A.N: 3 extra chapters for the recent gifts... These will be the last bonus chapters before we return to the regular release schedule unless, of course, more gifts arrive :)
Thank you all for your support!
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The days passed...
And yet, that young man remained locked away in his dark cell.
From time to time, many came to see him ... his sister, his comrades.
But Frey Starlight never responded to anyone. He simply sat there, lost in a daze, occasionally falling into fits of hysterical madness.
He had been like this for days now.
His body, strangely enough, continued to heal on its own.
He refused food, refused water ...rejected them all.
And yet, his body still functioned perfectly.
Every day, Frey Starlight became more of an enigma to those who watched him, as the empire prepared itself for his trial.
The victor of the Victoriad ...once hailed as one of the greatest talents, the boy who defeated the chosen hero ... was now a prisoner, chained atop cold stone, awaiting the judgment of others to decide his fate.
Events unfolded quickly.
Yet far away from Frey, and the endless uproar within the empire ..
Back at the hospital that had witnessed Frey's madness and his suicidal outburst ..
That facility now lay in ruins.
Among the wreckage and the crumbling building,
you could still see broken medical equipment and a few lingering stains of blood.
Hidden among the debris was something no one had noticed:
A laptop.
A black laptop, still running, its screen illuminated with a simple, unwavering message.
Unseen by anyone, it remained like that for days.
On its glowing screen, a set of words gleamed:
> Final Mission: Completed.
– Phase One: Complete.
– Upgrading Author's Tools to the Next Level.
– Author's Tools Level 1 >>> Level 2.
– Progress: 91%
Slowly, that number inched toward the perfect 100% ...
marking the beginning of an entirely new chapter in the story of Frey Starlight.
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Belgrad.
The day had come ...the day that would determine his fate.
The fate of Frey Starlight.
Inside the Court of Light ...the place where the empire's most critical trials had been held throughout its history ...the doors opened once more, this time for a boy who had only just turned eighteen.
The trial was made public. Every seat inside the grand courtroom was filled to the brim.
It was almost laughable ..this was the same court that once sentenced the former temple head, Raphael Bloodmader.
Now, it was about to do the same to a mere student.
Special seats were reserved for the heads of noble houses, behind them the guild leaders, and the strongest awakened.
The courtroom was built in a circular fashion, with the accused standing in the center, surrounded by countless watching eyes.
Seated at the highest position, Emperor Maekar Valerion himself presided over the proceedings ...
the man who would ultimately decide whether Frey Starlight would live... or die.
All of Frey's acquaintances were present his family, his peers... everyone.
You could even see that strange alliance forming:
the Starlight and Sunlight families sitting together, side by side.
Aegon and Sansa sat near their father, while, strangely enough, Oliver Khan sat closer to Princess Sansa than to the emperor this time.
The sound of murmurs filled the courtroom as people whispered about the situation, but the entire hall fell silent the moment the great doors opened.
Through them entered Ivar Valerion, followed by two guards dragging a young man behind them.
Frey Starlight.
Chained, barefoot, he staggered toward the center of the court ...
his white hair disheveled, falling messily across his face and body.
He wore nothing but a dirty white shirt and black trousers.
Yet despite everything, his body looked... flawless. Perfectly healed.
It made no sense.
Who could believe that this was the same boy who had once stood as the champion of the Victoriad?
The hero who had turned into a criminal overnight.
They tied him in place under hundreds of watching eyes,
and the guards stepped back ..leaving Ivar alone standing there, facing Frey.
Ivar inspected him closely...
"Don't bother resisting. The more you struggle, the tighter these chains will bind you."
"..."
Frey said nothing.
The chains wrapped around him were a special tool, crafted to imprison even the most dangerous criminals ..
tightening their grip with every attempt to resist, to the point where they could literally crush the victim's body.
Seated upon a wooden chair, bound in place,
Frey silently waited for the trial to begin.
And it was Maekar who finally announced it:
"Let the trial of the former Lord of House Starlight... Frey Starlight... begin."
The courtroom fell into complete silence for a moment, until Maekar continued:
"First... let us present the defendant's crimes one final time for all to hear."
Responding to the Emperor's words, Ivar stepped forward and began.
"The crimes committed by Frey Starlight are as follows ..."
He listed the charges:
"He murdered thirty-eight individuals ...both men and women during his rampage at the Temple Hospital.
All his victims were killed barehanded, without the use of any weapon."
Rumble...
That first charge alone was enough to ignite a wave of indignation toward Frey.
The courtroom stirred with anger as murmurs and shouts for his execution filled the hall.
But all noise ceased the moment Maekar Valerion released his oppressive aura,
forcing everyone to submit under its overwhelming weight.
Without even glancing at them, the Emperor motioned to Ivar.
"Continue."
With a nod, the current Headmaster of the Temple proceeded:
"Second... the defendant unleashed a devastating attack that could have annihilated the entire Temple.
Fortunately, it resulted only in material damage."
Ivar paused briefly before adding:
"Although further casualties were avoided, it is crucial to recognize that the defendant possesses powers capable of killing not just thirty-eight people... but potentially thousands, if not more."
In other words, Frey Starlight could not be treated as an ordinary criminal ..
he had the potential to cause a catastrophe.
"The defendant also wields an SS ranked flaming weapon,
one of the rarest in existence .. classified in the same league as the Sacred Sword, Vermithor.
We still don't know how he acquired it, but it is suspected that it originated from the Eastern Nightmare Lands, where the defendant spent an entire year."
With each revelation about Frey, the murmuring slowly began to return.
A boy who lived among monsters... and became a monster himself.
That, most likely, was what everyone thought.
But Ivar wasn't finished yet.
"And finally... although we have yet to confirm it completely .."
The Headmaster hesitated seriously before uttering the final bombshell:
"The defendant appears capable of breaking the limits of his talent.
His innate potential, initially ranked as A, has recently risen to S."
It was as if someone had lit a fuse.
The courtroom erupted into chaos,
an explosion of gasps, cries, and disbelief.
Many could not accept what they had just heard ...
some gasped in horror, others flatly denied it.
Breaking the limit of one's innate potential was deemed impossible ..
a miracle.
A miracle achieved by this boy.
In other words, Ivar was telling them:
the boy standing before them was a monster whose bounds were unknown.
A monster whose path was unpredictable.
In the worst-case scenario...
he could grow into the greatest threat they had ever faced.
That thought alone was enough to drive the masses into hysteria.
Calls for his immediate execution roared through the courtroom.
It wasn't just the spectators ..
even some of the powerful ranked individuals seated in the special sections demanded his death.
Amidst the escalating chaos, as the public sentiment heavily tilted toward one side ..
An old man rose from his seat and walked slowly toward the center.
Every gaze fell upon him.
Iris Sunlight.