Chapter 244: Punishment

Being surrounded by flying blades that cut off a piece of flesh off him with each second certainly caused the Forlorn Prince to fall into madness. Thanks to his outrage, Tristan had successfully made him lose another of his limbs.

Splat!!

Janus didn't have time to say anything or even scream in pain because Tristan had made a deep cut on his face that injured one of his eyes, destroying it. His Immortal Body's trait kept activating, healing and recovering the wounds he suffered. But, its rate of regeneration couldn't catch up to how fast Tristan injured his body.

At this point, Janus finally realized that he couldn't beat Tristan no matter what, and thus, his survival instinct kicked in as his mind fell into deep thought, trying to find a viable method to escape.

The first chance he got, Janus decided to fly and continue his previous escape plan. 

But how could Tristan not expect this?

When he was about to fly up through the roof of the building, the Forlorn Prince was stunned to see string-like blood already replacing the roof of the building where they fought, completely sealing his path to the sky.

Tristan showed an evil grin when he saw the dumbfounded expression on Janus' face. 

"Sorry, but no more flights today!"

Not left without wits, Janus swiftly turned to the side and slammed his body against the wall of the building. He broke through and found himself back in the streets of Forlorn City as his body rolled on the ground to dissipate the momentum.

Bloodstained and terrified, Janus quickly stood up and rushed into the sky again. As he flew up and felt the wind blow against his body, he involuntarily heaved a sigh of relief. However, it was at this moment that his face drastically changed and horror returned to his eyes.

Janus was terrified when he realized a thin red-colored rope was tied around his feet, and even more so when he felt something pulling him back to the ground. He was so terrified and desperate that he immediately decided to cut off his leg in order to escape. 

Unfortunately, the moment he turned around, he could be shocked because Tristan was already standing in front of him. Incidentally, the latter was in the air which shouldn't be possible.

Apparently, Tristan had utilized his [Blood Synthesis] to create a platform as a foothold. Another trick on how to utilize the skill that could be very effective in certain situations, like this one.

"How can you leave without saying goodbye? That is very rude,!!" said Tristan with a smile.

Without waiting for a reply, he immediately jumped at the dumbfounded prince and dealt a heavy punch to the latter's face, sending him crashing to the ground like a falling comet.

The blood-synthesized platform beneath his feet crumbled down as Tristan leapt off to follow and landed right where Janus had fallen.

BOOM!!

Loud sound resounded through the city as the ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had struck. The impact was so strong that those who were observing from a distance could even feel the effect.

A few seconds later, Tristan was seen walking out of the large crater he inadvertently created while dragging the half-unconscious Janus who had been bound by his blood-synthesized rope.

He towed the Forlorn Prince along as he made his way towards the center of the city. Once again, all the Forlorn elves, warriors and nobles alike, quickly moved to the side and opened up a clear path for him.

These people had been watching the fight from afar, and they could clearly see the blood elf was stronger than their prince, a stage 5 Katra practitioner. And if that wasn't enough, the former didn't take advantage of his monstrous transformation for the entire fight.

As they let Tristan pass them unhindered, they too could see their prince being dragged to the ground throughout the journey. Most of them watched with mixed feelings, but no one dared to move.

The elves, generally, were in control of their emotions. Hence, the majority of them managed to hold out their response. At the moment, they were waiting for prince Elroth and the elders to decide on how to handle this matter.

Elroth, on the other hand, was actually very hesitant as he was not sure what Tristan wanted to do with his brother. Naturally, he couldn't just ask the former to release Janus as he knew his own position. 

Hence, when Tristan finally reached the center of this city where a massive plaza was situated, Elroth carefully inquired, "What do you have planned for him, Lord Monarch?"

With a nonchalant expression on his face, he said, "I want to kill him for sure.."

Tristan's words gave complicated expressions on the faces of Elroth and the elders, but they were surprised when they heard what he said next.

"But I walked here to ask for my dear wife's opinion."

Serene, who had been gasping the entire fight, was startled when she heard Tristan mention her name. She was even more shocked when her brain finally comprehended what the latter said. She would be the one deciding Janus' fate.

Confused look on her face, Serene stutteringly asked, "Why… Why me..??

"Why, you ask? Can't you see that all the fighting was for you?" replied Tristan nonchalantly, with a warm smile on his face.

In the meantime, Elroth who stood at the side found the situation slightly difficult to comprehend. It was a fact that he hated his brother, but all in all, Janus still had the Forlorn Kingdom's royal blood run through him. And as one would expect, the matter of killing a royalty was not something simple.

"So what do you say, wife?" Tristan asked again when he saw Serene not replying. At the same time, he yanked the rope in his hand making Janus' bound body rise and stand on the ground.

It looked like Tristan's action had awakened Janus as the latter could be seen opening his eyes slowly. It took some time for him to process his surroundings, and as he recalled the situation, he immediately tried to struggle free. Seeing that, Tristan obviously created more blood synthesized ropes and strengthened them before restraining Janus again.

Several seconds later, Janus finally realized he wouldn't be able to break free. Thus, he glared at Tristan and said, "ARGHH! What.. What do you want to do to me?! Let me go right now!"

Tristan turned his attention to Janus and said, "We are here busy deciding your fate. So please be patient." 

Janus became even more panicked when he heard that and immediately tried to break free. Annoyed by the other party's behavior, Tristan glared and said, "Stand still or  I will kill you right now !!"

As if splashed with a bucket of cold water, Janus immediately calmed down when he realized the killing intent of Tristan's words. Nodding in satisfaction, Tristan returned his attention back to Serene.

"Alright. So, wife, what do you have in mind?"

Serene turned to look at the pale Janus and anger immediately filled her as she recalled how the other party had tried to force himself on her. Subconsciously, she blurted out. "Kill.."

"No, wait.. I don't know…" added Serene quickly as a thoughtful look appeared on her face.

Realizing the situation, Janus quickly tried to talk himself out of the punishment.

"Serene.. No, Princess Serene. We are practically cousins. Please spare me. I really regret what I have done, really.."

Deciding the fate and execution of a prince of a kingdom did make Serene hesitate because she knew very well what kind of problems would arise if this matter was handled wrongly. 

She turned to Elroth and her expression told the latter that she wanted to ask his opinion. However, Elroth didn't dare to say anything, not even the elders as they avoided her gaze. It seemed that they had been completely intimidated by Tristan.

Janus could also see the others' reaction and their reluctance to help him.

"Please, Princess.. Please.." Turning his attention to Tristan, Janus continued, "Lord Monarch.. I.. I can be useful for you! You said you hate the Arcadian King, didn't you? I believe I will be of great help to your cause. So, please, spare me."

Upon hearing that, Tristan only shook his head in disgust. This man who had previously acted so mighty turned out to be a coward. How pathetic.

"Last call, Serene." said Tristan, jolting her out of contemplation.

Serene appeared to be hesitating before saying, "Punish him… but don't kill him...."

Tristan nodded his head as if he had expected her answer. "Alright."

"Prince Janus, you should thank my wife for her generous mercy."

A relieved expression appeared on Janus' face as he was happy by the fact he just escaped death. However, Tristan wasn't finished yet.

"Prince Janus, for your offense of hurting my family, you shall be punished in this way. One spell, you shall accept one of my spell."

Janus was worried for a second, but when he recalled his Immortal Body, a relaxed expression adorned his face again. Looking at the other party's relieved look, Tristan released Janus from his restraint.

"Alright, people of Forlorn. You have all taken witness to this. Prince Janus has wronged my wife, Princess of Vanyar, and he has decided to willingly accept his punishment."

In the next moment, Tristan used his [Blood Synthesis] ability and created a large amount of blood in front of him. 

Janus became even more reassured when he saw what Tristan was doing because he had tasted all kinds of attacks with that skill. However, he wasn't so sure anymore when Tristan's wicked smile graced upon him.

"Let's see if your immortal body can withstand this!"

Just like a wave, Tristan pushed the blood construct which hadn't been formed close to the prince. Everyone watched in bewilderment as to what Tristan was trying to do, but their expressions immediately changed when they saw the blood forcing its way through the Prince of mouth, ears and nose.

"No!...No.. Arrrghhh"

Within seconds, most of the blood had entered Janus' body which began to expand like an inflated balloon. The next thing everyone knew, it exploded into dozens of pieces.

Just like that their prince has died, Tristan gave a look at his wife with a smile "upps"

The entire crowd fell silent while the blood construct was still flying in the air and slowly moved towards Tristan. 

[Blood extraction]