Arthur's vision was drowned in darkness; one moment he was walking alongside the Vihr and the others, and the next, just before he could react to the faint surge of aura beneath his feet, he was swallowed in pitch-black darkness.
He could feel that he still retained control over his body and could even move if he wanted to, but he could see absolutely nothing. Not even his own hands.
It feels like being back in the trials of the Sixth Summit, he thought. But this time, he could move freely, so the possibility of still being inside the Tower of Authority was ruled out entirely.
"Is this what he meant?" Arthur couldn't help but think back to the words Telmear whispered to him just before leaving with the Principal.
He didn't have to wait long in the dark. The shadows suddenly dissolved, revealing a cold, windowless room. There were no distinguishing features to speak of, save for a single heavy chair planted right in the middle of the floor.
Thick bindings were built directly into its structure. The moment Arthur caught sight of the chair, his face drained of color. He didn't need anyone to explain what it was meant for.
Panic slowly began to creep into his mind, though on the surface he tried his absolute hardest to maintain a calm expression—or at least as calm as an expression could be when plastered over a bruised face.
"Hello?" He asked with an uncontrollable slight trembling in his voice.
A sudden wave of oppressive aura surged behind him. Before he could react, he was hoisted into the air and slammed hard into the chair in the center of the room.
"Ugh... what the hell!!" Arthur cursed as a vicious wave of pain radiated through his battered body.
His limbs were instantly anchored in place as the chair's bindings locked tight, holding him completely immobile.
A figure finally stepped into his field of vision. The shifting shroud of darkness before him couldn't be called human, but a proper man soon emerged from within it; then the swirling mass of darkness disappeared into his body.
"Nice face..." the figure remarked, a faint, manic smile stretching across his lips as he stood a few steps opposite Arthur.
Wearing a sleek black trench coat over formal nobleman attire, the man would have looked dignified—if not for his deathly pale skin and wild, unkempt hair.
"I'm sorry?" Arthur shivered, a little confused by the stranger's words. "Don't tell me this is some kind of perverted abduction."
"I said you have a nice face..." the stranger repeated with an eerie calm, his smile growing increasingly unhinged by the second.
"Uh... You're planning to torture me, right?" Arthur asked, trying to gauge his situation properly.
"Oh, that's good..." Arthur let out a sigh of relief after hearing those words. Suddenly, in comparison to what he had assumed, torture didn't seem so terrifying anymore.
An uninvited copy of this chapter came from the author's official page; the published version supports its creator.
Of course, his tone made the stranger pause in confusion.
"Good?" The stranger squinted, staring at Arthur, who seemed genuinely relieved. "Your willpower must be incredible... You reached the Final summit after all."
With a flick of his wrist, the man dismissed the table back into his storage space, reaching instead into the pocket of his trench coat to pull out a tiny, chitinous red insect.
"I was going to start with the small stuff," the man muttered, stepping closer to the immobilized Arthur, "but with willpower like yours, it would take all the time I simply don't have to break you."
"Huh?" Arthur eyes widened as he struggled against the bindings. "No... no, Wait!. What willpower?"
"Wait... wait!!"
"You haven't even asked the question; how do I know what you want?!!!" Arthur screamed as he watched the Stranger approach with the tiny red insect slowly.
"Oh, I'm sure you know what I want to ask." The smile on his face never wavered as he moved the insect towards Arthur's exposed, fair neck.
"H... How should I? I don't know how to read minds!!!," Arthur blurted out, straining his neck in a desperate effort to escape the approaching creature.
"I don't either, but I'm sure you know my question. And for your information, this is a flame poison beetle." There was a faint glee in his voice. Raising his pitch, he continued clearly, enjoying the fear flickering in Arthur's eyes as he struggled.
"She was just an egg when I found her within Qosio plane. A very rare breed this one. Her poison works wonders in situations like this."
"W...wait. Can't we talk about this?" Arthur scrambled for any argument he could find. "Is this information you're looking for really worth risking the wrath of the Cross family?"
From his memories, he'd seen the prestige the Cross estate held with their reputation of being fiercely protective of their own.
"Hehe... I'm not stupid. You won't die; the Cross family won't come after me as long as you don't die, and this baby will make sure of that." The Flame poison beetle was finally on Arthur neck; Arthur froze instantly the moment he felt it. This story is hosted at novelping.com.
"This new-world thing isn't as fun as I'd hoped." Arthur's heart hammered madly in his chest as he suddenly recalled Telmear's parting words: 'It's just a little pain... Don't worry, they won't dare kill you. Just hold on till I find you.'
He tried his hand at using aura, but his entire authority was completely suppressed. He could still sense the existence of his aura core, but any attempt to channel the energy within was blocked.
"It probably has something to do with the runes on this chair; even then.... I don't stand a chance at defeating him." Arthur felt the boundless aura this stranger exuded. He wasn't trying to conceal the aura that gave his presence that ethereal scent of death and madness.
Arthur watched as the stranger took his hand back slowly with a faint confusion. The stranger still held the same smile and calm demeanor.
"-Besides, you didn't think I'd come here in my real appearance, did you? If you did, then forget I said anything. Hehe." The stranger snickered lightly as he gently placed the insect back into his pocket.
Arthur frowned, studying the man carefully. There was no way to see through the illusion with his eyes alone.
He shifted his focus back to the spot on his neck where the bug had rested before asking. "Flame poison beetle, what does the poison do?"
"Don't worry, you'll feel it soon enough. Remember, whenever you can't take it anymore, you can just start talking." The stranger casually produced a chair from his storage ring and sat down. "If I'm satisfied with your answers, I'll give you the antidote."
Arthur forced his racing heart to calm down as he stared intently at the man. He didn't bother pretending he didn't know what question the Transcendent was referring to.
He had exited the Tower a little more than an hour ago, and the only people who knew he had reached the Final Summit were the ones who had awakened alongside him. They had all arrived in the Southern District together, and since then, they hadn't even spent twenty minutes in the area.
"Is that enough time for me to be targeted already?" Arthur fully focused on his thoughts because it seemed his abductor wasn't chatty.
He just sat there, waiting while staring at him silently.
"Ow..." Arthur twitched, his swollen eye throbbing as a bead of sweat rolled into it. A second later, he noticed the temperature in the room had spiked dramatically.
"No... I'm the one burning up." Arthur thought to himself as he muttered, "Flame poison..."
"Hehe... It's a heavenly feeling, right?" The stranger snickered with dark delight. "Don't worry, it only goes up from here."