Damned Healer-Chapter 518: Any Hope

It was early in the day, in the now-called Aeternum Atlantis State. Near the sea to the north of the continent, there was a large city and a luxurious arena. There, a huge number of powerful people had gathered.

All the strongest figures of the Alliance of Heaven's Will had been summoned to that arena. After all, this was the scheduled day of the Trial of one of the most powerful figures on the entire planet.

Right with the first rays of sunlight, Camille appeared, walking slowly toward the center of the arena, bringing with her a fragile human figure, completely bound in chains.

Mallory had an empty expression, as if she were sure this was the last day of her life.

She had never imagined herself in this situation; she was certain that with her family's power, no one would ever dare touch her. But… after being captured so unexpectedly, she knew her husband might abandon her depending on the situation.

Her last sliver of hope was her son. Vanh had been protected and personally cared for by her his entire life, and she had given him everything she could. As the family's heir, if he fought with his father to save her at any cost, maybe something could come out of it.

Mallory was placed at the center of the arena, where there was some sort of energy cage over ten meters tall, glowing with a powerful purple light, created with an artifact.

Inside the arena, very close to the center, stood Darian, Lucy, and Lucius, as well as everyone from the clan.

Niara wasn't present; she stayed behind taking care of little Alear. Even though she insisted on being there, Darian knew something might happen, and Niara wasn't allowed, according to the rules of the Immortals, to interfere in the matters of Earth. It was better for her to protect Alear, far from any conflict.

The entire arena was silent, everyone tense and prepared for anything that could happen.

A few hours after the start of the day, Camille took a deep breath and stepped into the center of attention.

"Mallory, I'm going to show everyone here the evidence, and I'll also record this entire Trial. In your defense, I gave your family two months to respond and try to defend you. But the only reply we received was nothing but ironic words."

Her voice rang loud and firm throughout the arena. Camille paused, staring into the worn-down eyes of Mallory.

"You are my granddaughter, and you are also part of my family. Because of that, I have the right to judge you according to the laws of the Aeternum Atlantis State."

She finished, and there was no reply from Mallory — only a cold, ironic smile.

Camille gestured; an artifact activated, and lights appeared in the air, in the middle of the arena. They joined together, forming a huge screen.

There, all the memories Lucy had taken from Mallory played slowly, so everyone in the arena could see them with their own eyes.

It wasn't one or two incidents. There were a dozen long, detailed scenes showing Mallory giving completely merciless orders, resulting in harming or killing several people for her own interests. But of course, the highlight was her plan and the murder of her own brother, Darius, so she could become the sole heir of the family.

After almost two hours, everything finally ended.

"This is ridiculous. How can you accuse me with something everyone knows can easily be forged?"

Mallory's voice sounded furious. After two hours, she'd already had enough time to feel desperation, and now she would try to argue back with all her strength. But…

Camille didn't seem to care. She gestured, and the lights above shifted again, now forming words. It was a list of all topics shown in the previous images.

"Certainly, the Wube family did everything possible to cover up your actions. On Earth, no trace of you remained. But on other powerful planets where your family isn't the law, there were thorough investigations. Even if they didn't reach a solid conclusion… after seeing the images and reading everything that was investigated, the truth becomes a bit clearer."

After speaking, Camille separated almost half of the accusations and presented the reports she requested from the planets.

Mallory wouldn't do big things for small gains, so her actions always took place on powerful planets where she could profit greatly. So even if the planets couldn't directly prove her involvement… the previous images, along with everything those planets knew, fit together perfectly.

In the end, Mallory retorted bitterly, "Nonsense! You picked these incidents and then created a scene imagining me in those places."

"Unfortunately for you, two of the people who died because of you had an artifact linked to their souls. The family could only use it once, and since they didn't have concrete proof of any culprit, they never used it until now…" Camille spoke slowly, then gestured.

Two small crystals appeared in her hands. She gestured again, and they floated toward Mallory, entering the cage.

That artifact was designed to confirm the culprit; if used on the responsible person, the karma created between the two would be detected. But if tested on the wrong person, the artifact would be wasted, and certainty would be lost forever.

*Buzz*

The crystals buzzed as they approached Mallory, then turned completely black.

"You know very well what that means, right?"

Camille spoke dryly, then took the crystals back and stored them. Everyone in the arena knew it — black meant a nefarious karmic connection. She was the one responsible for their deaths.

"Still gonna deny it? You can say it was just these two things, and that everything else was made up. But just these two alone would already be enough for those planets to demand your head."

"…"

Mallory fell silent, staring into those red eyes.

She instinctively felt that Camille had come prepared and had other things to reveal if she kept arguing. Depending on what was exposed here, it would harm her family even more… and most importantly, it would greatly affect her son Vanh.

Mallory felt like she was at a crossroads. She loved her son, and if Camille put certain proofs on the table… Vanh would be hunted down and maybe even killed for revenge.

She took a deep breath, thinking fast. She was already imprisoned and had almost no chance, alone, being accused of everything she knew she had actually done.

So… she chose her son. At least in the end, she wanted to try to protect him.

"Good, you understand. Like I said before, I already showed everything to the Wube family. But they didn't present any argument, proof, or relevant sign that contradicted the accusations. That only means there is nothing."

Camille stopped and stared at Mallory without emotion. The mood in the arena was cold and dry, even though it was a sunny morning.

"By the rules, even just one of these heinous things you committed already condemns you to death. In the name of all the people you killed and harmed. Your sentence will be immediate execution."

The whole arena fell silent, everyone staring at Mallory coldly.

They had heard rumors about some of the things she had done, but now, seeing all of this… they couldn't fathom how she could even consider herself human.

She was more like a monster that destroyed everything around her without a shred of mercy, just to gain a little in return. Yes, a little — after all, the many lives lost didn't justify any of the benefits she got.

After Camille spoke, three people appeared in the arena, surrounding the cage with Mallory inside.

"No need to waste time. Do it fast and without major disturbances." Camille said dryly to the three executioners.

They nodded, and then their hands touched the energy cage. In the same instant, the purple turned black.

At that moment, Mallory felt as if her soul was being crushed. A metallic taste rose in her throat, and a sense of death took over her, throwing her into complete terror.

Her last reflex was to turn her gaze upward.

Through the gaps of that cage, she could see the clear blue sky.

Her eyes searched for something — anything to cling to, any hope in the middle of despair.

Suddenly…

Three intense golden lights appeared, as if they were small stars.

"!"

Her eyes widened.

In that instant, everyone in the arena stood up and felt something approaching from the skies.

As for Darian… he looked at those three points growing at an absurd speed, and immediately recognized one of them.

"Vanh and two others… they are…"

Before he finished, a golden wave washed over the entire sky above the arena.

Camille narrowed her eyes. She and everyone else in the arena felt as if a hammer was pressing against their chests, suffocating them.

"This… how is this possible?!"

Someone in the arena shouted — then spat a mouthful of blood.

High above, Darian saw three figures. In the center of them was Vanh. But…

The aura they released wasn't that of a normal Spiritual Guardian.

It was shockingly golden, which was already absurd, since according to the records, Vanh should only have eight rings; and golden was usually the color of someone with nine.

In that arena were the most powerful people on the planet, and all of them felt completely suffocated. That power wasn't anywhere near what someone with nine rings was supposed to have.

Camille turned to Darian.

He scoffed, then spoke dryly, "All three transcended the nine rings. They're Immortals."

Darian's words were the only audible thing in the arena, leaving everyone catatonic.

In the sky, Vanh looked at his mother in the cage, then his eyes locked onto Darian, a different glint appearing in his gaze.

"I came in the name of the Wube family. This Trial ends here, and I'll be taking her with me."