Chapter 634: More Than One Condemned

Then Sareven’s body began to collapse from the inside.

Its long fingers separated from the rocks, and its physical structure disappeared among the golden strands without any noticeable explosion.

A few moments later, no trace of it remained.

But Lian still had his eyes fixed on the execution site.

Wait...

Not all the energy from the sentence had disappeared along with the condemned creature.

After the process ended, some of the golden strands moved downward.

Not toward the Sun, but toward the ground.

The strands passed through the surrounding rocks and went deep underground.

He tried to follow them, but their paths soon moved beyond the range of his perception.

"That same downward flow again," he frowned slightly.

Near the southern spring, some of the energy from the white roots had also moved downward after the Sun awakened.

During the previous day, he had also seen several other energy flows moving underground.

Now, after the sentence had been carried out, he had seen another flow moving in the same direction.

Does that mean the execution of a sentence isn’t only meant to destroy the target?

Perhaps some of the energy was being used in an underground structure, or it had a purpose that Lian did not know about yet.

Could it be related to the cracks in the ground and The Withered emerging from underground?

He recorded the location and timing of the energy’s movement in his mind.

"Finally, I found something new."

But before he could share his thoughts with the others, something else happened.

At the base, several people let out sighs of relief.

One of the young guards placed his hand on his chest.

"So this time, it wasn’t one of us..."

The man had not even finished his sentence when the Sun’s golden rings began to rotate again.

This time, the black pupil did not choose just one location.

Several thin strands of golden light spread in different directions, one toward the western forest, another toward the northern plains, and several more toward distant areas.

Then the same enormous, emotionless voice was heard.

"The remaining condemned have been identified."

Noah looked up at the sky.

"Wait..."

But before he could say anything else, the first report came through the base’s communication device.

"Northern unit! A Withered has been caught under the golden light!"

A few seconds later, another voice was heard.

"Western area reporting! One of the Mutated creatures has been chosen here too!"

Then came a third message.

"Two more targets have been identified in the distance! Both are under the Judgment beams!"

Noah looked at Lian.

"So it’s not just one person..."

"It never said it would only choose one person each time," the young Vorhelm replied without taking his eyes off the sky.

Rindo frowned.

"So the number of sentences isn’t limited to one person."

Lian nodded.

At the same time, several other Withered that had remained near the cracks began to react strongly.

One curled up on the ground, another placed its long hands over its head, and a four-legged creature crawled toward a crack while repeating the same words.

"Not me... not me..."

But none of them had been chosen as condemned targets yet.

It seems they know what happens next.

The memory of summoning Three came back to Lian’s mind.

The Dreadmaw Sovereign had also been terrified when it saw the Hollow Sun, even though it claimed that it had never seen that Sun before.

Perhaps the Judge’s very presence caused a special reaction in the creatures’ bodies, some kind of instinctive response.

Of course, it was still too early to draw a conclusion.

Lian turned his attention back to one of the condemned Withered near the western position.

The golden light was focused on a long creature with black skin that was trying to hide behind a rock.

This time, he decided to conduct a short experiment.

He kept \[True Sequence\] active and identified one of the secondary strands of the sentence.

Then he released a small amount of the power of Corrupt Sun.

A thin strand of the surrounding light darkened and followed a short reflected path until it reached the secondary strand of the sentence.

For a fraction of a second, the golden energy changed color, and part of its structure began to break down.

But a fresh flow of energy immediately entered from the main source and repaired the damaged strand.

Lian cut off his energy.

"Just as I expected."

He had managed to affect one of the secondary paths, but as long as the main flow continued to feed the structure with much greater power, local damage was not enough.

"So if I want to actually stop a sentence, I need to understand the main source, or at least find a way to cut its connection to the target."

A few moments later, the golden light grew stronger, and the Withered’s body collapsed from the inside.

This time, Lian also saw some of the remaining energy moving toward the ground.

Again.

This was no longer just an accidental observation.

In other areas, the sentences were also carried out.

Several Withered were destroyed in the north, and two more creatures were condemned in the west.

Reconnaissance teams in more distant areas also reported golden beams, but there were no confirmed reports of any other humans being executed.

Finally, the Sun’s golden rings began to slow down.

"The Second Judgment is complete."

Silence lasted for a few seconds, and then the next sentence was announced.

"Next Judgment: In twenty-four hours."

The golden light around the condemned targets disappeared, and the leaves of the trees began to move again.

It was as if only a brief natural event had occurred, but several more creatures had now disappeared from the land.

Lian slowly breathed out.

"So we have another day."

It was a strange feeling, not knowing whether they would still be alive tomorrow, yet having to enjoy the present day as if it were their last.

At least this time, he had gained more information.

The Judge could choose several condemned targets at the same time, identify the previous identities of The Withered, and send some of its energy deep underground after carrying out a sentence.

But he still had no way to save the next condemned target.

What kind of thing are you, really?

After the Judgment ended, a discussion slowly spread among the base’s staff.

"It didn’t choose any humans this time..."

"Maybe those creatures are its main targets."

"Could it be that it won’t bother us anymore?"

Lian heard part of these conversations.

What a quick conclusion.

Only one day earlier, Amélie had been executed in front of their eyes.

The fact that several Withered had been condemned did not mean that humans were safe.

At that moment, Alaric approached him.

"Vorhelm, did you notice anything?"

Lian nodded.

"A few things, first, the identification stage is different from the execution of the sentence, before a target is chosen, a weak flow of energy passes around the people, but after the selection, more complex structures connect to the condemned target’s body and soul."

"Can you tell who has been chosen before the sentence is issued?" the commander asked.

"Probably, once the main connection is formed, but I still don’t know how much time we have, and there probably isn’t much."

"What about cutting the connection?"

"Not yet, I managed to stop one of the strands of light targeting the creature for a moment, but the main source repaired it much faster."

Lian paused briefly.

"There’s something else, after the sentence is carried out, some of the energy moves toward the ground, I’ve seen it twice."

Alaric paid closer attention.

"Where does it go?"

"I don’t know, but its direction is similar to the energy flows that, according to our investigations, move toward the inside of the ground, they might be related to the cracks and The Withered emerging from underground."

"Then we need to compare the geological reports with the times when the sentences were carried out."

"Exactly."

At that moment, one of the nearby officers approached.

"Commander, the initial Judgment reports are ready, all confirmed cases involved Mutated creatures."

Alaric took the report.

"Have we received responses from all areas?"

"No, we still haven’t been able to contact several units."

"Then we still can’t say that no humans have been condemned."

"Send out a notice, include only the confirmed results, I don’t want rumors about humans being immune spreading among the forces," he then told the officer.

"Understood."

The officer walked away.

Alaric looked at Lian again.

"Were today’s accusations related to Amélie’s accusations?"

"The wording was different, Amélie was accused of unauthorized entry, tampering with the containment structure, and taking property that belonged to the Mother."

Alaric frowned.

"The Mother?"

"That’s the exact term it used."

"And today?"

"Violation of a previous order, leaving the designated area, and disobedience to the state of stillness."

"It seems both sets of accusations refer to rules we don’t know about," the commander remained silent for a few seconds before adding.

Lian nodded.

The word "Mother" was still one of the strangest parts of the first Judgment, but now another term had been added to it.

Stillness.

He still did not know what the Judge meant by it, but at least he had more clues for his investigation.

He felt that he needed a book containing the rules and laws of the Hollow Sun, because the laws as understood by them and the laws of that Sun seemed to be completely different.

Just as Alaric was about to return, the warning sound of his communication device rang out.

"Commander! Emergency in the eastern section!"

"Report."

"The ground beneath the first position is sinking! The rate of collapse is increasing!"

"Is the second position ready?"

"Yes, Commander, but several people and some equipment are still at the first position."

"Begin the evacuation, abandon the heavy equipment," Alaric replied without hesitation.

"Commander, two defense units are still there, if we lose them—"

"I know what we’ll lose, get the troops out."

He ended the communication and looked at Lian.

"We might need the rapid-response force."

Lian nodded.

"I’m ready."

The eastern position was not far from the center of the base.

This area had been marked as one of the unstable locations since the previous day, and most of the troops and essential equipment had already been moved to the second position.

However, two large defense units and several metal boxes were still near the main platform.

After receiving the evacuation order, the guards began to retreat.