A Powerful Martial Artist Reincarnates as a Nun Knight

Despite possessing considerable fortitude and torture tolerance, even Adrien eventually succumbed under Bungeun Chakgol’s excruciating agonies. Understandable, considering his status as Valencia’s slum kingpin hardly prepared him for experiencing such profoundly visceral tortures involving his own bones and musculature contorting against each other from within.

Fundamentally, pain thresholds – like any other human capabilities – developed through repeated immersive exposure and conditioning rather than inherent physiological distinctions alone. Utterly unfamiliar sensations provoked primal terrors transcending even the most steely resolves.

After enduring several successive Bungeun Chakgol cycles punctuated by his blood vessels intermittently unleashing, Adrien desperately pleaded surrendering any pertinent information while nearly asphyxiating amidst torrents of tears, mucus and saliva frothing from his distorted features. Desperately mouthing entreaties through that slobbering mess lest another precision strike seal his vocal pathways permanently – the prospect of reliving those indescribable tortures utterly shattered his composure.

“So Maria Francesca undoubtedly visited here to submit her protection remittances, did she not?”
“Y-Yes! I mean, that is correct!”

Adrien emphatically nodded along with Conra’s statements, desperately hoping dismissing these demonic tormentors from his sanctum by any means necessary. Yet Conra’s heightened psychometric perceptions effortlessly detected those subtle emotional undercurrents subtly contradicting his verbal compliance.

“And then what subsequently transpired?”
“A-After that, she simply departed! Honestly, she truly just left immediately afterward!”

Despite Adrien’s vociferous assertions punctuated by exasperated indignance upon perceiving Conra’s skeptical scrutiny, the youth remained utterly unapologetic – having unconsciously augmented his spiritual neurological architectures alongside internalizing Mushin-dō’s autonomic overrides.

“Her account accurately confirms departing afterward – yet withholding any subsequent details seems rather conspicuous, doesn’t it?”
“…?!”

Never anticipating such effortless exposure of his falsehoods’ logical lapses, Adrien blanched while frantically calculating potential deflections before immediately capitulating under that relentless pressure:

“Very well…it appears another remedial session may prove prudent after all.”

Tensing upon witnessing Conra’s fingers ominously crooking once more, the thoroughly cowed Adrien swiftly surrendered any remaining prevarication – prompting Conra’s resigned exhalation before consulting Sophia:

“Having secured his cooperation, should we not simply extract the relevant information? Undoubtedly Maria’s safety hinges upon our promptly resolving this crisis.”
“Then we must depart immediately.”

Inwardly admiring Conra’s burgeoning maturity compared to that naively idealistic disposition from their initial encounters only months earlier, Sophia affirmed his assessment with a nod of acknowledgment.

‘He has certainly blossomed remarkably over this relatively brief interim – although still exhibiting occasional lingering areas requiring further refinement through accumulated experience. But those represent educational details his mentor can supplement personally.’

Mollified by conclusively verifying Bungeun Chakgol’s equal efficacy against subjects cultivating distinctly inhuman architectures alongside unorthodox physiologies, Sophia allowed a satisfied smirk while inwardly contemplating potential applications:

‘If properly adapted, perhaps this paradigm could enhance somatic cultivation techniques…?’

That speculative notion prompted an involuntary shudder coursing down Conra’s spine despite remaining oblivious to its source. Sophia already deliberated incorporating those uniquely unorthodox neuromuscular dynamics for modifying his ethereal physiology alongside forthcoming third inner binding breakthroughs – undoubtedly representing an excruciating transition requiring painstaking reconstructions across his entire existing cultivation foundation.

Obviously, those grueling regimens fell under the disciple’s personal responsibilities rather than his mentor’s jurisdictions.

+++++

Pitch darkness engulfed her senses.

Raging infernos blazed behind her retreating footsteps as some indistinct feminine silhouette clutched a tightly swaddled bundle while fleeing from unseen pursuers amidst distant raging bellows.
Despite her ragged gasps, the woman never ceased her staggering forward momentum while smoke wafted alongside desiccated foliage rustling in unseen zephyrs – as if the very vegetation itself sensed her desperation.

Yet ultimately every mortal possessed finite reservoirs of endurance – and after some indeterminate interval, her haggard strides steadily faltered while despair slowly overwhelmed her visage.
Perhaps heaven had not completely abandoned her after all, for silhouettes suddenly manifested amid that lightless void gesturing urgently with muted whispers:

“Over here! Quickly, before they find you – we must depart now!”

Hastily bundling the woman onto some prepared carriage, the shadowy assemblage hastened onward into that Stygian murk – those within huddled protectively around that squirming bundle clasped within her arms as one murmured asidedly:

“Even the gods themselves cannot abide such atrocities transpiring against our Catalonian sovereignty…”

Failing miserably at suppressing her whimpering sobs, the woman’s companions could only avert their gazes while mournful silence saturated that funereal atmosphere.
From within her swaddling blankets, a cherubic babe momentarily peered outward through hazelnut irises before resuming fussing restlessly in her arms.

“Hhhnngghh…?!”

A ragged gasp erupted from Maria’s lips as she abruptly jolted upright – muzzy confusion momentarily blurring her surroundings into indistinct haze.
Blinking owlishly while her surroundings steadily regained cohesion, she eventually refocused upon unfamiliar vaulted ceilings and walls encasing her unfamiliar chamber through crepuscular illumination filtering through slatted window apertures.

Analyzing her immediate condition revealed tightly bound limbs alongside a gag muzzling her vocal abilities – evidently kidnapped at some point after departing Niu de Corb judging from her fragmentary recollections.

‘At least I don’t appear mistreated beyond these restraints…’

Ruefully assuring herself, Maria dearly hoped her scrawny malnourished figure dissuaded any untoward ulterior motivations from manifesting within her captors’ more lurid proclivities.
Recalling certain leers she had witnessed occasionally creasing those unsavory types’ demeanors, she instinctively suppressed allowing such viscerally disturbing recollections proliferating further psychic distress.

‘I should concentrate upon more constructive considerations – such as plotting some feasible escape route.’

Meticulously scrutinizing her dimly illumined surroundings for potential advantages while suppressing any unnecessary noises, Maria detected muffled conversational reverberating from beyond her cell – predominantly comprising disjointed vulgarities interspersed with lascivious insinuations, some directed explicitly toward her person, prompting instinctive repulsed shudders.
Nevertheless, those auditory indications confirmed nobody presently occupied her chamber beyond sentrys evidently stationed outside – eliminating surreptitious indoor maneuvers as a feasible escape vector.

‘First priority involves overcoming these restraints…’

Sweeping her cellular confines revealed zero potential makeshift implements for severing her binding ropes – until refocusing upon a peculiar protrusion beneath her ragged blouse’s frontispiece.
Recognizing the anomalous bulge’s true nature prompted an involuntary derisive snort of bemusement:

‘What utter buffoons – a ten-year-old developing breasts? Impossible!’

Outrageously ridiculous, considering her emaciated frame likely rendered her visage disconcertingly preadolescent alongside that starvation-induced developmental retardation.
Recalling those same degenerates lustfully leering over her presumed physical ‘assets’ prompted another instinctive tremor of visceral revulsion – perhaps their shared impoverishment somehow stunted neurological faculties alongside endocrine disruptions?

Regardless, that precise protrusion represented her concealed purse meticulously designed alongside certain discreet modifications – rigged for facilitating surreptitious removal if she could contort her torso properly for exposing that ingress point.
After interminable contortions straining every sinew, Maria finally succeeded threading that attached line through her collar before grasping the dangling extremity between clenched teeth – the purse steadily sliding outward alongside incrementally loosening corporeal restraints upon its clearance.

Now able to progressively peel away those loosened bindings through her unfettered limbs, the only remaining impediment involved disengaging those restraints socketing her ankles using her newly freed hands – a relatively trivial procedure at this stage.

Yet even after regaining full ambulatory mobility, another quandary remained – that lone narrow window slatting represented a hopelessly unviable escape vector given its obscenely cramped dimensions alongside fortified iron crossbars.

‘Which means that original corridor egress remains the sole recourse despite my earlier dismissal…’

Exhaling a resigned malediction under her breath while suppressing any audible outbursts, Maria scoured her surroundings until her gaze locked upon discarded hemp ropes severed from her previous restraints.
Her eyes lit up with inspiration as she rapidly compiled those severed segments into an improvised bola with a distinctly offensive applications in mind – having previously intended using those very same ropes for scaling downward during her envisioned escape via the window route.

Alas, she had scarcely completed recoiling that bola before ominous clamors erupted throughout the structure – indistinct commotion and impacts escalating into a veritable pandemonium of chaotic mayhem raging unchecked.

‘The compound itself seems embroiled within some form of disturbance…’

Tentatively straining her auditory senses while remaining utterly motionless confirmed some unseen assailants ambushing this location – their guards thoroughly preoccupied elsewhere meant providing an utterly serendipitous opportunity for her own daring attempt at this singular instance.

‘This represents my solitary viable chance!’

With that fateful epiphany crystallizing alongside a deep steadying breath, Maria crept toward the door latches securing her restraints before cautiously peering outward.
Despite the distant tumults raging unabated, her assigned sentry maintained their vigilant station directly across that threshold – yet Maria harbored zero hesitations whatsoever.

The portal swung open with nary a whisper before her makeshift bola instantly ensnared that guard’s throat from behind, viciously cinching every last millimeter of that brutally tightening hemp lasso.
Although obvious disparities existed between her scrawny prepubescent physique versus his fully matured male musculature, their relative leverage imbalance proved decisively lopsided through that sheer chokehold mechanics once his airway constricted against that ruthlessly relentless compression.

Kkhook kkhook – despite his bloodshot stares boring hatefully into her impassive visage accompanying those strangled gurgles, Maria simply pivoted outside his thrashing radius with alacidatic precision before systematically counterweighting those bindings with the doorframe’s exterior fittings.
Now thoroughly entangled, permanently immobilizing that gasping brute became a trivial formality until her discretion deemed prudent extracting herself entirely amidst those escalating conflagrations consuming the lower levels.

Ghosting along these darkened corridors while muting her footfalls, Maria crept steadily downward toward those chaotic epicenters – her every vantage strategically situated within ambient shadows while analyzing those pitched reverberations seemingly engulfing entire sectors below.
Grasping a plundered carving knife and sturdy cudgel from neighboring chambers, she deliberately descended those stairwells step by harrowing step.

Until one strangled scream preceded a panicked silhouette frantically backpedaling directly toward her shrouded position:

“Aaauuurrrggghh, it’s a monster!”

Instinctively retaliating with an overhead bludgeoning riposte, Maria inadvertently ventilated her would-be assailant’s skull into visceral particulates – that crimson arterial spray arcing across her stunned visage.
An incredibly fortuitous stroke rendering her previously obscured position fully illuminated before her frozen quarry’s horrified companions’ transfixed stares.

“You…what even are you…?”

Within that surreal interim where their respective gazes collided, Maria involuntarily contorted her bloodied visage into an unsettlingly awkward leer reminiscent of certain mythological monstrosities – provoking pandemonium among the would-be bravos:

“M-Monster…!”
“Wh-Why are you doing this to us…?!”

Their escalating hysteria compounded further upon the remaining assailants ghosting through those lower smoke-choked levels bearing down collectively upon that inexplicable scene unfolding overhead.

“Hmm? Why have these dimwits frozen like petrified fools…?”
“…You there, identify yours-”

Their skeptical jeers dissipated alongside all composure as Sophia materialized amongst those billowing miasmas accompanied by Conra – their disbelieving gazes instantly converging upon Maria standing unrepentantly atop that grisly aftermath illumined crimson.

In that singularly macabre tableau, master and disciple reunited with their appointed charge under the most unexpected circumstances imaginable.