Chapter 10: Chapter 13: A Dead End

Two minutes later, under the watchful eye of the peacekeeper, two brawny guards hauled Levi into the dungeon’s depths.

His pierced foot had made him a cripple, and he could hardly walk. Impatient with his pace, the peacekeeper had ordered the guards to “help” him along.

He soon discovered that the dungeon, known as the Rabbit Hole, was far deeper than he had imagined, descending a full three levels underground.

Upon reaching the third sublevel, he was dragged even further, to the very heart of the dungeon.

There, a nauseating, scorched smell hung in the air.

Two figures stood before the final cell. One was a male official in lavish attire. The other, clad in a black robe with an iron mask concealing their face, was someone Levi, with his knowledge of theology, immediately recognized as an Inquisitor of the Heresy Inquisition.

“Sir, the prisoner is here,” the peacekeeper reported to the official—Viscount Dumpty, the Chief of Public Security.

Viscount Dumpty glanced at Levi, his eyes instantly turning venomous.

He had specifically ordered the peacekeeper to bring this slum boy, the one who had bullied his only daughter, to him.

He didn’t understand why the Deputy Director of the Heresy Inquisition was so insistent on having a prisoner face the witch’s curse, but the memory of the guard who had died earlier was still fresh in his mind.

This little bastard had injured his precious daughter and, not long ago, had even spat at her. If the Viscount hadn’t been occupied accompanying the Deputy Director, he would have personally led his men to break the boy’s bones the moment he heard the report.

A painful death under a witch’s curse was a fitting end for scum like this—an ignorant fool who dared to offend the Dumpty family.

The Inquisitor turned to glance at Levi, her assessment cold. “This prisoner is severely injured. Are you certain this will work, Lord Viscount?”

“Viscount?” The title caught Levi’s attention, and his eyes darted to the middle-aged official. “Viscount Dumpty?”

Before he could say more, Viscount Dumpty strode forward in a rage and slapped him across the face. “Shut your mouth! You will speak only when spoken to!”

“To strike him yourself… Was this young man brought here because of a personal grudge, Lord Viscount?” the Inquisitor continued her questioning.

“Well…” The Viscount’s heart skipped a beat. He hadn’t expected the Deputy Director to be so perceptive.

Levi was certain now.

One of his enemies, Viscount Dumpty, was right here before him.

Just as the Viscount began scrambling for an excuse, the Inquisitor turned her masked face away. “It matters not. Let us proceed.”

She had no interest in the prisoner’s guilt or innocence. So long as he was useful, that was enough.

At a gesture from Viscount Dumpty, the peacekeeper and the guards shoved Levi forward, unlocked the cell door, and threw him inside. They slammed it shut and locked it immediately, as if feeding live bait to a caged beast.

“You may leave,” the Inquisitor commanded, dismissing the guards and the peacekeeper.

“The Blood Red… Queen?” Only then did Levi finally get a clear look at the person in the cell.

“You’re in luck, boy. This woman is now yours to do with as you please,” the Inquisitor called out to him.

“What do you mean?” Levi asked, completely bewildered.

“Exactly what I said. For a time, you may do anything you wish to her, short of killing her. Any form of humiliation, torture, or torment is permitted. As for *that* sort of thing, I imagine I don’t need to instruct you. The tools you need are at hand,” the Inquisitor explained icily.

Levi glanced toward the cell wall and saw an array of torture instruments: pliers and short hooks of various shapes, a long iron whip studded with thorns, clamps designed to crush fingers, and other devices whose purpose he couldn’t guess, but whose狰狞 forms spoke volumes of their cruel function.

“The Church has always preached about the power of a witch’s curse. If an ordinary person like me touches a legendary great witch, I’ll die, won’t I?” Levi countered. “The fact that you’re forcing a prisoner to do your dirty work proves there’s a risk, does it not?”

“So you know who she is.” The Inquisitor’s voice was devoid of emotion. “For a prisoner, being too clever is not always a good thing. Listen well. Her power is a spent arrow at the end of its flight. If you act now, you might not die. But if you do nothing, I will execute you on the spot. Your end will be no better than being cursed to death by a witch.”

With a snap of her fingers, several columns of fire erupted just outside the cell door behind Levi. Had they been a meter or two closer, he would have been engulfed in flames. This Inquisitor clearly possessed God-given powers.

As the reality of his situation set in, Levi’s heart sank.

It was a dead end.

If he refused the Inquisitor’s command, she would undoubtedly kill him. He had no doubt about that; the Holy Church’s Heresy Inquisition was infamous across the continent for its ruthlessness.

But if he complied, he would very likely die from the witch’s curse.

Even if the Blood Red Queen truly was powerless to resist, he would probably be silenced afterward. The Inquisition would never allow anything detrimental to the Church to become public knowledge.

Moreover, Levi had no desire to obey. He held no grudge against the Blood Red Queen. In fact, it was the female Inquisitor, who treated him as a mere tool, that filled him with disgust.

What a cruel twist of fate. He had just received power from the mysterious man calling himself the ‘Mad Hatter,’ only to be facing his death so soon after.

‘Should I use that power right here?’ He remembered the Mad Hatter saying it could turn him into a demon.

With Viscount Dumpty right there, he wouldn’t mind becoming a demon to break out and kill him. In such a hopeless situation, taking one of his enemies with him would be a small victory.

The problem was, he had no confidence he could defeat the Inquisitor.

She had accompanied the army on an expedition to the Starry Night Kingdom and was now guarding the dangerous Blood Red Queen. Her combat prowess had to be immense. A high-ranking Inquisitor could likely deal with a demon effortlessly.

Was there truly no way out?

No, not necessarily.

Once more, Levi turned his gaze to the Blood Red Queen on the execution rack.

At such a close distance, accentuated by the dim, flickering light, the Queen’s beauty was even more captivating than the fleeting glimpse he had caught on the street.

But Levi’s focus was not solely on her beauty. It was on the stigmata shimmering across her skin.

These marks were similar to the ‘Sacrificial Brand’ the Mad Hatter had given him. They were likely sigils imbued with special power, but judging from the Queen’s tormented expression, their effect was almost certainly negative.

The Blood Red Queen was still bound in iron chains, yet she remained in her formal gown. The Inquisitor in charge of her interrogation chose only to force a prisoner to humiliate her.

All these facts pointed to the imperial soldiers’ fear of the Blood Red Queen. They dared not even touch her directly, which proved her power was very real.

If he could somehow free this powerful witch…

At that moment, the Mad Hatter’s words echoed in Levi’s mind: “How you use this power depends on your wish.”