I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

”You are a prisoner.” The prison head said with anger.

”And?” Lian stood up despite the chains.

The rings attached to the chair were pulled. The golden veins on the chains became brighter, and the Suppression pressure increased in his body.

A heavy pain spread through his Mana channels, but his physical strength was not restricted.

The chair fixed to the floor trembled for a moment.

Tharos reached his hand toward the alert seal beside the table, but did not step back.

Lian looked at him with cold eyes.

”Even if there’s an army behind that door, before I die, I’ll make sure I take a lot of you bastards with me.” He only allowed a small part of his presence’s pressure to leak out.

The room became heavy for a moment.

Since when did bastards who don’t even belong to the same world dare to speak to him in a commanding tone? And these stupid frogs?

The black lens on Tharos’s eye began to move faster.

Lian’s heartbeat was steady. His breathing had not changed. There was no sign of bluffing or trying to scare him.

He truly believed that if the Cindari tried to force him, he could kill a significant number of them before dying.

Of course, he had no doubt he could kill all of them.

”I don’t work for you. If translating doesn’t benefit me, I won’t open my mouth.”

Tharos was silent for a few seconds. The light of his eye lens went out.

”You think you’re in a position to bargain?”

”I don’t think, I am bargaining.” Lian answered.

”I can put you in a cell where you can’t even move your hand.”

”You can.”

”I can interrogate you every day.”

”You can do that too, but you still don’t understand his language.” Lian gave a faint smile.

A heavy silence formed between them. Tharos didn’t like being threatened.

More than that, he was dissatisfied that Lian actually had leverage.

But the matter of the prisoner was important enough that he couldn’t simply destroy a potential translator.

He finally took out a small device from his robe.

A black tool with an orange ring around its center. The prison head moved his finger over the device’s surface.

A thin strand came out of it and entered the wall. He sent a few short messages.

Lian sat down again. The chains loosened slightly, but their pressure remained.

A few minutes passed in silence.

Tharos sometimes received new messages. His expression became colder with each response.

Someone at a higher level was probably opposing giving concessions to a new prisoner, but the need for a translator ultimately overcame the opposition.

”What do you want?”

”I want to talk to my friends.”

”Which ones?”

”The same three you arrested. Marcus, Ethan, and Cassian.”

”Separately?” Tharos asked.

”Together.”

”Gather four dangerous prisoners in one room?”

”If you’re not confident in your chains, that’s not my problem.”

”Ten minutes.” Tharos frowned.

”Twenty minutes.”

”Ten.”

”Then you have no translator.” Lian leaned back in his chair.

The veins on Tharos’s face became brighter. Since when do prisoners even dare to negotiate, let alone bargain?

He wanted to explode with anger! But unfortunately, the circumstances didn’t allow it. They really needed a damn translator!

”Fifteen minutes.”

”Accepted.”

The prison head called the soldiers. The door opened, and two soldiers entered.

”Take him to meeting room three.”

One of the guards unlocked the chains attached to the chair. Lian’s body chains remained, but he could move again.

”Every word you say will be recorded.” Tharos said before leaving.

Lian looked at the ceiling listening devices. He didn’t care. These idiots don’t even know their language, and the only reason they understand what they’re saying is that the System translates for both sides.

If he tells the System not to translate, how are these idiots going to understand their language?

Lian was taken out of the room. The interrogation section corridor was completely silent, unlike the upper levels.

The doors had multiple seals, and the guards didn’t even speak when passing prisoners.

After two turns, they reached a rectangular door. The first guard placed his seal on it.

The door opened. The meeting room looked more like an empty cell.

Its walls were made of black anti-Mana plates. There were no windows.

Only a heavy metal table and four chairs were in the center. Each chair had rings for attaching chains.

Two visible listening devices were installed in the room’s corners. A small Artifact was also on the ceiling, probably recording images, sound, and Mana changes.

Lian sat on one of the chairs.

The guards did not attach his chains to the table’s rings.

After they left, the door closed.

A few minutes passed. During this time, Lian examined the room’s Mana flow.

The anti-Mana walls not only blocked Skills, but also weakened the World Memory Map’s connection to the environment.

Nevertheless, the Artifact had still recorded its entry path.

If he was forced to escape by force, at least he knew the way back to the elevator.

The sound of several locks opening was heard from behind the door.

Then the door opened. Four guards entered, and three prisoners moved among them.

Marcus was the first.

A dark bruise could be seen beside his jaw, and his left shoulder was wrapped with thick cloth. Despite the wounds, his gaze still moved over all the room’s details.

First the listening devices, then the guards’ positions, and finally Lian. His steps stopped at that same moment.

”Lian?”

Cassian entered behind him.

His face was paler than before. Bruise marks could be seen around his wrists and the lower part of his neck. He had probably endured a lot of pressure during interrogations or arrest.

But his expression was still calm. The moment he saw Lian, he lost control of his face for the first time.

His eyes widened slightly.

”What are you doing here?”

Ethan was the last.

His chains were thicker than the other two. An extra ring was around his neck, and three Suppression seals shone on his chest.

Anger could be seen in his entire posture.

When he saw Lian, he first looked at the two guards, and then at his chains.

”Don’t tell me Rindo sold you out too?”

Lian laughed.

Seeing all three alive, even in such a condition, was good news.

”I’m glad you’re safe.” Then he gestured toward the chairs with a head movement.

”Sit down.”

”That wasn’t an answer to my question.” Ethan said.

”Sit first. Fight later.” Marcus sat on a chair.

The guards attached all three of their chains to the table’s rings and then left the room. The door closed, and for a few seconds, the four just looked at each other.

”Where are Seraphina and the others?” Cassian was the first to ask.

”Outside the prison. Seraphina and Liana are fine.”

”Thank God.”

”How did you get to Vhalaris? Did you also appear in this forest?” Marcus asked curiously.

Lian first told them to turn off their translators and then gave a short and controlled version of their path.

”I appeared inside the Forest of Giants.”

He talked about the first day and crossing the forest’s dangerous sections. He described the Giants’ Graveyard only as an area full of monsters.

Then he explained how they found the Glassthorn path and met Seraphina and Liana there.

Then they crossed the passage and encountered the Cindari at Emberroot’s border.

”You walked from the Forest of Giants to Glassthorn?” Marcus asked in disbelief.

”Not exactly. I found a good mount. Its name is One.”

”Who is One?” Ethan frowned.

”An ant.” Lian answered.

”....”

Ethan looked at him for a few moments.

”I think the chains have affected your brain.” And Marcus added.

”If Liana and Seraphina made it safely, it doesn’t matter what they rode.” Cassian said and then added.

”So almost the whole group is together, right?”

The room’s atmosphere became calmer for a moment, but Lian’s answer made it heavy again.

”Still no news of Selina.”

None of them immediately said anything. Ethan took his gaze off the table. Marcus frowned. Cassian was silent for a few seconds and then said.

”I’m sure she’s fine.”

There was no real certainty in the sentence.

No one could know where Selina had appeared or what creatures she had encountered.

But Cassian didn’t want the silence and worse possibilities to weigh on everyone’s minds.

”Now what do you want to do?” Ethan looked at Lian’s chains and gave a bitter laugh.

”You’re trapped here too, and it doesn’t seem like those bastards have any plan to free us.”

”It doesn’t matter.” Lian said calmly.

”What doesn’t matter?”

”A few hours from now, we’re getting out of here anyway.”

All three looked at him at the same time.

”We?” Marcus asked.

”All four of us.”

”How?” Cassian kept his gaze on Lian’s face.

”We’ll force our way out.” Lian said very casually and randomly, as if talking about a normal topic.

Complete silence formed in the room.

”That’s your whole plan? A direct suicide? There are better and less painful ways to kill yourself.” Ethan was the first to react.