Chapter 651: An Unexpected Survivor

"So if this place really is a prison, we’re trapped right in the middle of it."

Lian gave a faint smile.

"Apparently."

"And we don’t even know where the exit is."

"That’s why we’re looking for it."

Rindo sighed, but before their conversation could continue, another change occurred in their surroundings.

The wind stopped.

The golden leaves of the trees near the road remained still, and the Withered passing through the arch turned their heads toward the sky almost at the same time.

Lian immediately noticed the change in the mana flow.

It’s time.

Two also raised its head.

A low, deep growl came from the wolf’s throat, and its ears moved backward.

"The Fourth Judgment?" Rindo tightened his grip on his spear.

The young Vorhelm looked at the black pupil of the sun.

"Yeah."

A few moments later, the Judge’s huge voice spread across the entire land.

"The Fourth Judgment has begun."

The golden rings began to rotate.

The sunlight became stronger for a moment, and thin threads of light spread through the different layers of the air.

Lian immediately recognized the identification stage, the same flow he had seen during the Second Judgment, but this time, for the first time, he was standing very close to one of the ancient structures.

He focused all his attention on the energy paths, the threads of light passed over the Withered, and some creatures fell to their knees while others tried to hide behind the pillars.

But the light continued moving without being stopped by the obstacles.

Finally, one of the threads stopped on the same Withered that had asked for help a few minutes earlier.

The creature raised its head.

"No..."

A ring of golden light formed around its body, and the Judge’s voice was heard again.

"The condemned has been identified."

The Withered tried to move backward, but its feet were stuck to the ground against its will.

"First Charge: Violation of a Previous Judgment."

Lian looked at Rindo for a moment.

The same charge as Sareven.

"Second Charge: Leaving the Designated Area."

The creature placed its hands on its head.

"N-no..."

The Judge’s voice continued without any change.

"Third Charge: Disobedience of the State of Stillness."

The Withered looked toward the stone arch for a moment, then lowered its head.

"I... came back..."

But those words did not change the judgment.

"Sentence: Execution."

The golden light became stronger.

Lian observed the connection paths with [True Sequence], the energy threads connected to the creature’s body and soul.

Then deeper structures began to form.

The Withered tried to move its body one last time, but before it could take a step, light spread from inside its body.

A few moments later, the creature disappeared without leaving a trace.

Rindo lowered his gaze for a moment, he still had not gotten used to the sun’s executions, and he probably never would.

But Lian continued looking at the place where the execution had happened, because right after the process ended, a familiar flow had appeared.

Part of the golden energy moved toward the ground.

That same flow.

This time, unlike before, he was in a good position to observe it.

He followed the energy threads, they passed through the stone surface of the road and then moved toward the ancient arch, entering one of the mana lines carved into its base.

He narrowed his eyes.

’So they really are connected.’

The golden energy moved along the stone paths for several seconds, then passed through the white roots and traveled into the depths of the ground.

But this time, he managed to follow part of its path farther than before, the energy flow passed beneath the arch and moved in a direction that led toward the center of the land.

Finally, it disappeared into depths beyond the range of his senses.

Lian remained still for several seconds.

Rindo noticed his expression.

"What did you find?"

Lian pointed toward the base of the arch.

"Part of the energy from the judgment passed through this structure."

"Where did it go? Were you able to see?"

"Toward the depths, but its path continued toward the center."

"So these structures really are connected to the Judgments." Rindo looked at the lines carved into the stone for a moment.

Lian nodded.

"At least some of them, but I still don’t know why the energy is being transferred." He placed his hand on the surface of the arch.

Mana was still flowing inside the stone, but the judgment energy was no longer passing through it, as if the structure had returned to its normal state after completing its task.

He looked at the sun for a moment.

’If I can find out where this energy is going...’

Perhaps he could better understand the connection between the Judgments, the Withered, and the collapse of the land.

But it was still too early to reach a conclusion.

Golden beams had also appeared in other areas.

The sun had identified several more condemned creatures, and the sound of their sentences being announced could be heard from far away.

Lian and Rindo remained beside the arch for a while until the sun’s rings finally began to slow down.

"The Fourth Judgment has been completed."

There was silence for several seconds, and then the same familiar sentence was heard.

"Next Judgment: In twenty-four hours."

The golden light around the condemned disappeared, the wind began flowing between the broken pillars again, and the remaining Withered continued moving as if nothing had happened.

Lian slowly breathed out.

Another day.

Only one day remained until the next Judgment.

And considering how the condition of the land was getting worse every day, he could not be sure how much of the ground would remain intact by then.

He recorded the location of the arch and the path of the energy flow, then looked at Rindo.

"We need to move."

Rindo glanced at the sun.

"I hope we finally find some proper answers there."

Lian gave a faint smile.

"Me too."

After some time, both of them climbed onto Two’s back again.

The huge wolf passed along the ancient road and reached an area where parts of the ground were covered with broken stone pillars.

In the distance, the red light of molten rock could be seen through the cracks, but unlike the areas behind them, most of the rocky platforms in this section were still intact.

Two crossed between them with long jumps.

Lian was also examining the information he had obtained from the stone arch.

He now had three important pieces of information.

The Withered were moving toward the center against their own will.

Parts of the underground structures were connected to the Judgment system.

And the energy remaining after the executions was being transferred into the depths through these same structures, at least in some places.

But he still did not know what was waiting at the end of those paths, whatever is down there, it’s probably worth seeing.

At that moment, Two slowed down.

Lian raised his head, the huge wolf had stopped on one of the rocky platforms.

Its ears had turned toward an area among the broken pillars, and its gaze remained fixed on one point.

The young Vorhelm placed his hand on its neck.

"Did you find something?"

The wolf gave a short growl and then turned its head toward a narrow path between the pillars.

Rindo also noticed the change in the wolf’s behavior, and he adjusted the spear in his hands.

"Is there something over there?"

Lian did not answer, because at that moment, the sound of a heavy impact came from the distance.

BAAANG!

Several pieces of stone broke away from one of the broken pillars, and then the body of a Withered was thrown out of the dust.

The creature’s body rolled across the ground and struck a stone wall, and a few moments later, it stopped moving.

"Someone’s fighting." Rindo narrowed his eyes.

Lian nodded, he had also detected the mana flows from the battle, but the strange thing was that one of the flows belonged to an Awakened.

Not a Withered.

He signaled Two for a moment, and the huge wolf remained silently on the platform.

Both young men slowly climbed down from its back, farther away, several Withered were moving around a human figure.

One of the creatures rushed toward that figure, but before it could get close, it received a heavy strike and fell to the ground.

The second creature attacked from the opposite direction.

This time, the young man standing between the pillars quickly changed his position and struck the Withered’s body.

BOOM!

The creature’s body was thrown several meters backward, and then the man slowly began moving.

Lian narrowed his eyes for a moment.

Those movements...

Something about that person’s fighting style was familiar.

But there was still a long distance between them, and part of the man’s body was hidden behind the broken pillars.

"Lian..." Rindo had apparently noticed the similarity too, in fact, he was also somewhat happy that they had found another living Awakened.

At least they were finally sure they were not alone.

The young Vorhelm raised his hand slightly.

Rindo fell silent.

At that moment, the unknown man passed beside one of the pillars.

His armor was damaged, and parts of it were covered with dirt and dark stains, but the main structure of his clothing was still recognizable.

The man took a few more steps and then stopped in an unusual way, he slowly raised his head and looked at the Hollow Sun.

For several seconds, he did not move at all, he paid no attention to the Withered around him or the stones collapsing near his feet.

Then he lowered his head and started walking again.

They continued staring at him.

But just as the man stepped out from beneath the shadow of the pillar, the golden sunlight fell on his face.

This time, there was no doubt.

Lian knew that face, the same person they had received no new reports about since entering the Land of First Dawn.

"That’s... Roderick." Rindo slowly breathed out.