Chapter 4167: Frozen World (Part 2)

’If I kill them in cold blood, I’d have my revenge, but I’d rob Clila of her own.’ Lith thought. ’I would make her a victim of my violence, adding the trauma caused by what I’d do to the man responsible for the death of her little brother.

’As much as I hate it, this is not about me. It’s about her. I’m the instrument of her justice.’

"It was an accident!" Shet knew those were the wrong words the moment he saw all of Lith’s seven eyes flare with mana in outrage and disgust. "I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. I was just having some fun with my friends."

"Fun?" Clila spat out the word like poison. "If you wanted fun, you could have drunk yourself to death here and broken your neck by galloping through the fucking park of your mansion!

"Why did you have to do it in the middle of the road? Why did you have to kill my brother?"

"Because scaring others is the fun part." Lith took the words out of Shet’s mind, scaring the youth to death. "The alcohol and the speed are just part of the game. They make things scarier for the others and more exciting for him."

"Is it true?" Clila snarled. "Do you get off on this shit?"

"No!" Shet replied in his most innocent voice.

"Yes!" A tendril of Lith’s Spirit Magic connected the noble youth to his shadow. The mind link and a nudge from the Void exposed Shet’s honest answer.

"Life is so boring, and commoners are no different from roaches. Killing roaches is not a crime, right?"

"I didn’t say any of that!" Yet Shet had thought those things. "This is not me, but one of your Demons!"

"As if I’d ever welcome something that disgusting in my ranks." Lith’s spite was palpable. "I simply called upon your darkness, and the grimace on your parents’ face confirms its words."

The Marquis and the Marchioness quickly regained their composure and recognized the situation for what it was. A trial.

"We are deeply sorry about what our stupid son has done, Magus Verhen." Ingham said. "He is young and drunk. It must amount to something, right?"

"Yes." Lithe replied, making the Marquis hope for the best. "It makes his crimes much worse, and you share responsibility for them. Mind you, I said share. If you claim youth as a factor, then as his guardian, you’ll serve his same sentence. What do you say?"

"Shet is eighteen. An adult before the law." The Marchioness loved her son and would have died for him. Dying with him, however, would have been plain stupid. "What sentence are we talking about?"

"Death." Lith replied. "The law is clear. One life for one life."

"That’s only for willful murder!" The Marquis said.

"Your son willfully drank alcohol. He willfully rode his horse through a busy road. He willfully fled the scene of his crime. And it gets worse." Lith stepped forward, grabbing one of the rings on Shet’s fingers and slipping another off.

"This is a spell-holding ring containing a healing spell. If you applied this to Elfiam, you would have stabilized his conditions until the Healer arrived." Then, Lith broke the dimensional ring, making several items fall to the ground.

"These are healing and nutrient potions. You had all the means to save your victim. You willfully left him to die and tried to escape punishment. I judge this willful murder."

"The runt had a Tablet on him!" Shet dug his hole deeper in an attempt to save himself. "I thought he would call for help, and someone else would treat him. How is it my fault if he didn’t think of that?"

"He couldn’t, you animal!" Clila tried to jump at the youth’s neck, but Lith stopped her. "You broke every bone in Elfy’s body! He couldn’t move! He couldn’t think!"

Lith stopped Clila, but not out of mercy. He stopped her because such a thin girl lacked the strength to harm someone as big and tall as Shet. Besides, anything she might do to Shet paled in comparison to what Lith had in store for him.

"She’s telling the truth." Lith nodded. "I examined the victim, and without timely treatment, his condition quickly worsened beyond even my abilities. This is my statement as a Healer and Supreme Magus."

’Please, whatever you do, don’t say it.’ Solus read Lith’s thoughts and was afraid of what that kind of savage justice might do to Clila’s soul. More importantly, what it might do to Lith’s. ’Don’t say those words.’

"Please, Supreme Magus Vehren, do not rush judgment." The Marchioness said while glowering at her thrice-foolish son. "I’m very sorry about what happened to your brother, young lady."

Clila had always dreamed about a noble dame bowing to her, yet now that it was really happening, she couldn’t care less.

"As the bereaved, you have the right to plead for mercy if the culprit repents. I can assure you that if you spare our son’s life, we’ll make him pay for his crime until he draws breath.

"We’ll also compensate you for your loss with anything you want." Her words were met by Clila’s cold eyes, so the Marchioness pressed forward. "Think about it. Would your brother want you to live a comfortable life or just spill more blood?

"What happened to him is tragic, but what’s the point in destroying one more life?"

’Gods, no!’ Solus thought. ’Not the same words as the DA!’

"No punishment can bring your brother back. A harsh sentence would only make us share your pain and-"

"It’s not ’one’ life!" Lith’s head burst with blue flames as the angry spirits behind the door begged him to release them. Yet his fury was so strong that they could only submit to him.

His willpower so strong that he silenced thousands of voices with a mere thought.

"When today your son killed Elfiam of Rathan, he did more than take ’one life’!" Those two words were akin to a knife in Lith’s heart every time he heard them, yet he echoed them, pushing the dagger deeper. "What about the life of Elfiam’s sister?

"His fiancée? The kids he will never have, and the grandkids they would have given him? What about those lives? They are all destroyed! And all because of your son’s recklessness!"

The noble couple wanted to object that, based on what they had heard, Elfiam was too young to have a fiancée, let alone kids. Yet Lith’s cold glare told them that just as he had pointed out earlier, there wasn’t just one life at stake

Their future hung in the balance along with Shet’s.

"Magus Verhen is right." Clila said, her voice sharper than a blade as she addressed the noble youth. "By taking my brother away, you destroyed his life and mine. You’ve shattered all Elfy’s dreams for the future.

"You pissed all over our sacrifices and struggles! And you." She turned towards the Marchioness. "You speak of forgiveness in exchange for repentance, yet I haven’t heard a single word of contrition from your filthy spawn."

"What do you mean?" Shet raised his hands. "I’ve apologized many times already."

"No, all you did was make excuses for what you did." Clila snarled. "You haven’t apologized once!"

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