Human Era 899, inside the Dawnlight Sanctuary
Within the solemn and dignified hall of the Holy Church, the Twelve Seats formed a ring around the colossal statue at the center.
All twelve high-ranking Judges sat in silence, their stern gazes fixed upon the woman beneath the divine image.
These esteemed individuals, burdened by their daily duties, had gathered here today for one purpose only, to render judgment on a prodigious magical genius, a rarity in the Holy Church in a hundred years.
The Chief Judge rapped the gavel in his hand, drawing all eyes to him before speaking with gravity, “Ailaira Green, in this trial witnessed by the gods, you are forbidden to conceal your crimes with lies or mask the truth with deceit. Do you accept these terms?”
A gentle radiance shone from the divine statue, illuminating the darkness around the woman and adding an icy sheen to her refined features.
Her slender fingers toyed with the silver hair cascading into the valley of her chest, while the custom-fitted Saintess robes outlined her tall and trim figure.
Her legs, wrapped in white stockings, emerged nonchalantly from beneath her skirts, draped without restraint atop the base of the statue.
The woman named Ailaira idly played with a silver ring at her fingertip, her tone casual as she replied, “I accept.”
Her careless attitude made the Chief Judge pause mid-sentence, then he slammed a stack of papers, evidence down onto the desk and pronounced gravely, “Do you admit to colluding with the Elf Race in secret, harboring them within the Royal Capital for two years?”
“Do you admit to coercing subordinate Priestesses to use bodily fluids to create Holy Water for your own pleasure and profit?”
“Do you admit to privately conducting Demon-Banishing Rituals for nobles, and engaging in illicit relations with the Second Princess?”
….
The Chief Judge listed each crime in detail, every word brimming with sin and indulgence.
Under this woman’s shadowy manipulation, the Holy Church that served the Divine Mother had become her personal business venture for profit! And for five years, no one had noticed!
As the Chief Judge’s blood pressure climbed, he finally reached the last, and most unforgivable, charge.
In anger, he tossed out the evidence, and amidst a flurry of white papers swirling like snow, he abandoned rhetoric and bellowed, “Ailaira… No, perhaps we should call you Ais Green.”
“Eight years ago, before you entered the Royal Capital, you were still male. In order to infiltrate the Church, you used an Alchemy Potion to alter your own gender and forged the identity of Ailaira Green. Your actions flagrantly defy the Divine Mother’s first commandment, strictly forbidding any alteration of one’s race, appearance, or form!”
“Having committed such an outrage against both gods and men, what is it that you ultimately seek!?”
As the Chief Judge’s words fell, murmurs rippled through the hall.
None had expected that the girl renowned in the Royal Capital and Holy Church alike was once a man! Should they call it genius? Even a twisted Alchemy Potion like that could be developed. But what was in her mind, to defy such a well-known commandment just to become a woman?
Now, the girl called Ailaira only lifted her head slightly, her lips curling in a faint smile.
Though she looked up at those seated in judgment, it somehow felt as though she looked down on them all in contempt:
“Nothing special, really. I just observed that the gods seem to favor women more.”
“I want to climb higher, and opportunities for women to rise in the Church are easier to seize than for men. All one has to do is heed divine revelation and fulfill holy duties. But for men, like taking your seat as Chief Judge, for instance, one has to command crusaders to glorious victories in racial wars. In these boring, peaceful times, I had no chance to advance.”
Ailaira gazed at the statue beside her. Its compassionate face, so merciful to all, filled her with an inexplicable chill of revulsion.
She could not help but shuffle two steps away. Under the puzzled and suspicious eyes of the crowd, she chuckled, “You all still don’t know, do you? I, this sinner who broke the commandment, have truly been granted a Divine Audience. Maybe it was my sincere willingness to twist my own body that moved the gods.”
The hall erupted in shock at these words. Every cleric who worshiped the gods, longing for a vision from the Divine Mother, found their eyes burning with envy, their interest in Ailaira’s approach intensifying.
No matter how many commandments she had defied, Ailaira was the only human in all of Human Era history to succeed in meeting a god!
Seeing the situation spiral out of control, the Chief Judge hurriedly banged his gavel, breaking the crowd’s mounting speculation.
Yet he, too, was wavering inside. With Ailaira’s countless “illustrious” achievements, he did not doubt her talent in Alchemy Potion and ritual magic, or her ability to craft such a miraculous Rite of Divine Audience.
Yet, precisely because what Ailaira said was true, he could not allow such blasphemous methods to spread.
Otherwise, certain followers of the Divine Mother would fill the Church’s future with a “yin energy” chill. As for simply sentencing Ailaira to death, to cut off future troubles…
He dared not.
Setting aside the public uproar that would follow executing a Divine Audience recipient, just the deep-rooted connections behind Ailaira Green alone made any decision difficult.
Not to mention, after all these years in the Church, who knew what rituals she might have altered or installed in secret!
While the Chief Judge racked his brains, Ailaira looked around as if nothing concerned her. Noticing the Chief Judge’s glare, she waved at him with a bright smile.
That simple gesture nearly made the old man cough up blood in rage. She knows! She had already guessed he couldn’t do a thing to her!
This damned woman, a witch with a vile nature!
Taking a deep breath, his face flushed with anger, the old man pointed furiously at Ailaira and cursed, “As the Chief Judge of this trial, I hereby pronounce judgment on Ailaira Green!”
“Her position as Saintess is hereby revoked, and she is forbidden from entering the Church; her Research Laboratory and all research materials are to be confiscated; she is prohibited from imparting, granting, or sharing any ritual magic knowledge in any form.”
“Ailaira Green is sentenced to Exile from the Royal Capital, to take effect immediately!!”
The Chief Judge pressed the stamp of divine authority onto the verdict, and at once the document dissolved into sacred script beneath the light of the gods, binding itself as an unbreakable seal upon Ailaira’s tongue and chest.
But having acted alone in a decision that should have been made by vote of the Twelve Judges, he naturally drew the other Judges’ discontent.
Voices rose in protest at the Chief Judge’s arbitrariness. Yet amid the clamor, Ailaira accepted the result with delight, indeed, this was the outcome she sought.
She bowed lightly, then turned and strode out of the hall with unhurried grace. At the far end of the Twelve Seats, a young Judge noticed Ailaira’s departure. After a moment’s hesitation, she quickly followed her out.
Leaving the Dawnlight Sanctuary, Ailaira climbed straight into the carriage that had waited for her all this time.
She had predicted that the stubborn Chief Judge, eager to avoid complications, would drive her from the Royal Capital at once.
Her luggage had long been packed for this moment. As for the research notes on the Rite of Divine Audience, she had burned them to ash the moment it succeeded, let them rummage through those scraps for nothing.
Ailaira smiled wickedly and signaled the driver to depart. Yet the carriage had barely rolled a short distance before it stopped abruptly.
The door swung open from outside, and a girl bearing a resemblance to Ailaira entered, still clad in her Judge’s robes, having had no time to change.
The girl sat properly across from Ailaira, gazing at her in silence. Though they looked alike, their temperaments could not be more different.
The girl’s manner was elegant; her silver hair swept up from her chest revealed a delicate, slightly childish face. Her pale violet eyes locked onto Ailaira, waiting for her to speak.
Ailaira, on the other hand, leaned loosely against the window, legs thrown up beside the girl’s slender knees, eyeing her fine robes with a teasing smirk:
“How does it feel wearing those clothes won through sacrificing your own kin? My dear little sister.”
Vista Green frowned deeply, hands clutching her robes as she replied with displeasure, “Brother, why did you report yourself under my name?”
All the evidence presented to the Judgement Court had been submitted anonymously in Vista’s name, delivered secretly to the Chief Judge.
Vista had only discovered she’d committed the ultimate act of justice, exposing her own family after being awarded with Church honors and a Judge’s seat. As for the “good Samaritan” behind it, she didn’t need to guess.
“If you hadn’t revealed yourself, the Chief Judge would never have uncovered your crimes. I don’t need you sacrificing yourself for me.”
Ailaira straightened, settling into the seat, chin in hand. “You misunderstand. I didn’t do it for the sake of whatever thin blood ties we share.”
“I just don’t want to stay in the Church any longer, and couldn’t stand a certain pervert’s leering gaze, so I confessed and left. But to leave with nothing after all my scheming would be a loss. So I pushed you little Miss Invisible into the spotlight. Reporting your own kin gives you a reputation as someone who upholds the law above family, making it easier to win the trust of those old relics.”
“And in my hand, I hold all the evidence that, over the years, you helped cover for my crimes as Saintess. So if you want to keep your status, you’ll have to keep going and stay my shield.”
After she finished, Ailaira looked over Vista, waiting for some coarse retort. But her cotton-soft sister only muttered a pale protest about something insignificant: “I’m not stupid.”
Ailaira withdrew her gaze, waving her hand dismissively. “Heh, whatever you say.”
Unable to argue, Vista looked away, watching as the carriage neared the Royal Capital’s outskirts.
She sensed a hint of urgency beneath Ailaira’s calm exterior and, remembering her earlier words, asked in confusion, “Brother, why would you give up everything you built in the Royal Capital just to leave? Was it something that happened during the Rite of Divine Audience?”
Ailaira’s body stiffened for a moment, but quickly relaxed, her eyes gazing out at the bustling streets through the window. “That’s a long story.”