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Chapter 516: Prison Realm
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Siva didn’t dally longer, “You all have made a vow to your souls… you all will be enemies with the Bloody Church, or if you shall break this promise, you will die the most agonizing of deaths. Is this not your Unbreakable Vow?”
No one loudly answered but the faces of those from the Alliance Seats in the crowd showed that they agreed with what Siva had said.
“As such,” Siva added immediately, “I would like to ask you now… is there a way to bypass the vow?”
Bypass it? It’s been used for many years now and they haven’t heard of any method to bypass the Unbreakable Vow Spell because it directly takes root into one’s soul upon taking the vow.
Siva saw that they all agreed to this point and so he raised a hand to stop the noise, “None.” His voice resounded, dispelling all negative thoughts about their ‘spell’ having loopholes. But then, his next words became the trigger for an eruption of a cacophony of different reactions. “But you all must know that the Bloody Church is made up of people with unique capabilities; some even have the ability to make perfect disguises and even as much as scouring one’s memories, with the price of killing the subject. With all these said, do you now think that there is a chance that your ranks have now been infiltrated by the Bloody Church?”
“Impossible!” cried Hugo.
Siva glanced over at him. “It is not impossible.” he said coldly. “Because right now, I will tell you all with utter surety that the people I’ve just removed from your ranks are the very people who already aligned themselves to the Bloody Church.”
He didn’t let anyone make a reply as he flip out his hand again and in the air, suspended by space with no chance to move from their positions at all, were the very people that Siva had taken away on their ranks just a minute earlier.
Siva declared: “Before meeting here, we have all taken the Heavenly Oath that during the process of me disseminating the information that I have brought with me back in Bardavon Kingdom, I will have the absolute right to ask any question once the dissemination of information had begun; and that those who do not comply, or deny, or lie about the truth of certain information, shall be judged guilty of suspicion and shall thereby be subjected to further interrogation. Is this right?”
The oath they swore didn’t portray anything that tells of them dying if they were proven guilty of something and so they all swore the Oath thinking that there was a loophole to be exploited even if they lie about the answer they give to the definite kinds of exacting questions.
But it was an entirely different matter if the exact question itself pertained to their alignment or their real identities behind their masks.
In fact, the oaths taken were under the name and identity they “wore” above their real faces, and so even if they lie, there was no consequence to the real them who were Bloody Church spies.
But once they were pinpointed, it was easy to put the right set of words to uncover their true faces.
There was no escaping from that question and if they lie, the Heavenly Oath will strike them down, thereby saying that they were lying.
“Free me from here, Siva!”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“You tricked us!”
“Everyone, this is a trap!”
Different voices rung from the people trapped in an upside down position above the heads of the innocent ones below.
At this point, many from below also supported the demand to free those being suspended above, even cursing at him with such ice cold intensity.
Siva faced all of them below with an indifferent gaze and declared, “As you are all subjects of the ones I have imprisoned before you, and are all loyal to your cause, then you won’t mind me when I ask for your cooperation on swearing an Oath, yes?”
When he spoke, he momentarily glanced over the silent Gaia who nodded and spoke in a loud voice:
“If you have nothing to hide, you will agree. But those who do not cooperate will be subjected to interrogation immediately.”
Gaia faced Hugo, her gaze asking for his trust so Hugo clenched his fists and grit his teeth.
“Everyone, let’s not make this harder and just do as was told so that we may proceed with this as quickly and cleanly as we can.”
Siva laughed at this, “Nicely said.” then he faced the crowd of frowning individuals and pulled out a [Contract Paper] that he then disseminated to all the 23,000+ remaining people.
“Sign with your name using your Mana and then declare the oath as was worded on the contract; those who do not follow the words or do not say the Oath shall be immediately subjected to further interrogation!”
It was harsh treatment and Hugo was beginning to regret trusting Siva with this task. For his ease, he was also issued a copy of the contract and Hugo did not hesitate to sign it and swore the Oath.
When the crowd saw Hugo taking the lead when they took the oath, they, too, followed suit.
Alas, some were still brave and did not follow the instructions, saying a different wording from the oath on the contract and so Siva picked them up and froze them alongside the first ones that he’d already pinpointed as Bloody Church Followers.
The Absolute Domain covered the 10km area around Siva. Through this, nothing could escape Cortana’s senses.
Seeing these, Hugo felt that perhaps… the oath he’d taken was indeed for something true.
The oath was simple, nothing life-threatening.
Siva will ask questions and they all had to answer his questions with full honesty or be interrogated.
After the thunderclap rung, the surprised crowd knew that this so called “Heavenly Oath” is already active and running. Many, though, felt cold as they felt an ominous premonition.
A few actually didn’t dare to take Siva’s test and took out their T-Devices but alas…
….it only made them look guilty and so they were picked up and thrown into the prisoner’s crowd while the rest of the crowd, and Hugo, mostly, felt that Siva’s ridiculous demands were truly getting them into somewhere.
—is this the cleansing he mentioned before?
When the commotion died down, Siva surveyed the crowd and said, “As you all saw, those who’re guilty of hiding something cannot escape the full wrath of their fear and so were immediately put in the crowd of guilty people. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about. Just truly and faithfully comply with my questions and we can all go home peacefully today.”
Siva breathed deeply once and then began, “By the power of the Heavenly Oath you have all just sworn, I ask you to do this only this once: state your name, declare that it is your real identity, and then proclaim that you are not allied or thinking of allying yourselves with the Bloody Church. The exact words are on your contract. Speak it now.”
Hugo, whose doubts vanished, was the first to say his declaration. After he asserted that he was the real King of the Werewolves and affirmed that he wasn’t an ally or thinking of allying himself to the Bloody Church, or the Demons, he heaved a sigh and glanced over the crowd.
To his shock though, over hundreds of lightning strikes came down from the sky and hit hundreds of people.
Though Siva could pinpoint who were members of the Bloody Church once they have been baptized by their rituals, those who are yet to be baptized are exempted to his detection.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
As such, before he punished those locked in the air, he had to make sure that there are no more termites left in the ranks of the contingents going to attack the allies of the Bloody Church today.
Seeing the golden flashes of lightning that came from the clear cloudless sky, Hugo and the others were convinced that this so called ‘Heavenly Oath’ that they only heard for the first time earlier when they took the oath was actually stricter and more exacting to its punishment than the [Unbreakable Vow] they’ve been used to using all these time.
Those struck by the golden lightning didn’t die but they were wounded, paralyzed, and lying on the ground, groaning about their pain and suffering.
“Painful isn’t it?” Siva coldly stated. “But you know what; traitors deserve a lot more than that. You all have sold your souls for power to a false God that wouldn’t even bat an eye whether you live or die, so why did you do it? Why did you forsake your family, your people, and your planet to the ones seeking to destroy it? You already know it: the Bloody Church is a puppet of the Demon Armada so why did you still choose the wrong side?”
The hundreds of paralyzed injured ‘believers’ of the Bloody Church were picked up to join the ranks of the ones locked in space above them.
Those left in the round were aghast.
Just how did this all happen?
Unable to believe their eyes, the friends they had shared drinks with, the people they would trust their backs to during emergencies, the ones they all thought were their family, friends, lovers, and even the other half of their bones… were actually spies who had long since defected towards their sworn enemy, the Demon Armada, thru the Blood Dragon God Church!
Siva was satisfied and spoke out, “Everyone, I am thankful at your cooperation at our cleansing. Now that the termite are cleansed out of your Alliance, you can now swear a Heavenly Oath that you will never ever ally yourself with the Bloody Church who’s a lapdog of the Demon Armada. Now that the first part had been already accomplished, you can now rest assured that everything will still go as planned today.”
Although he was happy, the crowd wasn’t.
After all, the people Siva talked about are the very once they’ve trusted their backs to all these years and thought of as family.
They were betrayed and it hurts. A sense of loss engulfed them and they couldn’t help glare at him as well as the traitors who threw away their trust who are now in midair.
Silence engulfed the area.
At this time, a [Seat] from the Terran Alliance then yelled out at Siva.
“What kind of farce is this bullshit you’re talking about, Siva?!! Heavenly Oath? There is no such thing as Heavenly Oath! It was you and the Vajra Clan who were sending out those Lightning Bolts just now! Everybody here is innocent! Stop this nonsense and let us go, you moron!”
Hugo’s expression sunk deeper. The guy had a point. What if everything was just a show by Siva and that he was merely using this golden lightning bolt to injure random individuals?
As much as he wanted to find out the truth of it all, he could only grit his teeth and take on a role of a passive movie goer after everything.
Siva looked at the man and laughed out loud.
“Hahaha… alright. since you believe that you are innocent, then here, all of you, sign the [contract], swear the oath just like the rest of them did, and then proclaim that you are who you say you are and that you are not allied, nor are you planning on allying yourself with the Bloody Church or the Demon Armada. Come on. Do it.”
Siva tone held his mockery and taunting. He, of all the people here knew, that the man was just trying to gain support from the crowd and cover the fact that he was indeed allied with the Bloody Church.
Siva wanted to see a show and with this, the crowd would also lose all traces of doubts once the guy was exposed of his origins.
“Oh? Why are you hesitating then?”
“I refuse to comply! You have no right to order me nor have any authority over my decision to not sign this bloody contract.”
Siva smiled, the guy was cunning and smart. But alas, Siva had no time to play games with him so he raised the Hammer of Judgement on them.
“It’s okay if you don’t sign it. In my eyes, you are all dead people anyways. You cannot escape this place because this is my domain. I can take all my time and make you all squeal like the real vermin you are, until you all eventually curse at the fact that you have betrayed your own people and have forsaken your duty to protect your own race!”
As he spoke, Siva flipped his palm and a Mini Realm appeared.
With a ripple of space, the entire crowd of people 50 meters in the air shrank in their size and got sucked inside the Mini Realm with a funnel-like visual effect.
Seeing this, many of those who had witnessed and had already confirmed Siva’s identity felt even surer now that Siva was indeed a God of Terroa.
Earlier in Bardavon, Siva recalled that those [Seat] members that were actually the very traitors of the Alliance in the conference call with him and Gaia, were actually the ones that acted neutrally to even when the Dwarf Prince, Duren, swore his oath of fealty towards Siva.
Siva remembered their faces and knew this. Thus, it was right only to withhold this “cleansing” to only when they have met in person so that he can trap them and even interrogate them as he pleased.
After all, they are still EXP resources.
The Mini Realm he used to imprison them was the one he’d prepared specifically for them.
It was their [Prison Realm].
In this way, though, they can be interrogated and face trial before being punished.
Seeing the Prison Realm in Siva’s hand, Hugo and the rest of the innocent ones finally understood why Siva wanted to meet them all in person and not say his “information” at all cost during only a video a call. In fact, Hugo even felt thankful that before they parted earlier, Siva made them swear an oath to NEVER tell anybody about the raid they were planning to conduct to The Legion.
It’s because there was a large chance that their enemies will catch wind of it and escape, making all of their preparations a waste.
Hugo, the crowd, and the rest of the Alliance Seat that came in Elf Forest finally realized the plan that Siva had been keeping to himself all this time.
Seeing the look in their faces, Siva nodded and kept the Prison Realm with him.
“We will interrogate them later. For now, let’s get their allies before they can be warned.”
Hugo and the rest nodded and faced the crowd who, when they saw the event just now, realized that what Siva had done was inevitable. Spies are enemies, and even if they felt betrayed, there are still those who are beside them and those who are still back home… waiting for their return.
In fact, all of them now realized that without Siva actually purging out the “termites” in their ranks, just the sheer numbers of these bastards alone is already enough to cause them all to die in their mission to attack the other traitors, the Blue Card Legion, in Mundus, in Heartilia.
It wasn’t a sheer coincidence that there are 7,000 traitors in their ranks at all.
The Blue Card Legion was at least 50,000 strong.
If their ranks melted from within during the crucial time of their attack, then they could only die in vain from those traitors’ hands.
Hugo swallowed his saliva thinking about the horror that could have happened if Siva didn’t ask them all to gather in person.
He closed his eyes and made a warrior’s salute of the Werewolf Clan towards him.
“Thank you so much, Siva. You saved our lives.”
The crowd behind Hugo also stated their thanks but Siva shook his head.
“It’s still too early to say thanks. There’re still a lot of things to do. For now, do not mention anything of what happened here to anyone else. There’s a large chance that there are more spies inside your alliance than the ones we have captured.”
Hugo understood this and gave the order to the 23,000 people through their commanders.
Besides, Siva also locked the space and already prohibited communications until he authorized it so, since, there are about hundreds who instantly tried to contact people outside this circle either to gossip around or report it.
As such, the worst case of this event leaking out was stopped in full.
“Make your last preparations. We’re heading out.”
Hugo and the crowd of soldiers and knights did not dally on, suppressing their gloom with all that depressing betrayal, and just focused their minds on the task of eradicating the traitors of Terroa.
Seeing their active preparations, Siva then made a command, “Cortana, tell Pistareen we’re going out in five minutes. We must be fast when we attack.”
[Yes sir.]
Since Lady Brea didn’t have her own army like the resourceful Zelga, Pistareen lent her disciple his help and mobilized all his trusted supporters and already spy-free High Elders to this attack.
A few minutes later, Siva received confirmation that Pistareen had already moved.
…..and yet, just a few seconds later, Cortana gave a report that made Siva frown.
[Boss, a call came from Pistareen. He said that a Warship of Jeremiah had just made a Hyperjump at almost the same time as them and have already arrived in Mundus.]
“WHAT?!!”
*****
Jeremiah——
15 minutes later, a grumbling Randall was seated on his designated seat next to the gorgeous Elf.
He was upset because the prices of potions and other important items have increased by at least twice from their already expensive former prices.
When he looked at the other people in the room, he saw the same look in their faces and thought that the situation was weird.
“T-Devices have at least doubled in prices. It was already expensive before but now, it’s even more expensive it’s like buying disposable gold!”
“It’s not only that. [Item Identifier] and other useful items on adventures like Portable Tents and even the other Capsule-type utilities have increased in their prices as well.”
“It’s indeed weird!”
“Oi. Oi. Oi. Listen to this. I heard, the Humans in Jeremiah had actually drawn the line and are now a hermit…”
“That’s old news! I heard the Terrans’ve already confiscated the manufacturing methods for these items and banned the Humans from ever making them again in the future.”
“Well I heard they had a quarrel even back in the attack here in Jeremiah. My friend told me so!”
“I heard it was because of Gats.”
“I heard…”
Different stories, different versions, different side on the same tale… although they seem to be a bit out on every direction, Randall still felt that maybe they are all connected somehow.
He looked at the girl beside him and just as he was about to open his mouth, the girl pulled the hood of her cloak to cover her pointy ears and face, blocking him from asking anything at all.
Randall grumbled and snorted.
*****
“Prince, Pistareen had given the order to move.”
At this time, Zelga in front of them stomped his foot in fury and his face morphed into an ugly scowl. “We will move as well.” he yelled and then called out to the Royal Guards. “Time’s up. All of you… move out now! Those who are late shall be punished later!”
Randall was surprised. Why the hurry?
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Old rivals will clash…!!
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Next Chapter: Mundus!!