Chapter 320 - Judgment

Mercury punched once, he sent out a jab that hit the last guard in the center of his chest which dented his platemail armor inward killing him instantly as it shattered his sternum and turned his heart into mush, then he let out a long breath before he touched the tattoo under his right eye

"It feels hot..?"

Mercury didn't get to examine his tattoo in detail however as the 10 elite knights of the Ralmet house showed up escorting Lady Ralmet and one who Mercury assumed was Lord Ralmet that spoke up looking terrified as he saw all the bodies on the ground

"What a slaughter! Who are you!? Why are you killing our guards!?"

Mercury ignored what Lord Ralmet had to say and looked over at Lady Ralmet before he spoke

"You have annoyed me for the last time"

Lady Ralmet looked frighteningly pale all of a sudden and quickly took a few steps back before she yelled at the knights

"What are you doing, kill him already!"

Mercury took a stance as the knights drew their swords and quickly used various skills

"[Stone skin]!"

"[Aura blade]"

"[Bulwalk]!"

"[Aura armor]!"

Then they followed Lady Ralmet's orders and rushed ahead to kill Mercury, Mercury breathed out deeply, he could hear the word 'Immortal' benign repeated in his head already, he started walking towards the knights before he suddenly kicked off the ground and disappeared from view before he reappeared inside the range of a knight that had used [Stone skin] and sent out a jab, the knight quickly raised their shield and managed to block the jab from Mercury that landed squarely on the shield denting it heavily fracturing the arm of the knight in one blow before he bobbed his head down dodging the sword slash from the knight that would have sent his head flying, while he was crouched down he shifted his weight to his toes before he propelled himself upwards delivering a left hook to the side of the knight's armor while using [Forging blows] tuned to his bones, instantly shattering the ribs of the knight sending bone fragments flying through his lungs and heart, then Mercury quickly kicked off the ground disappearing from view again while it took a long time to describe this only took about 2 and a half second in reality

"Old man!?"

One of the knights let out a sorrowful cry as the first knight fell to the ground, Mercury took some distance as he suddenly heard Marie's voice from behind

"Mercury!"

He looked back and saw her standing at the gate, she was caring her black spear in one hand, and in the other was the aluminum gauntlets which she threw to him, Mercury caught them while he dodged the attack from a knight and quickly put them on, then he clicked them together twice before he spoke

"2nd round, fight!"

Mercury then bobbed his head down again dodging a spear stab from one of the knights before he reached up and grabbed the spear and yanked it towards himself and thereby also the knight that was holding it with his right hand, then he once again shifted his weight to his toes as he delivered an uppercut to the chin of the spear-wielding knight's chin sending his head flying along with his helmet

"That's 3!"

The reaming 7 knights all tried as best they could to kill Mercury, that is until Mercury managed to kill another knight by sending a straight punch to his helmet, denting it to half the size it was originally

"---Immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal---"

Mercury didn't know when he had started chanting and he didn't care as he caught the blade of a knight before he simply punched out without any from sending their head flying along with their helmet then he let go of the now ownerless sword turned and raised his clenched right hand and knocked an overhead sword slash out his way before he reached forwards with his left hand and grabbed the helmet of the knight and squeezed for a moment before he let go of the deformed helmet as he continued chanting

"---Immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal, immortal---"

"Mercury!"

Mercury turned his head slightly and saw that Marie was being attacked by two knights, she was being pushed back and there was a shallow cut on her arm

*CRACK*

The sound of aged sandstone cracking under violent stress sounded out in the courtyard as the tattoo under Mercury's right eye began glowing slightly then he let out a beastly sounding growl that made the reaming knights and the Ralmet's freeze, they did this involuntarily as one would if they suddenly heard the growl of a beast laced with bloodlust right beside their ear, this lasted a few moments which Mercury used to kick off the ground and grab one of the knights that were attacking Marie and rip off his arm before he slammed it into the face of the other knight breaking his neck with a haunting sounding snap, then a moment later the tattoo under Mercury's right eye began glowing even more as he suddenly felt like he was walking underwater as his strength was being sapped out of him

"What the… Fuck..?"

The remaining 2 knights didn't miss that Mercury's speed slowed down and pushed him and Marie back injuring them both further, this caused Lady Ralemt to let out a cheer

"Yes, kill them both!"

Mercury and Marie was pushed further back until suddenly a yell was heard

"Stop right this instance!"

The knights obeyed and so did Mercury and Marie before they looked towards the voice that had called out, it was a dignified middle-aged man that was surrounded by knights, when the Ralmet's laid eyes on him they kneeled down and spoke out with respect

""City Lord!""

The city lord looked around at the carnage and asked after a bit

"...Can anyone tell me what's going on here?"

Mercury stood up and spoke

"Retribution, the Ralemt's have messed with us enough"

Lady Ralment let out a shill yell

"That's a lie!"

The city lord looked at both of them before he looked at Mercury and asked

"Retribution for what?"

"Smashing up our shop, scaring away our customers, spreading false rumors about the quality of our goods and harassing our employees"

The city lord nodded before he asked

"And why would the esteemed Ralmet family do that?"

"Because Lady Ralmet lost a case against us a week ago, about the custody of my child whom she claims is hers"

The face of both the city lord and Lord Ralmet darkened, clearly this was the first they had heard of this… Or was it?

"...Take the two of them away"

Mercury and Marie was taken away by the knights that the city lord had bright, they didn't resist as they were being taken away Mercury noticed that the City lord seemed to be exchanging words with Lord Ralmet and sharpened his ears and heard something disturbing

"What the fuck..?"

Mercury stopped walking and yelled

"What the fuck do you mean 'has she found another child'!?"

The faces of the city lord and Lord Ralemt darkened before the city lord spoke

"Care to repeat that?"

"What the fuck do you mean 'has she found another child'!? Is this some sort of habit for that bitch!?"

The face of the city lord suddenly showed a smile before he spoke to the knights that stood next to them

"Kill them both!"

Mercury showed a smile and prepared to use [Lesser metal weaving] on the armor of the knights around Marie when another voice yelled out

"[Judgment: Guilty]!"

The knights around Mike and Mercury quickly turned into a black stone, both Mercury and Marie looked over as well as The Ralmet's, their two remaining knights, and the city lord, there they all saw the Judicator of Ode, even though she wore a veil that covered her face most of her anger was clearly felt to Mercury and Marie, the city lord seemed a little dense on this point and yelled

"What was that for!? Do you have any idea how much cel it costs to train a knight to that level!?"

The Judicator ignored city lord and turned to the Ralemet's as she spoke

"Lady Helia Ralmet, Lord Julius Ralmet, for the crimes of kidnapping, torturing, and killing 54 children you are hereby deemed guilty [Judgment: Guilty]!"

Lady and Lord Ralemt let out a scream as they slowly turned into a black stone, the process seemed to be purposely slowed down so they would suffer more in comparison to the knight, their crime was definitely heavier, The Judicator then turned to the city lord that quickly began pleading

"Lady Judicator I had no idea that---"

"For the crimes of covering and destroying evidence in this case you are hereby deemed guilty! [Judgment: Guilty]!"

The city lord quickly turned into black stone much like the Ralemt's, then the Judicator quickly turned faint before she passed out, Mercury quickly appeared and caught her in his arms as he muttered

"Julia?"