"Then what do we do?"

"Just watch quietly! Follow what I said before!"

"Really? So we just let John get burned to death?"

The player talking to Dema slightly frowned, seeming somewhat displeased.

And Dema fell silent for a moment, then sighed:

"That’s what he wants..."

The player was silent.

He knew who Dema was referring to.

"Even... even if the cost is death?"

He couldn’t help saying.

"Yes, even if it’s death... there are always things that are greater than life."

Dema said with sentiment.

Hearing this, the player in conversation opened his mouth slightly, looking incredulously at the famous big shot known throughout the server.

Seems like noticing his companion’s odd gaze, Dema turned around, with a speechless expression:

"What kind of expression is that?"

"Uh... nothing, just didn’t expect Lord Dema to say such things... I always thought, always thought you’re quite, uh... quite unrestrained."

The player scratched his head.

Dema: ...

"What do you mean by unrestrained?"

"Uh... unique, daring to take risks? or shall we say... always some high-level maneuvers?"

Dema: ...

Just say straight out I love courting death.

He complained inwardly.

Dema was very aware of his own personality, he also understood that his companion was correct, he was indeed a rebellious person, loving adventure, loving to court death.

Although having played the game for so long, compared to those players who’ve long treated the "Elf Kingdom" as another life, he’s more treating it still as a game.

But even someone like him could be emotionally touched...

Recalling Old John’s words and actions in prison, Dema’s gaze gradually turned solemn.

He had never admired any NPC in the "Elf Kingdom."

But now, perhaps he did.

Although, even now, in his heart, he still thought Old John’s sacrifice choice was a huge loss for the Life Church...

He sighed lightly, and Dema looked again at the surrounding square.

His gaze swept over the richly dressed archbishops and nobles on the platform, and then over the fierce-looking, fully armed guards below, finally stopping on the large gathering of civilians in the square, who looked emaciated, in simple clothes often patched or even shabby...

Same square, yet it seemed like two worlds from above and below.

However, even the civilians gathered in the square were considered to live quite well in Mania City.

And as one of the most prosperous cities in the entire empire, their living conditions would unquestionably be upper tier in human communities on the entire continent.

Those farmers living in the countryside, those existing in the slums, didn’t even have the right to stand here and watch.

At this moment, Dema truly felt the tearing of human society in Segis World...

"The existence of extraordinary power accelerates social solidification, and the rapid growth of Magic Power not only failed to destroy this stagnation but instead reinforced the contradictions, adding even more contradictions, making an already unstable society become even more unstable."

"Human society is already dead, this world... needs a new force to inject vitality and vigor!"

Unconsciously, Dema remembered these two sentences Old John said in prison.

If it was a player saying these words, he wouldn’t have been surprised, but when it was an NPC, someone who only accepted life doctrine for less than a year, it indeed made people feel shock and respect.

Dema wandered in thought until the piercing sound of a bell came from the high platform, a cold-faced black-clothed bishop walked to the forefront and announced to bring the heretic who desecrated Divine and disrupted the empire’s order.

Gradually, the crowd in the distance began to stir, the Legendary Sword Saint Sworde led a team, and escorted a straight figure forward.

That figure, none other than Old John.

Seeing Old John’s appearance, Dema’s expression slightly changed.

No other reason.

At this moment, Old John was stripped of all his clothes, bound naked by Magic Prohibition Shackles, only preserving a few strands to cover his last shred of dignity.

As for the fresh and bloody whip marks, they told of the sort of torment this Divine Favored underwent prior to being escorted over.

The imprisoned ones who were similarly restrained couldn’t harm him, but it’s different for the Judgement Court’s knights and priests.

Yet even so, Old John still stood tall and firm, with clear and bright eyes.

Like a pine tree that would never fall.

The crowd gradually stirred.

Unsure who started it, suddenly a stone hit Old John’s face.

Someone laughed.

Then came the second, third...

Not just stones, some household garbage, some common filth from the city, gradually like raindrops, were thrown out by the crowd on both sides, continuously striking the escorted protagonist.

Faintly, one could also hear the crowd’s curses:

"Spit! Chaotic cultist!"

"Blasphemer! Die!"

"Hit him! Hit him!"

"Burn him!"

"Hahaha..."

Watching the indifferent and relentless crowd throwing filth, players were momentarily stunned.

Dema was slightly stunned too, then fell silent.

His gaze swept over Old John complexly, seeing the other’s unflinching face.

Yet in this Divine Favored’s eyes deep down, it seemed a trace of sorrow appeared.

But that sorrow quickly flashed by, transformed into intense light and faith...

Dema was taken aback.

His gaze again stopped on the civilians, watching their delighted and excited expressions, feeling complicated.

It was at this moment he finally understood clearly why Old John chose this way.

For the vast majority of civilians in Human Kingdom, they have been oppressed for too long, utterly numb to the bone, completely forgetting how to resist.

Nobles control extraordinary power, the church controls public opinion, manipulating every aspect of their lives.

To them, witnessing a heretic trial is just like watching pig slaughter during ancient Lunar New Year in Blue Star, it’s "entertaining."

Exactly because they neither had the courage to resist nor belief in defiance, all they could do was vent their emotions, express dissatisfaction with reality, and seek some kind of psychological comfort by throwing stones at heretics.

This was a dark era, an era filled with ignorance and stupidity, an indifferent era...

Even as players and Life missionaries ignited sparks, yet sparks were still just sparks.

Without an opportunity, there was still no way to shake this silent wasteland.

Luckily, not all civilians were so numb, deep in the crowd, there were still many watching Old John with complex, worried, and painful expressions.

However, their figures were already drowned in the boiling crowd.

"Why not give him clothes in such cold weather?"

On the platform above, Princess Theresa frowned, glanced at Old John below, and looked uncomfortably at Bishop Wenstar beside her.

Bishop Wenstar smiled lightly:

"Beautiful Princess, your kindness is admirable, but... this is Divine’s punishment for heretics, he is a blasphemer, a wicked element disrupting the empire’s stability."

"Heretic... Disrupting empire stability..."

Princess Theresa nodded half-understandingly, looking at Old John with a hint of disgust.

While the surrounding noble bigwigs whispered among themselves, looking down from above at Old John bound to the execution frame, with playful and disdainful eyes, like watching a monkey.

The bell rang again, the black-robed bishop from the Judgement House arrived at the front of the platform.

He raised a golden parchment, sternly, his grand voice echoed throughout the square with amplification magic:

"By His Holiness the Pope’s decree, I announce—"

"The trial against the life preacher, blasphemer, heretic John now begins!"