When the commotion outside the church broke out, Bishop Shelley of Port Alplai was kneeling before the statue and praying to the god he believed in.
The panicked cries and cries for help reached his ears through the thick walls. Someone outside was chanting the name of God. A beautiful young man, draped in an intricate robe and with long, azure hair, sighed, closed his scriptures, stood up, and walked to the church's doors.
"Come in and rest, children." His gaze swept over the flustered crowd, some wearing black cloaks and some simply passing by. His bony fingers pressed against the tall stone door. "God will surely forgive your temporary loss, so don't worry. Relax here and then go home and wait for news."
**
Decayed branches and fallen leaves mingled in the soil. Okathy Griffin closed his eyes unconsciously, as if in an eternal slumber. Azathoth stood before him, like a raven alighting beside a rotting corpse, head lowered, purple-black feathers folded, watching his prey headed for death with a dark, cold gaze.
He heard Ford's question, but just tilted his head slightly, with a kind of unintentional arrogance, his straight back did not move, and he remained silent as a matter of course.
The blond young man felt the cold gaze from the side of his eyes, and tightened his grip on the weapon, suppressing the urge to retreat and hide.
The star of the system that contained Port Alplai had risen to the very center of the sky, evenly distributing its heat, yet it was powerless to warm the shadow cast by the forgotten iron behemoth. His exposed skin felt the damp, cold mist that enveloped him maliciously, forming a pale, dark frost on his hair and eyelashes.
After a long pause, the cloaked figure standing beside O'Casey finally spoke: "The glory and honor of this world often arise from sin."
"I am practicing your human moral code: all friends will be rewarded for their loyalty, and all enemies will taste the bitter cup of their sins."
Ford felt like his teeth were about to be frozen, and he took great effort to open his mouth to utter the words: "...but you have no right to judge him."
The young man under the hood seemed amused. "Then who has this power? You?"
"Not me, but not you either." Ford tensed his muscles. "That's why federal law exists."
"But the truth is—" the black-haired, red-eyed boy sitting cross-legged on the container suddenly interrupted, "According to data from Starnet, in Port Alple alone, during peacetime, an average of one vulnerable person suffers from all kinds of bullying imaginable every three hours. But if I understand correctly, federal law classifies them as a potential second tier, and many of the regulations are not actually properly implemented and upheld."
"Take, for example, Mr. O'Casey Griffin, who's here before us. Do you know what he did?"
"He personally killed 89 people and also protected the illegal human trafficking. Countless families were torn apart because of him, and countless children were indirectly killed by him."
"According to the laws of more than 500 years ago, he would undoubtedly be sentenced to death."
"But the federal government doesn't have such a criminal law right now, and this gentleman comes from an extremely prestigious family. So, Mr. Ford Hill, here comes the problem."
"Do you think he will get the punishment he deserves if we let him go?"
With every word Hugo spoke, Ford's face paled. But he still insisted: "I will try to make him face the punishment of the law. Many people in the federation will do their utmost to achieve this."
"But no matter how much O'Casey Griffin deserved to die, he did not deserve the lynching you inflicted on him."
——Even if it is divine punishment.
Ford didn't say this out loud, but he was almost certain that Azathoth was not human. The difference in species made his preparations, which should have been complete, seem hasty, but the thought of retreating and avoiding did not even occur to the young man.
Azathoth tilted his head and looked at him for a long while, then suddenly asked, "Did you know Igor before?"
Igor quickly replied, "Yes, but our relationship is not very good."
Is the subtext that you don't need to care about the attitude of your loved ones?
Azathoth found this somewhat amusing—he clearly felt that Igor actually agreed with Ford's point of view on this matter. Before the commentator arrived, he had been looking at O'Casey with hesitation, with some disgust and contempt, but no murderous intent.
However, after Ford's arrival, he didn't seem ready to stand against God?
Ford glanced at Igor and said with a forced smile, "Yeah, the relationship isn't very good. So are you reminding me to report your whereabouts to the police?"
"You'd better not do that." Azathoth said calmly, "I guess you have been following the news related to Igor. Then you should also know what invisible and illegal federal acts the Griffin family did to him before the trial?"
Ford and Igor were both stunned for a moment.
Igor: "You mean..."
Ford: "I know." He said coldly, "I know that the Griffin family tortured Marshal Sullivan privately before the trial out of personal vendetta."
Igor's fingers twitched. The feeling of displaying his past shambles before everyone was uncomfortable. He leaned back awkwardly, trying to lean on something, but there was nothing around. So, Igor folded his arms and said with a distant look, "It's been a long time... It wasn't really that serious."
Ford looked straight ahead. "I'll eventually write about their family's affairs in the news, even if they can barely be considered half-founding heroes and royal relatives. Humph, after all, this is not the feudal era of thousands or tens of thousands of years ago... Of course, the premise is that I can still survive after today."
At this moment, a tentacle emerged silently and gently stroked Igor's back.
Azathoth's intention was to comfort him, but caught off guard, Igor's spine shuddered violently, as if struck by electricity. The gray-haired young man instinctively reached behind his back to grab the thrashing tentacle. His reflexes meant he was using about half his strength. But before Igor could realize his oversight and relax his grip, the tentacle thrashed within his palm, its soft tip brushing against it like a feather.
“…”
Igor pursed his lips, loosened his hands, pretended nothing had happened, and looked straight ahead.
I seemed to faintly hear Azathoth's hidden laughter.
"You misunderstood what I said." On the other side, Azathoth said to Ford, "The so-called 'all enemies must taste the bitter cup of their sins' does not mean that he violated the laws set by humans."
"And that's what it means: he's now my 'enemy.'"
“…”
Ford didn't expect to hear such words, and what he was about to say was choked in his throat.
Before he could figure out why Azathoth had elevated the relationship between Him and Ocasi Griffin to the level of "enemy", he saw the other party standing two meters away from Ocasi, and used a tentacle to roughly lift the man on the ground by the neck and hang him up.
Hugo supported his chin and poured down a bucket of prepared cold water from a high place.
"Wait, wait a minute!" Ford's heart stopped for a second, his face suddenly changed and he shouted in shock, "Don't kill him yet!!"
However, except Igor beside him, no one paid any attention to him.
Okasi Griffin woke up with a cough, reaching out to grab the tentacles around his neck, twitching and struggling as he managed to open his eyes. At the same time, Azathoth took a half step forward and, for the first time in public, personally removed his hood.
Ford felt his heart beat faster and faster, unable to bear the sense of imminent danger. His eyes were bloodshot from the intense tension. He let out a low roar, and before his brain could react, his cold, stiff fingers had already pulled the trigger on the tentacle holding O'Casey.
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