The Arena of Epiphany, and the entire universe, was frozen in a perfect, silent moment.

The demigods in the stand, the lifeforms in the universe, everything stood still. There was no one breathing, no wind. Everything froze with Sunny's grand spell.

While the Gods discussed about the punishment of Sparx and Venus on their celestial thrones, the only beings still permitted the luxury of thoughts and movement in a cosmos brought to a sudden, screeching halt.

Into this silence and the murmur of Gods, a single voice dared to speak.

"My Emperor, a death penalty is the only just outcome."

The other Gods, frozen in place, moved their eyes toward the speaker, their minds screaming in disbelief.

They looked at the God Draken as if he were a fool who had just spat in the face of a cosmic horror. To question the Emperor at all was brave. To question his mercy was suicidal.

"Draken?" Sunny's voice echoed in the stillness, he was not angry that someone questioned his decision, instead he became curious about this God.

Thea's information on this God instantly flooded his mind: a protector, a being who cared for his lifeforms like a father, a God who would willingly spend his own faith to save them from a demonic invasion. A righteous soul.

"Yes, my Emperor," Draken said, his divine form, radiating a fiery aura of justice, did not waver even in front of Sunny, the strongest God.

He stood from his throne and bowed deeply, but his voice was firm. "I cannot sit idly by. You said yourself that this demigod, Sparx, is responsible for over four hundred atrocities. As his God, Venus bears the full weight of that responsibility. He failed to punish his creation. He covered for it. Such a failure... it cannot be simply forgiven."

"You are right, Draken. I agree," Sunny said, his calm reply surprising everyone. "But that is just your perception of the situation."

"My perception, Emperor?" Draken's righteous fire burned hotter.

"You see these Gods, who didn't dare to voice this as spineless, inhumane Gods who value their own power over the lives of their creations," Sunny stated, his voice was analytical.

"You see one criminal and 6 billion silent accomplices. You are righteous, Draken, but you are wrong." Sunny said and then raised his hand and added, "See this."

In an instant, billions of new system panels materialized in the air around Draken, a swirling galaxy of private moments visible only to him.

This was Sunny's time magic when connected with god's eyes, he could see the past of many beings at once. And currently these billions pannel showed the past of the Gods.

He saw a God, one he recognized from the chat, weeping in her God space as a plague, her world's first misfortune, wiped out her fledgling race, her faith reserves too low to do anything but watch them die.

He saw another God, a hulking, brutish-looking deity, gently placing a flower over a tomb, a memorial for a champion who had fallen in the Realm of Advancement.

He saw their fear of the demons, their loneliness, their desperate, private struggles to survive.

And then, he saw Venus. He saw him not as a cowering fool, but in a private memory from few Godly days ago, on his knees, his divine form wracked with sobs, agonizing over the very choice he had to make: let his only demigod, his only protector, be punished and doom his entire world to the demons, or silence the crime and save the millions who depended on him.

Draken's fiery aura wavered, the righteous fire dimming to a flicker of pained understanding. The panels vanished.

"They are not spineless, Draken," Sunny's voice continued, softer now. "They are just… afraid. They are trapped in a fight for survival, just like you."

"Venus made a choice. He chose to sacrifice the few to save the many. It was a monstrous, ugly, and necessary choice. And if I am to be honest with you, it is the same choice many of you would have made. It is the same choice I would have made. I will not be a hypocrite and strike down a God for a sin I would have committed myself."

Draken stood in silence for a long moment, the weight of a billion hidden sorrows settling on his shoulders.

He finally bowed his head, his fiery passion replaced by a heavy, somber respect. "I… I agree, my Emperor. But... a crime was still committed. Apart from a death penalty, what punishment could possibly suit God Venus?"

The other Gods in the Pantheon let out a collective, silent sigh of relief. The tension had broken.

They looked at Draken with a new, profound respect. He had dared to question the Emperor on a matter of justice, and the Emperor had not criticized him, but taught him. This was a true ruler.

"I have a suggestion," a new voice cut through the silence. It was Strategist, his tone as cold and analytical.

All eyes turned to him.

"As you all know, Sparx is corrupted beyond redemption. His continued existence is a threat. Death is the only logical outcome," he stated. The Gods nodded.

"As for God Venus…" Strategist paused, letting his next words land with their devastating weight. "We have two options. One: We strip him of his godhood, erase his divinity, and leave him in his own world, where he would have to find his way to godhood again. Or..."

A chill went through the assembly. But it was Strategist's second option that made their blood run cold.

Venus, who had been listening in a state shivering terror, collapsed. He sighed at last and said, "Please, Emperor, Take my godhood! I don't deserve it! Let me be mortal!"

"Let him complete his sentence first," Sunny's voice commanded, silencing Venus's sobs and guilt. He looked at Strategist.

Strategist continued, "Or.. he apologizes. Publicly. In a live, universe-wide broadcast, he will apologise to all the families and the lifeforms of his world for creating Sparx and covering for him. And then, with his own hands, he will be the one to extinguish the soul of Sparx, his only creation."

The Gods looked at each other, their minds reeling. Banishment from godhood was a terrible fate.

But to be forced to apologize, to admit his failure to the entire cosmos… and then to be forced to execute his own creation? That was a fate far, far worse than a simple death.

As even if Sparx was just his demigod, but so many years of time was enough to develop some good relations between them, so killing sparx by his own hands could be slightly difficult.

Sunny raised his hand to stop all the Gods from chattering, and the immediately a system panel appeared in front of 5.5 billion Gods of Pantheon.

It showed them two options, one or two. Which denoted the punishment for Venus.

"The vote is clear. The second option is fitting." Sunny said as he looked at the results of the vote.

A wave of grim satisfaction washed over the Gods. Some, the more ruthless ones, were simply pleased to see a competitor so thoroughly humiliated. But most felt that this was true, proportional justice.

"So it is decided," Sunny declared, his voice a final verdict. "But I will add a small modification."

He looked at the frozen form of Sparx in the arena, a cold, calculating glint in his cosmic eyes. "Venus will extinguish Sparx's soul in the public view. But before that, I will tear the its soul in two. One part will be destroyed, to satisfy the demands of public justice."

He paused, a cruel, cold smile playing on his lips, hidden by the mask. "The other part… will be given to Cerberus. So that justice may be served, and punishment may be eternal."

The Gods shivered. This was an Emperor of terrifying, beautiful precision. Even Adam, watching silently, felt a flicker of both pride and pain, a reminder of his own lost, fragmented soul.

"As for Venus," Sunny continued, his gaze falling upon the weeping God. "He will make his apology. And after, he will serve ten thousand years of reflection, in a private world I will create for this very purpose."

"Ten thousand years?!" Zir whispered aloud, his mind reeling. A hundred million years in planetary time. It was a sentence of almost incomprehensible loneliness.

"Do not worry," Sunny said, as if reading their minds. "My clones will handle the construction. Time dilation is a wonderful tool." He chuckled, as ten thousand years would pass in few hours if he wanted.

He looked out at the assembly. The Pantheon members, those who had been given a voice in this judgment, felt a surge of pride.

They were not just subjects; they were part of a government.

The non-Pantheon members, the five hundred million subordinates like Sheeren and Snatcher, felt a cold, hard truth settle in their hearts.

They were protected, yes. But they were not included. They had no vote.

Sunny snapped his fingers again.

The sound of the universe rushing back in was deafening.

The roar of the crowd, the crackle of Sparx's light-spear, the pressure emitted by Ragnok; all of it returned in a single, chaotic instant, unaware that a single second had contained an eternity of judgment.

Sunny looked down at the Arena. Ragnok, his King's Aura blazing. Sparx, his face a mask of arrogant scorn.

His voice, a simple, cold command, pierced through the chaos, speaking only to his champion.

"Ragnok. Kill him, but before that break him as much as you can"

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