Dungeon Defense (WN)

Warning: Please be advised that there are violent depictions in this chapter. You most likely know what’s going to happen if you read the last chapter, so I advise caution to those of you who dislike these sorts of things.

A suffocating silence fell over the underground prison. A crack had formed in even Jeremi’s expression.

Jeremi froze like a statue after receiving the whip from me. I could faintly feel an emotion from her. I don’t want to…I want to refuse……. To an assassin that would even commit suicide if ordered to by the person they serve, this showed how reluctant she was to do this.

I glared at Jeremi sharply.

“Carry out your order immediately, Captain.”

“I cannot possibly harm Your……”

“Do not be a fool. Do I have to go out of my way to give a direct order to a demon?!”

Jeremi flinched the moment I shouted at her. Half of Jeremi’s face was burnt, but her emotions were being put on full display right now.

“Less than half a month has passed since you recovered from your illness. I request this of Your Highness not as a captain, but as the court physician. Sixty lashings is much too severe. I am not advising this as your loyal vassal but as your pharmacist and doctor. Please, reconsider…….”

“If you talk back one more time, then I will use my demons.”

“…….”

“If I lose consciousness, then you will wake me with cold water. No mercy must be shown as you carry out the task swiftly. Do to me the exact same that was done to the criminal. This is an order!”

I shouted at all of my vassals and not just Jeremi.

“Every time the punishment is stopped or intervened, I will receive ten additional lashings. No one is allowed to obstruct me and Jeremi.”

Jeremi slowly lowered her head.

“As you command.”

I undid my mantle and let it fall to the ground. I was wearing a needlessly formal outfit because I had to meet an envoy from Teuton. I took off the red scarf that Gamigin had personally gifted me. It was like I was exposing my faulty layers.

Finally, my upper body was revealed to the air. I quietly sat upright on the floor.

I could feel Jeremi approach me from behind.

“Should I now proceed?”

“Yes. Do not forget your duty for even a second.”

I bit down on a piece of rubber. Saliva flowed down my throat. My skin tingled as if it were predicting the pain that I was going to feel. I closed my eyes.

Normally speaking, it would only be right to execute Laura since she had broken the law. In other words, this punishment was substituting an execution. Jeremi asked for mercy, but that was absurd. This was already merciful enough since I was substituting an execution with a punishment.

First, Lapis was punished as the representative of the vassals, Laura’s punishment followed after, and now was punishment for myself. Laura was sharing her punishment with her lord and the chancellor, individuals whose positions were both higher than hers. This was just barely enough to avoid a death sentence.

Of course, it was a question as to whether my body could endure this punishment or not.

I’ve always been out of shape and I quite literally came back from the dead just recently. Regardless, these things didn’t matter. Considering that this punishment is supposed to be on par with a death sentence, this much is only natural.

This natural duty is simply being carried out. That’s all there is to this.

And then,

—Pain struck my spine.

“Kuuuuuh……!”

My eyes shot open. An immense pain traveled up my spine. The crack of the whip and the sensation of my flesh being torn harmonized together. I clenched my jaw. If I weren’t biting down on rubber, then my teeth would’ve probably cracked by the fifth hit.

Second hit.

“Hggggh! Guh……!”

It was insanely painful. Getting whipped for only a second time was already far more painful than the time an arrow pierced my thigh and when I cut off my own fingers. I felt something bubbling on my back. It was probably my blood.

Third hit.

Fourth hit.

Fifth hit—.

I felt like my eyes were going to pop out. My throat tightened as it felt like something was flowing upward. I struggled to breathe. I desperately tried to breathe between each lashing. My teeth must have bit my tongue as the inside of my mouth also tasted like blood. It tasted foul.

“……Lo……rd?”

Did she wake up because of the sound of the whip?

Laura, who was chained to the ceiling by her arms, struggled to open her eyelids. She gazed at me vacantly from her side of the room. I didn’t meet her gaze since my vision had already become completely hazy. Including Laura, everything appeared like a blur to me.

Laura seemed like she had yet to come to her senses. Her face looked as if she couldn’t understand what was happening before her. It wasn’t a surprise since my punishment started after she passed out.

It took less than 10 seconds for her face to fill with shock.

Craaack!

My body pushed forward. I was doing my best to maintain my seated position, but my arms were already quivering like crazy. I didn’t even let out a scream this time. A dry heave surged up my throat.

“Ah. huh……? Hm……?”

Laura’s expression crumbled.

The seventh lashing mercilessly struck me regardless of Laura’s state. My insides screamed. It wasn’t a simple feeling like my flesh being in pain. My muscles and bones were also exploding with pain.

A price without sacrifice cannot exist.

If a half-hearted punishment is allowed, then the government administration will rust away without a sound. If no sacrifices are made, then the foundation of the state itself will be sacrificed instead. This is how politics is. My vassals will most likely realize this as well once they cool their heads off later.

“Ah, ahhhhhh, ahhhhhh!”

Laura’s green eyes widened. Did she now understand what was happening? She opened her mouth, however, she could only squeeze her lungs out like an animal due to the sudden shock.

And then, the eighth hit.

“Ahhhh! What are you doing—What are you doing to His Lordship!?”

Laura shook her body. The chains attached to the ceiling juddered about loudly. Laura opened her eyes wide and struggled so desperately that you wouldn’t think she had received thirty lashings a moment ago.

“Stop! Cease your actions right this instant! Miss Jeremi! Stop, please stop……!”

Ninth hit.

“Ahhh! How dare you! What are you doing to my lord!? I’ll kill you! If you do not stop right this instant, I will kill you, Captain! It is not too late! If you stop now, ah, ah, ahhhh!”

Tenth hit.

Eleventh hit.

Twelveth hit.

I passed out for a moment due to the pain.

It was like my consciousness had been forcefully terminated. Is this what you call a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye? My consciousness was forced back out due to the immense pain that came from my back. It was a completely different kind of pain from what I had been experiencing until now. Cold water was flowing through my open wounds.

I dropped my head. It felt like I passed out while keeping myself seated upright. There were droplets falling to the floor. Something was flowing out of my mouth, so I thought it was my saliva, but I could faintly see that the liquid was red.

Jeremi counted the lashing out loud before every hit. It was thanks to this that I knew we were on the thirteenth hit. If we’re at thirteen now, then how far were we from sixty? I couldn’t do the math. All I could conclude was that we were still insanely far from finishing.

Blood flowed down my chin and dropped to the cavern floor. For some reason, I couldn’t feel my teeth. I could only feel pain.

“Please, Lord……I will do better……so please stop this…….”

Laura was crying.

Once the fourteenth hit occurred, the crying immediately changed to screaming.

She screamed something terrible, but I couldn’t make out her words. My head felt dizzy. The smell of vomit and blood mixed together and assaulted my brain. It was hard to breathe.

“Uu, huaaa……ahhh…….”

I had done something bad to Laura.

I know why she tortured Daisy. I understand her reasoning. She was most likely insanely worried to the point that she couldn’t control herself. Unable to control her rampaging emotions, her affection was distorted by rage and she had to unleash it on someone.

“No, Your Lordship, I don’t want this…… Stop…… I will not do this again, so please…….”

This was my responsibility.

Laura was originally not someone who got swept by her emotions. Even during her final moment before jumping off a rampart, she raised her chin and stared down at the hero. This was the kind of person she was supposed to become.

Because she got swept up by a person like me.

That beautiful child.

I ruined Laura.

“Ah, huaa, ahh…… Stop…… No……no……Lord……Lord…….”

…….

The counting continued afterward.

It was around the thirtieth hit that there was suddenly an exceedingly long silence. I found myself collapsed on the ground. I raised only my upper body and turned to look at Jeremi. Jeremi’s pale face entered my vision.

The inside of my mouth was full of blood. I wanted to spit it out, but I didn’t have the strength to do that. The best I could do was open my mouth slightly and let it spill out naturally. I made enough space to move my tongue.

“……How many?”

“We are at thirty……two, Your Highness.”

I silently glared at Jeremi. Why aren’t you doing the rest? This was what my eyes were saying. Jeremi hesitated.

“Your Highness cannot endure any more than this…….”

I didn’t feel the need to give her a verbal response as I continued to glare at her silently. Jeremi clenched her teeth together as she slowly raised the whip. Good, that’s what you should be doing. You’re fulfilling your role more than enough with this.

I gave her an approving nod before returning my upper body to the ground. I wanted to sit upright, but I didn’t have the strength to do that anymore.

I cried out as I received the thirty-third hit. It seems the rubber in my mouth had fallen out while I was passed out. This meant that I didn’t have the power to put strength in even my teeth. It wouldn’t matter if I tried to bite down on it again.

“……, …….”

Laura seemed to have exhausted herself while crying as her mouth could only open and close now. It was a natural result since her body was already a mess due to the punishment she had also received. However, tears continued to flow from her eyes.

I ended up passing out every third lashing, so the punishment lasted much longer than expected. Ivar couldn’t watch any longer and caused a disturbance. Parsi stopped her, but it was pointless.

Ten additional lashings were added to my punishment. Once that happened, Ivar had a look of despair as she backed down. Jeremi vehemently refused to add the ten additional lashings, but I stood firmly with the order I gave. In the end, ten was added to sixty and I wound up enduring all seventy lashings.

“……Seventy.”

Jeremi spoke as if she were giving her last breath. From start to finish, she didn’t let go of the whip. This alone was enough to deserve praise. I would’ve praised her for a job well done if it was possible for me to speak.

Everything was over.

With this, the discipline within my Demon Lord army was established. This will probably never happen again.

It was painful enough that I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t.

This was enough.

I squeezed out my remaining strength to speak.

“Enforce…ment……compl…….”

I let go of my consciousness before I could even finish speaking.

It was around the fortieth hit that I couldn’t distinguish between consciousness and unconsciousness, so it would be more precise to say that I closed my eyes since there was no need to remain conscious. It was fine to keep closing my eyes. I never thought that this would be such a huge blessing.

The sound of several people shouting “Your Highness!” echoed around me. The sound was coming from right next to me, but they sounded so distant. I was enveloped by darkness……and I allowed myself to descend to the absolute bottom of the void.

All while thinking that it would be fine if I remained submerged in this darkness forever.

***

TL Note: Thanks for reading the chapter. Man, this was a heavy chapter to translate. I’m not really sure what else to say. It was definitely something trying to translate this chapter while also being swamped with work. The past few chapters really went from 1 to 100 really fast.

In any case, I was hoping my schedule would open up, but it appears that I’m going to keep being swamped until mid-January. Woo.

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