Chapter 117: The Final Judgment [II]

The guards dragged Asgorath to the center of the hall before finally releasing him.

His body lurched forward.

Asgorath caught himself with one hand against the polished floor, a quiet groan escaping his throat. He slowly pushed himself upright, brushing his crimson hair away from his face. He rolled his shoulders once, then rubbed his wrists as though checking whether his newly freed limbs still worked.

The guards immediately stepped back and took their positions behind him.

Asgorath looked up toward the elevated table. "You need to warn these guys not to drag me around like that next time," he said dryly. "It will take more than just a few chains to make me forget how to walk."

"Asgorath," Moros, God of Judgment and Divine Law, said, narrowing his eyes at him, "you have only just been unsealed to face judgment for your latest transgressions, and you’re already planning on getting yourself locked up again?"

A grin slowly spread across Asgorath’s face as he turned toward Moros. "What can I say? I love seeing you guys struggle."

"Just ignore him and continue with the judgment, or he will end up wasting everybody’s time," Thalassa, Goddess of Storms and the Heavens, said flatly.

Aethelgard turned toward her with an exaggerated look of surprise. "Aww, Thala. I never knew you cared so much about me. But I’m not interested in you. I’m a family man who still loves his wife, so nope. Not interested."

The celestials visibly groaned, several of them lowering their heads in exasperation. Even Morcant closed his eyes for a moment as though reconsidering why he had agreed to attend the judgment. Selene, however, remained composed, though the faintest smile appeared at the corner of her lips. She discreetly hid it behind the delicate sleeve of her gown.

Asgorath placed his hands on his hips and looked from one end of the elevated table to the other. "So, what are we talking about today?" His grin widened. "Is it finally going to be about my freedom, or are we doing another one of those long speeches about divine law?"

The council fell silent. A few of the celestial beings exchanged weary glances, while Moros’s expression hardened further. Thalassa slowly pinched the bridge of her nose, and Artemis looked as though she were one insult away from reaching for her bow.

Asgorath tilted his head, completely unfazed by their reactions. "Come on. Don’t tell me you summoned me all the way out of my lovely prison just to stare at me. I know I’m handsome and incredibly charming, but please, let’s get this judgment over with. I have family waiting for me."

"Your arrogance remains as unrefined as ever, Asgorath," Moros said coldly, his glowing eyes narrowing as he leaned forward from his high seat. "Even after thousands of years in chains, you have learned neither humility nor remorse."

"A few thousand years well spent resting," Asgorath retorted smoothly, folding his arms across his chest. "Though the decor in that cell left much to be desired. Now stop wasting my time and be done with the judgment. I miss my family."

Bang!

Artemis slammed her palm against the radiant stone table with enough force to send a sharp crack echoing throughout the celestial court. The impact rattled several goblets and scattered loose fragments of divine light across the surface. She surged to her feet, violet eyes blazing with fury as she pointed directly at Asgorath.

"Damnation, I don’t know why this council keeps indulging you!" she snapped. "I truly don’t. Every single time you appear before us, it’s because you’ve committed another crime, broken another divine law, interfered in another realm, or thrown the natural order into chaos. You should have been erased from existence the moment you shattered the Veil between realms. That should have been the end of it. No prison. No trials. No endless debates. You should have been reduced to divine dust and scattered across the cosmos. A god who ignores territorial boundaries, interferes where he has no authority, and deliberately incites chaos in domains that do not belong to him should not be granted conditional release. He should be erased!"

Her voice rose with every word.

"But no. The High Council keeps choosing to spare you. They gave you chance after chance, and what did you do with that mercy? You continued meddling in mortal affairs. You interfered in celestial affairs. You inserted yourself into conflicts that had nothing to do with your domain. Every god here governs their own territory, yet you wander wherever you please, disrupting kingdoms, altering destinies, manipulating divine decrees, and causing chaos simply because you think the rules don’t apply to you. Everywhere you go, disaster follows. Entire civilizations have been reshaped because of your interference. Countless divine judgments have had to be revised because you couldn’t resist sticking your nose where it didn’t belong. Frankly, I’m amazed you’ve survived this long."

The easy smile was wiped clean from Asgorath’s face. He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Artemis, I know you are still angry with me because I interfered in that pathetic feud between you and your sister over there."

He nodded casually toward Selene, who merely raised an eyebrow in response.

"I know that if it had been left entirely up to you, you would have happily allowed your sister’s descendants to rot beneath that pathetic curse your children placed upon them. But me, being the benevolent and compassionate god that I am..." He placed a hand dramatically against his chest and spoke in an exaggeratedly noble voice. "I simply could not stand by and watch the children of my fellow celestials suffer. Such tragedy. Such heartbreak. Such sorrow. How could I possibly ignore it?"

Several council members visibly cringed.

"I couldn’t watch them go extinct because of a curse born from a feud that should have ended ages ago. Especially not a curse created by the selfish actions of your own children."

Artemis shot to her feet again.

"How dare you call my children selfish!"

The temperature in the chamber immediately dropped.

"If those pathetic moon descendants hadn’t been so arrogant, prideful, and entitled, none of it would have happened. My children welcomed them. Trusted them. Loved them. And what did they receive in return? Betrayal. Deception. Bloodshed. My children died because of the arrogance of Selene’s bloodline. They are paying for their ancestors’ sins and should blame their ancestors for the curse. Had those fools not destroyed everything my children cherished, my children would never have laid that bloody affliction upon them in the first place."

Silence swept through the chamber.

Selene slowly lifted her gaze toward her sister.

"Sister," she said softly, though the authority behind her words immediately commanded the room’s attention, "I would prefer it if you did not refer to my children in such a manner."

Artemis turned her sharp glare onto the Moon Goddess.

"I allowed you to deal with my bloodline as you saw fit because I acknowledged the harm they caused yours," Selene continued, her silver eyes fixed on Artemis. "Their actions caused unimaginable suffering, and out of respect for you as my sister, I chose not to interfere and turned my back on my own lineage despite the pain it caused me." Her silver eyes narrowed slightly. "But what I will not tolerate is hearing them insulted and demeaned in my presence. They may have been flawed. They may have committed terrible mistakes. Yet they were still my children. I respected your grief, Artemis. I ask only that you show me the same respect."

Artemis glared at Selene for a long, tense moment before letting out a sharp, frustrated breath. With an irritated huff, she dropped back into her seat, crossing her arms tightly over her chest as she turned her gaze away.

Asgorath scoffed at the exchange, an amused glint returning to his eyes. "Is that all?" he asked, tilting his head. "Honestly, I was expecting a lot more. Maybe you two to tear each other apart. If any Celestial laid a curse like that on my children or even dared to insult them in my presence, I wouldn’t just sit there and accept it. I’d make them pay. I would tear their domain to the ground and wipe their bloodline off the map. Nobody touches anything of mine and gets away with it."

"Thankfully, it was not your children who were cursed," Elaria, Goddess of Wisdom and Knowledge, interjected smoothly, her voice a calm anchor in the room. "Otherwise, the entire Celestial Realm would likely still be cleaning up the aftermath of whatever catastrophe you unleashed."

"Exactly!" Asgorath exclaimed, clapping his hands together. "You understand me. Finally, someone on this council who knows exactly what I’m talking about. See? This is why I like you, Elaria. You actually understand the importance of protecting one’s family."

Ignis rubbed his temples with a heavy groan, the amber flames of his hair dimming slightly. "Can we please get on with this judgment already?"