"Adventurer Butcher, sentenced to life imprisonment."
"Adventurers Gu Mao, sentenced to life imprisonment."
"Adventurer—"
As Judge Lavinia delivered her verdicts one after another, the red-named players were escorted away in silence. Their faces were grim as they cast cold, venomous gazes at everyone present. Yet even if they were to break free of their restraints, they would pose no real threat. Their levels had fallen to around twenty or thirty, they possessed no equipment whatsoever, and they no longer even had the means to self-destruct.
All red-named adventurers were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Compared to the infected members of the Reunion Movement, these players had committed far greater atrocities. The number of lives they had taken was far beyond ten. To them, this land had been nothing more than a slaughterhouse for venting their rage. Naturally, they no longer remembered how many people they had killed.
Next came the most anticipated segment of the trial, the moment awaited with bitter hatred by the survivors of Chernobog and Kursk.
The high-ranking members of the Reunion Movement were brought forward.
Some had been squad leaders, others held even higher authority. Among them, Talulah stood near the back of the line. Her expression was indifferent, even faintly relaxed.
This was the judgment she desired, the judgment she deserved. In her heart, she had already committed sins beyond forgiveness. Only the judge and those who had lived through that tragedy had the right to pass judgment upon her.
'So this is the end.'
Talulah felt only relief. Yet when her gaze fell upon Alina among the jurors, her heart tightened inexplicably.
"A Reunion member, codename 'Skullshatterer,' real name Alex," Lavinia announced calmly. "He joined Reunion after the fall of Chernobog. His talents were later discovered, and as the leader of a caster squad, he participated in the attack on Lungmen, resulting in injuries to twenty-five officers. The squad under his command caused twelve civilian deaths. However, he himself did not directly kill anyone."
The jury began their deliberation.
Several members had personally taken part in the defense of Lungmen. Alex was both victim and perpetrator. How should someone like him be judged?
Although he had not personally taken a life, his subordinates had done so under his command. As their superior, responsibility could not be denied.
After discussion, the jury reached a unanimous verdict.
"Alex is sentenced to two years of imprisonment, with a two-year probationary period. Due to his status as a minor, he will be temporarily detained in a juvenile correctional facility for re-education."
The gavel fell.
In the audience, Misha burst into tears of relief. She had been silently worrying about her younger brother all this time. As long as he was alive, there was hope. As long as he lived, he could atone.
Alex glanced toward his sister. His lips twitched faintly before he was led away by the Lightbearers.
The next defendant brought forward was Mephisto.
The moment he appeared, many operators frowned, while survivors from Chernobog clenched their fists. The young man before them was a lunatic, someone who had driven his subordinates into madness and personally hunted down civilians fleeing toward safety. He did not loot or plunder. He killed simply because he enjoyed it.
Evil was carved into his very bones.
"A high-ranking member of the Reunion Movement, codename 'Mephisto,' real name Eno," Lavinia read aloud. "He participated in multiple battles prior to Chernobog. During the Chernobog incident, the squad under his command killed a total of six hundred seventy-four civilians. Mephisto himself personally killed two hundred fifty-one civilians and infected four hundred sixty more."
Before she could finish, furious curses and accusations erupted from the crowd. Hatred burned in their eyes. The vast majority of the now-orphaned Ursus agents owed their suffering to this man and his squad.
Yet when they recalled how those squad members had died, twisted into grotesque, interran forms, a strange hollowness followed. All of them had perished in Chernobog. Not a single one had survived.
They had already received their own deaths.
Mephisto did not behave like a madman. On the contrary, he appeared calm, as if he had long since accepted his fate. Behind his mechanical mask, he turned to look at Faust, his only friend, standing further down the line.
Faust gave him a slight nod.
Mephisto relaxed. He said nothing more and offered no defense.
"Mephisto is guilty of severe crimes," Lavinia declared. "Due to his status as a minor, he is sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole."
He would spend the remainder of his life paying for his sins behind bars. In this case, execution would have been an escape rather than a punishment.
As a minor, he was given the harshest sentence that could be imposed upon one.
The same principle applied in Siracusa, where gang members who fought and killed one another were not sentenced to death. This was the law's protection of minors.
Mephisto was escorted away, his steps unsteady, his expression vacant and unfocused. No one could tell what he was thinking, but every victim present shared the same hope: that prison would bind him for life, forcing him to spend the remainder of his sinful existence behind bars.
Many operators had wanted to end his life with a single sword strike. However, upon hearing the sentence of life imprisonment, they abandoned those thoughts. Their hatred for him ran deep, but this punishment was, to them, the most fitting form of revenge.
"A high-ranking member of the Reunion Movement, codenamed 'Faust,' real name Sasha, leader of the Phantom Crossbowman Squad. He participated in campaigns prior to Chernobog. During the Battle of Chernobog, his squad killed fourteen civilians and sixty-nine Ursus police officers. During the Battle of Lungmen, he killed five Tomorrow's Development operators and eighteen members of the Lungmen Police Department."
The jury had little memory of Faust. He had always operated from the shadows as the Phantom Crossbowmen's captain. Even so, the list of crimes caused several jurors to frown. His actions were grave, though they paled in comparison to Mephisto's atrocities.
There was no denying that blood stained his hands.
The jury reached a verdict swiftly.
"Faust's crimes are clear. He is sentenced to ten years in prison, with five years suspended. As he is underage, he will be temporarily detained in a juvenile detention center for re-education."
The gavel struck, and Faust was led away.
What followed were several extremely young offenders. All had been drawn into the Reunion Movement by Talulah's words, and all bore lives on their hands, though none inspired the same terror as Mephisto.
"A high-ranking member of the Reunion Movement, codenamed 'Crownslayer,' real name Lyudmila, an intelligence agent of the Reunion Movement. She carried out two assassination attempts, both of which failed."
In short, although the Crownslayer served as an intelligence operative and possessed some assassination skills, neither attempt succeeded. None of the jurors had ever seen her before. Upon hearing the evidence, a few lips twitched in disbelief. Was it sheer bad luck, or simply a matter of being outmatched?
The Crownslayer chose not to speak. Even without the mechanical mask suppressing her voice and Originium Arts, she would not have spoken under these circumstances.
Even among villains, she was perhaps the most pitiful.
"Attempted regicide is a clear crime. The sentence is four months' imprisonment."
With that, the Crownslayer quietly departed alongside the Lightbearer. Among the many members of the Reunion Movement, she received the lightest punishment.
All eyes then turned to the final figure standing alone: Talulah.
She wore plain clothing, shackles binding her wrists and ankles. As she walked step by step toward the stand, the courtroom gradually fell into silence.
Feelings toward the woman who had led the Reunion Movement from its peak into ruin were deeply conflicted. Many harbored an undisguised desire to see her executed. Their families had been wiped out by Reunion's invasion. To them, she was the root of all suffering.
Talulah closed her eyes, sensing the hostility directed at her. She gave a slight nod to the Lightbearer beside her, who glanced toward Judge Lavinia and received a small nod in return.
With the mechanical mask removed, Talulah became the first high-ranking member of the Reunion Movement to speak of her own will.
"Please sentence me to death."
Her opening words detonated like a bomb, leaving the jurors stunned. They had seen many Reunion members plead desperately for survival, but never someone so eager to die.
Her gaze swept across the courtroom before settling on the jury. She spoke again.
"The Reunion Movement has long since been reduced to ashes in the flames. As its leader and the one who made the decisions in this war, I cannot escape responsibility."
"Please pronounce my death sentence."
"No!"
Before Talulah could continue, Alina's voice rang out from among the jurors. At the sound of it, Talulah's body trembled, her eyes closing tightly.
"Your Honor, members of the jury, do you understand the difference between the Reunion Movement of the past and the Reunion Movement of today?" Alina spoke firmly, drawing all attention to herself. After receiving the judge's permission, she continued, her voice clear and steady. "The original Reunion Movement only sought to be a home for the infected, a means of mutual support. But as its numbers grew and terran nature revealed its complexity, that purity became impossible to maintain."
"Several major incidents occurred during that time, and Talulah personally executed the criminals each time. Though those traitors were punished, the act inflicted severe damage on her mental state… until her eventual change."
"It was a soul born from a cloud of black mist. It possessed Talulah's body, controlling her every action and manipulating her into carrying out brutal attacks."
"Ms. Alina, do you have any evidence to support such a claim?"
An Ursus woman adjusted her glasses, her tone filled with skepticism. Her husband had died in the Battle of Chernobog, and her hatred for the Reunion Movement ran deep. Hearing such words could only provoke anger.
"The evidence exists. Of course it does."
Alina nodded. Mr. Han, seated beside her, rose to his feet. After receiving the judge's approval, he activated a video on the large screen. The footage showed a battle between the Brotherhood and Talulah.
The brutality of the fight was immediately apparent. The Brotherhood was completely overwhelmed, cut down by Talulah's eerie black and red flames. As the battle continued, however, something strange became impossible to ignore. Talulah's movements grew stiff and uncoordinated, her expression shifting between agony and fury, as if two wills were struggling within her.
At the same time, the black mist coiling around her began to take shape, faintly resembling a terran silhouette. Her voice deepened into a hoarse, distorted tone, nothing like the one she now possessed.
Finally, when Talulah's blade pierced Alina, her awareness returned. A single tear fell from her eye. The black mist tore itself free from her body and dispersed, drifting beyond the church walls in full view of the spectators, before heading north toward Ursus.
Silence followed. A suffocating, deathly silence.
No one spoke. After witnessing such a horrifying battle, no one could. They were stunned by Talulah's overwhelming strength and the Brotherhood's desperate resistance. Even the Ursus woman who had questioned Alina earlier merely adjusted her glasses again and said nothing.
"You have all seen it."
Han continued, "As members of the Brotherhood, we have had extensive contact with the Reunion Movement under Talulah's leadership. Before her body was possessed, the Reunion Movement existed to protect the infected. They never targeted civilians. Even if someone committed such a crime, they would face internal punishment. At best, expulsion. At worst, execution."
"Everything changed after that black mist invaded her body. What we, the Brotherhood, along with those Reunion members who still had a conscience, have been trying to do was awaken Talulah and drive that soul out. And in the end, we succeeded."
He spread his arms. "I am not claiming Talulah is innocent. But every major decision was made while she was not fully conscious, while her flames were corrupted. Do we truly wish to place all the blame on someone who was manipulated and lost within her own mind?"
Understanding spread quietly through the room.
There was always a reason behind tragedy. The jury deliberated longer than they had for any previous case. Some argued for ten years of imprisonment, others for only a few. No one raised the subject of execution again.
At last, Judge Lavinia struck the gavel.
"Talulah, the facts of the case are established. She is sentenced to six months in prison, with a three-year suspended sentence."