Chapter 307: Prisoner’s Dilemma

“Liyakade Sister, how are you going to get these bandits to tell you where their hideout is?”

Mila closely followed Liyakade’s pace, but she was still worried about whether Liyakade could successfully extract the location of the bandit stronghold.

After all, these bandits were vicious criminals.

They had turned to banditry only after committing murder and becoming wanted fugitives with nowhere else to go.

Even if some had been wrongfully accused, they inevitably turned evil once they joined the bandits.

They were all cut from the same cloth.

How could Liyakade possibly force the location of their stronghold out of such wicked men?

“Hehe, Mila, just watch. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied.”

Liyakade chuckled lightly.

Extracting the stronghold’s location from the bandits seemed like a trivial matter to her.

Her tone sounded as if she were about to enjoy a bloody feast.

The stronghold was just a bonus; the feast and the performance were what she truly craved.

This was also one of the reasons Liyakade had sent Alice and Field down the mountain to bring water back to the caravan—not only for the safety of Natalia and the caravan but also because of Liyakade’s own savage desires.

Whether it was the influence of the Purple Mist Vine Grass or the increasingly awakened and boiling Demon Bloodline, Liyakade now seemed more interested in such killing.

She intended to take this opportunity to avenge Mila thoroughly.

“Splash—”

“Pfft… cough, cough… who… who is it…”

The burly man felt water suddenly rushing into his mouth and nose, jolting him awake.

He sprayed out a mouthful of water, gasped for air, and looked around groggily.

The sky had already darkened completely.

The mountain wind was slightly chilly.

His arms were tied behind his back and firmly bound to a thick tree trunk.

His ankles and legs were also bound together, leaving him completely immobilized.

Standing in front of the burly man were two petite figures—one in white, one in black—precisely Liyakade and Mila.

Faint blue Water Element residue lingered in Mila’s hand.

The water that had splashed the burly man awake was a Water Ball that Liyakade had instructed Mila to form and release.

Seeing the burly man’s drenched, pathetic look, Mila felt a surge of satisfaction.

But this was far from enough.

How could such a small punishment honor the souls of her parents?

“I’ve heard from Mila.”

“You two are bandits.”

“That wooden cabin isn’t yours.”

“You killed the original owners and took it for yourselves.”

“But you didn’t expect there to be a cellar beneath the cabin, did you?”

“And that someone was hiding there?”

Liyakade walked in front of the burly man and spoke calmly.

Even though he was tied to the tree, Liyakade still had to lift her head slightly to meet his gaze.

“So what if it’s true?”

“So there was a little beauty like you hiding.”

“What a shame we didn’t find you.”

“That old woman couldn’t even handle—”

“You!”

Hearing the burly man’s words, Mila trembled with rage.

“Slap—”

A crisp slap rang out.

Before the burly man could finish, Liyakade struck him across the face.

These bandits had the same disgusting arrogance.

The bandit leader, even while tied up, had shouted for his boss to avenge him, and now this burly man, upon waking, still didn’t understand his situation and dared to provoke them.

“I’ve been too nice to you.”

Liyakade’s face darkened as she glared at the burly man.

Though his attitude disgusted her, it actually worked in her favor.

It confirmed that he was an irredeemable scumbag.

So whatever cruel methods she used on him were entirely justified.

“You!”

“Pah!”

“You little bitch, I’ll show you what it means to—”

The burly man spat at Liyakade, then strained his body, trying to channel his Magic Power to break the ropes.

But like the bandit leader before him, the next moment he realized his body was completely drained of Magic Power.

He instantly weakened, staring at Liyakade in shock.

“Disgusting.”

Liyakade sidestepped lightly to avoid the spit.

Seeing his shocked expression, she gave a sinister smirk.

“What?”

“Weren’t you going to show me?”

“Now you’re just staring?”

“Planning to kill me with your eyes?”

“You bitch!”

“What did you do to me?!”

“Why can’t I use my Magic Power?!”

Hearing her taunt, the burly man erupted in fury, roaring at Liyakade.

“I didn’t do much.”

“I just destroyed your Magic Circuits.”

“You bitch!”

“If you’ve got guts, untie me!”

“I’ll show you how to die!”

Hearing this only made him angrier.

He shouted curses, even challenging Liyakade to release him and fight him fair and square.

“Oh, how frightening.”

Liyakade hadn’t met someone with such a hard mouth in a long time.

The wanted criminals or those who tried to harm her usually either fled or begged for mercy when they saw her strength.

But this burly man, not only did he not beg for mercy, but he even wanted a one-on-one fight.

Such a reckless fool was rare, which only amused Liyakade more.

She wondered if he was stupid or just pretending.

Maybe his head was filled with muscles, with all the brain folds flattened.

That was probably the epitome of “ignorance is bliss.”

Even if his brain was normal, Liyakade wouldn’t mind flattening it—literally, horizontally.

“So what if I untie you?”

Liyakade said with a playful laugh.

Then several Wind Blades flew, cutting all the ropes binding the burly man.

Feeling the sudden release, he immediately raised his fist and charged at Liyakade, swinging it toward her.

Against someone at only LV.10 like this burly man, Liyakade could stand still and take his punch without being harmed.

He couldn’t even budge her.

But…

Liyakade found it disgusting.

Even touching her would be a defilement from such scum.

“Thud—”

The burly man punched, aiming at Liyakade’s face at first, but then thought that damaging that face would ruin the fun later, so he redirected his fist toward her shoulder.

The next moment, the sound of air splitting rang out, but it wasn’t the burly man’s fist hitting Liyakade.

The burly man saw Liyakade, who had been standing still, suddenly accelerate.

Her figure blurred and then vanished from his sight.

Then, a sharp pain erupted in his abdomen.

Liyakade punched him square in the stomach.

The burly man felt his stomach churn violently.

He couldn’t even scream, only dry-heaved in agony.

Liyakade appeared on his other side, not wanting to get near his disgusting saliva.

“I gave you a chance, and you wasted it.”

“Now, tell me quickly.”

“Where is your hideout?”

Liyakade kicked him in the waist.

The burly man, already half-kneeling and clutching his stomach, lost his balance and fell forward.

Once he hit the ground, Liyakade stepped on his bald head, grinding her shoe sole while interrogating him.

“Bitch…”

“I’d rather die than tell you…”

“Heh…”

“Do you think I’ll let you die so easily?”

Liyakade let out a light laugh.

Then a red light flashed.

Four Blood Thorns grew out of the ground and firmly bound his limbs.

The thorns didn’t pierce through his limbs completely, but their spikes broke his skin.

“Hiss…”

The searing pain made him clench his teeth.

He glared up at Liyakade with a twisted face.

If it was just this, he could still bear it.

But Liyakade wouldn’t stop there.

The next second, the spikes began to slowly burrow deeper into his body.

“Ahh!!”

“What… what is this?!”

The piercing pain shot straight from his limbs to his brain.

The thorns dug into his hand and foot tendons, teasing every nerve under his skin.

“Hehe, how about now?”

“Still not talking?”

“I… won’t tell you…”

The burly man gasped, lying on the ground.

Though he still refused, his tone had softened.

From his words, it was clear he didn’t want to endure this torture, but he also didn’t want to die.

That was exactly what Liyakade wanted to see.

If he gave in that easily, it wouldn’t be fun.

“If you’ve got guts, kill me.”

“Kill me… then see how you find the stronghold…”

“Hmm?”

“Did you forget about your fellow bandit leader?”

Liyakade sneered, mentioning the other bandit.

The burly man’s heart skipped a beat.

He hadn’t seen his companion since waking up and thought he was dead.

Now he learned the man was still alive.

“He’s not my leader!”

“He’s just some petty thief I ran with.”

“That was all an act for you!”

“I didn’t need you to remind me.”

Liyakade could see through such a simple trick.

“Even if I kill you, I can still get the stronghold’s location from him, right?”

“No way!”

“He’ll never tell you!”

“Are you so sure?”

Liyakade lifted her foot from his bald head and looked down at him with a mocking tone, offering a suggestion.

“Hey, let’s play a game.”

“Your fellow bandit leader is still tied up inside the cabin.”

“If you tell me where your stronghold is, I’ll let you go and kill him along with all the bandits in the stronghold.”

“If you don’t tell me but he does, then I’ll cut you into pieces.”

“If neither of you tells me, I’ll cut off one arm from each of you.”

“Without arms and Magic Power, you can still barely survive, right?”

“If you both tell me, then I’ll chop off both your arms and one leg each.”

“But you’ll still live.”

“How about it?”

“Isn’t this a good game?”

Liyakade slowly crouched down in front of the burly man, closing the distance, and patiently explained the rules.

He looked up at her in silence.

Even though he wasn’t smart, he could understand such simple logic.

He didn’t know if Liyakade could actually kill all the bandits in the stronghold, but what did their lives matter to him?

“Not talking?”

“Dissatisfied with the rules?”

Seeing his silence, Liyakade clenched her right hand slightly.

The burly man immediately felt the thorns in his wounds starting to grow again.

“I’m satisfied!”

“I am!”

“But… how do I know you’re not lying to me?”

The burly man quickly begged for mercy.

Earlier, he had been so tough because of temporary bloodlust and because he saw no hope of survival.

He thought Liyakade would just slit his throat and he’d die quickly.

But now he realized she intended to torture him to death.

With a chance to live, he naturally wanted to seize it.

“I swear by my name Liyakade to the Angels.”

“If I break any of these promises, my Magic Circuits will self-destruct.”

Liyakade pulled a sheepskin paper from an inner pocket.

It was a Church contract, similar to the one Yilina Zi had used to control Liyakade with a Slave Contract.

It held some kind of world-rule power.

After she made the vow and infused it with Magic Power, the contract automatically wrote down the game rules she had described and signed her name.

“You’ve seen this before, right?”

Liyakade handed the contract to the burly man.

He looked at the contents and finally relaxed.

This Church contract had been obtained from Natalia.

Such contracts, made by the Church, could be used for transactions and promises.

They were protected by Light Element and couldn’t be destroyed by any of the four elements.

Though he was now a bandit, he had seen this type of contract before becoming one and knew Liyakade couldn’t break it.

“Yes, I’ve seen it…”

“Now I believe you!”

“Good…”

“Then, are you going to tell me where your stronghold is or not?”

“I…”

At this point, the burly man fell silent again.

He understood the game rules clearly, but when it came to making a choice, he was at a loss.

First, he definitely wanted to survive.

Even if it meant losing an arm, he could accept that.

But his companion was a sly one.

If he didn’t tell Liyakade but his companion did, then he would not only die but also be tortured to death.

He absolutely didn’t want to experience that.

However, if he told Liyakade the stronghold’s location and his companion also told her, then they would both lose two arms and a leg, which was almost as bad as death.

He didn’t want that either.

But what if his companion didn’t tell her?

Then he could escape unscathed!

In the end, after much hesitation, he chose to gamble on that possibility.

After all, he had no feelings for his companion.

If the other didn’t tell, that would be best.

If he did…

At least they’d both survive.

“Hey, have you decided?”

“Hurry up!”

Liyakade kicked his shoulder impatiently.

The burly man had just made his decision.

“Yes, I’ve decided!”

He took a deep breath and then told Liyakade the location of the stronghold.

“Our stronghold is at…”

After hearing the location, Liyakade nodded with satisfaction, a pleased smile spreading across her face.

“Sister, since I’ve answered, you can untie me now, right?”

After answering, the burly man looked up at her with a fawning expression.

“Heh, no.”

“Wait here for a bit.”

“I’ll go ask your companion first.”

Liyakade shot him a cold glance, then turned and walked away with Mila, sneering at his pathetic demeanor.

Earlier he had called her a bitch.

Now he was calling her sister.

Truly disgusting.

After walking a short distance, Liyakade suddenly felt someone gently tug at her sleeve.

It was Mila.

Mila looked troubled, her little face full of questions.

“Liyakade Sister… what was that magic you used just now?”

“I’ve never seen it before.”

“Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier.”

“I have Demon Bloodline.”

Liyakade had indeed forgotten.

She hadn’t tried to hide her Blood Magic while torturing the burly man, because Blood Magic was simply more effective for causing pain.

“What?”

“Really?”

Mila stared at Liyakade in surprise, looking her up and down.

No wonder Liyakade looked different from everyone else—with her silver-white hair and crimson pupils.

There was also a unique aura about her.

Mila’s intuition had been right.

“So… Liyakade Sister has Demon Bloodline?”

“Then how did you become friends with Alice Sister?”

“Isn’t Alice Sister a Light Element Magic User?”

“Or… is having Demon Bloodline not that unusual anymore?”

Mila’s curiosity was piqued.

She had lived in the mountains for years without schooling, knowing little about the outside world.

Her knowledge of Light Element and the Demon Race came only from fairy tales.

“No, it’s not.”

Seeing Mila’s curious expression, Liyakade patiently explained.

“Very few people have Demon Bloodline now.”

“Most Demons are still dangerous to humans.”

“Be careful if you encounter any other Demons.”

“Oh, and keep this a secret.”

“Don’t tell anyone outside the four of us.”

“As for Alice and me, that’s a long story—too long to explain in a short while.”

“Anyway, we’re friends now.”

Liyakade didn’t say they were lovers.

After all, Mila was still young and wouldn’t understand.

A relationship between two girls was already taboo enough, let alone three.

Telling Mila might corrupt the child.

“I see…”

“I understand.”

Mila nodded, looking half-comprehending.

Then she brought up something that bothered her even more.

“But, Liyakade Sister, why do you want to let them live?”

Mila naturally wanted to grind the bandits’ bones to dust, but Liyakade had set up a game that allowed them to survive, even signing a contract.

That way, at least one of them would live.

“Haha, Mila, is that what you’re worried about?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Just sit back and enjoy the show.”

Liyakade gave a charming smile, then led Mila toward her former home—the wooden cabin.