Alien world

Chapter 1738, Section 371: Uncle Ratman
The instructors standing next to the prisoners immediately stepped forward, pinned Albek and the others to the guillotine, and swung their longswords to cut the ropes.

The unrestrained blade fell freely, heading towards the head on the guillotine—

bang——

The expected scene of the head rolling off and blood spurting out did not happen; there was only the dry, dull sound of the knife cutting into the hardwood.

"what?"

The deputy judge swept across the bustling circular square and locked onto Albek and his group, who were flashing dozens of meters away.

Albek's shriveled skin suddenly swelled, his tattered mage robe was ripped open, and gray, stiff hairs grew wildly like barbed wire. His head stretched and deformed with the sound of his joints cracking, and his spine arched little by little into a predatory curve.

The blue eyes that once symbolized reason have been replaced by a mad crimson.

The black-clad Watchmen who escaped the guillotine transformed into ratmen and howled to the sky.

The deputy presiding judge's calloused fingers tightened on the trial documents, leaving deep marks on the wrinkled parchment.

"Albek, how could you..."

After undergoing the painful transformation ritual, Albek slowly stood up, his scarlet eyes fixed on the deputy judge, and shrieked, "Since the Empire is not worthy of our loyalty... then what's wrong with becoming a ratman?"

After the initial shock, the deputy judge's face darkened: "You're insane, Albek."

"If revenge is considered madness, then you might as well call me insane..."

Albek whispered, his hatred not intense, but pure.

"Do you really think you insects can escape?"

The deputy judge turned a page of the crumpled document, ran his fingertips over the parchment, and his expression suddenly became solemn.

The air around him was as still as water with stones thrown into it, his black robe billowed like sails in a storm, and a terrifying aura rose, as if some being was descending upon him.

Albek, now a gray-haired rat, was stunned, then warned sharply, "Don't let him read it out loud!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a look of confusion flashed across the eyes of the priest Gandhi behind the deputy judge. Then he drew his sword and plunged it into the deputy judge's back.

The deputy judge, whose attention was entirely focused on Albek, was caught off guard by the attack from the person next to him. The divine power he had gathered burst forth from his wound, sending Gandhi flying several meters, smashing a tower shield, and spitting out large pieces of his internal organs.

"Cough cough... You scoundrel, you deserve to die!"

The deputy judge, who had just been like a saint descending to earth, was now vomiting blood violently, deflated like a punctured balloon, his condition rapidly declining. He gritted his teeth, gathering his last bit of strength, and locked onto and controlled Baron Kin Kelly, the instigator of Gandhi's downfall: "Law... Heretic, die!"

A black, obsidian-like holy mark materialized on the judgment document and shot out through the air!
The green fel energy shot out diagonally, striking the black holy mark that was being fired, but only making it slightly illusory, before tracing a black path and heading towards Baron Kin Kelly.

The Baron extended his withered finger, and countless invisible threads, like a spider web, formed a barrier in front of him, but did not slow down the speed of the black holy mark that trailed behind him.

The moment the Baron was struck in the chest, the wheelchair beneath him exploded, sending him flying high into the air.

bang——

Its withered body crashed down like a rag not far from Annam.

The controlled priests regained their senses. The vice-judge realized that the instigator was not dead and was about to continue the pursuit when the green fel energy that had previously tried to block the black holy mark seemed to come alive. It turned in mid-air, landed in front of Albek, and tore open a spatial rift.

A ratman priest carrying a spinal staff emerged from among them.

"The courtroom, your enemy is me."

……

This is... divine magic!?

Annan witnessed the entire process of the black holy mark traversing hundreds of meters to kill Baron Kin Kelly, and sensed an attribute similar to divinity on that black holy mark...

The Inquisition can actually unleash divine magic! How did he do that?
Without time to investigate further, Annan ran over to check on the Baron's injuries.

His face was covered in blood, a gaping hole in his chest, his heart missing, only some black bits of flesh scattered in his chest cavity. "Baron, you don't look well..."

The baron appears to be alive, but he is already dead; the only divine magic that can mend his heart lies on the opposite side.

His lips moved as he whispered something. Annan leaned closer and heard a barely audible whisper filled with gasps: "Annan... I know... it's you..."

"I do not understand what you are saying."

Who knows if the Baron, who was fatally wounded, will be alive and kicking? Annan did not admit it.

Baron Jim Kelly forced a smile: "How could there be another person in this world... who understands magical images so well... Only you..."

He didn't give Annan a chance to explain, and tried to take something out of his pocket, but it was too late.

"My experience is all in my arms... I know you... need... to be passed on to you..."

"You will be alright, Baron."

Annan's situation was complicated. On one hand, the Baron had to die. On the other hand, he harbored no ill will towards him.

The baron reached for Annan's hand, but only grasped the branch of the otherworldly tree. In his dying moments, his head uncontrollably rose higher and higher, his gaze leaving the ground and rising into the high white clouds.

"I wish I could see that banquet and the young girl again..."

Blue sky, white clouds, fragrant grass, and a gentle spring breeze...

"Jim Kelly, how long are you going to lie here?" The melodious voice gradually became clearer.

Jim Kelly opened his eyes and saw two teenagers standing in front of him. He stared blankly at them, as if he had just woken from a nightmare.

"Get up quickly, the banquet is about to begin!" the girl said coquettishly, while the boy beside her reached out his hand.

Jim Kelly grabbed their hands, was pulled up, covered in grass, and dragged away towards the distant, bustling manor.

……

The baron's raised hand fell limply to his side.

Annan sighed, reached into his arms, and took out what the Baron had left him—a notebook soaked in blood.

Now was not the time to look at what was written in his notes, so Annan put them away for the time being and looked up at the circular plaza.

The Baron died without any chance to fight back, and it seems the Chaos Cult is at a disadvantage. I wonder how things are going at the execution ground... The Inquisition won't forget to let them off easy, will they? The higher-ups want to wipe them all out here.

Annan hesitated about whether to rush forward.

The main reason was that she didn't want to be accidentally injured and activate the dozens of protective spells on her body, thus exposing her identity.

But so far I've done very well, and if I back down at a crucial moment—

Annan helped the Baron close his eyes, stood up, and charged forward with the Chaos Cultists.

Regardless, I must maintain my persona of saving my uncle—

Annan had only taken a few steps when he was grabbed by a rat-man.

Annan almost threw the bow and arrow like a hammer when a sharp, but somewhat familiar, voice rang out.

"It's me, Olme."

"Who are you!?"

Annan looked at the rat-man who was holding him and was covered with tattered cloth, and confirmed that he did not recognize any male gray rat.

(End of this chapter)