"The Young Lord has arrived—now we can begin the main event!"
Voices shouted across the coliseum as the crowd stirred with excitement.
"Young Lord Luke! Luke!"
"Son of Lord Wilson Raindal…!"
Harren in the elder council room grip the device and announce again,
"The trial will consist of two parts, First for will to guide our domain, Next to fight against beast to protect our domain"
When Harren gave the signal, four guards stepped forward, each gripping the chains wrapped tightly around a man who looked more beast than human, madness burning in his eyes, yet his steps eerily silent. The guards wore uniforms bearing an emblem reminiscent of a modern SWAT team, but styled with medieval steel accents, blending the old and the new in grim harmony.
Behind the four guards and the maddened man, a squad of ten elite soldiers marched in formation, each armed with a variety of weapons:- swords, blades, axes, and even short daggers.
In Raindal, "elite soldier" wasn't just a title; it meant every one of them had mastered at least two techniques to the Elite level.
Both teams come to the center set up a stage like execution ground.
Luke watched them with a confused expression, while Wilson, observing from above, frowned deeply.
A few minutes later, after an execution ground had been set up, Harren began to announce:
"The first trial is the execution of a criminal in the Soul Refining Realm who is one step into Path of Vision..."
But before he could even finish the sentence, a chill ran down his spine. His voice faltered. His breath caught. Slowly, he turned to meet the furious glare of Wilson.
Before Wilson could even rebuke him, Harren quickly added,
"The criminal only needs to be executed while restrained and under the watch of the Raindal Elites."
The suffocating pressure weighing on Harren eased slightly, but it was still there.
Luke's mind churned.
"Do I really have to kill a human? I made my resolution: if my life is threatened or if there's even a chance of harm, I will kill even a human. But this… this is the first trial, and they're asking me to kill someone without even a fight? What kind of nonsense is this?"
"I may not be nine anymore, but to everyone else, I am. How can they expect a child to kill without hesitation? Good grief, at least I don't have to fight him first… but why did I even think of killing him like crushing a cockroach?"
"He may be a criminal, but is he really? What if he's just a rogue cultivator? This is wrong. I can't kill mindlessly, just to pass some trial. It'll damage my heart, shake my resolve."
"Even now, I don't understand why Father allowed this trial. He's a smart man. Sure, he makes mistakes now and then, but not something this reckless. Just like how I recklessly tried to practice Basic Sword and Qi Sword…"
"Some force wants me dead. But it doesn't feel like a person or an organization. It's something bigger like the will of the world itself. Could it be because I'm a transmigrator? Or is it my constitution? If that were the case, wouldn't I be dead already?"
"No... maybe my body's special constitution is resisting that force, keeping me alive. That's my best theory so far. Still, I have to be careful. If I kill here without clarity or purpose, it will leave a mark on my mind a demon, just like in those murim novels."
All these thoughts flashed through Luke's mind in a mere fraction of a second. His ability to think this fast was just like his ability to see Qi—both tied to a special constitution that he wasn't even sure he possessed. But most of his theories and guesses were built upon this one uncertain truth.
A second later, as Harren finished his announcement, Luke looked him straight in the eyes and asked coldly,
"What is his crime? What proof do you have?"