"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
*DOOOOOOOOOON*
"!!!!!"
A split second before the prison shiv would reach the guard's body, a distinguished-looking man in from the spectator's stand stood up and summoned his soul artifact, slamming his hand on the railing separating them from the rest of the courtroom.
That certainly stunned Viria for a moment.
He could recognize that man, his voice, and his soul artifact hovering behind him anywhere.
It was his very own father, and his soul artifact was the high-grade golden gong ā the symbol of their family!
*CHING* *CRACK*
The surprise was enough to allow the guard to struggle out of the young man's grip so that his prison shiv hit the armor's plates and broke apart just as its grade suggested it would.
"...oh..."
Seeing his soul artifact lose to a manmade object was a waking-up call that brought back Viria's reasoning.
*WHAM*
"You little...!"
*WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM* *WHAM*
The guard certainly wasn't happy about everyone seeing him almost get defeated by a convict with a trash-grade soul artifact, so he immediately punched him again, knocking Viria to the ground, and started pummeling him down as if there was no tomorrow.
...and the entire courtroom watched it without even trying to interfere...
The long-haired young man was doing his best to protect his head from the onslaught of punches, but the levels of cultivation weren't just for show.
Viria, as the barely initiated in the martial arts world, at the very start of his cultivation journey in the low-low levels had no chance with the guard who already entered low-middle levels.
"That should be enough."
Only ten minutes later, after Viria was beaten into a bloody mess, the judge called off the guard who was getting out of breath.
"Put him back on the chair."
"As you wish... your honor..."
The judge called, waving his hand in a demanding way, and the guard hurriedly bowed down to him, brutally grabbed Viria by the hair, and threw him onto the seat.
"...You threw a few measly punches... and are already out of breath...? You know my cultivation level, don't you...? Someone is missing their daily body training..."
"...!"
Although his eyes were swollen from multiple hits, Viria glared up at the guard and snickered mockingly, watching his trying to calm his breath in shame.
"Criminal, Viria! Your shameless acts only prove how rotten your personality truly is! The only thing I regret as a judge in this trial, is the shame your family that protected you through all these years must have faced because I have no doubt that there are more victims of your debauchery! As much as I am deeply disgusted by your heinous act, I am satisfied that you will not be able to harm any other innocent girl!"
"..."
The judge was getting heated, clearly enjoying speaking his mind to the young man who struggled to keep himself conscious.
Still, the words that the judge said...
They were so funny that Viria couldn't help himself but smile.
"Do you think this is funny?!"
The judge saw the cloudy smirk and his face became red from anger as veins popped up on his forehead and neck.
"...I do..."
"!!!"
Viria managed to mumble despite his mouth being messed up quite a bit, which send chills down the spines of everyone present.
The audacity of that criminal...!
"...I do... have a question... your honor..."
"...!"
But before anyone could erupt in fury, Viria spoke up as if continuing his words, making at least the judge misunderstand and calming him down in the process.
"Your sentence is set in stone, but as long as the question is appropriate, I will allow it."
The judge breathed out and nodded, holding his head up high with all the moral high ground available.
"I can see my father... and mother... but where is my younger twin brother...? Did he lock himself up in his room... shaking in fear like the pathetic scumbag that he is... ? because he feared that the girl he forced himself upon would be here to point him out as the real culprit...?"
"!!!"
Viria asked, slowly straightening his back, before turning his head back to make eye contact with his parents, whose faces became pale as the freshly fallen snow.
"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO PUSH THE BLAME ON OUR OWN BROTHER!"
"YOU VILE SNAKE! TO THINK THAT I CARRIED YOU UNDER MY OWN HEART!"
Both his mother and father stood up and started shouting over each other, doing whatever it was in their might to not allow the opinion of their sway in the very last moments of the trial.
That's right.
The Messedion family didn't have one child.
Viria had a younger twin brohter.
A spoiled, lazy brat who thought that he can do whatever he want to anyone he wants.
Mezur.
He was always the favorite child of their parents and every other member of their family.
How could he not be?
During the same spiritual awakening ceremony when Viria was outed as a trash grade soul artifact user, it was revealed that he possess the mythical grade soul artifact.
Heavenly gong.
From that point on, it was clear which one of the twins would be the next ruler of the Seventeenth Imperial city.
The problem was that Mezur began overusing his position almost immediately.
He was well known throughout the city for his scandalous behavior, but not a single person dared to openly critique him, considering the grade of his soul artifact.
Mezur would surely continue harassing every single girl that caught his attention, if not for a situation that resulted in the trial.
One day, a traveling merchant and his daughter entered the Seventeenth Imperial city together with a few guards.
They were supposed to stay only a few days, as their wares were meant to be transported all the way to the Ninth Imperial city in the Duodon magistrate.
Unfortunatley, it turned out that the daughter of said merchant was incredibly beautiful, and immediately caught the eye of Mezur.
On the night before the merchant was supposed to leave the city, Mezun, using the ability of his heavenly gong, stunned the guards protecting the inn in which the girl and her father were staying and proceeded to force himself on her.
If things would go, as usual, no one would dare to say a word, and the merchant himself would definitely force his daughter to stay quiet in fear of turning the entire city against him.
But the merchant wasn't a merchant at all.
It turned out that the man was an advisor to the Spirit Emperor himself, the ruler of the Spirit Empire, traveling incognito with his only daughter.
The wrath of someone like that is swift.
Before the dawn of the same night that his the Emperor's advisor's daughter was defiled, the entire city was completely surrounded by the third army of the Spirit Empire.
They came out with a demand ā give us the criminal to put to justice, or the entire city will be razed to the ground and every single citizen will be slain as compensation.
That was when Viria's trash grade soul artifact sentenced him to this wretched fate ā the choice was obvious for his family.
The evidence was prepared immediately and the witnesses were paid up their weight in rare herbs that boosted the speed of the cultivation.
Even the judge was bought, although he was clearly leagues above others when it comes to his acting abilities.
"Let one thing be known. You made the wrong choice."
"!!!"
Viria stood up from his seat, barely able to hold himself up, and declared, glaring at his panicking parents and spitting blood mixed with saliva in their direction.
"Everyone here heard enough. Guard. Take him away. He will rot in the Prison Dungeon one way or another."
The judge breathed out and shook his head, waving his hand dismissively towards the guard, as if he was too tired to listen to whatever the young man wanted to say.
"Move!"
The guard made a serious expression and nodded at the judge, before shoving Viria to the side.
The young man stumbled but managed to keep his balance and slowly turned back towards the man who had already beaten him up.
He kept his head low, looking almost apologetic, if not straight-up meek and defeated.
"Hmph. At least you realized you posi..."
*WHAM*
"AUUUURGGHHHH...!"
As the guard snickered confidently and confidently approached Viria, the young man suddenly straightened his back, aiming his head at the man's face and splendidly hitting his nose and making him stumble back.
The attack was too weak to break through the guard's defenses and actually break his nose, but it still was enough to make him bleed.
"!!!"
The guard hurriedly touched his lips, feeling the warm liquid dripping down his nose, and his eyes widened at the sight of his own blood.
"HOW DARE YOU, YOU CRIMINAL SCUM!"
The thoroughly ashamed man clenched his fists and growled, rushing the young man.
Viria was too exhausted to dodge, especially since his head was throbbing as if his skull was split after the hit, but as the punch from the guard was knocking him out, he could only think about one thing.
... I will make you all pay...!
ONCE I'M OUT, YOU WILL ALL PAY!