"We don't know anything!"
The two knight squires gritted their teeth, shaking their heads with great difficulty.
The elven priest before them said nothing, but the vines coiling around them tightened in response.
The intense pressure forced screams of agony from the two knight squires. Along with sickening cracks, even their bones began to snap under the crushing force of the vines.
Despicable elves!
The fairy tales always said elves were kind, merciful, and lived in harmony with the world!
Despite the agonizing pain, the two knight squires still refused to speak.
Every member of the knight order was handpicked and fiercely loyal to the Grey family; this level of torture was nothing to them.
They were already mentally prepared for death.
However, just as they were about to be crushed to death, the vines coiling around them suddenly changed.
A surge of life force was injected into their bodies through the vines, healing their shattered bones and damaged muscles completely.
"We have all the time in the world to spend with you. You should know there are many things in this world far more terrifying than death."
Following the elven priest's words, tiny vines grew into their bodies through their mouths and noses.
These vines were omnipresent, filling every corner of their internal organs.
The esophagus, respiratory tract, lungs, and stomach were all filled with vines that wriggled like snakes.
Under the overwhelming sensation of suffocation and terror, the external and internal vines squeezed simultaneously.
Yet even then, they did not die.
Those vines released life energy every second, sustaining their lives while simultaneously and continuously destroying their bodies.
They struggled violently, but the strength of their struggle was entirely absorbed by the vines, leaving them with nothing but a sense of powerlessness and even more desperate agony.
Under such torture, no matter how firm one's will was, they could not hold out for long.
"Mmph!!"
Finally, one of the knight squires managed to make a sound.
Only then did the elven priest slowly withdraw the growing vines from his body.
The knight squire felt as if he had returned to the world of the living from the depths of hell, gasping for breath with great difficulty.
"I'll talk!"
"After that night ended, we did search for Zeno, but we really found nothing!"
"Zeno seemed to have vanished into thin air. There wasn't a single trace left. We aren't lying!"
In his terror, he blurted out everything he knew.
However, the elven priest before him did not seem to believe his words. He snorted coldly and manipulated the vines to resume the torture.
"Wait! Wait!"
"Even though we didn't find her, Commander Caiman ordered us to continue exploring the Well of Eternal Imprisonment!"
"He suspects that after Zeno took the Life Casket, she hid inside the Well of Eternal Imprisonment!"
"Only a dungeon could evade the detection of the family's magical artifacts, which is why we found nothing!"
"Furthermore, Bishop Claude resigned from his position. To make up for the loss of the Life Casket, he also secretly entered the Well of Eternal Imprisonment!"
"This information is a top secret kept by the commander. There is absolutely no falsehood in it!"
The knight squire recalled the torture from moments ago, where death would have been a mercy, and spilled the information like beans from a bag.
The five elves said nothing more, as if they were processing the truth of the human's words.
They were aware that Claude had resigned from his position as bishop.
And it was true that after resigning, Claude had indeed disappeared.
In Eternal Imprisonment Town, there were all sorts of rumors and gossip.
Some said Bishop Claude had fled to escape punishment, but as a direct descendant of the Grey family, it was impossible for him to betray them and flee.
The Grey family would never allow such a thing to happen either.
The most likely scenario was that he had returned to the Grey family.
Or, he had gone to investigate Zeno's whereabouts, hoping to reclaim the Life Casket and redeem himself.
Now, the possibility that he had entered the Well of Eternal Imprisonment alongside Caiman's knight order—one in the light and one in the dark—to find Zeno, who might have fled there, was indeed plausible.
Bishop Claude was a fourth-rank priest who worshipped the Goddess of Light.
If he had already secretly entered the Well of Eternal Imprisonment and was working in tandem with Caiman's knight order...
The situation had become quite dangerous!
"Have you investigated Lady Zeno's background? Who exactly is she, and where did she come from?"
The elven priest's question left the knight squire stunned.
Wait, aren't you guys on the same side as that legendary female devil Zeno?
So you aren't?
Then what is all this about?
Is something major about to happen in the Northern Territory? Why are there so many elves coming here?
The knight squire did not dare to ask, nor did he dare to think too much.
In any case, the information regarding Caiman's knight order had already been leaked to this extent; it didn't matter anymore.
The knight squire continued to answer with a sense of self-abandonment.
"We haven't been able to investigate it clearly. Zeno appeared in the Northern Territory like an elf who came out of nowhere. There is no information about her prior to that."
"We speculate that she might have reached the Northern Territory from the frozen North Sea during the freezing period."
"Impossible."
The elven priest immediately denied it.
As for why he was so certain, it was because...
They were the ones who had reached the shore and landed in the Northern Territory via the North Sea during the freezing period.
"It's true! Everything I said is true! I'm really not lying; this is all the information I know!"
The knight squire spoke in terror. Perhaps because of the vines that had previously invaded his esophagus, combined with his current fear...
A spasm in his stomach caused him to vomit instantly. His posture was pathetic, devoid of any dignity as an extraordinary being.
Looking at the squire's pathetic display, the elven priest knew the other party was not lying; the information provided should be true.
To think that even the power of the Grey family had failed to uncover Lady Zeno's background and origins.
"Could Lady Zeno be the elf kidnapped by those despicable humans!" a female elf nearby spoke out in anger.
"Lady Zeno's power is incredibly immense. It's very likely she is a lost primordial elf."
"One of the elves kidnapped by humans back then was an primordial elf. Could that have been Lady Zeno?"
The elven priest shook his head.
"If a kidnapped primordial elf had escaped, it would be a major event for the humans. It's impossible for there to be no news at all."
Listening to the conversation between the elves, the knight squire indicated that he didn't understand it at all and didn't dare to listen further.
Although these five elves were not with Zeno, they were still a vicious group.
They felt no guilt whatsoever about killing or interrogating.
They seemed like a group of outlaws living on the edge of life and death, nothing like the legendary elves who were said to be gentle, mysterious, and full of reverence for life and faith in nature.
"Then is Lady Zeno... a wild primordial elf?"
"Once those despicable humans learn that Lady Zeno is an primordial elf, they will certainly not let her go."
"Moreover, we must take back the kidnapped primordial elf. We cannot allow those despicable humans to continue defiling the nobility of the elves!"
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