Her pleas gradually quelled his anger. Only after her bottom had turned completely red did Carlisle finally get up and release her. He destroyed all the Recording Orbs and tossed them into his ring.

Her bottom hurt too much for her to stand or sit, so she could only lie on the ground and silently shed tears.

While she was being beaten, she’d already planned it all out. The moment she broke free of Carlisle, she’d use Liya’s identity to get back at him—make him understand just how painful it was to have love shattered!

Then she’d find a chance to take him by surprise, and laugh at him wildly as the Witch! And then… then she’d pull down his pants and whip his bottom!

Carlisle had to suffer everything she’d suffered!

Only when she saw him reeling from the double blow, utterly distraught, would she finally be able to vent her anger!

“Waaah… heehee, heh…” Still shedding tears, she couldn’t help laughing when she imagined Carlisle’s despair in the future.

A chilly gaze drifted her way. She pressed her lips together and quickly shut her mouth.

After claiming everything in the girl’s ring for himself, Carlisle glanced at her, then surveyed their surroundings.

Pale green crystals. The corroded remains of human tools…

“Do you know what’s at the end of this pit?” he asked.

“No. I heard this sewer shaft was filled in a long time ago after an accident.”

Sherry had to admit, after taking several hard blows to the bottom, she’d become a lot more obedient. At least she answered questions like this honestly now.

Carlisle didn’t challenge what she’d said. He slowly approached the stone wall and quietly studied the crystals embedded in it.

They were pale green, and he could see his distorted reflection in them.

The Knights of the Round Table had taught him not to touch anything before learning what it was. In this strange world, one careless mistake could cost you your life.

Besides, the Academy might have built this sewer shaft precisely because these unusual crystals were here, hoping to investigate them.

The accident that supposedly led to the shaft being filled in was clearly just the story the Academy told outsiders. They’d concealed the entrance behind a false illusion, which meant people probably came and went here regularly.

The truth was likely waiting beyond the pit.

He took two steps forward without thinking. Behind him, the girl asked,

“What are you doing?”

“Going to see what’s at the end.”

“Then untie me first! Go by yourself. I’m not coming with you.”

Sherry wasn’t about to go to the end of the pit and get herself killed.

Maybe it was because she’d studied divination, but her sixth sense seemed unusually accurate. Somehow, she could feel something at the end of the pit calling to her, as if the truth of the world and the secrets she most wanted to know were buried there.

She’d always been afraid of this sort of feeling. Every person she’d seen fall into madness had one thing in common: they’d followed the call in their hearts to find its source.

Few people knew what they’d seen. Those calls, perhaps from grotesque beings or even the Old Gods, drove every human who tried to seek the truth of the world out of their mind, turning them into hideous monsters.

She had no intention of following in their footsteps.

But Carlisle didn’t see it that way. He wouldn’t let her back out.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

As the frightened girl cried out, he stepped over, lifted her off the ground, and slung her over his shoulder.

“You don’t get a choice. Your body is my necklace. I can’t leave it behind.”

“You bastard! Let me go! If you want to get yourself killed, go alone!”

“Quiet, quiet.”

“Quiet, my— Ow! That hurts! Be gentler!”

He smacked the girl’s bottom twice where she lay over his shoulder. After she yelped in pain, things finally grew quieter by his ear.

The Knights of the Round Table were charged with containing the grotesqueries of the world. In his view, this pit was very likely home to some of them.

As long as no one was here, the grotesqueries left behind by the Old Gods wouldn’t spawn strange filth from anyone. That meant there was nothing to fear in the pit, and the Golden Sword Scepter could contain whatever grotesqueries were here with ease.

The farther they went into the pit, the quieter it became. Apart from their breathing and footsteps, they couldn’t even hear insects crawling across the ground.

The pale green crystals grew more numerous as they ventured deeper, and a thin haze of foul-smelling, bluish-green gas began to spread through the pit.

“Miasma?” He lowered his head and thought for a few seconds, then tossed the silent girl over his shoulder into a corner and reached into his ring to rummage around.

“Ow! Couldn’t you show me a little consideration? My bottom’s still swollen!”

The violent impact between Sherry’s bottom and the ground made her wince and grit her teeth. The pain brought tears to her eyes, and a few trickled down her cheeks. Her hands were tied behind her back, so she couldn’t rub her bottom. To ease the pain, she had no choice but to lie on her side again.

There was no way she was letting her bottom hit anything hard again.

“When you stripped me, did you show me any consideration?” Carlisle retorted as he searched for something in his ring.

In his eyes, the girl had never shown him any consideration.

“W-well, I did leave you a pair of underwear…” Sherry’s voice grew very small as she brought up how she’d tricked Carlisle earlier. She sounded timid, as if afraid of making him angry again.

But even in that quiet voice, her words were enough to make Carlisle laugh in disbelief.

He just didn’t feel like punishing her again. After giving her bottom a thorough beating, he’d cooled off quite a bit. The secret of the pit mattered more now.

He took out several bottles of the girl’s potions. After reading their labels, he turned to Sherry, who was still in pain, and asked, “Do you have an antidote in your potions?”

But before she could answer, he suddenly remembered something. “Never mind. I’ve got one myself.”

A flash of red, and a bottle of green potion appeared in his palm.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but Sherry thought the potion looked awfully familiar.

Carlisle pulled out the stopper and held the potion in front of the girl.

“What are you doing?” she asked, puzzled.

An extremely familiar scent reached her nose. If she remembered right, this was the poison she’d planned to use to trick Carlisle earlier.

She’d lied and told him it was an antidote. Had he actually believed her?

“Want to drink some? If you don’t, the miasma will poison you.” Carlisle shook the potion, showing an unusual hint of kindness.

In that moment, Sherry felt warmth radiating from him.

Except… drinking that potion would definitely poison her!

“I won’t drink it!” She turned her head away, like a stubborn little bunny sulking. “Even if the miasma poisons me to death, I won’t drink a drop of anything from you!”

“All right, then. You’re the one refusing it, so don’t come crying and begging me later.”

“Hmph. We’ll see who ends up begging whom~”

“All bark and no bite.”