"That is all, Your Honor."
The voice echoed through the hall. Silence followed, pressing down on everyone seated in the courtroom like a physical weight.
The evidence had been presented. Witnesses had given their testimonies. Now the final decision rested with the man who held absolute authority in this chamber. His gaze fixed on the boy standing at the center of the student court, ether chains binding him in place. The accused kept his eyes on the floor, just as he had throughout the entire trial.
"Given all evidence and witnesses presented before this court, Student Azalea is hereby found guilty of violating code sections 45 and 54 of the Laws of Vermillion."
The gavel struck.
A ripple passed through the room. Nearly every face showed the same expression.
Satisfaction.
Most people here had known this outcome was inevitable. Even the young man himself showed no reaction. He simply stared at the ground, his face hidden from the judgmental stares surrounding him.
WHY?
In that moment of isolation, cut off from the world around him, only one word filled Azalea's mind.
Why had it come to this again? Why was his life always so pathetic? Why couldn't he just be like everyone else?
All he could think about were the faces of those he had thought, even for a moment, genuinely cared about him. Now they looked at him with nothing but disgust and contempt.
Even her.
Isabelle. Ten days ago, he would have sworn she'd defend him with her life. His best friend since childhood. The only person who had ever truly cared, and the only person he might have ever truly cared about in return.
He couldn't stop replaying it.
Being dragged to the court. The way she had approached him. That slap. It had hurt worse than all the torment of the past ten days combined.
She had gritted her teeth, her expression cold and detached. He had never seen that look from her before.
It froze him.
She had denounced their friendship like it meant nothing. Called him a monster.
WHY?
He had endured so much from everyone else and remained standing. He didn't let it break him because he knew the moment he did, he would shatter completely.
But her? That, he hadn't expected.
She was someone who had shared meals with him. Someone he had taken a blade for more times than he could count. Someone who used to have his back.
Yet today, in front of everyone, she had looked at him the same way his father had on the day he was disowned. No different from all the rest.
Now he understood: from the moment he had opened his eyes in this world, he had been alone.
The signs had been there all along, waiting to be acknowledged, but he had turned away from the truth. He had lived a lie.
Even so, even if he held it all inside, even if he convinced himself he had faced worse pain, even if he hid behind walls and a mask of indifference, it hurt.
It hurt so much.
He had thought that maybe, even if the others didn't believe him, even if they spat in his face and cursed his name, SHE would not turn her back on him when he needed her most.
When he was falling apart.
They knew him. All of them did. They knew what he was capable of. They knew he wasn't capable of THAT. If he had done it, it only meant there was no other choice. It only meant that was the only way. It only meant he was helpless.
Yet none of them stopped to think for even a second.
His heart felt like it was being torn to pieces.
The Goddess was gone. The system had abandoned him. The realization hit like ice water on a winter morning.
All the promises. They were lies.
He had been used from the start. The goddess knew he would deviate from his destined path. She knew it all along, so she caged him. Trapped him with a system and false promises of a better life. That this was his final run. That he would be set free, sent to a new world. Not a scripted world where there were heroes and villains and predetermined roles. A world where he would be truly free.
Peace. That was the greatest promise.
LIES. ALL OF IT.
He was just a tool to be used until he outlived his usefulness. Now the system was gone. He was left to his fate.
The final mission. That was what had led to this moment.
KILL AUSTON.
He had known it was impossible. He was just a talentless, unawakened Alchemist. All he could do was support his combat-oriented teammates.
But the mission persisted. It pressured him. Promised him. Threatened him.
Before he knew it, there he was, sword in hand, blade buried in the hero's gut.
That was his only crime.
Now, just like in the Game, he had been condemned with countless other allegations.
"Student Azalea, what say you?" the judge asked.
Azalea sighed, his eyes blank. He remembered that look on her face. The single tear trailing down her left cheek.
He hated it. He hated HER more than anyone else. Hypocrite.
"Just get it over with," he said, still staring at his feet, not bothering to look up.
"So be it. From this moment forward, Azalea Von Nevana is hereby expelled from Vermillion Academy. All rights as a student are revoked, and he is permanently banned from these premises. Should he be found in violation of this decree, he will be detained for breaking the law that governs Vermillion."
The judgment was passed.
Silence filled the room, thick and suffocating, lingering a moment too long.
So it had come to this.
Azalea sighed and stared at the ceiling as guards grabbed him from behind and dragged him out of the courtroom.
This was it.
The end of the extra.