"Brother Meng... broke through?"
Feeling the intense surge of energy radiating from Han Meng, Xi Renjie's eyes filled with astonishment and joy.
When the shadow centipedes had invaded the streets earlier, Xi Renjie had assumed Han Meng had fallen in battle. Yet not only was he alive—he had advanced to the fifth tier of the [Judgment] path. Now, Han Meng wasn’t just the strongest enforcer in District Three… he was likely the first fifth-tier enforcer across all seven districts.
Chen Ling stood among the crowd, watching the scene with keen interest.
He, too, was curious—what exactly was the fifth-tier skill of the [Judgment] path?
As Han Meng raised his gun, even the dim sunlight filtering through the fog seemed to darken further. Before the roaring flames, his black coat fluttered with an irresistible authority, as if he were the absolute ruler within his range… a judge peering into the abyss, a gun poised to deliver verdicts.
"[Judgment of Sin]—court is now in session."
The moment Han Meng spoke, intricate patterns erupted beneath his feet, spreading like wildfire across the ground within the range of his "courtroom."
The surging tide of shadows froze mid-motion. Then, the rocks and soil beneath them deconstructed and reformed, transforming into chains that bound them all to the earth, forcing them into submission!
Before the eyes of the crowd, the entire shadow centipede swarm was forced to kneel on the scorched earth before the inferno, like countless "defendants" shackled to their seats, awaiting judgment.
And now, the blazing fire cast half of Han Meng’s face in sharp relief, carving knife-edged shadows across his features.
He was the judge of this courtroom.
The sole entity permitted to move freely within this domain.
Unnoticed by most, his pupils had taken on a dark crimson hue. Those eyes, capable of piercing through all falsehoods, swept over the prostrate swarm. After a long silence, his low voice—unshakable as divine decree—echoed above the kneeling creatures.
"Before this court stands the Eighth Brood of the Centipede Kin, hailing from the Mocking Abyss..."
"Guilty of invading human territory, slaughtering civilians, and feasting upon human flesh."
"Judgment of Sin: Guilty."
"Sentence: Death by fire."
With that, Han Meng calmly pulled the trigger.
Click—
A soft sound came from the barrel, but no bullet was fired.
Instead, the raging inferno behind Han Meng came alive.
A pillar of fire, dozens of meters wide, erupted like the furious sword of a fire god descending upon the mortal realm—crashing down upon the swarm with apocalyptic force.
BOOM—!!!
The searing flames swallowed over a hundred shadow centipedes in an instant. Their agonized shrieks merged into a deafening chorus, nearly rupturing eardrums.
The black shadows writhed wildly within the fire, like shackled prisoners dancing in their final moments. Those standing outside the inferno could only watch, their minds reeling.
These same centipedes had slaughtered half of District Three… and yet, with a single pull of the trigger, Han Meng had reduced them all to ashes.
This was the first time any of them had witnessed a fifth-tier fighter in action.
The first time they had truly understood the terror of the [Judgment] path.
"Chen Ling… are you okay?" Hearing the repeated gulping beside him, Xi Renjie turned in confusion.
"...N-Nothing."
Chen Ling shut his eyes, hiding the hunger flashing in his pupils. He pressed a hand to his forehead, voice rough. "I’m not feeling well… I need to step away."
Without waiting for a response, he quickly retreated from the battlefield. Only when he reached a secluded spot did he frantically stuff dirt into his nostrils—blocking out the intoxicating aroma of roasted "chickens"—before finally relaxing slightly.
Recalling what he had just witnessed, Chen Ling suddenly felt that choosing to replicate the [Judgment] path had been an excellent decision.
The flames raged on, incinerating swathes of shadow centipedes. The mother entity, still bound to the earth, let out a roar of fury. Its massive body twisted violently, shattering the chains restraining it before charging at Han Meng in a frenzy!
Han Meng’s earlier shot had sentenced all the offspring to death—but the mother, a fifth-tier Calamity, wouldn’t be burned so easily.
Its body whipped up a gale, briefly parting the sea of fire as it surged forward. The dark red maw on its head split open, unleashing countless shadowy tendrils that lashed toward the black-clad figure like a forest of grasping hands.
Han Meng crouched slightly—then vanished, reappearing mid-air as a blur. The shadowy limbs slammed into the ground where he had stood before twisting upward to pursue him into the sky.
High above, Han Meng’s crimson-tinted eyes narrowed, locking onto the colossal centipede once more.
Amid the howling wind, his gun rose again.
"Mocking Abyss, Eighth Brood of the Centipede Kin… guilty of capital offenses. Sentence: Annihilation."
As Han Meng pulled the trigger, a force akin to an invisible blade descended from the heavens, erasing the shadowy limbs that had nearly seized his ankles into nothingness. Sensing imminent peril, the mother entity scrambled sideways—but not fast enough.
Half of its body disintegrated in an instant.
Now at the fifth tier, Han Meng’s power had ascended to an entirely new level. The range of his deconstruction ability had expanded exponentially. With each pull of the trigger, craters dozens of meters wide silently formed across the earth, as if an invisible meteor shower were striking the land.
"So this is the fifth tier…" Xi Renjie murmured, watching the black-clad figure battle the mother entity with awe.
The other enforcers stared just as reverently, as if witnessing a deity in action.
Meanwhile, Chen Ling was preoccupied with another thought—
If a fifth-tier enforcer is already this terrifying… how strong must the high-tier enforcers in Aurora City be?
Under Han Meng’s relentless judgment, the mother entity’s body was soon reduced to tattered ruins. Desperate, it began weaving through the barrage of deconstructive force, making a frantic dash toward the Gray Realm convergence point deep within the steel factory…
It was running away.
At this point, it stood no chance against Han Meng. Its only hope was to flee back to the Gray Realm—but Han Meng had no intention of letting it escape.
As the mother entity staggered through the flames, the pit drawing nearer, a black-clad figure descended from the sky like a vengeful shadow, landing squarely between it and the convergence point.
The gun in his hand leveled at the dark red maw on the creature’s head.
"In the name of human civilization’s justice…"
"I sentence you to death."
Bang—!
The mother entity’s massive head vanished on the spot, as if erased by an unseen hand—leaving behind only a perfectly smooth cross-section. Crimson blood oozed from the mutilated corpse as it collapsed heavily to the ground.
The flames licked at its remains, slowly charring it to cinders.
Under the tense gazes of the crowd, the tattered black-clad figure limped out of the inferno.
A wave of relieved cheers erupted. The people swarmed around him, their eyes brimming with reverence and admiration.
Han Meng walked through the crowd in silence. When he passed Chen Ling and Xi Renjie, his voice dropped to a whisper.
"You two… come with me."