Chapter 147: The Bloody Trial

Slash, slash, slash! Wherever Andruson passed, everyone belonging to Berris was brutally killed, their states of death utterly wretched. Yet, Andruson continuously praised the Father God in a tone of compassionate benevolence, endlessly reciting the doctrine and chanting passages for the deceased, creating a scene of blood-soaked, aesthetic evangelism.

"That guy really is ruthless, though I'm hardly one to talk."

Having already penetrated the interior of the luxurious mansion, Manigoldo watched Andruson's actions through a window, a bloodthirsty, grim smile twisting his face. With a powerful squeeze, he snapped the neck of a guard right before him.

The group of guards blocking Manigoldo's path were filled with terror at the sight. Beyond the guard he had just choked to death, a carpet of corpses lay behind Manigoldo. These included not only guards but servants as well—men and women alike, all slaughtered indiscriminately.

Most importantly, there was only a single enemy, yet no one within the mansion could stop him. Faced with Manigoldo, who killed without blinking and dispatched almost everyone in a split second, the remaining people were gripped by fear. Seeing his hideous grin, they nearly wet themselves in terror, cursing Manigoldo as a devil.

Hearing this, Manigoldo raised an eyebrow and snapped irritably, "A devil? Can a base creature like a devil even compare to yours truly? You bastards, I am the Father God's Blade of Judgment! Even demons would tremble before me!"

At the end of his declaration, Manigoldo roared and charged into the crowd, eliminating them almost one by one with single punches until not a single living soul remained in this sector.

Manigoldo curled his lip in boredom, preparing to move on to the next area, when suddenly, a round of applause echoed. Stopping in his tracks, Manigoldo looked toward the source of the sound and saw two figures emerging from the shadows. These two radiated an aura vastly superior to anyone Manigoldo had encountered previously, far more formidable. One of them looked down at him with condescending superiority and said, "Kid, you've got some nerve slaughtering everyone here. Tell me, are you a member of the Father God Church?"

Staring at the speaker, Manigoldo sneered, "Aren't you asking the obvious? I am the 'Mad Shadow', the Arbiter who, in the name of the Father God, brings death and despair specifically to you foolish heretics!"

"Mad Shadow? Hmph, quite an arrogant name. But arrogance is a word exclusive to our Temple of the Mad God! Kid, you aren't qualified to use that name. Since you're here, die right now!" These two belonged to the Temple of the Mad God. As soon as the words left his mouth, they launched a joint attack against Manigoldo, both displaying the strength of late Tier 3 practitioners.

Char Town was a settlement slightly larger than the former Cinko Town. Following the Rift Calamity, its population barely scraped past six thousand. Tier 3 powerhouses were unheard of here, and even Tier 2 experts were exceedingly rare. Among the enemies Manigoldo had encountered prior, the strongest was merely mid-Tier 1, with many being ordinary people lacking any rank at all.

Thus, faced with two significantly stronger enemies, Manigoldo's expression shifted into one of feigned terror. The two members of the Temple of the Mad God sneered inwardly at the sight. Yet, just as they lunged right in front of Manigoldo, his look of panic instantly morphed into a gloating grin as he caught both of their attacks with his bare hands.

Immediately afterward, amid the stunned gazes of the two Temple of the Mad God members, Manigoldo grinned hideously and said, "Idiots, I was lying to you!"

With that, Manigoldo thrust both fists forward, slamming them heavily into the chests of the two opponents. Their ribcages instantly caved inward, and they flew backward like kites with broken strings. One of them crashed straight through a window, flying outside to be impaled upon an external conical stone pillar decoration, while the other smashed hard against a wall and slumped weakly to the floor, breathing his last.

Whistling, Manigoldo chuckled and said, "Yo, you're not dead yet? True to the Temple of the Mad God, you've got some skills."

"Y-You..." Staring at Manigoldo with a mixture of shock and rage, the surviving man realized with chilling certainty that he would not survive. His face twisted into a fierce grimace as he spat, "L-Little bastard... j-just you wait! T-There is still a high-ranking lord stationed here—a Tier 4 powerhouse! H-He will definitely avenge us!"

"Tier 4? Wow, I'm so looking forward to it," Manigoldo chuckled mockingly.

Right at that moment, a rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed. Both Manigoldo and the nearly dead temple member turned their gazes toward the source to see Andruson walking over with a grin of malicious amusement. "Praise the Father God! What did I hear just now? A Tier 4 powerhouse? Are you referring to this piece of trash?"

As he spoke, Andruson raised his right hand. Impaled upon the edge of his blade was the severed head of a burly man whose eyes remained wide open in lingering death. Upon seeing this, the Temple of the Mad God member widened his eyes in absolute disbelief, managed to squeeze out the four words, "How is this possible?" and then breathed his last.

"Ah? This was his so-called Tier 4 powerhouse? Too useless, isn't he?" Manigoldo said with an expression of profound disappointment, thoroughly let down by his opponent's lack of mettle.

Ignoring Manigoldo, Andruson continued walking deeper into the mansion, softly chanting his poetic lines: "The exalted Father God has mercy upon all living beings; the exalted Father God judges all living beings. Every heretical fool shall be reduced to ashes under the wrath of the Father God. We are the blades of judgment of the Father God, executing divine punishment in His stead..."

Listening to Andruson, Manigoldo curled his lip in deep disdain, thoroughly unimpressed by his partner's neurotic monologue. Still, he didn't voice any objections and immediately followed along, unwilling to let Andruson steal all the credit.

Before long, Manigoldo and Andruson located the mayor's family, who were attempting to flee. Working in tandem, the two of them slaughtered the family's servants and guards within the span of a breath. The family huddled together, trembling violently with faces contorted in panic.

Seeing the two as literal demons stripped the mayor, Berris Toti, of any semblance of his usual arrogance and tyranny. Kneeling on the ground, he begged continuously for mercy, "My lords, I beg you, spare us! You can have as much money as you want, just please let us live!"

Hearing Berris, Manigoldo let out a scornful sneer, while Andruson spoke with pious devotion, "Lost fool, do you still fail to repent even now? Your ignorance has provoked the exalted Father God. We are merely the agents of His divine wrath; beneath the fire of the Father God, all heresies shall perish."

"F-Father God? C-Could it be that you are members of the Father God Church?" Berris finally understood why these terrifying demons had attacked them.

"Realizing it now is far too late. The wrath of the Father God can only be appeased by the blood of you fools." Saying this, Andruson spread his arms wide as if welcoming the glory of the Father God and proclaimed, "Praise the Father God!"

Seized by even greater terror upon hearing this, Berris blurted out, "My lords, I know I was wrong, please spare us! I am willing to give up everything to buy our family's lives. If you want me to move against the Temple of the Mad God, I will definitely do it. Yes, it was all the Temple's fault! They forced me to ignore the Father God Church's chapel, it was all—"

"Foolish one, devoid of any redemptive value..." Andruson coldly cut Berris off. A ferocious smile bloomed on his face as he flicked his wrist, hurling dozens of short blades. These daggers shot out like flying swords, bypassing Berris to strike straight at his family. In the blink of an eye, every member of his household was turned into a human pincushion, collapsing softly into pools of blood.

At this sight, Berris froze in shock. Meanwhile, Andruson spread his arms and burst into manic, hysterical laughter, a madness chilling enough to curdle the blood.

It took Berris a long time to snap out of his stupor. Uttering a mad shriek, he lunged forward to fight Andruson to the death. But at that exact moment, Manigoldo moved, flashing past Berris like a phantom. When he halted, his right hand was already clutching Berris's head. Staring into the eyes of the severed head, which still stared back with unclosed eyes, Manigoldo sneered, "Bastard, this is the price for desecrating the majesty of the Father God. Remember to be a good person in your next life."

With that, Manigoldo casually tossed Berris's head aside.

Thus, the Berris family was completely annihilated. Aexio, who had been observing the battle from the shadows the entire time, leapt out immediately afterward. Nodding with a satisfied expression, he said, "Splendid. You have perfectly accomplished the Arch-Prelate's mission. Now, let's move out. Leave the terror of this place to those foolish heretics."

The moment the words fell, Aexio turned and walked away, followed closely by Manigoldo and Andruson, both leaving the premises with grim smiles.

Shortly thereafter, the town garrison and security forces arrived fashionably late. Upon witnessing the horrific state of the mayor's estate, everyone felt a profound, bone-chilling terror, and many could not help vomiting on the spot. Following an investigation, they discovered a mural painted in fresh blood upon the mansion's wall: a pair of wings cradling a sword between them, beneath which were inscribed the two characters representing "Divine Punishment."

This was the signature emblem of the Arbiters, intentionally left behind by Link. He had no intention of keeping the Arbiters a secret; their existence would serve as his trump card to deter hostile forces and become the ultimate nightmare of all his enemies. Consequently, every time the Arbiters acted, they were required to leave behind this corresponding imagery.

Early the next morning, news of the annihilation of the Berris family spread, instantly shocking the entirety of Char Town. Yet, very few people felt any sadness or sympathy for their tragic end; indeed, many openly applauded, declaring that whoever wiped out the Berris family was a champion of justice. This made it abundantly clear how profoundly unpopular Berris had been in Char Town.

For the members of the heretical churches, however, this was an absolute nightmare. The Temple of the Mad God, in particular, was acutely aware of what the Berris family had done, the strength of their guards, and precisely who was responsible for last night's events. Yet it was precisely because they knew that terror gripped them all the more. The Temple had dispatched high-level experts specifically to guard the town against retaliation from the Father God Church; yet those very experts were now dead, and their deaths were unimaginably wretched, with the enemy leaving virtually no trace behind. This proved beyond a doubt that the enemy possessed overwhelming superiority in this conflict.

How could the Temple of the Mad God not be terrified and alarmed under such circumstances? Though they knew the current strength of the Father God Church was no longer what it used to be, they never imagined it could be this formidable, nor that the methods of retaliation would be so utterly unhesitating. To annihilate a mayor's entire family—did they not fear provoking a direct clash between divine authority and secular political power?