan stood up straight with his chin raised. The only thing missing was for his nose to grow and he’s the perfect image of someone trying to brag.
"It’s a good thing that you finally understood your situation. I salute you for your good decision," he said with a genuine smile. But that must have looked pretty scary to the red dragon because instead of looking relieved, he just shook even more.
Of course, Luo Yan was happy with this kind of reaction. Before he began with his questioning, he took out a low-grade potion and pour it on the dragon’s wound. It didn’t fully heal the wound but at least it stopped the bleeding. He couldn’t have this dragon lost his HP before he was done with him.
"Then, let’s start, shall we?" he said. "Hey, give me an answer will you or did you actually change your mind?"
The red dragon quickly shook his little head as if his life depended on it. "A-ask me anything and I will answer it as b-best as I could."
"Then, for starters, I want to know if Dusk – oh, that’s the name I gave to the former king, by the way – his mother was really ’defiled’ by the demon you just mentioned. And do try not to embellish the truth just because of your personal bias. Or else," he didn’t finish that and just simply raised his dagger. "You understand, right?"
The red dragon’s small body shook when he saw the dagger. His face was full of reluctance. But at the end, fear still overcame him. "T-the demon didn’t. The lady went to him on her own volition."