Judgment and Human Nature

Ashborn Grand Hall stood to the left behind the church.

The grand hall was breathtakingly beautiful, magnificent and resplendent in gold. Every inch of its stone walls and pillars was covered in reliefs praising the Dawn—angels, flowers, fountains, harps, and the sun, all outlining the main theme of the murals.

They were delicate and enchanting, enough to make anyone forget themselves upon seeing them.

At the center of the grand hall stood the Golden Scepter of the God of Dawn, symbolizing fairness, mercy, and integrity.

Leading to the scepter was a staircase of twenty-eight steps, symbolizing cleansing, redemption, the true self, purity, and piety.

At that moment, Ning Xiuyuan was walking up those twenty-eight steps. The ring of seats around him was filled with clergy from the Francis Church.

He had never realized that the Francis Church had so many clergymen.

At the very front of the audience seats, he easily spotted Father Rhodes and the other members of the investigation team. They watched him without blinking, their faces filled with fervent anticipation—the exhilaration of bringing the culprit to justice.

In fact, how could it be limited to them?

Looking around, the attending clergymen wore expressions ranging from solemnity to calm, sorrow, anticipation, and relief.

But what showed most plainly was undisguised rejection and hatred!

After several days of fermenting, the Orlando loss of control incident had spread throughout the Francis Diocese. As the investigation team examined and reconstructed the scene, it had become increasingly difficult for Arthur to clear himself of suspicion.

Everyone was looking forward to this trial!

They wanted to clear their colleagues and friends of injustice and restore fairness and justice to them.

Under the attention of the masses, Ning Xiuyuan finished climbing the twenty-eight steps and arrived beneath the Golden Scepter of the God of Dawn.

Before the Golden Scepter, Bishop Byron wore a high crown and held a silver shepherd's staff topped with a small angel. He was dressed in a red clerical robe with elaborate ornamentation and a white satin lining, while the mark of the God of Dawn on his chest shone brightly.

At the edge of the Golden Scepter, Deacon Harry was likewise dressed in formal attire.

However, he had no right to enter the center beneath the Golden Scepter and could only stand guard at the edge. This made the way he looked at Your Excellency the Bishop somewhat heated.

"Did you rest well last night?"

Bishop Byron looked at Ning Xiuyuan as he approached and asked kindly.

"I didn't sleep all night."

Ning Xiuyuan sighed inwardly.

"Then I hope you have a good dream tonight."

Ning Xiuyuan's heart stirred. Was he hinting at something?

"Stand here, my Lord's lost lamb. Open your heart and accept judgment!"

Bishop Byron lightly tapped the spot beside him with his staff.

Ning Xiuyuan nodded, walked over, and turned around to face the densely packed Francis clergymen surrounding him without flinching.

"Silence!"

Bishop Byron rapped his staff and shouted in a low voice.

In an instant, the somewhat noisy grand hall fell so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

"The trial concerning the Orlando loss of control incident begins now!"

"Father Rhodes, as the head of the investigation team for the Orlando loss of control incident, please state the investigation results objectively and impartially."

Bishop Byron looked toward the audience seats.

"Yes, Your Excellency the Bishop."

Rhodes stood up, swept his gaze around, and slowly recounted the cause and course of the Orlando loss of control incident.

"At present, the investigation team still has several doubts it cannot resolve. We ask Arthur to explain them clearly before everyone."

"First, why did the spirit within the rusted sword only appear after it was pulled out? This goes against common sense. I even have reason to suspect that there was no so-called spirit at all."

"Second, the deaths of Atley and Payne were far too coincidental. Could Arthur have deliberately killed them to silence them, simply to fabricate a convenient explanation?"

"Third..."

Rhodes was about to continue when Bishop Byron interrupted him.

He said earnestly:

"Father Rhodes, we are all God's lambs. God said that we should not maliciously speculate about any lost lamb. Perhaps he merely coveted the fresh grass and wandered away from the flock."

Bishop Byron's words caused Rhodes's expression to stiffen. He realized that, as the head of the investigation team, his account had violated the requirement of "objectivity and impartiality," containing far too many subjective suppositions.

Even so, he pressed on stubbornly.

"Your Excellency the Bishop, I was merely making reasonable conjectures based on the facts."

Bishop Byron shook his head.

"Over the past few days, I used the Spirit Summoning Ritual to call forth fragments of the mental bodies of Orlando and the others. After piecing together the course of events, I confirmed that a spirit had indeed emerged from the rusted sword. As for the reason? Perhaps the culprit simply did not want to waste a powerful spirit as an aid!"

As Bishop Byron spoke, he raised a hand. A few scattered rays of light drifted from his palm, and a vague, abstract image appeared in the air.

The image was extremely distorted and fragmented, coming respectively from the perspectives of Wright, Atley, and Payne.

What it depicted was precisely what had happened when Orlando lost control.

However, because Atley and Payne had died, no one had witnessed the process by which Ning Xiuyuan killed the out-of-control entity, and the image abruptly ended there.

But that was enough.

As this vague memory image was revealed to the public, the grand hall instantly fell into pin-drop silence!

Ning Xiuyuan also looked at Bishop Byron in surprise. He had not expected him to have begun investigating in secret as well.

Moreover, his method of investigation was so forceful and effective.

Although Ning Xiuyuan did not know how difficult this had been for him or what price he had paid, he still felt a trace of gratitude.

"Since Your Excellency the Bishop has confirmed the spirit's existence, I have only one final doubt!"

Father Rhodes's expression was somewhat grim, but he stubbornly asked his last question.

"Arthur admitted with his own mouth that he was the one who killed the out-of-control entity. Yet when asked about the process, he kept silent, claiming that it involved church secrets. Your Excellency the Bishop, is that true?"

The grand hall instantly fell into utter silence.

Countless eyes fixed themselves on Bishop Byron.

"Arthur's ability to kill the out-of-control entity is indeed a church secret. I swear to that by my faith!"

Facing the gazes of the priests, Bishop Byron nodded and admitted it.

"Whoosh—"

In an instant, another uproar erupted among the audience seats. No one had expected Arthur to truly be involved in a church secret.

Could that secret even kill an out-of-control entity that had gathered four Transcendent characteristics?!!

When Ning Xiuyuan heard this, he finally let out a breath of relief.

"It cannot be disclosed?"

Rhodes seemed to have anticipated this answer and asked calmly.

"It cannot be disclosed."

Bishop Byron shook his head.

"Fine. Although I cannot learn the truth, I suspect this is a Transcendent item, is it not? Other than a Transcendent item, there is no way an Ascetic Physician could possibly kill an out-of-control entity."

"Of course, even if it is not a Transcendent item, that is irrelevant. I only want to ask Arthur why he waited until Atley and Payne were killed before choosing to kill the out-of-control entity."

"What were you afraid of?"

"Were you afraid that using the Transcendent item would cost too much, and that was why you kept hiding behind Atley and the others?"

"Did you ever think that if you had used it earlier, Atley and Payne could have survived?"

"I do not know where you obtained this Transcendent item or ability, but since you possess it, you should fulfill the responsibilities and obligations you owe. That is the shepherd's duty!"

"Your Excellency the Bishop, even if Arthur did not kill Atley and the others, he indirectly caused their deaths, completely violating the Dawn Doctrine! Even if he is spared the death penalty, all his Transcendence should be stripped away, and he should be expelled from the church as a warning to others!"

Father Rhodes spoke with dazzling eloquence. His barrage of questions followed one after another, each linked to the next, drawing a wave of table-slapping cheers from the audience seats!

"He watched people die without helping, allowing the killer to run rampant, selfish and self-serving! He is unworthy of being our Lord's shepherd!"

"Strip him of his Transcendence and expel him from the church!"

"He is not a lost lamb. He deliberately abandoned the flock! That is the work of a heretic. He should be burned at the stake!"

At that moment, countless priests stood up, raising their arms and roaring furiously.

"Silence! Silence! Silence!"

Deacon Harry shouted angrily again and again. Only after the third time did he barely manage to quiet the grand hall.

Even so, the eyes of the priests still blazed with fury.

As Transcendents, they fought on the front lines against the darkness for the sake of the Dawn and the people. They either died to monsters or lost control and became monsters themselves.

Their only support was the comrades and colleagues behind them.

That was why they could never tolerate such a selfish wretch... an alien among the ranks of the shepherds!

"Arthur, do you have anything you want to say?"

Bishop Byron looked silently at Ning Xiuyuan. This time, he did not show him any favoritism.

Or rather, he had never shown him favoritism at all.

Why had Arthur not killed the out-of-control entity sooner? That was indeed a point of doubt.

Although he knew that Arthur had not killed the out-of-control entity with a Transcendent item, but by exploiting a loophole in Transcendent characteristics, as Father Rhodes had said, whether it was a Transcendent item or a personal ability, the distinction was not significant.

The key was that when Payne's Prohibition of the Supernatural took effect, Arthur had already possessed the ability to kill the out-of-control entity and save Payne.

Then why had he waited until everyone was dead before acting?

At that moment, Ning Xiuyuan, the center of the incident, stood beneath the Golden Scepter of the God of Dawn and fell silent.

He had thought that everything would be fine as long as he explained that he could kill the out-of-control entity.

He had not expected that this would only be the beginning of his deadly ordeal!

Faced with his survival, everyone was not joyful or relieved. Instead, they vented all their fury on him.

This suddenly reminded Ning Xiuyuan of the terrifying experiences of innocent survivors and victims in news reports—those who had miraculously escaped with their lives, only to receive no comfort and instead suffer online abuse. His heart suddenly understood something.

His gaze slowly swept over the furious priests in the audience seats, and a trace of sorrow appeared on his face.

"Say something!"

"Look at the spirits of Atley and Payne and repent, Arthur!"

"I want to see how you plan to wriggle out of this!"

Seeing Ning Xiuyuan sink into silence, a group of priests mocked and berated him again.

"We are all God's sheepdogs."

Ning Xiuyuan pressed his lips together and spoke softly. The enormous hall instinctively fell silent.