Edited by: Kuro and Lille

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For the next couple of months, Grey was stuck in the basement. Honestly, he was just guessing about the time, it could have been longer, it could have been shorter than that. It did feel like forever though. He made his guesses based on when children were dragged out of the room… 

Unfortunately, though, six children died due to the torture. This left only six kids, him included.  

He also didn’t hear anything from the Gods or System 225 again. Yet, each time he thought he was going to die, he felt like his body would have a burst of energy and willpower to keep moving forward. It was probably with the help of the Gods. 

Luckily, Vincent was still alive. Vincent seemed to have a really strong will to live, so that was good. 

He really missed having System 225 around… Moreover, he couldn’t even see God System… He wanted to get out of the basement as soon as possible but he didn’t have the strength to get out of this place with 5 other people. Also, who knew how big the estate was, how many people were there, etc… 

He thought about exploring the place on his own but there was a large magic seal on the door leading out of the basement. No matter what he did, he couldn’t unlock it. He almost activated the alarm system on the seal at one point, so he decided to stop trying to open it… 

This body was just too weak. He had the techniques, but not enough magical energy to do what he needed to do… 

How the hell was he supposed to get out of this place? Wait to be rescued? How obnoxious, this S-ranked world sucked… 

Grey almost wanted to sigh as he was picked up by his collar and dragged out of the room. Vincent was looking at him with eyes of worry, but he could only silently mouth to Vincent that he would be okay. 

It was nothing new to be dragged out by his collar, but this time, he could hear the voices of the Gods echoing in his mind. 

‘Almost there!’ 

‘Keep fighting, Grey. Don’t give up just yet!’

‘This is the last time. Sorry, they were so late.’ 

‘Don’t worry, System 225 will arrive as soon as you get rescued. You did well…’ 

Finally, finally, he could hear the Gods and they told him good news. It was a relief… 

“Aren’t you looking a bit more spirited?” The masked man brought Grey up to his eye level. “You seem to have a bit more life in your eyes this time. Is this hope?” 

Grey didn’t say anything, just glanced at the wall next to him. 

“Well, that’s none of my business. Maybe today is the day you will die. That would be unfortunate, but I do enjoy watching the life leaving people’s eyes.” 

Grey almost rolled his eyes. He was tired of hearing this person talk. If he wasn’t so weak and malnourished, he would have killed this man himself. Still, he didn’t know who else was in the place, so he couldn’t do anything too rash. There were too many innocent and weak children in this basement… He also didn’t have a lot of stamina so if there were a lot of people, he could get himself killed prematurely. 

“Let’s get started, shall we? I wonder if I can get you to scream and squirm this time. You haven’t been doing that lately… It’s a bit upsetting.” 

What a pervert… Grey almost mumbled out loud. 

The masked man once again chained him to the wall. This time though, he didn’t say much, just shoved a bottle into his mouth. If Grey was a moment too late, he could have lost all of his front teeth from the force. He almost choked, but that was better than losing his poor teeth. 

He swallowed the contents of the bottle to the best of his ability, some dripping out of his mouth when he almost choked. Still, the masked man looked down at him, waiting for him to finish and not caring about some of the wasted liquid. 

It was awful. It felt like he drank sewer water mixed with vomit. It was so bad, he actually wanted to throw up. Maybe his taste buds would be officially destroyed after drinking that monstrosity… 

“Disgusting, isn’t it?” The man yanked the bottle out of Grey’s mouth, almost taking his teeth with it. “Don’t throw it up or I will give you another bottle.” 

Grey felt shivers going down his spine and did his best to swallow the contents. It was so bad, he almost passed out. 

“Do you wanna know what kind of poison it is? It’s quite a disgusting one.” 

He really didn’t want to know, but the man kept talking. 

“In the next three days, you will be feeling as if something is eating your insides. It will first start with your liver, then your kidneys, and when your organs begin to shut down, it will save your heart and brain for last. Ah, how unfortunate. I do have the antidote.” 

If Grey could get that mask off the man’s face, he would be able to see the biggest grin. 

“If you beg me for it, I will oh so graciously give it to you so you don’t have to suffer for the next three days. I doubt you will be able to survive without it.” 

He put a green bottle on a table in front of Grey. “The choice is yours.” 

Before Grey could say anything, a loud thump sound came from above them. Afterward, it sounded like there were people stomping around. Faint screams could be heard. 

“Hmm? You wait here… I’m going to check what’s going on upstairs.”

Grey didn’t bother wondering what was going on since he had an idea as to what was happening. He focused his magic on the inside of his body, trying to force the poison out of his system. The fairies circled him, worried but unable to help him.

He made sure to have it come up his esophagus so he could vomit it out. With the awful taste coming back, Grey quickly threw up everything he could. Black sludge came out of his mouth as he continued to throw up as much of the contents of the poison as he could. 

He wanted to pass out, but he needed to stay awake for when he got rescued. 

He could hear the sounds of fighting after the basement was open, but he didn’t care. He just threw up a puddle in front of him until he was dry-heaving.  

Checking his body, he noticed there was a bit of poison left in his body, but he got most of it out. If he drank the antidote, he would basically be cured. 

As he was thinking of melting the chains off of himself, he saw the door getting kicked down by a knight. The masked man was nowhere to be seen. Still, the keys to his locks were in the knight’s hands. 

“I found a child in this room!” The knight shouted to his comrades who were raiding the rooms. 

He rushed into the torture room with a worried look on his face. He was glad that he made it in time. It would be heartbreaking to find a dead child chained to the wall. 

The man fumbled through the keys trying to figure out which one unlocked the chains. There were about 15 keys there. Eventually, he was able to unlock the chains and caught Grey’s limp body. 

“Sorry… have no strength.” Grey’s voice was hoarse and scratchy, he really needed some water! “Antidote on… table.” 

The knight made sure Grey didn’t land in the black vomit below him and picked him up. He didn’t care about getting his clothes dirty.  

“It’s alright little one.” 

He strolled over to the table with the green bottle on it. “This one?” 

Grey nodded. He had no strength in his limbs though, so he couldn’t grab the bottle. 

“Here you go. Drink carefully.” 

The knight was very gentle with bringing the bottle to Grey’s mouth. He was able to drink the bitter antidote even when he wanted to throw it up. Still, he knew it would be good for him, so he still did his best to swallow the contents. 

“Good job, little one. Do you need some water while we wait for the others?” 

Grey nodded and created a ball of water for himself. He drank it as usual, but the knight was a bit stunned. 

After getting some water, Grey could finally talk but his throat was still uncomfortable. 

“Thank you for saving me… Do you know if Vincent is okay?” 

“Vincent? Hm… I apologize but I don’t know about the other children because my colleagues are going through the other rooms, but I will let you know later, okay?” 

“Okay, thank you.” 

“It’s no problem. My name is Linus Curtfield, what’s your name? Do you remember who your parents are?” 

“Yes… My name is Ren Hansferd. My parents are General Luke Hansferd and Duke Valintine Hansferd. I am their third son.” The way Grey spoke was slow, but he was able to articulate the words well. 

“Their third son? You mean you are their missing son, the one they have been searching for four years?”

“That’s right. You can check for my birthmark on my hip.” 

Everyone from the Tresna Kingdom knew what kind of birthmark the Hansferd had. Descendents from the Hansferd family had a small dragon somewhere on their body. This dragon was black with red eyes, and it grew bigger as the child grew older. Eventually, when the child finished growing, the dragon birthmark would be a foot long. They had this birthmark because they were blessed by a divine dragon hundreds of years ago. 

Linus checked his hip and sure enough, there was a dragon birthmark on his hip. He knew about the Hansferd family because he was also from the Tresna Kingdom. Though he came from a Baron family, he at least knew about the higher-ranking noble families. 

“I will notify your family, so come with me. Let’s go outside and get you washed up.” 

“Thank you.” Though Grey could not move well, he was just grateful to get rescued. 

And in this moment, he finally heard System 225’s voice. 

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Grandpa Marky: Hello everyone! Yesterday was my birthday but I was too exhausted to update a birthday chapter so consider this my birthday chapter to you all. I did a lot of cleaning a held a small tiny party where I cooked some chicken katsu sandwiches :D It was nice. I celebrated my birthday with my birthday bestie (who is exactly one year older than I am). I turned 25 years old. Fun lol. 

Anyway, I probably won't post another update because frankly, I'm exhausted. I slept for 12 hours but that wasn't enough haha. I might take a nap after this. Well, that's it from me! I will see you all next week. Have a lovely day/night my beautiful grandchildren <3