"If I truly want you, then there is not a force in the known world capable of keeping you away from me."
Hesabeth said this with an excited smile, and Jason gave Hesabeth a tight smile in return.
"I’ll keep that in mind."
Hesabeth’s smile widened beautifully, and she patted Jason on the chest with her fan before she turned to walk away.
"Good luck in your trial, Jason Marc of Earth. Until we meet again."
Jason released a tense breath once Hesabeth was gone, and he finally moved to meet up with Gina and the other members of his group. Jason still didn’t like the fact that Hesabeth had literally mind-controlled all of his group members, but Jason knew that there was nothing he could do against it since it was the Primordial Expanse itself that was controlling them. Was there any artefact or magical technique in the world that would be capable of countering an attack from the Primordial Expanse itself? Jason would have to look into it. Once Jason was close enough, he asked Gina how she was feeling, and Jason was surprised when Gina just smiled and shrugged.
"I’m fine. Hesabeth seems pretty nice. What did you talk about?"
Jason didn’t even know if he could get used to this! It was so weird to see Gina accepting someone like Hesabeth so easily. Everyone else seemed to see Hesabeth as some great person that they needed to defend, but Jason could only think of her as a twisted, self-centered woman! Jason shook his head, and he said that Hesabeth refused to help out. Jason told them that he tried to use trade deals to appeal to Hesabeth, but Hesabeth wasn’t interested, and Jason didn’t think they should expect any support from her in the hearing. Most of the group seemed to be fine with that, and Agiel even said that she was surprised Hesabeth agreed to speak to him at all. Hesabeth was known as a very prideful woman, and it was unheard of for her to stop and speak to anyone the way she stopped to speak to Jason. Jason just shrugged, and the group started moving down the hall again.
But as they walked, Jason remembered the interaction he saw between Hesabeth and Lamina, and he realised that Hesabeth had been a bit too hostile towards Lamina in that interaction. Jason asked the system if there was any history between the two women, and the system replied.
[Queen Lamina of the Vympir was only recently crowned as the ruler of her world and the eighth seat on the Council of Nine and One. Before Queen Lamina, there existed another Queen of the Vympir race known as Gillian. Queen Gillian was rumored to be one of the most powerful Vympirs to ever exist, and she had a charismatic and welcoming personality that drew followers to her in droves. From the system’s stored data, it appears that Queen Gillian and Queen Hesabeth were very close friends, and they would always be seen spending time together in their respective worlds. But unfortunately, Queen Gillian of the Vympir was attacked by an unregistered creature and pronounced dead nearly a century ago. The lack of data on Queen Gillian’s death and the fact that a body was never found sparked great anger from Queen Hesabeth, and she went on a rage-filled search for Queen Gillian that saw her powers go out of control and this caused over ten billion creatures from multiple worlds to begin jumping across various dimensions in a mad frenzy just to carry out her desires. It took the intervention of the leader of the Council of Nine and One, along with your father, Richard Marc, to calm Hesabeth’s anger and stop the mad search. But even a century later, the relationship between Queen Hesabeth and the Vympir race is still strained since Hesabeth blames them for not providing the proper protection for her friend.]
Jason hummed when he read through all this. So that’s why Queen Hesabeth looked so angry. Jason didn’t think that Hesabeth was the sort of person to form close friendships with anyone, so Jason was surprised to see that she had actually been such good friends with someone. In a way, Jason could understand Hesabeth’s anger. Jason would also be pissed if he learned that someone close to him had been killed without any reasonable explanation and a body was never even found.
’But I can’t believe she has enough power to influence ten billion creatures because she wanted to search for someone. I wonder what would happen if she decided that she wanted someone dead. Would the Primordial Expanse blow up an entire world just to kill that one person?’
Jason chuckled at his own thought, but Jason had no idea at this moment that it wouldn’t take long before he found out exactly what would happen if Hesabeth really wanted someone dead.
....
The Hall of Fallen Heroes was located at the central annex of the Stone Catacombs. Since it had once been the throne room of the Rogue King who ruled over a vast portion of the Primordial Expanse, the entire central annex had an extraordinary grandeur and beauty that would make most people gape in shock once they entered! Jason and his group made their way towards a large pair of double golden doors that led into the central annex, and Jason saw two Faceless Keepers standing in front of the door calmly. The Faceless Keepers bowed to Jason and his group once they were close enough, and one of them spoke up in a calm tone.
"Welcome to the Hall of Fallen Heroes. We ask that you maintain the highest decorum while within this great hall. All those who are not directly involved in the trial will be required to sit at the side along with the other non-representatives and guards, while the representatives should please take the stands and wait for the council’s entrance. Any act of aggression within this hall will attract severe punishment to both the individual and the world they belong to. We wish you the best of luck as you seek justice for your worlds."
Doon!
The giant golden doors slowly began to open, and Jason felt his eyes widen slightly in awe as he saw what was beyond them. The Hall of Fallen Heroes was huge! It had a circular design that made it look like a giant colosseum, but it was so large that Jason was sure that they could fit a fucking football field inside! There were ten thrones arranged in a circle at the center of the room. Nine of the thrones were of the same size, and they were made from a shiny black rock that made them shine like obsidian, while the tenth throne was larger than the other nine, and it was made from pure gold! The thrones were arranged around a large stage that you had to climb up some stairs to reach, and at the center of the stage was an intricate silver sword with a golden handle that had been stabbed into a large rock.
Jason looked to the side, and he saw that there was an area that had many seats for an audience. The seats were arranged in the same way that seats in a courtroom would be arranged, and there were already a few people from various worlds standing or sitting there. Jason recognized some of them as the guards and escorts that he had seen with Lamina and Hesabeth earlier, and Jason realized that all these people were escorts of the various Council members.