As everyone watched the puddle, they became more nervous.
Overlord Sunlight had been convinced that Overlord Sandpike was some kind of Demon in disguise, but the bodies of Demons usually returned to normal after they died.
Yet, Overlord Sandpike's body didn't change.
Had she made a wrong call?
Had she killed an innocent person?
Senior Protector Blooddrought looked at the puddle with furrowed brows. Had Manny made a mistake?
WHOOOOM!
At that moment, the entire world seemed to change as everyone felt like a tsunami was about to collapse onto them. The Ascendants became terrified and stopped moving, including Senior Protector Blooddrought.
"This ends now!" a dominating voice echoed throughout the world as a woman with blue hair appeared above everyone.
Overlord Riverly, one of the last two Two-Infused Ascendants.
"I can prove he's a Demon!" Manny transmitted to Overlord Riverly and Overlord Sunlight.
"Silence!" Overlord Riverly answered, her overwhelming power pushing Manny towards the ground.
"Give him a chance," Overlord Sunlight transmitted. "If his claims are empty, I will voluntarily accept judgment, but if his claims are true, this is an opportunity for all of Humanity!"
Overlord Riverly gritted her teeth. What the fuck was going on today?! Why had three Overlords died today?!
Overlord Riverly looked at Senior Protector Blooddrought. The two of them had worked together several times on the frontlines. "What is going on here?!" she asked via voice transmissions.
"Ask Lieutenant General Psychosis Manifestation," Blooddrought answered. "I trust him."
Overlord Riverly's fists clenched. Nothing made sense anymore. Why would Blooddrought put her life in the hands of a random Sage?!
"Give him a chance!" Overlord Sunlight transmitted.
"Give him a chance!" Blooddrought transmitted.
Overlord Riverly turned to Manny with intense aggression.
BANG!
Manny was thrown towards the puddle of blood that was Overlord Sandpike.
"Prove that he's a Demon or face judgment!"
Manny didn't answer and immediately started analyzing the puddle.
Was Overlord Sandpike a Demon?
According to his physiology, he seemed perfectly human, but according to logic, he had to be a Demon. Otherwise, his behavior wouldn't have made any sense.
There had been a lot of guesses as to what was actually happening in Ayuvar. The group believed that the Overseer was some kind of Divine Beast that managed to make the world believe that it was human. Yet, nobody had ever seen such a beast.
There were intelligent and humanoid Demons, but their physiology was still very different from a human's. Humanity had never seen a Demon that could perfectly disguise itself as a human.
Manny had also never seen such a Demon, which meant that he didn't know how they worked.
If this were such a Demon, Manny would need to find a way to prove that it was a Demon, and he didn't have a lot of time to do so.
All of Manny's knowledge about the human body shot through his mind as he tried to make sense of the bloody mess in front of him.
Everything looked perfectly human. Manny knew a lot about these things, and even with all of his knowledge, he couldn't see anything that shouldn't be there.
There was nothing wrong.
After looking at the corpse for just three seconds, Manny was certain.
This was not a Demon.
This was an actual human.
There was no doubt about it.
But then, a possibility shot through Manny's mind.
"I need Star Genesis and Black Sin Hammer 37's help," he transmitted to Overlord Riverly. "I believe I can prove it."
Overlord Riverly's glare intensified, but moments later, Kyle and Star Genesis were teleported to Manny.
"Kyle, you know all of the Minor Elemental Laws," Manny transmitted. "Remake the body according to my specifications. Star Genesis, I need you to create a Formation Array. I will tell you how to make it."
"Okay," the two of them answered.
Manny gave both of them countless instructions. He highlighted every little bit of blood in front of him and gave them specific coordinates.
Kyle followed Manny's command, and the Elements around him intensified.
The blood, guts, bones, and organs started to move and shift as Energy entered them.
Star Genesis created countless Nodes and Connections under Manny's command.
About a minute later, Overlord Sandpike's body returned to normal. It almost seemed like he was alive.
Kyle had no idea how accurate Manny had been. Sure, most of the stuff was in the right place, but how could he possibly differentiate between all the little pieces of brain?
Most likely, quite a lot of it had been put back incorrectly.
"Activate it," Manny told Star Genesis.
Star Genesis had no idea what kind of Formation Array she had just created. It seemed alien and broke all kinds of conventions. However, she still knew how to activate it.
As it activated, five Grade Six Energy Stones immediately turned into dust, and all of the Energy entered the body.
Yet, that was it. Nothing else was happening.
When Manny saw that, his eyes widened in realization.
"Kyle, do you see any Karmic Lines?!" Manny asked with urgency.
"Karmic Lines?" Kyle repeated in confusion as he looked at the body.
Dead bodies didn't have any Karmic Lines.
Yet, as Kyle looked at the body, he saw a thin and faint Karmic Line.
"There is one!" Kyle shouted.
At that moment, Overlord Riverly also focused on the Karmic Luck of the reconstructed body, and after focusing for a bit, she could also see the Karmic Line.
When she saw that, her eyes widened in realization.
BANG!
The body exploded into pieces as Overlord Riverly's sword hit it.
Kyle was taken aback by the sudden attack, but he still noticed something peculiar. The Karmic Line pulsed with a blue wave and vanished.
BANG!
Overlord Riverly broke into the ground at ferocious speeds, leaving everyone else behind.
Moments later, Manny sighed in relief as he fell onto his ass.
Everyone else just looked at him in shock.
What had just happened?
"Manny, what's going on?" Kyle asked.
"Was it purple?" Manny asked.
"The Karmic Line? Yes," Kyle answered.
"Good," Manny said. "That means I was right."
"Great, but what's going on, though?" Kyle asked.
"We tried to resurrect him just now," Manny said. "You recreated the body to a degree that allows the world to identify him. Star Genesis created an ancient Formation Array that pulls in dissipated Energy, based on someone's identity."
"Resurrection?" Kyle asked in terror as he remembered the time he had created the small weasel. Resurrecting an Ascendant would probably have much greater consequences than just creating a mortal weasel.
"No worries, I would have stopped it in time," Manny transmitted. "The theory of resurrection is not difficult and very, very old. In fact, it predates this entire... conflict, if you know what I mean."
'He probably means the conflict between the two Gods,' Kyle thought.
"Apparently, it worked for a while, but then, it stopped working, and anyone who tried to resurrect anyone else was killed. We just tried to resurrect Sandpike, but you saw what happened," Manny said.
"There was no Energy," Star Genesis said.
"Correct," Manny confirmed. "The Formation Array consumed its entire Energy Source to sense for Energy related to Sandpike's existence as a living individual, but it didn't find any. This kind of Energy is important. Without it, the resurrected person wouldn't be themselves anymore."
"Part of the Energy used to activate the Formation Array enters the mind and Soul of the corpse, putting it into a half-dead, half-alive state. It is supposed to remain there for a moment and be replaced by the actual Energy. Yet, that never happened."
"Fewer details, please," Kyle transmitted. "I just want to know what this means."
"Does your arm have a Karmic Line?" Manny asked.
Kyle blinked a couple of times. "What a weird question. Probably not. I mean, it's part of me."
"Alright, what if we cut off your arm, give it a brain, and resurrect it? Would it have a Karmic Line?"
Kyle's eyes widened as he realized what Manny meant.
BANG!
The ground exploded as Overlord Riverly returned.
In her hand was a small and fleshy sphere with a couple of spindly legs.
The legs were moving, which meant this thing was still alive.
This was Overlord Sandpike's true appearance.
The Overlord Sandpike they had killed was just a detached arm, metaphorically speaking.
This explained everything.
Overlord Sandpike could say that he was human because he was human.
Yet, he couldn't say that he fit Humanity's definition of a human. After all...
Humans were born by the union of two other humans.
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