*PA!* *PA!* *PA!*
Several sharp cracks of the whip echoed through the room, each strike louder and more relentless than the last, their piercing reports reverberating off the walls and leaving no corner untouched by the merciless sound.
"AH!" "AH!" "AH!"
Phantylia cried out in agony as the lashes landed one after another, leaving her body covered in fresh wounds and torn flesh.
If her senses had remained normal, she could have endured it through sheer willpower, but with every sensation amplified tenfold, the pain became utterly unbearable.
Every strike felt as though it were tearing apart both her flesh and soul. No matter how hard she tried to suppress it or grit her teeth against the agony, she couldn't hold back her screams anymore, her desperate cries filling the room without pause.
"So you've got a foul mouth, huh? You're pretty damn arrogant too. Go ahead, cuss me out again. Lemme hear it."
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought this was some kind of bondage play.
As soon as he finished speaking, Lucian casually invoked the power of Abundance.
Soft emerald light enveloped Phantylia's battered body, and the horrifying wounds covering her disappeared almost instantly. Torn flesh knitted itself back together, scorched skin returned to its flawless state, and in the blink of an eye, she was restored to perfect condition as though she had never been injured at all.
Phantylia felt completely numb.
Lucian wasn't human.
He was practically a devil.
He was even more ruthless than a Lord Ravager.
Falling into his hands was a fate worse than death.
Every time her body was on the verge of collapsing, he simply healed her with the power of Abundance before resuming the punishment as though nothing had happened.
Even though the wounds disappeared, the memory of the pain remained etched into her mind, only to be replaced by a fresh wave of suffering moments later.
"I surrender... I'll never speak so arrogantly again..."
Although Phantylia deliberately lowered her pride and admitted defeat, resentment still lingered deep within her heart. She lowered her head and forced herself to appear submissive, carefully hiding the hatred burning beneath the surface.
She silently swore that if she ever managed to escape, she would gather several Lord Ravagers and make Lucian pay for everything he had done to her today. She would return every ounce of humiliation and pain he had inflicted upon her a hundredfold.
However, the very instant that thought surfaced, an intense cramp suddenly seized her leg. The pain made her bare her teeth and contort her face in agony as her entire body staggered from the unexpected torment.
Lucian hadn't even lifted a finger, yet Phantylia had already suffered an accident, which clearly meant the Law of Calamity had taken effect.
To verify what was truly going through Phantylia's mind, Lucian had deliberately kept the Law of Calamity active the entire time. As long as she entertained thoughts of taking revenge on him or harming him in any way, misfortune would immediately descend upon her in the form of unexpected accidents.
Her current condition proved exactly what he had suspected.
Phantylia was only pretending to surrender while secretly waiting for a chance to retaliate.
Apparently, her mind hadn't been broken yet.
"I can see the hate in your eyes. You're still not convinced. What's 1000 minus 7?"
A faint smile appeared on Lucian's face before he suddenly asked an odd question.
Hearing the question, Phantylia's body trembled uncontrollably.
How could this man be so frighteningly perceptive?
No matter what she thought, she couldn't deceive him.
It was as though every secret hidden within her heart had been laid completely bare before his eyes.
"993..."
Regret completely filled Phantylia's heart as she answered fearfully, not daring to hesitate for even a second.
At this moment, her heart was overwhelmed with deep regret, regretting that she had gone after that foxian woman simply to stir up trouble.
If she hadn't done that, she never would have met Lucian.
If she hadn't met Lucian, she wouldn't have lost her status as an Emanator of Destruction, wouldn't have been captured alive, and certainly wouldn't have suffered such humiliation and torture.
Not only had she failed to obtain the Ambrosial Arbor's divine fruit, but now even the survival of her true body was no longer guaranteed.
At this point, only two paths remained before her: either submit and become his servant, or die.
'Maybe... I should just give in?'
Phantylia hesitated.
Yes, she didn't want to become someone's servant, but she also didn't want to die.
More than anything, however, she didn't want to continue enduring this endless torture. The unending cycle of pain, healing, and renewed pain had already pushed her closer to madness than she had ever imagined possible.
"Lucian, what would it take for you to let me go?"
"Call me Master. Otherwise, there's nothing to discuss."
"...Master."
Left with no other choice, Phantylia reluctantly forced herself to utter the word. Even that single form of address felt like an unbearable humiliation, as though every syllable were grinding away at the last remnants of her dignity.
Lucian was fairly satisfied upon hearing her address him that way.
Needless to say, it was a good beginning.
The fact that Phantylia was willing to call him 'Master' meant that the cracks in her mental defenses had already begun to spread, signaling that the pride she had clung to so stubbornly was no longer as unshakable as before.
Before long, those defenses would collapse completely.
"I already told you. Submit to me, and you'll get your freedom."
"Can't you change the condition?"
"You're not in any position to negotiate with me."
Lucian's tone remained calm and indifferent, as though he were merely stating an undeniable fact rather than rejecting the plea of a once-feared Lord Ravager.
In the end, after another brief hesitation and a long silence, Phantylia still failed to make her choice.
What greeted her in return was yet another round of merciless punishment.
*PA!* *PA!* *PA!*
The sharp cracks of the whip echoed through the room once again, accompanied by Phantylia's anguished screams, as the cycle of pain and healing repeated itself without end.
Evernight quietly watched the scene unfold for a while before finally turning around and leaving with a satisfied smile.
Her memosprite had already extracted Phantylia's memories through the power of Remembrance. As a result, Evernight now understood Phantylia's true identity, and she had also learned that Lucian had become an Emanator of Destruction.
Although she remained calm on the surface, waves of shock surged through her heart.
Lucian truly wasn't someone ordinary, and his potential was nothing short of terrifying. He had actually captured a Lord Ravager alive and even seized Phantylia's status as an Emanator of Destruction.
One person simultaneously serving as the Emanator of four different Aeons... such an unprecedented feat had never existed throughout history.
Evernight was convinced that among all beings beneath the Aeons, Lucian now stood at the very pinnacle. More than that, with those mysterious and utterly incomprehensible abilities of his, he might even possess the qualifications to challenge an Aeon directly.
It was simply absurd.
Even someone as knowledgeable as Evernight found it difficult to comprehend. The more she learned about Lucian, the more she felt that conventional logic simply couldn't be applied to him.
'Well, that's good too. With March staying by his side, she'll definitely be safe. I won't have to worry about her anymore.'
===
In the courtyard, the women were chatting enthusiastically, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere, when a series of miserable, heart-wrenching screams suddenly drifted out from Lucian's room.
"AH!" "AH!" "AH!"
The anguished cries echoed across the courtyard one after another, instantly shattering the tranquil mood.
"Huh?" March blinked in surprise. "Who's screaming in Lucian's room?"
"Evernight just went over there..." Stelle said, resting a hand on her chin. "Did Godfather mistake her for a thief and beat her up or something?"
"No..." Himeko replied with a small shake of her head. "Lucian knows who she is. Besides, she wouldn't scream like that."
"I'll go take a look."
Jingliu spoke calmly before turning around without the slightest hesitation.
"I'm coming too!"
Baiheng immediately added, her curiosity already getting the better of her.
Seeing the two of them begin walking toward Lucian's room, the others looked at one another for a brief moment.
Their curiosity had already been thoroughly piqued, and with none of them able to ignore the continuous screams echoing from the room any longer, the entire group ultimately made their way toward Lucian's room together.
Before they could reach the entrance, however, Evernight appeared before them.
Holding her black umbrella with her usual graceful elegance, she calmly stepped into their path, her gentle smile remaining as composed as ever, as though the miserable screams behind her were nothing out of the ordinary.
"Everyone, Lucian is currently punishing a prisoner. It would be best not to disturb him."
"A prisoner?" Jingliu narrowed her eyes slightly. "Who is it?"
"A very important person..." Evernight answered calmly. "You'll know soon enough. Just wait."
At those words, the women exchanged puzzled glances, their confusion only deepening.
What kind of influential figure could possibly end up as Lucian's prisoner?
Just listening to the heart-wrenching screams continuously coming from the room made March instinctively shiver, goosebumps rising across her arms.
It couldn't be helped.
Lucian always looked so gentle, approachable, and easygoing that it was difficult to associate him with such cruelty.
Who would've thought he was capable of torturing someone until they screamed so miserably?
Just imagining the scene unfolding behind that closed door was enough to send chills down her spine.
===
Inside his room, Lucian calmly dried his hands before speaking in an almost conversational tone, as though they had simply been discussing an ordinary matter rather than deciding someone else's fate.
"Phantylia, I took away your status as an Emanator of Destruction, yet Nanook didn't step in at all."
"What does that tell you? It means you're not that important to THEM."
"Meanwhile, I look out for my own people, and I'd even give you the fruit of immortality from the Ambrosial Arbor as a reward."
"If you still don't wanna submit, I'll send you off to the Xianzhou Zhuming to keep the Flint Emperor company, where you'll get drained dry every single day and turned into the lowest-grade fuel out there."
"That endless lifespan of yours won't be a blessing. It'll just leave you stuck in eternal loneliness with no way out."
"So, compared to all that, wouldn't staying by my side be way more comfortable?"
By now, Phantylia was on the verge of completely breaking down.
Evernight's methods were just as terrifying as Lucian's, if not even more so.
Never in her life had Phantylia encountered such an incomprehensible ability.
The jellyfish-like creature inside her consciousness had attached itself directly to her source flame, wrapping around it like an unshakable parasite. No matter how desperately she tried, she couldn't remove it or resist its influence.
If she were still an Emanator, she might have possessed enough strength to fight back. But she was no longer an Emanator. Having lost the power of an Emanator of Destruction, she no longer possessed any means of resisting.
Compromise was clearly the only path left before her.
If this continued, she doubted she would ever meet a good end.
Rather than being imprisoned forever within the Xianzhou Zhuming, condemned to eternal servitude without the slightest hope of escape while her energy was endlessly harvested, she would rather submit to Lucian. At least then she would retain a measure of freedom and continue living as she pleased.
Especially now that the Aeon of Destruction had completely abandoned her. Since Nanook no longer acknowledged her, there was no point in hoping to return to the ranks of the Lord Ravagers ever again.
Just like that, those were the conclusions Phantylia's rational mind had reached after weighing every possible outcome.
Yet somewhere along the way, without even realizing it herself, another, far more emotional thought had quietly taken root deep within her heart.
"...Master... I was wrong... Please, punish me..."
Phantylia spoke weakly, her voice lacking even a trace of the arrogance and pride she had once carried. Her lowered gaze, trembling body, and subdued tone made her appear like an entirely different person.
Instead of being pleased, however, Lucian frowned slightly.
Something wasn't right.
Judging by her current expression, Phantylia didn't seem to be in pain anymore.
If anything, there was an unsettling peace in her eyes.
"Punish you? What'd you even do that makes you think you deserve to be punished by me?"
"I... spoke disrespectfully and offended you, Master..."
"I'm gonna ask you one last time." Lucian looked her straight in the eyes. "Are you willing to submit?"
As soon as his words fell, Phantylia slowly raised her head.
"I'm... willing... to... submit..."
To Lucian's surprise, Phantylia's eyes actually held a faint trace of anticipation and longing as she answered, word by word, without the slightest hesitation.
Lucian immediately understood what had happened.
At some point during the process, Phantylia had apparently developed some kind of strange new kink.
'...Where exactly did things go wrong?'
He silently waited for a while longer, carefully observing every subtle change in Phantylia's expression, yet no accident or misfortune befell her.
Evidently, the Law of Calamity remained completely silent, showing no sign of activation whatsoever, which meant only one thing: Phantylia no longer harbored even the slightest malicious thought toward him—not even a trace.
'Okay... so she really did submit...'
Lucian nodded inwardly, feeling satisfied.
At the very least, all the effort he had invested in breaking her mind hadn't gone to waste.
===
[A bonus chapter for reaching 300 Power Stones]
[Support and get early access to upcoming chapters at: patreon.com/VALRRR]