Nathan was already standing there obediently. In all honesty, Xue Mo didn't need to torture Nathan, but his natural distrust of people that aren't Lu Yao, made him want to check thoroughly.
Nathan appeared broken; his every action and subservience conveyed that, yet this wasn't enough. This was the worst possible situation for Nathan.
Xue Mo and Lu Yao entered the hut with Nathan in tow. The hut was dark, with no sign of lighting. There were a table and a chair in the middle of it.
All kinds of torture tools were on the table—barbed whips, nail removing device, a board that had many uses, and much more. Xue Mo had various equipment to choose from.
Nathan, although broken, he was still sane. Hesroth didn't finish him off so he could be of use in the future, and because of that, the torture event still lingered in his mind. Yet, he still didn't let out a whimper.
Unlike Xue Mo Lu Yao wasn't that versed in torture, although she used it before, not that much to know all kinds of methods. Today will surely be a good day to learn for her.
Xue Mo walked to the table and inspected it for a while. After he finished, he looked at Nathan and ordered, "sit on the chair." He then looked at Lu Yao and said thoughtfully, "learn as much as you can! Torture is my specialty. Back in the Divine Hell Universe, I was called the Sage of Nightmares not because of all the atrocities I committed but due to the horrible ways I tortured my victims!"
Xue Mo spoke with pride; his face that usually had various fake believable expressions had a genuine one. He wasn't a good person. Just because he hadn't acted like his usual self for a couple of years didn't mean he had changed.
Lu Yao just nodded, which made him look at Nathan. The previous king was already sitting in the chair with beads of sweat rolling down his face, he already knew what will happen, and he was scared.
It appeared that Hesroth did a number on him as even though he was scared, he didn't resist. Xue Mo took the fingernail remover from the table, approached Nathan, and tied him with a rope with inscriptions. Nathan had already stripped wearing nothing but pants that covered his privates.
"This is your fault," Xue Mo's whisper appeared demonic in Nathan's eyes. With him saying that he took Nathan's hand that was tied and spread his finger. He started with his index.
"You did this to yourself," Xue Mo whispered again and took his middle finger's nail off. Blood was already pouring from the wounds where fingernail used to be.
Xue Mo did that one more time with his ring finger, and every time he whispered something to Nathan.
When Xue Mo arrived at Nathan's pinkie, he didn't continue and held it. "Did you know that fingers are connected to the heart? Every time I took a fingernail, your heart ached, but it wasn't that much, was it?" Xue Mo waited for an answer that he didn't receive, so he continued, "it was because I only removed your fingernails. However, the nails and fingers that are more connected are, in fact, the pinkie and the thumb."
Xue Mo's eerie voice traveled in the room. He was torturing Nathan mentally and physically. He wanted to break him, however, not to the degree where he couldn't recover. After all, Xue Mo knew how effective puppets were, yet puppets that think were better.
After he told him that, Xue Mo took his pinkie's nail out, resulting in Nathan opening his mouth, wanting to scream yet somehow holding it. Finally, he moved to the last finger, Nathan's thumb.
"You were once a king, weren't you?" he asked rhetorically. "However, now, you are nothing but a slave!" The cold words traveled to Nathan's ears, and he twitched. "Yet, there is still a chance for you to become something more…"
After he said that, Xue Mo broke Nathan's thumbnail. He mocked, he humiliated him and made him hopeful. Although Nathan didn't know Xue Mo saw him, eyes stir every time he said something. After his heart started beating faster, he took his chance and removed his nail.
Lu Yao was watching at the side and felt no pity for the former king. Instead, she greatly concentrated on memorizing the torture methods and every detail of Xue Mo's art. She even employed Infinite Darkness to record the scenes.
Nathan finally screamed after his thumbnail got taken. Although his scream only lasted for a minute before he calmed down. He finally reacted. This was due to the combination of mental and physical torture that Xue Mo inflicted.
Once he finished with Nathan's right hand, Xue Mo patted him on the head like a dog before moving to his left hand. Just like his right hand, Xue Mo started with Nathan's index nail.
"This is your son's fault," he changed tactics. This time Xue Mo was going to make Nathan start hating his family. That way, he would be better trained. A soldier with attachments and emotion wasn't something Xue Mo needed.
Holding his middle finger, Xue Mo whispered, "did you know that your son leaked your information? I was there when you were talking in the castle because your son tipped us off." After making sure that Nathan digested what he said, he continued, "how else can I enter the castle and find the throne room without anyone noticing?"
Nathan started reacting with that. He started wondering if what Xue Mo said was true and seeing him respond like that, Xue Mo added. "Did you know that he also killed your wife?"
Nathan's heartbeat rose after Xue Mo said that. He knew that was the truth; he even helped cover it. This made him doubt everything that his son did and said. He started believing everything Xue Mo said.
Xue Mo asked for a background check on Nathan and William's relationship and the Udanem family. After getting some dirty secrets, he was going to utilize It to break Nathan. The latter didn't know about Xue Mo's race and its abilities, so he started believing that William ratted him out.
Xue Mo didn't stop with that. He kept using the info that he got and removing Nathan's nails while doing it. He was converting all of Nathan's emotions onto William.
Xue Mo did the same thing again to his left hand and could get two screams out of it. With the talk about William and all sorts of fabrication that he made believable. Xue Mo made the broken Nathan regain some of his freedom.
'With that done, let's start the real deal.' Xue Mo said and did all of that to revive Nathan. Now he was going to start the real torture.