freenovelworld Chapter 569 : Judgment
Chapter 569 : Judgment
Chapter 569: Judgment
Ash lifted Bazel’s head before her, the cold eyes beneath her steel mask meeting the hollow sockets of the skull.
“‘Humiliation and mockery’? I had long grown used to it.” Bazel spoke coldly.
“No. This was merely stating a fact.”
Ash shook her head. Her serpentine tail swayed, and amid the sound of steel striking the concrete road surface, she slowly stepped down from the carriage.
She advanced forward—toward her clansmen. One Banshee after another followed behind her as she headed toward the people of Blood Harbor. The cheers erupting from the crowd were deafening.
Ash straightened her body and raised the hand that held Bazel. The tall figure of the Banshee stretched upward; under the gleam of her steel armor, she appeared like a deity walking the Mortal Realm.
The Banshees silently followed behind her. Their armor let out deep, muffled sounds as they slithered. The Mortal soldiers of the Expeditionary Army guarded both sides, holding high the emblem of Castel and the sigil of the Imperial Truth. Rifles were slung over their backs, and the dark muzzles faintly revealed precise rifling within.
The Banshees and the soldiers proceeded down the street. Wherever they passed, the people cheered. The Harbor Guard under the Prince stood along both sides of the street, maintaining the order of the procession.
This was the moment when Castel stood at its strongest. They had taken in refugees the Northlands dared not shelter, resolved the White Raven People’s extinction-level calamity, defeated the allied forces of the Three Grand Dukes of the North, and now paraded the culprit—Bazel—through Blood Harbor as a public warning.
A resonant whistle echoed from high above, powerful enough to make the very earth tremble. Bazel looked at the sudden shadow cast upon the ground and slowly lifted his gaze toward the sky.
“That… what is that?”
“A Flying Airship. Castel’s Celestial Behemoth—the Lord’s will manifested in the sky.”
Ash lifted her wrist, allowing the Bazel clutched in her hand to see the heavens clearly. Above the dome—no, that colossal form blotting out the sun was Blood Harbor’s new sky.
A melodious whistle rang out from the firmament. The locomotive not far away answered with its own whistle.
Many Northland prisoners of war brought back for trial collapsed to the ground, trembling violently as they clutched their ears. Every time that massive silhouette appeared in the sky, it was accompanied by the shriek of Aerial Bombs ripping through the air—the echo of death in the Mortal Realm.
They refused to get up, as though their souls had long been blasted to shreds on the battlefield, leaving only their masterless bodies trembling in place.
Bazel stared blankly at Castel’s Celestial Behemoth.
He had never truly faced Castel’s Expeditionary Army. He had merely heard of several Dukes’ deeds.
To him, the Three Grand Dukes of the North were all trash.
Grand Duke Alvare was trash who only knew how to surrender.
Octavia was trash who only knew how to flee.
And the Dragonfang Grand Duke was trash incapable of either fleeing or surrendering.
Castel defeating them did not necessarily mean Castel was impressive. He, Bazel, had also seized territories from those three Dukes.
But now—even Bazel could not help wavering as he looked at the Flying Airship overhead, covering nearly the entire sky, then at the heavily armored Banshee beside him.
Could he… truly defeat these Monsters?
Perhaps provoking Castel had been a mistake from the very beginning.
No—impossible. Bazel clenched his teeth, a ferocious glint flickering within the skull’s eye sockets.
Ash paraded Bazel through the streets of Blood Harbor once, then arrived at the port.
Rows upon rows of Ironclad Warships had long formed up. When Ash stepped into the port, they fired their cannons in unison.
Clusters of brilliant Dragon’s Breath Cannon jets burst forth, and for an instant, their blaze outshone even the sun.
Bazel fell dazed in the sea of fire. When he finally returned to his senses, Ash had already turned and started to leave with him.
“Thi… this is…”
Ash shot him a glance but did not explain. “To beat you, these aren’t even necessary. You don’t need to know.”
Bazel’s eye sockets flickered. After a moment of silence, a muffled voice echoed from within the skull: “I thought we were boarding a ship to Castel.”
“The Tribunal is in Blood Harbor. You will receive your judgment here. Only after the verdict will you be sent to Castel. If you went there first and lost your mind, wouldn’t you escape your trial for nothing?”
“I would go mad upon reaching Castel? Why?”
“…It’s difficult to explain. Most people cannot comprehend Castel’s power. Even perceiving it is enough to shatter their will and drive them insane.”
A trace of confusion flashed within Bazel’s sockets.
What kind of power could make a person go mad? Unable even to look at it?
Was this real?
Bazel originally wanted to argue, but thinking of all the bizarre wonders he had seen along the way in Blood Harbor, he closed his mouth again.
He was already dead—only a Skeleton remained.
Otherwise, if he still had flesh, he might have revealed some weak or humiliating expression the moment he saw those things.
When the procession ended, Ash led the Banshees and delivered Bazel to the Tribunal.
By now, the Tribunal hall was already full.
Aside from Presiding Judge Chloe, High Priest Josh of the Mystics, School Principal Zoe, Castel’s chief ship designer Tata, the military factory overseer Gaia, and Richard—head of R&D and chief of the Moths Chasing Fire—were all present.
As for Hughes, he was quietly speaking with the Prince at the side.
Although the Harbor Guard under the Prince had not directly joined the battle, they had continuously assisted the Expeditionary Army with rear logistics, public security maintenance in Blood Harbor, and material transportation.
Beside the Prince stood Galahad. The knight who had always followed him had completely changed his attire.
Though the long sword remained at his waist, he no longer wore the gleaming plate armor. Even while attending a trial at the Tribunal, he still carried a long firearm on his back.
It was a specially tuned Bolt-Action Rifle. Paired with the bullets he had personally hand-polished, it had set Castel’s long-range shooting record.
Next to Galahad stood a somewhat hunched old man—Johan, the Prince’s former butler.
There were also several unfamiliar faces—civil officials handpicked and promoted by the Prince.
The Prince still enforced the Empire’s Civil Official System in Blood Harbor, but with heavy optimizations that removed nobles entirely from the bureaucratic structure. Hughes once estimated that even without him, even without Castel, the Prince alone could have completely reformed the Empire’s administrative system.
Especially after he abandoned the identity of the Empress—he could openly send nobles to the gallows and reclaim the Empire’s authority for himself.
The doors of the Tribunal slowly opened. Ash’s towering figure appeared in the corridor. The lofty dome above seemed no more distant to her than the ceiling of a modest room.
Everyone turned toward Ash as she walked across the corridor and stepped into the circular recess at the center of the Tribunal.
She then pressed Bazel down onto the chair with a single forceful motion—sending white bones scattering everywhere.