2 Chapter 62: He's Dead and Will be Judged

---Dead Soldiers POV---

The last thing Conner remembered was being skewered through the heart by a black blade which was grasped by the hand of the silver haired monster. Before he could even prosses what had happened, the monster had retracted their dark weapon from his chest, letting him fall to the ground clutching his heart. He watched them walk away, cutting down his fellow soldiers as they impeded its path. Each one going down just as easily as himself.

His vision blurred and darkened as he continued to lose blood, watching the imposing back of the monster in human form leave behind a path of blood before disappearing into the trees. When he opened his eye's again, he was being helped by a very large Demon within an empty void of blackness. To be precise he was being helped by one of Lady Death's Archdemons. He was of course very panicky when he first saw the Archdemon, since they look a lot like the devils from the Demon race, but fifteen feet tall.

He didn't know what they did, but he was able to recognize they were a higher power a short while later by instinct. He was then guided out of the void and before he knew it, he was on a grey sandy shore, next to a large glowing blue river. He didn't know how he got here, but he knew instantly where he was.

"Uh, thank... you...?" Conner turned around to thank his guide, but found himself alone, surrounded by more of the dead, such as himself.

While he found himself next to the large river, turning to face away from the river he could see a large stone archway in the middle of a grassy field of white grass. Most souls he saw marched their way towards that gate. Since there weren't any other structures to be seen nearby, and this valley seemed to be surrounded by mountains on all side other than where the river is, it made sense for everyone he saw to head in that direction.

Yet he still witnesses some head in his direction. No, not his direction, the rivers. He watched curiously as an old, withered man stepped foot into the glowing water. Not even a few seconds later, he was swept away and looked to be absorbed by the water at the same time, his form fading away into nothing. He never even saw the old man fall into the water. He was there one second and gone the next.

Bewildered Conner inched his way closer to the river's edge. Once close enough to see into the water clearly, he stopped so he can observe the strange body of water safely. Looking into the river he didn't notice anything strange at first, but eventually he started noticing faces. Not just some here or there, it was like the river was made from faces stretched out by the speed they were going.

"What in the world?" Conner muttered disturbed.

Yet that feeling only lasted for a few seconds; for the longer he looked into the water, the more he felt it calling to him. It was asking him to come home. He would be safe there. It was warm and inviting so he took one step forward.

"Woah there bud. Touch that and you'll become part of the river of souls." A woman said grabbing onto his arm, stopping Conner in his tracks.

"I, what?" Coming out of his trance, Conner looked at the person that saved him and his eyes widened.

The person that just pulled him back was none other than one of the Heroes of the past, Tanila Faelen. She was one of the few Elven Heroes to be summoned throughout history. She was shorter than Conner, standing at one-hundred-and-sixty-seven centimeters. She had short, cropped blond hair, with jade green eyes.

The young soldier couldn't help but notice the burn scars on her left hand. Tanila's arm was covered by her sleeves, but if Conner had to guess, those burns probably continued up her arm. Conner was still far to shock to say anything however, since running into a past Hero was so far beyond his expectations that he just continued to stare at the Elf.

"Listen just head in that direction and you'll be fine." Tanila spoke, not minding the baffled look of the young soldier. "Just stay away from the river until you're ready to move on, or the call becomes too much. Got it?"

He didn't fully understand what she meant, but he could guess. Mustering up all his will power, Conner gave her a small but firm nod of acknowledgement. Seeing this the Elf smiled before letting go of his arm. She then turned around and ran towards the next person she saw near the water's edge.

Conner watched her go before turning his focus back to the large stone gate situated in the center of the valley. Who was he to not head the words of a Hero? With a little more energy in his movements, more than one would expect from someone freshly dead, he strolled towards the gate.

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Conner now found himself in a long corridor. The walls and ceiling were made from black stone, and the floor black marble. Wall braziers lined the walls at even intervals holding pale blue flame, providing light. Behind him was a wall. The only path he could take was forwards. Stealing his resolve, he walked down the long quiet corridor, the only noise being the echoes of his footsteps.

After a few minutes the hall ended, and what he saw past the hall exit was a fairly spacious chamber. Stepping into the circular chamber the first thing he noticed was the sand. The entire floor was covered in grey sand, and in the middle of the room on a short round platform was a large pile of more sand.

The next thing he noticed was the figure sitting on a throne on the opposite end of the room. She wore a long black coat that reached down past her own knees. A dark red shirt the color of dried blood just underneath and sturdy black pants. Her legs were crossed as she sat on her black throne looking almost bored. A large halberd was held in her left hand next to her. He also noted she didn't where any shoes, which just confirmed his bias that a monster wouldn't have any decency, ignoring the fact Lucilla was fully dressed.

Conner glared at the crimsoned eyed monster with hate. He was met with a glare in return, the blood red of its eyes seemingly digging into his soul. They continued to glare at each other in silence before the crimson eyes looked away first. For a few seconds Conner felt a little proud, like he just won a miniature battle. That is until he noticed her standing up.

"Conner Heckle." It spoke. "I'll be the one to decide your fate today. Come forth and stand before the pile of sand."

The silver haired monster slowly walked towards the pile of sand sitting between them until they were standing directly in front of it. It stood there watching him silently, waiting for him to approach. Feeling slightly suffocated Conner reached for his sword, unsheathing it from his side. Seeing his actions the monster let out a tired sigh. It slowly lifted one of their hands, and before he could even react, he found his sword sliced in half.

"Wha-?" He squeaked looking at the broken blade in disbelief. He then felt a force pull on his body, dragging him towards the sand pile. He tried to fight it, but no matter how much he tried to move in the opposite direction he still ended up next to the sand.

"Things will go much smoother if you just do as you're told." The monster said in a low threatening growl. Holding out its hand again, their open palm facing upwards, a bright flame appeared without a magic circle. "Your time here with me will be much more pleasant if you do. Understand?"

Conner stood their frozen as an intense pressure fell over him. The suffocating feeling he was experiencing has grown worse, and he struggled to breath. No longer having the capability to speak he gave the crimsoned eyed monster a single stiff nod. He wasn't sure what had happened between his death and now, but this feeling of power this thing exuded was not there back in the forest.

"Good, then take a hand full of sand and let it fall into the pile." It instructed.

With slow carful movements, Conner grabbed a handful of grey sand, before letting it fall. The silver haired monster held out her hand towards the sand pile, a golden light emanating from them. As the sand fell from his hands, conner noticed that it had changed from being grey in color. It now cascaded from his had in three different hues: light blue, red, and white.

Most of the sand that fell from his hand was light blue, while a smaller percentage was that of white and red. When the colored sand hit the pile in front of him, the grey sand gradually turned colorful as well. The two figures in the room stood there for several minutes as they watched the sand pile turn into a pile of light blue. A small portion of the pile was also white, and an even smaller portion was red.

Once all the sand had turned from grey and into one of the three colors, the sand fell from the small dais and onto the floor where the rest of the sand was located. Unlike with the pile, the sand on the floor didn't take long to change color. Like a pie chart, the colored sand sorted itself into three different sections, the light blue taking over half of the room.

Suddenly a dim blue light shone from one of the walls to Conners left. Turning in the direction of the light he noticed three archways, each being one of the three colors. The middle blue arch was shining, as if inviting him to go over to it.

"Looks like your fate has been decided." The monster woman spoke as it walked towards the arch. "Come, time for you to join the rest of the souls in the afterlife."

Placing a hand on the archway, the same golden light from before appeared. The middle of the arch turned from a black wall and into glowing blue portal. It didn't show the other side however which made Conner hesitant to go through it. Seeing his hesitance the monster woman let out another sigh before speaking.

"If you don't step through on your own, I have permission to forcefully toss you into it." It then tapped its halberd on the ground, causing the twang of the weapon made to resonate throughout the room. "I'm sure you don't want to experience that."

Conner looked at them, then back at the portal. Steeling his nerves he walked towards the portal with steady steps. Once in front of it he gave the monster woman one more glance before stepping through. He then found himself standing in the middle of a large space in what looked to be a city. Turning around, the only thing he saw was a large official looking building. Looking ahead once more he saw an imposing black castle in the distance, overlooking the city with its majesty.

"Am I really here?" He wondered to himself.

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---Lucilla General POV---

"These people are annoying." Lucilla grumbled as she lowered herself into the black throne. "Guess I should read up on the next person."

She picked up the next file on the table next to her, reading over the file of the soul who would come next. As she read the room proceeded to reset itself, all the sand turning grey and some of it magically moving to the center dais to form a new pile. Lucilla couldn't help but roll her eyes at how dramatic this whole system was, since she knew it could be much simpler if Ovana so wished it.

Going through each person one by one took a surprisingly long time, most of which came from reading over their files. While she didn't really care about most (if any) of these souls, she took her job very seriously. She worked far too hard to gain power from Ovana to throw it all away by being lazy. She wouldn't risk her Goddess deeming her unsuited and take that power away because she didn't do her job properly.

"Oh? You knew Morella?" Lucilla said surprised as she read the file of a dead nymph. "Well, I hope you end up having a good time down here."

Lucilla spent the next hour reading over the nymph's long life before she felt ready to receive her. Pouring Mana into the file, it disappeared in a flash of blue flame, and a few seconds later a Dryad walked into the room from the opposite side.

'Last soul of the day.' Lucilla thought as she asked the nymph to step towards the sand pile.