Dekan's Unjust Absolute Judgment

Dekan held his cane, his back straight, his face handsome, and he still looked as dashing as ever.

But his eyes held a hint of helplessness and loneliness.

He looked at the Bishop of Falsehood Carlos lying on the sacred and bright bulletin board, as if lamenting the pitiful state of a fool.

The faint, elegant smile on Dekan's lips sent chills down the spines of the Chaos Christians and nobles in the church.

He just kept silent.

It's just like a teacher in a classroom, waiting for the students, silently declaring – "I don't want to be interrupted again. Think it through before you continue."

In the deathly silence, many eyes secretly glanced at Pritzker.

Pritzker, with his exceptional investigative abilities, was probably the only one present who could clearly see what had just happened.

However, Pritzker lowered his head even further, almost to the point of turning up his collar to cover his face.

He had just truly sensed that all of this was the terrifying effect caused by Ikatinos's high-level [Inner Demon Nightmare].

Ikatinos only personally uses [Nightmare of the Heart] when dealing with heinous criminals sentenced to death or interrogating extremely stubborn prisoners.

During the interrogation, Ikatinos would not stack too many levels of curses on the prisoner at once, as it could very likely cause the prisoner to suffer a mental breakdown.

In actual combat, it's impossible for Ikatinos to instantly stack so many layers of curse to cause the enemy's mental breakdown!

The Bishop of Falsehood Carlos was instantly struck with ten layers of a deadly curse!

He was even cursed through his own Illusory Space!

Although this unstoppable cooperation still didn't reveal the red-haired man's true strength, it made him seem even more like someone invited by Ikatinos.

But Pritzker didn't care about any of that. He only knew one thing: if this red-haired man could cure Carlos, he could cure him too!

If he said something he shouldn't have, he believed that the spells he was currently using would surely shut him up forever.

"If everyone were willing to give me some face like Queen Ikatinos has done, I think today's problem would be resolved much faster."

Dekan's clear voice rang out in the silent church, like a stone thrown into a lake, creating ripples in everyone's hearts.

He looked again at the front of the church bulletin board and politely asked:

"Your Highness Olivia, do you and your guardians have any further objections?"

Even if his attitude remained friendly.

But everyone knows that.

Compared to Empress Ikatinos's attitude, Princess Olivia's side is almost crossing the red-haired man's bottom line.

This is the last chance.

Isabel, dressed as the emperor, watched Menelaus's retreating figure with a tense expression.

They seemed to be waiting for, or seeking, Menelaus's opinion.

Dekan was naturally in no hurry.

Their ultimate goal was simply to completely deceive Menelaus, the most powerful Chaos God.

If Isabel were to casually agree, it might arouse Menelaus's suspicion.

This is the moment when Menelaus is most conflicted.

He would soon need to make a decision, whether to believe or not.

He was enveloped by Dekan's gaze.

The last two bishops placed on the bulletin board had changed color.

Those who had initially harbored some hostility towards the red-haired man should no longer complain about their resentment.

Even Carlos, who was far stronger than them, had proven the consequences of testing the red-haired man with his own tragic end. Menelaus, who could be called the strongest in the world, also became unwilling to make any rash moves at this moment. The Bishop of Plague and the Bishop of Devouring were even more afraid that this red-haired man would remember their previous expressions and kill two more as a warning to others.

Especially the Bishop of Devouring Balkas.

Whenever he saw this red-haired man, he felt an inexplicable unease that came from the depths of his soul.

Especially after realizing the red-haired man's danger, he now fully understood—

Whenever this red-haired man saw him, there was a strange feeling in his eyes!

Anger or hatred would not have made Balkas feel so terrified.

Instead, the way this man looked at him seemed to be filled with a genuine feeling called "love"! It was as if he had discovered a cute little animal and wanted to take it home!

This chilling sensation, spreading from the inside out, made Balkas instinctively want to turn around and smash through the church wall to escape.

Even though Balkas managed to control his fear with his reason, he felt as if a voice inside him was screaming madly—"Kill yourself! This is your last chance!!"

Balkas felt he must be insane to be so afraid of someone.

The Bishop of Devouring's subtle reaction was quickly caught out of the corner of his eye by the Bishop of Plague beside him, and this feeling of unease seemed to be gradually spreading to Olivia and Menelaus.

Although Balkas was somewhat of a bully who preyed on the weak, this was the first time they had ever seen someone so afraid of Balkas!

Menelaus glanced back at Princess Olivia, exchanged a brief look, and then stepped aside.

It's clear that the situation has been temporarily handed over to her.

Menelaus only intended to do as the red-haired man wished, letting Olivia face the situation directly, while he could continue to observe and make his judgment from the sidelines.

"Terribly sorry."

Princess Olivia did not panic when she realized that all eyes were on her. Instead, she stared intently at the red-haired man and apologized first.

As if receiving instructions from Menelaus, Princess Olivia eagerly asked Dekan:

"I have heard my father recount royal secrets. May I ask which legendary imperial hero you speak of?"

Everyone present looked puzzled.

Clearly, they hadn't heard of the "royal secrets" and "imperial heroes" that Princess Olivia spoke of.

What do you think?

Dekan seemed somewhat unhappy to begin with, and instead of answering the question directly, he used a question to answer the question.

Although the empire has royal secrets and legendary heroes, none of them have anything to do with Dekan.

However, this was precisely the identity that Dekan wanted to confirm, so he smiled slightly and continued to ask in return:

"That guy's descendants?"

After those words were spoken, the Imperials wanted to cry out but dared not utter a sound!

Although their conversation sounded like a riddle.

But there was an undeniable sense of complex sadness in the red-haired man's words.

At the same time, everyone couldn't help but start speculating.

Everyone knows that the red-haired man's statement is tantamount to admitting that he knows Olivia's ancestors.

Moreover, he had a very close relationship with that late emperor!

This seemingly young man is clearly much older than his appearance suggests.

What's unsettling is, which generation above Princess Olivia does he actually know?

This brief exchange further revealed the red-haired man's identity—

He was likely a long-forgotten hero of an ancient empire.

Despite possessing immense strength, the legends he wrote were gradually buried by history. When he reappeared in the world, all his old friends were gone, leaving only this country that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him.

This is also the tragedy of immortal beings.

"..."

Menelaus frowned, seemingly deep in thought.

As a Chaos God who was sealed away for ten thousand years and then revived, he does indeed have a gap in his knowledge of the complete history of the Salon Empire.

Among the immortal species that still exist in this world, the elves are probably the most famous.

Despite this, the elves are still on the verge of extinction.

In contrast to the demons, who are driven by desire, most elves exhibit the opposite behavior, displaying a low level of desire.

Many elves lack the desire to fight and grow stronger. Their combat talents are far less versatile than those of the demons, their reproductive abilities are much weaker, and they do not possess the powerful innate abilities of the Blood Race. Therefore, they pose little threat to the Chaos God.

Furthermore, it's not worthwhile to go to great lengths to exterminate the elves; this race doesn't even know if it might suddenly become extinct one day.

Nevertheless, some exceptionally gifted and eccentric elves, if they truly lived for a very long time, might become unimaginably powerful.

If this red-haired man is an immortal being, then everything makes sense.

Moreover, it seems that both Princess Olivia and Ikatinos knew, and were the only two who knew, an imperial legend about this red-haired man.

Princess Olivia seemed to be suppressing her excitement, but she had to force herself to remain calm as she spoke:

"Carlos's actions were not at my behest. I sincerely apologize for offending such a legendary figure as yourself."

Everyone knows that Princess Olivia is not stupid.

She shouldn't be afraid right now; she shouldn't even have time to suppress her joy!

While the red-haired man's statement seemed to be questioning Princess Olivia's ancestor, being a close friend of the red-haired man, undoubtedly hoped from his personal standpoint that the legitimate royal line would inherit the throne!

Although Isabel may have been suppressing other emotions in this performance, which made Dekan feel extremely uncomfortable during their scenes together, she did indeed do a perfect job as Dekan requested.

At this moment, it wasn't hard to notice that Queen Ikatinos's expression had darkened slightly.

Even though she had tried her best to win the red-haired man's favor, she couldn't change the fundamental stance of this imperial elder!

Dekan naturally knew how to act at this point.

He turned back to look at Ikatinos and said:

"Please don't worry, I admire you, even though it goes against my personal wishes. But in my mission here, I must be objective and impartial, and I will not favor either of you."

After these words were spoken, even Menelaus couldn't help but glance at Pritzker.

The identity and stance of this mysterious red-haired man became increasingly clear through his interactions with Princess Olivia, and at this moment, he finally uttered a definitive statement!

However, Pritzker was determined to be a coward at this moment, and no one could persuade him otherwise!

"Sir, now that you've appeared here... what do you want us to do?"

By this point, Isabel knew that her master's perfect lie was almost complete, so she cooperated and humbly asked her final question.

At this moment, Menelaus could hardly find any reason to doubt the red-haired man's strength, danger, identity, or stance.

All that's missing is the master's final performance and the final proof of the string tuning!

"Hmph, you don't need to be so respectful to me. In terms of status, I am merely a minor honorary duke appointed by the emperor of this land many years ago."

Dekan leaned back on his cane as if recalling the past, adopting a languid yet elegant posture.

"Although my title and official position are more of a nominal honor, and I have no fiefdom granted to me, and even my name has been forgotten by the world, would you allow me to reveal this past to everyone?"

Dekan bowed slightly to Princess Olivia.

Olivia shuddered slightly as if she'd been electrocuted, but quickly nodded, indicating she was willing to hear more.

He bowed again to Queen Ikatinos nodded in return.

Dekan thought to himself: I told you the truth about what happened between Lunn and Delois on the land of the Holy Kingdom. Now the dynasty has changed, but the land remains the same. If the people of the Empire misunderstand it as something from the past of the Empire, that's none of my business.

Seeing this, Dekan slowly walked to the center of the church, and like a wandering poet telling a story:

"The founding emperor of this land once told a close friend that, because the friend lived a long life, if any of the emperor's descendants became tyrants, or if any situation arose that required someone to uphold justice, it should all be left to that close friend to judge."

Then Dekan looked at the ninth-tier abyss mage Pritzker, and asked as if he had found an interesting audience member to interact with:

"Mr. Pritzker, how much of the story I just told you do you think is true and how much is false?"

Pritzker shuddered when he was suddenly called out.

"This is absolutely true; every word you said is true."

Pritzker raised his head and answered honestly.

He dared not ignore the red-haired man's words.

Fortunately, the red-haired man didn't make things difficult for him, and his stance seemed to be neutral as well.

Pritzker's stable Magic Power state proved that he had not chosen to lie out of fear of the red-haired man.

"Gurgle."

Everyone couldn't help but swallow hard.

All of this proves that the red-haired man has been genuine from the moment he appeared until now!

As everyone's hearts pounded, the red-haired man continued speaking:

"For example, right now, the empire has two empresses, and neither of them is willing to submit to the other."

"If we really fight to the death, is that truly the best outcome for the empire?"

So what do we do in this situation?

After asking the two questions, Dekan's expression suddenly turned cold. He tapped his cane on the ground, and the crisp echo reverberated throughout the church like muffled thunder!

He seemed to be questioning everyone's incompetence, how a once mighty empire had fallen to such a state that no one could take charge!

Dekan surveyed the crowd in the church, as if he could see right through them. No one dared to meet his gaze, afraid that he would see through their inner weakness.

Finally, Dekan sighed, his disappointment with the Empire replaced by an overwhelmingly domineering tone.

"Then a truly powerful person is needed to oversee all of this."

"Who becomes emperor is up to him."

These crazy words, spoken with such certainty, made the hearts of everyone in the Imperial court leap!

No one can imagine what kind of punishment would have been meted out to anyone who dared to say such things to Queen Ikatinos a month ago!

But all of this happened too fast. First, the capital was captured, and then it faced the crisis of complete destruction. Finally, at this moment, an even more Terror and mysterious empire emerged.

But at this moment, he finally revealed his identity and purpose.

The founding emperor named this official position "Emperor Selection Minister".

Dekan's expression was unwavering, his eyes unable to conceal the arrogance and untamed spirit within him.

He appeared to be a humble nobleman loyal to the empire, yet he made no attempt to conceal his disdain for the imperial throne.

This contradictory temperament of elegance and arrogance is fully displayed in him!

Everyone present listened as he continued speaking:

"And I am that elector minister."

******

Author's Note:

I'm sorry, I was really out of sorts today, and I only just managed to finish writing this... There might be some awkward phrasing or other issues, I'll revise it as soon as I wake up...

(´•̥̥̥ω•̥̥̥`)