"O-oi, I almost died in shock there!", Xanthus said jokingly while covering his ears.
"This is… the sound of thunder!? What is this predicament we are currently in right now?", Lu Ying Yun glanced at Xanthus for a while before shaking her head in disappointment. She knew that this Demon G.o.d is stupid and will certainly not know what is going on with their situation right now. So, she looked at the man who would probably have an answer and once again asked the question.
"Does thou have answers, Judge of Karma?", Lu Ying Yun asked the man with respect.
The man didn't really have any distinct features. He was not handsome, but he was not ugly either. He doesn't look young, but he doesn't look old either.
The physical appearance of this Judge of Karma could be said to be the epitome of ordinary. And the more they look at him, the more ordinary he gets. It is as if their minds are telling them that this man is faceless.
"None", the Judge of Karma said while wearing a smile on his face.
"I-is thee sure?", Lu Ying Yun was fl.u.s.tered. No matter how many times she sees the Judge of Karma's smile, she will always experience an uncomfortable feeling crawling down her skin. Especially when he says something negative with a smile on his face.
"Yes, I am sure. But what I do know is that it has something to do with that man in front of us", the Judge of Karma pointed at the mirror with a smile on his face.
"You mean our baby's combat professor? He is but a puny human!", Lu Ying Yun mocked the man inside the mirror.
"Oh s.h.i.+t, the creepy old man doesn't have answers, we're doomed!", Xanthus laughed hysterically as he placed his hand on Lu Ying Yun's shoulder.
Although one could not really discern the age of the Judge of Karma, Xanthus have called him a "creepy old man" ever since they came to discover that this seemingly ordinary looking man was the main ent.i.ty that was responsible for whether you reincarnate or be forever erased from the Cycle of Life. He still remembered the first time the Judge of Karma introduced himself to them.
-- -- --
4 years ago, when Viel was just recently adopted by the Ling.
"Greetings, G.o.d Souls."
Xanthus and Lu Ying Yun could be seen groveling in front of a smiling man, as if they just woke up from a long slumber. Their breaths heavy and their looks pitiful. The last time that they were conscious, they remembered being sucked by the darkness and no matter how they tried to struggle, they couldn't fight back. And yet here they are right now, "alive" and well.
They redirected their confusion to the smiling man in front of them. Without a doubt, this man was the owner of the eyes that was looking at them whenever they try to use their powers.
"Y-you, speak! Who art thou!?", Lu Ying Yun summoned a blade of light, and with every strength on her body, she pointed it to the smiling man.
"Very well, I am the Judge of Karma. The one that judges if souls should be cut from the cycle of life or be reincarnated into one of the infinite number of worlds.", the smiling man replied without hesitation and pause.
Hearing this, Xanthus s.h.i.+vered in fear, Lu Ying Yun even more so because she was the one who arrogantly pointed her weapon at the Judge of Karma. They could not confirm the authenticity of the smiling man's words, but they do know that the man is strong, maybe even stronger than both of them combined. And seeing the situation they are in, there really is not any merit in lying.
Lu Ying Yun immediately turned to Xanthus, as if asking him what they should do. However, when Xanthus noticed that Lu Ying Yun was looking at him, he slowly turned his head away. Xanthus clearly did not want to get involved any deeper in the situation.
Lu Ying Yun twitched in anger, 'T-this devil! What was the "Lu Ying Yun, Hold my hand!" all about if he is just going to ignore me when I need him right now! How preposterous! The nerve! Imbecile!'.
Before Lu Ying Yun could finish ridiculing and curse Xanthus in her mind with every bad things imaginable, the Judge of Karma spoke again.
"Do you have any more questions, G.o.d Soul from World 352169?", Judge of Karma said smilingly.
Noticing that the attention of the Judge of Karma was once again in her direction, Lu Ying Yun gulped and wiped away her sweat. After a long while of them just staring at each other, Lu Ying Yun finally calmed down and nodded.
"What do you mean by G.o.d Soul?"
"G.o.d souls, as the name suggests, are souls that have reached G.o.dhood. Meaning, they were very powerful during their stay on the cycle of life. In this case, the both of you are G.o.d Souls, and may I say the strongest I have seen so far in my existence, and I know every soul there is in this universe"
"Why have you brought us here, inside this baby's core?", Xanthus, who was keeping quiet the whole time, suddenly asked a question with a serious expression.
"That is because I needed help. Your souls are the only ones powerful enough to hear my voice inside this irregular… thing", when the Judge of Karma said this, the smile on his face faded for a while.
"W-what does thou mean!?"
"Someone… something that should not be in the Tower Of Souls slipped by our defenses"
"What thing?"
"I do not know", the Judge of Karma shook his head in dismay while still keeping his smile.
"Then did you lie when you said that you knew every soul in the universe?", Xanthus knitted his eyebrows.
"Yes, I do. G.o.d Soul from World 24512. But the one who trespa.s.sed the Tower of Souls is not a soul, it does not harbor life"
"T-that… then why is thee here in the first place?"
"As the Judge of Karma, it is my duty to retain balance. So I followed the irregularity to this realm and to my surprise, it absorbed me. I tried to escape, I could not. I needed help, so I lured your souls here. For that I apologize"
"If you really wanted to escape, then why did you always appear whenever we were trying to break through this core?"
Hearing this question, the Judge of Karma suddenly burst out laughing. This obviously made Xanthus and Lu Ying Yun uncomfortable to their bones.
"I was trying to help you. The heavy pressure the both of you felt was me injecting my mana or qi, into both of you."
"I-see. Then do you have any idea how we will get out of here?"
"None. And if I am right, we will never be able to get out…"
"So we might as well make ourselves comfortable. Once again, I am the Judge of Karma. That is my name and I have no other", the Judge of Karma clapped his hand as he revealed an even wider smile.
-- -- -- -- --
Present Day
"Now, this is peculiar, peculiar indeed", the Judge of Karma placed his hand on his chin.
"P-peculiar? Don't you mean impossible!?"
Inside Viel's core, the rumbling sounds of thunder could still be heard, but this time, it was accompanied by a torrent of dropping water.
"Yes, it is impossible as far as my knowledge goes, but I suppose this is why the phrase "There's a storm brewing inside of me" was invented", the Judge of Karma nodded at himself.
"No, it is not!", both Xanthus and Lu Ying Yun rebuked.
"Well, there is one explanation I can think of..", the Judge of Karma once again placed his hand on his chin and seemed to be lost in thought.
"Reveal thy thoughts, Judge of Karma"
"I have seen the same thing happening a couple of times, to put simply, this happens whenever a world is created"
"A world inside of a body!? Is that even possible!?", both Xanthus and Lu Ying Yun had the same thoughts.
"No, I think we are beyond what is possible and what is not ever since we have been trapped in this bod-", before the Judge of Karma can finish his sentence, a monotonous voice sounded.
'Player is experiencing a new emotion'
'a.n.a.lyzing…50%'
'a.n.a.lysis complete!'
'Player is currently experiencing "Rage"'
"Rage!? But why would he even feel that towards this weak a.s.s combat professor!?", Xanthus grinded his teeth, his brows knitted in to the extremes. Viel's emotion is clearly having an affect to him, after all, out of the three of them he was the most familiar with rage.
"Indeed! Is this not the first time we have met this puny mortal named Li Zhao!?", Lu Ying Yun added.
"The first time? No, it is not", the Judge of Karma shook his head. "I have felt him once when I was newly absorbed into this body"
"Really? Then who could this puny mortal be to be receiving such hate from our baby!?"
"If I am to be correct, it seems to be Viel's biological father"
"T-this-", before they could finish their thoughts, they suddenly heard Viel's tiny voice.
"Y…Young n.o.ble… please don't", cracks could be heard coming from every word that Viel says and without any warning, the view in the mirror s.h.i.+fted. It showed Li Zhao's face being hit with a tiny hand.
The tiny hand did not stop hitting Li Zhao, and no matter how much he struggled, he could not break free and his face started to bleed.
"O-oh no! Baby Viel, please stop!", Lu Ying Yun rushed to the mirror and banged it with all her strength.
"W-woah! Calm yourself, Lu Ying Yun!", Xanthus grabbed Lu Ying Yun's hand to stop her from banging the mirror.
"N-no! He should not take this puny mortal's life! This will isolate him from the world even further!", Lu Ying Yun still continued to bang the mirror. "You should know this the most, Xanthus!"
"T-this… even so, you must calm yourself! Creepy old man, help me stop her!"
"No, she is right. Let her be, nothing will happen anyway", the Judge of Karma just smiled at Xanthus' plead for help.
"Y-you! What the h.e.l.l is happening to you, boy!?", Xanthus shouted at the mirror from the top of his lungs.
-- -- -- --
Back in the courtyard
"K-kyaa!", some of the female students were in shock. They could not have imagined that the handsome combat professor would be beaten to a pulp like this, with his cave almost caving in. It all happened so fast.
"V-viel!? What are you doing!?", Cynthia shouted at Viel, but to her disappointment, Viel didn't stop hitting the combat professor.
"Y-young n.o.ble, p-please stop..", Viel kept hitting Combat Professor Li Zhao while saying the same words over and over again, his head almost shrinking down into the ground.
"Y-young n-n.o.ble"
'This… what is wrong with him!? He is clearly the one that should stop!', Xiao Pei glanced at the situation worriedly.
All of them wanted to stop Viel, but the question is, who would? They knew that this monster would most likely kill them if they tried to stop him.
"I-I told you guys that this boy is crazy!", Wei Song, who has probably been forgotten by the whole cla.s.s by now, shouted his claim.
"S-shut up! T-this is the right of the strong!", Diao Mei debated Wei Song. Although she thought like this, she still put on a worried expression.
"This is not the time to argue about that! We should find someone to stop Viel!", Cynthia quickly ran to ask for help but was stopped in her tracks when she noticed that a woman suddenly appeared on the dueling platform. It was the beautiful female elder from the Nine Golden Pavillions, Elder Xing Cai.
"I think this is far enough, little boy", Elder Xing Cai waved her hand and a golden needle suddenly appeared, floating in mid-air. The needle flew towards Viel and hit him in his neck…. and Viel still continued to punch the combat professor.
"W-what!? Little boy, stop!" Elder Xing Cai was suddenly enveloped in sweat, by all means, the golden needle should have put Viel unconscious. Elder Xing Cai quickly rushed and hugged Viel with all of her strength.
"Sshh.. Little boy, it is alright now, please stop!", Elder Xing Cai tried to calm down Viel. She didn't notice it before, but even though the anger on the boy's face could clearly be seen, his face was also full of tears. After a while, Viel's punches gradually slowed down.
"P-p-please… stop—", and after saying the same words again for the last time, Viel finally fell unconscious.
Elder Xing Cai let out a breath of relief. Most of the students were still processing what happened because everything happened so fast. But all of them shared the same thought...
'There will be repercussions'