“Were you resurrected by Randall Crest and turned into his puppets for a time?”
The auxiliary inquisitor asked.
“Yes.”
The witches answered truthfully.
“Were you killed by Randall Crest?”
The auxiliary inquisitor asked again.
“Yes.”
The witches answered again.
The people in the audience whispered, unable to stop discussing the seriousness of the matter.
Killing witches, then resurrecting them, and ordering them to assassinate Leon, what was Randall's motive for doing this?
It couldn't just be simple jealousy of Leon's talent, could it?
Imperial witches were the property of the Empire, not belonging to any private individual. Randall's actions undoubtedly touched the Empire's bottom line. Augulas's expression was deep, his eyes staring straight at Randall.
Randall's face didn't show any extra emotion. Although the witches being alive was somewhat beyond his expectations, he had considered the worst-case scenario.
“Then why did you fail to kill Leon?”
The auxiliary inquisitor asked.
“Our actions were predicted in advance, and we were no match for the legendary witch, Dorothy.”
Essly said.
The twelve auxiliary inquisitors lowered their heads, using their round-bellied pens to scribble down the witches' words in their notebooks,
also noting their own judgments.
“Plaintiff Leon Moria, do you have anything to add to the witnesses' statements?”
The inquisitor looked at Leon.
Leon shook his head, “No, everything is true.”
“Good. Defendant Randall Crest, do you plead guilty to killing the Empire's expedition witches, resurrecting them, and instructing them to assassinate Leon?”
The inquisitor asked Randall.
Randall remained silent.
“Did you use the Gift 'Hand of God' to resurrect the witches?”
The chief inquisitor, Albert, asked.
Randall still didn't answer.
“Even if you don't answer, we have ways to prove it.”
Albert called upon the professional appraisers from the Wise Men's Institute. They possessed special methods to identify Gifts. They only needed to take a drop of blood from the resurrected witches, Essly and the others, to detect fifty percent of the Gift's power, with an accuracy of up to eighty percent.
The knights helped the Wise Men carry the heavy testing equipment into the Hall of Judgment.
The Wise Men took a drop of blood from each of the ten witches, melting them into ten trays, and placed the trays into the belly of a testing device that resembled a large boiler.
The knights carried three boxes of magic stones and threw them into the boiler at the bottom of the testing device.
The magic stones burned, driving the device to start operating.
The surface of the testing device trembled violently, and lines of text appeared on the screen.
The examiner, also a Wise Man, repeated the text that appeared on the device to the crowd,
“Gift: Hand of God, ability: using divinity to resurrect the dead.”
“Thank you.”
Albert nodded slightly to the examiner. The examiner and the knights worked together to move the huge device out of the Hall of Judgment.
“Defendant Randall Crest, is the divinity you used to resurrect the witches from other special believers of the Holy See?”
The three cardinal bishops in the audience couldn't sit still again. They stood up, looking nervously at Randall.
“His Holiness the Pope used the divinity of other special believers? How is that possible?!”
“All the existing special believers of the Holy See are unharmed. I can have them come to testify for His Holiness the Pope right now. This is slander!”
“Silence.”
Albert glanced faintly at the audience, his gaze returning to Randall,
“If you refuse to answer any questions, we have ways to make you speak.”
The Wise Men's Institute had no shortage of tools.
Randall raised his eyes slightly and said calmly, “Yes, I used the divinity of deceased believers within the ruins of the temple.”
As soon as these words came out, the Hall of Judgment erupted in an uproar.
The three cardinal bishops saw that the Pope had admitted it, and no longer had any position to defend him.
Moreover, even within the church, using the divinity of deceased believers was against doctrine. This behavior was unprecedented.
Even the heads of the lofty Creed families couldn't help but join the discussion.
“I didn't expect all of this to be true. Randall used the divinity of others.”
“The Hand of God actually has the ability to absorb divinity.”
“Why exactly would Randall do this?”
Not only did the heads of the Creed families want to know why Randall wanted to do this, but the inquisitors in the Hall of Judgment also wanted to know.
So, they asked the same question.
“Why did you do this?”
Randall looked at Leon and said,
“Everything is for God.”
“Sophistry! The God of Tigre would never allow you to do this!”
Archbishop Damil, the Dean of the Seminary, stood up and rebuked angrily.
A cold smile appeared on the corner of Randall's mouth,
“The real heretic is Leon Moria. If you don't believe me, you can have the Wise Men test his entries again.”
“In the Supreme Court of Judgment, Leon Moria has already proven that he is not a heretic. Randall, you are the one on trial now, not Leon Moria.”
Albert said.
“Yes, but since you asked me why I did all this, it is inseparable from investigating Leon Moria. I have one hundred percent evidence to prove that he is a heretic.”
Randall said.
Leon narrowed his eyes. So, this was where he was waiting for him?
“What evidence?”
An auxiliary inquisitor asked.
“Everyone here is a true Wise Man and should know the history of the Dark Ages. At that time, the world was not ruled by humans, but by dragons. And the god they believed in was not the God of Tigre, but Mohan.”
Randall said.
Although Leon knew a little, he didn't know as much detail as Randall.
The Forest Witch and the others were even more ignorant of this period of history, with expressions of surprise on their faces.
“Until the Holy Era, the great God of Tigre expelled the evil god, and the dragon race was completely destroyed. There were no more true dragons in the world.”
Randall said slowly, “Even the Azure Dragon Court only has wyverns. Then why would Miss Dorothy Hall bring back a true dragon?”
“Does this true dragon really belong to Miss Dorothy Hall? The answer is no. It belongs to Leon Moria and is direct evidence of Leon's belief in Mohan.”
“If you don't believe me, you can have the black dragon undergo a test by the Wise Men to see if it is a true dragon.”
Augulas frowned upon hearing Randall's words.
The black dragon belonged to Leon? Not to Dorothy Hall?
Why was that dragon with Dorothy?
In other words, Leon had been deceiving him all along. What was the relationship between Leon and Dorothy?
Augulas's face darkened, his gaze coldly sweeping across Leon's and Randall's faces.
He wanted both of these people dead now.
Although Leon was indeed very useful most of the time and was a pillar of the Empire, he had touched his bottom line.
This dragon had explained everything.
Her value was already equivalent to a Gift.
What kind of relationship would lead to the gifting of a Gift? Augulas knew it clearly.
No wonder Dorothy's attitude towards him was completely different from before. Not only did she not respond to his feelings, but she also avoided him at all costs.
So, it was because of this man?
Leon Moria, very well, daring to make a fool of the Emperor of the Empire.
Augulas clenched his fists, vowing to make Leon Moria pay the price.
But the most important thing right now was to trip up Pope Randall.
Leon's eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly. Randall's move was truly ruthless.
Directly exposing Alexander's true identity could not only label him as a heretic but also dismantle his alliance with Augulas.
He could sense the killing intent emanating from Augulas's eyes.
But he had expected him to say this, so...
“Leon Moria, do you have anything to say in your defense?”
Albert looked at Leon.
Leon said, “The black dragon is not my possession. She is also not a true dragon, but a true wyvern. If Miss Dorothy is willing, the Wise Men can test the dragon.”
Dorothy Hall in the audience nodded slightly and released the petite black dragon perched on her arm.
The black dragon leaped into the air, transforming into a wyvern form with a body length of three meters.
Albert immediately had the Wise Men come forward to test the dragon's attributes.
Everyone in the Hall of Judgment watched this scene curiously.
“Chief Inquisitor, it is a wyvern.”
The testing Wise Man said.
The Hall of Judgment once again fell into noisy discussion until the gavel rang again.
“Silence!”
Albert issued a stern voice.
After everyone quieted down, he said to Randall, “If you slander the plaintiff again, you will also bear the crime of defaming a noble.”
“This dragon is fake, not the original black dragon.”
Randall said.
Unfortunately, no one believed him anymore.
After all, this dragon looked exactly the same as Dorothy's dragon before.
And she was indeed fake. Her true form was Eunice, a wyvern skilled in changing forms. She could simulate the appearance of any dragon.
Eunice flew back to Dorothy again, transforming back into a well-behaved little dragon, perched on her shoulder.
Due to the slander against Leon, Randall once again fell into a passive position. All the evidence pointed to his triple crime.
Augulas breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered that Randall had lied and withdrew his killing intent towards Leon.
Since this dragon had nothing to do with Leon, then he didn't need to suspect that Leon and Dorothy had a relationship.
After more than a dozen inquisitors discussed, they came to a conclusion,
“Randall Crest, according to Holy Canon Article 17, Article 24, Article 356, you should be sentenced to death. You can plead not guilty, but you must accept the punishment.”
“You have no right to dispose of me. I said, everything I did was for God, to eliminate heretics. As long as Leon Moria is proven to be a heretic, I am innocent.”
Randall said.
“Regardless of whether Leon Moria is a heretic, you plundered the divinity of other special believers, which already constitutes the crime of heresy. A heretic has no right to judge a heretic.”
Albert said.
“What I plundered was the divinity of the dead within the ruins of the temple. It seems you don't know the true meaning of the existence of the ruins of the temple. The existence of the ruins of the temple itself is to reserve divinity for the Pope to use the Hand of God. Since you don't know, I can show you 'Holy Canon - Pope Chapter'.”
Randall took out a book from his arms, and a servant handed it to Albert.
After Albert finished reading, he nodded slowly and handed the book to other inquisitors to read.
After the twelve auxiliary inquisitors finished reading, they discussed with each other and came to a conclusion again,
“Even if you can be exempt from the crime of heresy, the charges of murdering witches, attempting to control witches, and assassinating a new noble of the Empire still stand.”
“Even a hundred witches cannot be compared with a Pope.”
The cardinal bishop stood up and said in a loud voice.
That's right, the higher-ups all knew that witches were just products of experiments.
But this kind of thing could not be made public at all.
Dorothy reached out her hand, and a vine was released from her palm. The vine directly wrapped around the speaking bishop, instantly slamming him into the wall, leaving cobweb-like traces on the wall. The bishop also vomited blood.
“Say what you just said again.”
Dorothy looked at him coldly.
Cardinal Bishop Fail Morgan still had vines wrapped around his neck, and could only emit a hoarse voice painfully,
“I-I, I wasn't talking about you, Lord Dorothy.”
Dorothy withdrew the vines, and Fail Morgan slowly fell to the ground. A servant immediately helped him up.
“Miss Dorothy Hall, please do not take action in the Wise Men's Hall of Judgment.”
Inquisitor Albert warned Dorothy, “One more time, please leave here.”
“I understand.”
Dorothy said calmly.
Augulas wanted to chat with Dorothy, but looking at her face, she was obviously in a bad mood.
“Randall, if you can prove that Leon Moria is a heretic, your guilt will be reduced.”
Albert said.
Leon and Augulas raised their heads at the same time, looking at Albert with surprise in their eyes.
So, he was Randall's man?
It was really hard to guard against.
“I request a term detection for Leon Moria.”
Randall said.
“I object.”
Duke Moria stood up, the sword at his waist making a humming sound, as if it would be unsheathed at any time.
“The one being judged now is Randall, not my grandson.”
“Objection invalid.”
Albert ignored Duke Moria's objection.
Duke Moria frowned slightly and gripped the hilt of his sword.
“If you use force here, you will violate the imperial law, and you will also be questioned.”
Albert said.
“Grandpa, it's okay, let them test it, I'm not afraid.”
Leon looked at Duke Moria with a smile, “Because I have never been a heretic.”
Duke Moria looked at Leon's confident appearance, so he didn't say anything else and sat back in his seat.
Count Hall's emotions were a little complicated. On one side was his former best friend, and on the other was his daughter's fiancé. He didn't actually want to participate in this trial.
The examiner was invited back into the Hall of Judgment again. He carried out the term detection device and tested Leon.
Leon put his hand on the black term detection device, and the device quickly showed the result.
The entry appeared in everyone's eyes, but there were no heretical entries.
It wasn't that Leon hid the entry, but that he and his clone had switched positions in time.
Leon's clone, wearing a cloak, was hidden among Duke Moria's guards and also entered the Hall of Judgment.
Within a certain distance, Leon could switch positions with his clone at any time.
Even if the [Clone] entry was temporarily removed from the clone, the clone could exist for 30 seconds.
And these 30 seconds were enough for the Sage to complete the test.
Randall never expected the test results to be like this.
Even if the Chief Inquisitor was his man, there was no way to continue speaking for him.
