76. Battle to the Death-Who Can Understand This King's Sorrow?

Many Venthyr believed that "interrogation" was their sacred duty, and that extracting sin and anima was the holy mission bestowed upon them by destiny.

That understanding was not wrong. It could even be called Revendreth's "political correctness."

Without the Venthyr's millennia of unchanging interrogation, absolution, and extraction of sinful souls, the Shadowlands could never have obtained enough anima to fuel the growth and prosperity of its various covenants and subordinate realms.

The Venthyr prided themselves on being the foundation of the Shadowlands. But regrettably, once Sire Denathrius, progenitor of the Venthyr, lost his way and began blurring the subtle boundaries between "Judgment," "interrogation," and "sadism," the collective fall of the sinners had already become an irreversible omen.

Their corruption was displayed in the most vivid fashion upon this Naaru imprisoned in the Crimson Abyss.

Whatever their purpose, attempting to turn a Naaru into a "living sinstone" had already gone beyond the definition of "interrogation." It was naked sadism, and the opening move of a dreadful conspiracy against the force of the Holy Light.

Still, even Diakum had to admire the Venthyr's many achievements in the field of Sin Anima research.

For instance, right now, after Diakum raised his warhammer and incinerated more than half of the Venthyr sinners who had tried to manipulate the pitiful Naaru prisoner into fighting for them, the survivors actually managed to control the Naaru under the pressure of death.

"Stop him! I command you!"

Lady Beryllia, the "Grand Overseer" who oversaw every corrupt experiment in the Crimson Abyss, had no time to care about the ash covering her body from the sunlight's scorching heat. Hiding atop the ritual platform, she manipulated the command she had developed, using Sin Anima to force the ancient Naaru to attack Diakum.

The Naaru named "Zraly" was deeply unwilling to