Chapter 274: Hostage 101

“So…?”

“Hmm?”

After a brief silence, Bellachrona finally spoke, glaring at Axel from up close. Despite feeling heartbroken after learning what had transpired while she was petrified, she kept her heart closed.

At least, that was the façade she aimed to maintain.

Axel smiled, noticing her tough act, and replied.

“Easy, we’ll be asking you the same question we asked him,” he said. “So here it is: Will you be the one to get tortured, or will he endure it again?”

“…”

Axel’s account lingered in her mind. How Fafnir had supposedly asked for her to be beaten to save himself, which ironically resulted in him being nearly beaten to death.

“I…” Using that point as a reference, she knew what to say. “I want you to beat Fafnir instead of me.”

“Oh?”

Axel raised an eyebrow, surprised.

He thought that after hearing her lover had betrayed her, she would lash out and try to punish him again. Instead of choosing to “punish herself” and let Fafnir endure another round of torture—something that would likely kill him in his current state—Bella, with a resolute expression, asked for the opposite!

“So you want us to beat him to death, is that it?” Axel asked, smiling.

Bella’s lips twitched, as if concerned about her future. However, her response remained unwavering. “Yes,” she nodded.

“There’s no going back once you decide, you know?” he asked to confirm. “Are you really sure?”

“Yes.”

Yet, the lady dragon’s will was firm.

“I see…”

Axel turned around and started walking toward Fafnir, which made Bella feel a surge of panic. “Wait, where are you going?” she asked, unsettled.

“Huh?” Axel paused, looking back at her with a smile. “Didn’t you say to beat Fafnir to death? That’s what I’m going to do.”

“…!”

In that moment, Bella realized she had made a mistake.

The question asked to Fafnir might have been a trick question; however, the one posed to her was not—it was literal!

In the first place, it was useless to ask a trick question if the one answering knew it was a trick!

“W-Wait!”

“Oh no, I won’t wait. I asked you if you’re sure, and you said yes, right?” Axel interrupted her, waving his hand dismissively as he walked forward. “Don’t worry. In his current state, he wouldn’t last a few minutes.”

“Wait! Stop!” Bella cried, tugging at the chains that bound her.

But weakened to a level comparable to Arianne before meeting Axel, she couldn’t budge the magical fetters. “Beat me! Beat me instead! Don’t hurt Fafnir!” she pleaded.

Yet Axel seemed oblivious to her cries.

He continued to pace forward slowly, the sound of her sobs and the clinking chains behind him almost blending into background music. In his hand, a single stake appeared, crafted from the God Mineral.

Creating these stakes was no easy task.

Since the mineral couldn’t be broken or melted, Axel had to rely on the System to shape it. This was no simple feat.

For instance, the rough mace that Axel had previously made Bella use required three hours of shaping. He had created it some time ago as a test to confirm whether the God Mineral was truly “impossible” to process.

The stakes Axel used to pin the dragon were each created after spending an hour shaping them. Given that the System could shape even a large river in an instant, this “slow down” felt excruciatingly sluggish—like moving at a snail’s pace.

Nonetheless, he successfully crafted these “weapons” that were nearly indestructible.

“Wait! Bastard… I said stop!” Bella cried from behind as Axel hoisted the stake.

But, of course, he ignored her.

Without mercy, he stabbed downward, pinning another stake into the dragon’s foreleg.

Fafnir’s body quivered in pain, almost convulsing, yet not a sound escaped his lips. Even in unconsciousness, he continued to shield Bella from harm!

’Stubborn bastard.’ Axel smirked, twisting the stake to inflict even more agony.

“STOP! NO! FAFNIR…! NO!!!”

Witnessing this scene, Bella began to lose control.

She tugged fiercely against the chains, enough to bypass the enchantment that made them fit comfortably. Her wrists began to show lacerations as she struggled to escape her shackles.

However, as she fought, the shackles tightened around her wrists, refusing to slip off. To make matters worse, a weak healing force was activated, closing her wounds and literally preventing her from tearing her hands free.

“STOOOP!!!”

Feeling utterly powerless, she could only cry—so hard that blood streamed from her eyes.

Axel glanced back, feeling a twinge of intimidation at her appearance. However, he didn’t stop. He pulled out one of the stakes embedded in Fafnir and moved to a different spot, stabbing the dragon once more.

Looking at Fafnir’s HP, it barely registered 100 points left—minuscule compared to its full health of over 10,000. Each stab reduced its health by another 20 points, and the bleeding drained about 1 point per minute.

This meant that even if left alone, Fafnir would die in less than two hours.

“Stop it, please…” Bella’s cries mixed with her sobs. “Please… Don’t kill Fafnir… I’ll do anything—just please…!”

“Anything?”

Axel flinched, finally hearing the response he wanted.

He lifted his hand from the stake he had been grinding and faced Bella from a distance. “Are you sure you’ll do anything?”

Seeing his reaction, the female dragon wasted no time. “Y-Yes! I will do anything, so please, spare Fafnir…!”

A smile flitted across his lips.

“Then, give me your Dragon Heart,” Axel commanded.

“…!”

Bella couldn’t reply instantly.

After all, a Dragon Heart wasn’t something she could simply give away. It was literally her very life. To give it to someone else would mean becoming their possession for all eternity. Rather than being a true heart, it was more accurate to say it was the core of her very soul!

This was something Axel had learned from Navi and Mimir.

He understood that as long as he possessed a dragon’s Dragon Heart, that dragon would be unable to fight back and would be compelled to follow all orders, unless they wanted to die. It was the perfect way to turn someone into a slave!

“So you don’t want to?”

After watching Bella hesitate for a few seconds, Axel sighed and turned around. “Then, this talk is—”

“W-Wait!” Before he could return to torturing Fafnir, she broke. “I will… I will give it to you. But please promise me… that you will heal Fafnir and not hurt him anymore!”

“That’s all?” Axel smiled. “Then it’s a deal.”

“…”

Bella felt suspicious; however, her panic dulled her clarity of thought. She couldn’t truly grasp what Axel was planning. With Fafnir’s life hanging by a thread, she felt powerless to bargain further. She wasn’t in a position to negotiate in the first place.

She closed her eyes, and soon, something emerged from her chest.

A small wisp of flame, the color of her hair—blue, closer to black.

As soon as the wisp emerged from her body, Bella visibly weakened, almost as if she had deliberately shortened her own life—a reality she faced, as her stats revealed.

Extracting her Dragon Heart cost her 50% of her health!

“So this is a Dragon’s Heart…” Axel smiled, slowly collecting the flame in his palm.

Though it appeared small from a distance, it was actually quite large—about the size of his head or a basketball. Once he closed his palm, the flame vanished.

With his eyes closed, Axel could feel the flame continuing to burn near his heart, as if it was meant to be there all along.

When he opened his eyes, his smile grew wider.

“Alright, now, stay quiet over there while I fulfill my part of the exchange…” He commanded as he turned around and poured a Greater Recovery Potion over Fafnir.

With that single action, Fafnir’s injuries vanished. The God Mineral stakes that had pinned him to the cage were forcefully expelled, and his health was restored to 100% in just a few breaths.

Slowly, Fafnir opened his eyes.

As he did, he quickly spotted Axel standing right before him, and…

[Bella…!]

He cried out as soon as he saw the woman tied to the wall.

“Fafnir…”

Bella whispered his name softly, a wry smile playing on her lips.

In that moment, she was still troubled by Axel’s words about how Fafnir had attempted to sacrifice her for his own survival. Because of this, she found it difficult to meet his gaze without revealing her doubts.

However, her reaction ignited a flicker of uncertainty in Fafnir, a feeling that intensified in the next moment.

“Alright, then. Little Fafnir…” Axel said with a smile, patting the dragon’s snout. “Why don’t you give me your Dragon Heart now?”

[I’d rather die—]

Before the dragon could respond, Axel opened his right palm to reveal a beautifully glowing flame.

“…If you don’t, I will break this fragile thing right now.”

[That is…!]

Of course, Fafnir could never mistake it for anything else.

Rage surged in his eyes as his mouth moved, attempting to bite Axel in a fit of fury. Axel, however, didn’t flinch and accepted the attack without hesitation. After all—

THUMP!

Even with a full-force bite, Fafnir’s current weakened state made the attack feel no more substantial than a tickle.

“Is that a no?” Axel smiled, tightening his grip on the Dragon Heart he held. “Then…”

[W-Wait…!]

Fafnir faltered.

Slowly, he released Axel from his bite. Although Axel was left half-covered in saliva, he didn’t mind. After all, the potential gain outweighed any disgust he might feel.

Fafnir would have chosen death over offering his Dragon Heart to Axel, but his decision was not just about his own life; it was about Bella’s.

[Fuck… Take it!]

With no choice, he could only relent.

A small flame, the same size as Bella’s, emerged from the dragon’s forehead. It was a deeper, darker color than Bella’s, clearly distinguishable at first glance.

“Wonderful!”

Axel grinned, pleased that his plan had succeeded.

He had literally held Fafnir hostage to obtain Bella’s Dragon Heart, while simultaneously using Bella as a hostage to secure Fafnir’s in return!

Now, he had two “loyal” and powerful watchdogs for their kingdom!

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