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Rotten Justice
Chapter 4: Justice Cleans the Streets!

Chapter 4: Justice Cleans the Streets!

The sun shines brightly on the small town of Ostkampf. Birds fly, the sun shines, and people are going about their business. This small town isn't very well known, but The Lost have been known to pass by here when heading further east. This area would become a pit stop if anything happened east of here, but only recently have things been happening. Something stirs in the east, and news got out that mutants exited a massive portal that just... appeared. A town close to the portal exit was occupied, and a local necromancer tower was put under siege. Response to the invaders was slow, but a tower being put under siege could greatly threaten the food supply in the region.

Anna Hofbaum, the [Guard Captain] of this place, got all this information over the radio just now. Her second in command is by her side, contemplating their position. She asked the man what he thinks, but he is stuck in thought.

"Well... our current position is the barracks, and soon our position moves to the gate for routine inspection." The sergeant says so in an only mildly jokingly manner.

"Be serious Erich, this is only going to get worse. It is still only the first day of all this shit, and already I have been constantly getting news updates from the radio like it's The First Cult War. I need your honest opinion on this." Anna isn't happy right now, and she even thinks she hears the flapping noises of a giant bird. She thinks of checking it out, but Erich responds to her inquiry, shifting her attention back to the man.

"The way I see it is that our town is too small to make any difference in anything, we are not the ones with any say in the matter. We could try to either remain 'loyal' to The Lost and keep offering their troops housing here, or attempt to negotiate with the mutants. The Lost are strong, but we don't know anything about these mutants yet, and they supposedly took a town within a day. That's not something our little guard could fight against." Erich's response is mildly resigned, he used to be much more insistent on taking the initiative, but with age comes a certain stern wisdom Anna had come to appreciate in the sergeant. She knew this town was much better fortified than most towns this size thanks to the man.

Some clattering is heard from the sleeping quarters, and the sound of... breaking beds? Anna can no longer ignore whatever was going on, and steps into the sleeping quarters, followed by Erich.

The sight that greets the veteran guards is a harrowing one. A winged woman stands between the ashes of where people used to sleep, her blade crackles in the air, and the sleeping guards are all dusted. She points her scales at the duo, and before they can react, she blinds the both of them with a bright flash of magic. Justitia slashes the duo clean through their necks, and the heat of the plasma cutter quickly travels through their bodies. Surprisingly enough, while the man's body disintegrates like the others, the corpse of the woman has a few bits of flesh of her extremities sticking out of the ash. What made her more resilient that there is some left from the residual heat?

Justitia discards the unimportant thought, every sinner destroyed reduces her time limit. She quickly flies out of the barracks, and towards the gate. There are a few towers there as well, and sinners guard the area. One of them aims a gun at her, and the discharge acts as the alarm. The bullets fly at Justitia, but are unable to damage her, owing to her [Angelic Light Magic] and [Angelic Flight]. Justitia flings the metal sheets she salvaged from the welder at the men in the towers, the sheer impact of her magically boosted throws send the decapitated corpses of sinners falling off the towers. The people near the fenced gate attempt to flee by busting down the gate, but their frantic attempts are halted when Justitia jams a spider corpse in between the hinges at the edge. She disables the plasma cutter, and bludgeons the sinners attempting to flee with the blunt force of the tool. It takes a little while longer, but Justitia now has what she wants.

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She knows the spider corpse won't last long against a few sneaky sinners making their getaway, so she gathers the corpses of sinners on one big pile in front of the gate, and spreads the herbs over the corpses. Next, she uses her light magic to light a fire, and starts burning nearby houses as well for good measure. Not a single one of these sinner rats will escape justice, and their panicked cries fall on deaf ears. The spider corpse jammed into the gate begins to roast along with the corpses of humans. The smell of finely seared meat spreads across town, and justitia patrols the fence around, burning the houses at the edge to surround the burning town.

As dawn falls on the town, and the sun fades in the distance, Justitia feels slightly weaker. So this is night? It is cold, and dark. This is her first night, and despite it being so dark above her, the stars and the town provide plenty of light. To say she is weakened right now is an overstatement, she is still an [Angel]. The screams of people move further inward to the town, and the trapped rats are almost ready for justice to be brought to them. The fire will serve as a fine courthouse.

Yet, something scurries in the dark, more sinners? Justitia lights up a part of the darkness, and sees creatures carried by many legs. These spiders were attracted by the sweet smell of burning flesh, and one of their own comrades being roasted alongside many humans. Justitia quickly points her scales at the spiders, and is greeted by a new message.

[You judge the [Hive Spider] using the scales! This creature lacks the moral agency required to be judged by U.N.E. law]

These beings aren't sinners? Better yet, they seem to be incapable of sin. Does this mean the spiders are righteous? Does this make the spiders her allies? Justitia does not know any of these things, she only encountered the one dead spider so far. The spiders in question aren't deterred by the fire, and move into the town with the speed befit of beings that do not care for trivial matters like obstacles.

Justitia watches as the spiders pull a screaming child out of one of the buildings, the child is screaming and sobbing for its mother, but even as the child is wrapped in web, and injected with acid. The status of sin remains the same on all parties. The spiders never accrue any sin, and the child doesn't gain any sin, even as he managed to punch one of the spiders on the carapace. Justitia does not do anything, she cannot judge anyone here. This is a matter concerning those who dwell on the land.

Together with the spiders, Justitia moves closer to the center. The spiders seem content to ignore her, and even seem to be following behind her. Buildings are cleared of sin in no time, and any significant resistance is crushed by the sword of justice. Justitia sees the remaining people in the central square, and points her scales at them. She almost has to clutch her head as she is bombarded with the information of their sins. A disgusting travesty that these people were still alive today, one of them steps forth in an attempt to negotiate, but is swiftly cut down by the plasma cutter. The death of the man signals for the attack to begin, and Justitia flashes bright light into the eyes of everyone present. Their weapons are heavily sight dependent, and she quickly shuts them down due to their exposed position. The spiders come from all around the central square, and descend on everyone indiscriminately.

As the screams of sin die out, Justitia yawns. Today was a good day, and if she can help it, there will be many more like this.