"The ancient relics are the most powerful artifacts in the world! Wielding one can determine the fate of an entire country, let alone having all five." Carl managed to get out.
"Why the fuck are you telling me things I already know? Like duh, they're that powerful, that's why I'm looking for them smart ass." Just for that, Zion increased the grip on Carl's neck
"Arghhh!! D-Do you think you're the only one looking for them? Do you think I would risk my life over some fucking fairy tale?!"
"Yes, you're a treasure hunter, risking your life over fairy tales is in your job description. And I already know the nobles of Midgard are looking for them, that's why I'm glad I got to you first."
"Demons!" Carl shouted, his voice strained. "They're trying to invade the Middle World—that's why they're after the relics." Sweat poured down his face, not from the pain in his broken legs, but from the terror of what was to come.
Zion couldn't help but laugh at his remark. "Demons, really? Even children know that demons can't cross over thanks to the restrictions placed by the gods."
"Haha! You're wrong!" He laughed. "The demons know they can't invade the Middle World, so they tore open small rifts in space, sending their weakest here. They found me and forced me to search for the relics!"
Zion took some time to process this information. He assumed Carl was lying, but on the off chance that he wasn't, then demons would spark bad news for not only his plans but the world.
'I'm sure Luminera would have warned me if that was the case.' He thought to himself.
"I've had enough of going in circles. Lacey, bring them in." Zion let go of his grip on Carl, watching as he gasped for air.
Walking behind Lacey were two women, one in their late thirties and the other in her early twenties, a mother-and-daughter duo. Both of them were wearing gags and their hands were tied.
"I didn't want to do this but you left me no choice. Start talking or I'll force you to lick their fucking blood off the ground after I sever their heads."
After living in a world where death was hanging over his shoulders, Zion became indifferent towards it. He didn't care about the lives of others unless they were useful or his family and friends.
Carl looked on at the women in horror, his body shaking and fear in his eyes. The thought of losing his family, the ones that he had hidden away for their own protection, scared him more than anything. But then he breathed a sigh of relief when he took a closer look at them.
"Hehe, why don't you say hello to your husband bitch!" Zion pulled the gag off the woman, forcing her to the floor. She got up and looked at him with fear in her eyes.
"H-He's not my h-husband." She said softly. her body shaking with fear.
"What?! Say that again!" Zion demanded.
"He's not my husband."
Zion looked at Carl, then at the woman on the ground. Finally, he turned his attention to the girl, taking off her gag.
"You, is that your father?" Zion asked
"N-No, my father is a guard at Bright Town." She replied shaking.
"Well, this is fucking awkward." Zion sighed while rubbing his temples.
"Lacey, the ledger." He demanded
She handed him a book where he documented important things.
"Yeah, right here, I wrote, 'Second family on the first row.'" He said
"You told me 'First family on the second row' young master"
"When the fuck did I say that?" He asked, throwing the ledger behind him.
"It was after your sister beat you up for accidentally walking in on her while she was changing."
"AHHHHH!!!! Don't bring that up." Zion swiped his hands resulting in a large gust of wind, decapitating the mother and daughter.
"So what happened to the correct family?" He asked
"According to my notes, they were used as bait to lure a Drake so your mother could kill it and take its heart," Lacey confirmed
"Well fuck." Zion turned back to Carl. "So the good news is, that's not your family and I don't have anything to blackmail you with. The bad news is that they're dead. Sorry 'bout that."
"You motherfucker! Fucking son of a BITCH!! You killed my wife and daughter! I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you!"
"Sigh, now I gotta probe his mind. That shit makes me want to vomit. Lacey, watch over me, please."
"As you wish young master."
Zion opened the cell and Carl attempted to lunge at him even with his broken legs. Zion simply kicked him back to the wall and cut off all his limbs.
"Arghhh-Eugh!!!!!"
"Shut up!" He crushed Carls's throat, silencing him.
"This is going to hurt." Appearing on Zion's hand was a pattern made out of mana, a rune. This was the rune of souls, which allowed for a person to store their soul in an object as well as imprint knowledge in it, and Zion planned to use it to search Carl's memories.
Inside his head, Zion was able to relive Carl's memories. He searched for anything regarding the map of the ancient weapons. Since his mind was cluttered with tons of information, it took him a while to find it but he eventually did.
Looking through Carl's eyes, he saw that in order to find the map, he needed a compass tied to the map, and fortunately, Carl managed to find the compass. However, a few moments later, Carl was captured by Zion's men and the rest is history.
Returning to his body, Zion clutched his head as it throbbed in pain. Souls don't like to be separated from their body while inhabiting another body with a soul, so he was experiencing backlash. Fortunately, this was as far as the backlash went.
"A compass. To find the map, we need to find a compass which is connected to the map." Zion managed to get out.
"So once we find the compass, we find the map, which then leads us to the relics." Lacey reiterated.
"Prepare a carriage and take me to the place where our people captured him."
Looking at Carl, Zion saw that he had died from having his soul expelled from his body. It didn't bother him since he was going to kill the man anyway.
"You, discard his body and clean this place up," Zion commanded to a guard stationed in the dungeon. "Let's go."