Chapter 20: Elmenhilde Karnstein (3)
"For now, let's start with some physical torment..."
I dragged Elmenhilde across the lab, holding her by the throat.
It hadn't even been a few minutes since we began, but Elmenhilde was already on the verge of passing out, tears continuously falling from her eyes. She could no longer beg with how hard I was gripping her throat, which was good since her begging got boring real quick.
Considering how she was a Noble Vampire, she had probably never even received a slap on her wrist, so her excessive reaction made sense.
'But still… With how Elmenhilde reacted even without my doing anything, I'd need to be extra careful not to break her accidentally…'
Pure-Blooded Vampires were like cockroaches. No, they were worse than cockroaches and wouldn't die by half-hearted attempts, but the same wasn't true for their mental state.
Elmenholde would be of no use to me if she ended up as a mindless doll.
"Hmm…"
Wondering if she had the willpower to tolerate what was about to happen, I chained her to a bed by binding her limbs with chains made of Darkness and covered her mouth so she wouldn't shout needlessly.
"Let's see, where did I keep it?"
The Astaroth Clan's Magic Circle appeared above my palm, dropping a syringe filled with a semi-transparent liquid inside.
"Mmmphhh! Mmppphhhh!!!"
"Oh, you're back already?"
Elmenhilde tried her best to break free of the restraints, but under the constant pressure of my Demonic Aura, she couldn't even muster up her Magic Power, and all she could do was stare at the syringe in my hand with a dreadful look.
That was the debuff effect someone's aura had on others, and it worked based on two main factors.
The first was the difference in strength, like in this case, while the second was racial incompatibility, like the Devil's relation with the Holy Aura.
"You don't even know what this is, but since it's in my hands, you already know it won't be anything good, huh?"
The Vampire was rather interesting.
"Do you know what Opioids are?"
Since Elmenhikde would soon give her all for my sake and know about most of my experiments, explaining random things to her didn't seem like a pain.
Maybe she could be trained as a maid, too?
At home, Amy would handle all the work regarding cooking and cleaning, but not having someone to do basic chores at my labs would suck.
"While this liquid isn't the same, the idea behind them isn't that different, so I'll keep it simple... Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects and are mostly responsible for pain relief..."
It was a short, wikipedia-ish explanation.
"But that is only if used properly, and they can have several disturbing side effects if used by the wrong people, especially someone like me. There was a time when they were used for executions, you know?"
"Hold still."
Thanks to Elmenhilde's cooperation, isolating her deltoid muscle wasn't hard.
Maybe it was because she had already resigned to her fate, but she didn't even move around now. All she did was quietly look at me while tears kept falling from her eyes.
Indeed, she was quick enough.
"But the one we are using doesn't have side effects like that, and it won't be addictive no matter how much gets injected inside you..."
My words finished when all the opioids got injected into the vampire's body.
"All it does is amplify the feeling of pain while preventing the patient from falling unconscious, no matter what…"
In short, it was an artificial method to create hyperalgesia, the condition where a person would experience an increased sensitivity to pain.
"At first, it didn't work well on supernatural creatures due to their unusually high resistance to such stuff, but after adjusting the components, we successfully created one that worked on Devils and Vampires alike. I even tried it out on myself; it was a huge success."
The feeling of pain wasn't something I liked, but my mind was so used to it that it didn't even bother me. However, that made me curious as to how Elmenhilde would react.
I had used this method on a person in my previous life, and within a minute after it started its effect, the person committed suicide.
Out of the goodness of my heart, I handed him a gun with a single bullet inside. He had the option to shoot me and live with the pain for the next three days, or he could kill himself and free himself from the pain.
Although he didn't know that I had another gun for self-defence in case he turned out to be a masochist.
Unsurprisingly enough, he shot himself right in the forehead.
That was simply how unbearable the pain was for those who never experienced it.
Elmenhilde looked worried, and she watched as I summoned a small box from my dimensional storage.
The box wasn't heavy, only weighing around twenty pounds.
Even though Elmenhilde wasn't physically strong by supernatural standards, she was way beyond a human's level, so lifting this box wouldn't be a problem.
"Do you know how great the liquid's effects are?"
The box levitated a few feet above Elmenhilde's stomach thanks to [Gravity Magic].
"Mmmph! Mmmphh!"
"From your reaction, it seems like it's working."
Elmenhilde started moving around frantically, reacting like she was already suffering from great pain.
"It amplifies a person's ability to feel pain so much that even a light tap on the shoulder would feel like being pierced by a sword."
Naturally, lying on the bed also felt like a living hell, not to mention being chained to one.
"Your pain resistance is terrible, Elmenhilde. We haven't even begun yet…"
"Mmmph! Mmmphh! Mmmmmphhhh!"
Elmenhilde kept shaking her head while looking at the box, continuously crying and trying to arch her back.
"Here goes."
As those words ended, gravity did its part, and the box fell on Elmenhilde's stomach.
"Mmmmmmmmppphhhhhhhhhh!"
The Vampire shouted at the top of her lungs, moving around with all her might.
Her Magic Power poured out of her body with our restraint, indicating that she couldn't keep it in check because of the pain.
Under normal circumstances, she would've passed out by now, but alas, that won't happen no matter what.
After watching Elmenhilde suffer for around an hour, I reached out and gently held her hand.
She whimpered even more at the slight touch, but before she could do anything—
Crack!*
Her index finger snapped, being twisted at an unimaginably painful angle.
"Uuuuuuummmmmphhhhh!"
Whenever Elmenhilde was about to get used to a certain amount of pain, I'd increase it drastically.
It was a bit troublesome, but I had to ensure that her injuries wouldn't be too bad and could be healed before we left this time barrier.
'Or, I can also use her to check how much a Phoenix Tear can fix someone's body…'
I needed to use one to examine the effects properly, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to use it on Elmenhilde after giving her all sorts of injuries while keeping the other one for myself.
With those thoughts in my mind, I broke the little vampire's middle finger.
Crack!*
"Whhhhhhmmmmpppp!"
"Hm? That's…?"
There were some red marks on the cloth covering Elmenhilde's mouth.
"Ah, she damaged her vocal cords while shouting so loudly..."
That would be a painful experience for anyone, even without the opioid's effects.
Elmenhilde's once beautiful and eye-pleasing face was nowhere to be found. She had veins popping on her forehead and neck as her back arched with sweat covering her entire body, and her bulging red eyes seemed like they might start shedding tears of blood at any moment now.
Crack!*
Elmenhilde's ring finger broke next, and sure enough, the moment that happened, she started shedding tears of blood.
With that done, my hands wrapped around her throat, choking her again and putting extra pressure on her cervical spine.
Great Sage would warn me if the physical torment was about to completely 'break' Elmenhilde, so there was no need to worry about causing irreversible damage to her—something that even a Phoenix Tear couldn't heal.
What would be the point of damaging something I owned?
"The dosage I gave her should have an effect for around six hours, and there's still plenty in my dimensional storage..."
Even though it was a very useful drug, there were a few problems with it.
It didn't work on anyone stronger than an Ultimate-Class being, and even a High-Class like Elmenhilde could resist the effects if she were to be rational and gather her Magic Power, but she couldn't do that now.
'This much should be enough for that to work...'
After waiting for a few minutes to make sure that Elmenhilde's mental defences were at their lowest, I called out to Great Sage.
'Great Sage, apply a [Mind Control] spell on Elmenhilde...'
[Answer. Applying a Mind Control spell on the target might completely shatter Elmenhilde's consciousness.]
'It's not that kind of spell...'
I explained the only feature that the spell had, and moments later, Great Sage replied.
It wasn't difficult for me to create the spell myself, but since I had such a reliable partner, that thought never even crossed my mind.
[Answer. That is possible, Master.]
'Do it.'
[Answer. Understood.]
The Astaroth Clan's Magic Circle appeared above Elmenhilde's head while she kept moving around and screaming in pain.
Now, the only thing to do was wait while continuously increasing the amount of pain Elmenhilde experienced.
And so, the longest and most traumatic twelve hours of Elmenhilde's life slowly passed.
.
.
.
"It's surprisingly difficult to create gravitational field disruption without requiring enormous amounts of Demonic Power. There has to be a way around it…"
The book levitating in front of me flipped its pages, and I leaned back on the chair.
"I always researched Gravity Magic based on my theories created with practical usage, but I might need to look at it with a new perspective…"
The book disappeared inside my dimensional storage, and I let out a loud, lazy yawn before turning towards the bed on my left.
"Man, this is a mess..."
Elmenhilde had passed out moments after the opioid's effects ended, but the pain her subconscious mind suffered didn't end there.
Her condition would traumatise most people if they were to witness it, regardless of their age or occupation.
Each one of Elmenhilde's fingers was broken, her limbs twisted at unimaginably painful angles, several needles digging into her flesh down from her neck, blood spilling out of the several hundred cuts on her body that drenched her once beautiful dress, along with dried-up tears of blood around her eyes.
All that, coupled with her twisted, dreadful expression, made it a truly horrifying sight.
If a person were to suffer even a hundredth of what Elmemhilde went through, they'd think of death as a mercy.
With her outer appearance being that of a youngster, there weren't many people who wouldn't be traumatised after seeing her condition.
Well, some of my acquaintances from my past life wouldn't be.
Forget about being traumatised. Those bastards would probably enjoy it.
It took me a new life to realise that my original social circle wasn't the best.
"Well, whatever… A [Clean] will be more than enough..."
My eyes soon drifted towards the Astaroth Clan's Magic Circle that rotated above Elmenhilde's forehead.
"Great Sage, are you done?"
[Answer. Please have some patience, Master.]
"Aren't you curious to see a Phoenix Tear in action? We messed Elmenhilde up so badly to record the working of the Phoenix Tear on every part of the body, didn't we?"
All of Elmenhilde's organs were damaged, including things like her heart and eyes, with her eyeballs hanging outside of her skull and needles digging into them. Every bone in her body was carefully and precisely broken by me, and all of her muscles were torn apart.
But even then, her life wasn't in any danger, at least until she was in this place.
Vampires were worse than cockroaches when it came to surviving injuries.
However, that was a good thing for me.
The more 'damaged' Elmenhilde was, the easier it'd be to note the effects of the Phoenix Tear because she had no injury that the Phoenix Tear couldn't heal, like a lost organ or limb.
Since that was the case, I got up from my seat and prepared an empty glass container to store her in, at least until we left this place.
This container would also serve as the place to psychologically torment her until she was just a few steps away from her breaking point.
This way, it'd be easier to rebuild Elmenhilde Karnstein in what I saw fit over the years.
[Answer. From the target's past reactions, that will not be necessary.]
'That much physical torment was enough for her?'
[Answer. Most likely.]
'It only took twelve hours, huh...'
Surprisingly, Elmenhilde gave up earlier than expected.
And coupled with the [Mind Control] spell Great Sage was implanting inside her consciousness, it'd be enough to instil a never-ending fear in her heart.
"Should I be disappointed in how easy Elmenhilde was, or should I be happy at how easily I got the work done?"
Even if no psychological torment was required, the glass container still needed to be prepared for Elmenhilde. After all, I'd need some way to kill time for the remaining nine and a half days before the [Time Barrier] ended.
[Time Barrier] was what Latia decided to call the only ability of the [Power of Time] from the Agares Clan for simplicity's sake.
I planned on teaching Latia other applications of the [Power of Time], so for her, [Time Barrier] was more like a single spell rather than the whole ability.
As for the [Time Barrier] created using the Agares Devil, it could be cancelled if I wanted to, but that'd be a waste.
Even if the [Time Barrier] disappeared, the Demonic Power created from sacrificing parts of the Devil's Life Force wouldn't simply turn back into Life Force, so cancelling the spell was the same as wasting all that power.
[Notice. The Mind Control spell has been successfully implanted.]
"What's the range?"
[Answer. As long as the caster is within the target's field of vision.]
Hmm.
That wasn't something Elmenhilde would know, so it was fine.
"Alright..."
I walked over to Elmenhilde's side, waving my right hand as all the needles digging into her flesh disappeared simultaneously, causing blood to leak from all those small holes.
Summoning one of the two Phoenix Tears, I opened the cap before placing my left hand on Elmenhilde's forehead.
"Great Sage, make sure to analyse everything."
[Answer. Understood.]
With Great Sage's confirmation, I dropped the Phoenix Tear on Elmenhilde's face, and soon, the injuries on her body started disappearing, making it seem like nothing had ever happened to her and that she was sleeping peacefully.
The only thing that remained of the gruesome scene was the bloody mess on the bed and Elmenhilde's clothes, which soon disappeared because of [Clean].
As someone who had zero skills when it comes to things like that, the [Clean] spell was one of my most beloved things.
"So, Great Sage?"
[Answer. Phoenix Tears amplify and quicken the already existing Healing Factor of an individual beyond what it should be capable of by forcibly stimulating the body's cell division, healing all injuries within seconds.]
"What about the energy source? Is it reduced from the creature's life force?"
[No. The energy required to do this is provided by the Phoenix Tears themselves so that the individual's Life Force won't be damaged. However, the effects aren't potent enough to push someone's body beyond its limits and recreate organs or limbs, but they are enough to heal them if damaged or severed.]
It seemed like a watered-down version of the Phenex Clan's [Immortality].
"Is it possible to recreate those effects, even if it means taking the energy from someone's life force?"
[Answer. It will take some time.]
Some time, huh?
'Great Sage, start the functions of this facility again...'
[Answer. Understood.]
There was no need to fake my aura to scare Elmenhilde any longer, and Great Sage didn't require the enormous energy reserves to cast the [Mind Control] spell any longer, so it'd be a waste to keep the laboratory from functioning.
With that, I looked at the little vampire, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully.
"I know you're awake, Elmenhilde."
At those words, Elmenhilde trembled, slowly opening her eyes before she sat up on the bed.
The first thing she did wasn't something like shouting or trying to run away, but she examined her condition with a look of fear and disbelief.
After a few minutes to calm herself, she turned towards me, not daring to speak with the fear apparent in her eyes.
"You don't believe that it was a dream?"
Elmenhilde slowly shook her head, hugging her own body while shivering.
"It's good that you're smart enough."
After observing Elmenhilde for a few seconds, I continued.
"So, are you willing to serve me? If not, I have quite a few things I'd like to—"
Elmenhilde's face turned even paler than it originally was, and she hurriedly replied.
"I will do it…!" Tears started falling down Elmenhilde's eyes again, and she lowered her head. "Anything you order me to, I'll betray my kind, just please, no more..."
Her reaction was way more intense than expected. She looked more like a weak-willed little girl rather than a vampire.
However, she still needed to learn the amount of control I had over her.
"Just to give you a light reminder..."
"Ah! Aaaah! Noo! S-Stop!"
Elmenhilde's face distorted in pain as she started rolling around the bed, soon falling to the ground while shouting uncontrollably.
After around ten minutes, she stopped shouting, lying on the floor while sobbing.
"I can make you experience that pain and suffering at any given moment, regardless of where you are or how much distance there is between us. Even if you try to hide from me, I can make you experience 'that' with just one thought. If you ever try to betray me, you'll be forcefully teleported to me within seconds. And no one, not even the greatest Magicians, can remove the spell that binds you to me."
Most of it was a lie, but Elmenhilde had no way of knowing that. Fear made people irrational, and the amount of fear she felt towards me shouldn't be small.
"Ah…"
The little vampire shivered when I crouched down in front of her before gently placing my hand on her cheek.
I gave her a small smile. "From now on, your life is mine to control. Understand?"
It was a short declaration, but the light inside Elmenhilde's eyes soon disappeared.
"Yes."
That was all she said, lowering her head as she resigned to her fate.
Great Sage regarded Elmenhilde's words as the truth, which made my smile widen ever so slightly.
Out of all the people I had tried such methods on, Elmenhilde was the one to realise her position the quickest.
Indeed, she was quick-witted enough not to cause herself any more suffering.
"Alright, follow me."
We arrived in front of the empty glass container filled with a greenish-blue liquid.
It was the one I prepared for Elmenhilde beforehand.
"Remove all your clothes."
At my command, Elmenhilde hesitated for a few seconds, but soon, she removed everything she wore without delay. She also tried covering whatever she could, and it seemed like she had misunderstood something.
"Do you see any of these things wearing clothes while they're inside the containers?"
Elmenhilde looked at the various Vampires and Dhampirs stored within the containers, realising that none of them had any clothes on their bodies.
A [Transportation Magic Circle] appeared under Elmenhilde's feet, and she disappeared and reappeared inside the glass container.
"You don't need to breathe inside that container, so don't worry about it."
Floating inside the container, Elmenhide gave a small nod, closing her eyes.
It wasn't like the strong enough supernatural beings needed to breathe since they could sustain themselves on Magic Power, but it was more of a habit.
"Great Sage."
Several dozen holograms appeared in front of me. Half of the holograms displayed Elmenhilde's condition before the use of Phoenix Tear, while the other half was after its use.
"Impressive…"
I continued to play around with Elmenhilde, and our time inside the [Time Barrier] soon ended.
---
"Elmen..."
I leaned back on my chair, looking at the neatly dressed Elmenhilde who stood in front of me. Her complexion was much better than it was after the physical torment, but even then, the fear within her eyes never disappeared.
"Yes, Master?"
"Tell me about the inner workings of the Vampire Factions. Since you're a Noble from the Carmilla Faction, you should be well aware of the inner workings of the Tepes Faction, too."
Elmenhilde nodded, explaining everything she knew about the Carmilla Faction and the Tepes Faction without hiding even a single detail.
Her knowledge about the Tepes Faction was somewhat limited, but she knew everything about the Carmilla Faction.
"So, how great is your influence within the Carmilla Faction?"
"As someone closely related to Queen Carmilla, my status is similar to an Heir of the 72 Pillars in the Devil's Society, and I have almost full control over the Karnstein Household as long as Queen Carmilla doesn't interfere, so I can gather as many Vampires and Mixed Blood as you wish for, Master... But the number of active Pure Blooded Nobles I can supply you is limited, as not only are they rare, but they are also guarded by servants almost all the time."
She was like a Vampire Princess.
"Hmm. What are your chances of becoming the Queen of the Carmilla Faction?"
"The chances are non-existent, Master… Queen Carmilla birthed me to have someone to inherit the Karnstein Household, not the position of Queen Carmilla."
It would happen if Queen Carmilla ended up dead because of 'natural causes.'
"The first thing you need to do is increase your influence within the Carmilla Faction... It shouldn't be difficult, considering you're from the Karnstein Household, right?"
"If that's what you wish for, Master."
"By the way, how old are you?"
"I will turn twenty-seven next month."
It was hard to believe how legal she was only by her appearance.
"Are you maintaining the body of a child, or is this your natural appearance?"
"It's my natural appearance... Thanks to my ancestry, all females in my bloodline have such an appearance. However, I can turn it into that of an adult. Should I do it, Master?"
'What's with the illegal-sounding Household…? Should I take it over?'
That thought was rather tempting.
"There's no need for that."
It would be interesting to see how she'd look as an adult, but sadly, we were short on time.
I still needed to give Elmenhilde one final push.
"Other than that, I was thinking about bringing Millacra in to keep you company as your fellow servant. What do you think?"
"Millacra? W-Why?"
Elmenhilde's reaction was close to the one I wanted.
"Wouldn't it be better to have two Noble Vampires as my servants rather than one? I'm sure Millacra would give in after the same torture you went through…"
At my words, Elmenhilde looked horrified.
"N-No, Master, I alone am more than capable enough, so please, leave Millacra alone. I beg you!"
While saying that, Elmenhilde got on her hands and knees, lowering her head until it was resting in front of my foot.
To think that a Noble Vampire from the Karnstein Household would prostrate herself in front of someone so easily. Not to mention, the Vampire in question was the next head of the household and the daughter of Queen Carmilla, the leader of the Carmilla Faction.
If people were to know this, they'd probably think of it as a joke.
"Unlike me, she will completely break with just a fraction of what I've been through. Please, have mercy on her, Master."
After she resigned to her fate, this was the first time Elmenhilde had reacted so strongly to something.
She cared about Millacra, and the fear Elmenhilde had for me was already deeply rooted within her heart, so the last thing she wanted was for me to go after her friend.
The situation was simply perfect, wasn't it?
"Since you've been so obedient for the last few days, I will grant this wish."
"Thank you, Master."
"But if you were to disappoint me in any way, that girl Millacra will replace you."
"Yes!"
Elmenhilde shivered, but she still replied.
Now, her friendship with Millacra became another thing to reassure Elmenhilde's obedience and loyalty.
"Alright, the [Time Barrier] is almost over, and we'll need to return soon… Before we leave, remove the upper part of your dress."
Without even thinking about it, Elmenhilde got up and followed my orders, removing the top of her dress until there was nothing left.
I placed my right hand on her chest, and a Magic Circle appeared on her skin. Following that, Magic Circle soon disappeared into her chest.
"This is..."
"Think of it as a Password to teleport to my laboratories, so whenever I call for you, only use [Transportation Magic] after channelling some Magic Power into it."
"I understand, Master."
"When we're in front of other people, act properly."
"Yes."
"And unless we're at one of my research facilities, don't refer to me as your Master, even if we're alone together, okay?"
Elmenhilde looked confused, but she soon understood what I meant and nodded.
Considering Alice's nature, it wasn't hard to guess that she would start checking up on me every once in a while, and it'd be troublesome if she were to find out about this whole situation.
Alice couldn't follow me through the transportation magic circle, and the mark she placed on me for my safety didn't work inside a barrier, which made my laboratories the only place where she couldn't keep tabs on me.
I planned to remove the mark once I was strong enough to handle myself in dangerous situations, but for now, knowing that Alice would pop up in any dangerous situation was reassuring.
After that, Elmenhilde got dressed again, and we teleported back to the investigation sight.
---
[Bucharest. Romania.]
"Uh, did you find them?"
"We didn't, Lady Millacra. It's almost as if they were never here, to begin with."
"What are we supposed to do now? Elmen would rip me apart if she learned of this..."
Millacra seemed like she was about to cry.
She was so stressed that she didn't even notice when Elmenhilde walked behind her.
"My, why would I rip you apart, Millacra?"
Hearing Elmenhilde's words, Millacra visibly shivered while turning around, tears visible at the corner of her eyes.
'Elmenhilde's acting skills are surprisingly good…'
"Elmen…."
"Lady Millacra, what happened?"
There wasn't much concern in my voice, as it'd be weird for me to be concerned about some Low-Class Vampires.
"Lord Azrail..." Millacra hesitated, glancing at Elmenhilde before finally speaking up. "Three Squad Leaders and seventeen Vampires have disappeared from the investigation team."
"What?"
The one who had an intense reaction was Elmenhilde, and she turned towards me.
"Lady Elmen, while it's good to be suspicious of others, don't you think my being with you is proof enough that this matter is unrelated to me?"
Elmenhilde looked annoyed, but she didn't say anything.
I had already prepared traps to capture the investigation team members, and Great Sage could remotely control the traps, selecting which vampires were the best for my experiments.
But of course, there was no way for Millacra to know this, and the only one who was aware of this fact was Elmenhilde.
"It's alright, Lady Millacra. I'll help you find your subordinates."
"Lord Azrail..."
I placed my hand on Millacra's shoulder as a Magic Circle appeared slightly below her neck. Thanks to the position she was in, only Elmenhilde saw the Magic Circle disappear.
Although it was just an empty Magic Circle with no spell formation, it was enough to scare Elmenhilde so much that her hands started trembling.
Our eyes met, and I gave Elmenhilde a knowing, playful smile as if saying, 'Let's enjoy ourselves from now on,' completely ignoring the horrified look on her face.
---
Words: 4,755
A/N:
Well, that's the kind of person Mc is right now. If some of y'all want to drop, I won't blame you.