Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 384 - 182: Soul Interrogation

In the dark cave, moss emitted a faint glow.

From above came the noisy shouting of soldiers, it seemed someone had already discovered the deep pit. However, they lacked ropes and other tools to come down and investigate.

The demigod Lord Alberto leaned against the corroded cave wall, his spirituality had completely collapsed, and the toxin had thoroughly paralyzed his spiritual body. He couldn’t summon even a trace of his ability and could only hang his head with an ashen face, displaying a powerless attitude ready to be slaughtered.

"Lord Hidden Strings," Rasul said with a smile, "can we have a proper talk now?"

Alberto was silent for a moment before speaking, his voice hoarse, "Just kill me."

"We don’t necessarily have to kill you," said Rasul. "As long as you write a letter to the Wolf family according to our demands..."

"Just kill me," Alberto interrupted.

"No problem," Agrippina said coldly. "Even if you want to die, I can make you beg for death without it being granted."

"Just kill me," Alberto was silent for a long while before he repeated the phrase again, initiating a loop mode.

Of course, this was not really a loop, but rather a counter-interrogation technique after being captured. Apart from this sentence, he wouldn’t respond to any questions to prevent accidentally disclosing information through casual conversation.

"This is useless. Find a mind ability user, and they can turn your brain inside out," Aske said. "Wouldn’t it be better to just be honest and have an easier time passing on, how about it?"

Alberto’s complexion grew even paler, and after a long silence, he finally said:

"Just kill me."

"As per the previously agreed upon terms," Aske turned around and said to Rasul and Agrippina, "Two bottles of magic potion, as well as this Dragon Bone Sword are mine, and my team members will ask this gentleman a few questions."

"After that, we’ll leave. The final fate of this demigod lord is no longer of any concern to the Azure Longsword."

"Agreed," Rasul replied with a smile. Agrippina gave a cold nod.

A few minutes later, the girls of the Azure Longsword entered the cave through a passageway gnawed by rats, their eyes settling on the bedraggled figure of Alberto.

The squad leader had actually defeated and captured a demigod with these people... Well, there’s no surprise there, after all, it’s the squad leader.

Eleanor strode forward, her eyes fixing on Alberto, her expression as suppressive and gloomy as dark, heavy clouds:

This was the man who led troops to invade the Bavarian Duchy.

He instigated the Lord of Filth to unleash a rat infestation and plague, causing the deaths of tens of thousands. Villages were abandoned, towns crumbled, even Hood died an unfair death.

He brought the calamity of war, dragging the southern part of the duchy into merciless flames, washed Innsbruck City in the blood with cannons, and destroyed countless families in one night. Wives lost husbands, children were left without mothers.

"Why..." Eleanor clenched her fists and forced the words through her teeth, "Why wage this war?"

"Just kill me," Alberto answered mechanically, suddenly finding the voice familiar.

He looked up and recognized the young miss of the Weisbach family in shock.

So it’s you... If I were to die at the hands of an enemy of our rival family, it would be my retribution.

"Why wage war?" Eleanor took a deep breath and angrily questioned him, "During the era of Duke Lion Henry, wasn’t the Bavarian Duchy once ruled by your Wolf family?"

"And now, as lords and nobles enfeoffed by the Emperor, you initiate rebellion, incite war, and seek to destroy the descendants of the people you once swore to protect! Thousands of innocent Frankish civilians lose their lives in this despicable, vile war without honor, their corpses piled by the roadways and gnawed on by wild beasts, dying like livestock, without even the basic dignity!"

"What do you even take human lives for!" She nearly bit her lips bloody, "Answer me, you bastard!"

"Are they numbers in a war game? Chess pieces on a board? Or bloody stepping stones on the path to the Iron Throne? The mutual conquests among several duchies, tens of thousands of maimed and dead, and the endless suffering, grief, and agony of the civilians, all because of the dirty desires and ambitions of people like you..."

Her knuckles whitened as she gripped the sword’s handle, her voice rising, her facial muscles contorted with anger. Nora anxiously grabbed her arm, then suddenly heard a soft, cold laugh from Alberto in front of her.

"So, young Swan Miss Eleanor, you still haven’t grasped the nature of this civil war?"

His gaze lifted challengingly, his eyes full of scorn, and he spoke in a tone that was almost pitying:

"If the thought of tens of thousands dead terrifies you? Dear Miss Weisbach, you merely glanced hurriedly into the gates of Hell and lost all your courage, will, and resolve, angrily proclaiming that we have beckoned Hell."

"But what about the one who truly opens the gates of Hell, the one who will hold the scepter of shepherding and mercilessly drive you all like sheep into Hell, the exalted one filled with grand ambition, would you dare to say even a word, the same as what you’ve just said, in front of him?"

"Don’t change the subject," Eleanor gritted her teeth.

"It’s you who doesn’t understand the underlying meaning of the topic," Alberto closed his eyes and sneered, "Do you think the Franks who died would have survived without this civil war? Ironically, in the coming campaign where the Supreme himself contends for Italy, the number of deaths will multiply by tenfold, a hundredfold, even a thousandfold."

"You have seen machine guns and rocket launchers, claiming we used them to kill a multitude of Franks. But have you seen white phosphorous shells? Or thermobaric bombs? You haven’t, I presume, so you must at least know of tactical nuclear bombs. In the face of the Church Court, the machine guns and rocket launchers you’ve seen are nothing but children wielding wooden swords against fully armed mercenaries. Poor girl, you know nothing of real power."

"Indeed, we sparked a war, but not for the ’desires and ambitions’ as you claim, rather out of immense fear. Civil war is indeed cruel and despicable, but compared to a foolish, full-scale war that leads to the extinction of a nation, it is relatively compassionate."

He chuckled darkly, his voice filled with immense disdain and contempt as he continued:

"If we were to win this civil war, even at the cost of being denounced as immoral, at least we could prevent the entire Empire from plummeting into Hell. However... we have failed. So I must go on ahead, paying the price I owe in advance."

"And for you, young Miss Weisbach, and your companions who harbor unrealistic pacifist dreams..."

Alberto’s gaze lifted, his pupils slowly losing focus.

"One day, when you experience the true despair we fear, go to Hell with your anger, reluctance, and regret. I will be waiting deep in Hell... to scoff at you."

His eyelids involuntarily fell shut as if he had been stripped of all strength. His body, paralyzed by the toxin, could no longer last, forcing him into a self-protective coma.

Eleanor stood in place, stunned and speechless, for a long time.

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