Chapter 633: Guilty Before Today

"The Second Judgment has begun."

The enormous voice of the Hollow Sun spread across the entire Land Of First Dawn.

However, contrary to what everyone expected, nothing happened after the announcement, no beam of light descended from the sky, no explosion occurred, and not even the slightest change could be seen in the base’s defensive positions.

Only a heavy silence had settled over the surrounding plains, a silence so unnatural that even the sound of the guards’ armor seemed far too loud.

Lian had his head raised.

In the distant sky, the enormous golden rings rotated around a black pupil, and the sunlight still lit up the entire land, but it no longer had the calm and pleasant warmth of the first day.

It was as if every ray of light was part of the gaze of a being watching the entire land.

Around him, the guards stood with their weapons ready, and the staff of the Awakened Association stared at the sky with worry.

One young employee’s hands were clearly shaking, and every few seconds, he looked at himself, as if he expected the same golden light that had destroyed Amélie Moreau to appear on his body.

At that moment, Alaric’s voice came through the base’s communication devices.

"All units, hold your positions, no one moves without an order, and no one is allowed to launch an attack to test the Sun’s reaction, for now, just observe and report."

His voice was firm, without any sign of haste or fear.

Lian briefly glanced toward the central area.

The commander was standing in front of the large map of the base, although Alaric was only level 43 and had no power to fight the Sun directly, he could still perform a more important task.

Preventing the fear that might tear the base’s forces apart before the Judgment itself began.

He’s a good commander.

He looked at the sky again and activated \[True Sequence\].

The flows of mana became clearer to his perception, the surrounding energy was still pure and dense, but now, very faint strands of golden light were moving through different layers of the air.

He followed one of them for a few seconds and noticed a small difference, these strands were not simply passing by objects.

When they reached a living being, they reacted with the mana flowing around its body for a fraction of a second before continuing along their path.

They caused no damage and formed no permanent connections.

Lian narrowed his eyes.

"So it’s checking everyone," he murmured.

During the first Judgment, all his attention had been focused on trying to cut the connections attached to Amélie’s body and soul, and back then, he had no chance to examine the stages before those connections were formed.

But this time, no one had been chosen yet.

"So the identification stage is separate from the execution of the sentence," he said, although this was something he could have guessed.

However, he did not know exactly what the Sun was examining, perhaps people’s identities, the structure of their souls, or even information related to their past.

But at least one difference was clear.

The light moving through the surroundings was not yet the same complex and deadly structure that had brought about Amélie’s destruction the day before.

"Lian."

Noah’s voice caught his attention.

The young Frenchman was standing to his left, holding his folded combat umbrella.

"Look over there."

Lian turned his head.

A short distance away, the golden light had stopped over one of the young guards for a moment.

The man was holding a long spear, but when he noticed the light on his body, he stepped back in fear until his back hit the stone wall.

"No... I didn’t do anything..."

Just when it seemed that he could no longer control himself, the golden light passed through his body.

Nothing else happened.

The guard leaned against the wall, breathing in short, broken breaths.

Noah slowly breathed out.

"I thought it had chosen him."

The young Vorhelm continued to follow the flow of light.

"Not yet, this is different from what we saw when Amélie was executed."

Rindo was standing to their right, keeping his spear ready.

"Then I hope you can tell the difference when the next stage begins."

"That’s why I’m watching," Lian replied.

But at that very moment, the movement of the Sun’s pupil changed.

The golden rings slowed down, and the black pupil, which had been focused on the central area of the base until then, turned toward the cracked plain outside the defensive perimeter.

He noticed the change in the direction of the energy.

Has it chosen someone?

A few moments later, he got his answer.

About a hundred meters from the defensive line, a gray creature was sitting among several rocks.

One of The Withered.

Its body was nearly three meters tall, with extremely long arms and skin covered in deep cracks, its uneven mouth stretched almost to one corner of its face.

The creature had hidden its head between its two bony hands, it was neither approaching the human forces nor making any attempt to attack.

One of the guards outside checked the creature’s information.

[Race: The Withered]

[Rank: Mutated]

[Level: 32]

The man reported through the communication device.

"The target is a level 32 Withered, it hasn’t shown any aggressive behavior so far."

Lian saw the same information, but before he could examine any other changes in the flow of mana, the Judge’s voice sounded again.

"Previous identity identified."

He paused.

Previous identity?

The Sun’s voice continued.

"Sareven."

The gray creature remained motionless.

For several seconds, even its fingers did not move... then it slowly raised its head, and its uneven mouth opened and closed several times.

"Sa..."

A hoarse sound came from its throat, and the creature placed its long fingers on its face.

"Sa... re..."

It seemed to have heard a name that had once meant a great deal to it, but now, even remembering its full form was difficult.

Lian narrowed his eyes.

The system had identified the creature as one of The Withered, but the Hollow Sun apparently knew another identity it had once possessed.

An identity from before its mutation.

"So it really was a different creature before," another one of his guesses had been confirmed.

But how had the Judge been able to identify its previous identity?

Was it through the structure of its soul?

Or perhaps it had known the creature before?

The Sun’s next words did not give him time to think any further.

"First accusation: Violation of a previous order."

Upon hearing this sentence, the creature shook its head violently and tried to stand up.

"Second accusation: Leaving the designated area."

Sareven struggled to stand on its uneven legs, but almost immediately lost its balance and fell onto all fours.

However, it did not stop and began to crawl, heading straight toward a crack several meters away.

"Third accusation: Disobedience to the state of stillness."

The Judge’s voice did not change, it showed no anger, no satisfaction, and not even the slightest sign of paying attention to the condemned creature’s struggle, as if it was simply carrying out its task.

But when Lian heard the third accusation, he narrowed his eyes further.

The state of stillness?

This term was different from the accusations made against Amélie the day before.

Back then, the accusations had involved unauthorized entry, tampering with the containment structure, and taking property that belonged to the Mother.

But now, the Judge was talking about an old order, a designated area, and a state known as stillness.

So this creature was already under a sentence before today?

In front of him, Sareven continued dragging itself across the rocks.

"No..."

For a moment, it turned its head toward the sky.

"Again... no..."

Then it increased its speed... but it was already too late.

"Sentence: Execution."

A golden beam descended from the sky, not like a normal attack, but as if the light already knew the condemned creature’s exact location before it even reached the ground.

Sareven tried to throw itself into the crack, but a ring of light continued to follow its body.

Lian immediately focused his attention on \[True Sequence\].

Several thin strands of light connected to the Withered’s body, and more complex paths immediately appeared, linking to Sareven’s soul structure.

The same structure I saw on Amélie.

He quickly examined the paths.

Some only acted as initial connections, but the main paths spread through the condemned creature’s very existence.

At the same time, Sareven had reached the edge of the crack, its fingers clung to the rocks, and part of its body had already moved down into the opening.

But before it could reach the darkness below, golden light appeared inside its body.

The creature opened its mouth.

"M... me..."

For a fraction of a second, the light grew brighter, and something strange happened.

Within the light, the shadow of a different body appeared.

Not the three-meter-tall, distorted body, but a shorter form, with more normal proportions and a head that was not tilted to one side.

It was as if that was the Withered’s original form... or at least the appearance it had possessed in the past.

Lian immediately focused on the image, but before he could make out any more details, it disappeared.

Then—