Selena stared at William for several moments, her expression frozen between confusion and disbelief as she tried to process what he had just said. Slowly, her head tilted to the side while her brows knitted together, and the more she thought about it, the more ridiculous the statement sounded to her.
"How?" she asked at last, narrowing her eyes suspiciously as she continued studying his face. "Are you joking?"
William could clearly hear the doubt in her voice, but instead of showing any sign of annoyance, he simply shook his head casually before turning his attention toward Logan.
"Stab your own hand against the wall."
The order left Selena completely stunned.
For a brief moment, she thought William was merely trying to prove a point with an impossible command, but before she could even question him further, a wet squelching sound suddenly echoed through the room.
Startled, Selena instinctively turned her head toward the source of the noise.
Her eyes widened.
Logan had actually obeyed.
Without the slightest hesitation, he had driven the long blade directly through his own hand and into the wall behind him. Blood immediately flowed from the gruesome wound while his entire body trembled from the overwhelming pain.
"ARGHHHHHHHH!"
A piercing scream erupted from his mouth and echoed throughout the chamber.
"Shut up."
William’s voice rang out sharply.
The effect was immediate.
Logan forcibly swallowed the rest of his scream despite the agony tearing through his hand. His body continued shaking uncontrollably while tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, yet he remained silent.
William glanced at him before speaking in an almost amused tone.
"Oh, poor thing. You should thank your fate that I didn’t tell you to stab your own eyes."
Only after saying that did he turn back toward Selena.
"Alright, Miss Selena. As you can see, he’s completely under my control, so you can go ahead and ask him whatever questions you want."
Selena looked at William with wide eyes.
The shock had not left her face.
Even now, she found it difficult to comprehend what she had just witnessed.
The ability William had displayed completely exceeded her understanding.
At this point, she no longer doubted his claim.
Even abilities that forced submission onto a target had limits. No matter how powerful such techniques were, a person’s survival instinct would still resist commands involving severe self-harm. Yet Logan had not shown even a fraction of hesitation. There had been no struggle, no resistance, and not even the slightest instinctive attempt to preserve himself.
He had simply obeyed.
Furthermore, Selena was absolutely certain that this was not an illusion.
As one of the greatest masters of illusion within the empire, she would immediately recognize if someone had trapped her inside one. There was no deception affecting her senses.
That realization was what disturbed her the most.
If this was not mind control as she understood it and not an illusion either, then William was wielding an ability that existed entirely beyond her knowledge.
A troubling thought suddenly surfaced in her mind.
What if Seraphine had also fallen under some strange influence from this man?
The possibility made her uneasy, but after a brief moment of consideration, she forcibly pushed those thoughts aside. There would be time to investigate that matter later. Right now, there were far more urgent issues that required answers.
Taking a slow breath, she shifted her attention toward Logan.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Did you try to frame William against me? Yes or no?"
"Yes."
The answer came immediately.
There was no hesitation whatsoever.
Selena slowly nodded while a furious expression appeared on her face.
"Do you have any personal animosity toward William?"
"No."
This answer surprised both Selena and William.
William had originally assumed that the entire situation was connected to Arwen’s interest in Seraphine. Although he still had many doubts regarding the mysterious ability that seemed capable of influencing people throughout the empire, he had largely attributed those concerns to some hidden family secret or ancient artifact.
After all, during his investigation of Logan’s victims, he had sensed no trace of demonic energy from the strange gooey substance involved in the incidents. Because of that, he had been unable to connect the matter to demons.
Now, however, things were becoming increasingly confusing. Stepping forward, William fixed Logan with a serious look.
"Elaborate."
His voice became colder. "Why did you do what you did?"
Logan remained perfectly obedient. Without delay, he began explaining.
"I was attempting to take control of the empire. By creating conflict between you and Selena, I intended to force a confrontation between the two of you. If you killed Selena during the conflict, even in self-defense, we would frame you for the murder of the Empress and mobilize every elven cultivator against you."
His voice remained emotionless as he continued.
"Once you were eliminated, I would naturally assume control of the throne. As for Seraphine, she would have been married to my son or declared mentally ill."
The room fell silent.
William and Selena both wore nearly identical expressions.
Distress, disbelief, and growing anger.
After several seconds, William finally broke the silence.
"How were you so confident about attacking me?" he asked. "I seriously doubt everyone along with you could ever defeat me."
At those words, Logan clenched his fists.
"We made a mistake."
His voice carried a trace of frustration.
"We believed you were merely a cultivator at the peak of the godhood stage. We did not realize you possessed so many hidden abilities. If you had truly been an ordinary cultivator, then even someone at Absolute Godhood would have fallen before the artifact in my possession."
William’s eyes immediately lit up with curiosity.
"Oh? Show me this artifact."
"It is currently sealed within my palace."
William nodded thoughtfully. Regardless of everything else, he had already decided to retrieve the artifact after the interrogation concluded.
Meanwhile, Selena’s brows remained tightly furrowed.
"Who gave you such an artifact?" she asked.
Before Logan could answer, William casually interjected.
"Probably some family inheritance."
Selena shook her head. She clearly disagreed, but she did not immediately explain her reasoning. Instead, she continued staring at Logan.
A bead of sweat slowly rolled down Logan’s forehead.
"A mysterious organization approached me," he said. "I do not know their name."
The atmosphere in the room immediately grew heavier.
"They offered me the artifact. In exchange, they promised to support my rise to power and eventually crown me as emperor of the Elven Empire... or perhaps the ruler of a new Sernora Empire."
Logan lowered his head.
"I became greedy."
Tears slowly began running down his face.
"They promised that as long as I fulfilled their demands, they would support me with everything I needed. They possessed wealth, influence, power, connections... everything."
William felt genuine shock upon hearing that revelation.
This was now the second time he had encountered references to a mysterious organization operating behind the scenes. The first time had been in the tribal regions of Veridian Province.
Now the same shadowy force had appeared here as well.
"What the hell..." William muttered.
Selena glanced at him.
"You just said exactly what I was thinking."
Her expression became increasingly complicated as she considered the implications. The situation was clearly far larger than either of them had initially expected.
William stared at Logan for several more seconds before taking another step forward. This time, his expression had become even more serious.
"Tell me everything."
His voice left no room for refusal.
"The full story. Every detail, no matter how small. I want to know absolutely everything."