Chapter 1651: A Long Awaited Confrontation: Love Side
<=Alright it appears...huh. Now that’s peculiar...=>
’I get the feeling I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear. What is it?’
<=It appears Hulna made a similar confession to Feroxxa.=>
’Of course he did...’
...Flash back time?...
"You?! You can’t be here! There’s no way! You’re dead!"
[What’s wrong, defendant? Wouldn’t it make sense for the dead to make an appearance in a courtroom designed to judge souls?] Blazejudicator asked as he watched Hulna visibly tense and step back at the sight of previous Hearth Tender, Alfina, standing next to the judge’s bench.
In reality, this Alfina was a disguise being put on by Silvie, one of the protokaijin that had developed under Serena’s care. Goldie was also in a disguise, but they were out of sight for the time being.
[Now that we have established that this courtroom is meant to judge your soul and the sins you’ve committed, why don’t we—]
"You’re supposed to be dead!"
[Or you can just ignore me as you descend into a guilt-based madness; that works too.]
Despite being an Aether King, Hulna was still every bit as vulnerable to the influences of [Chaos] as even the meekest of Aether Novices.
Perhaps even more so given that he and his counterpart had been partaking of [Chaos] in a very roughshod manner up until this point.
"You’re dead; you died. I saw your body in a casket at the funeral," Hulna said, almost as if it were a mantra more so than an acknowledgement. "I remember finding it unbelievable when I first heard the news, but I definitely fucking believed it when the fucking Decapitator told me he did it!"
[Oh?]
Deflecting was one thing, but to actively accuse someone of a crime was a much more egregious way of being found guilty. However, Blazejudicator was quite literally built to sniff out guilt and innocence.
In this moment, Blazejudicator expected to sense modicums of guilt or just straight-up lies in Hulna’s words. Much to his surprise, he could only sense truth and only partial guilt.
[You recall I can evaluate your soul, right? Feels to me that you’re not entirely innocent of this death...]
Needless to say, he was very confused.
...Flashback over...
’So... Feroxxa thinks Hulna did it, while Hulna thinks Feroxxa did it...and both are aware that they allowed the other to do the dirty deed...and may have provided unseen or at least hands-off assistance,’ Zhen Liu summarized after hearing the two antagonistic co-conspirators make their confessions. ’I have a sinking feeling about who the true culprit is, but these two are still accomplices to that true culprit so...fuck them.’
Logos and Pathos were a little stunned at the speed and finality in which their current lord had determined the fates of the abbots. Granted, they were going to suggest the same fate as well, but they had wanted to at least be the ones to say it first. Especially given their lord’s perchance for second chances.
<Milord, are you giving the kaijin the okay to just outright take out Hulna and Feroxxa like yesterday’s trash?>
’I am,’ Zhen Liu confirmed. ’Granted, it’s technically Serena who wanted these two to be removed. So it’s ultimately up to them and her protokaijin to determine if these two abbots are paying the piper.’
=Fair enough.=
’Speaking of having others make the finishing blow, have the others determined who they wanted to fight? Hell, do they even want to?’
When Zhen Liu started this dungeon thing, he made sure to loop in his friends, his lovers, and family so that they could get precious combat experience.
While he technically didn’t need to do this for them, he thought it was better than having them stay in the city and possibly be the target of revenge or used as leverage against him.
That, and it also gave him the wonderful ability to pass culpability to people who were much more likely to be ignored than himself...probably.
’Wait, didn’t I make a promise to myself and the others that I would eventually do a big reveal on my abilities and rock the world?’ Zhen Liu thought to himself for a brief moment before focusing back on the task at hand.
As of this moment in time, his aforementioned mortal allies were currently in a waiting room, watching live feeds of the kaijin messing with the enemy combatants.
Zhen Liu had initially planned to have his allies fight the Grandmaster elites from the Erupting Dawn Empire since there were more of them and they were about equal in terms of numbers and strength. However, if Zhen Liu directed the kaijin to do so, they could also empower the aforementioned mortals and make them even more dangerous than that First Prince Lofarro character or the abbotts.
Of course, this also hinged on who they wanted to fight.
<Your cousins and Antonio wish to fight the elites that are currently being toyed with by the Doll Twins. The former wish to see if they could break through to the next rank without needing assistance, while Antonio requests assistance once they have a chance to get into the fray,> Pathos reported as she summoned a clipboard and began to make a show of checking the feedback they had received from Zhen Liu’s mortal allies.
<Lythero and Olstenna both want a crack at Prince Lauvanne and Prince Galban, respectively. Rianna wants to see if one of those False Crusaders can survive her strongest arrows, and Princess Jinju Ren has heard of Prince Lofarro as well, and she wants a crack at the First Prince as well. Perhaps make it a team effort? >
’Hmmm.’
Zhen Liu was silent as he mulled over the requests for a couple of moments in his brain before ultimately nodding to the requests.
’Alright, sure thing. Have them prepare for battle and I’ll have the kaijin be the ones to determine when they should drop in.’
<=Of course, milord.=>
’Side note: Hurricroak, any updates on tracking that missing False Crusader?’
[I managed to pick up a scent, maestro. But the bastard is weirdly slippery and seems to have a weird teleport ability.]
’Teleport?’
[Well, not exactly teleport. He goes towards a dead end and somehow appears in the opposite direction. Like he turned the area into a loop or something.]
’Weird...’
<Oh shit! Looks like Hulna is the first to lash out in aggression! >
’Drama in the courtroom!’
...Present time...
"I...I may have blood on my hands, but I don’t have hers!" Hulna shouted at Blazejudicator.
This was an incredibly rich statement for him to make, given that less than five minutes ago, he had confessed to have given the true killer a means to strike when she least expected it.
In other words, he was guilty of being an accomplice, but not the actual perpetrator...not that Silvie and Goldie cared.
However, Blazejudicator was the one running the show at the moment, so they had to wait until he gave them the go-ahead.
[That may be the case, but it was still your ambition and motive to facilitate such an insidious act to occur. Therefore, it is only right for you to still be punished for the crime.]
"That—that’s bullshit! How is that justice?!" Hulna shouted in a manner that was beneath the dignity of an Aether King.
[Justice died when you decided to betray your people for the sake of ambition,] Blazejudicator answered before snapping a pair of burning fingers. [Punishers, execute him.]
Shortly after this decision was made, the light illuminating the illusionary Hearth Tender disappeared before turning back on and illuminating a pair of gold and silver knights that had very distinctive builds yet were still clearly carrying the visage of demons whose sole purpose was to punish the guilty.
Needless to say, Hulna didn’t react kindly to the sight and proceeded to do what any reasonable aether warrior would do in this situation: use violence.
"I...I WILL NOT BE THE VICTIM OF THIS CHARADE ANY LONGER!" Hulna shouted as his aether began to circulate like mad to not only strengthen his [Regalia] but also as a sign that he was summoning his [Astra].
"Come to me, [Torch of Eros]!"
Flames manifested over his form for a moment before rushing to his hands and transforming into a spear-like torch that glowed with a strangely pink and purple flame at the end.
Blazejudicator could immediately tell that these flames were similar to his own [Flame of Lust], but the power behind it was much cruder and seemed to be meant for his satisfaction rather than for others.
Not only that, but he could sense that the flames carried a tiny bit of the same [Flame of Ambition] that was lying underneath the central cathedral.
The sight of this [Astra] caused Goldie and Silvie to momentarily flinch, an action that seemed to embolden Hulna in that exact moment.
"The flame was right...you monsters are repelled by its holy might! Which means that I can defeat you!" Hulna shouted before charging forward.
[Spear of the Sun Piercer!]
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