<strong>Disciplinary Hall, Death clan village;</strong>
In the courtroom of the disciplinary hall, a man was kneeling down before the high table where the judge is reading a document.
"Lady Night, I never intended to kill him. Claus was two-timing with two innocent ladies and I wanted to teach him a lesson. It was an accident." The man was pleasing for mercy while defending his actions.
The judge at the high table, Avia Night, didn't appear to be convinced. Looking at the document in her hands, she spoke, "Mr. Stanzler, according to our investigation reports, neither the ladies nor the victim seemed to have any kind of relationship with you. It indicates that you are either stalking one or both of the ladies or you have some personal feud with the victim that we are unaware of.
Whatever the case, you don't have the right to interfere in their lives, and, therefore, you don't possess any grounds to ask for mercy. Finding you guilty of the murder of a civilian named Garfield, I hereby sentence 114 years of imprisonment. In the meantime, your family, relatives, or friends can submit any relevant evidence that proves that you aren't completely guilty or mercy petition from the victim's family to reduce your sentence."
*Tap*
She slammed down the hammer and made the final judgment.
"No… no… no…" The man was dragged away by two guards and Avia flipped the document for the next hearing.
And just as she was about to call the guards to bring in the next criminal who is a part of the Death Clan, a handsome young man in his forties, although looks like he is in his mid-twenties, entered the courtroom and everyone around got up onto their feet in respect.
Avia raised her eyebrows as she saw him. She didn't stand up and spoke coldly as if she doesn't welcome him, "what are you doing here, Prince Garcia?"
Velez Garcia is the second prince of the royal family of the Freyles nation and he is also the current clan heir. But, Avia usually addresses him with the former identity rather than the current one.
Velez didn't appear to mind her tone and just smiled in response, "I must say that you look quite beautiful in that seat, Avia."
"And you looked like an idiot, trying to interrupt my work, Prince Garcia," replied Avia without wasting any time. Displeasure is clearly written on her face.
Contrary to his image in the clan, he continued to ignore her rude behavior and acted nicely, "C'mon, it's not like you have hundreds of convicts waiting for the judgment. The work can be done tomorrow. Anyway, I'm here to pick you up. We are going to be late for dinner."
"I never said that I was going to come for the dinner with your family." Avia hit back at him in her usual cold tone. She further threatened him, "Now, if you leave, I will have to get back to the work. Or else, it will be treated as if you don't respect the judgment hall and a formal case will be filed against you for trying to misuse your authority as the temporary clan heir."
Velez silently stared at her, narrowing his eyes. Avia stared back at him unblinkingly.
After twenty seconds of staring contest, Velez said, "Alright, I'll wait at the Merits hall. Meet me once you were done with this."
Avia didn't reply to him and Velez turned around to leave the place.
There were guards and other few high-level officials in the judgment hall, and everyone just stayed in silence and stood in their spots like statues. It was a familiar scene they have been watching for several months and everybody got used to it.
Roughly about half an hour later, Avia left the judgment hall and started moving toward the Night Clan compound.
On the way, outside of the park where there are no people around, she saw Velez sitting on a bench in silence. He had two cans of beer.
Avia let out a sigh and walked toward him. "I thought you were waiting for me at the Merits Hall." She said as she sat beside him and took one of the beer cans.
Velez shrugged his shoulders, "I figured that you won't come to the Merits Hall either way. So, I had to cut your way like this."
Taking a sip of beer, Avia then asked in her usual cold tone, "So, what is it that you want to talk about? Don't tell me that you are still persistent about the dinner with your family."
"Well, I had to try," replied Velez with a smile on his face. He then spoke of his objective, "Today, I got a marriage proposal. My parents gave me an ultimatum to either back together with you or marry the daughter of Azure Electric's Chairman."
"Congratulations. You have my wishes," replied Avia as she got up from the bench immediately in order to leave.
But, Velez caught her arm, "C'mon, listen to me for a second, will you?"
As she sat down, he further said, "Look, Avia. I really think you should stop worrying about that dead kid and focus on your life. Six years ago, when Lord Qridus announced Vesyrn's son as the heir, you broke up with me, saying that we can't be together unless I become the clan heir; all because of those stupid rules of your Night clan.
Now, it has been over six months since I ascended to the position. I have no competitors anymore. Four clans are directly supporting me. And once I break through to rank 8, then, my position will be cemented completely. Why don't you think about getting back together with me?"
"I think we have already talked about this longtime ago." Avia didn't appear to be moved by his words. She continued, "I don't think you are that much of a fool to not even realize that the monarch only announced the Clan tournament as a temporary measure.
You have legitimately won the tournament and became the clan heir but the illusion will disappear once Young Master Azrael returns."
Velez took a deep breath to not show how annoyed he was. He then stated, "He is dead, Avia. And if he survived that awakening and teleport to somewhere far away, he doesn't have a chance against me. By the time he grew strong enough to challenge me, I will be already sitting on the throne."
"You don't understand." Avia shook her head, not convinced by his words. She explained, "The monarch clearly believes that Azrael is the reincarnation of the founder. During the second awakening, everyone saw Azrael awakened the lightning sphere of Aelius Crescent.
Your strength doesn't matter here. Once he returns, all the pavilion masters will turn against you. I highly doubt if there's a clan leader who will support you. And if you can't become a clan leader, then, following the traditions of the Night clan, I can only marry a person whose bloodline quality is far less than mine.
Only this way, my Night Clan's bloodline can be preserved in my future generations and I would be able to repay my debt to the clan, which gave home to me and my brother.
So, I ask you once again to not bother me ever again."
Her tone might be cold as she explained the situation to him but she couldn't stop the tear glands to produce tears. However, she didn't let him see her and looked away before evaporating them with soul energy.
Meanwhile, the clueless Velez, who was treating this conversation as some sort of argument, didn't back down either. "If that's the case, then I will make sure to enter the Supreme Realm. For thousands of years, the clan has had only one 9-star realm expert, and if I become the second, then, nobody would be able to force me down. Not even Lord Qridus."
Avia clenched her fist and released it. After doing this for a few rounds, she calmed herself and replied, "You don't know Azrael at all. His potential is something no one in the clan can match. Ever seen an 8-year-old kid with almost little to no soul power walk up that stairway to the violet pavilion? When he first arrived here and Lord Qridus assigned his training to me, I made him climb it in the name of body tempering all so that he runaway back to his home.
He persisted.
To hamper his growth, I made him climb the stairs for nearly three whole years and another year at the violet pavilion. He was only at 3-star realm at the age of 12 but his death scythe could destroy a rank-7 skill of Evelyn. The most troubling part is his Hourglass, which can even reverse the time.
So, Supreme Realm isn't that big deal. If you want to defeat him, then, you should become a demigod. But, can you? Tell me."
Velez stayed silent. He cannot answer that. There's a vast difference between the Supreme realm and the Demigod realm. According to what he learned so far, only one demigod currently existed in the world and he is the one who organizes the meetings between the hidden clans.
He had an excellent track record in the Abel Tower and people hailed him as once in a millennium genius. But, he was defeated in the World League finals with just one shot by a person named Azrael.
Velez didn't remember Azzy's face like everyone else but he doesn't know how the young Azzy looked either. For him, they are obviously people with the same name, and he hates both of them with passion. After all, one stopped him from attaining glory and the other forced his lover to break up with him.
Little did he know that in just 12 hours, his path toward greatness will be once again get blocked by the same person.
Read 𝓁at𝙚st chapters at (f)re𝒆we(b)novel.com Only