Chapter 333
Chapter 333: Banquet of the Seven Lords (2)
The blackout lifted.
The round table disappeared, and a massive circular stage rose in its place. Golden patterns pulsated over the black marble floor. The starlight from the ceiling poured down into the center of the stage and flared like spotlights.
The chairs of the Seven Lords were rearranged in a form surrounding the stage.
They were spectator seats.
And in the middle of the stage.
Seven prisoners bound in iron chains were dragged out.
Every single one of them was covered in blood.
Those whose light had faded from their eyes, those who laughed like maniacs, those who trembled in fear.
They were all different, but there was a commonality.
They were all powerhouses.
Even though their spirits were broken, the auras rising from their bodies could not be hidden. At least District 2 level, no, even higher.
Balder stood up.
His metal armor flashed, reflecting the lighting.
His ash-gray pupils scanned the prisoners.
“They are the ones who disturbed the order of the Heavenly City.”
A heavy voice echoed throughout the entire stage.
“Murderers, traitors, those who collaborated with Outer Gods.”
His finger pointed at the prisoners one by one.
“Trash permitted by the law.”
Silence.
The corners of Balder's mouth went up.
It was an expression seen for the first time.
Faint interest surfaced on the face that was like an expressionless statue.
“As entertainment for the banquet, how about we each take on one prey and kill them?”
Along with a hand gesture, a system window popped up.
“The method of disposal is free. To the one who shows the most impressive method—.”
Jjiiing—!
Golden radiance bloomed in the center of the stage.
Inside it, a small piece of metal rotated slowly. A shape that looked like a torn page from a code of laws.
[Fragment of the Law Code]
[Grade: Special]
[Effect 1. Just once, you can declare your own ‘law’. The declared law is applied to a single space, and the system enforces it.]
[Effect 2. Or, you can nullify one already declared law for the same period.]
[After use, the fragment disappears.]
Kim Minwoo's eyes narrowed.
‘This is.’
His heart beat a beat faster.
Balder's authority.
The power to engrave laws into space.
It was a fragment of that power.
‘I can nullify Balder's law?’
His mouth went dry.
If a situation arose where he had to fight Balder, that was no different from a cheat code. All stats decreased by 90%?
Forced eviction?
It meant he could ignore such a crazy penalty once.
Or conversely…….
‘I could engrave my own law in my territory.’
Possibilities exploded in his head.
“It is an item containing my authority. I will give this.”
Balder's voice rang out.
“For mere entertainment, isn't the reward quite handsome?”
Medea's eyes curved like half-moons.
“Oh my. To think the Steel Emperor would offer up his own flesh.”
She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue.
“Today's banquet is going to be more fun than I thought.”
Yoo Honbi uncrossed her arms.
Combat desire rose in her blood-colored pupils.
“Can engrave one law? What's the occasion? To think a cheapskate would bet something like this?”
Chronos's finger tapped the hourglass.
The sand flowing backwards stopped.
“Not bad!”
Nasrak's form wavered.
Afterimages overlapped and disappeared.
“What would happen if a law is engraved in the rift.”
An empty voice echoed.
Lilith's eyes sparkled.
“Our Death Lord's eyes are sparkling, aren't they?”
Her pink pupils turned toward Kim Minwoo.
“You covet it, right? That?”
Kim Minwoo stroked his cheek.
He coveted it.
“Well. It would be weirder not to covet it. Looking at the reactions, it actually seems like a pretty good item too.”
“Right. It's a good thing. That is no different from Balder's flesh.”
“……I guess it doesn't mean he can lay out laws infinitely?”
“If that were the case, he would be the One Lord, not the Seven Lords, right?”
Lilith whispered secretly as if giving a hint.
The corners of her mouth went up.
“But you know.”
Her gaze scanned the prisoners on the stage.
“Anyone can kill, right? How you do it is what's important.”
Balder, who was on the stage, nodded his head.
“That is correct. Tremendous pain for criminals. Of course, as the host, I will not participate. Since I have at least that much manners.”
Before Balder's words even finished, Medea raised her hand.
“Then I'll go first.”
A red mist rose from her fingertips.
One of the prisoners bound in chains was dragged up into the empty air. It was the one with the crime of being a murderer floating above him.
“Faces howling to be spared are the prettiest.”
Along with Medea's hand gesture, the man's skin began to peel off layer by layer.
No scream came out.
His mouth was blocked with blood.
Instead, his entire body swelled up as if it would burst.
Before long, blood burst like a flower in mid-air.
Medea laughed.
“How is it?”
Balder stroked his chin.
“Did you boil his blood.”
“Correct.”
“It must feel like being burned at the stake. Originally, burn pain is the greatest.”
It was a calm voice.
A tone stating facts rather than giving an impression.
“Not bad.”
“How petty.”
Yoo Honbi flicked her finger.
One prisoner was dragged out into the empty air. A traitor. It was a massive man. The tattoo engraved on his forearm told that he was once a guild leader in an upper district.
“Don't be noisy.”
Yoo Honbi's blood-colored pupils shone.
In an instant, the air froze. No, it felt like time had stopped. A black aura rose from her fingertips. The power of the Heavenly Demon. The essence of the supreme path.
Her finger crossed the empty air.
Seueuk—.
Not even a sound was made. Even though only a single line was drawn.
The man's body began to dismantle. At the cellular level, at the molecular level. There wasn't even a moment to scream. His existence itself scattered in the empty air. Becoming particles smaller than dust.
“Done.”
Yoo Honbi dusted off her hands.
Nothing remained on the stage. Without a single drop of blood, without a single bone fragment. Perfect annihilation.
Balder nodded his head.
“It is the ultimate technique of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. It is efficient.”
“Enough with the praise.”
Yoo Honbi slumped back into her chair.
“Next.”
Nasrak stood up.
His form wavered. Afterimages overlapped and disappeared. As he raised his hand, a crack formed in the empty air.
Jjijijik—!
Space tore. A black rift opened. Inside it, things like starlight swirled. A dimensional rift.
“Did you say he is one who colluded with Outer Gods.”
An empty voice echoed.
“Then I will show him the territory of the Outer Gods.”
The prisoner was sucked into the rift.
A scream erupted.
However, the sound quickly distorted.
As if hundreds of voices were overlapping.
A shriek echoing in a place where time and space were twisted.
The rift closed.
Only the scream remained as an echo.
It gradually grew smaller and disappeared.
Chronos's finger tapped the hourglass.
“I am next.”
The sand flowed backwards.
One prisoner stood in the center of the stage.
His eyes were unfocused.
One who had already gone mad.
However, along with Chronos's hand gesture, light returned to his eyes.
“I will show you your future.”
The prisoner's body stiffened.
His pupils moved rapidly.
He was looking at something. His own future. Hope bloomed. The hope that he could live.
The hope that he could escape.
And…….
“Now I erase it.”
The hourglass flipped.
Hope disappeared from the prisoner's face.
It turned into fear. It turned into despair.
He forgot what he saw. However, only the sensation that he ‘had seen’ it remained. Only that there was salvation, but it had disappeared.
He went mad. Again.
This time for real.
Lilith clapped her hands.
“It's my turn.”
A pink mist rose.
The last prisoner looked at her.
His pupils lost focus.
The corners of his mouth went up. He was smiling. He looked happy.
“Do you like it?”
Lilith whispered.
“Shall I give you something better?”
The prisoner nodded.
Madly. With a longing look in his eyes.
“Then do it with your own hands.”
Lilith's hand gesture.
The prisoner grabbed his own neck.
By himself, while smiling, with a happy expression. Strength entered his fingers. More and more. More and more.
Ttuk.
His neck snapped.
He was still smiling.
“The end of pleasure is self-destruction.”
Lilith licked her finger.
“Pretty, right?”
Five prisoners were processed.
Only one remained.
Gazes focused on Kim Minwoo.
“It's the newbie's turn.”
Yoo Honbi propped her chin.
“I'm curious to see what you will show us.”
Kim Minwoo stood up.
He walked out onto the stage.
The hem of his black coat fluttered. The crown above his head shone faintly.
The remaining two prisoners looked at him.
One was trembling violently, and one had a resigned look in his eyes.
“Anyone can kill, right?”
He raised his hand.
The aura of death rose.
Something pitch-black, cold, and sticky. The Death Emperor's Heart pulsated heavily.
“I…….”
The aura wrapped around the prisoner.
“Make death into an asset.”
In an instant.
The prisoner's heart stopped.
It was a painful death. The feeling of the life force of his entire body being sucked out. A scream erupted. He struggled. And collapsed.
He became a corpse.
Silence.
“……Is that the end?”
Yoo Honbi raised her eyebrows.
“Nothing spe—.”
It was before her words could even finish.
The corpse stood up.
Blue flames rose from his eyes.
His flesh reconstructed. His bones fit together. Undead. However, it was not a simple zombie.
Armor formed.
Black metal.
Forged with the power of death. A spear was grasped in his hand.
The form of a knight.
The corpse, poured with a massive amount of divinity, had transformed into a Death Knight.
“The price of your sins does not end here.”
Kim Minwoo smiled.
“For an endlessly long time from now on, you will wander forever. In this world.”
The Death Knight knelt down.
Perfect submission.
A punishment that does not end even in death.
Silence flowed.
Balder stroked his chin.
“Within the line permitted by the law, it seems to be the most efficient method of disposal, doesn't it? Eternal punishment, you say…….”
His ash-gray pupils measured Kim Minwoo.
“I acknowledge it.”
Jjiiing—!
A system window popped up.
[Banquet Game Result]
[Death Lord Kim Minwoo has been selected as the ‘Winner’ of this banquet!]
[Reward: Fragment of the Law Code]
Golden radiance flew into Kim Minwoo's hand.
Fragment of the Law Code.
An item containing Balder's authority.
Kim Minwoo grasped the fragment.
The corners of his mouth went up.
“It seems we have enjoyed the banquet enough.”
Balder stood up from his seat.
His metal gauntlet tapped the table.
“Then, let us enter the main purpose of the banquet now.”
Jjiiing—.
A new system window popped up.
[Agenda: Red Flag's territory, and the authority and domain of the new Seven Lords.]
“The topic is, this.”