CLANG!
Just then, the steel-barred gate was wrenched open, and the group of sea-tribal elites filed in.
"
The leading sea-tribal's face bore several blue scales. He stared coldly at Belinda as he read aloud from a parchment scroll in his hands.
"No! Impossible!" Belinda collapsed on the spot.
"Nothing is impossible!" The sea-tribal leader hurled the document at Belinda's feet. The unmistakable headquarters seal in the bottom-right corner blazed with radiant light.
And when Belinda saw the scarlet judgment text, she was all but utterly crushed.
"Even... even if the headquarters has been corrupted by filth and chaos, I still have the Supreme One. I am still a Ritualist..."
Belinda's hands trembled, and a glowing ritual array materialized between her fingertips. But unlike Leilin's earlier one, the center of this array bore the rune of a vertical eye.
CRACK! The vertical eye shattered and the array collapsed, offering no response whatsoever.
This outcome meant that even the Eye of Judgment on the other side refused to accept Belinda's offering. In other words, she had been truly abandoned.
Of course, this differed from common perception. Due to the reciprocal nature of the Path of Ritual, even if the Supreme One severed ties with a Ritualist or refused their offering, the gifts already bestowed could not be reclaimed—for everything was conducted as an exchange of equal value, and the Ritualist had already paid their price. There was simply no mechanism to take it back.
Take the earlier Governor Ias, for instance. Were he to abandon his faith in the Filth Bird, or were the Filth Bird to refuse his offerings, the most he would lose was access to the Filth Bird's power enhancement. But the attribute consolidation from the earlier rituals would still remain upon him.
Compared to the priests of the gods, who would lose all priestly ranks and divine powers the moment their deity abandoned them, this was truly a system with both advantages and disadvantages.
"No! Oh, no! Why? How could this happen?"
If the headquarters' verdict had already left Belinda reeling, this was the killing blow.
"Why... this unjust treatment, this blatant slander—not just the headquarters... even the great Supreme One would believe such things..."
"Take it easy, Belinda! The great Supreme One knows the truth, of course. But you must be sacrificed for its sake!"
Leilin stood quietly beside Belinda, gently patting the back of her shoulder.
In every organization, asking members to sacrifice themselves for the greater good was perfectly normal. If anything, refusing to do so would bring condemnation from public opinion and moral obligation. It was, in a sense, the principle of "when the sovereign commands the subject to die, the subject must die."
Everything was about interests, and the collective interest clearly could crush any individual's. When faced with such crushing force, an individual could not even voice complaints—they had to volunteer or rush to make the sacrifice. Otherwise, they would bring trouble upon themselves, their families, and their friends.
Of course, if this person cared neither for themselves nor for family or friends, had no attachments whatsoever, that would be a different matter entirely.
But such people were typically unstable elements that threatened social order and needed to be eliminated.
Now, for the greater good, even though Belinda was clearly being framed—even the Eye of Judgment knew the truth—the decision had still been made. Belinda was simply sacrificed.
Perhaps, after pacifying the sea-tribals, the headquarters would send people to tidy things up, root out the tumors and the uncontrollable elements. After several decades or a century, they might even clear Belinda's name, perhaps bestowing upon her the laurel crown of a "saint," to be venerated by later generations and become a spiritual figurehead. But by then, she would already be dead. What good would any of that do?
Still, Leilin would not deny the value of organizations.
In a world where individual power was weak, banding together to form organizations was indeed the dominant trend and the righteous path. When it came time to sacrifice a member's interests, beyond showing a proactive attitude, there was really no better option.
But here, things were different! When individual power could be amplified without limit, one gained the privilege to stand against organizations. In a world where supernatural forces existed, the individually powerful became the mainstream.
Especially in the Infernal World, where a handful of Supremes ruled over all continents—life and death at their command—that was the best proof.
So now, Belinda had no second path available within this power structure other than to obediently accept her fate.
Of course! She still had other options—such as the one Leilin was preparing to lead her toward.
"There is no slander or conspiracy. This is the simple truth! Belinda, you colluded with the forces of the Filth Bird and framed Lord Beclark. We are here to deliver justice!"
Seeing Leilin step forward, a flicker of displeasure appeared in the sea-tribal leader's eyes.
It was the natural emotion of someone in power—spotting a subordinate who dared defy their authority.
"Fine! I'm not part of your organization, so I don't have any crime of 'colluding with the enemy,' right? When can I leave?"
Leilin spread his hands and smiled.
"You are obviously a follower of the Filth Bird and a liaison between Belinda and the enemy forces. You must face punishment as well!"
The sea-tribal leader said this without even blinking, but Leilin almost wanted to applaud—the leader had actually guessed a truth that even the Eye of Judgment might not know.
It had to be said, this sea-tribal leader had stumbled onto the truth by sheer luck.
"Enough talk! Just kill them!"
Several Morning Star powerhouses around the sea-tribal leader were already radiating the undulating light of beast spirits being summoned.
For them, keeping Belinda and Leilin alive was nothing but a ticking time bomb. Before, they had needed to contact headquarters, but now, with authorization in hand, they had no further reservations.
"In that case..."
Leilin shrugged, and in an instant his entire aura shifted—from a helpless little rabbit to a fearsome tiger, radiating a savage, menacing presence.
"Hsss..." A colossal phantom of a devilish white-phosphorus serpent surged from behind him, releasing a piercing shriek.
BOOM!!! CRASH!!! A devastating explosion erupted without warning, obliterating the entire prison chamber.
"Kill them! Show no mercy!" the sea-tribal leader barked coldly. A massive shark-shaped beast spirit materialized before him, soaring through the air.
Flashes of light erupted continuously—the fluctuations of ritual magic and beast spirits surging everywhere, enough to send the entire island trembling.
"Wahahaha... you're all liars! Liars!"
At that moment, Belinda—sheltered under Leilin's protection—suddenly seemed to snap, her face flushed with an unnatural crimson.
"It was like this before, and now even the Eye of Judgment is like this! Then what value do my faith, my convictions, still hold?!"
With her accusations and questions, two streams of blood-tears flowed from Belinda's eyes.
"If that's the case, then let this filthy world burn!"
An evil aura emanated continuously from Belinda's body. Vast quantities of dream power flooded the surroundings, even beginning to darken toward black.
"Could this be... the legendary Corruption?" Leilin wanted to quip, but held back.
"Now is not the time for such nonsense—move!" The dream power Belinda had summoned surged toward Leilin's hand, as though woven through arcane craft into a far more potent force.
A colossal black net, carrying a crushing, despair-inducing pressure, descended upon the entire island.
Furious roars filled the air, but whether it was the sea-tribal leader's fourth-level sea shark beast spirit or the attacks of the other powerhouses, none could so much as scratch the black net.
The hazy dream power even caused a large number of caught guards to go blank-eyed and collapse limply to the ground.
"Flame of Abhorrence!" Accompanied by Leilin's soul force, the black net suddenly unleashed torrents of black flame.
Unlike his own Phoenix Fire, this black flame seemed to contain immense power of hatred.
The sea-tribals caught in the flames went blank-eyed one after another, their life-force completely extinguished—yet their physical bodies remained perfectly intact.
"A flame that specifically targets the soul! Watch out!" the sea-tribal leader roared. His summoned sea shark beast spirit recoiled from the black fire as though from a venomous serpent.
After all, for a spirit-body like his, this Flame of Abhorrence was nothing short of a natural nemesis.
In almost a single stroke, every sea-tribal below the fourth level near the island had been annihilated by the black flame. The black net's range kept shrinking, confining the remaining Morning Star powerhouses to a narrow space.
"This power... this power..."
The sea-tribal leader across from them went pale. Had he known Belinda possessed this level of strength—and that this Nick was equally formidable—he would have adopted far more conciliatory methods.
But things had already progressed too far. Still, the leader made one last effort.
"Wait... Belinda, we are willing to issue a joint declaration to clear your name, even to repent before the Lord of Order. Please, don't—"
"Hah... hah... do you think I'm still the person I was before?"
Belinda laughed wildly, her body covered in crimson streaks, as dark dream power was drawn from her seemingly without end.
"Berserk Bloodlust? Or a bloodline-consuming attack?"
Leilin shook his head and, without hesitation, channeled the dream power to intensify the black flames within the net.
At that moment, an odd fluctuation emanated outward—a fourth-level Ritualist was finally preparing to summon a projection of the Eye of Judgment.
"Not a chance!" Leilin snorted coldly. The Feather of Chaos on his body flashed, and a wave of chaotic energy spread subtly outward, distorting the coordinates and causing the Ritualist attempting the summoning to cough up a mouthful of blood.