Chapter 50: Who is Belisara

  The devils who had gathered on the Mountain of Mists to watch the games now looked in deep sorrow at the crystal screens showing them Felix.

  Their golden boy lay face down, with no signs of life.

  Since there were not many individuals among them at the Foundation Stabilization level, they could not grasp what had truly happened.

  Their children, for whom the young adept was an idol to emulate, sobbed softly, and the adults couldn't comfort them.

  "How could this have happened?"

  One of the disbelieving devils asked.

  In the solemn atmosphere of the viewing tragedy, his question, however, went unanswered.

  A few moments had to pass before the devils began to observe what was happening on the screens with the other adepts.

  Not commenting on what had happened to Felix... was simply easier.

  On one of the crystal monitors, the Orange Prince successfully reached the Foundation Stabilization level. His tornado, contrary to the expectations of some of the audience, did not turn into an orange light.

  Instead, it flashed with a strange green, and then disintegrated into countless pieces—all of them absorbed by the devil standing in the middle of the dying cyclone.

  This, however, did not stir major emotions among the resigned crowd. It was merely an interesting drop in the bucket of pain.

  Soon, attention began to focus on the remaining adepts.

  "And what's happening there again?"

  Someone in the audience drew attention to the screen to the left of the Prince's screen.

  "Does this cruel human have to torment us like this?"

  "We just saw Felix' failure..."

  "How can one not have mercy on such beauty?"

  The scene depicted none other than the dimension's hated Grim Judge clutching the representative adept of Greed by the throat.

  The powerful Septima observed the situation from a distance of several dozen meters.

  On the moon...

  Septima had traveled here for one purpose: to eliminate Justynian.

  Yet, as she stood on the cold, lunar dust, observing her target engaged in the brutal confrontation, she decided to wait.

  It seemed the universe had provided her with a moment of entertainment, and perhaps, a useful distraction.

  Even without Foundation Stabilization, she could assess what the "she-devil" Justinian held in his hands was. Having reached that level, again, she surmised why the two had come into conflict.

  The energy emanating from Belisara contained several different souls—the undoubted effect of the weakly developed Devilish Virtue of Gluttony.

  'Even in such a primitive form, this power always stands out...'

  The pathetic creature, in Septima's eyes, writhed as it was squeezed by the boy who had managed to forge a surprisingly potent cultivation character. The memory of how his tornado and domain easily dominated the sky caused an unpleasant tension in her temples.

  Especially when she thought of the past that his behavior invoked. It was because of this past that her gaze, whenever it rested on the human, became so complicated.

  She sighed heavily, momentarily wondering whether to suppress the images resurfacing in her mind. Images that showed how false hope was and how this world offered no forgiveness.

  'What's the point of dwelling on old pains?'

  For some reason, however, as soon as they appeared, she felt she shouldn't.

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  Perhaps because before hope was crushed, those were the only moments in her life when she felt a flicker of warmth, pleasantly loosening the cold darkness clamping down on her being.

  Contrary to what her mind suggested, she returned to her childhood years. For a moment, she saw again a figure emanating a power completely different from the cursed King of Names and Symbols system.

  She felt the joy of a small devil girl who thought there might be something more in this world than apathy, indifference, and hostility.

  And when the moment passed, she saw that flicker of hope extinguish, turning into an abomination corrupted by power.

  Septima shook her head. There was no longer a spark of emotion in her eyes that had been there just moments ago.

  She focused her gaze on Justinian confronting Belisara.

  'How will you react when you find out what this pathetic woman truly is?'

  Justinian, clutching his opponent's throat, looked at her as if she were already a corpse.

  "What exactly are you?"

  He had met her as an ordinary adept from Greed's mountain during a mission at the nobleman Severyn's. He remembered well that the devil had stated then that she had received a gift from the lord of her mountain.

  From the very beginning, she had told him about the brutal realities, which turned out to be completely true. The Mountain of Envy and Conflagration, seen through his eyes, seemed even more terrifying than in the stories.

  However, something more lay beneath the facade of an ordinary she-devil.

  'Why does she seem so familiar to me?'

  His senses, significantly sharpened by the new level of cultivation, allowed him to realize several things.

  He could now feel that her mannerisms, way of speaking, even her gestures—everything was familiar to him in some way. She also had knowledge about the Kingdom of Peace, and he had even once caught her using a typical human phrase.

  After reaching Foundation Stabilization, he saw something else.

  'Her aura has the energy of Aldona and a few others...'

  He didn't know what it meant, but he felt that the nature of her soul was also typically... human.

  His distraction was noticed by the opponent he held in his grip.

  The she-devil, sensing that this might be her only chance, used the moment in a desperate attempt.

  One of her hands shone with a delicate green light and instantly attacked his solar plexus. At the same time, she tried to pull back, counting on freeing herself from the grip.

  Her attempt, however, proved to be a failure.

  Justinian, fully aware that she might take such steps, was vigilant and reacted instantly. After all, he had deliberately walked into her paralyzing formation, whose energy his Foundation showed him as weak and easy to break. His plan was to check if she was truly involved; her violent reaction to his proximity only confirmed his suspicions.

  Before Belisara's hand could reach him, he caught her at the wrist joint and painfully twisted it.

  "Fuck you!"

  The she-devil hissed in pain, reacting with an instant kick.

  Her opponent, however, did not lose control at all. With brutal, unrestrained force, he pulled her arm and hurled her entire body onto the hard, lunar ground.

  She collided with the dust with a thud that echoed even in the vacuum, and her breath was forced out of her lungs.

  Ignoring the pain in her cracked ribs, she immediately leaped backward, wanting to use the distance to her advantage.

  She did not allow herself a moment of rest, fearing the boy's initiative. Instead, enraged and desperate, she rebounded off the ground, executing a series of rapid, spinning kicks.

  Justinian froze upon seeing this, and his face paled.

  'Those kicks...'

  He knew them. Aldona's father used those exact kicks in his duel with him!

  Dodging at the right moments, he managed to avoid the attacks. Now, however, true shock was painted in his eyes, slowly turning into burning rage.

  Belisara, even though her attacks missed, did not give up. A dagger flew from her sleeve, with which she wanted to perform her phantom cuts when the human transitioned to the offense.

  With a powerful blow to the face, he sent her flying several meters backward, dragging a cloud of dust behind her. As soon as she landed, she immediately spat out two teeth, and a stream of dark blood trailed from her mouth.

  After a moment, she dropped to her knees, breathing heavily.

  Justinian scrutinized her. The difference in their foundations was all too obvious. For some reason, it seemed to him that her spiritual heart... was incomplete?

  "I'm giving you one last chance to tell me what you are."

  He began to advance towards her with slow steps. They both knew he had the strength and control that made further fighting pointless.

  She looked at him with terror in her eyes. Her back trembled from his powerful aura.

  "You won't find out," she whispered, recovering a cold certainty nonetheless.

  "Not even you will kill someone without proof. I'm just an adept you accuse of... what? Being familiar?"

  A smirk twisted her face. There was not a shadow of remorse in her eyes.

  "And what will you do, Grim Judge? Imprison me? In a Dimension where there is no law?"

  Justinian looked at her like a sick animal. He knew what she was aiming for. The nature he had based on the pursuit of justice.

  Her attempt, however, was utterly pathetic in his eyes.

  "I could simply torture you."

  His voice was so cold that sweat instantly appeared on the she-devil's temple. Despite this, she answered him with a loud laugh.

  "Do what you must."

  Deep down, she did not believe that the naive boy she had met would resort to such an act.

  What she didn't know was that in his mind, she was already guilty. The aura of Aldona emanating from her soul and the attempt to attack him with the Borowiak technique was reason enough to treat her as an enemy.

  However, he did not want to resort to torture. He had a better idea to solve this dilemma.

  'Who would have thought that he would help me at such a moment?'

  Smiling faintly, the memory of the technique the Orange Prince had used against him earlier appeared in his mind. A very simple, universal technique that he could grasp even at the Ki Gathering level.

  In the blink of an eye, he closed the distance to Belisara and grabbed her by the throat again with one hand.

  Then... a light flashed in his other hand. A light that began to curve into various colors and slowly take on a circular shape.

  The she-devil frowned. But before she could react, it was already too late.

  His hand with the technique touched her head.

  And the violet-silver Soulsearch energy invaded her mind.