Mei waved an arm and cut off Voros’s tongue with her Magistrings, and it fell on the floor with a soft plap sound. To an observer, Mei was usually quite wooden-looking and placid, but in this moment, her rage was plainly obvious for everyone to see.
“Who gave you permission to speak to Master Light in such a manner?” Mei asked sharply. “If you will not hold your tongue, then it is better to cut it off entirely.”
Because Voros couldn’t actually see the Magistrings, he gurgled in confusion before dropping to his knees as blood started gushing from his mouth. Ellie sighed and snapped her fingers, magically regenerating his tongue and stemming the bleeding. She had used healing magic on him because we couldn’t have him dying on us just yet.
“Mei,” Ellie started. “While I do truly sympathize with how you are feeling right now, please refrain from hurting him before I’ve retrieved the information we need from him. But I stress again that I do sympathize with you. I truly, truly sympathize.”
“Please forgive me,” Mei apologized with a bow. “I let the blood rush to my head.”
“Mrrrow.” Aoyuki patted Mei on the back in a way that basically said to her, I know how you feel too. I couldn’t really blame her either, but there was definitely one person who was going to.
“You fiends!” Voros screeched. “Do you rotten creatures have any idea what you’ve just done?! You tried to kill me! Me! The crown prince of the Demonkin Nation!”
In other words, he still didn’t understand the amount of trouble he was in. I didn’t want him hanging on to the mistaken belief that he had any kind of leverage, so I revealed the big secret.
“I knew you were a piece of work, but I never thought you’d be this clueless,” I said. “I’m the lord and master of everyone you see here. The Wicked Witch is a character we invented so that I could hide in plain sight. In other words, she’s a fake. She’s camouflage.”
My voice took on a harder edge. “As for you, we’re going to rip out any intel we can find in your head, and then you’re going to pay for your crimes. For what you did to my brother, and for your attempt to massacre humans. You’re going to suffer so much, you’ll wish you’d never been born. You’ll just have to wait and see what that kind of pain and suffering feels like.”
“What?” Voros squawked. “The Wicked Witch is camouflage?” He stared at me in disbelief for a second, then doubled down on his previous statements.
“I’m the crown prince!” he screeched. “If you don’t keep me as the leader of my nation and have me sire descendants to maintain the royal lineage, the barons will revolt! Do you want this nation to become too chaotic to govern?!”
“You know something? I couldn’t care less,” I said airily. “I’m not going to waste my time babysitting your nation. And if there are any rebels intent on launching suicide missions on us, we’ll take care of them.”
I continued staring down at Voros. “You believe your nation will fall into chaos? Well, so what? If this new version of the Demonkin Nation is too useless to survive without a royal family, that’s got absolutely nothing to do with me. We’re not gonna lend a hand or cooperate with anything, so your subjects are free to run the nation, cities, and villages however they wish. We won’t get involved unless your people decide to get in our way again. And then, if they do, we’ll turn your former nation into a wasteland.”
Voros turned paler, so it seemed he was finally realizing his true place in this world. I tossed out another order without even trying to mask my boredom with the whole situation.
“I think we’re done here,” I said. “Ellie, take this guy to the bottommost depths of the Abyss and chuck him in the same place that Garou and the rest of them are being held. Although don’t forget to get that info we want from him first.”
“Of course, Blessed Lord,” Ellie said with a smile before approaching Voros.
Still looking green around the gills, he drew back. “No! No! I’m the crown prince, you hear? I’m Demonkin Nation royalty! Prince Voros! Enough with these shenanigans! This treatment is wholly unacceptable!”
He tried to turn tail and flee, but Suzu reached him before he could and gave him a swift kick that sent him sprawling. Now face down on the ground, Voros felt a foot get planted on his back to immobilize him.
Ellie smiled at Suzu’s quick-thinking. “I appreciate the help, Suzu. Please keep him restrained, if you don’t mind.”
Suzu smiled back at her. “My partner says you’re welcome,” Lock translated.
If I were to guess at the reason behind Suzu’s smile, I’d say it was because she had helped with the carrying out of my order. Ellie curtsied at me, then produced an SSR Teleportation card in preparation for taking Voros, Suzu, and Lock to the very bottom of the Abyss.
“No! No! Noooo!” Voros wailed. “Spare me, I beg you! Please! I’ll do anything you ask! Oh, you can make my nation your vassal state! It’s yours, if you want it! You can have all of my subjects, so please, let me go! I beg you! Please! I’ll do anything—”
Suzu put more of her weight on her foot and forced Voros’s face into the ground.
“Just shut up, will you?” Lock said.
“Well, if you’ll excuse us,” Ellie said to the people gathered in the room. She bowed again and flashed us all a bright smile, then activated the card in her hand, but not before Voros managed to lift his head again.
“Please spare me—” But before he could finish his sentence, he vanished. All that awaited Voros now was a painful mind scan and a future of never-ending torture where he wouldn’t meet death, even if he wished to with all his might.