The Grand Duelist

"Those two are known for their viciousness, after all. They managed on forcing a confession out of that Old Bastard John, I do admit that they are somewhat capable. But there's a part of me that's saying that they only managed on doing that due to a fluke."

"Yeah, yeah... That can only be the reason... Their luck when they were still Jail Janitors were too good, but now that they are Inquisitors. They must bow their heads to those that are truly far competent than them."

"That's right, apart from Captain in here. Just who else if the most competent?"

"Hahaha!"

The Inquisitors laughed out loud while they blatantly stroked the ego of their Captain, the man who forced Joseph and Ezreal on extracting a confession out of the players' mouths.

Just as each and every one of them laughed, a low creak suddenly came out from the door in front of them. They all stopped whatever they were doing as their attention went towards the door. Their lips had smiles of schadenfreude while their eyes already turned into slits as they waited.

"Woah, that was quite fast. I don't think that even a minute passed ever since they went inside."

"Pffft! This is really too funny. To think that the arrogant bastards just gave up in under a minute after realizing the hurdle that they needed to surpass. As I said, they really just forced a confession out of that old bastard's mouth due to a fluke!"

"Hahaha, well at least. They will know not to be so arrogant now that they know their place..."

Every Inquisitor stared at the creaking door and within a few moments. Ezreal and Joseph finally came out of the sealed door.

But those who were about to cry out and mock the two of them all paused. It was because behind them, stood several players bound in wooden shackles. Joseph himself had a wooden mask on the right side of his face.

"Nani?"

An Inquisitor absentmindedly uttered. The scene was too shocking and unexpected to everyone that none of them managed to speak for a moment. That also included the Captain who was the first to recover from his trance.

"What are you doing?! Why did you bring them outside?" The man glared at the two and he glanced at the prisoners, only to find out that their eyes were glazed and blank. It was as if they were looking a thousand yards ahead. Their movements also looked mechanic, like puppets controlled by strings.

They also had stone slabs hung around their necks. Listed on the stone slabs where the heinous crimes that they committed before their admission to the Underground Penitentiary.

"What did you do to them?" The man referred to as Captain asked once again.

Joseph turned to look at the man and said in a casual manner: "I am in the process of interrogating them, so can I please not get any interruptions?"

"If all of you want to observe my methods then that is fine. However, interruption is absolutely not allowed! Can all of you understand something as simple as that?"

"You..." Veins bulged on the man's face, but he really couldn't do anything against Joseph.

After all, Joseph was just doing his job and there weren't any rules about the location where Inquisitors could do their interrogation. Technically, they could do their jobs anywhere they wanted and bring their prisoners with them in the guise of interrogation.

But...

"Wait, could it be that you are planning on letting them escape in the guise of interrogating them?"

The man suddenly said in a cold voice and everyone was astonished.

Ezreal and Joseph knitted their eyebrows. The former even looked like if Joseph ordered, he would immediately pounce on the man and kill him as fast as possible.

"That's such a grave accusation, right there... Are you really sure that you want to accuse me of something like that?"

Joseph stared in a challenging manner to the man, and the man subconsciously took a step backward. He couldn't understand the reason why Joseph's attitude suddenly changed drastically.

But little did he knew that Joseph's attitude didn't really change.

What he was showing right now was just his facade.

Specifically, his acting tough facade.

Joseph mastered the art of acting tough back then when he needed to face debt collectors and even show up in court as a defendant. In situations like this, Joseph realized that if he showed a weak side of his. His enemy could take advantage of that opening and defeat him.

This was the reason why Joseph managed on keeping his ancestral house in the bare minimum.

With the exception of Lily's help. He always kept a tough facade in the face of everyone's disparaging. Right now, realizing the gravity of the situation and the stress that he felt due to his time running out. Joseph once again activated this ability of his...

The Art of Acting Tough.

The man referred by the others as Captain had no other choice but to retreat. It was because Joseph said the truth, there were no strict rules for Inquisitors. They could basically do whatever they wanted apart from usurping the throne of the Jail Warden and violating rules when it came to prisoners.

"Okay... In that case, then go... do whatever you want. But we will follow you, we want to see, using our own eyes on how you'll force a confession out of the mouth of those bastards." The man, made a concession that astonished his fellow Inquisitors.

"Do whatever you want."

Joseph left the scene along with Ezreal and the prisoners behind them.

The Inquisitors had their eyes glued on Joseph's back and one could still see their astonishment due to the sudden change in Joseph's attitude. Nevertheless, it wasn't the right time to think about that for they needed to see the true abilities of the two using their own eyes.

And so, they followed suit...

Near the Military Barracks of the Kingdom of Nether, a commotion suddenly happened.

It was caused by the sudden appearance of several figures clad in black along with other figures clearly wearing ragged clothing and tied up around their hands with wooden shackles.

"What the hell is that? What's going on? Who are those people? Wait, aren't they players?"

"Ah! They are members of the Underground Penitentiary! Run!"

The players had no clue about what was going on, but when the NPC residents saw the appearance of those figures clad in black. They all fled the scene, most of them even left their roadside stalls just so they could run as fast as possible from the scene.

"What the fuck? Why did they run?"

The players were still astonished when a voice suddenly rang out.

"Citizens of the Kingdom of Nether! Here, we display in front you are the bastards who committed incomparably heinous crimes! Come, gather around and witness! Witness the wretched faces of these bastards that even the demons in hell may not even accept!"

Joseph's voice sounded so loud that those who ran away froze from their tracks and abruptly turned around. The players, on the other hand finally recovered from their shock as they stared at the procession.

"Holy shit! Those diamond green markers above their heads, aren't they players? Why are they being treated like this?"

"What the fuck! You're right! The prisoners are players? Ah, wait! That guy who is shouting is a player too!"

"Wait, he's a player? Ah! You're right! But why is he treating his fellow players like this? Is that even allowed to happen in Victory? Isn't that a gross violation of someone's rights as a human?"

"Bro, are you stupid? Look at the crimes that those bastards committed. I feel like they deserved this kind of humiliation due to what they did in here."

"Damn they are sick! Look at that bastard, the stone slab says that he is charged with 50 counts of Rape? What the fuck man, you really deserve to die you sick bastard!"

"Shit, this is sickening... I can't watch, ma..., I'm weak."

The players who were opposed to what Joseph was doing instantly changed their minds when they saw the crimes that their fellow players committed. But for them, those players were still humans...

Seeing such humiliation and gross violation of human rights on other human beings made some of the players spectating weak at their knees as they ran and escaped, never to return again.

The walk of shame continued, but this time. Joseph signaled to Ezreal and Ezreal slammed his palms together and produced a ringing sound that jolted the players awake.

The first scene that they saw when they awakened from their trance were angry mobs of NPCs throwing all sorts of objects at them.

"You bastard! Die! Bastards like you shouldn't even exist in this world!"

"That's right, that's right! Die!"

"Your parents are happy that you are about to be executed! They never even loved you bastards in the first place!"

When the residents of Reinhardt realized what was going on. They didn't feel afraid of the Inquisitors anymore. All of them shouted in glee, and no one knew who started it. But each and every one of them were now throwing objects at the humiliated players.

"You... You're that bastard who assaulted my daughter?! I'm gonna make you pay!"

An old man among the residents struggled amidst his nervous breakdown just so he could approach the procession of criminals paraded by the Inquisitors. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and his body continuously trembled like a sieve.

"..."

The player whom he shouted at jolted. His expression filled with fear, anxiousness, and regret as he stared at the old man who slowly raised his arm and hurled a wooden flipflop at him.

The flipflop struck him squarely at his face. Having his pain sensory disabled, he couldn't feel any pain from the old's man attack. In fact, the concentrated attack of other residents who were angry at him right this moment didn't even hurt him.

All sorts of objects flew, some hurled rocks, some threw eggs at him and some even flung dog feces at him...

But he remained unflinching...

All that he could remember was the image of that crying old man, shaking like a sieve as he cried out justice for the death of his daughter and tried his best just so he could take a little bit of revenge.

"When did I become like this?"

The player whispered to himself.

He raised his arm and Joseph was alerted to his movements for he immediately stared at the player.

"What is he trying to do?" Joseph thought to himself. Although Ezreal sealed their use of mana through the wooden shackles. Joseph still couldn't feel comfortable about everything, after all. This was the first time that he used such a method in forcing confessions.

"Wait, those movements. He's opening his Main Menu? Is he trying to log-out? That will not work!" Joseph was astonished about the player's movements. But then he suddenly saw pain on the player's expression as he endured the objects hurled at him by the angry mob.

"Shit, that madman! He enabled his pain sensory?!" Joseph hissed and sucked a mouthful of cold air. It has to be known that the objects thrown by the angry mob of residents weren't light.

Some of them even hurled sharp knives at the players, and if not for Ezreal's intervention. Most of them would've been seriously injured by now.

But witnessing the expressions of these dirty and wretched players. Joseph understood that today was the last time that they would live so disgustingly as they did before. Once everything was over today, Joseph reckoned that these players would turn over into a new leaf.

The procession soon arrived at the River of Poso.

The River of Poso flowed from the East of the Capital City towards the West, thankfully it didn't go through the City or else the Capital City of Reinhardt wouldn't be so beautiful as it was today.

Why?

Well...

It's because the residents of Reinhardt treated the River of Poso as their sewage.

All sorts of wastes were thrown by the residents, particularly those of the slums. Into this pristine river that now looked like an amalgamation of disease.

Just the smell alone, when Joseph approached the area, made him nauseous. Even Ezreal who normally stood steadfast in all sorts of situations had a frown on his face.

The players had an expression of suffering on their faces, some of them even looked like they were about to vomit. But they couldn't do anything but stand since, in every second that passes, they would be greeted with all sorts of objects hurled over by the angry mob of NPCs.

The pain that although they couldn't feel, didn't stop it spreading through their entire body which in turn, paralyzed their movements. What's worse was that they couldn't die. An Inquisitor right behind them was repeatedly healing them just so they couldn't lose consciousness nor die and disappear.

But did they mind all of these?

That answer was no...

When they saw the look of suffering from the residents of Reinhardt whose daughters they forcefully took, and even killed.

They truly regretted their actions...

Were they really this disgusting from the start? It was true that they never considered NPCs as fellow humans, but seeing the tears and grief on the residents' human-like faces...

They repented, and all of them accepted the anger of the residents. Although they knew that the pain paralyzing their bodies couldn't absolve them of their sins. At least, it gave them solace amidst their repentance.

"Have them walk the plank!"

Joseph cried out and Ezreal flung his wrist. When the latter gestured, a wooden plank formed at the edge of the filthy River of Poso. Afterward, Ezreal pushed a player towards the end of the plank amidst the joyful shouts of the residents.

Seeing the mirth on the residents' faces, even Joseph bitterly smiled when he realized that these players truly committed heinous crimes.

In that case, there shouldn't be any reason for hesitation any longer, right? Joseph hardened his resolve and a cold expression spread on his face.

"Now, confess to the masses your sins else you shall be thrown and drowned in this filthy river!"

He cried out and the residents shouted with him. The Inquisitors, along with the man considered as the Captain of those Inquisitors had complicated expressions on their faces.

But their complicated expressions didn't come from the sense of defeat that they felt due to what Joseph accomplished.

Their complicated feelings came from regret.

"Why didn't I think of such a method earlier? Now, this guy's gonna take all the credit!"

"Haist... Goddamned it, he's really incredibly vicious. Even I haven't even thought of such a method where prisoners would be publicly humiliated in a walk of shame..."

"But threatening to throw them into the disgusting River of Poso? Will that method really work? If It was me, I'd just have them walk the gallows..."

*Thud*

A dull sound rang out and the player who stood at the edge of the plank that was only being held in balance by Ezreal's foot kneeled down.

Tears streamed down his cheeks, and at this moment. The vicious criminal who was imprisoned for about fifty counts of rape and murder was now crying like a baby.

The shouting residents, Joseph, and Ezreal felt complicated when they saw such a scene of repentance. But what must be done, shall be done. Those who sinned shall be punished. No one was exempted from the law...

And so?

Joseph cried out once again.

"Confess!"

His heroic, yet fierce expression behind his half-mask was thoroughly captured by the cameras of spectators affiliated with media stations.

Every player criminal who was a participant in the walk of shame, all kneeled down and cried their hearts out like babies as they thoroughly confessed the extent of their crimes.

Unfortunately, their confession didn't move the heart of the half-masked Inquisitor. After their confessions, all of them were summarily executed in front of the residents of Reinhardt.

But did these players complain about the viciousness of the Inquisitor who still executed them after their confessions?

No...

For these players, death was their sole solace from the heinous crimes that they had committed. After this event, each and every one of them would surely turn over for the better.

But what about for those spectators affiliated with media stations around the world?

Yes...

The viciousness of the half-masked man as he coldly watched the players drown in the filthy River of Poso was a scene that they would never forget in their lives.

Soon, news spread throughout the world about the existence of a player Inquisitor who was vicious enough that he could stand unflinching without any problems while staring directly at the deaths of his fellow players.

The half-masked player was unanimously named by everyone as the Demonic Inquisitor...