The two cultivators almost shed their fear after hearing they are in the Southern continent because they knew they wouldn't be able to escape. Hence, instead of begging for their lives, they antagonized everyone.
"Let me help you get started" Michael grabbed Sadie's hand from behind. He moved the dagger towards the cultivator's chest.
"Argg" the cultivator grumbled as Michael slowly applied pressure to the dagger. The dagger gradually penetrated the skin around the cultivator's left nipples.
Michael felt Sadie trying to move the dagger back,
"I….I...Can't" finally Michael let go of her hand. Sadie stumbled backward away from the cultivator before dropping the dagger on the ground. No matter how angry she was, she couldnt torture them. She did not have it in her.
"Stupid bitch" the cultivator cursed in pain.
Everything happened as Michael expected. With a gentle stomp to the ground, the dagger flew right back into his hand. He then turned back to look at his crew,
"You see, even when the scumbags who hurt her and the people she cared about are standing right in front of her, she can't do what's necessary. Because she's a good person. Being a good person is not the way to go sometimes. Sometimes, you need to be bad, you need to be evil to get what you want, to get it done what must be done" as he said, he threw the dagger to Maxine.
"Show them how it's done"
"With pleasure, Lord Lucifer" Maxine grinned evilly. Seeing the menacing look on her face, the cultivators felt a chill running through their spines.
"Another bitch!" he cursed to hide the fear in his heart.
Maxine just smiled as she got closer to him. She started from where Sadie left off.
"Who gave the order to kidnap those girls?" she asked with a smile.
"Go fu ARGH!" Maxine made a quick cut circling his nipple as the cultivator experienced a hellish pain. There was no Arch energy to ease his pain. She ripped off his nipple. Many of the pirates felt a tingling sensation witnessing the scene.
"You have many parts I could cut, including your favorite one" she tapped the bloodied dagger on his crotch. By the look in her eyes, the cultivator could tell she's not playing around.
"I'm not gonna ask you again. I'll just keep cutting you piece by piece until you give me an answer" she moved the dagger to the right side. A line of blood trail appeared from left to right.
"ARRGGGHHHH!"
Just like before, she made a cut around his other nipple.
"This is gonna get only worse for you" Michael reminded the cultivator while walking towards the other cultivator who was not getting tortured by Maxine.
"Don't forget about our guest here Maxine"
"Hmmmmmm" the cultivator's cries were muffled by the cloth.
No one felt a shed of pity for the two cultivators, especially not the ones who saw the condition of the girls. Back on earth, Michael witnessed gory scenes while dealing with human traffickers but compared to what the SilverMoon girls went through, the girls on earth had it easy.
"I'm getting bored here. How about we spice things up?" Gaya stood up from her throne. While she was walking towards Maxine, a ball of hot red flame appeared above her hand.
"What do you have in mind, Dark Queen?" Maxine asked as Gaya turned back to look at Gibson,
"It's a bit chilly here. Go bring me the oil barrel, we're gonna have a bonfire"
"Yes Dark Queen" Gibson was one of the few people who saw the girls. After seeing those girls, he wanted everyone who had a hand in this nefarious human trafficking to suffer. He limped off to the below deck to bring the oil barrel, taking a few crew members.
"You're all gonna pay. The Guardian Guild will hunt you down!" the cultivator screamed. Beneath his mad cry, there was a hint of fear.
"You don't get it, do you?" Michael grabbed the cultivator by his neck,
"They are not hunting me, I'm hunting them"
The images of the ravaged girls flashed across Michael's eyes as his hold around the cultivator's neck tightened. The cultivator's eyes started to bulge
"The oil is here Dark Queen"
Hearing Gibson's voice, Michael let go of the neck. The cultivator breathed heavily as the redness slowly appeared back on his face.
"Ah ah huh"
"Pour the oil on them," Gaya ordered Gibson.
"As you wish, Dark Queen" there was no hesitation in Gibson's voice. As far as he was concerned, no amount of torture is enough for the two cultivators.
One of the pirates handed Gibson a bucket to pour the oil on the two. Michael patiently waited for Gibson to finish pouring the oil. He was glad to see this side of Gibson as Michael would rather have a few ruthless subordinates than a hundred soft-hearted ones.
Sadie watched Gibson pouring the oil on the two cultivators without uttering a single word. Before actually meeting the two, she wanted to make them suffer. However, when she was given the opportunity, she simply couldn't.
The smell of strong crude oil permeated the air.
"Whoever answers the question first lives and get to leave this ship alive and the other burns slowly"
A glimmer of hope appeared in the cultivators' eyes. Before escaping her home kingdom, she orchestrated many tortures in the dungeons beneath her castle. She would torture the criminals who enjoyed torturing others. Of course, Xanali and her mother strictly prohibited torture in prisons but that didnt stop Gaya from doing it secretly. Because of her prior experience, she could tell who would break and who would die before giving out the needed information. The two cultivators in front of her looked like the latter type.
Hence, she decided to give them hope of escaping as it would mostly work with their type. There was a strong possibility for the two cultivators to lie yet she wouldn't have come this far if she couldn't detect a lie.
"Let's begin" Gaya snapped as the ball of fire above her hand split into two. The two orbs of fire gradually floated towards the two cultivators. Maxine removed the cloth from the other cultivator's mouth so he could speak up.
"Shit" the cultivator who was antagonizing everyone cursed under his breath.
"I won't tell you shit!" the cultivator shouted but the other one who didnt get tortured by Maxine had mixed emotions written on his face.
"Tik tok assholes, tik tok" Gaya snickered as the fireball got closer and closer to them.
"Will you really let me go if I tell you everything I know?"
"Shut up Carl!" the one who got tortured shouted at the other one.
Carl however, didn't even look at him as all of Carl's focus was on the approaching fireball.
"You have my word, Carl. Tell us everything and we will let you go" Michael reassured Carl.
Carl felt the warmth of the fire. He knew it's only a matter of seconds before he burns alive. Getting burnt to death was not worth any amount of gold coins.
"It's Minister Magnus!" Since Sadie also doubted he's the one behind all this, Michael and Gaya knew Carl is telling them the truth.
"We have a winner here boys" Gaya clapped as the fireball approaching Carl disappeared while the other one lighted the oil.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" the scream of the cultivator reverberated in the sea. He kept twitching as the fire completely enveloped him. The fire burnt the ropes that tied him to the pole. He tried to roll on the ground except it was too late.
"Look at how he's enjoying his firebath Carl" Gaya chuckled evilly,
"We can give you the same experience if you don't tell us everything, I mean everything you know" Carl's face was completely pale. He saw his colleagues charred remaining on the ground, radiating smoke. Just thinking about it made Carl's hair stand up straight.
"Maxine, bring Carl to our room"
Maxine nodded before dragging Carl behind Gaya towards the captain's cabin. Michael on the other hand walked towards Sadie. She was still looking pale as her body kept shaking.
"If you don't come out of your shell, more people you care about will get hurt. Think about it while you bury your fallen sisters" As he walked past Sadie, Gibson came to him.
"Lord Lucifer, what about the rest of them?"
Sadie turned back. She didn't know what to do with the girls.
"They should go to Tiberius's land. After everything that happened to them, they need to be with people they can relate to. Coordinate with Heinberg and see to it personally"
Considering Tiberius's people were slaves who endure the abuse of their masters for years and overcame the trauma, Michael thought it would be better if the girls went there instead of Elon. Sending them back to Elon would only make everything worse for them.
"Lord...Lord Lucifer" Sadie stuttered as Michael stopped walking.
"Can I say my goodbyes to them?"
"You were responsible for them. So they will blame you and your sect for everything. You can watch the girls settling down from a distance" After speaking these words, Michael entered the captain's cabin.
"Lord Lucifer is right Miss. Those poor girls have suffered enough. You meeting them will bring back memories they must forget" Gibson gently patted Sadie's shoulder to console her. Sadie broke down into tears. Deep down she knew they were right.
"They are going to a much better place, Miss. That place and the people living there will help them overcome their trauma"
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I wrote an elaborate sick gory torture scene but I learned that it might get flagged as the novel is for the general audience.. So I cut them down. Hope you still enjoy the chapter and let me know your thoughts