Chapter 216: The Most Memorable Punishment of Life

Phield left a few Greatsword Warriors to stand guard.

As they descended into the basement, a thick stench of preservatives rushed at them.

Frowning, Phield covered his nose and mouth with his hand, casting a puzzled glance at Adrian, whose face was twisted with madness.

"Hahaha! Behold all of this—my carefully crafted masterpieces. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time!"

Adrian burst into hysterical laughter.

"Holy shit!"

The moment they stepped inside, everyone was stunned.

In the central hall of the basement, corpses were arranged in grotesque poses. On both sides were prison cells, where a group of women—tortured beyond recognition—were being held. The entire scene was as bloody and horrifying as hell itself. For a moment, no one even knew what to say.

"You sick freak. I knew something was wrong with you."

Phield rolled his eyes in disgust. Even though he had expected something like this, anger still surged within him. He grabbed Adrian, slapped him twice, then drove a kick straight into his stomach.

"Don’t you feel despair?"

Seeing that Phield only showed anger and disgust—none of the despair he had hoped for—Adrian immediately shouted, "Look again! There’s someone you know in here!"

"Shut up. You don’t get to speak here."

Grabbing Adrian again, Phield beat his face until it was swollen like a pig’s head before Adrian finally shut up, cowed.

"Hah. Some people don’t become monsters overnight. I’m used to it. What’s there to feel despair about?"

People like Simon and Baron Bull—weren’t they all top-tier lunatics? Compared to them, this was nothing.

The entire empire had long since rotted to its core.

If he had opened this place and found a group of adopted children living happily, that would have shocked him.

"This... this can’t be real..."

Alice, on the other hand, trembled violently, staring at the scene in disbelief.

The women around them had long lost any will to live. Their eyes were dull and lifeless.

It was unimaginable—if she hadn’t been brought here by Phield, she might have remained ignorant forever. And when she lost her value one day... would she have suffered the same fate?

Phield walked around and soon spotted the girl the original host had once liked.

For a moment, he felt a wave of complicated emotions.

The original soul had already vanished. He himself felt nothing for the girl—not even clear memories remained. But he still pitied both the former owner of this body and the girl, letting out a quiet sigh.

Good people die young, while scum live without worry.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He kicked Adrian to the ground, then drove another kick viciously between his legs.

"Scum. You’ve been living too comfortably."

"No! I’m not scum—she was the one who hurt me first!"

Even curled on the ground, Adrian still argued stubbornly.

"Yeah, I know. Your little stick got bitten off, right? Serves you right."

"How do you know that?!"

Phield laughed in disbelief, then mocked him mercilessly, "Doesn’t matter. The women you couldn’t ’cherish’—I’ll take care of them from now on. Heh... When the time comes, I’ll even have Alice write about the experience and read it out loud to you. I’m not killing you anytime soon. If I don’t return the pain to you tenfold, how could I ever be satisfied?"

"Damn it, you’re a freak too!"

Adrian was stunned. He had expected Phield to break down in agony so he could enjoy it.

Instead, those words nearly drove him insane.

"You shameless bastard!"

At that moment, several Greatsword Warriors entered, dragging a pack of wolves and dogs with them.

"Oh, right. Do you know my nickname? The Baron of Joy."

Phield pulled out a pouch of Vigor Elixir from his pocket. "I’m not going to kill you just yet. First, you’ll experience... the Judgment of Joy."

Adrian scrambled backward in terror, using both hands and feet. "What are you doing?!"

"You little pretty boy, I’ve been talking this long just to wait for this moment. The traditions of the Nightfall Domain must be upheld. When you lose, you get your defeat scene."

Phield grinned darkly as he stuffed the Vigor Elixir into the dogs’ mouths.

The dogs immediately perked up, tails stiff with excitement.

"Throw them into a cell."

Like tossing away garbage, Phield waved his hand, signaling the Greatsword Warriors.

Without hesitation, they grabbed the struggling Adrian and tossed him into a prison cell, then threw the now-frenzied dogs in after him.

"You’ll die a horrible death! You can’t treat a noble like this!" Adrian screamed in panic. "You have no idea what you’re dealing with! Making a deal with demons will doom everyone!"

"Heh."

"Let me tell you the truth—our family is cursed. Only one person can inherit the family and resist the bloodline curse. But it won’t be you, Phield! You can’t withstand it. You’ll destroy the entire Ross family and its legacy!"

"Really? Never heard of that."

Phield looked completely unconcerned. "Destroy it then. I don’t care."

What, was he supposed to throw himself into a river for some ridiculous family issue? What kind of logic was that?

Adrian tried to say more—but the dogs had already surrounded him.

"Woof woof (You look pretty sturdy.)"

"Woof, woof woof (Come on, let me have a look.)"

"AAAAAAAHHHH! You’ll die horribly! I’ll be waiting for you in hell!"

Phield mentally censored what followed. The scene was far too grotesque.

"This is what you deserve. But we’re not done yet."

Phield glanced at Alice. Her eyes were vacant—she seemed to have suffered too great a shock and had fallen into a half-conscious state.

Ashina gritted her teeth. "Disgusting. It’s a good thing you defeated him, my lord."

Back then, when Phield said he wanted to attack his own brother, she had been confused. Now she realized just how far-sighted he had been—and silently felt grateful she had followed his orders without hesitation.

"What a disgrace to the Ross family. Have nobles really fallen this far?"

Rosalia sighed, her pale hand brushing against the stained walls.

"Enough of that. Help me find the treasury. And Rosalia—you take ten Greatsword Warriors and loot everything upstairs."

Phield pinched Alice’s cheek, but she showed no reaction. It was clear he wouldn’t be getting any information out of her.

After searching for a while, they found a hidden stone chamber tucked away in a corner of the dungeon.

Pushing open the heavy door, a display room revealed itself.

Inside were numerous manuals radiating magical energy—at least a dozen of them.

You had to know—even a common combat technique manual could cost three thousand gold coins.

"Damn—magic manuals and combat skill books, this many?! We’ve struck it rich."

Phield sucked in a sharp breath. "Even though Adrian never became a knight, this obsession followed him his entire life."

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

A loud rumble echoed from above.

"What’s going on? Did those knights come to rescue him?"