Chapter 711: A License to Take Treasures

"So the owner of the prison doesn’t even know what happened to his own prison."

The sun did not answer.

Lian looked at the darkness beneath his feet for a moment.

’At least now I know this place doesn’t actually belong to the current Ruined Realm.’

He had already suspected this to some extent, or at least he knew it was unlikely that something like this belonged to a Ruined Realm.

The prison had come from somewhere else, perhaps even from a place that did not belong to any of the known realms, but how it had been moved here remained unknown.

"One more thing, why did Mother decide to imprison White Oblivion here? Wouldn’t it have been better to find a way to kill him so all this trouble wouldn’t happen?"

The judge’s voice echoed through the darkness.

"Because what Father created was not made for any world, and yet they are immortal and eternal."

Lian was not surprised this time.

He already knew about Father.

"Five parasites, five diseases, five butchers of worlds."

The sun’s presence became heavier for a moment.

"Beings that enter worlds, slowly destroy their identities and order, and finally bring whatever remains to ruin."

"I know that part, it’s just that this prison doesn’t really seem capable of keeping that thing contained." Lian slowly nodded.

Even so, he understood something from this question, apparently, even the one who had built this prison and had the ability to gather prisoners from different worlds and even capture a Calamity did not know how to kill a Calamity.

Hollow Sun said that Calamities were immortal and eternal, but was that really true?

He thought about the Heart of Ruin, clearly, that thing had the ability to destroy a Calamity that even this ancient being considered eternal.

This made him even more curious about the origin of that heart.

"Very well, I’ll stop White Oblivion, but I have two conditions."

The judge’s voice echoed through the darkness.

"Human..."

"Listen to me first."

Lian’s tone did not change in the slightest.

"First condition, from this moment on, you won’t put any of my people on trial. Not me, not my companions, and not my Colony members."

There was silence for several seconds, and then the sun answered.

"You are not in a position to pass judgment on the law."

"That’s right, but I’m not forced to fight to save your prison either."

The huge presence of the sun became heavier for a moment, but young Vorhelm remained motionless.

"The law was established to protect this place."

"Exactly."

"And right now, protecting this place means stopping White Oblivion." Lian added.

He paused for a moment.

"You can’t ask me to stop the Calamity while there’s still a chance that one of my companions might be executed at any moment for entering without permission."

"Judgment is not a matter of negotiation." The sun answered.

Lian raised the corner of his mouth slightly.

"Then declare our presence here legal, I’m not asking you to destroy your laws, I’m asking you to use the same authority you have to protect the prison."

He raised his head.

"Second condition, I want the right to take the treasures of this land."

"The property of this prison is for—"

"I know." He interrupted. "For protecting the prison and keeping the prisoners."

Then he continued.

"But after saving this place, we’re not going to be put on trial again just because we took a few treasures that have nothing to do with your prison’s survival."

There was silence for a few moments, and this time, Lian waited.

He was standing before a being that had passed judgment for centuries; even so, he did not lower his head or try to make his tone more respectful.

He was not going to do all this work for free, although he had no choice but to do it anyway.

First, because of his own world, and second, because of the Heart of Ruin, but the sun did not know that, and he could use this to negotiate for more.

Finally, the sun’s voice echoed through the darkness.

"Your presence and the presence of those under your protection and command shall be recognized as Guardians of this prison from this moment onward."

"As long as this position remains in effect, they shall not be subject to the Judgments of this prison, and treasures that are not necessary for the prison’s survival or the enforcement of its sentences may become your property."

Lian looked at the sun for a moment and then smiled.

"Good, we finally reached an agreement."

But he was not ready to end the conversation yet.

"By the way, one more question."

The sun remained silent.

"Can’t you help me deal with those two Unholy? Even stop them for a few seconds?"

"I cannot act outside the laws of Judgment."

"So you can’t do anything?" Lian blinked for a moment.

"No."

"Not even a temporary judgment?"

"No."

Young Vorhelm stared at the huge sphere for several seconds and then let out a short sigh.

"So you’re practically completely useless."

Hollow Sun did not answer, it did not become angry or try to prove its authority.

The huge being continued floating in the darkness; motionless and heavy, as if such insults meant nothing to a being that ancient.

Lian did not intend to continue the argument either, he had received almost all the information he needed.

But just as he was about to ask to return, an old memory came back to his mind.

He remained silent for several seconds and then raised his head again.

"One last question."

"Ask."

"Did you really have to kill Amelie?"

For a moment, there was a deep silence.

This time, even Lian waited for an answer, and finally, Hollow Sun’s voice echoed through the darkness.

"Human."

Its tone was heavier than before.

"You entered without permission a prison that holds one of the most dangerous criminals in all creation."

The huge sphere became brighter for a moment.

"One of the Five Parasites of Worlds, a disease that has destroyed countless names, memories, and civilizations."

The judge’s voice continued.

"Humans from the outside world have entered this prison’s territory for months, reached places that were not made for them, and taken property that does not belong to them."

There was a short silence.

"And now you ask me why the law was enforced?"

Lian looked at the darkness beneath his feet for a moment and then answered.

"You’re right, if you look at it from the law’s point of view, entering this prison without permission was a mistake made by me and the rest of my race ...but Amelie was innocent."

He paused for a moment.

"If I had to choose one person from everyone who was with us, she might have been the most innocent of them all,...you can consider entering without permission a crime, you can have laws to protect your prison."

His voice became quieter.

"But that doesn’t change the fact that the girl was innocent."

Hollow Sun remained silent.

This time, Lian did not try to break the silence with a joke or an insult either, he stood before the huge sphere for several seconds and then took a calm breath.

"Return my consciousness to my body."

For a moment, the faint light around the sun changed.

The judge’s voice echoed throughout the darkness.

"Human, I cannot be your sword, and I cannot break the law established to protect this prison simply because I wish to."

Lian raised his head.

"But remember..."

For a moment, the entire black space became motionless.

"If you do not destroy that parasite and butcher of worlds and allow him to destroy me ... the next world to fall will be your world."

The darkness around Lian began to move.

He looked at the huge sphere one last time, and then he felt something pulling his consciousness downward.

And a moment later, he heard his heartbeat again.

He opened his eyes.

The first thing he felt was a flow of warm, concentrated mana moving around his body.

He was still inside the Primordial Rebirth Cocoon.

But the pain in his side and back had disappeared.

He focused on the places where he had been injured for a moment. The damaged tissue had completely healed, and there was no trace of the destructive energy from Noah’s daggers left in his body.

His armor had been completely repaired, and his cores had also returned to their peak condition.

Even so, his mana reserves were not in very good condition.

The Divine version of the cocoon had consumed a considerable amount of mana to heal such injuries.

He took a calm breath and then deactivated the skill.

The cocoon’s shell split open from the top. Its dense layers slowly separated, and mana flows spread around his body.

A few moments later, Lian’s armored foot touched the stone ground of the plateau.

The sounds of battle immediately reached his ears.

The clash of swords, the breaking of stone, and the familiar music of the Bone Minstrel that could still be heard from a distance.

But the first person he saw was Noah.

The young Frenchman was standing several meters away, beside one of the broken pillars.

His eyes had turned completely white, and his face showed no sign of human emotion, exactly the same thing had happened to him as to Rindo and Alicia.

Lian looked at him for a moment.

Victoria...

The name of his stepmother was repeated in his mind, how had that woman managed to bring this boy under her control? And what exactly had she done to make him so obsessed with her?

Young Vorhelm slowly moved toward Noah, and as he passed beside him, he raised the index finger of his right hand slightly.

A very thin thread of Eclipse Energy formed.

Lian placed it inside Noah’s body with precise force; a destructive effect that would activate whenever he wished and kill Noah instantly.

Noah did not even react, and his white eyes remained fixed on an unknown point.