This was a naked provocation.

Fifteen people was exactly the tax the Demon demanded from them; as long as they could hand over fifteen fresh souls to the Demon every day, both sides could maintain a brief, fragile peace.

But on the other hand, this was nothing less than a slow death.

So sooner or later the Legal Department’s manpower would be completely used up, and when that time came, there would no longer be anyone capable of resisting the Demon’s invasion of this city.

The news brought by the surviving family members caused a huge split within the Legal Department. One faction advocated gathering all their personnel, coordinating with every Priest in the Sanctuary of Logic to launch an assault on the family enclave; as long as they united, they were certain to crack the secret of the Demon’s power. The other faction argued that they knew nothing about the Demon, that it was insidious and cunning, and that this was very likely a trap deliberately laid by the Demon, meant to lure them into a charge of death against the family enclave. They also pointed out that the Legal Department and the Sanctuary of Logic were now the last remaining forces of resistance for the humans of the First Special District.

Once the First Special District fell, it would mean that all human civilization would be plunged into turmoil and war.

The two sides went from impassioned speeches to drawn swords, and in the end even had their guns pointed at each other. The offensive faction saw the conservatives as cowards, while the conservatives condemned the offensive faction as reckless sinners.

The Chief Prosecutor had to personally step in to stop them, barely preventing an internal conflict from erupting before they could even launch a crusade against the Demon.

Yet when night fell, Archbishop Monk Vidis brought more bad news.

Upon returning to the Sanctuary, she immediately gathered all the gray-robed Priests and conducted a prayer ritual, hoping to receive the Holy Master’s response and guidance. But this time, the Holy Master still did not respond to them.

Not only that, the Priests faintly saw the Holy Master’s bright torch grow dim and lightless.

This threw all the Priests into panic.

Perhaps the Demon had not lied; this time, the Lord of the Holy City had truly abandoned them.

Facing a people sunk in despair and fear, both the Chief Prosecutor and the Archbishop found themselves at their wits’ end. They suddenly realized that although they were leaders in name, they had never truly made any major decisions. In the past, they had always been mere transmitters of the Holy Master’s will, and the Holy Master’s decisions had always been correct.

In his confusion and agitation, the Chief Prosecutor ordered all Judges back to their posts; he still could not make a decision.

He could not foresee the future, and so any judgment he made at this moment could lead to irreparable consequences. And that very morning, he had already made a wrong call.

When he received word of the Demon’s appearance, in his eagerness for quick success he took it as an opportunity to boost morale, and thus dispatched a vanguard unit before he had fully grasped the situation on the ground.

The result was that the vanguard was completely annihilated. Many among them had been the Legal Department’s elite.

Although no one blamed him, the Chief Prosecutor knew that all this blood debt would have to be tallied on his head, because it was a judgment made out of his personal will. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The Chief Prosecutor returned to his room. For the past few days he had spent all his time in his office.

A mirror sat on his desk. He studied his haggard face in it. As the leader of the Legal Department, he ought to have been a symbol of resilience. Yet without the Holy Master’s guidance, he had accomplished nothing; he could not even make a decision in the face of the two factions’ quarrel.

Each faction seemed to make sense, yet each could bring about terrifying consequences.

"Since you can’t make a decision, why not listen to our suggestion?"

The voice came from within the mirror. It was exactly the same as his own, only more somber. The Chief Prosecutor looked up and was horrified to find that at some point his eyes in the mirror had turned red. He smiled wickedly. "Isn’t this what you people are best at? Treat those fifteen souls as a tax, used to sustain your current way of life—what’s there to make such a fuss about? The taxes you levy from the Edge World are far more than this. Each collection costs you thousands upon thousands of souls."

"Get out of my body!"

The Chief Prosecutor’s voice trembled as he forced himself to calm down.

The Red-eyed Demon in the mirror ignored him and went on, "Or, you could treat this as a buffer strategy. It can buy you enough time—who knows, you might even discover our secret."

With that, the Demon in the mirror let out a sinister laugh. It clearly did not worry that the Chief Prosecutor would be able to crack their power.

It had caught the scent of confusion, fear, and despair.

Even for a high-ranking Demon, this could be called a delicacy.

In the Chief Prosecutor it saw potential, and decided to save him for last. It knew that these humans would in the end slide into corruption under the weight of their negative emotions, and eventually offer up their delicious souls to the Demons of their own accord. All it needed to do was give this lost lamb a little guidance.

The Chief Prosecutor did not respond to the Demon.

But that night, he could no longer sleep.

Whenever he closed his eyes, that Red-eyed Demon would appear before him, using its insidious, cunning voice to interfere with his thoughts. When dawn finally broke, the Chief Prosecutor’s eyes were bloodshot; his mind had been pushed to the brink by the Demon’s incessant whispering. Yet when he stepped out of his room, he saw that everyone was quietly waiting for him.

This time, there was no normal bustle in the hall, only the sound of firearms being checked and adjusted—several Judges were using their actions to express their resolve.