Book 5: Chapter The Sixth Misdeed of an Undying Lich: “Slaughtering the Innocent”
In the middle of the night while I was sleeping soundly, there was a sudden knock on my door. I woke up almost immediately; no one would interrupt my sleep in the middle of the night unless it was for a serious matter.
I quickly yelled, “Wait, let me put on my shirt!”… But the very next second, the door was sent flying with a kick, subsequently crashing into a wall before falling to the ground.
Following that, Moon and Stone abducted me from my room, with me only wearing a pair of pants. A cool night breeze blew past, causing me to sneeze. I couldn’t resist complaining, “At least let me put on a shirt!”
Stone gave a bitter smile that looked even uglier than someone crying. He said, “Soon you’ll be blaming us for being too slow.”
“What happened?” I started to feel that the situation was very grave, for Moon had even forgotten to put on a haughty act and fear was written across his entire face.
“Judgment is dying,” Stone said concisely in simple words.
F***!
“Where?”
“The Pope’s study.”
I immediately stood firmly on the ground with both of my feet, no longer needing their support. The three of us started sprinting, fearing that if we were late by even a single step, I would be forced to use Resurrection on Judgment.
“Judgment!”
I kicked open the door of the Pope’s study, only to see Judgment lying on the floor. The Pope was kneeling by his side. The other Twelve Holy Knights were gathered in a circle, although they weren’t doing anything but staring at Judgment.
I gave an angry roar, “Pope, what are you doing? Hurry up and perform Ultimate Heal on him.”
The Pope lifted his head to look at me and then said a little blankly, “Ultimate Heal? But by the time I got to him, he already had no remaining signs of life.”
I became sluggish and nearly forgot how to breathe. Finally, I lowered my head to look at Judgment…
He lay there, very peacefully, as though he were sleeping… If it weren’t for the numerous wounds on his body, he would indeed have looked like he was sleeping. Beneath his body, however, was a pool of blood. Even though I was unable to see color, this was not something that I could have possibly missed.
Actually, I had already realized it the moment I rushed into the study. The dark element had already started to corrode him and only holy knights who were dead would be corroded away by the dark element… It was just, how could I believe it?
I found it simply unbelievable and gave a low growl, “How is this possible?! How could he possibly… He is the Judgment Knight. He’s Lesus Judgment! He’s the strongest among all of us. Anyone else dying would be a possibility, but how could he die?”
Before me, every one of the Twelve Holy Knight’s faces became… Not awful, but rather at a loss.
Actually, they don’t believe that Judgment is dead in the first place, right? None of them are responding at all… How is it even possible? He is Lesus Judgment!
However, even if I were to confirm this a hundred times, the result would still be the same.
Lesus really was dead.
He lay on the floor, hair that was usually combed neatly spread out in a mess. Both of his eyes were tightly shut, but there was nothing unusual about the look on his face, which was a solemn expression just like usual. Really, what an obstinate person, not even changing his expression before dying!
I crouched down to examine his wounds. The black robes on his body had been cut open everywhere and the number of injuries he had were uncountable. However, the fatal blow was the wound on the side of his neck. The cut was very deep, but it still wouldn’t have resulted in his immediate death… I was afraid that he had died from losing too much blood.
“Captain Judgment!” Metal suddenly started shouting. “How is it possible! Captain Judgment, hurry and wake up. Tell them that you’re not dead!”
His scream roused the others from their daze, and they all started panicking.
Stone muttered to himself, “Within Leaf Bud City, there actually exists an enemy that can kill Judgment? Recently, the undead creatures have been multiplying like flies… O God of Light! What in the world has happened? Could it be that You are no longer protecting us?”
“Captain Judgment!”
“How is it possible?”
“Judgment actually died…”
Feeling my temper rise, I stood up and roared at everyone, “Why are you guys being so noisy? Have you all forgotten that I can perform the Resurrection spell? Judgment will wake soon, so all of you quiet down!”
Hearing that, everyone finally became a little calmer, but their faces were still full of fright, and they looked at Judgment disbelievingly.
“Who was the one who brought him back?” I suddenly thought of this question. If it was the enemy who had brought him back, then I would have to think about what exactly the enemy was trying to achieve. This was because my holy light would be almost completely depleted after I perform Resurrection. If that was what the opponent was planning on, it wouldn’t be good.
Roland was a little calmer compared to the others as he said, “My platoon is responsible for patrolling this month, and Tyler heard sounds of fighting. When he went over to check, Judgment was lying in the ruins of a broken-down wooden house. At that time, he was still alive, but they didn’t have the abilities to save him.”
It was probably because my facial expression was so awful that Roland couldn’t help but defend his vice-captain. “Tyler and the others tried their best.”
I nodded my head. I too knew that these kinds of injuries were not ones that a regular holy knight would be able to treat. Even if Earth, who had comparatively more holy light, had found Judgment, he probably wouldn’t have been able to save him, let alone a member of the Hell Knight Platoon.
But, knowing that Judgment had not died at the start and instead bled to death… If I had been there, I definitely would not have let him die!
Nonetheless, since it was not the enemy who had delivered Judgment here, the chances of the opponent having an ulterior motive were slim. I turned around to tell the Pope, “Help me draw the magic circle for Resurrection.”
The Pope nodded and took a box out from the bookcase. It was a box of magic gemstones ground into a fine powder and was the best material to use for drawing magic circles. Though I didn’t really require this kind of thing to assist me, he took it out without any intention of using it sparingly. This made me feel a very rare moment of gratitude towards the old man.
The Pope knelt on the ground and started drawing the magic circle, but just as I was going to start reminiscing about the past, I was interrupted.
“You’re going to pay a price to pray for a complete revival again?” Leaf suddenly grabbed me and shouted, “Don’t pay the price; Judgment would definitely not want you to do so!”
“What else am I to do?” I stared at him, growling, “You want me to bet on only having one quarter of a chance for a complete revival? Bet and see if Judgment will become insane? Or lose an arm? Or go blind? I still have my sensing ability, but if Judgment becomes blind, what does he have?”
Leaf retorted, “But you too could possibly become mad, or lose an arm. You already don’t have your eyesight anymore. What else do you want to lose?”
I lost my eyesight for your sake… But Leaf’s expression made me shut my mouth. Thank goodness I managed to clamp my mouth shut in time. I had no wish at all to know what kind of expression Leaf would make if I had said that.
“I won’t lose anything too serious.” I said calmly, “If the God of Light still wants me to continue being His Sun Knight and serve Him, He will not take away anything that would render me unable to continue being the Sun Knight.”
“That is just your guess,” the Pope mumbled. “The God of Light never said so.”
I glared at him fiercely, and he immediately lowered his head to continue drawing the magic circle.
“B-But…”
Leaf seemed to be at a loss. However, the ones who were even more at their wits’ ends had to be the others. Metal’s expression was extremely awful. If I really didn’t intend to pay a price and just bet on a one-quarter revival chance, he would probably be the first one to object.
However, Blaze stood at Leaf’s side and started yelling loudly, “I object! Sun, you have already lost your vision. You can’t lose anything else.”
“Captain Judgment also can’t lose anything!” Metal roared in a voice that rivaled Blaze’s. “What if he were to go blind?”
“Sun has already gone blind! So what if Judgment goes blind?” While yelling, Blaze actually gave Metal a punch and even wanted to charge in to fight, but Storm and Earth hurriedly caught hold of him on each side.
Metal, who had received a punch, started taking out his knife and was about to fight back when Ice and Stone grabbed a hold of him as well.
Aside from Blaze and Metal’s attempted brawl, the others actually didn’t look very friendly either. The group was split into two: the “good, warm-hearted” faction and the “cruel, cold-hearted” faction, each of them glaring at the other party. Even Storm, Earth, Ice and Stone were no exception. Although they had caught Blaze and Metal, their expressions looked as though they themselves wanted to go up front and fight.
“Enough! All of you, shut up!” I bellowed angrily. “What are you being so noisy for?! Do you think once you win the quarrel, I’ll listen to the side that wins? Am I such an obedient person?”
Ten people… No, eleven people including the Pope who was crouching on the ground drawing the magic circle, all shook their heads uniformly.
“Blaze, go apologize to Metal.” Once I said that, Blaze showed an expression of dissatisfaction. My face darkened as I growled, “What do I usually say in such a case? You hit one of the Twelve Holy Knights in front of me and you’re being given the chance to settle this with just an apology. Are you resenting the fact that this punishment is not light enough?”
Blaze became silent and nodded his head. He walked two steps to stand in front of Metal, and just as he was about to open his mouth to speak…
“I’m sorry.” Metal instead said the words first. With an expression of dismay, he said, “It’s not that I wish that Sun would lose anything, I-I…”
“I’m sorry!” Blaze shouted loudly, interrupting Metal’s stuttering. “What Sun said was right. I shouldn’t have hit you! Anyways, since I’ve already said that I’m sorry, can we just let this go?”
Metal nodded and extended his hand. Blaze shook his hand with great force.
Everyone finally became more relaxed… At this point, Leaf asked in a small voice, “Sun, are you still intending to pay a price?”
Once I nodded, the expressions on everyone’s faces changed. Even the side that had wanted me to pay a price just now in exchange for a complete revival had worried expressions.
“Relax, nothing will happen to me.” I comforted everyone, saying, “Wait a little, and Judgment will wake up. Then, we can go find the culprit, and we’ll definitely make him pay a price even scarier than death!”
Once I said that, everyone finally calmed down… But although they had calmed down, everyone’s expression had turned from worried to “scary.” The evil glares emitting from their eyes could have been used to kill someone directly.
“Leaf, go get my Divine Sun Sword and bring it here.”
Leaf hesitated, but he still nodded his head and walked out of the study.
Now, I needed to recall my memories with Judgment. The more one lets himself be filled with memories of the deceased, the lower the chances of Resurrection failing. And for this kind of scenario where I was willing to pay a price to seek a complete revival, it was even more important to let God feel just how much I insisted on reviving the deceased person. Otherwise, why should the God of Light help us with our plight?
However, as I thought about it, I suddenly realized that I had no idea what I should be thinking about. Not because I didn’t have any memories to recall, but because I had too many memories with him and had no idea where to start.
Over twelve or so years have probably passed since I first met him, I think?
I don’t remember exactly when it was, but after I handed the handkerchief, fresh water, and the stool to the young Judgment Knight who was vomiting nonstop, I sat on my own stool. I took out some blueberry bread and started gnawing on it.
“You…” By chance, he happened to lift his head up, and looking at me, he said in disbelief, “I’m vomiting.”
I swallowed the last bit of blueberry bread and opened my mouth to answer. “I can see that. Are you done vomiting? If you vomit out everything in your stomach, you’ll get hungry! I still have bread. Do you want it?”
I dug out my bread. It was chocolate-flavored, but because I had held it in my arms it was a little squashed, and the filling had leaked out completely. But it was still edible!
However, the moment he saw the chocolate bread, he turned his head away and continued with his seemingly incessant vomiting.
I then decided to eat the chocolate-flavored bread myself, as it was from the day before. It would spoil if I kept it any longer.
This time, he only vomited for a little while before he stopped. I guess it was because there was nothing left to be puked out!
He lifted his head and looked at me, seeming not to know what to do next.
“I’m called Lesus.” After saying that, he hesitated for a while before he added, saying, “Lesus Judgment. Thank…”
Halfway through, he suddenly stopped, not saying anything more. I too understood why he had stopped: Judgment and Sun can never be pleasant in each other’s company.
With a grin, I reached out my hand and greeted him, “I’m Grisia. Grisia Sun.”
Lesus stared at my hand.
“There’s no one looking right now anyways! We don’t have to not get along with each other for real, right? As long as you and I cooperate and pretend that we don’t get along, that will do! So how about it? Happy cooperation!” I said with a grin, a little jokingly. After all, everyone knows that the Sun Knight and the Judgment Knight are as incompatible as fire and water! Where would the cooperation come from?
Lesus looked at me frankly and then extended his hand to grab mine, before he slowly nodded his head and said very earnestly, “Happy cooperation.”
At the time, I had only felt that this fellow’s way of speaking was too serious!
In the days afterwards, I gradually began to understand that this guy Lesus was not just serious in his way of speaking, rather, his entire personality was very serious. He did not say that to be polite; he was making a real promise.
Happy cooperation, so he and I became sworn enemies who were best friends.
Happy cooperation, so he would always support me silently from behind. Even if the things that I did made him say that I was being willful no less than a hundred times, he would silently support my willfulness for the hundred-and-first time.
Happy cooperation…
I lowered my head to look at Judgment and inside my heart, I was incomparably glad that I knew Resurrection. If Judgment really couldn’t be revived, how was I supposed to single-handedly support an entire Holy Temple by myself in the days to come?
Without Judgment here, do I really have the ability to support the Holy Temple?
I specialized in being locked in constant strife with the palace and was well versed in all kinds of conspiracies and ruses, but as for the regular official duties, I hardly did any of it at all. It was almost all dealt with by Judgment, almost…
“What ‘happy cooperation’?!” I roared at him. “You are always supporting me silently from the shadows, though I don’t have the faintest idea why you are so supportive of me. ‘Happy cooperation’… When in fact it was always just you tolerating me…”
“It’s not like that, Sun.”
I was stunned for a moment before I realized that Leaf had already come back. In his hand was the Divine Sun Sword.
Leaf gently said, “When the sky comes falling down, you and Judgment will still be there. Judgment blocks the enemies coming from the front, but as for the conspiracies and schemes, it is you who blocks them behind the scenes! Judgment knows this and we know this too. We aren’t afraid of anything because of the cooperation between you and Judgment.”
“I’m too used to having the two of you here!” Storm said lazily, “You and Judgment are both people that we can’t do without.”
“Don’t lose anything too important.” Earth complained, “Otherwise Judgment would definitely send punitive forces against us and blame us for not stopping you. When that moment comes, we will no longer be able to live our days peacefully.”
You think that’s something I can decide? I rolled my eyes at him, but I realized that Earth wasn’t joking at all from his expression, which was extremely serious.
I surveyed my surroundings. Every face, every figure there had actually accompanied me for over ten years. There were some whom I had especially good relations with, and there were also some that I was more unfamiliar with. However, no matter what, I was already too used to having five holy knights standing at my right side – Storm, Leaf, Blaze, Earth, Cloud; I was also too used to having six holy knights standing at my left – Judgment, Ice, Stone, Moon, Metal, Hell.
We were the Twelve Holy Knights and having a single one missing was out of the question. If one was missing, it wouldn’t be the Twelve Holy Knights anymore.
“It’s not only me and Judgment. None of you can be missing either, not a single one of you!”
I took the Divine Sun Sword out of Leaf’s hands and cut open my left hand without any hesitation.
Actually, there was not even a need for me to think about the past to begin with… How could Judgment die? Damn, if this fellow dies, then who am I going to have a happy cooperation with?
Who could tolerate my willfulness over a hundred times…? In truth, I had acted willfully much more than a hundred times in just four years of being the Sun Knight. I still had another sixteen years of my career as a Sun Knight to go. One would estimate that in total, I would act willfully over five hundred times. Besides Judgment, who else could not only tolerate this, but also support me silently from the shadows?
I raised my left hand above Judgment’s left hand, allowing my blood to flow down continuously as I recited, “Please use the blood in my left arm to move Lesus Judgment’s left arm…”
“Please also accept my blood.” Leaf extended his own left arm earnestly. On his arm, there was already a long gash sliced open and blood flowed down non-stop.
I was stunned for a moment and was just about to stop him and tell him that he need not do so, when I realized that all of the others had also cut open their left arms and dripped their blood onto Judgment’s left arm. Judgment’s left arm looked as though it was bathed in a pool of blood.
I looked at everyone but did not say anything. I only continued the ceremony and as I cut open my right arm, I said, “Please use the blood in my right arm to move Lesus Judgment’s right arm.”
Judgment’s right arm was once more bathed in blood and following that were the right leg and the left leg…
Finally, I stabbed the Divine Sun Sword into Judgment’s fatal injury on his neck and released large amounts of holy light to the best of my abilities. Then, inside my heart, I shouted unceasingly to the God of Light. Please return Lesus Judgment back to me…!
O God of Light, please return Judgment back to us! If we need to pay a price, then take it from us! Please don’t take away anything from Sun!
In the moment when I released all the holy light inside my body instantaneously, I seemed to hear everyone’s shouting, but no one had opened their mouths to speak… Their expressions, however, left me with no doubt that they were shouting these words inside their hearts, desperately praying to the God of Light.
With one breath, I released all the holy light and felt an absolute emptiness inside my body. But I still couldn’t collapse; things hadn’t truly been finished yet…
Judgment took a deep breath and then started coughing with all his might.
Only then did I relax. My legs almost instantly gave way and I would have fallen to the ground had Leaf not immediately supported me.
Judgment is all right. Except, what will I lose this time?
After coughing for a while, Judgment regained his senses. He lifted his head and the expression that he had when he saw me was so frightening that it was petrifying. He struggled to crawl up and roared, “You revived me? You paid the price again? What did you lose…”
After saying that, he suddenly lost his voice and just stared at me blankly. Actually, it was not only Judgment who did so, for all of the others were staring at me blankly… However, I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything? What have I lost?
My hearing? It’s still intact. Even though this scene is very quiet, I can still hear the sound of everybody breathing. Touch? It’s still here too, as not wearing a top makes me feel a little chilly… Could it be my voice?
In a hurry, I opened my mouth to speak. “What’s wrong?” Hm, my voice is still present too.
Judgment’s voice was hoarse as he said, “Your… Your hair…”
By reflex, I touched my head. Hair? It’s still there!
That scared me half to death. I almost thought that I had become bald. However, my hair was still perfectly fine and tied at the back of my head. It was soft and silky; even the quality of it had not changed.
“What’s wrong with my hair?” I felt a little puzzled.
Storm seemed to be a little lacking in strength as he said, “Never mind, at least it’s much better than it was with him losing his vision. I will help Sun mix hair dye…”
Hair dye? I was stunned but gained some understanding of the situation.
“Has my hair changed color? What color is it?” Could it have turned black? I was a little uneasy.
Judgment looked at me and managed to forcefully squeeze out some words. “White. Just now, the color of your hair started fading from the ends and now it has turned completely white…”
No wonder they were stunned. However, I really didn’t know what kind of reaction to have. I had lost my golden hair, but because I had already long since mentally prepared myself to lose my hearing or my voice, losing my hair color seemed rather negligible.
Moreover, I had already been unable to see my own hair color for some time. To me, it didn’t matter much whether it was golden or white. As for the hair dye that Storm mentioned, there was completely no need for it. I could directly gather large amounts of metal element to make my hair “look” golden.
“Sun…”
I gathered large amounts of metal element and directly covered my hair with it. Afterwards I replied, “Let’s not worry about my hair for now. Who was it that laid hands on you?”
Judgment was silent for a while before he said, “A little girl.”
“Pink?” I clenched my fists. If it was her again, no matter how close or how much of a friend she was to me, I would definitely not let her off this time!
However, Judgment shook his head, saying, “I’ve met Pink before. It wasn’t her.”
“Was it Scarlet?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t met her before.”
“It must be her!” I was ninety-nine percent sure as I said it. A little girl that is able to kill Judgment. Who could it be other than her? Even Whitey has appeared here.
“You have just revived and ought to rest more. Answer another question of mine and then go rest!”
Judgment nodded his head.
I took a deep breath, and then questioned him with a tone that was close to interrogation, “What were you doing outside in the middle of the night? You had just been injured this afternoon. What was so important that you would throw away your own life for it?”
Once I said that, Judgment’s expression immediately changed. When I finished my questioning, he became silent. And when he began to open his mouth…
“Don’t lie to me.” I said one step ahead of him.
Judgment looked at me for quite a long time before he opened his mouth to say, “Capturing a criminal.”
I stared at him and he didn’t avoid my gaze. But I know; I just know that this damn fellow is lying to me!
I glared at him, saying, “You have just revived, so perhaps you’re too tired and your memory is still a little fuzzy. I’ll give you another chance. Do you want to change your answer?”
Judgment looked at me and then firmly shook his head.
“Very well! You will be confined!” I emphasized. With a roar, I shouted, “Roland!”
Roland was given a fright and asked reflexively, “What is it?”
“Take Knight-Captain Judgment to the confinement chamber and don’t let him take even a single step out of it!”
Roland stared at me with wide-open eyes and looked as though he didn’t know what to do. Actually, it was not only him who did so; all of the others also had vacant looks about them. I didn’t have the time to care about Roland and started speaking to someone else. “Pope!”
“What?” The Pope was startled. “Don’t tell me you want to lock me up?”
“What would I confine you for? I’m going to get some sleep first. Make some preparations. When I wake up, teach me how to attack with your mind without being noticed!” Furiously, I said, “This time, I will definitely let that girl Scarlet die a thorough death, whether she is an undying lich or not!”
The Pope looked a little worried as he said, “Sun, calm down.” After saying that, he peeked at Judgment out of the corner of his eye and said, “Knight-Captain Judgment is also tired. You should all go back and rest first. As for confinement and such, we should take our time to make a decision…”
“Shut up!” I turned around and then roared in rage, “Roland, what are you doing? Hurry up and take him to the confinement chamber!”
Roland was now completely at a loss as to what to do. He looked helplessly at the others, as though hoping to get an answer from them. However, everyone’s faces had become blank, and there was no one who could give him a hint as to what to do.
Seeing the situation, I gathered water element and then coiled it around Judgment as though it were a length of chain. Then, I exerted force and repeatedly froze the water into ice. From water, it became a sturdy chain, just like when I had trapped Princess Ann before.
However, once I finished exerting that burst of strength, my brain seemed to suddenly go blank. When I was clear-headed once more, I had already nearly collapsed onto the ground. It was only the upper half of my body that was still leaning onto Leaf that stopped me from having full body contact with the ground.
“Sun?” Everyone had gathered around me, and they started talking all at once. “You alright?”
From the side came the Pope’s cold voice, “Right after casting Resurrection, he used such a powerful multi-layered spell… His not having gone to see the God of Light would definitely already be considered within the range of ‘alright’!”
“Take Judgment to the confinement chamber!” I gritted my teeth as I said, “Don’t tell me you guys want to see him slip out in the middle of the night and cause his own death again?”
After I spoke these words, Roland still did not make any movement. Instead, it was Metal and Blaze who glanced at each other and rushed to Judgment’s side. Judgment, who had been locked up in the ice chains, was like an ice sculpture. He could only let himself be lifted up with the combined strength of Metal and Blaze on both sides. Only then did he start to ask with disbelief, “Wait, you really intend to confine me?”
I coldly answered, “You don’t wish to be confined? Then you’d better answer clearly: What exactly are you hiding?”
Once I asked that, Judgment became silent again. This is really frustrating the hell out of me! What is he up to? Is there still something else that he can’t tell me?
At this moment, there came whispers from the sides.
“I keep feeling that something is strange…”
“This scene seems to be a little unnatural.”
“Isn’t this somehow wrong?”
Earth clicked his tongue twice and said, “The situation is reversed! Interrogation should be what Judgment does, and nearly causing himself to die for no reason and then refusing to say anything about it should be what Sun does!”
“Oh, that’s right!” Everyone exclaimed in realization.
“…”
“Pfffttt!” Judgment actually managed to laugh.
“Hurry and drag him away!” After I gave the order expressionlessly, I still couldn’t feel at ease, so I carefully instructed the others. “Roland, Blaze, and Metal, the three of you will be responsible for watching over Judgment Knight. Remember to lock up the secret pathway inside the confinement chamber. If you don’t know where the secret pathway is, go ask Adair.”
“Wait!” Judgment’s expression changed drastically as he shouted, “Sun, I have very important matters to do! You can’t go and lock me up for real, I…”
I ruthlessly growled, “Take him away!”
“Sun!” Judgment roared in rage. I turned my head aside, completely ignoring him.
After Judgment had been taken away, the atmosphere at the scene became extremely heavy. Everyone’s expression was very gloomy, and Storm had even covered his face, sobbing, “Could you also confine me together with him? I don’t want to have to correct Judgment’s documents as well. Sob sob sob…”
Earth walked up to Storm and patted his shoulder. It was unknown whether he was trying to give advice or to add insult to injury, but he said, “Forget it! Even if you did get confined, the only change would be that you’d be correcting documents inside the confinement chamber.”
“Don’t say it!” Storm really broke into tears.