Chapter 42 42: Trial Of Life And Death

Atlas went slightly stunned. How did this person know? Despite being shocked, he sat blankly.

"You know I can see when a person is truly under my Compulsion and when he's acting," Lorenz stated as he stepped closer to Atlas, grabbing him by his neck.

He raised Atlas in the air, holding him by his neck.

"Tell me the truth! Who are you?!" he roared fiercely, enraged.

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Atlas was grabbed by his neck, in the grasp of Lorenz, who was glaring in his eyes.

His bloodthirsty eyes seemed as if he was going to eat Atlas alive.

Atlas was shocked, so close to death. He knew he couldn't let Lorenz do whatever he pleased, but he also knew that there was no way Lorenz could be so sure that his compulsion didn't work. He probably only had a feeling, and he was taking a guess.

"I am Atlas," Atlas blankly responded, still holding onto his blank expressions as if he was really under compulsion.

"I don't think it's possible," Jian chimed in. "How can a human resist your compulsion? I think it's a mistake."

Lorenz turned to Jian. "I know what I saw. He isn't under my Compulsion, I'm sure."

"How about you test if you're so sure?" Jian inquired. "Tell him to do something impossible. The truth will be out. I don't think we should work on guesses. That way, we'll never know the truth."

"I agree, My Lord." The Igor Family head agreed. "Only a high-ranking Vampire can overcome your compulsion, and looking at his eyes; it's clear that he isn't a Vampire. It could actually be a mistake?"

Even though he sided with Atlas, he had a reason to do it. He glanced towards the Weiss family head as he spoke.

This restaurant came under the Weiss Family. It was their responsibility. If it came out that Lancaster was innocent, the revenge excuse was going to be thrashed. That was going to mean that the restaurant was behind it, which was going to destroy the Weiss Family reputation for the incident that happened here.

As it was beneficial for the Igor family for all the blame to come to the Restaurant, he wanted Lancaster to be proven innocent, and that could only be done with the help of Atlas's Alibi. If it was proven that he couldn't resist the compulsion, it was going to prove that what he said was true.

"Nonsense! You think Lord Lorenz won't know this thing? It's his compulsion, and he knows what he saw. I'm sure that human lied, and he can somehow resist the Compulsion!" The Weiss Family head retorted. "I don't know how it's possible, but that must be the case! Lord Lorenz is right!"

"I'm sure he is most probably right, but I'm just saying that we should make sure. If we're wrong about this, we might never find the real culprit. It's an attempt on the life of Lady Yovana! We need to be sure!" Igor Family head responded, acting as if he wasn't calling Lorenz wrong.

The words of those two made even Lorenz have second thoughts. Was his intuition genuinely wrong? Was Atlas really under his compulsion?

He looked at Atlas, observing him carefully. Despite being grabbed by the neck, Atlas was still looking calm, as if he really was under compulsion.

"Fine. Let's test." He tossed Atlas to the ground and turned to the door. With long strides, the man left the room.

"Are you alright?" Lancaster ran to Atlas now that Lorenz was gone. His hands were still tied, so he couldn't help Atlas up.

Atlas didn't reply. He just sat with his head down, wondering where Lorenz had gone. Things weren't going well. He knew he needed to have a backup plan.

"I am really sorry. You are caught in this because of me. I'm really sorry." Lancaster held the hands of Atlas and helped him up.

Lancaster was suddenly pulled back by the collar. He turned around to see Jian behind him. "Don't interfere. Lorenz is coming back."

Just as he said, the door opened behind him, and Lorenz returned. Everyone noticed he wasn't empty-handed this time. There was a black dagger in his hand, which seemed to be made from iron.

"You all want me to test if my Compulsion worked on him or not? Sure. We will do that even though I'm already sure he is pretending," he declared.

"How will you test?" Igor family head inquired.

"The Trial of Life and Death." Lorenz smirked. "The life of Lady Yovana was placed in harm's way. It's only fair that I use the Trial of Life and Death here."

'Trial of Life and Death?' Atlas thought with a questioning gaze. He glanced at Lilith, thinking she knew something about it.

"Don't look at me. I have no idea what he's talking about," Lilith responded. "But it doesn't sound good."

Just like Atlas, there were more people who were confused. Only Jian seemed to have some kind of idea here. He glanced at Atlas, shaking his head as he subtly muttered. "He's gone."

Lorenz held the right hand of Atlas and raised it towards him. He placed the handle of the dagger in the hand of Atlas as he glared in the beautiful green eyes, using an even stronger compulsion this time.

"If everything you told me was the truth, use this knife and stab yourself in the heart on my count of three!" he commanded Atlas before taking five steps back as he folded his arms.

A smirk graced the lips of Weiss Family head, hearing about this trial. He could see how this was a foolproof plan to find the truth. If Atlas was honestly under the compulsion and telling the truth, he needed to kill himself. His death was going to be the proof of his friend's innocence.

However, if he didn't do it, it would be two things: either he was lying before, or he truly wasn't affected by compulsion. In any case, it was good for the Weiss Family since it proved the guilt of Atlas.

Atlas held the dagger firmly in his hand. His mind was racing in different directions. It was as if he was on a chessboard, and no matter what move he made, he was going to be destroyed. There was no advantageous situation for him.

He couldn't just kill himself, but if he didn't, he had to fight a horde of Vampires, which he knew he wasn't prepared for. Lancaster hadn't awakened either to be able to help him.

"One..." Lorenz started the count, not giving Atlas long to think.

Atlas kept looking at the knife blankly. Lilith kept scolding him for landing up in this situation. She kept reminding him that if he had listened, he would've been safe, away from here, but because he didn't listen, he was in trouble.

If Atlas didn't have to stay silent for the act, he would've furiously yelled at Lilith for talking about that at this time instead of giving him an idea on how to get out of this situation. However, he was also sure that even Lilith couldn't help him here. He needed to think of something himself.

'Progenitors are the most Ancient Vampires who are Immortals in true essence, unlike the other Vampires. I don't think being stabbed in the chest with a knife would kill a Progenitor, but then again, I can't be sure of anything. I'm not the real owner of this body. If I stab myself, what if I don't wake up? I can't take that risk... I can't stab myself.'

"Two!"

As Atlas was talking to himself in his mind, he heard the count progress. It was getting closer to the final count.

He pointed the knife toward his chest, but he didn't stop thinking.

'If I don't stab myself, he would know I'm not in his compulsion. I can't let him know because then he won't let me live. And if I fight and the people outside find out that a fight is taking place, I'll be surrounded from all sides. If I do something, I would need to make sure the people outside don't know. Now that's a tall tree to climb on itself.'

"Three!" Lorenz finished the count. It was also when Atlas reacted.

Atlas thrust the dagger towards his chest with full strength. The dagger struck…