Torres, Just Endure It

The lord's mansion, underground prison.

A burly man was tightly bound to a wooden board by a chain of purple light, his head hanging low. There were no visible wounds on his body—it seemed he was merely restrained here.

"Dammit!" The one trapped like this was naturally Torres. He tried to struggle but found it completely futile.

Bad news: He had been captured.

Good news: The princess seemed to have been rescued.

"As long as Her Highness is safe, that's all that matters," Torres muttered, lifting his head slightly. "But do I even have a chance to escape now?"

Judging by Kaiaolen's combat prowess, Ye Chuan didn't seem like a match for him. And given the current situation, the princess herself might not even be safe, let alone a discarded guardian knight like him.

"If only I were stronger," Torres sighed.

Despite being a member of the Reinhardt family, the talent he awakened was the most useless—dark attribute. His innate abilities clashed entirely with his family's profession. The Reinhardts, including his father, had no intention of nurturing dark attributes, leaving his self-trained strength pitifully weak.

"No, I have to find a way out." Torres stared at the binding magic restraining him. Clearly, the one who cast this spell far surpassed him in power.

"If I break my own bones, I might still have a chance to break free." Just as Torres was scheming his escape, the sound of footsteps slowly approached.

He froze, watching as a figure emerged from the darkness.

Under the dim light, Torres gradually recognized the man's face—an elderly gentleman.

"You… You're Count Kangong's butler?"

The butler remained silent, merely unlocking the cell door and stepping inside.

Torres immediately shouted, "We're not monsters! You've all been deceived by the king! He's the real monster!"

"Monster?" The butler finally spoke, his gaze fixed on Torres before suddenly twisting into an eerie smile. "Do you mean a monster… like this?"

Blood-red cracks split open across the butler's face, peeling apart like a grotesque flower to reveal a hideous, violet-skinned monstrosity beneath.

The creature's face bore only pitch-black eyes and rows of needle-like teeth, resembling an anglerfish's maw, leering at Torres with sinister glee.

"You—you?!" Torres' eyes widened in horror.

The butler was a monster?!

In the next instant, the butler's split skin sharpened into a blade-like appendage, plunging straight into Torres' chest!

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

The sound of chewing filled the air as Torres' veins bulged, his face flushing crimson before turning purple. He screamed in agony, "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Yet, under the binding magic's power, he couldn't move an inch—forced to watch helplessly as the monster devoured his flesh.

"..."

"BOOM!" A sudden explosion interrupted the butler's feast. He slowly retracted his proboscis, ignoring the dripping blood, and turned to look behind him.

Unnoticed until now, a man stood in the shadows.

"Yo."

"You?" The butler recognized the man as Ye Chuan, the one who had fled during the day. His monstrous face twisted into a human-like expression of shock, but soon, the flower-like flaps of skin retracted, reverting to his original butler form.

Only now, his face was smeared with blood, making him appear even more grotesque.

"You nearly killed him, you old freak. Got a thing for bondage play?" Ye Chuan glanced at the barely breathing Torres and casually tossed a healing spell his way.

Poor Torres.

"No wonder you gave off such weird vibes—like some kind of imposter," Ye Chuan mused. Truthfully, he'd sensed something off about the butler from the start.

"Our lord is upstairs. Do you really think you can take him away?" The butler spoke with calm arrogance.

"Your lord isn't a monster," Ye Chuan retorted, raising an eyebrow. "You think he'd side with you once he sees your true face?"

"Who do you think he'll believe—you or me?" The butler sneered.

Clearly unaware that Ye Chuan had already spoken with Kaiaolen and even met the princess, the butler brimmed with confidence. Ye Chuan simply shook his head.

"Too bad. You're dying by my hand today."

"Not so fast!" The butler's eyes flashed purple as he vanished, reappearing instantly in front of Ye Chuan and throwing a devastating punch!

"CLANG!"

Ye Chuan summoned his enchanted sword, the blade meeting the butler's fist with a metallic ring that echoed through the prison.

A powerful kick followed, sending the butler flying backward!

The creature skidded across the ground before steadying itself, staring at Ye Chuan in disbelief. "Your strength… It's nothing like it was during the day!"

"Stacked some buffs before coming. Of course it's different." Ye Chuan twirled his sword lazily. "Can't handle the dragonkin, but I can sure handle a monster like you."

In the next moment, the butler saw Ye Chuan vanish—only to feel an icy sting at his neck.

Almost instantly, Ye Chuan's blade severed the butler's head!

"Hmph." Ye Chuan flicked the blood off his sword, only to watch in disgust as the fallen head sprouted countless writhing tentacles, worm-like appendages lifting it off the ground.

"Ugh. Disgusting."

The head reattached itself, and the butler abandoned all pretense, unleashing a storm of violet spikes aimed at Ye Chuan!

Unfazed, Ye Chuan activated his phasing ability.

The spikes pierced through his incorporeal form, embedding themselves harmlessly into the walls behind him.

"What?!"

"Phasing. Never seen it before?" Ye Chuan teleported through the barrage, reappearing before the monster. "Azure Cloud Sword—Cleave!"

A storm of cyan sword energy erupted from his blade, shredding the monster's body into dust!

"Still coming back?"

Even as Ye Chuan spoke, the pulped remains on the floor began squirming again, reassembling itself.

"Seriously?!" Ye Chuan fired a beam of pure magic energy.

The devastating blast vaporized the reforming flesh, leaving only a scorched trench in its wake.

"Wait—" Ye Chuan's spiritual sense remained locked onto the creature. As he lowered his hand, a purple mass shot out, darting straight toward Torres!

"What the—?!" Ye Chuan barely had time to react before the fleshy orb forced itself into Torres' mouth.

Torres' body convulsed violently, muscles twisting unnaturally.

A grotesque grin split his face as his eyes snapped open—now glowing purple. "Heh… Go ahead, kill me! This is your comrade!"

The next second, it saw Ye Chuan's blade descending without hesitation.

"Torres, just endure it and die along with the monster."

The monster: "?"