Chapter 396: Vexed Melville
"Hello there, Melville."
Under the guise of Azrael, I greeted my latest prisoner, Melville, who was detained in a cell. She was obviously furious and was glaring at us, sending out her sharp killing intent.
But no matter how much effort she had exerted, she could not do anything due to the red collar that had been sealing her stats and abilities.
Unlike before, the collar was now made out of Scarletite, the evolved version of Blood Steel. After discovering new, more durable metals, lots of my items were changed and upgraded. So even if she had her original strength, bending the collar would take too much effort.
"You finally came here, you bastard! I will definitely kill you once I get out of here!"
"Try it if you can."
Uttering those words with confidence, I carelessly opened the door. Not wasting that opportunity, she lunged toward me and grabbed my neck. But...
"He he, that tickles, you know?"
"Ugh—!"
However, her current strength was so insignificant to me that I deliberately ignored her aggression and just pushed her back with just one hand. She was slammed against the wall before she dropped her butt to the floor after losing her strength.
Since all of her stats were basically only one unit each, I had to be careful with my push so that she would not get damaged. She was no stronger than a weak human infant, so fragile that she could die so easily.
"Ugh... Fuck this thing...!" She groaned in agony, holding her neck and the collar.
But the truth was, it was impossible for the collar to disable all of her skills. The collar could only affect skills of unique level and lower, and Melville had three ultra skills. Moreover, the collar should not be working if the target had an ultra skill.
I thought that there was nothing I could do about it, and then I remembered that I had this skill, the Unique Skill: Mystic Artist. It was a skill I got from Inari that allowed me to combine almost any ability I possessed, including their essences.
Utilizing the Mystic Artist, I improved the capabilities of the Anti-Skill that was embedded in the collar by applying the ultra-level skill disarming ability of Envy of the Overlord of Sins.
Although Envy could only disable defensive skills, it would work no matter the level of the skill. Scary enough, Envy could penetrate the impregnable defenses of the Ultimate Arts.
The only counters for the Impregnable Fortress and the Infinity Barrier of the Ultimate Arts were the offensive attacks of the same Ultra Skill. But Envy could make it through if the user had a higher STR stat than the DEF stat of the defender.
With the essence of Envy, the Anti-Skill in the collar was able to disable Melville's ultimates. By rendering her ultra skills unavailable, the collar would gain the power to suppress all the other skills. In addition to the Extra Skills: Cancel Magic and Limiter, Melville had turned into the weakest person to ever exist.
"You should be careful with her, Master, or else you would end up killing her."
"Shut up, you bitch! You betrayed Father! It's better if you die!"
When Rubina walked into the cell, Melville's face contorted even more furiously. Other than her defeat, Melville was in shock when she learned that her mother was actually alive.
To put more salt into her wound, I told Rubina not to answer any questions Melville would inquire to enrage her further. It had been quite a while since she got here, so she had been piling up her anger.
"You there! Your name is Azrael or something, right?!" Melville then shifted her attention to me. "How the hell is that woman still alive?!"
"To answer your question, let me reveal my real identity first."
I snapped my fingers, and changes began to occur in my body. My hair rapidly turned light, starting from the roots, and my face morphed into a different complexion. In front of her, Melville was mortified upon witnessing my transformation into my real identity.
"No way... You are actually the son of the Sword Saint?"
"Yes, I am."
"If that woman is with you, that explains why her body wasn't found after fighting the Sword Saint. She is actually alive and hiding from us the whole time!"
"Well yes, but actually no." I said as I put my left hand on my hips. "She actually died, but her corpse was kept hidden in a subspace, preserving her pristineness just like what I did to your body."
"What?" She made a baffled face, not aware that she had died and then revived.
"She just recently got resurrected and has been serving since then."
"Even if you say that, I know that she was absolutely devoted to Father and she executed any of his orders flawlessly. It makes me wonder: how can she just betray him and submit to someone like you?"
"It doesn't matter how she turned to me, as you will experience it later."
"Nonsense. Do you think I would betray my father for you?" She grinned. "As I said before, I'd rather die than serve anyone else."
"You got confidence, but we will see that later. For now, we will interrogate you while trying to know how far your loyalty can go before I can use my card," I said before I turned my face to the side. "Rubina."
"Right away, Master."
Upon my order, Rubina approached her daughter and grabbed her hair.
"Uhh...! Let go of me, you bitch!"
Melville shouted and showed resistance as she was being forced by Rubina to stand. I then walked out of the cell, and Rubina followed suit as she dragged Melville with her, making our way to the interrogation room.