Curse Returns, a gamble from the start, I awaken dual spells

Chapter 137 Guilty

Meanwhile, in the Western ruins.

Muto, carrying a huge flaming battle axe, strode through the ruins.

He has a straightforward personality and doesn't like beating around the bush. If Shinichi Kuroki's mission for him is to kill the guardian of the West, then he will complete the mission in the most direct way.

"Illusions? I'm not afraid of that kind of fancy stuff!" he muttered to himself as he walked.

The scenery ahead began to change.

The dilapidated ruins gradually blurred, and in their place appeared a lush forest.

The trees are tall and lush, their branches and leaves blocking out the sun, and the air is filled with the scent of earth and grass.

Muto stopped in his tracks, his eyes scanning his surroundings warily.

"Playing tricks!" he sneered, then continued walking forward.

The forest scenery became increasingly realistic; he could even hear birdsong and the sound of a stream.

The soil beneath my feet was soft and moist, leaving clear footprints with every step.

After walking for about two minutes, he came to a stream.

The stream was crystal clear, shimmering in the moonlight.

A few fallen leaves floated on the surface of the stream, drifting slowly downstream with the current.

Across the stream was a meadow, and on the meadow stood a woman.

She wore a long white dress, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, and had delicate features. She didn't look like a guardian; she looked more like an ordinary young girl.

Muto narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the woman warily.

"Are you the guardian of the West?"

The woman smiled slightly and nodded. "Yes, that's me."

"Then stop talking nonsense and let's fight!" Muto raised his battle axe, and flames suddenly rose from the blade, illuminating the surrounding forest.

But the woman didn't move; she remained standing there, simply smiling as she looked at him.

"Why fight?" Her voice was gentle and pleasant, with a calming power.

"Sit down and rest for a while. Look how beautiful it is here."

Muto was taken aback for a moment.

He subconsciously looked around and found that the forest was indeed beautiful.

The trees shimmered softly in the moonlight, the sound of the stream was as melodious as a lullaby, and a faint floral fragrance filled the air, refreshing and delightful.

His body began to relax, and his grip on the battle axe loosened slightly.

"Yeah, why fight?" a voice echoed in his mind.

"Take a rest. You're already very tired. It's not a bad thing to rest here for a while."

Muto's eyes began to glaze over, the blade of his battle axe slowly drooped toward the ground, and the flames on it began to weaken, like a candle about to go out.

But at that moment, Shinichi Kuroki's words suddenly echoed in his mind.

"The guardians of the West are skilled in illusion."

Muto suddenly shuddered.

He shook his head vigorously, and his eyes regained their clarity.

"Damn it, I almost fell for your trick!" he roared, gripping his battle axe tightly once more.

The flames on the axe blade reignited, burning even more fiercely and intensely than before.

"Keep those child-baiting tricks for yourself!"

He leaped up, raised his battle axe high above his head, and brought it down fiercely on the woman.

Flames coalesced on the axe blade into a massive pillar of fire, instantly igniting the surrounding forest. The trees twisted and deformed in the flames, revealing their original state as ruins.

The illusion began to crumble.

But the woman remained standing there, her face still bearing that gentle smile.

Muto Takeshi's battle axe came crashing down.

boom!

The ground exploded, and rubble flew everywhere.

But that woman disappeared.

Muto Takeshi's battle axe struck only a phantom formed by illusion.

"Not bad, you were able to break my illusion so quickly. You're stronger than I thought." The woman's voice came from all directions, echoing through the ruins.

Muto turned around abruptly, scanning his surroundings, but could not see the woman.

"Your fighting style is simple and direct, you are very powerful, but you lack patience."

"And what you need most to deal with an illusionist is patience," the woman's voice continued.

"Get out here right now!" Muto roared.

He swung his battle axe again, setting the surrounding ruins ablaze, but still found no trace of the woman.

Her voice continued to come from all directions, sometimes far, sometimes near, carrying an irritating mockery.

Meanwhile, in the northern ruins, the battle was equally fierce.

Meanwhile, in the northern ruins.

Hiromi Nichisha stood in front of an abandoned residential area, holding a gavel in his right hand, his gaze calmly fixed on the distance.

About twenty meters in front of him, the Guardian of the North was standing in front of a half-collapsed building.

It was a burly man wearing heavy armor covered with densely packed incantation patterns.

He held a huge shield that emitted a pale golden light.

"So you're here to challenge me? You don't look like much." The guardian's voice was deep and thunderous.

Hiroshi Nichisha did not respond.

He slowly raised the gavel in his right hand, and then brought it down.

The gavel struck the void, producing a crisp sound.

In that instant, the world was reconstructed.

The ruins beneath my feet have vanished, replaced by a cold, tiled floor.

Four walls rose from nothingness, surrounding the two in the center.

Rows of empty audience seats stretched out on both sides.

Hiromi Nichisha stood behind the judge's bench, looking down below.

Opposite him, the Guardian of the North had been summoned to the dock.

Chains of magical energy extended from both sides of the armrest, firmly securing his hands.

"This...this is?!!" The guardian struggled desperately, but the chains did not budge.

His armor lost all its luster in this space, and his shield fell to the ground with a dull thud.

An open space was left between the judge's bench and the defendant's seat.

There stood a blurry figure, dressed in a black prosecutor's uniform, whose face was obscured, yet whose presence was extremely strong.

Hiromi Hiraka pushed up his glasses, his voice calm and authoritative.

"Trial begins."

The judge turned around and faced the judge's bench.

A stack of documents appeared in its hand; these were "evidence" extracted from the defendant's past actions.

Soon, the first piece of evidence was presented.

A scene appeared in the air: seven days ago, on the edge of the northern region.

An injured player asked the Guardian for help, and the Guardian nodded in agreement. Then, as the player turned around, the Guardian smashed his head with the edge of his shield.

"Over the past seven days, you have used your Guardian identity to lure twelve players into a false sense of security under the guise of providing shelter, and then murdered them."

"A total of twelve lives." The judge's voice was devoid of any emotion.

The guardian's face turned ashen.

"I...I was just following the rules! Those players violated the barrier..."

,,"turn down!"

The judge's voice coldly interrupted him.

The second piece of evidence was presented.

Scene change: The guardian finds a glowing talisman on the player's corpse, examines it carefully, and then puts it into his pocket with a satisfied smile.

"You stole three clues to the hidden quest from the victim and kept them for yourself, thus hindering other players from completing the hidden quest."

The guardian's lips moved, but this time, he did not offer any explanation.

The third piece of evidence was presented.

This time the visuals are even more outdated.

Five years ago, in a ruin, three corpses dressed in sorcerer uniforms lay on the ground.

Standing in the center of the corpses was the very guardian before them.

He looked down at his blood-stained hands, his expression not one of regret, but of fear.

Fear of their crimes being discovered.

"Five years ago, you were a sorcerer. During a mission, you betrayed your comrades, joined the organization of cursed sorcerers, and brutally murdered the three sorcerers who were hunting you down."

The guardian's body jolted violently.

"Impossible! How could you possibly know about this?! This matter was already..."

The sound stopped abruptly the next moment.

Because he realized that he had already admitted it.

Under the watchful eye of the judge, any denial is futile.

His crimes are etched into his soul, and the judge's duty is to unearth them one by one and lay them out in the sunlight.

The judge closed the document and turned to the judge's bench.

Hiromi Nichisha remained silent for a moment, then slowly spoke.

"Defendant, you have one last chance to make your statement."

The guardian opened his mouth.

He wanted to say it was a slander, that it was a choice made out of necessity to survive, and so much more.

But under the judge's gaze, faced with that irrefutable evidence, he could not speak.