Chapter 926 Cap 924: A Judge Without Character
During the whole battle, I thought everything was very easy, apart from Lilith, no one was hurt since the enemies seemed so inexperienced in real combat.
They had strength and training, but it was useless if they didn't know how to take full advantage of their combat potential, their attacks are too concentrated in power and lacking in creativity making it easy to predict what they do, even I who am less than 5 years in this world can see that.
But it wasn't just them that intrigued me, the Judge who remained strangely calm as his men died was what had me worried, my sister seemed to know something, even Silvia seemed to know something, but I couldn't hear them talking, my sister blocked my senses from getting close to them with its Aura.
I didn't waste much of my time looking elsewhere for more than a few seconds, that's because his lack of reaction to his subordinates' deaths worries me.
Hela's actions were a little more drastic than I had imagined when she came to me a few days ago with the results of her Necromancy research.
"So what are you going to do now?" (I)
When I see Hela finishing off the last of the enemies, I keep an eye on the Judge, he gives a slight smile as his eyes fill with confidence, the wound that Freya made with her arrow has already healed with the potions he used, now it gives a step forward with the 3 others who were with him keeping their distance from him.
My sister prevented anyone from attacking the Judge after Freya's attack and prevented me from entering the battle until the end, it seems she wanted me to face the Judge at this time because of that last resort you just talked about.
The judge takes the pendant from his chest that I imagine is the Crest of the God of Law and holds it up while smiling.
"I am Michael, High Priest of the Temple of Law, Judge of the Temple of Law is a law enforcement tool to punish all criminals who destroy the order of the world!" (Michael)
"Today I accuse and condemn the people present for the crimes of resistance to law enforcement, murder of servants of the law, disregard for the laws that maintain order in the world, and genocide before the presence of a Judge recognized by the Temple of the Law!" (Michael)
"As a Judge, I take for myself the Authority of the laws here broken to apply condemnation to criminals who go against the order of the world!" (Michael)
"< Holy Verdict >" (Michael)
As the Judge spoke his Aura grew in power until it took over the entire surrounding area, I could feel his words gaining more weight with each "crime" he claimed we had committed, his Aura growing more powerful with each crime he spoke to in varying degrees.
We really commit all these "crimes" if he takes it out of context that he initiated the attack from the beginning and we've only been attacking back harder.
"That's..." (I)
But I think I understand what that last feature my sister was talking about, I felt his Aura reach the bodies on the ground and then something flowed from the bodies to the Judge through his Aura, something I recognized immediately as Authority.
It wasn't difficult to feel the Authority flowing into the Judge as his body was covered in Holy Power, but this Authority was different, it didn't mix with his Aura, but mixed with his Holy Power.
"That Authority is not his..." (I)
"He is borrowing Authority not from his God but from the Laws he mentioned, as Judge he has the right to use that bit of Authority to enforce the law." (Natasha)
I try to pay more attention and I realize that these Authority threads are insignificant by themselves, I'm just now clearly realizing why there are over 100 of these Authority threads going to the Judge.
His body undergoes some changes, and inscriptions appear on his skin, but they are not Runes, these look like words and phrases as if his skin had been used to write excerpts from a book.
"< Dragon's Awakening: 19% >" (I)
I back away from the Ship knowing he will come for me, his skin turns metallic gray and a large amount of mana leaks from his body as if he has more mana than his body can hold.
I looked around realizing that apart from my children and Familiars, only Bianca who is a Priestess of Justice, the Hero and Loki are unaffected by the Authority that has arisen.
I feel my Authority automatically protecting me, I also feel it in my Family members, but my children don't have Authority, so I soon realized that it was my lineage within them awakening to deny that Authority.
I walked away while keeping a calm expression but this time I was showing an equal amount of Authority in my Aura so as not to scare him, I don't know if he can sense Authority like me or that's the most he can do but I didn't want to risk him run away if I showed that I had a much stronger Authority than he did.
"Is your show over yet? This farce is enough." (I)
"You are a fool for going against our Temple of Law!" (Michael)
"< Knights of Law >" (Michael)
He raises his hand causing Holy power and Authority to condense materializing into a form of 4 Silver Knights in full armor, each of them holding a weapon, one of them wielding a two-handed sword, another wielding chains that had a metal ball with spikes at the end, another had two axes, and the last had a spear.
As all that energy leaking out of his body becomes these 4 Horsemen along with the Authority that he borrowed with their laws, a barrier formed around him.
"I condemn you and all your companions to death!" (Michael)
The 4 Horsemen come to attack me, but in that moment when their weapons are about to touch me, they pierce through my body or should I say, the illusion that I left in my place when I step out beside the Judge giving a slash with my sword.
"< Blade of Judgment >" (I) 𝐟𝓇ℯ𝒆we𝒃𝘯𝒐νe𝑙.co𝚖
"This is pointless... but what..." (Judge)
I use my Dark and Light power on my sword, while also putting my holy power and Authority, then I swung the sword with all my strength downwards hitting the Barrier, but the only thing I managed to do was make a slight crack.
I use my wings to push away to get a space from these 4 Knights this Judge created.
"(That thing is pretty sturdy, how can I get through that damn barrier... wait.)" (I)
During the slash, I felt that the damage I dealt had disappeared, but it wasn't negated or blocked, the feeling was different, then I realized that I only received 3 attacks when I ran away from close to the barrier.
"(I see, a Knight's duty is to uphold order and laws, the barrier only appeared after they emerged.)" (I)
I look at the Knight with the two-handed sword, one of his arms is shaking, but I don't feel afraid of him, in fact, I don't feel any emotion from either of them, so it must have been my attack on the barrier.