Conquering The Game's World

(A.N: This chapter also contains some violent scenes.)

***

The kidnapper couldn't complete his sentence as a strange magic energy circulated inside him and the next moment, his head burst out splattering blood in all directions, leaving behind a headless corpse.

"Eww, why did his head blow up?" Diana took a step back and looked at the blood splashed around and the headless corpse with disgust. Then she thought of something and asked, "Luis, did you use your magic to kill him?"

"…"

When she saw him not responding to her and just looking at the corpse with a blank expression. She became more confident that maybe her assumption was correct, so she asked in a complaining voice. "Weren't you going to get the information from him? Why did you kill him when he was ready to give answers?"

"…"

Luis didn't pay attention to her complaints. Instead, he observed the corpse with a grave expression. Although, he too felt a little nauseated when the kidnapper's head blew up and at the appalling sight of the headless corpse on the ground. The urgency of the situation made him ignore that feeling.

'A spell placed on them… and his head blew up when he tried to expose the information… Is it connected to him?'

Thinking so, Luis' frown deepened, and his eyes became sharp. He turned to look at the other kidnappers, who were staring wide-eyed at the headless corpse with fearful expressions.

"Is there a spell placed on you all that prohibits you from exposing secrets?" Luis' cold voice sounded, and his words made the kidnappers shiver.

"…"

The kidnappers shut their mouths and didn't dare say anything in the fear of having their heads blown up.

"You don't have to speak to answer me. Just a nod is enough."

If it's true, that there is a spell placed on them. Then Luis wanted to see if he could get the answers from them through the use of gestures. That way, he could save time and the unnecessary effort needed to remove the spell placed on them.

The kidnappers who heard Luis' words were silent, and contemplative looks appeared on their faces. On one hand, there's the risk of triggering the spell and on another hand, there's the torturous death awaiting them. They couldn't make a choice, because either way, it was just a decision between choosing their way of death.

Finally, another kidnapper, who was defeated by Diana, and was observing the dead body of his partner in a daze, made some resolution inside his mind and responded with a nod.

*Boom*

*Splash*

His head exploded, and the blood splashed on the other kidnappers who were near him. At the sight of his death, the kidnappers' eyes widened in horror, especially the ones who had been considering whether to nod before.

Luis knit his brows and thought, 'Even gestures can trigger the spell? Guess it's going to be troublesome after all.'

Diana, who had been silent on the side, exclaimed in surprise.

"Eh, Luis, it wasn't you who killed them?"

"No."

Luis gave her a short answer and stepped forward towards the living kidnappers.

The one who was caught by his Lightning Whip before shouted with a scared expression. "N-no, don't come n-near us! We won't tell you anything!"

The strongest kidnapper among them, who was beaten by Alicia, spoke in a deep voice. "Just hand us over to the law enforcement officers. We are surrendering ourselves."

Luis shook his head and said, "Relax, you will get the punishment you deserve later. For now, you just have to answer my questions."

The kidnapper gritted his teeth and cold sweat dripped down his forehead. "Didn't you see what happened to those two for trying to answer your questions? It's of no use. You won't be able to get any answers from us."

Luis' steps paused, and then he gave a cold smirk. "Who knows? Maybe I can remove the spell placed on you."

"…" The kidnappers weren't sure what to say at this moment, and Luis wasn't in the mood to have any further conversation. If not for the information he wanted to extract from them, Luis would have already given them a painful death. As for the law enforcement officers? He doesn't care.

Tapping on his mana bracelet, Luis gave orders. "Lily, leave some Button Drones with scanning functions here and send the rest to look for similar container drums with anti-scan materials in all three towns and the nearby areas."

{Yes, Master! I'll give all the places a thorough inspection.} Lily responded and got to work.

Observing the drones that flew at fast speed, disappearing from his vision. Luis thought, 'Although, the town folks of Gusto Town have claimed that they had checked all the places. With this kind of drums around, which are made of anti-scan material. I wouldn't be surprised if they hid the kidnapped children somewhere inside the town all along.'

'Well, now the Lily is working on that. I should get to work too.'

Luis brought his attention back to the rest of the kidnappers. Two alive, one on the verge of death.

"Lily, make a body scan of these three and locate any spell marks or runes."

{Okay, Master… They are now being scanned... Please wait a moment… Master, no spell mark or any other kind of symbol found on their skin.}

"Tsk, so annoying."

Luis clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. Then he stepped forward and clutched the jaw of the kidnapper he caught with his Lightning Whip before.

"Open your mouth."

"What…?" The kidnapper was confused and showed a dumbfounded look, not understanding why he was being asked to open his mouth all of a sudden.

As he saw the look on the kidnapper's face, Luis, who was already angry, became even more annoyed.

"Can't you hear me?! I told you to open your damn mouth!"

Luis tightened his clutch on the kidnapper's jaw, then sent bolts of powerful electric currents.

*Zzzt! *

"GRAAAAAHH!"

The kidnapper screamed in pain, and the frostbite on his limbs melted because of the lightning, making his numb senses return to normal. Just when the kidnapper had opened his mouth to scream, Luis tossed a button drone inside his mouth. Then he threw the kidnapper on the ground, letting his body twitch, squirm, and zap because of the electrocution he received.

After all that was done, Luis brought his focus back to the hologram on his mana bracelet and asked, "Now see, Lily, if you can find anything."

{Found it, Master! There's a weird pattern on his pharynx.}

Luis didn't even know whether to be relieved that he found the pattern or if he should feel weird because of its location.

'Hmm, this isn't a spell mark, nor is it some kind of rune. Rather, it's a Curse Mark. It's most probably the work of a Dark Magician.' Luis concluded after observing the curse mark with scrutiny.

{Should I project the image?} Lily asked.

"… I don't want to see the inside of his throat. Just scan and show me the pattern."

{As you wish, Master.} Lily did what he asked of her, and a moment later, she displayed the pattern in the hologram in front of Luis.

'Hmm, this isn't a spell mark, nor is it some kind of rune. Rather, it's a Curse Mark. It's most probably the work of a Dark Magician.' Luis concluded after observing the curse mark with scrutiny.

Now that he had confirmed his suspicions, Luis sighed. '*Sigh* Now, I can be sure it's him. The most difficult antagonist that Alex can encounter in his first year of the academy.'

"Well, whatever, let's try to see if I can decode this Curse Mark." He muttered under his breath and started working on it.

***

While Luis was busy with the Curse Mark. Alicia along with Olivia and Mira also arrived there.

"Oh, everyone is here," Diana said while waving her hand.

"Diana, what happened here?" Alicia asked as her eyes glanced at the two headless corpses and Luis, who was working with something on a hologram.

"Did you kill these kidnappers?" Olivia asked with a frown, knowing full well what had happened.

"No, No, professor. We just did a little interrogation, and their heads exploded on their own. If you don't believe me, you can ask Luis." Diana explained hastily.

Olivia's lips twitched because she had witnessed the interrogation that Diana regarded as 'little'.

"Now that you mention him. What is he doing exactly?"

Diana shook her head. "I don't understand too well, but he is probably trying to remove the magic placed on them that exploded their heads."

"I see." Olivia had a solemn expression. 'Now, with the addition of this weird spell placed on the kidnappers, the difficulty level of this mission has increased. Should I start helping them now?' She wondered, but then she saw Luis, who was working on the holograms with a serious expression.

'… Maybe I should wait a little more.'

---

Mira, who saw the headless corpses, felt uncomfortable and her stomach started churning because of nausea. Alicia patted her back and comforted her. "Miss Mira, if you are feeling uncomfortable, then maybe you should go back and rest. The others from the town will be here soon, anyway."

"No! I am fine! Please, let me see the kids." Mira said with a serious expression, suppressing her nausea.

Alicia nodded and pointed to the side. "Well, the kids are there. You can see them."

Mira hastily turned around in the direction Alicia was pointing and saw the figures of kids lying on the grassy ground.