"What is it?" When Nigel asked the question first, the spearhead poked him.
"Silence."
Thyra knew about this voice. It was Itkas. Thyra could understand that Itkas had caught onto something. However, he was sure that there was no way he could catch onto his identity.
After all, he didn't just destroy the face of the real Viksha; he also took away any identifiable parts of his body. He even used the current to burn off his skin.
He was sure to hide the body. Thyra was also aware that they would find it sooner or later.
Thyra stole glances at Itkas. He had no problem understanding that he was far more cautious than Itkas's compatriot, whom he had met before.
"Bring it," Itkas ordered, and someone brought a crystal ball.
Although the shape and structure differed from what he had seen, Thyra got the same feeling from the orb he had recovered during the bandit raid.
'It's an essence-absorbing device. It looks like they are already expecting an attack from an essence absorber.' Thyra knew there was also a chance they were already aware of his thunder bull essence.
"Have any of you absorbed the essence?"
Thyra paused for a moment before looking at others. The others also looked at him. That was enough for him.
"I have," Thyra said, raising his hand.
It isn't just a guess. After all, Thyra had already absorbed the innate essence of energy when he took care of the real Viksha.
With his high mana perception, he had no problem feeling that two types of innate energy were inside him. Naturally, the second type came from the essence.
"I also have one." Another guard raised his hand.
Then Nigel did it, too. Out of four of them, three of them had absorbed one.
"What type of essence do you have?"
"I have the essence of a winter squirrel."
"I have the essence of a buzz sparrow."
The general looked at Thyra for an answer, only for Nigel to say, "He also has a buzz sparrow."
"Silence." The general glared at Nigel, adding, "Only answer when you are asked."
"Buzz sparrow." Thyra simply related the words when the general looked at him.
"Put your hand on it," Itkas ordered, staring at Thyra. Without showing any sign of hesitation, he stepped forward and did as he was ordered.
The thing sparkled as Thyra felt his essence energy flowing out of his body. However, he didn't have the time to check it. He concentrated on circulating the slime essence's energy so he could continue holding on to his shape.
If it were anyone else, it would have been a problem. However, not everyone is Thyra, nor do they have two essences. Most importantly, it was one of the ways Thyra used to train his slime essence.
Thunder bull essence was the dominant of his two essences. Normally, when Thyra drew essence energy, the energy mostly consisted of bull essence, while very little was slime essence.
That is why he used the essence-suppressing orb to extract the bull essence from his body so he could train his slime essence. So it was nothing for him.
'It looks like these orbs are far more effective than the one I had used.' Thyra waited for them to give him the order to remove his hand.
"You said you had buzz sparrows as your essence?"
"Yes."
"You can control thunder, too," Itkas asked curiously.
"I can't," Thyra answered. He had no idea what type of skill the real Viksha really had, but he was sure that such a common essence couldn't give a green-level skill like
"They can't have that type of skill." One of the generals said.
After hearing from them for more than an hour yesterday, Thyra had no problem identifying that guy as the real lord of the city of Thynor, Count Prozac.
He added, "The skill they can use discharges a little amount of current that is enough to paralyze another soldier for about a few seconds."
"Next," Iktas ordered. Thyra stepped back after depleting all his essence energy. Nigel stepped forward as he put his hand on another orb.
The process continued for a while. Even the one who didn't have the essence had to put his hand on another orb.
'It looks like the man is too cautious.' Thyra was trying to find a way to escape, even though he knew that he had to wait for the bull essence energy to recover before he could put his plan into action.
"Take off your armour." Iktas's next order came soon enough.
Thyra was the first to react. He stripped away all his armour and weapon, leaving the tunic on his body. Seeing him, his friends also followed suit.
"Put them on the last level of the dungeon." The verdict came as soon as Itkas checked them from head to toe.
"Please reconsider." Thyra fell on his knees as he pleaded. Although he had no idea what the last level of the dungeon was, he was sure it couldn't be good. That was the only reaction he could think of.
After all, from the perspective of loyal soldiers, this was unlawful imprisonment. There was no way they would accept it with a smile.
"Why general? I didn't do anything wrong." Another soldier protested while Nigel copied Thyra's action.
"Do you think a high general would need to explain himself to you?"
"But…"
"Shut up." Thyra didn't see who it was, but he wasn't too willing to spend more time with them. "What are you doing? Take them away."
'They did not hesitate to imprison the refugees who had lost nearly everything in our attack; do you really think they will think twice this time?'
Thyra could understand how decisive Itkas was. And he could understand that it was the only reasonable choice if they had discovered a dead body near the building.
Thyra stood up as one of the spearheads poked his side. He took another look at Itkas, whose expression didn't even change, and urged Nigel to stand up.
Thyra could see that the man was visibly afraid as soon as their eyes met. However, Thyra couldn't say any words of consolation. After all, he didn't know what was awaiting them.
If they were lucky, they would just be imprisoned. If worse, they might get tortured, starved, or even die in the so-called prison.
The other guards were reluctant, but all they could do was follow the orders of the general. Soon, soldiers who knew a few of them led them out of the building.
"Don't worry too much. They might let you go after they find the murderer." One of the friendly soldiers tried to console them.
"Don't talk." Another one tried to stop him.
"Come on, we all know that there is no way they would be murderers. Even you knew them for more than a decade."
As they were talking, Nigle cautiously asked, "Who was murdered?"
"We have no idea." The sympathetic escort reported, "The body was burned to the crisp. We can't tell. But have no fear. All the guards on duty yesterday had already been locked up. They will let you go if you are not the one who killed him. I am sure of it."
Thyra didn't say that he was the one, but it confirmed his guess. If Thyra had wanted to, he could have run away now. However, he didn't want to inform the enemy of his presence, at least not until he had recovered his essence.
Alas! Such a decision would come back to haunt him in the future.