Chapter 35. The Mad Judgment
In the center of the dilapidated control tower lay Regulus, severely injured to the point of being unable to move and certain to die if left alone. The only reason he was not dead was that his Authority had stopped his time in this instant. Even at this juncture, he was still asserting that his actions were correct.
His pronouncements were twisted logic, his ideology was egocentric, his combat skills were amateurish, and his conduct was evil itself—this was Regulus Corneas, the Sin Archbishop of 'Greed' of the Witch Cult.
The weeping complaints of the 51 women surrounding Regulus could only elicit Regulus's complaints and killing intent, because Regulus lacked the empathy to understand others.
In Regulus's world, there was only himself.
.
.
.
Reinhild silently watched the scene before her, then quietly clipped the Dragon Sword back onto her waist.
"Ferris, I'm leaving this to you. I need to go support the other battlefields."
"Leave it to Ferris-chan, meow."
"What's wrong? Weren't you brazenly planning to judge me? Have you finally realized how wrong your idea was?"
Reinhild, who was about to leave, paused and looked at Regulus.
"If you still had a shred of humanity, I would judge you according to the laws of the kingdom. But the way you are now, you shouldn't be judged by me, but by them, your victims."
Reinhild sighed, looking at the women with twisted expressions, but she was no longer the Reinhild who pursued absolute correctness. Therefore, she chose to leave.
"Ferris-san, would you like to step outside?"
"But!"
"Please don't worry. Since our two benefactors wish us to live, it's impossible for us to commit suicide to kill him. After all, we are now free to distance ourselves from him. Yes, we are already free."
"That's right. Then Ferris-chan will wait for you outside. Oh, and don't get in front of his mouth or nostrils, okay?"
After the door closed, the women exchanged glances. They looked at the speaking mirror.
"It's alright. You all start first." Sylvie's voice came from the speaking mirror.
After a brief silence, a red-haired woman picked up a stone from the ground, walked up to Regulus, and spoke.
"Do you remember me?"
"Slut! Who are you?" Regulus's tone carried no sense of feigning ignorance. The woman instantly understood that she, having betrayed him, was no longer registered in his mind.
"I was once number 252, now I'm Ella Maria. I had an older sister, number 253, her name was Olga Maria. She was only bitten by a mosquito, just that. Just because of your ridiculous logic, my sister died. Go to hell!"
Ella gripped the stone and smashed it heavily onto Regulus's body. The attack, naturally, could not damage Regulus's body, which was protected by his Authority, but it caused enormous psychological damage to Regulus.
"What a joke, what a joke... trash, bastard, slut... To be frank, what right does a woman who attracts mosquitoes have to be my wife? If she were still alive, wouldn't that mean my eyesight is the same as a mosquito's? It's perfectly normal that I killed her for mocking me like that. I am not wrong. What I did was correct."
Regulus's words clearly infuriated the woman. She raised the stone and hammered Regulus over and over again, saying in a hideous and frantic voice, "This is for the father you killed, this is for the mother you killed..."
Plop~~~
The counterforce from hitting Regulus made the stone fly out of her wet hands. The woman stood in place for more than ten seconds, then burst into painful tears. Two women put down their weapons and carefully helped her from Regulus's side to a chair nearby, while another woman had already started hitting Regulus and wailing about his crimes.
A mirror had appeared above Regulus at some point. Regulus saw his formerly beautiful wives in the mirror, continuously striking him with weapons.
Initially, he roared in anger because they were attacking him, then he observed them with fear for a short time because of their madness, then, realizing they couldn't hurt him, his expression turned to mockery, and finally, it became anger once more.
Then Regulus realized he could do absolutely nothing.
—Damn, damn, damn.........!!!!
If I could move, what the hell are you to me!!!
Every blow from the wives struck Regulus's arrogance, vanity, and self-esteem. Every word they spoke to Regulus was a denial of his perfect life, personality, and ideology.
He looked at Sylvie, who had appeared at some point and was looking down on him, and at the woman sitting on top of him, attacking him with the same look he used when he used to torture small animals.
"Don't get too carried away!!!" Regulus roared, releasing his Authority for an instant.
Memi Taylor knew his intent the moment the hatred flashed in Regulus's eyes, but Memi chose not to kill him, because she knew her sisters still needed to vent. At the same time, she felt that giving him a quick end was too easy.
The stone that was targeting his waist moved down a few centimeters. The next instant, accompanying the gushing blood, was a heart-wrenching shriek.
Regulus's Authority was activated again the instant his consciousness scattered due to the pain. The blood that flew out of Regulus turned into indestructible blood arrows. Memi's hand was instantly riddled with holes, and three or four women nearby were also seriously injured.
"Ahahahahaha~~"
But the women were laughing wildly. Even the seriously injured women let out joyous laughter in that instant. Their laughter instantly drowned out Regulus's screams.
"Since you are a germaphobe, since you demand your wives remain virgins all their lives, then you don't need to keep that either! Serves you right!"
Memi laughed and collapsed to the side. The victims assigned a few people to carry the seriously injured ones out.
"Don't forget Ferris and Reinhild's expectations."
The women who wanted to continue watching the judgment stopped struggling and were obediently carried out. Although a few people were gone, the judgment continued.
The time stop made Regulus continuously feel that specific instant of pain. Faint, awake, faint, awake... Finally, the moment Regulus regained consciousness, he released his Authority again.
He began to crave death, but the women, having lived with Regulus for so long, already knew what kind of person he was. Their actions, instead, became gentle and cruel.
—Pain, pain, pain, pain... death... pain, pain, pain, pain...
In the endless pain, only for a moment could Regulus concentrate enough to release his protective Authority in search of release, but the women were grinding Regulus with stones. The moment the Authority was released, a stronger pain instantly plunged Regulus's consciousness into a deeper mire of agony.
Thump, thump~~
"Sorry, but it's time to go, meow."
Ferris's voice made the frantic women stop their actions. Their eyes could no longer shed tears, their throats could no longer produce sound, and their faces were pale from the countless injuries they sustained while judging Regulus.
The door slowly opened. Half of the women, forcibly kept conscious by Ferris due to excessive blood loss, walked in. All 53 wives looked at Regulus in the center, who was now only two-thirds of his original size.
"What should we do?"
"We don't know when his consciousness will return, so this is all we can do."
Even in this horrific state, the Authority kept him alive.
However, the pain of one-third of his body being slowly ground into powder had utterly crushed his consciousness.
Yet, Regulus's Authority was still active, preserving his life. The torment, which should have ended instantly, was experienced by Regulus for several hours with the help of his Authority. He could only get closer to death during the brief moments he regained consciousness.
"Should we take turns watching over him?"
"Forget it. Although hatred still lingers in my heart, I never want to see this face again."
"Me too. I was a doll for five years. Now I want to go home and see."
"Then let's go. Let's leave his domain together. That way, we can see him off together, even if only through the speaking mirror."
Sylvie placed the speaking mirror in front of Regulus, then spoke to the women who had made their decision.
The women tried to smile at each other, but because they had been laughing so wildly earlier, they all wore blank expressions.
After an awkward moment, everyone silently left the area, leaving Regulus behind, who would suddenly spurt a pool of blood every few dozen minutes.
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