When Sasha pulled out the pink crystal, Nero and Nova instantly jumped to their feet.

“Sasha, wait!”

They tried to stop her but it was too late.

*Crush!*

They saw the pink crystal crumble before their eyes.

“Dammit!”

Nero jumped down from the platform, where the panel of judges resided, and landed in front of Miko.

“Protect everyone with weak life forces!”

He shouted at the top of his voice. Everyone started to move. The Branch Leaders jumped in front of their respective branches, while Darwin jumped in front of the Flamehearts. Jeffery and the woman called Maria stood beside him.

“What’s going on?”

Many people were confused by the actions of Nero and the others. They could all tell they were getting ready to face something.

“Momo, Aeon, Kirika, Alec, you four stand behind me. Since you’re this close, you’ll be affected the most.”

Nova appeared in front of Momo and the others and spoke with a serious expression.

“Uncle, this is?”

Momo looked at Nova with a worried expression. She could see the cold sweat dripping off his chin.

“She’s coming.”

Sasha stood there with a blank expression with fragments of the pink crystal in her hand. Seeing that she had crushed the crystal, Leon distanced himself and braced for impact.

A dark haze started leaking from the crystal fragments. And then-

*Flash!*

All sound and color were wiped from the world by a black pulse with Sasha in the middle. This black pulse swept through the courthouse like a massive wave charging at everyone in the room.

*BAM!*

Those standing in front of the audience formed a barrier around them. They shielded everyone. The sound from the collision was deafening to the point it caused people to cover their ears. The royal palace along with its yard started to shake. The shards of the shattered crystal then started glowing as black sparks were emitted from them. The sparks danced all around, burst through the courthouse, and hit the flying beasts flying way above. They instantly rotted and turned into dust. When the sparks hit the ground all greenery withered and the earth lost all its nutrients. A strong stench of death swept the land, almost knocking out whoever smelt it. The shards turned into pink flower petals and sound and color slowly returned to the world.

The petals danced in front of Sasha as an orb of light took the shape of a person. It didn't take long for the orb to disperse and a person was left standing in front of Sasha.

It was a woman. She was dressed in a stylish black and pink hooded cloak. She had jet-black hair with pink endings and cold purple eyes. She was 5'5, had an attractive body, and had the flushed face of a teenager with beautiful pale skin. Her face lacked all emotion.

“……..”

All were silent as they stared at the woman, who looked like a goddess that descended onto the mortal plane.

“Kimiko…”

The first to break the silence was Nero. The expression on countless people’s faces changed drastically to shock and fear.

“Kimiko? That’s her?”

“……..”

The woman, Kimiko silently looked around the courtroom and stopped every time her eyes met with someone in the room. She significantly paused for a long time on Nero, who looked a bit nervous. After that, she looked at Sasha who was crying.

“Sasha…”

She wiped the tears from Sasha’s eyes.

“Mama…”

Hearing Sasha called Kimiko in such an intimate way confirmed Kimiko’s identity to everyone who still was skeptical.

“Kimiko Mors-Dragna. The mother of Nova and Sasha. First and the main wife of Nero. Leader and Queen of the Mors Clan of Niflheim and the first female Deicider with the title “She Who Brings Death Upon The World”.”

Darwin spoke to his clan members.

“Be careful. This woman is by far the world’s deadliest assassin.”

Everyone gulped.

“Sasha, what’s wrong? I told you to only use that crystal to summon me when you’re in a pinch.”

Kimiko looked around again.

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“What’s with this situation?”

Sasha’s shoulders started trembling and she opened her mouth, but no words came out. She struggled with her body shaking and finally spoke after much difficulty.

“Mother, help me slaughter these people.”

Everyone’s eyes widened when they heard Sasha’s hateful words.

“Help me slaughter them all for what they did to my son!”

“Son?”

Sasha turned around and looked at where Nero stood. She looked behind him and saw what he was protecting.

“…….”

She stared at him for a while, soon her eyes slowly started to widen.

“Is that Miko?”

She asked with a deep and trembling voice.

“Yes.”

Kimiko became silent as she stared at Miko. A black aura started leaking from her body causing her surroundings to dim once again. The longer she stared at him the more the aura of death surrounded her.

“People of the Dragna Empire…..”

She moved away from Sasha and approached Nero, who stood before Miko.

“What happened to my grandson?”

“………”

Nero didn’t answer immediately, but Kimiko continued glancing at the faces of all the Branch Leaders and Darwin.

“Depending on your answer, Niflheim might wage war on all of you.”

“?!”

Kimiko’s words had a powerful impact. Niflheim was one of the Nine Worlds and was a location in Norse mythology. It was the abode of Hel, the Norse goddess of death, who was the daughter of Loki. It was also the afterlife for her subjects, those who did not die a heroic or notable death. It was a place that was dark and was a realm of Ice. It currently resides on the God Continent where it’s ruled by the Mors Clan, a female-dominated clan of history’s deadliest assassins, who all wield the powers of ice and death. It is a well-feared nation, so most tend to avoid it as much as possible. They didn’t want to feel the grasp of lady death.

As the queen of Niflheim and daughter of Hel, Kimiko could easily deploy millions of deadly assassins to destroy whatever she wanted. The level of fear and might that she commanded was comparable to a True Goddess of Death.

So her saying that she might wage war wasn’t something to laugh at.

“Kimiko, calm down.”

Nero tried to approach her, but he was blocked by her lifting her hand.

“I refuse to talk to someone who allowed his own flesh and blood to be put into such a state.”

“Mother…”

Nova also tried to talk but he was silenced when he received one look from her. Kimiko looked at Rouge, who wasn’t that far away from her, and spoke.

“Rouge, release my grandson.”

“Why do you assume I’m the one in charge here?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No.”

The one who answered was Krow.

“Welcome back, Kimiko. It’s been a long time.”

He stepped out of the crowd and walked up to her.

“Krow, is this your doing?”

A murderous look appeared in Kimiko’s eye.

“No. What happened to your grandson is his own doing.”

“Oh? Please explain.”

“Of course.”

Despite everyone treating her with caution, Krow didn’t show the slightest fear before Kimiko, which a lot of people found praiseworthy.

“You see, around 6 months ago Miko became Tiamat’s Proxy.”

Kimiko wasn’t the least surprised to hear this. Niflheim had a broad information net. News like this had long reached her ears, even if she wasn’t told by her family.

“What does that has to do with anything?”

“It’s not the fact he became a Proxy, it’s what he did after he became one.”

Krow smiled and spoke with an energetic voice.

“He slaughtered whoever came after him without care for the empire’s laws! He engaged in a war with the top criminals in the middle of the capital, causing great destruction and the deaths of many bystanders! He then went on to fight an even greater war with this empire’s crime god and his forces, leading to mass destruction in several parts of the capital and massacred countless citizens! The death toll is still uncertain by the way.”

Krow grinned.

“And here’s the biggest one yet! Your grandson fought against the Crime God, which was none other than the Flameheart heir Darius Flameheart and killed him in battle!”

Krow's energetic voice rekindled the flame of vengeance in the hearts of the Flamehearts after Darius was mentioned. Krow started applauding.

“Congratulations, Kimiko. Your grandson is probably the vilest criminal this empire has seen in a long time.”

“……..”

Toward Krow’s energetic summary, Kimiko stood there in silence as if she was trying to piece everything together.

“…..So that’s how it is.”

She looked over at the Flamehearts and saw their hateful expressions. She looked at the warden and his subordinates who brought Miko out.

“The Demon’s Nest, huh?”

She seemed to have quickly grasped the situation. She looked back at Sasha.

“Sasha, let’s allow this trial to continue as planned.”

“Mama!”

Sasha wanted to protest, but Kimiko stopped her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll attend this trial as well.”

She waved her hand and the ground at her feet cracked open and black tree roots started growing from underneath the earth. They extended into the air where they started to mend their shape while weaving together to form something. Everyone looked and saw two thrones made of roots in the air, on the same level as the platform the panel of judges sat at.

Kimiko jumped and landed on the first throne. She patted the one beside her and spoke to Sasha.

“We’ll spectate from here. Don’t worry, everything will be alright.”

Sasha hesitated at first and jumped up and landed on the throne next to her mother. Kimiko nodded and then spoke-

“You all may continue.”

She looked down on everyone with an ice-cold gaze. It was especially cold when she looked at Nero who could only smile and shake his head.

“I’m really anticipating what your verdict will be.”

“………”

Silence once again filled the room. No one moved a muscle, that was because the tension was far more intense than before. It was now clear to everyone in this room that regardless of the verdict, a war will break out today. And it wasn’t just any war, this was a war that could lead to the empire’s destruction.

“Heh.”

Krow looked at Kimiko and chuckled a little. He silently returned to his seat as if what happened next had nothing to do with him.

“Ahh~.”

Darwin sighed and started to rub his temples.

“This is all becoming one big pain in the ass.”

“Really? I think that it’s pretty fun.”

Jeffery said behind him.

“Either way, a war will break out. This feeling of courting death is getting my old blood heated.”

“Shut up, you old monster. You’re starting to show your true colors again.”

Maria said to him.

“Let’s just get this over with.”

Alexus spoke.

“Since the result doesn’t really matter, we might as well just start cutting each other down.”

Andreas added.

“We still need a justified reason.”

Ecko spoke with a laugh. All of the presiding judges made their way back to the panel and sat.

“Let’s resume the trial!”

Nero shouted and everyone took their seats.

“Wait.”

Kimiko suddenly spoke up.

“What kind of trial this would be if the defendant can’t speak for himself?”

Heavy pressure fell on the courtroom. Her eyes captured the faces of everyone there as she spoke.

“Release Miko.”

The guards looked at the Branch Leaders for confirmation. Nero nodded. They started to undo the helmet that was placed on Miko’s head.

“We’ll undo the gagging mechanism on him, but it’s still too dangerous to release what is suppressing his powers.”

The guard said.

“That’s fine.”

Kimiko nodded. When the helmet was removed, the hair that had grown wild covered his face.

“He should be conscious any moment now.”

The guard said. Everyone waited for a while, and then Miko’s mouth opened. Their hearts started to race with anticipation for his first words in months. And then-

“Zzzzzz….”

The only thing they heard was a loud snore.