Chapter 362: The Beginning Of The End [XXIV]

Lunara gritted her teeth at Ardeon’s words, as she had been completely manipulated, and she didn’t even know about it!

No words could express her anger.

“JUDGEMENT!”

The sky screamed.

A massive explosion of gold and white light tore it open as a colossal judge’s scale rumbled down from the heavens, its chains clattering like spirits in agony, its plates glowing with divine weight.

BOOOOOOM—!!

The scale landed before Lunara, shaking the entire arena.

Dust burst upward, students stumbled back, and even the fused relics froze, reacting instinctively to the overwhelming authority.

Every eye turned to her.

Lunara lifted her right hand slowly.

A faint glow seeped into her irises, then sharpened… until two luminous balance symbols formed inside her eyes, spinning like slow gears of fate.

“I designate Ardeon as the Judgment Target.”

Aestrea felt a small chill move down his spine.

’…Her eyes looked exactly like my old skill…’ he frowned a little at the coincidence, but quickly shook those thoughts.

He now needed to find a way to escape that damn barrier.

Above the sky, reality tore open again.

FWOOM—!!

A new line of glowing text appeared across the clouds:

[Ardeon… do you accept your Judgment?]

Ardeon didn’t blink or feel scared.

He didn’t even pretend to think.

He stood there… relaxed… smiling… almost amused.

Then he threw his head back and laughed wildly, brightly, and viciously.

“Hahahaha—what a stupid question!”

He pointed the scepter at the sky, his eyes widening with excitement.

“I ACCEPT! I ACCEPT COMPLETELY! HAHAHAHA—ASK ME A THOUSAND TIMES, AND I WILL STILL SAY ’YES!’”

Even Lunara faltered for a split second.

The balance scale reacted instantly.

BANG!!

Ardeon’s plate shot upward like a feather, and Lunara’s dropped heavily, her divine authority weighing it down far more.

Another line of text flashed into existence.

[Lunara… do you accept your Judgment?]

She didn’t hesitate.

“I accept.”

RIIIIIIING—!!

The sound blasted through the battlefield like a divine bell.

The entire scale glowed, balancing itself perfectly, as if fate were being rewritten in real time.

A new message appeared overhead:

[Ardeon, as the one judged, you hold the right to ask the first question.]

Silence washed over the field.

Students dared not breathe, and even the professor stood frozen.

Ardeon lowered his head slowly… eyes half-lidded… smiling like a man who already knew the ending of a story no one else had read.

And Lunara, despite her anger, felt a sudden, deep dread crawl across her skin.

She was the one who initiated Judgment…

So why did it feel like Ardeon had been waiting for it?

Why did it feel like… she had just stepped directly into his trap?

And just like she expected…

“Lunara, is it true that you have been planning on taking complete control over the full academy once you got strong enough?!”

Ardeon directly struck her weak point without a hint of hesitation.

Lunara’s expression instantly shattered, her throat tightened, and her breath froze in the air. In that moment, she could feel the hundreds of eyes drilling into her, whispering, doubting, judging.

And as if to make everything worse, the sky brightened and another glowing line formed above them.

[Reply to be judged.]

The rules were cruel.

If she told the truth, the balance would not move.

If she lied… her plate would tilt, growing lighter, showing her guilt to everyone.

But if she said yes, if she admitted it, every student would learn her hidden ambition. And for someone like her, the student council president, the symbol of justice… that humiliation was worse than death.

“I… I-I…”

She clenched her fists tightly as she saw the hopeful gazes of every student present, especially Elijah, who now had a complete expression of disappointment.

He, who respected her so much… was wearing such an expression.

Her hands curled into fists so tight her knuckles went white, and then she nervously bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

Finally, she tried to force the words out.

“I… No—”

“—Let me get judged instead of her,” Aestrea’s voice cut through the air so sharply that the entire arena seemed to pause.

He stepped in front of Lunara with one fluid motion, placing himself directly between her and the heavens, as if shielding her with his own existence.

A new line burned across the sky.

[…You do not have the right to interfere in this judgment.]

Aestrea only smiled… that calm, dangerous smile he wore whenever his mind was set and nothing in the world could move him.

“Then if I lose this judgment,” he said steadily, lifting his hand toward the sky, “I will kill myself… and I will become a demon by my own choice.”

His vow rose into the air like a challenge to the heavens themselves.

~Fwoosshhh~

A breath of wind swept across the arena.

Then the clouds split apart.

A soft beam of golden light descended, wrapping around Aestrea’s body as though the sky had reached down to accept his life, acknowledging his promise as something binding and absolute.

[Authority granted. Now… the people under judgment are Aestrea and Ardeon. Because of this… Ardeon still retains the right to ask the first question.]

More glowing text appeared, and Ardeon’s confidence wavered for the first time.

Something dark leaked out of his body, which was none other than pure killing intent, sharp enough to make the air tremble as he glared at Aestrea.

“Y-You… junior… I—”

Lunara could not even lift her head. She stared at the ground, fists shaking, crushed by the feeling of being helpless while he stood up for her.

“…Don’t worry about it, Pres,” Aestrea said gently, offering her a small smile. “This is just what a good secretary should do, right?”

And just in that moment, for the first time in her entire life…

Her mechanical heart fluttered, glitching for a split second, and warmth rushed to her cheeks the moment he turned away from her and faced Ardeon again.

[Lunara’s affection has increased by 30.]

’…What the fuck?’ Aestrea froze inside.

He had pushed her favorability to forty-one before, but now it had shot up by thirty points directly, meaning that her total affection was seventy-one points!

That meant she… actually liked him now.

’Was it really that dramatic?’ he wondered, frowning slightly.

On the other side, Ardeon was in quite a difficult situation.

“Fuck… phew, take a deep breath, Ardeon…”

Ardeon inhaled slowly, trying to steady himself.

He had planned for Lunara. He had prepared questions for her… he had traps ready for her. But Aestrea…Aestrea had never been part of the plan.

Still, he forced his voice to stay calm.

“Aestrea,” he said, “is it true that you have been secretly gathering information on every member of the student council since the moment you were appointed as Lunara’s secretary?”

It was a clever question, one that could catch anyone off guard. It aimed at loyalty, secrecy, and trust. It targeted Aestrea’s role directly.

Students held their breath, but Aestrea only shrugged lightly.

“Yes.” He spoke truthfully, easily, without hesitation.

The scale didn’t move.

Ardeon’s jaw tightened.

That was supposed to unsettle him.

That was supposed to make him stumble, or at least show some guilt, but Aestrea had answered it like he was commenting on the weather.

Ardeon frowned.

He could feel the situation slipping away from him.

Then the sky brightened again.

[Aestrea may now ask his question.]

Aestrea’s lips curved the moment the words appeared, slowly, dangerously, like someone who had been waiting for this exact moment.

His voice dropped to a calm, almost gentle tone.

“…Is it true that the entire purpose of this little show you created today… was to enslave the Fallen God and force him into your faction, so you could take control of the academy?”

Ardeon froze.

The question hit him like a spear to the chest.

His confident expression vanished, replaced by raw caution as he stared at Aestrea, searching his eyes, trying to find some loophole, some escape, some trick.

“…F-Fuck…”

It should have been simple.

It should have been just a yes or no.

But the Authority of Judgment wasn’t that kind.

It wasn’t gentle.

It directly dragged the truth out of your heart, peeling away the excuses, pushing down on your chest until the answer you feared most came out on instinct.

To lie was to fight against the heavens themselves.

And Ardeon’s will… was not as strong as he liked to pretend.

“N-No…!” he shouted, his voice cracking with uncertainty.

Aestrea’s smile widened.

The sky answered.

[THAT IS A LIE.]

RIIIIIING—!!

Ardeon’s plate grew heavier with a thunderous weight, dragging downward. Aestrea’s plate rose slightly in response, lifted by the purity of truth.

Another line appeared overhead:

[Two questions remain, Ardeon.]

Gasps spread across the arena.

Ardeon clenched his teeth so hard his jaw shook. Sweat slid down his temple as he swallowed, thinking desperately. He needed to ask something, anything, that could turn this around.

He had prepared questions for every member of the student council.

Every member except Aestrea…

Because Aestrea had been a newcomer… someone he had deemed as harmless, even useless, as he didn’t think much of his achievements.

Aestrea was basically someone he believed would never stand in his way.

And now… that same quiet newcomer was dismantling him in front of the entire academy, one truth at a time.

And Ardeon had never felt so trapped.

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