Chapter 327 - 323: Karma's Judgement

Flashback scene, in the Twilight Manor's training grounds, just half an hour before he stormed into the Ishtar Familia's home.

Ever since he shattered his mana core, Judas had spent most of his time in meditation, meticulously repairing the damage to recover his true strength.

The closer he got to full restoration, the slower the progress became.

Still, he knew that with enough patience, it was only a matter of time.

'I'm already at 99.9 percent… just one more push and it will be complete.'

A vibrant, multi-colored glow enveloped his body.

Were it not for the heavy isolation barrier deployed around him, the intense magical fluctuations radiating from his core would have thrown the entire courtyard into chaos.

His consciousness remained focused inward, locked onto the glowing core within his chest.

There it was... the absolute last fracture.

It was a hairline crack so thin it could easily be overlooked, yet it was all that stood between him and total restoration.

Judas took a deep breath, gathering his energy once more… when suddenly… he heard someone knocking on the other side of the barrier.

He frowned and opened his eyes, the glow in his chest slowly dissipating as he sensed someone waiting outside.

Of course, he was not the only one who could occupy the training grounds.

Other members of the Loki Familia would often come here to train themselves, after all.

But they would never go out of their way to disturb him and would usually leave him alone.

If someone was knocking on his barrier, it meant only one thing…

'Something urgent or important must've come up.'

He thought with a serious expression as he stood up and patted himself down.

After snapping his fingers, the barrier slowly dissolved into thin air, and he saw Raul standing in front of him, looking visibly anxious.

"What is going on?"

Judas asked.

"Judas… two of the receptionists from the Guild came to our gates and asked for you. I don't know the full details, but apparently, your advisor was attacked and is seriously hurt."

The moment he heard this, Judas' eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Raul… can you please go to my room and fetch me Járnglófar?"

"Ah... right away!"

…

Back to the present, inside the half-ruined grand hall of Belit Babili, Judas, surrounded by enemies from all sides, finally ignited his mana core in battle.

A resplendent, dazzling light burst from his body as his core flared to life.

Five miniature stars revolved rapidly around its center like a compressed solar system.

Right on its surface lay that final hairline fracture.

A ribbon of concentrated energy swirled into refined particles, trickling directly into the seam.

In a fraction of a second, the fracture mended completely, fading as though it had never existed.

It was at this moment.

Repair progress… 99.9%... 100%.

Judas Spade had reawakened.

What followed was total silence, as if noise itself had vanished.

There was no catastrophic shockwave or dramatic explosion of aura to herald his return... only a deep, terrifying calm, like a gentle spring breeze passing over a still lake.

His mana control was so refined that not a single trace of waste energy leaked from his body.

Even a skilled, high-level mage trying to sense his presence would perceive nothing unusual, thinking he was nothing more than an ordinary person.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Judas opened his eyes, only to see the sight of the Ishtar Familia frozen in place, but still charging towards him.

Although the process of activating his mana core may have seemed like it had taken a while, in reality, not even a second had passed.

'They're moving so slow… much slower than before.'

Judas thought as he suddenly perceived everything around him as if they were all moving in slow motion.

He turned his head to look at Aisha, who seemed like she was about to unleash her magic, Hell Kaios.

He shifted his head once more to look at Tammuz, with his sword covered in aura, rushing towards him.

Closest to him was Phryne, moving the fastest of the bunch.

Suspended mid-air with her axe raised overhead, her face was contorted into a grotesque, gap-toothed grin, her weapon advancing a mere fraction of an inch per frame.

Finally, his gaze landed on Ishtar, standing far behind the sidelines.

'Oh?'

He raised a brow when he saw her eyes slowly dilated, as if she could perceive him looking at her.

Judas raised his hand.

A brilliant golden magic circle manifested over his palm, rotating with elegant precision.

'It doesn't hurt this time.'

This would be the first fifth-tier spell he would successfully cast with his mana core after such a long time.

However, he noticed that his metal gauntlet, Járnglófar, began to vibrate violently.

The embedded magic stones fractured, unable to withstand the immense output, and tiny sparks of leaked energy bled through the cracks.

'Looks like it had reached its capacity limit and couldn't handle the strain.'

Járnglófar had been his trusty weapon ever since he arrived in Orario, but it was clear he had completely outgrown it.

It simply could no longer act as a conduit for his true power.

'I guess it's time to get a new one.'

Judas thought as he watched more cracks spread across the gauntlet, the metal beginning to tear itself apart.

While making sure to keep that reminder at the back of his mind, Judas turned his wrist downward, and the golden magic circle slowly fell before attaching itself to the ground.

It rapidly expanded, quickly enveloping the entirety of Belit Babili, bathing the place in a warm golden glow.

All of this happened in just less than 0.1 seconds.

Before Judas' perception returned to normal, Phryne had swung her axe, hitting the ground and causing the floor beneath her feet to split.

"What?! Magic?! How... don't tell me..."

Phryne gasped, her eyes widening in sheer shock as she spun toward Judas, whose back was turned to her.

『Karma's Judgement』

In an instant, the entire Belit Babili was engulfed by a rising golden light, flooding everyone's vision.

"Aaagh!"

"It hurts! It hurts! Make it stop! Make it stoooopppp!!"

Phryne grabbed her head, got on her knees, and screamed in agony.

Judging by her shrieks, one would assume Judas had unleashed an apocalyptic attack spell.

Yet, when looking at Aisha nearby, despite being weaker, she suffered only mild disorientation before coughing up a small spray of blood.

Karma's Judgement is a special holy light-type magic.

The way this spell worked was unique in that the damage varied depending on the target's karma.

If the person had extremely negative karma, the effects of the spell would be severe.

If the person leaned more towards having positive karma… the damage would be minimal, and they could even walk away without feeling a thing.

…

"Hey! What is that?"

"A beacon of light?"

Somewhere in the Pleasure District, a crowd of people who were walking down the street stopped in their tracks when they saw a pillar of light rising all the way to the sky.

It wasn't just the Pleasure District.

Across all of Orario, citizens stepped out of taverns and homes, looked towards the giant pillar of light in the distance, pointing with their fingers in utter disbelief.

"Isn't that coming straight from the Pleasure District?"

"What in the world is happening over there?"

"Did a deity just get sent back to Tenkai?"

Someone blurted out.

Miach, who happened to be nearby with Naaza, shook his head.

"No… I don't sense any Arcanum… I think this is the result of someone's magic."

…

Inside the Loki Familia's headquarters, Loki and her executives stood by the window, watching the distant beacon light up the skyline.

"When I heard that his receptionist got attacked, I knew he was going to cause trouble."

Loki chuckled, resting her hands behind her head with an amused smirk.

"Looks like some of us aren't going to have a peaceful time in the coming days."

Riveria remained silent beside her, her gaze fixed on the light.

"Finn… shouldn't we go and stop him?"

Gareth asked, turning toward their captain.

"Stop him? How?"

Finn replied with a faint smile.

"Once Judas sets his mind on something, he follows it through to the bitter end."

"However… this could actually be good for us… we might be able to deal with the Ishtar Familia sooner than we thought."

"Still… when he gets back, he will need a talking to."

Hearing this, Gareth didn't say anything more, trusting Finn's words like he always had.

…

Inside one of the Ishtar Familia's establishments, Haruhime looked out from her window with a gaze full of awe.

"What kind of magic is that!?"

She exclaimed as her fox-tail swayed from side to side.

The scene couldn't help but remind her of one of the hero stories she had read.

"So powerful…"

After that, she watched in silence, her eyes perfectly reflecting the beacon of light in the distance.

---

+15 chapters at patreon.com/drdedot