Chapter 149: The Faceless Judges

Chapter 149: The Faceless Judges

"Welcome Back... Queen Morgana."

A distorted voice welcomed me, echoing in the darkness. My eyes were wide open, but it didn't make any difference; nothing could be seen no matter how I tried, even with my mana and enhanced senses, I couldn't.

"Who are you?" I asked loudly, but there was no reply.

"I said who the fuck are you and show yourself!"

"..."

"Sigh... you never change, Queen Morgana, even after death and rebirth, you never change."

'Rebirth?' I narrowed my eyes, catching that word. Whatever the identity of the owner of the voice, he knew about my rebirth.

"No need to give us that look," the distorted voice said again, and before I knew it, three cloaked figures appeared before me.

"Hmm... What the hell are you?" I blurted out the question before I could stop myself. And don't blame me—the figures before me were... well, weird.

They were tall, surpassing my height, and extremely thin—two of them combined weighed less than I did. Their cloaks were black and long, covering every part of their bodies except for their thin, pale arms.

But their faces—that's where the weird part came in. They had no eyes, no nose, and no ears. The only thing they had was a mouth, a mouth so wide that I was pretty sure they could open their jaws to a full 180 degrees, with sharp, jagged teeth—not the vampire kind, but more like a shark's.

"How rude, you should at least greet us properly," the middle figure spoke. Its voice was the same as the distorted one I heard.

"Tell me who the fuck you are and I'll greet you properly," I replied, narrowing my eyes.

"Tsk... tsk... tsk... You still have that foul mouth of yours, Queen Morgana," the figure shook his head, and his voice was full of disappointment.

"Listen, buddy. I'm not in the mood for games, just tell me who you are and what the hell this place is."

"You came to us, remember?" the one on the left spoke. Then I realized they all had the same voice.

"You mean the potion?"

"It doesn't matter what form it took, what matters is that you consumed a primordial divinity," the one on the right spoke, snapping his fingers. Three giant black doors materialized behind them. "And we are the watchers, the faceless, or simply the judges."

"You know, you could be more clear," I said, getting annoyed by their confusing words. One of the things I truly dislike is speaking in riddles.

"There is no need to; all will become clear once you choose," the middle one pointed at the giant doors behind him. They were slightly different from each other, each had a symbol on top: a heart, a brain, and a body.

"Care to explain a little?" I asked, crossing my arms, still confused about everything. "I'm not going to move from my spot until I know what's happening."

"Sigh... dealing with you was never easy," the three spoke at the same time, shaking their heads. Then they started to explain.

"In short, we are the primordial judges. One of our roles is to guide those who manage to gain divinity and help them ascend to godhood." The middle one pointed at the doors behind him. "Each door will take you to a trial. The trial will be different, and it depends on the divinity."

"Let me see," the middle one took a step forward, approaching me. He didn't touch me, just focused his faceless head on my body. I felt his presence in my lower belly as if he was examining me with a strange power.

"A world tree," he said, slightly surprised—or at least that's what I understood from his tone. "It's a very rare soul, and it seems it's not an ordinary soul either."

"What do you mean?"

"It's a divine soul, the soul of an old world, the mother tree, the spirit of the forest," the judge nodded, as if solving a mystery, and stepped away. "The world itself chose you to give birth to its child. It's a blessing, and it will assist you greatly on the path you have chosen."

"A blessing, huh," I whispered, nodding and looking at my belly. I was still worried about my daughter, and as if hearing my thoughts, the judge spoke, easing my fears.

"Don't worry, we can protect her during your time in the trials."

"You can?"

"Yes," the judge on the left said, his head nodding. "It's easy for us. After all, we helped Queen Lilith in creating your body."

"!!!" I opened my eyes wide, hearing his words. "Y-You... you created my body?... Why?"

"Not all of it, just parts," the one on the right spoke. "And it was a debt we owed to the primordial Lilith."

"What deb—" before I could finish, the three raised their hands, stopping me.

"It would be better for all of us if you don't know."

"..."

I didn't like it one single bit. I had a feeling that I was involved in some kind of shady deal, but I don't remember and I had no way of knowing. Maybe this was one of the reasons my past self told me in the letter that losing my memories was better for me.

"You're right, I don't need to know," I smiled, waving my hand. "Now let's get down to business. Are there any rules or restrictions in the trials?"

"None," the middle one answered, shaking his head. "We don't even know what kind of trials you'll be facing, as each one will be tailored specifically to you and your future divine concept."

"Hmm... I see," I nodded, understanding their logic. "One quick question, what is the divine concept you keep talking about?"

"Divine concepts are the foundation of a god," the one on the left said. "For example, the primordial Lilith has the concepts of Dark, Corruption, and Lust. These are the concepts that define her and the power she holds. Each god has a major concept and minor ones."

"The minor ones can be acquired in a number of ways, and they sometimes represent a small fragment of a major concept, like war, magic, nature, and so on."

"The major ones can only be gained through the awakening trials, and the difficulty is beyond anything else. You'll see once you start your trials."

"I see," I nodded, getting more and more interested. Then the judges continued to explain.

"Now choose," they said, pointing at the giant black doors behind them. "Which one will you take first?"



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