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Looking closely, there was a Light spell hovering above an alley separated from the main street. The crushing sound also came from the same direction.

“Mom, that must be…!”
“Given this timing, there’s no doubt it’s them. Let’s go, Nicole. Remember to stay by my side.”
“Okay!”

That sound was no joke. Mateus could’ve already come into contact with Cortina.

It seemed to be coming from the back alley a little separated from the main street. Other people also exchanged glances wondering what it was about.

That said, no one tried to go and check. There was an organization that trained assassins in this city. If ordinary people stuck their noses where they didn’t belong, they could find themselves falling to a “mysterious death”.

As Maria and I turned a few corners, people around us also continued decreasing in number. It was an ideal environment for an attack.

After we turned a few more corners, we saw Cortina. Her leg was injured and she was sitting on the ground. But that seemed to be her only injury, so I felt a bit relieved.

For some reason, the surroundings were full of wood chips, as well as two collapsed men with light injuries who I assumed were defeated by her.

And near the wall, there was Mateus, looking like a broken doll. And before him was Lyell with his fist raised.

There were cracks on the wall and a dent on the ground, telling me how fierce the fight was. No, with Lyell as his opponent, it was probably a one-sided trampling. That was just how broken Lyell’s battle power was.

Mateus, as far as I could see, had his arms, legs, and even his bones completely broken up, having received so much damage that he hardly looked human anymore.

If we added Lyell’s fist on top of his condition, he was bound to die for sure. However, Lyell didn’t seem intent on stopping. He seemed so pissed that it was unusual.

“Lyell, stop!!”

Cortina shouted in panic. But even her warning was not reaching his ears.

Cortina was probably trying to stop him to extract information from him. Lyell on the other hand was angry that he had injured me. And now he attacked Cortina on top of that, so he completely flipped his lid.

Whenever Lyell lost his cool, he also lost all mercy. Mateus couldn’t possibly endure a punch of someone who could even punch through the Evil Dragon’s scales.

I reflexively used my Thread Manipulation on my feet’s muscles and tendons, and dashed towards him at tremendous speeds.

I was happy that he was angry for me, but the fight was already over. Moreover, he held valuable information related to Klein. It would be very bad if he died here.

I tackled Lyell with a force akin to an arrow shot through the Third Eye. Normally, I would’ve just been repelled given my physique, but my empowered legs and loins prevented that.

My charge pushed him off his position, and his fist missed its mark. It instead passed right by Mateus’ face, pulverizing the wall behind.

“Dad, stop!”
“N-Nicole!? What are you… Ah, I see. My bad Cortina, blood rushed to my head a bit.”

Seeing me, Lyell seemed to have finally regained his self-control and apologized towards Cortina. She sighed in response.

“Good grief, don’t scare me like that. You looked a little weird from the start, but it turns out you were already flipped at that point, huh?”
“I’m really sorry. When I realized the b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ that hurt Nicole was before my eyes, I just…”
“I understand how you feel, but don’t kill him. We don’t want Klein escaping again.”
“I get it, I was just driven by momentum earlier.”
“I… Was almost killed by that momentum, huh…?”

Mateus complained in a weak voice, though we had no reason to listen to any of it. Still, the more I looked, the more disastrous his state appeared.

His left leg was broken to the point it looked like he had one more knee there, and his right shoulder was dangling completely, visibly broken.

Even his ribs seemed to have suffered damage as he was vomiting blood. Even his organs might have been damaged.

“Mom, I don’t think he can make it like that.”
“You are right… Honestly, I’m really reluctant to heal you and would rather return you to the cycle of the World Tree right now… But alright, I will go ahead and heal you, but I must state again that I’m extremely reluctant.”
“Your expression tells me how much you hate the idea, but thank yo—aaaAAGGH!?”

Just as Mateus thanked a really displeased-looking Maria, his words were replaced by a scream.

His bones were giving off creaks and were being forcibly returned to their original places. His flesh was also returning to looking more human, but he was screaming with all he had during that whole process.

“That’s the painful way of healing…”
“Yeah, I haven’t seen this “punishment” in quite some time.”
“H-Higiiiiiiiiiiiaaaaahhhh!? Agghghghhhaa!!”

Mateus convulsed in the agony of death. This was Maria’s special torturing technique that removed the isolation of pain that normally accompanied healing magic. I had experienced it a few times, and I could say that it hurt like hell.

“Oh dear, looks like I was a little too crude there. Can you forgive me?”
“L-Liar… That was definitely on purp—”
“Yah!”
“Giyaaaaaaaaa!!”

As Mateus was throwing accusations, Maria stepped down on his left leg. And it wasn’t a gentle step, she trampled down on it to the point it gave off a weird creak.

“It appears that your leg is healed too. That’s good.”
“Y-You definitely stepped on it on purpose—”
“Oh dear, shall I check the condition of your ribs too while I’m at it?”
“No, nevermind what I said. Thank you for the healing…?”

Mateus had no choice but to surrender before Maria’s meaningful smile. Techniques to heal people could also be used to break people, if used the other way.

In a way, Maria was the most knowledgeable among us when it came to breaking people. Before her technique, some anti-torturing training would prove to be completely useless. Realizing that, Mateus decided to give up.

“Good boy. It would be great if you can tell us about Klein’s whereabouts while you are at it, you know?”
“That’s a little…”
“Oh, so you won’t?”
“Wait, I will, I will! However, there are others listening to us, so can we move places first?”
“Hmm…?”

Hearing his request, Maria surveyed the surroundings. There was no one crazy enough to come to observe the center of an uproar. That said, the owner of the house beyond the wall that Lyell just demolished was collapsed on the spot in fear.

As he said, it was better to leave this place.