Chapter 681: The Judge Knows No Mercy ( Bonus )

The remains of the structures he had seen on the surface were parts of this very prison.

But if the prison had once been on the surface, what had caused it to become buried at such a great depth?

Of course, he had a guess about that too.

Before he could ask his question, Four continued.

’But before the Judge fell into slumber, something happened that changed the appearance of this entire land.’

Lian slowed his steps.

’What happened?’

The Castellan’s deep voice echoed in his mind.

’The Judge separated the sky from the earth, my lord.’

’What?’

’With the authority it possessed, it separated most of the prison from the surface and sent it into the depths, what now remains on the surface is nothing more than the remains of the old structures.’

Young Vorhelm raised his head, huge pillars could be seen on both sides of the staircase, and stone rings floated in the darkness.

And much farther away, white lines continued into the depths.

’So all of these were once on the surface?’

He thought about the Hollow Sun for a moment.

A being that could now only be seen as golden rings and a black pupil in the sky.

That same Judge had managed to separate a large part of a huge prison from the surface of the land and send it into the depths.

Lian gave a short laugh in his mind, but a few moments later, something more important caught his attention.

Why would the Judge do such a thing?

If the goal was only to imprison the condemned, the containment zones seemed enough, unless the Judge had known about another danger.

White Oblivion.

Lian thought about the information he had obtained over the past few days, before falling asleep, the Judge had enforced the containment orders with much greater strength.

Then it had sent most of the prison into the depths, and even after it fell asleep, the imprisonment structures had remained active.

Maybe it was afraid that if it only sealed the prisoners, White Oblivion would eventually find another way to escape.

In such a situation, completely separating the prison from the surface could have been another safety measure.

But this was only a theory.

Even so, he now understood better why none of the condemned had been able to escape easily, even after the sun’s long sleep.

The sun had closed all the escape routes before falling asleep.

He looked toward the path ahead.

But apparently, something is going wrong this time.

"Lian?"

Rindo’s voice interrupted his thoughts, and young Vorhelm turned his head.

"What is it?"

"You’ve been looking at the pillars for several minutes, did you find something?"

Lian pointed toward the surrounding structures for a moment.

"I think these were once part of the prison on the surface."

Noah looked at the huge pillars.

"You mean all these structures used to be up there?"

"Probably."

Lian pointed toward the rest of the staircase.

"The farther down we go, the more they look like the ruins we saw on the surface."

Rindo thought for a moment and then nodded.

"You’re right, some of the patterns look exactly like those pillars near the spring."

Lian said nothing, but his gaze remained on Rindo for a moment.

The spring...

The same place where everything had changed on the first day, and now, part of the secret of that land was right in front of their eyes.

After passing the final section of the staircase, the four reached a huge entrance, at first, only darkness could be seen, but when Lian stepped forward, the weak light from the white channels revealed the space ahead.

And for several seconds, even he said nothing.

A huge hall stood before them, so large that its ceiling was lost in the darkness.

Stone pillars several meters thick rose from the bottom of the hall, and at different heights, huge floating rings were positioned between them.

But the strangest part was the stone platforms, hundreds of platforms were floating in the air at different distances from each other.

Some were above the group’s heads, some were deep inside the hall, and others were connected to the main platform through narrow passages.

Each platform was surrounded by several rings of white and golden light, and creatures could be seen inside many of them.

The Withered.

But unlike those moving on the surface, these creatures were completely motionless.

Some were kneeling, some were floating in the air, and others remained standing among the rings of light, with their heads lowered and their hands hanging at their sides.

There were no chains, no bars could be seen, but despite the open space around them, not a single one moved outside its own area.

Noah stared at the scene for several seconds.

"What kind of prison is this...?"

Rindo raised his spear slightly.

"I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before."

Alicia looked at one of the nearby platforms.

A huge creature was floating inside a white ring, its body was covered in black natural armor, and four broken horns extended from its head.

But despite its monstrous appearance, signs of life could still be seen in it, the fingers of one of its hands slowly moved, and then a weak sound came from its throat.

She paused for a moment.

"They’re still alive."

Lian nodded.

"Yeah."

But what had caught his attention even more was the condition of some of the condemned.

One of the prisoners was staring at an unknown point with open eyes, tears were running down from the corners of its eyes.

On another platform, a creature with a long body and gray skin was silently opening and closing its mouth, as if it were screaming.

But no sound escaped from its containment zone.

And a little farther away, a huge condemned creature with four hands was kneeling completely still, even so, all the muscles in its face were tense.

As if it were experiencing unbearable pain.

"Wait... does that mean not all the Withered have come out from underground yet?" Noah said quietly.

Rindo looked across the platforms.

"Apparently not."

Young Vorhelm also looked at the floating creatures for a moment.

If White Oblivion was calling all the prisoners toward the center, why were these creatures still imprisoned?

Some of them even seemed much more powerful than the Withered on the surface.

He contacted Four again through the Colony Link.

’Four, we’ve reached a huge hall, there are still many prisoners inside the containment zones.’

The Castellan’s voice was heard in his mind.

’Then you have reached the Halls of Stillness, my lord.’

Lian looked around.

’Why haven’t these prisoners been freed yet?’

Four remained silent for a moment and then answered.

’Because their sentences are more severe.’

’What do you mean?’

’Some of the beings held within this prison committed terrible crimes, their punishment was not limited to imprisonment.’

Lian looked toward one of the floating prisoners.

’Then what did they do to them?’

’The Judge forces them to experience their past crimes again and again, but.... through the eyes of their victims.’

Young Vorhelm remained silent for a moment.

Four continued.

’If a condemned being had destroyed a city, its punishment was to experience the moments of destruction through the eyes of the people who died by its hands.’

’To feel their fear, to know their pain, and to experience what they went through during the final moments of their lives.’

The Castellan’s voice became heavier.

’Some condemned have committed crimes so terrible that even during their time of stillness, their punishment does not end.’

Lian looked at the floating prisoners again, now their condition had a different meaning, creatures that remained motionless with their eyes open.

Bodies that trembled and faces that showed signs of pain.

So these creatures aren’t just sleeping.

They’re serving their sentences.

He looked around the hall for several seconds.

It was a strange method of punishment, especially since even the condemned creature’s physical power apparently could not prevent it.

A creature might have killed thousands of people in the past, but now it was forced to experience all the same terror that its victims had felt.

And not just once, but over and over again.

The Judge really has no interest in forgiveness.

Lian looked at the golden rings around the prisoners, despite how terrifying this punishment was, there was another important matter.

How had those rings preserved the victims’ memories?

And what method did the Judge use to transfer their experiences into the minds of the condemned?

He did not know the answer.

But a structure capable of doing such a thing was far more complicated than an ordinary prison.

Was this prison really part of this Ruined Realm?

Who could even build such a prison? And imprison a Calamity?

At that moment, Alicia’s quiet voice caught his attention.

"This one..."

Lian turned his head.

The girl had approached a platform that was almost at the same height as the main path, inside its rings of light, a creature with a relatively human appearance was being held.

Its body was thin and long, its skin was gray and cracked, and long hair hung from its head.

But unlike most of the Withered, much of its face still had a human shape.

Its head was lowered, and its hands hung on both sides of its body.

Alicia took a few steps closer.

"I think it’s trying to speak."

Rindo looked in the same direction.

"Are you sure?"

At that moment, the condemned slowly raised its head, and its half-open eyes stared at Alicia.