World's End: My Keyword is One More Than Others

Chapter 404: Sword of judgment

most of the nobles had confessed their crimes.

but xima lynch still stood there, hesitant and unable to move forward as she faced the enraged crowd. she feared holly's retribution and also feared that the angry mob would tear her to pieces.

suddenly, holly's voice echoed in her ear, "xima, do you acknowledge your guilt?"

xima shuddered violently and reflexively took a step forward. facing du ge, she shouted, "i am guilty. i should not have conspired with my father to frame holly arlaus for my own selfish gain. please, holly, forgive my sins..."

as she spoke, tears streamed down her cheeks, and her face was filled with regret and sorrow.

but if you looked closely, her eyes were filled with terror as she gazed at du ge.

xima lynch's body trembled uncontrollably.

she wanted to shut her mouth or change her words, but she couldn't stop. it was as if her mouth no longer belonged to her.

moreover, after confessing to framing holly, she didn't stop. instead, she continued tearfully, "king holly, i am guilty. when i was practicing magic, i destroyed my father's most cherished staff and blamed it on my magic teacher, lantness, causing him to suffer my father's punishment. i repent here and hope he can forgive my ignorance..."

grand duke lynch looked at his daughter in astonishment, frowning slightly. what was going on?

hadn't they agreed to only talk about framing holly?

why was she going off on such a tangent?

xima saw her father's gaze and anxiously pointed to her mouth and then to du ge, but her mouth continued to speak unrelated words, "a year ago, i used magic to kill an innocent night cat. i repent here and hope its spirit in heaven can forgive me."

divine power?

grand duke lynch suddenly realized, breaking out in a cold sweat. xima was being controlled by holly!

moreover, holly was clearly not using black magic.

black magic did have spells to control the mind, but it couldn't control someone so precisely to confess their sins without affecting other thoughts...

so, there was only one explanation left: the power of an evil god.

grand duke lynch would never believe that holly was granted divine power by the sea god.

the sea god, who controlled all the oceans, was one of the highest-ranking deities. how could he bestow divine power on a scoundrel?

no matter how eloquently holly spoke, grand duke lynch was convinced that du ge was possessed by an evil god.

only an evil god would toy with people's minds and use such disgusting spells.

the sea god lived in the water all year round. how could he allow his followers to desecrate water magic like this...

seeing xima confessing to watching the guards bathe when she was sixteen, grand duke lynch finally couldn't bear it anymore, "king holly..."

xima's gaze turned to pleading as she looked at du ge.

du ge smiled slightly and stopped the trial.

xima lynch's voice abruptly ceased. she let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

"kill them."

"kill them."

the people's emotions were stirred up again.

if not for du ge's authority, they would have already stormed the execution platform.

grand duke lynch and the other nobles trembled, casting desperate looks at du ge.

their martial souls were sealed, and their lives depended entirely on du ge's decision.

du ge raised his hand to silence them, his gaze sweeping over the crowd. the commotion gradually subsided under his gaze, eventually returning to silence.

"i know they have committed grave sins, and the best outcome would be to send them to the execution platform," du ge said, looking around at the crowd, "i cannot tolerate any injustice. i want to deal with their crimes more than you do, but i foresee terrible consequences. killing them would bring us even more disasters."

"what disasters?" lather asked.

"war, terrible war," du ge replied, glancing at him, "if we kill them, their relatives and descendants will launch a war of revenge. they won't dare target me, but they will turn their wrath on you. no matter how powerful i am, i cannot protect everyone. i don't want to use your lives to exchange for their filthy lives."

after another commotion, the crowd fell silent again, many of them looking troubled.

"there are dukes, earls, and princes among them," du ge continued, "in this country, there are more nobles like them. if what happens here spreads, they will also be afraid, afraid that one day my judgment will fall on them. so, they will stop at nothing to kill me. only by killing me can they live in peace and sleep soundly.

when the cavalry of the lucerne kingdom sets foot on this land, who can resist them? even if you have the courage and confidence to fight against a powerful enemy, how many innocent lives will be lost in a war that should never have happened...

once, to stop a war, i willingly faced death. how could i let this land fall into a new war for my ideals? at that time, the disaster god and the death god would laugh their heads off."

"king holly, what should we do then? just watch them continue to oppress us?" a voice asked in grief and indignation, not one of du ge's plants this time, "why can they commit crimes without paying the price? just because they are nobles?"

"no, no one's life is more precious than another's," du ge replied, his voice rising, "everyone must pay for their mistakes, and their price is to use their lives to protect this land, to use their abilities to protect you until everyone grows strong enough."

"how can they willingly protect us?" someone asked.

"because of me," du ge said solemnly, "just as i cannot protect all of you when the war begins, they cannot stop me from punishing them. if they fail to fulfill their duties, my punishment will fall on them.

unless they abandon their long-established estates and leave this land, no one can escape my punishment.

for these nobles, abandoning their territories is more painful than death. even if they flee, unless they hide their identities and never appear again, my sword of punishment will still fall on their necks as soon as they show themselves."

du ge suddenly drew his sword and raised it high, "this sword is the sword of judgment hanging over the heads of all sinners. anyone who betrays will die under this sword, no matter how far they run."

that's right.

after acquiring the advanced skill, du ge was ready to create a derivative item.

the derivative item must have special significance, so these nobles and any criminals killed by this sword would give it a special meaning.

human nature is selfish and foolish.

du ge firmly believed that there would definitely be some brainless individuals who would betray him and ultimately be judged by his sword.