Upon hearing this, regardless of what was going through Augus's mind, Leon was a little surprised.
Since Augus knew Leon was human, there was no need to keep up the act in front of him.
Leon's earlier "my wife" was mostly a victor's smug display.
So when Augus said, "Mating with humans is a disgrace to dragons," Leon originally wanted to retort with something along the lines of 'winner and loser' talk.
But who would've thought that Rossweise would suddenly start showing off their love…
'Does this female dragon have a "husband-protecting maniac" trait too?'
'Hiss—'
'Women, truly complicated.'
However, for Augus, being force-fed affection was hardly an effective counterattack.
He snorted coldly, "I have no interest in your relationship. Kill me or torture me, do as you please."
'Oh? Already fast-forwarding to 'kill me or torture me'?'
'Didn't expect the old man to be such a loyal subject.'
Leon slowly squatted down and looked at Augus, "Killing or torturing you comes later. Before that, I have a few questions for you."
"Do I look like a prisoner who answers questions?"
"Hey, that's—"
Before Leon could finish, Rossweise kicked Augus in the chest, knocking the old guy straight to the ground.
Leon was dumbfounded and looked up at Rossweise in shock, "What are you doing?"
"He doesn't deserve to use the word 'prisoner'."
"Huh?"
"Huh what? Continue the interrogation."
"Oh…"
Leon stepped forward and dragged Augus under a giant tree.
From a distance, the sound of magic bombardments could still be heard.
"I know you won't talk easily, but you've fallen into our hands now," Leon's tone was relaxed.
"You and your subordinates were running in this direction earlier, which means there must be a new base or safe house ahead. But clearly, you can't reach it anymore."
"So even if we can't get anything out of you, we can hand you over to the dragon clans that your Crimson Flame Dragons once invaded."
"Although extermination isn't my style, listen carefully. Your subordinates are about to be defeated by those revenge-driven dragons. Once they fall, won't you be next? I might not kill you, but that doesn't mean they won't."
Given that bunch of dragons' skills, they definitely couldn't capture Augus alive on their own.
But who would've expected Casmodeous to show up out of nowhere?
Catching Augus was as easy as catching a piglet. Completely beyond what those outside dragons could manage.
If Leon handed Augus over to them, there was no need to say what would happen.
Death might actually be the easiest way out.
"Hah… Do you think laying these unfavorable situations in front of me will make me tell you what you want to know? You underestimate the Crimson Flame Dragons," Well, he was the second-in-command under Constantine. That mouth sure was tough.
Leon scratched his forehead and pretended to look troubled, "Since that's the case, we'll just have to use force. You know about memory-probing magic, right?"
Augus raised an eyebrow and sneered, "You plan to use that on me? Fine, the moment your magic enters my mind, I'll resist, and when our powers clash, my brain will burn up in an instant. That would be a relief."
The old guy was dead set on dying.
"No, no, everyone knows the limitations of probing magic. As you said, the power clash is fatal for the one being interrogated."
Leon said, "But… we can always wait until you don't have the strength to use magic before starting the probe."
"Planning to torture me? Ridiculous. I'm not afraid of death, why would I fear torture?"
"Don't be so hasty, old man," Leon leaned closer to Augus, then turned and pointed at Rossweise, "You know her, right? The Silver Dragon Queen."
Augus shot him a glare.
'BYD human brat, are you giving me a lecture on the Dragon King Encyclopedia?'
"So, you know her. But do you know her nickname?", Leon asked mysteriously.
"What…"
"The Midnight Ripper—Melkvei!"
Rossweise: …
Augus's eye twitched, "Rip… Ripper?"
"Yes. My wife has a quirk, if she doesn't kill a dragon at least once a month, she feels uncomfortable all over."
"I never heard of the Silver Dragon Queen having such a quirk…", Augus questioned.
"Nonsense, you outsiders wouldn't know. I'm her husband, we've lived together for three years. Of course, I know these little secrets about her."
Leon spoke as if it were the truth, "And wouldn't you know it, it's been exactly a month since my wife last killed someone."
Hearing this, Augus swallowed nervously, but still refused to submit, "Don't try to scare me. I already said, kill me or torture me, do as you please."
"Old man, why are you so stubborn? I'm helping you."
Leon continued, "If you don't cooperate now, when my wife gets the urge, she'll start by cutting off your arms and legs. Then she'll take a small knife and slowly slice from your kidneys to your stomach."
As he spoke, Leon traced his fingers over Augus's belly.
"Next, she'll tear open your stomach, pay attention to the word 'tear', which means your intestines, liver, and everything else might spill out."
"But don't worry, I'll blindfold you and inject you with adrenaline so you can hold on a bit longer."
"Relax, I've done this process several times for my wife already. I'm very familiar with it."
"By my estimate, you'll last about one or two minutes. By then, you definitely won't have the strength to use magic, and we can probe your memories."
Leon spread his hands, "So, this isn't torture. It's just a little game between my wife and me. You know, we really enjoy our games."
Cold sweat dripped from Augus's nose. He shrank back and glanced at the Silver Dragon Queen.
She stood there, at some point having taken out a small knife. The blade gleamed coldly as she casually sharpened her nails with it, looking utterly relaxed.
Augus closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Leon thought he was about to give in. But who would have thought—
"I won't be scared by you! So what if you gut me? It's nothing special!", Augus had the posture of a loyal martyr.
"Old man, you—"
"Leon, step aside. I'll do it. Let's cut off this old thing's arms first."
Rossweise stepped forward with her knife.
Augus's tail curled up in fear, and he trembled under the tree.
"Wait!"
Leon quickly blocked Rossweise, "Let me try again. We can definitely get the information peacefully."
"But I haven't killed anyone in a month, Leon. I feel awful," Rossweise pleaded.
"Hold on, dear. Just a little longer."
"No, I can't. I need to cut him up today! He won't talk anyway, so there's no use keeping him," With that, Rossweise moved past Leon.
"Hey, hey, honey, seriously! Just a little longer, he's about to talk, trust me."
"He said himself he won't talk. Move aside, I'm going to use his intestines as a clothesline."
"No, no, dear, listen to me, he's about to talk! And your clothesline is still good, it's made from the last guy's tendons!"
"I don't care! He won't talk! I—"
"I'll talk!", Finally, Augus's mental defenses crumbled.
'Damn these lunatic spouses! Loyalty and heroism are jokes in front of them.'
They didn't care how tough Augus was, what mattered was how they played their "game."
No point in staying stubborn in front of two psychopaths. It wasn't worth it.
Things like tearing open his stomach, using his intestines as a clothesline, or dealing with tendons… Just hearing it already hurt.
Clearly, these two hadn't even done anything yet, but Augus's stress levels were already maxed out.
The old man was indeed loyal to the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan and had prepared himself for interrogation and torture.
But just as Leon had said, this wasn't torture, it was a game prepared for the Ripper, the Silver Dragon King.
Just like how the world is full of great principles… but would you reason with a madman?
No, you wouldn't.
So…
There was no need to act tough in front of these two lunatics. There was no benefit in doing so.
Leon squatted down beside Augus again.
The old guy had surrendered, yet his face still wore a determined and unyielding expression.
But it didn't matter. Leon didn't care what expression he had, he just needed him to obediently spill everything he wanted to know.
"Since you already know that I'm human, that means we found the right person. Constantine must have highly valued you to entrust you with this secret," Leon analyzed slowly and methodically.
He was certain that the fact he was human hadn't spread within the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan.
It wasn't that Constantine couldn't spread it. It was that he didn't dare to.
The fact that Constantine knew Leon was human meant that he had reached some kind of agreement or cooperation with the Empire, assisting them in certain matters.
Simply put, he was an 'anomaly' among the dragons.
Even though he was a noble Dragon King, he had secretly colluded with the human empire. If others found out, the consequences would be...
If the news spread, at best, Constantine would be removed from power due to internal faction struggles within the clan.
At worst, the entire Crimson Flame Clan would become a laughingstock and a target of exclusion among all dragonkind.
That's why Constantine hadn't launched a direct attack on the Silver Dragon Clan right away. Instead, he spent a whole year conquering cities and expanding territory to cover up his true objective.
By the time Constantine truly struck at the Silver Dragon Clan and killed Leon, all the dragons would simply assume it was part of the Crimson Flame Dragon King's territorial expansion plan. It wouldn't be linked to the fact that the Silver Dragon Prince was actually human.
It had to be said, Constantine's strategy was flawless. He not only expanded his own territory and reestablished his prestige among the dragons but also perfectly completed the mission assigned by the Empire—
But the problem lay with General Leon.
No matter how well Constantine planned, he could never have predicted that the human empire would produce such a monstrous existence.
If Old Constantine had known that the unfortunate bastard who got stabbed in the heart back then still retained his peak combat power, then when the Empire assigned him this mission, he would have only said two words: "Huh? Me?"
(waves hands in refusal)
Leon had gone through the logic of everything several times before daring to bring Roswaal here to the Crimson Flame Dragon Clan to "open the box" on Augus.
Augus stared directly at Leon and confirmed his speculation.
"Yes, the late King Constantine did trust me greatly and told me your secret."
"Then did your late king tell you anything else? For example… collaborating with the human empire?"
As the interrogation officially began, a faint trace of reluctance flashed through Augus's dragon pupils.
But after a slight hesitation, he still chose to speak.
Who the hell knew if those two lunatics were serious about what they had just said? Augus didn't have the guts to gamble on that.
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