Chapter 6072 Unrepentent

Chapter 6072 Unrepentent

Ketis grew more and more disappointed with Lanie.

The once-promising expert candidate may have succeeded in realizing her potential and become an expert pilot, but her cognition had changed for the worse!

Lanie expressed no remorse about her actions. She believed with all her heart that all of her actions were justified from beginning to end.

No matter whether she made mistaken assumptions or defied her superior orders, Lanie stubbornly insisted that she did what every Larkinson would have done in her position!

This was a terrible sign that her distorted apotheosis had permanently broken her old self.

Ordinary mortals may be weak, but they happen to be quite flexible and malleable. They were much more susceptible to change.

Expert pilots were different. They were demigods who managed to attain their strength by gaining supreme confidence in themselves.

Lanie was no different in this aspect as she did not believe for a second that she was in the wrong!

In other words, to admit that she had acted in error would contradict the basis of her extraordinary willpower!

It would literally shatter if she was truly forced to recognize that she had acted in error!

Although Ketis most definitely knew about this considering that she was a swordmaster herself, she possessed her own principles! She deeply condemned Lanie's excessive actions and could not accept all of the nuances that factored in the latter's case!

"Ketis." Ves firmly said as he took hold of the swordmaster's arm, causing her to halt. "Stop. Remember who you are. You may be the commander of Task Force Solus, but it is not your place to cast judgment on Lanie. That goes for Joshua and Dise as well. Each of you are too involved in this case to remain impartial. It is the responsibility of others to take a look at Lanie's circumstances."

"Sir...?" Lanie spoke as she looked up at Ves' projection. "What... what will happen to me? What is this about casting judgment? I... I did nothing wrong. I was merely defending myself."

The fact that she still had the temerity to make this claim was proof that expert pilots truly did not abide by common sense anymore!

It also appeared that this mental problem was particularly more severe in the case of distorted expert pilots!

"Whether you acted correctly or in error is no longer up to us to decide." Ves explained to Lanie. "The Larkinson Clan has a rule that if there are allegations that mech pilots commit severe misdeeds, they must present themselves in front of a tribunal of Larkinson expert pilots. I am afraid you cannot avoid this process. It doesn't matter what you believe. What matters is what the tribunal of your peers thinks about your conduct. You can trust in their integrity if nothing else. They will pay attention to your mitigating factors and decide whether your attempts to retaliate against Taon are justified or not. For now, you must remain in custody, so please stay put."

Suffice to say, Venerable Lanie was anything but amused at this. She still believed that she was fully in the right. Even if she broke a few rules here and there, she had been acting for the greater good as far as she was concerned.

How could the Larkinsons not see who was the greater threat!

"...Fine." Lanie said in resignation. Just because her willpower became permanently scarred by her trauma did not mean she had lost all of her brains. "If you want me to participate in this circus, then so be it. Is Taon still alive?"

"Yes."

That caused Lanie to sneer. "Then at least tell me that you will drag Taon in front of the tribunal as well."

"That is a given." Ketis confirmed. "His personal failings originally caused this disaster. He must definitely account for himself."

"Good! I hope that you will treat him fairly. He almost killed me. I can never forgive him for that. If the tribunal judges him guilty and sentence him to death, can I be the one to do the deed? I would like nothing more than to look at him in the eyes and strangle him to death with my own two hands!"

The thorny aura surrounding Lanie's prone form received a lot of stimulation. The more she imagined her retribution towards Taon, the more her willpower became excited!

When Ves and Ketis approached Taon's beside, they felt a lot more disturbed than when they came up to Lanie.

Taon possessed two distinct auras. His main one possessed a destructive element to it. Ves frowned as he could feel the expert pilot willpower expressing indiscriminate hostility towards everyone and everything.

It was as if Taon wanted nothing more than the entire universe to go to ruin!

The only reason why Taon's force of will did not start breaking down the bed or the surrounding medical instruments was because it was too weak when he was by himself.

Only when he piloted a proper expert mech would his domain start breaking down any nearby matter.

The second aura originated from Taon's companion spirit.

"Hoot. Hoot."

The spiritual owl looked radically different from before! Even though Sirca was clearly perched on a nearby railing, the companion spirit radiated an aura that seemed to repel any form of attention as well as spirituality!

Sirca's active rejection was so total that it not only kept Ylvaine at bay, but also blocked Taon's connection with Goldie!

Of course, the Golden Cat did not really have a good opinion of Taon at the moment. The trial had yet to start, but the ancestral spirit had already developed her own judgment towards the expert pilot!

Anyone who possessed just one of these inclinations undoubtedly needed mental counseling.

For a single individual to possess both the desire to ruin everything as well as strong antisocial tendencies, that person had undoubtedly gone mad!

"Taon."

"Patriarch. Swordmaster."

"You don't particularly sound happy to see us, Taon."

"I... failed to live up to your expectations." The expert pilot wearily said. "I... wanted to prove I can be strong without relying on the Great Prophet. What did I do? I sought his help because I couldn't finish a single job. I should have known better than to trust the guidance of a design spirit that was not supposed to be there. I just... never thought about it. I really thought that it was Ylvaine that guided my aim. It's my fault, but not entirely."

"What do you mean, Taon?"

"Ylvaine... is not a good influence to our clan." The expert pilot surprisingly claimed! "We were all fools for believing in the nonsense spouted by a false prophet. The more we listen to him, the more we are being trained to pray to him. It is no wonder that hardly any mech pilot from the Eye of Ylvaine has become an expert candidate. There is no hope that any of them can become an expert pilot, because they all share the same fault as mine. We would rather put our faith in the fantasy of Ylvaine than to believe in our own strength. This is a mistake. We should never pray to him anymore. If we want to free everyone from the poison that is faith... we must bring every false god to ruin."

Ves almost shuddered when he heard those ominous words. It sounded as if Taon wanted to share his deranged manifesto!

"I know that you have been... misled, but don't you think that your response is a bit too extreme?"

Taon's empty eyes stared up at Ves in silent judgment.

"Please explain why you saw fit to murder your own living mech." Ketis interjected. "Do you know what crimes you have committed? If you are dissatisfied with the Zeal and no longer want to partner with him anymore, then you could have at least waited until you have returned! As long as you issue a request, we would have been happy to exchange your Zeal with a regular Transcendent Punisher mech!"

The injured expert pilot softly scoffed. "The Zeal... let me down. He betrayed me, just like Ylvaine. I did what was necessary at the time. I... sacrificed his life so that I could become stronger in the process. Since my living mech isn't of use to me anymore when he is alive... then he can only be useful to me when he is dead. I do not need him anymore. I have become strong enough to fight my own battles."

What a bastard!