Judgment and Punishment

The instant her words fell, an intense aura of sanctity surged from Aponia. Ethereal and faint, accompanied by holy light descending from above, the entire hall transformed into a sacred, solemn chapel, making one instinctively want to kneel and bow in worship.

Yet, when Ren looked at her, all he saw was a vast darkness. Illusory arms emerged from her sides, and the brilliant, multicolored golden butterfly wings behind her added a touch of eerie strangeness. Despite the scene's apparent nobility and purity, it carried an unsettling chill.

"Confess, misguided lamb. God shall forgive your sins and cleanse your soul." Aponia prayed with closed eyes, seemingly petitioning a deity, yet also appearing to execute judgment.

Ren could feel his body instinctively wanting to kneel, to perform the so-called repentance she demanded. Simultaneously, a strong sense of guilt began to well up within him, interrogating his very self, questioning everything he had done.

"You deceive others with woven lies, you stand by and watch others die on your path forward, you never conceal the malice within your heart..."

"You... are guilty!"

The judgment from on high was delivered. Countless sins manifested from the void like shackles, binding Ren tightly.

Aponia opened her eyes, her dim pupils utterly vacant. At this moment, she resembled a true deity, her gaze filled with pity.

The instant she opened her eyes, intense light fell from the heavens, enveloping Ren. What should have been holy light felt like acid upon contact, searing his skin.

"Feel this pain! Endure this pain! This is the salvation granted by God!"

A sizzling sound arose from Ren's skin. In moments, his arms and shoulders were severely burned. As wisps of smoke rose, he could even smell the aroma of roasting meat.

"Pitiful lambs again, searing holy light again... Should I sprinkle some cumin on myself? Serve me up as a whole roast lamb?" Despite his skin burning, Ren just sneered.

He looked down at Aponia. With a casual wave of his hand, a mist-like darkness surged from his body—the collected malice of the Herrscher of Sentience, the very sin he constantly bore.

"Since you wish to cleanse my darkness, let's see if you have the strength." As he spoke, the darkness spread from his feet, driven by his will, seeping like thick ink across the white floor tiles, gradually corrupting the entire chapel.

The sunlight from above remained bright, yet the area around Ren became pitch black, as if shrouded by storm clouds. Gradually, even the holy light could no longer penetrate the darkness. Only the spot where Aponia knelt retained a sliver of sunlight.

"How about it, devout nun?"

"You..."

As a unique wielder of mental control abilities, Aponia, even while enacting her Discipline, was herself an amalgamation of many dark aspects. She chose to imprison herself like a penitent nun precisely because this power was uncontrollable. E

ven if her intentions were absolutely benevolent, the Discipline would inevitably twist unpredictably due to her own inner darkness during its use, indirectly contributing to many disasters in the Previous Era.

She wrapped herself in the shell of divine sanctity solely to suppress her inner malice. She looked down upon mortals like a god, passing judgment, precisely because she herself embodied darkness.

Yet even she, who had witnessed countless forms of darkness, couldn't help but hold her breath, her expression turning serious as she felt the negative emotions radiating from Ren. So much negativity converging within a single individual—it was clearly beyond the limits of what her Discipline could control.

"Who are you?" She dropped the facade of sanctity, a trace of unease creeping into her voice.

"That's not for you to know." Ren didn't answer, instead looking towards the far end of the chapel. Where there had been nothing before, a stairway now stretched towards the heavens.

Before the stairs stood an exquisite marble statue. The statue was pure white, depicting a nun paused in prayer. On closer inspection, the sculpture bore a strong resemblance to Aponia.

But unlike her, the statue remained bathed in gentle sunlight, while Aponia herself was now stained by darkness.

"I see. Is this the stairway to the Immaculate Land?"

The stairway's appearance signified that Aponia was shaken. Fear of Ren had begun to take root, creating a flaw in her Discipline.

Ignoring Aponia, who still knelt on the floor, Ren walked towards the statue. But he had barely taken two steps when an icy aura struck from behind. A cold smirk touched Ren's lips. He tilted his head slightly, and a golden beam of light grazed past his hair, embedding itself in the wall.

He turned back, mockery unconcealed in his expression. "Right now, you don't seem much like a compassionate nun."

Aponia had risen from the floor. Her golden butterfly wings fluttered constantly, scattering specks of starlight. The multiple pairs of arms at her sides swayed, giving her a bizarre and grotesque appearance.

"God granted me authority; I shall naturally execute His judgment." Knowing Ren wasn't easily provoked, Aponia dropped the holier-than-thou act. She spread her hands, and countless branches of light descended from above like golden lightning, shattering the darkness Ren had dispersed.

"Whether in the Elysian Realm or reality, you are a threat that cannot be ignored. I must eliminate you!" Perhaps unable to contain her malice any longer, the sides of her skirt turned pitch black, as if stained with filth. And the branches of light descending from her hands now lacked any trace of holy purity, containing only cold, raw psychic energy.

"Heh. Clearly steeped in sin yourself, yet you still falsely claim divine authority to punish the transgressions of others."

Seeing the darkness in the hall begin to dissipate, Ren smiled faintly. The dense negative energy contracted rapidly, obedient as a pet. The darkness coalesced, finally forming a pitch-black wolf that crouched possessively at his side.

"Get back!" The wolf snarled, baring vicious fangs at Aponia.

"Stubbornly unrepentant!"

In the span of their conversation, the chapel instantly became a battlefield. As it was a battle on the mental plane, Ren didn't even directly participate. He simply stood his ground while the wolf clashed violently with Aponia.

Aponia had initially intended to attack Ren in her judge persona, but the wolf formed from the Herrscher of Sentience's malice was simply too ferocious, forcing her to take flight into the air.

"So-called repentance... merely using God's name as a lie to excuse one's own evil deeds."

Without a doubt, the Herrscher of Sentience, having calmly accepted the malice of countless individuals, was, in a sense, a natural counter to beings like Aponia who used Discipline to restrain their own sin.

It was precisely for this reason that, even though Ren hadn't directly intervened, after a period of entanglement, Aponia, despite her advantage of flight, found herself subtly losing ground.