When Ethan and Bazarian arrived at the central square of Upper City, the trial had already been going on for some time. Mary stood solemnly on the execution platform, having endured three days of mental and physical torment. In the eyes of the officials, fear had long been replaced by numbness.

Ethan didn't find the figures of Leon, Grave, and Sariman on the execution platform; they seemed to have been assigned different missions.

The people in the square were intently focused, and with the addition of illusion magic, no one noticed the arrival of the two.

"We made it, we're not too late."

He found the most high-profile figure in the queue of interrogated criminals — Mayor Hakimi.

Mary had somehow turned him back into human form, ensuring he could ascend the guillotine with his own dignity. Ethan also noticed that the audience in the front row had prepared rotten eggs, small stones, and other projectiles. They all seemed to be die-hard fans of Mayor Hakimi. When Hakimi took the stage, they would throw the rotten eggs and stones at him like fans waving glow sticks, expressing their support for his work over the years through their actions.

"Anzi, care to share what secret weapon Laris and the others have prepared?"

Ethan quietly asked beside Bazarian.

After twice saving Anzi from peril, he believed that Bazarian's favor toward him must have soared. He should be able to rank in Bazarian's top 10 friends list by now.

Bazarian shot him a sidelong glance.

Ethan was indeed special.

After all, even her old friends had never seen this side of her.

"Air."

Her response left Ethan stunned for a long while. It was the same answer he had received from two different people in a single day. However, he quickly realized that unlike the Messiah's promise of a blissful society to the Holy City, Laris didn't intend to use the air for anything good.

They yearned for destruction and death, dragging everyone in Oasis City to their deaths in the moment before achieving their ideals.

"A good plan. Compared to confronting Mary directly, poisoning is a safer method. They've fully utilized this trial; the virus will immediately spread in densely populated areas, and even those who didn't participate for various reasons will quickly become infected."

Ethan said, "Moreover, they know Mary well. Her reputation spread due to the scarlet plague of the Third Epoch. On the surface, she seems experienced in handling plagues, but this precisely triggers her most painful memories deep down."

"Is that all?"

Bazarian silently observed Ethan, listening to his thorough analysis.

After expressing a series of opinions, he simply crossed his arms and continued standing at the end of the crowd, watching the movements on the execution platform.

This, in turn, piqued Bazarian's curiosity.

This time, it was her turn to remind Ethan, "If you want to end this farce, you can start acting now. They should be in the sewers, and soon they'll reach the city hall square through the secret passages, using the sewers to spread the plague throughout the city."

Stop Laris and his faction, nipping the threat in the bud.

If the trial concluded successfully, everyone would have a happy ending.

"Go ahead and do it. For your sake, I can withdraw from this election."

Bazarian lowered her gaze. In the end, this election was merely a pastime in her boring life. Even she knew how to reciprocate a kindness.

The young man before her had helped her twice. After the Oasis City incident concluded, he would return to the empire, and she didn't want to owe anyone forever.

Besides, a life unburdened by attachments was freer.

Bazarian reminded herself internally.

"Anzi, there's an old saying in my hometown."

Hearing this, Bazarian stared intently at Ethan, filtering out the noise from the crowd.

She was curious about what this interesting man would say.

She had experienced the darkest times before the arrival of the First Epoch and glimpsed through the memories of "another her" the departure of the Old Gods and how humanity in this world had arrived at today. A long and decaying empire, with people living in suffering every moment, yet such a world could bizarrely sustain for thousands of years.

Perhaps she missed something. She knew that viewing things with hatred led to a biased perspective, just like… Laris.

Upon arriving in Oasis City, she saw the flame burning inside Laris, and for a moment, she resonated with a human.

Laris wanted to set ablaze this seemingly splendid yet utterly decayed city.

And what she wanted to burn down was something even greater.

But when she truly devoted herself to the plan, she was enveloped in confusion instead.

Who was the enemy awaiting her?

Was it Mary?

In the eyes of the believers of the Goddess of Life, someone closest to the deity and seen as her reincarnation?

A wet-behind-the-ears little girl wasn't worthy of being her enemy.

Then, could it be Ethan?

He indeed was someone qualified to be her opponent, able to bear her hatred. Yet, after several encounters, she found herself unable to become true enemies with Ethan and had inexplicably been helped by him twice.

Bazarian had to face a harsh reality — she had awakened too late.

Those with intensely conflicting ideologies with her, capable of becoming her mortal enemies, had long died in the First Epoch.