Alchemy was fascinating.

Unlike enchantments which added or removed magical properties from a system. Alchemy enhanced, reduced or refocused properties on a conceptual level.

It was as complex as it sounded. The results would likely have been scattershot for most.

Without his sword to do the heavy lifting, it would have taken him months for basic alchemical effects.

With his sword? He could do some truly absurd things. Plant manipulation and modification of properties of the crafting items were the starts. He could sense what he was doing with the aid of his sword and replicate that without it to study the results. That gave him some skill in Alchemy without his sword, though he still couldn't read the Grimoires he had.

It was another reason that he respected the power of his Legendary Weapon. And why he feared the power of the other Weapons. It was why he was going to imprison Motoyasu in a very cruel manner.

Adrian was in a location a hundred kilometres from the Dragon Hourglass that Fitoria had first helped him register with. They were far from any fragment of civilization. The other people he had imprisoned, the members of the Church who had attacked Van Reichnott's territory and the Royal Guard defending Malty, were far from here, though they too were located in the area around the Hourglass.

The forest that had grown in the area and the beings that called it their home had been annihilated. In their place, his modified and newly created Crystal Plant had taken root. The Crystal plant was his necessary masterpiece when it came to imprisoning Heroes.

Most people he captured could be deleveled, knocked out, poisoned, crippled and then contained indefinitely.

It was easy. Eerily so.

Food and water were supplied intravenously. Their chances of escape were nil. Especially, once the pod containing them was ten meters below ground and surrounded by plant matter that was harder than steel.

He was not foolish enough to believe that something like this could contain a Legendary Hero. Not when he could not delevel them. Especially not when it was likely that absorbing some of the plants around them could unlock the plant manipulation ability.

Motoyasu received rather special treatment.

The crystal plant was based on the crystalline substance that the Book Hero had used to contain Itsuki. The vast majority of the crystal had been removed due to that bastard's final attack. But some pieces had lingered on Itsuki. Adrian had absorbed that. The sword he received had been nothing special, a decent SP absorbing sword, but the Alchemical recipe to make that Crystal was priceless.

Why?

Because it absorbed SP and MP.

The vines of the plant looked fragile as they coiled up around Motoyasu's body. A deceptive, beautiful structure. They were a dense crystal strong enough to resist his attacks for a second. Something that almost no other material could boast. Motoyasu was already halfway underground with his hands bound to prevent any motion at all. His legs were saturated in mana absorbing nodes which looked like exotic crystal apples. The area around Motoyasu was also filled with these mana drainers. Each of them programmed to bind him should he try to escape. The pollen emission that would attempt to knock him out and paralyze him was almost overkill.

Of course, he was not imprisoning the man here alone.

Adrian turned to see the three unconscious girls who were bound using a more mundane plant with only a couple of crystal nodes to drain them. They were located slightly off to the side of Motoyasu. Close, but outside of his natural line of sight. Adrian's status menu told him their names.

Elena Haven Level 1

Lesty Melybournes Level 1

Malty Melromarc Level 1

He suspected that they were all nobles but that hardly mattered at this point. All three of them had been deleveled and bound by the Curse Seal. There was no chance of them escaping given that they were in the wilds with no power of their own...but the reason why he was going to leave them here was simple.

He could track them using the seal. If Motoyasu did somehow manage to wake up, overcome the mana and SP drain, defeat the paralysis and the fatigue and then manage to escape his prison he would try to free these girls and take them with him. They would slow him down and allow Adrian to track them.

For a brief instant, some guilt flared. At least two of them were little more than children. Naive, spoiled brats. Who knew how kind or cruel they would be without the need to follow Malty?

Then, he remembered his power and Motoyasu's potential. His guilt faded.

He had a use for them.

Adrian focused on the plants surrounding Motoyasu and closed his eyes. He felt his mana and SP flow together, forming an altered hybrid as it entered the plant. He called on his status menu to alter the properties of the Crystal. A thought reduced the drain on the man before summoning a projected sword.

The sword did nothing more than provide a small boost to energy. Like a burst of caffeine injected into the brain. He focused the effect on Motoyasu and saw the man stir. A second shot had him wide awake.

The Spear Hero shook his head. Unfocused eyes moving this way and that, trying to understand what had occurred. For a minute he looked around. Then, he tried to move. Tried to stand up and realized what had happened.

"Malty! Elen-" he shouted before his eyes fell on Adrian and he silenced himself.

"Motoyasu," he said, keeping his breathing even, promising himself that he would stay calm this time. "We have a lot to talk about," even if the subject matter will be different.

"You bastard," said Motoyasu, a vicious snarl written on his face, "let me go-"

Adrian didn't answer. He activated the Curse Seal on Malty at half the maximum power.

The scream from the princess silenced Motoyasu in a way that words and reason would never be able to. The spear hero strained to turn towards his beloved party member. When he finally caught a glimpse of her and the others his rage turned into terror.

The man's determination washed away.

Adrian almost sneered. This spoiled fool was infuriating. A false determination that shattered at the slightest touch. An empty strength that was worthless.

This was the best the Spear could do?

"You will answer my questions Motoyasu," he said, drawing Motoyasu's attention back to him. "or they will pay the price."

The man gritted his teeth. Rage returning but it was fear that ruled him. It made Adrian felt content. Fear had been driving Adrian from the start. Leaving the capital, tolerating Malty before that, dealing with Fitoria, fighting the Book Hero and even capturing Motoyasu. All rooted in fear. This guy was treating it like a vacation even as Aultcray and Malty used him as a tool.

"Are you willing to answer my questions now?" he asked, ignoring Malty's whimper as she tried to speak and activated the seal. He would not allow for her interference now. They were going to speak later.

"This...this is wrong!" he said, nascent tears in his eyes, "Let them go I'll tell you what you want to know."

Adrian sighed, drew out a chair from his sword, and sat down a couple of meters from Motoyasu. He stared at the Spear Hero and activated the seal on Malty again. It was tempting to try to reach an agreement with Motoyasu. To avoid making an enemy of the Legendary Hero but that was not practical.

Motoyasu was naive.

Adrian remembered how ridiculous the Spear Hero had been in the light novels. And how stubborn he had proven to be in the previous conversation they had held. In the Spear Hero's mind, there had been no question of Adrian's guilt. Even now the Hero looked upon Adrian as nothing more than an evil guy. Justified, given that Adrian had kidnapped him, but annoying.

No, there were no practical options here other than containing Motoyasu. He could not afford to have someone of Motoyasu's potential power running around. Nor could he risk the Book Hero or another extradimensional invader killing the man with Naofumi gone.

He needed the other heroes alive and contained.

"Stop!" said Motoyasu, wincing as Malty's screams echoed throughout the clearing. "I'll tell you everything. Just stop!"

Adrian nodded and cut off the curse a moment after his first word. Motoyasu glared at him but there was no desire to defy Adrian anymore. He had been defeated for now.

A 'victory' that tasted like guilt and shame. He reminded himself that this was for Isis, for his survival and to deny his enemies like the Book Hero or Aultcray. Motoyasu would live and would be given a chance to return home rather than dying in this extra-dimensional prison. That was enough.

It would have to be.

"Tell me everything you know about other dimensions that can be accessed through the Waves," he said, keeping his tone even, ignoring the tears streaking down Malty's face and the frustration, fear and fury running through Motoyasu.

"What?" he blinked, having not expected that he stopped for a second and then continued. "I don't know anything about that. I mean I guess that the monsters come from a storage dimension or something but…"

Adrian nodded, not surprised. Motoyasu could be lying but it was far more likely that he had incomplete knowledge. After all, he had been surprised by Glass in the light novel. This was something that Adrian had anticipated...and just in case he was lying.

Malty's scream rang out, the sound ragged after the previous times. Motoyasu turned with great difficulty considering his bindings and tried to look at her before giving up and turning to him.

"Stop!" he said, "I did what you wanted-"

Adrian stopped, and asked, "Were you honest?"

"Yes! You bastard." he snapped, "why are you-"

Adrian didn't let the man answer any questions. He took a silent breath, let go of his guilt as he exhaled, and asked his next question.

"Tell me about how you power up your Spear," he said. Testing the fool. It was what he should have done before. A sign of his inexperience. He would need to plan out the conversation better next time.

Adrian blinked at the thought even as Motoyasu glared and started to answer. He had become quite jaded if he anticipated torturing people in the future. Then again, he was expecting to have Aultcray here sooner or later and that would be a much more difficult conversation.

"...that's spirit enchantment," Motoyasu finished, looking exhausted, a side effect of Adrian boosting the SP drain after the Spear Hero tried to wriggle out of the bindings to activate his skill.

"Thank you," he said, keeping his tone light, "I have only one major question left." Adrian ignored the hope that shone on both Malty and Motoyasu's face. How naive to hope that this would end well. They needed a lot more power for that. "tell me about the Spirit Tortoise and the other beasts like it."

For once, Motoyasu looked stunned, "How-how do you know about that?" he asked, his voice rising, before realization struck, "you lied! You said you didn't know anything but you lied!"

It took Adrian a moment to realize that Motoyasu was talking about their meeting the day after being summoned. He had expected them to know that he had been lying. After all, the three of them had known something about the world even if Naofumi had only gotten a book. Adrian had realized that he should have pretended to have limited information. It would have helped brush aside scenarios where he knew more than he should have.

Adrian didn't entertain the deviation and activated the seal on Malty again.

He felt no guilt about doing so. This was the woman who had accused him of rape. The Spirit Tortoise was a major threat. Adrian would not be caught off guard about it. He had ignored extradimensional Vassal Wielders, assuming that he would have to deal with them later, but the Book Hero had shown up and killed or captured his daughter and Naofumi. Being passive about future threats, assuming that they would not manifest if he left them to be was stupid. He had no idea what triggered that beast or why. It would be stupid to assume that it could not activate early. Even worse there were hinted to be others, he remembered Naofumi thinking about a dragon or something. A set of four...or perhaps five monsters.

"Answer my questions," he said, "tell me about the tortoise and the other beasts."

"Fine," he said, after Malty's pain stopped, "the Spirit Tortoise is a monster that can destroy the world. Only Heroes can stop it. It's a special event boss that can be fought early at level 80 or level 100 if it's fully awakened…"

The deluge of information was a surprise. Motoyasu spilt everything with only minor prodding needed. He told Adrian how to awaken the beast, what types of moves it had, where it was located and even that it could give some epic drops like the Potion of Yggdrasil that could heal any wound or illness without exception.

But the problem was that he knew nothing about how to keep it sealed or what activated it or what its objectives were. Adrian asked the man directly. His response was not encouraging.

"...I don't know," he admitted, "but the Tortoise is pretty weak you know. A raiding party can take it down easy. It's good pretty decent defence but its attacks are shit."

"And the others?" he asked, thinking back to the mountain destroying attack in the light novel, and realizing that Motoyasu was either lying or had been fed false information...it was worrying. Adrian had assumed that Motoyasu was just a fool but if the games they had played were outright wrong, then there was something very odd going on here. Not just with the world but with the summoning itself.

Motoyasu swallowed, thirsty and probably very tired, and said, "After that is the Phoenix which can be split into two birds and regenerate, the White Tiger that can hit with some epic debuffs and the Dragon which is pretty much the inverse of the Tortoise, all attack and no defence. But you need to be pretty high level to fight them. Like level 160 for the Dragon..."

"Continue," he said, his tone flat and Motoyasu did so after Adrian simply glanced at Malty who looked...broken. The vulnerability on her face was not something he was used to seeing. Especially given that he had feared her before. The threat of her deciding to ruin him or having her father deal with him had kept him up at night.

"...the Phoenix can drain MP and resurrect those it can kill but it's pretty weak defensively so you can kill it pretty easily…" said Motoyasu, his tone dead. Adrian remembered everything that the man was telling him. Keeping the location, the moveset and the drops in mind even as he saw the same pattern of lacking information emerge.

No data whatsoever on the condition for awakening or method of sealing.

Adrian didn't give Motoyasu a warning. He projected a sword behind the man who was still rambling about the dragon, speaking about how he had gotten the last attack bonus on the boss, and stabbed it into the man. Motoyasu looked stunned but that soon faded as sleep took him thanks to the sword's effect.

Adrian triggered the prison and infused his mana and SP to observe the process. Making sure that Motoyasu was bound, safe and well contained within his pod before turning his attention to Malty who was staring at the sinking Motoyasu with despair. Adrian then did the same to the other two girls. They weren't his concern for the moment. He'd deal with them afterwards.

"Malty," he said, addressing her for the first time and watched her jump, her arrogance removed by pain, "please tell me about the precise reason why I have been accused of rape by Melromarc and I do mean everything about it."

"...please," she begged, as soon as she realized that she could speak without pain flaring up, "please let me go-"

Adrian laughed after he actually felt bad for her. She paused in her attempts to soften him up and stared. Something he only noted thanks to his blindsight because he was laughing too hard. This woman was incredible. Somehow she had actually managed to make him feel a little bad after she had accused him of rape or at least been complicit in setting him up.

He stopped and glared at the woman. The plants around her tightened their grip and she winced as bruises began to form on her limbs.

"Malty," he said, his voice losing the calm he had held onto, "answer my questions."

"It was my Father-" she said, before pain crippled her, this time because she was lying.

"Don't lie to me." he said, wondering why she thought she could get away with it, "it will only cause more pain." Adrian flared the seal and watched her scream for another long ten seconds. Finding it difficult to look at her suffering without the distraction of Motoyasu. He shoved the worthless emotions away. He needed answers.

Fear dominated her expression but she nodded and then continued, her body shivering. "I...I convinced him that you had raped me and that you made me keep quiet about it until you left by threatening to kill him and rape my sister.."

That...that was almost cartoonishly evil.

Adrian would have to think about this. This completely changed Aultcray's motives. The man wasn't an idiot who thought to control the Sword Hero he was just a father desperate to protect his family.

Though he was still an idiot if he believed that Adrian was so ridiculously malicious.

He was much more dangerous than Adrian had assumed. Desperation did that. It was luck that had allowed him to visit the Capitol, track down Motoyasu and Malty and then capture them. Adrian still needed to get Aultcray but he could no longer assume that the man was arrogant and powerful. Indeed, if Aultcray heard about Malty's disappearance then it was likely that the man with the power of a Vassal Weapon enhanced with years of experience would be ready for him.

He needed more information. How fortunate that he had a wonderful source of information right in front of him.

"Tell me about your father Malty," he said, forcing a calm smile on his face while keeping his tone cold.

To his surprise, Malty looked stunned for a moment before she smiled. "He'll save me," she said, almost to herself, "father will save me. He'll kill you and then take me back home."

Adrian felt a little bad. Her faith in her father was something he understood well. Hadn't Isis looked at him with hope for an answer no matter her concern? Hadn't he looked up to his own father's guidance and protection?

It was a pity that no matter what Aultcray wouldn't be able to save her. Adrian activated the curse seal again. Wondering if there was a safety limit he was going past and watched the fear return.

"Please tell me about your father," he said with a smile that made her flinch. He wondered what she saw.

But there was no pleasure as he learned about the War Hero, the Master strategist, the genius who had bought Siltvelt to its knees. And worst of all the mage who was boosted by a magic boosting weapon. He felt strange...empty. Guilt had faded and determination had replaced it. This was what he needed to do.

He needed a Vassal Weapon more than anything. Without it, any rescue team he sent to find Isis would be stranded without any means of rapidly gaining power. Sure, he wanted to send a small army with them but an army of level 1's or even level '40s meant nothing to the power of the Book Hero and even with Fitoira's help, they would only get to level 40 at best. Assuming that the level cap wasn't earlier than that.

The slaves would have to wait. He didn't want to risk spending a couple of hours there teleporting them back to Raphtalia and risk getting detected by some sensor or the other. Adrian was powerful, but a trap would kill him as long as it was set up well. If there was anyone who could do so, it would likely be Aultcray.

There was a temptation to try and find another Vassal Hero or beg Fitoria for more help but he had only four days before the Wave hit Zeltoble. He needed to be ready by then...or he would not send a party to the rift even if it was the correct one. Adrian wanted Isis back but he didn't want to lose the others. Not when there was a chance that she was already dead.

The only reason he was so willing to take this risk was simple, he mused as he glanced at the silent, terrified Malty.

He had a valuable hostage.