Chapter 44 - The Trial of Names
The Judge did not attack.
She invited me to trial.
Publicly.
That was more dangerous.
The trial took place in the sky above Blackwater, projected across the region.
The Judge asked my name.
"Kai Renn."
"Assigned name."
"Still mine."
She asked my realm.
"Don't have one."
The crowd laughed.
The Judge did not.
She asked who owned my spirit root.
"Me."
"Incorrect."
"Then come collect it."
Mira covered a smile.
The Judge revealed why she called me Candidate Seven.
Across history, seven cultivators had reached the point where Heaven could no longer predict their advancement.
Six disappeared.
One remained active.
Me.
"Where are the others?"
"Beyond authorized sight."
The First Defier's sanctuary.
Maybe.
The Judge offered ascension if I surrendered Lyra's fragment and mine.
I refused.
She offered safety for everyone I knew.
I refused.
Then she showed me a vision.
Jace dead.
Mira dead.
Blackwater burning.
My choices causing all of it.
The old trick.
Fen had betrayed the rebels because of visions like this.
I looked at the Judge.
"Are those futures true?"
"Possible."
"Then show me the futures where obedience kills them."
May you like
For the first time, Heaven's Judge had no answer.
