Chapter 106 What’s the difference between a person who doesn’t act cool and a person who is dead? - Stop Hypnotizing Me, Villainous Princess!

An hour earlier... "Are you out of your mind?!" Milani shouted, somewhat frantically, as she looked at Lynn who was sitting on the Sealed Object 3-0098. Her small fists clenched tightly, her chest heaving rapidly. It was unclear whether she was genuinely afraid or just anxious about the reckless action Lynn was about to take. Sealed Object 3-0098, the Chair of Torment. Anyone seated on it, once the helmet behind the chair is strapped to their head, would instantly endure unbearable pain. This was typically used by Her Highness to interrogate the most tight-lipped prisoners. From what was known, regardless of how tough a person claimed to be, everyone who tried this Sealed Object would end up in tears, begging for mercy. Losing one's mind or breaking down was considered a lucky outcome; most couldn't even last ten seconds. This wasn't a gradual torture like boiling a frog, but rather an instantaneous onslaught of hundreds to thousands of times the pain on one's mental and spiritual resolve. The only one who lasted the longest was the former High Priest of the Creation Sect, Yasgin. But now it seems he was just an avatar. Upon hearing this, Lynn casually replied, while adjusting the Sealed Object, "This is the second step of the plan I'm preparing for this Sealed Object incident." "If everything goes as planned, once this step is completed, it should all be over, and only the final third step would remain." "What does this have to do with what you're about to do?!" Milani attempted to pull him off the chair. Even though she desperately hoped Afiya and the others would return alive, and wished for someone to rescue the always-solitary Her Highness, she didn't want Lynn to get hurt as a result. Despite being constantly pestered by his flirtatious manner, Milani, who was always immersed in her research, had grown accustomed to this life in just under a month. Unknowingly, she began regarding Lynn as an irreplaceable companion. Therefore, Milani was unwilling to watch him walk into death's embrace. "I have a secret for you, Miss Milani." Lynn put a finger to his lips, "Please keep it for me." "I possess an ability to absorb unlimited pain from external sources and store it as energy, releasing it all at once when needed." "You're not a 'Saint' believer—" "That's why I'm asking you to keep it a secret." With that, Lynn patted her on the head. Milani began to cry again, "Everyone who leaves the Chair of Torment either dies from the pain or goes insane. Even the strongest will cannot endure—" "Maybe I can be the first?" Lynn took the helmet from behind the Chair of Torment. Then, as if nothing had happened, he placed it on his head. Instantly, it was as if a fierce current coursed through his entire body, or as if he was being sliced repeatedly in just a few seconds. "Oh God, oh God, oh God!!!!" A nonhuman type of pain swept through his body. He immediately wanted to repent for his earlier boastful actions, regretting not kneeling and begging the Sealed Object for mercy. It was excruciatingly painful. In comparison, being caught in a grinder would seem as gentle as stepping on gold. How much time had passed since then? When Lynn opened his eyes again from his blackout, he found himself drenched in sweat. Milani stood before him, sobbing, holding and gently caressing his hand, as if trying to ease his physical agony. "That's enough... it's really enough." Looking at Lynn's pale face, Milani felt a deep pain in her heart for some reason. Though he was merely not yet eighteen—a boy whose family had just faced upheaval, his power stripped away, exiled from the capital, now wandering in the remote city of Orne. He, the youngest among them all, bore the heaviest burden without complaint. "How long did I manage to endure?" Lynn felt as if his entire body was falling apart, his muscles twitching and cramping. He felt like his brain was about to explode, ready to go into a protective coma from shock. "Tw-twenty seconds. Enough, it's really enough..." Milani looked at him. "You're already the longest-lasting one I know of..." "Miss Milani." Lynn took a few deep breaths, attempting to clear his mind, "If enduring a single session of being sliced were to amount to 1 point of pain energy, how much did I accumulate just now?" "26 points." Milani, well-versed in the Sealed Object's details, instantly reported the number. In other words, Lynn had equated to enduring twenty-six instances of slicing pain within just over twenty seconds. Roughly one point per second? Lynn lay back on the chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "If... hypothetically, I mean." "If one wishes to inflict enough mental impact on a demon who once held a divine position but is now in a weakened state, roughly at the sixth level, how much pain energy would be required?" Lynn asked quietly. "I-I don’t know." Milani seemed to grasp his implication, shaking her head. "You're lying, Miss." Lynn slowly sat up. "Go ahead, I've prepared myself for this." "You'll die. You will definitely die!" Milani clenched her jaw, refusing to budge. Lynn locked eyes with her for a moment, reading a stubbornness in her gaze. He sighed, "Miss, are you curious why I'm pushing things this far?" Caught off guard by his topic change, Milani paused. After a thought, it was clear. He had been at the estate for less than a month and held no life-and-death camaraderie with those around him. As for Her Highness, wasn't it more extreme? Not only had she forcibly confined him, but she also used mental suggestions on him. Could anyone really not harbor resentment? Thinking back to the time he sought her help in creating the Water Ghost Poison extract, perhaps the impulse had already begun then. Thus, Milani found herself even more perplexed. Given the circumstances, returning to the capital with Keisha and the others would have been the right choice. So why jump from the carriage? Feeling Milani’s gaze, Lynn slowly lowered his head and clenched his right fist, shaking, "Because it aligns with my life's creed." "If one doesn’t act cool, what’s the point of living?" Milani had expected some grand and profound answer from Lynn, yet here he was with this reasoning? She widened her eyes, tears forming in her eyes, yet her face bore the expression, "Are you kidding me?" Looking utterly adorable. "What else did you expect?" Lynn chuckled, "Why do you think I jumped from the carriage?" "To successfully act cool, the progression of events and an excellent audience are essential elements." "You, Afiya and the others, Duke Tyrus, and even Her Highness, are the perfect audience in my eyes." "I don’t want to see tears on your face, I wish to see hope in Afiya’s eyes, I want Greya to kneel and declare, ‘My God, you’re amazing’, and I want Duke Tyrus to be dumbfounded before giving me a thumbs up." "But above all, I want to see Her Highness finally show the expression of ‘Ah, I have been saved’ on her face." "After all, she’s always seemed self-pitying, as if believing no one would ever save her. Since that is the case, I will be the first." "If she could cry for me, that would be even better.” "This is my fundamental reason for doing everything." Of course, if he could witness Yuveliya’s cold and desolate face show a sense of incredulity and confusion, he would be thrilled. With this thought, Lynn picked up the helmet once more. Milani simply stared at him, seemingly trying to grasp the meaning and weight behind his words. After a long silence, she slowly lowered her head. "1000 points," Milani whispered, "To inflict damage on a demon who once possessed divine status, at least 1000 points are needed." "Understood." Lynn took a deep breath. To wear the crown, one must bear its weight. As she watched Lynn put the helmet back on, Milani, seeing the agony and twisted expression on his face, felt a sudden impulse. She instinctively reached into her pocket for a recording stone, wanting to capture the boy’s embarrassing struggle from start to finish. It shouldn't just be her remembering this scene. Everyone should see the heavy sacrifices the boy was willing to make to save them. Including Her Highness. Snap! With a snap of his fingers, the infinite thorns and wailing shadows wrapped around the boy’s body suddenly transformed into boundless energy waves, engulfing the entire mental plane. Seeing this, Kusustanen's face broke into a sneer, "A mere ant thinks it can disrupt us with such petty methods..." But before he could finish, the crimson wave of pain pierced through their mental defenses straight to the core consciousness. "Roar—!!!!" Kusustanen’s expression changed instantly. His previously malicious and fierce face now twisted with unbearable agony, as massive claws clutched his head and his mountainous body crashed to the ground! The Creation Demon had foreseen some warning in its heart. Yet even so, there was nowhere to escape within Lynn's mental realm! With a second agonized scream, the Creation Demon’s body of black sludge dissolved, trembling and dispersing like a collapsing slime. "What have you done?!" The Creation Demon’s agonized and shrill voice echoed in his mind. Hearing it, Lynn shrugged, "Nothing much, just returning to you double the pain I’ve endured." "And, Kusustanen, I wasn’t really lying to you earlier." Lynn chuckled, watching the enormous demonic shadow thrashing on the ground, "The damage you inflicted on my body was barely painful, almost like you were just whining." This statement seemed highly insulting, causing Kusustanen to nearly shatter his teeth in rage. Simultaneously, his consciousness began to fade, the previous imposing aura ebbing away like a receding tide. The time for divine descent had ended. Feeling his power diminishing, Kusustanen furiously pounded the ground with bleak and furious roars. He had never suffered such a defeat at the hands of a human insect!!! Simultaneously, a sense of regret crept in. If only he hadn’t hastily chosen divine descent today, would any of this have occurred? Cursed human!!! As the last second of his consciousness detached from its host, the Tyrant of Evil, Kusustanen, hovered over Lynn’s mental realm, unfurling his shadow to cover the sky. Simultaneously, he roared with what seemed like a curse from his throat! "Human!!! You will die!!!" "I curse!!!" "I will tear your filthy body apart limb from limb, shred it!!!" "I will have the dark claws clutch your throat forever, making it impossible for you to breathe or escape!!!" "I’ll ensure that every bloodline kin of yours suffers the pain of a thousand ant devouring their hearts each full moon!!!" "All connected to you, regardless of freedom or slavery, their eyes, limbs, even their intestines will be devoured by hyenas!!!" "Even if it takes eons, I will hunt you relentlessly... until the end of time and space!!!" With his final words dissipating into the shadows, Lynn suddenly felt a brand left in his mental realm. It was a demon’s curse. With a hateful and spiteful gaze left lingering, Kusustanen vanished completely. Lynn’s mental world cleared at last. It seemed he’d tangled with some troublesome entities. He gazed at the mark of malevolence floating in his mental space and sighed. There was still a larger issue unresolved. All around him was the writhing, escaping black sludge. Clearly, having undergone the equivalent of being sliced two thousand times in an instant, the Creation Demon’s already fragile consciousness was about to collapse. "Do you really think you’ve won?!" Despite its pitiful state, the Creation Demon still issued threats and warnings amidst its suffering. For Lynn, the shadow of death still loomed ever-present. "Why not?" Lynn replied calmly, "Not only have I won, but I’ve won big, overwhelmingly so." "Unfortunately, what follows no longer concerns you." Biting with anger, the Creation Demon shrieked, "Don’t forget, you’re just a first-rank! Even if you threatened me temporarily, once I recover, your death is certain!!!" "Moreover, without my control, your body will instantly be polluted by the core feature of the Wishing Jar, so..." Upon hearing this, Lynn sighed, "Sorry, Yuveliya, I actually lied to you." "What I said earlier was all false." Lynn looked down upon it, "Though I came with the intention to kill you, I prepared without full resolve." "I won’t die; the one truly doomed is you." "You!!!" As the Creation Demon struggled amidst its immense pain to reconstruct its consciousness and seize control of his mental space once more, it screamed its vitriol. Yet, oddly enough, Lynn seemed to abandon any resistance to these actions. He simply deactivated his levitation, letting his body plummet rapidly. Watching the familiar underground palace come into view, Lynn remained calm. The first and second steps were complete; only the last step remained to conclude this absurd and ludicrous zero-rank Sealed Object rebellion. But before that, he needed to tidy up some loose ends. Suddenly, Lynn felt the surrounding space thicken, slowing his fall. Then, unexpectedly, he landed into a cool yet soft embrace, where a familiar scent of roses tickled his nose.