After the Bell Core split in two, the white light on the Thirteenth Layer dimmed considerably.
The white memorial tablets along the long stairway began collapsing one by one. The eyes within them closed and fell as dust. The Divine Throne Shadow still stood high above, but the black fissure behind it kept widening, as though someone were tearing open a sheet of white cloth from within.
Xu Zhihan helped Lu Wenchuan sit at the edge of a step.
Lu Wenchuan's breathing was terribly uneven. The wound on his wrist had reopened, and his shoulder wound was still bleeding. Xu Zhihan glanced down, his expression cold without a trace of softening.
"Don't talk right now."
Lu Wenchuan looked up. "I haven't said anything yet."
"I'm telling you in advance."
Lu Wenchuan gave a faint laugh, only for the pain in his chest to stifle it.
The half of the Silver Nameplate in Xu Zhihan's hand had cracked until only a corner remained. Lu Wenchuan's Student ID had chipped edges too. Part of the lettering on its back was missing, but the words "keep moving forward" were still legible.
The Divine Throne Shadow turned and raised a hand toward the darkness behind it.
The white light tried to suppress the fissure.
But the voices within the fissure grew clearer and clearer.
"Judge."
"Purge."
"Return to silence."
"The sinful world must be purged."
Those voices were as cold as the Divine Throne, but more numerous, more jumbled, like countless Divine Thrones layered together. Listening to them, Xu Zhihan felt a tightness in his chest.
Lu Wenchuan heard them too.
"This isn't a single thing."
Xu Zhihan nodded.
"No."
"There's more than one Heavenly Judgment?"
Xu Zhihan looked into that darkness.
"Heavenly Judgment is a rule, not a person."
White chains emerged from