Chereads / Silent Descent: Retrieval / Chapter 19 - Impostor

Chapter 19 - Impostor

Azalt was currently in ecstasy; the joy he felt was indescribable, but on the other hand, he felt indebted to Kyel. Under the terrified and horrified gazes of the four, Azalt shouted the cry of a man who knew the meaning of freedom, "The seal! The seal has finally been removed! I owe you, Kyel. I can't believe this! You were right; the pain I endured was worth it. The feeling of freedom is unparalleled!"

Azalt stepped forward and stood beside Kyel, as if he had become his follower and would share in his plans. Among the other four, there was some suspicion and doubt, but they knew that only by moving forward would they get their answer.

Staying back and waiting for their turn to fall like their comrades, or moving forward and trying to find an exit with Kyel—they had to decide, and they had to make the decision quickly, for there was no time.

The fat man, Gilbert, advanced, and the same thing happened again—a sharp physical and mental pain. But the price of this pain was freedom. Gilbert felt satisfaction with his choice; he had not made a mistake. Perhaps it was time to end this miserable lifestyle; perhaps it was time for salvation.

Bentia and Simon moved forward; they had made their decision. Something was wrong; a decision had to be made. Despite their nature as demons, there was some gratitude toward Kyel for forcing them to make a decision. Otherwise, they would live the rest of their lives unable to do so.

Now the last person left was the one with the ears, Hanzel. Some fear was evident on his face, but he swallowed his saliva and stepped forward. "Alright then, if this is what you want, I'm with you!"

After a while, he fell to the ground, screaming in pain and writhing on the floor of the room.

Kyel smiled and said in a calm tone, "You can stop pretending. Some figured out you weren't a demon the first time because they weren't focused on you, but you revealed yourself the second time."

Hanzel was still writhing on the ground as if battling pain, but Kyel was not surprised by that. A sword appeared in his hand—the sword he had bought the previous evening—and he aimed it at Hanzel.

As expected, Hanzel dodged it and quickly jumped back, with disbelieving eyes. "How did you know?! Impossible! There was no mistake in my performance."

In a sarcastic tone, Kyel replied, "I pity you. Out of all the 22 demons, you chose to impersonate Hanzel. You're doomed for sure."

"What do you mean?" the person impersonating Bentia asked.

Kyel replied, "Why should I tell you? You're going to die anyway; whether you know it or not won't help you at all." The room was too small for a fight and restricted movements, but with five against one, Hanzel's impersonator was in trouble.

Kyel delivered a spinning kick quickly, but the impersonator blocked it with his left elbow. He wanted to cast a spell and create a cover to escape, but Kyel didn't let him. He turned with another move and slashed horizontally with his sword. The impersonator dodged it quickly, and the sword struck the rocky wall, leaving a large crack.

But Simon quickly appeared behind him and grabbed him by the hair! His hair moved like a living creature, restraining him, but the impersonator had something up his sleeve. A white dagger appeared in his hand, and he aimed it backward to stab Simon, who was holding him.

He felt a sharp pain and let out a deafening scream, "Aaaaaaah! My arm!!! Aazzzh!"

Kyel had completely severed the impersonator's arm, and the arm fell to the ground, blood gushing like a fountain. The impersonator was screaming.

Kyel ordered Simon, "Let him go!" The impersonator fell to the ground, screaming in pain, "My arm! My arm!" He was clutching his severed arm.

From fear and pain, he lost consciousness. Only after a while did he wake up to find himself tied to a chair and in sharp pain. All his limbs had been severed and amputated. "Aaaaaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaaaaaah! Aaaaah!" His mouth was tied with a handkerchief, so his voice was muffled.

His eyes nearly popped out of his head from fear and pain. Kyel spoke after the impersonator stopped screaming, "If you answer my questions, maybe I will give you a merciful death without torture. What do you think? After all, you will die anyway, so what do you say?"

The impersonator was muttering and mumbling, in terrible pain, his limbs amputated, with nothing left of him, and death knocking at his door. He was on the verge of losing his mind and had lost hope of living.

He received a punch from Kyel and snapped back to reality, starting to scream. Kyel grabbed him by the face and looked into his eyes intensely. The imposter was terrified of Kyel, those two black jewels staring at him. Kyel's eyes were terrifying, devoid of any sparkle.

"Speak!" Kyel commanded, removing the handkerchief from his mouth. The impersonator breathed with difficulty, inhaling and exhaling, before bursting into mad laughter.

He laughed maniacally; it was his last laugh, and he knew it. That's why he laughed maniacally until his last moments. Even if he lived, how would he live without limbs? He preferred death, and death was on its way to him. But in what way?

He started to talk, "Aaah, how they screamed! Your friends, those damned demons, hahahaha. I killed them all, just as my father taught me. Such foolish demons—you don't know what's waiting for you!"

"Hahahahaha, they will cleanse you demons. I'm just the start—"

Kyel cut the visible flesh at the bottom part of him, and he started screaming again.

Kyel said in a cold tone with killing intent, "Listen, if you open your mouth one more time without answering my questions, I'll be very happy to torture you through the whole night until you die miserably. Got it? Good."

He continued, "How? To disguise as Hanzel?"

He answered in a low, harsh voice, "A magical object given to me by my grandfather, the red star—"

He didn't even finish what he was saying; there was a sword stabbed in his heart. Kyel didn't let him finish his words, simply because he didn't want others to hear what he would say.

With disbelieving eyes, he muttered, "Why?"

Kyel replied in a cold tone, "Hanzel had never spoken to us in human language; he always spoke in the Ashrath language."

(Ashrath language, the demon language)

Kyel murmured, "Retrieve." He wouldn't make the same mistake as last time. In recent days, he had reviewed the system's specific skill [Retrieve].

[Retrieve: This skill has several uses; you can retrieve items from dead bodies or inanimate objects. If the target is still alive, you can extract their energy, steal their memories, and even take items from their bodies. However, this only works if the target is weak, severely injured, or close to death. It won't work on targets stronger than the host. Additionally, there are restrictions on its use in certain cases, and sometimes the skill may fail even if attempted.]

Kyel thought, 'I rushed back then in killing Arlott; I could've saved myself the trouble.'

He retrieved everything before the imposter died. Memories flooded into his mind, objects were sent to the system's storage, and he was finally done with the dead body of Redderren Malzar, heir of the infamous Malzar family.