The elders were bound tightly, trussed up like dumplings, unable to move even an inch. The color drained from their faces as they looked toward Rory, who was calmly examining Melanie’s storage ring.

Panic broke them.

"Lady Rory, spare us!"

"We’re innocent—we don’t know anything!"

One elder burst into tears, dragging himself forward as best he could. "It was all Melanie and that human female, Bree! It has nothing to do with us!"

He cried and wailed, throwing every bit of blame away as if he had never lifted a finger.

"Yes, yes! It was all them!"

The others echoed desperately, scrambling to distance themselves.

Rory didn’t even look at them.

She drew out several chains from the ring, identical to the one now biting into Melanie’s flesh.

A faint smile touched her lips, but her eyes remained cold.

She handed the chains to Xarion.

"Put these on them."

Xarion took them without hesitation and walked toward the elders.

The moment they saw the chains, their voices broke in terror.

"No—no! You can’t do this!"

"We’re innocent!"

Rory finally looked at them, her gaze sharp as blades.

"Innocent?" Her eyes swept over them one by one. "You bribed the people around Aren. You helped Melanie capture him. And then you stood by and watched him suffer."

Her voice was quiet—but every word carried killing intent.

"And now you dare say you’re innocent? Not one of you is. You’re all accomplices. None of you are walking away."

She turned away, ignoring their hysterical screams, and continued searching through Melanie’s ring.

Behind her, Xarion and the others moved swiftly.

Chains snapped shut.

"Click—"

Spikes drove deep into flesh.

Screams tore through the hall, sharp and relentless.

Rory didn’t so much as flinch.

Instead, she pulled out two small, peculiar bottles from the ring.

They were transparent, made of some unknown material, their contents faintly swirling inside.

The bottles were no larger than a thumb, each half-filled with a thick, black liquid that moved sluggishly inside, as if alive. Something about it felt... wrong. Unsettling.

"Mm—mmph!"

The moment Melanie saw them, her pupils shrank violently.

It was as if she had been struck by terror itself.

She began thrashing wildly, her body twisting against the chains. The spikes dug deeper into her flesh, tearing skin, drawing blood that quickly soaked through her clothes.

But she didn’t seem to feel the pain.

Her eyes were locked on the bottles in Rory’s hand, frantic, desperate—afraid.

Rory watched her reaction without hesitation.

Then calmly slipped the bottles into her own storage ring.

She didn’t know what they were.

But judging by Melanie’s reaction, they were important.

That was enough.

Melanie struggled even harder, her eyes now bloodshot, burning with fury and panic.

Nearby, Xarion had already finished binding the elders.

Just like Rory, he stripped the storage rings from their fingers and dumped everything out.

"Clatter—"

A pile of treasures spilled across the floor, forming a small mountain.

High-grade beast cores, insect cores, rare herbs, potions, crystal shards...

Xarion’s lips curled in satisfaction.

"Didn’t expect you old fossils to be this rich."

All of it now belonged to his female master.

Even Jasper and the others were surprised.

The succubus clan couldn’t even afford to plant spirit vegetation—yet their elders had hoarded wealth like this.

It surpassed even Rory’s own stores.

Rory immediately turned to Jasper.

"Move everything to our vault."

Jasper smiled faintly. "Of course."

He summoned the guard captain, and they began transporting the treasures.

"Our things!" The elders nearly fainted as they watched their lifelong hoards being carried away. "That’s ours! Ours!"

They shouted hoarsely, voices breaking with panic.

"That’s theft! Robbery!" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Rory looked at them with cold disdain.

"Yours? I heard your succubus clan is so poor you can’t even afford a single spirit plant in the rear palace," Rory said coolly. "And yet your personal rings are stuffed with mountains of wealth."

Her gaze swept over them, sharp with contempt.

"So what—did all of this fall from the sky?"

"We..." The elders tried to argue but Rory bent down, picking up a gleaming crystal from the pile, cutting them off mid-sentence.

She recognized it immediately.

A rare material used in mechs and warships.

Vincent had once told her—these crystals came from Aren. He had discovered a crystal mine on a distant planet and personally led the extraction.

Rory looked at them again, her disdain deepening.

"These crystals were handed over to the clan by Aren, weren’t they? And you kept them for yourselves."

Not just the crystals. The beast cores. The insect cores. No wonder the succubus clan was so poor. It had all been swallowed by these old men.

And this was just what they carried. Who knew how much more was hidden in their vaults?

Rory’s eyes turned cold.

"You took everything he gave... and then helped Melanie torture him."

Her voice dropped, steady and merciless.

"Using these to compensate him is the least you can do."

The elders’ faces shifted between pale and flushed, their bodies trembling with anger—but they couldn’t refute a single word.

Because it was true.

As they watched their treasures being carried away, they didn’t dare glare at Rory.

Instead, their fury turned toward Melanie.

If not for her, none of this would have happened.

Melanie, in turn, glared back viciously.

"You hid this much wealth? And when I asked for a few beast cores, you refused!"

Serves you right.

Watching the treasures vanish into Rory’s possession, she felt a twisted sense of satisfaction.

The elders erupted immediately.

"You shameless woman! You dare say that?"

"Don’t pretend we don’t know what you’ve taken from us using Aren’s authority!"

"How much have you taken? Have you ever returned a single thing?"

"Giving you anything is worse than feeding a dog!"

Their argument devolved into chaos—accusations flying, voices rising.

Rory rolled her eyes, utterly unimpressed.

"Enough."

She turned to the head guard.

"Lock them all up."

Her tone was final.

"And send word to the succubus clan. If they want them back... They can come and pay for it."