Chapter 4168  Hollow Soul (Part 1)

"Fine, I'm sorry. Are we okay now?" The youth's words hit Clila like a slap, draining the blood from her face.

"Okay? Did you really ask me if we're okay?" She hid her face behind her hands, sobbing. Yet it lasted only for a second before it turned into a deranged laughter. "I'll never be okay, you moron, and neither will you!

"As the bereaved, I have the right to plead for mercy, but also for a harsher punishment. Magus Verhen, I beg you. Inflict upon this piece of human garbage the heaviest sentence."

"What you are asking me is to inflict torture upon him before execution. Are you sure this is what you want?" Lith's tone was deadpan, and his face a stone mask.

"No!" The Frorls fell to their knees, begging.

"Yes!" Clila replied. "I want him to suffer just like my brother did."

"So be it." Lith touched Shet's forehead with a finger, using his breathing technique to take a full scan of the noble youth's life force.

Then, Lith twisted and tore Shet' until it became a perfect replica of Elfiam's life force when Lith had found him.

Shet's bones snapped with a wet crunch, and his organs ruptured as if an invisible horse had just trampled over him at high speed. The youth coughed up blood that soon formed a pool beneath him, painting the priceless carpet of the Tea Hall red.

"Don't worry. I'm a merciful and fair judge." Lith put Shet's communicator amulet at the same distance as Elfiam's had fallen. "You claimed your victim is to blame for his own death.

"That he should have called for help. Call for a Healer, then. If they come here before it's too late, you can be saved."

Rage twisted Clila's face at those words, but only until they pierced the veil of rage clouding her mind and she realized the mockery they were.

Shet Frorl could barely breathe, and none of his limbs could make the smallest movement without searing agony clouding his vision.

The amulet lay only one meter away, but it might as well have been on another planet.

"What about us?" Marquis Ingham asked. "Can we call for a Healer?"

He took his communicator out, quickly followed by his wife.

"Of course." A snap of Lith's fingers ripped the amulets out of their hands. "Clila had her chance as well, but only after a guard informed her of the fact. You will have to wait for as long as she did."

'This… this is too cruel!' The Voidfeather Dragon said, making his scales scattered across Lith's body tremble. 'Can't we just kill him?'

'Really?' Lith and the Void sneered at the plea. 'Would you be so merciful if that human-faced monster had killed Dad, Mom, or Aran?'

The Voidfeather tried to reply, but the image of Carl's dead body in the morgue flashed in front of his eyes. Then, Raaz's mangled figure in the Hogum's mansion hit the Voidfeather like a truck.

The vision of Elina lying pale and unconscious in bed after the failed kidnapping attempt almost stopped his breath. Yet when the broken figure of Elfiam overlapped with his little brother, mercy died in the heart of the Voidfeather Dragon.

He could almost feel Aran's body getting colder, and the moment the light disappeared from the little boy's eyes, the Voidfeather knew he would have killed the culprit no matter what anyone else said.

'Great, now that's settled, I say we turn up the heat!' The Void conjured the blue flames in the Mindscape, and they also flared up on the portions of Lith's body turned Eldritch. 'The bastard is getting off too easily.

'He should suffer much more, and so should his parents. They made him the monster-faced human he is, and they should pay for it. Let's burn this place down to the ground!'

'No.' Lith's answer stunned both the Void and Solus, who was about to object. 'That wouldn't be justice for Clila and Elfiam, but a foolish attempt in quenching my bloodthirst.'

Lith knew that the Void was just a part of himself. It just gave voice to the anger and hate that would always be part of him. Like a recovering alcoholic, he could never stop being an addict, but he could choose not to drink.

'Besides, how dare you conjure those… Scourge Flames despite knowing that Elysia and Raldarak are just a few kilometers from me?' Lith snuffed the blue flames in the Void's hands and across his own body.

'What if my children feel the power of the Scourge Flames and conjure them as well? What if they experience all the twisted thoughts that cross my mind right now?

'When Elysia was born, I vowed that I would never let my shit taint my children, and that's what I'm going to do.'

The memories of the blue flames attacking Valeron flashed in front of the Void's eyes, forcing him to relive the moment when he had almost hurt the baby boy in an attempt to save Valeron's life.

The Void lowered his eyes in shame and fell silent as well. The different features of Lith's body once again harmonized into his Tiamat Form, ending the inner conflict that had ravaged him since he had received Clila's call.

"The time is up." Lith returned the communication amulets to their owners, and the Frorls immediately called the best Healers they knew.

An old woman with close-cropped gray hair arrived in a matter of minutes, and soon many other mages joined her. Yet it was pointless. Lith had no idea how long it had passed from the moment of the accident to the guards' call.

He only knew that it had come too late.

It was the reason he had given back the communication amulets only once Shet's core had already started to crack. By the time the first Healer arrived, his mana was already leaking, and his life forfeit.

Shet Frorl died in his parents' arms just like Elfiam had died in his sister's.

"The sentence has been carried out." Lith said, bringing their desperate wails to a sudden halt. "Yet this is not over. You are accused of aiding and abetting a murderer. I also hereby charge you with resistance to a public official and attempted murder."

"And who would we have tried to kill?" The Marchioness snarled, mad with grief.

"Me." Lith replied. "I've heard you ordering your guards to stop me at all costs. I recognized your voices and recorded the whole thing. You are going to pay for that as well, but I'm in no rush. A Constable will take care of you.

"As for my esteemed colleagues, hear me now." The Healers dropped everything they were doing and stared at Lith, hoping he had no charges for them. "This girl, Clila of Ratharn, is under my protection.

"Spread the word. If anything befalls her, I'll seek those responsible myself and punish them to the full extent of my powers. Did I make myself clear?"

The Healers nodded like frenzied parrots and sighed in relief.

"I'm sorry, Clila, this is all I can do for you." Lith sheathed Ragnarök with the blood of the fallen guards, yet didn't touch Shet's. "I hope it's enough."