An Extra’s POV
chapter-741

"S-she's dead…?"

Felicia's eyes widened as she stared blankly at the world before her.

As a [Harlot], she had a special Class Privilege that allowed her to monitor the Status of everyone who was allied with her—especially their living or dead status. Only about a minute after Lyvia vanished from the group, Felicia discovered she was dead.

'H-how…?' No, perhaps that wasn't the question she was supposed to be asking.

'Where did Lyvia get that ring? How was she able to defy me?' Felicia did not leave room for any loose ends, and that applied double for her inner circle.

All of them had been placed under the effects of her Skill, so it was impossible for them to betray her or act without her best interests. Yet…

'Did someone release her as well? Who? All of this is too confusing!' Still, it was good riddance to see that the bitch was dead. If she had a teleportation item, she should have used it for the sake of everyone—or at least, for Felicia. Still, there was no use crying over spilt milk or wondering about the dead.

'Lyvia is gone, but I can still make use of the rest somehow. I just need to find out how to escape this place…' A small smile formed on her face, completely oblivious of the intentions of the parties that still remained before her.

"We should interrogate them now—just in case any of them have further tricks up their sleeve." Brutus advised, turning to Conrad, who was already nodding as he stared at the kneeling group intensely.

"You are correct. Lucielle…?" As soon as he gave the subtle command to Lucielle, she smiled and worked her Magic.

As Grand Mage, she was privy to tons of Magic that most other Mages didn't know existed, and could not perform even if they tried. Thanks to her supplementary Skills of [Magic Application] and [Magic Mastery], in addition to her Grand Mage Class, she was the most skilled at Magic among the humans hands down.

"Let's see…" She walked gently towards the four, who were eyeing her with slight trepidation and unease.

They couldn't escape, and they couldn't plead their case.

Their best bet was silence.

"[Virtue Of Truth]."

The Spell was cast on them without much difficulty. Perhaps this was because of Lucielle's superior prowess compared to them, or due to her incredibly powerful equipment, or maybe the already weakened state of mind of the targets.

Either way… they all fell under the Spell.

'N-no! This is bad!' Felicia thought to herself the moment she felt the effects of the Spell seep through her mind.

It almost felt like she was high—with everything getting blurry, yet sharper at the same time. Reality became distorted, and her body slowly swerved around before finally coming to a full halt thanks to her hypnotized state.

Her mind struggled to break free from the Spell, but it was too late.

"What are your names, and where are you from?" Felicia, as well as her allies, heard the first question.

Less than a second later, they told the correct answer.

She didn't even need to think, or try to process the question. Her brain simply processed the question and spat out the required information, which was then delivered by her now loose and drooling lips.

'N-no… I have to stop! I have to stop this!' She cried internally.

The only reason Felicia surrendered was because they were going to be imprisoned first. That would give her more than enough time to understand their situation. She even thought she would be able to ask some questions that would better place her on the right track.

Not this… NEVER THIS!

"What are your Class, Skills, and Levels?"

Once again, Felicia and her allies spat out all the information without hesitation or any form of resistance.

If this kept up, it was clear what the next set of questions would be.

"Why did you do it? Why did you commit treason against the Royal Council?" The moment Lucielle's voice transferred the question, Felicia and her comrades already had their answers.

"To take over the United Human Alliance and rule it as the new leader." Felicia responded, and her words were followed by those of her allies.

"To become rich and comfortable."

"To get back at everyone who looked down on us."

"I just did it for Felicia…"

Nothing about their answers triggered anything—yet.

"And did you really think you'd be able to accomplish things by yourself? Surely, you must have had some kind of plan."

"We had a plan." They jointly responded.

"What plan was that?" Lucielle pushed on, her eyes narrowing on them.

Felicia begged internally at this point—praying that her lips would fail her. She didn't want to utter a single word for fear of what would happen.

But… it was too late.

"We partnered with the Rea—"

~SPLOOOSH!~

The moment the group attempted to mention the names of the Reaper Group—their partners in crime—the bodies exploded into bits and pieces.

All, in a single instant, became fireworks of gore.

Lucielle was protected from the stain thanks to her automatic defenses, so none of the entrails and blood touched her. Sadly, they stained the pristine compound of the Royal Estate.

"Damnit…" Lucielle whispered underneath her breath. "It seems they were placed under a Non-Disclosure Curse before now. Any question that ties back to whoever placed the Curse on them would have resulted in their demise."

Lucielle sighed, shaking her head in utter regret.

This was the second blunder she was making on the same day—with the first being the escape of one of the Deserters.

'Am I losing my touch? That's bad…' Lucielle thought to herself, though she didn't really beleive it.

Rather, she suspected there was just someone better pulling the strings from behind.

'But who…?'

There was no way for her to find out, but that didn't mean she wasn't somewht determined to uncover the truth in her own way.

'Still…' Staring at the remains of what used to be four people, Lucielle couldn't help but feel both fascination and disgust for the malevolent figure hidden in the showes.

'... What a mess.'