195 The Organization Behind Him

"Do you think you can kill me with just that? I told you, didn't I? I will make you suffer, that I promised. Before that happen, I would not die."

'Ah, that was quite unexpected. I never think that he could go even faster than before. Thanks to the defensive formation, I gain the power of phoenix's immortality. However, there's also a limit to that immortality; I could revive as many times as I wanted, the catch is, it has to be within the defensive formation, or else it won't work.' Nonetheless, that is still a pretty good deal in her opinion. When she bought the detail for the formation, she never thought it would give her this kind of benefit. It was worth the price.

Upon knowing she could literally revive as many times as a player character of a game, she becomes a lot bolder. Though she won't mind dying, it still doesn't change the fact that she would have to suffer a painful amount of suffering before dying unless she was killed in a single sweep. With a pained expression, Sheila pulled the knife out of her back, which made the blood splatter to the ground along with it. Once she had done that, she also took a mouthful of health potion.

Since Sheila didn't necessarily cover her back, Rodrick could clearly see the deep cut slowly closing up as if the time had been rewind and a few seconds passed, not even a speck of blood could be seen around her back. If not for the evident cut on her shirt, he would most likely think everything he had witnessed was all a dream, not reality. He couldn't help but mutter.

"Monster!"

"What? You just realized that? Yes, I'm an immortal monster. No matter how many times you slice me apart, or smash me to pieces, I will just come back to life like it was nothing. You think this is cheating? Then blame the god all you want once I sent you to the afterlife."

Once her health has been filled to the brim, Sheila quickly throws the ripped-off hand to the orb of golden flame still hovering around her. Upon seeing her action, Rodrick shouted as he charged toward her without thinking.

"NO!"

However, he acted too slow. No matter how fast he is, he couldn't close the distance between them within seconds since they are so far apart from each other, he could only watch his hand burst into ashes upon contact with the golden flames while he was charging toward her. After seeing that just happened in front of him, Rodrick suddenly roared and this time, his eyes clearly painted with a more ferocious redden than before. With a fearsome speed, he closes the distance with just a mere second before throwing his strongest punch at her. 

However, Sheila had already prepared herself as the moment she threw the hand, she quickly jumped into the shadow to hide. 

*Thump!*

The floor quickly shattered to pieces under his punch as if a small meteorite had just smashed into them. It seemed it wasn't just his speed that has improved, or so Sheila thought while hiding under his shadow. In his madness, Rodrick started thrashing around a kid throwing tantrum when his attack didn't connect with his target. 'Is he losing his mind? I don't think he would do something as childish as that if he has a bit of clarification. So if you were to surpassed the limit and overused the gem, you didn't just feel the pain of your body wrecking apart, but also lose your mind before wreaking havoc everywhere like a berserker.' 

'That's such a bad side effect. I'm sure he would feel tremendous pain all over his body if he stopped using that power, but then again, he doesn't seem to have any intention of stopping.' thought Sheila as she watches the demon-like man destroying everything in a frenzy, it was as if without doing so, he would lose his purpose in life. She needs to bring his sanity back one way or another, after all, it won't be fun torturing a man who has lost his sense of reason. 

With that thought in mind, Sheila sneakily went toward the shadow of the debris a distance without him noticing anything abnormal before jumping out of it and start attracting the berserker toward her by shouting at him.

"Hey! I'm here, you big oaf!"

"GROAAAH!"

When the berserker found his target, it growls out loud before charging toward her without knowing it was all a trap. Just as the frenzied Rodrick was about to launch a punch upon reaching approximately close to her, rather than retreating, she charges toward him instead. With an even more force from telekinesis pushing her toward him, she quickly arrived in front of him before immediately lower her head as soon after, a killing punch went passed her head, followed by a powerful blast of wind. 

Because he had lost his mind and reason for the power of the gem, it was easy to predict what he would do when she came close to him. Now that she was standing right in front of him, Sheila reached out her hand and grabbed his leg before both of them disappeared from the world along with the smile on her face. If it wasn't for the destruction brought to the surrounding area, one would never think such an incredible accident had transmitted in the hallway.

The moment she arrived on the Trial Tower along with her guest, she quickly immobilizes him on the spot with the system's help by saying.

"[Space Lock: Immobilize]"

With just that, the berserker that was about to growl suddenly freeze like a stone. Back to the time when she had given the key to Ria, Sheila had come across quite interestingly useful abilities. The ability to immobilize intruders shown by her at this moment is one of them. When she had found about it, she thought it was all fake since most of them are very powerful if used in the right hand. However, just like the phoenix's immortality, she can only use those overpower abilities in the Trial Tower. 

This is also the reason why she wasn't afraid of bringing random people into the Trial Tower, she can take care of them if they ever decided to turn rogue, so there's nothing to be worried about unless someone much powerful than her forcefully breaks into this inviolable space. There's no way such a person exists, right? 

"Now then, where should I begin?"

Sheila muttered while looking at the immobilized berserker glaring deadly at her with his demonic-looking eyes. When their eyes locked together, he started growling ferociously like an animal instead of a human. 

"Alright, I got it. First of all..."

Sheila nodded her head before pausing her words as with just a thought, a small vial with yellowish liquid appeared on top of her palm. It was one of a variant potion, it has the effect of removing abnormal status, but of course that's for the higher-type one, not the low-type in her grasp. At most, it could only lessen the abnormal status to the point that the person that was affected by it, could think rationally for a moment, which is exactly what she needs.

"Now, open your mouth wide, Ah~"

Along with her words, there came another powerful force, almost identical to the one causing the berserker to freeze, which forcefully opened his mouth wide enough for her to pour the potion in it. Afterward, everything went accordingly to her expectation as the moment Rodrick regained a bit of clarification, he started to look at the surrounding in caution. Of course he had tried moving his body during that time, however, the immobilized ability is still in place, which means he couldn't do much other than moving his head around.

"W-What is going on here?!"

Rodrick shouted with a panic tone. After all, he didn't know what happened for him to freeze in place as if the space around him has become solid to hold him down. The last thing he recalled was watching his ripped arm burned to ashes in front of him before falling unconscious. When he woke up, he couldn't move his body at all despite putting all his strength into it. Most importantly, the hateful girl was standing there, staring at him in amusement. When he looked down and saw his other arm is missing, he knows it wasn't a dream.

"Now that you have regained a bit of clarification, It's torture time~!"

Sheila said with a smile as she slowly walks closer toward him. He started struggling, however, that proven to be futile as the only thing that he can move was just his head, everything else is useless. 

"W-Wait! Do you even know who works behind me? If you kill me, they would definitely know and seek you out! Let me remind you ahead, they are people that you should not mess with unless you're asking for death!"

'Wow, such a coward. I didn't even do anything to him yet, and here he is, began exposing things that he shouldn't. Was it because he couldn't move his body that he started to realize how hopeless his situation is? Too bad. The moment he had proudly brag about beating Ria to death is the moment his fate is sealed. If he hadn't done that, I might have just killed him on the spot, however, now I want to see him suffer under my hand.' With that thought in mind, her smile slowly turned into that of an eerie smile, giving off the sense of dread that a human shouldn't have.

"That's interesting. Then, why don't you tell me what are they in detail?"

"No! I can't do that!"

"Eh, why not? If you don't tell me, how can I know whether they are a dangerous bunch or not?"

"No! I would face a fate much worse than death if I were to expose their identity!"

"Oh my, that makes me even more interested. But again, if you can't do a simple thing like that, then I don't have any more need of you, do I? Shall I begin this torturing date by cutting your nail off your finger in its entirety as a start? I'm also wondering what should I do afterward. Perhaps, I should try ripping off your limb one by one, and then heal you back to normal when you are on the verge of death. Hey, doesn't that sound interesting to you?"

However, even with her intimidating words, it doesn't seem like he would open his mouth for her. 'Good. You didn't disappoint me at all, Rodrick Jayson.' With the same eerie smile she had, Sheila reached out her hand toward his hand while he was unable to move before slowly, she started ripping off his nail out of his finger quite roughly. Rodrick thought he could keep his mouth shut, however, things are different than imagination as when that moment came, he couldn't help but scream like a baboon that has been pierced by a spear to their butt.

"AAAAAAHHH!"

"What a wonderful scream you have there. Have you ever considered becoming an idol?"

Sheila said jokingly for a moment once she was done tearing off his nail before moving on to another finger. Yes, this is just the beginning. He hadn't even done screaming and she was already aiming for another finger of his. Within a secluded place filled with nothing but an endless land of grass, a painful scream resound one after another, nonstopping. There were a few cursed at first, however, that quickly changed to a desperate begging once the man realized the girl in front of him know nothing about mercy. He quickly told her all information he knows but, no matter how much he desperately begged her afterward, her hands didn't stop even a moment. It was at that point in time that he started to regret messing with her. 

It took around two hours before the man completely crumbles to a state where he couldn't even feel the pain anymore. He just silently stood there with dead eyes that has finally lost its light. He wasn't dead yet, however, he might as well considered as one. The prideful Rodrick Jayson of the past is no more, what has become of him now was nothing but a soulless vessel that couldn't even hold a conversation. Though his body doesn't look like a person that had just been tortured many times, he had indeed been thoroughly torture as one just needs to take a look at the bloodstained grass around him to know about it.

"Hmph, that took much longer than expected."

Sheila softly muttered to herself while wiping off the blood on her hands with a handkerchief she bought from the inventory. Once she was done with that, she smoothly beheads him with a single swing of her arm, ending him once and for all. Though the problem had been solved perfectly, she didn't know why, but somehow, she feels empty.

"The Church, huh?"

She suddenly recalled the information spoken by Rodrick before his fateful downfall. Of all things considered, she didn't expect a church to be the organization that was working behind him. Even more surprisingly, he was nothing but merely an experimental subject. And this time, they visit her school with a small yet frightening goal in mind. Fortunately, she was within the Trial Tower at the moment where time passed differently than the outside. Nevertheless, whatever their goal is, it isn't important. 

Now that the side business has been taken care of, it is time to resurrect Ria.