When he was sure that Irvin couldn't escape, he removed the black silk around his head.
Once the black silk was removed, his unruly red hair bounced up and became free. His face was also revealed to Irvin.
Irvin's eyes widened in shock. He said, "How??"
He was shocked because he couldn't believe that Arthur was still alive and that Arthur possessed power that was at the second mortal coil.
The fact that Arthur had a power that was at the second mortal coil explained a lot of things. It explained how Arthur was able to survive the ambush. But it didn't explain why Arthur was affected by the ambush at all.
A cultivator at the second mortal coil is a giant beast in human form. If Arthur was really at the second mortal coil, he should have been rampaging through the horde of boars, not being pushed to the end of his life.
So Irvin had an answer for why Arthur survived, but he was still confused about a lot of things.
Unfortunately, he couldn't articulate his thoughts very well. He could only say, "How?"
Arthur shrugged and replied, "I guess you're not very good at your job. Now tell me, how do you want to die?"
Irvin felt despair from the bottom of his heart. Once he saw Arthur's face, he knew without a doubt that he would die.
It wasn't only because he now knows the identity of the man who robbed him and cut off his legs but also because that man is the boy that he tried to kill.
If he didn't know the identity of the man, he might have survived. But now that he knows that it was Arthur, he is sure that Arthur has come for revenge.
He shook his head and said, "It wasn't personal. It was only business."
Arthur put a finger on his lips and shushed him, "Shhh."
"I asked you to say how you wanted to die, not to explain yourself. It is too late for explanations at this point."
Irvin still wanted to talk. He wanted to plead for his life some more. He said, "If I had known that you were this powerful, I wouldn't have dared to have any thoughts about killing you." Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire
Arthur sighed and said, "It is good that you don't want to choose how you will die because I was lying earlier. I already know how you will die."
He opened Irvin's mouth and used his pliers to grab his tongue. Then he cut the tongue and pulled it out of Irvin's mouth.
Irvin tried to scream but failed at it. Instead, he gurgled his blood and nearly choked on it.
Arthur tossed the tongue aside and said, "I have been thinking about how you will die for a long while. At first, I thought of throwing you to wild animals in the forest to be devoured by them. But I thought that kind of death would be too quick and easy for you."
After he was done speaking, he ran upstairs and entered the kitchen. He came into the kitchen for the wooden table.
He removed the legs from the table and then returned to the basement. Next, he took out his sword and began using it to sharpen the legs of the table.
He said to Irvin, "I eventually decided to start with cutting off your tongue. That way you will not be able to shout for help. You will feel the helplessness and despair that I felt when I was alone in the forest. The only ones you will have for company are enemies trying to stab you at every opportunity they get."
"I don't have spears, so I have to make some. I also don't have a lot of accomplices, so you will have to make do with just me stabbing at you."
"All in all, you will feel the pain that I felt that day. But unlike you, I will watch you die and make sure that you only leave my sight as a corpse."
Irvin began to cry again. He didn't want to die. He wanted to live.
Unfortunately, he couldn't beg for his life. He could only groan and moan in pain.
Arthur smiled when he saw this. Then he went over to stab him with the spear.
He selected the point on Irvin's back just above his buttocks. That was the same point that he was stabbed at too.
The makeshift spear was pushed into his torso. It wasn't as sharp as a metal spear, and it was too thick, but Arthur was strong and Irvin wasn't wearing metal armor, so the makeshift spear penetrated his skin, passed through his muscles, and sank into his abdomen.
Irvin screamed in pain. It was a loud scream that would have drawn a lot of attention. If they weren't in a basement, a lot of the neighbors would have been disturbed by that scream.
Arthur was torn. He didn't want people to hear Irvin scream, so he wanted to stuff his mouth with a piece of fabric.
But he also wanted to hear Irvin scream, so he didn't want to muffle his scream with cloth. This made it difficult for him to make a decision.
Eventually, he decided to stuff Irvin's mouth with a cloth. He used a smelly rag to make sure that Irvin suffered until the last moment.
Then he began sharpening the second leg of the table. Irvin's eyes rolled in panic and fear when he saw this.
Arthur ignored him and continued, "Don't worry about your accomplices. They too will suffer. They might not suffer like you. But I will make sure to get my revenge until the last man."
That night, the great Scarred Raven died in the house after being tied to a chair and stabbed four times. His body rotted in that basement because no one knew his house.
It wasn't until a few months later, when the house was changing owners, that his corpse was discovered. At that time, no one will link his death to Arthur.