A couple of days swiftly passed.
During this time, Cyril never thought of leaving the prison cell. After all, Magenta is one of his trump cards. He had to ensure that she's in her best condition before moving.
However, he made sure to know everything about this place. He extracted as much information he can get from the Beastmen imprisoned here.
Aside from that, he recognized the Ancient Artifact that they are talking about!
The Conqueror Staff!
It is a Rank-S Artifact!
Not only that, it is supposed to be owned by an S-Rank Awakened from the Kingdom of Palais!
'I actually found this Artifact here. Just what kind of luck is this?' Cyril couldn't help but smile after learning everything.
The appearance of the Conqueror Staff in his past life was connected to the Abyssal Beasts outbreak.
These evil creatures were difficult to kill because of their unusual energy. Unlike the Magical Creatures that use almost the same principle as humanity's Aura, the Abyssal Creatures can use some kind of demonic energy similar to the Demon Race.
However, with the power of the Conqueror Staff, the user could create a domain capable of blocking the surge of Abyssal Creatures! He wasn't exactly sure of the details but it could create a territory that no evil creatures could enter if the user wanted to!
Not only that, but it also has incredible power to control Magic Creatures as long as it fits certain conditions!
Because of this power, the Kingdom of Palais was the first country to resolve the issue of the Abyssal Creatures…
It only took them less than a month to settle the situation. It is even faster than the Traoland Archipelago with the most S-Rank Awakened by a week or so. Perhaps, it is also because of the geological structure of the Archipelago but still, they should have nine S-Rank Awakened at that time compared to the Kingdom of Palais with only five S-Rank Awakened.
It shows that the existence of a single appropriate Rank-S Artifact is better than having multiple inappropriate Artifacts!
"The guards should be coming any moment now. Our cell is the farthest one so you'll hear them while they give the food to other prisoners."
Kaede suddenly said after hearing some noises above them. Because he's from the fox clan, he has keen senses and noticed it immediately.
"Alright… I will hide here. Just act normally." Cyril commanded as he activated the power of his Traceless Scarf.
He then hid behind an empty turtle shell to ensure that he wouldn't be noticed by the guards. He didn't want to make a commotion yet.
Kaede and others didn't complain as they nodded at his instruction. They were given food and water by Cyril in this couple of days so they know that the man is not simple. It's better to follow him for now since they will be together here in the prison for who knows how long.
"Good…" Seeing their stoic response, Cyril nodded and kept the cat close to him.
This underground prison has a total of eight large cells. Since they are at the eighth cell, they will be the last ones to receive rations.
Clank. Clank. Clank.
Soon, they heard the five Snake Clan's guards dragging bags of rations to the prison. Then, instead of handing it to the prisoners, they decided to throw it inside the cell as if they wanted them to fight over it.
"Kikiki… Go kill your fellow race for a few pieces of meat."
"Look at them! Look at them! Hahaha… This is so satisfying!"
"Oi… oi… Don't overdo it, those old and stinky foxes in the mines might die already, we still needed them as a replacement."
"Boo~ Just let us enjoy this for now."
The five of them just laughed about it as they continued feeding the prisoners.
As for water, they just let it flow at the small canal created at the edges of the prison cells.
Cyril finally had a good look at these Snake people, just like any other beastman, they all possess human qualities. In Cyril's eyes, they appear like human mutants with animal qualities.
Their appearance appears similar to the effects of the Beast Transformation Spell that a certain Artifact is capable of doing so.
After about ten minutes of enjoyment, the Snake people finally left. It seems that they do not need some miners at the moment as they didn't bring anyone with them.
Based on what Cyril heard, it seems that only once a miner died will they get a chance to be taken out from here. What a tragedy…
Thud!
Cyril finally removed the turtle shell covering his body.
"Master…"
The enigmatic voice of the demoness came to his ears. Her voice was no longer weakened which made Cyril sigh in relief.
"You're ready?" Cyril asked as he glanced at the black cat staring at him.
"Yes. I can now Corrupt them without me taking a backlash… Anyway, these lower life forms barely have any life with them. The chains binding them have already destroyed their Beast Cores, if they want to avenge their clan, they can only accept me. This will be a lot easier for me. I'll just probably need half a day to convert all the prisoners here."
"All of them… That won't do."
"Master, if you're worried about them multiplying tremendously, don't worry about it. They won't be corrupting other people without my instruction… and I won't be letting them do that without your approval."
Magenta seems to know what Cyril was worrying about.
"Is that so… Then, go ahead and do it. Try not to force them if possible."
"Not to force them? Alright. That's easy."
Just like what Magenta said, it was indeed easy for her. Because everyone here had lost their hope, they had no qualms accepting Magenta's offer to receive power in exchange for them giving a part of their soul to the demoness.
Finally, Amaris the Corruptor taught them some kind of cultivation as demonic energy started flowing within their bodies.
About three hours had passed and soon, the underground prison was filled with Corrupted Beastmen worshipping the demoness.