No one was surprised that some parts of the footage had been skipped. In S-rank missions against powerful enemies, that happened all the time.
In battles at that level, canceling out artifact effects was easy — that's why artifacts were usually only used in missions up to A-rank. The weird part was that this had happened during a Rank D mission.
Everyone also saw the fight against the Primitive Beast. No one could hide their shock at the fact they actually won. The enemy was way too strong for them to handle — they even doubted if a group with two rings could pull it off again.
The main reason they won… was definitely the insane power of one healer.
Darian clearly wasn't your average healer... they already knew about his blessing, since the footage from that challenge arena fight had spread. But seeing it for themselves was something else. He healed himself and his allies in seconds...
And also — what kind of reflexes and senses did he have? Everything around him seemed kinda unique.
Darian still didn't belong to any clan. That just made all of Freon's enemies even more eager to recruit him no matter what.
As for the footage after the defeat of the Primitive Beast — Meru had obviously wiped everyone's memories. In all the crystals, the recordings only went from the mission's start to the target's defeat.
Darian gave a respectful nod to the Supreme Judge.
Then, he gave the same explanation he'd told the whole group back then: Raon used that core trying to absorb it in some sick revenge move, but by doing that, he triggered a reaction in the planet.
Inside the planet was the core of that universe's law. That core is what struck back at Raon and completely poisoned him, leading to all his suffering and agonizing death.
He also explained that the second goal of the mission was to destroy that law-core. That explained why, after the target's defeat, there were no more recordings — everyone had to deal with the law-core, and *that's* what caused the weird effect on the group crystal.
"That was the first problem," Darian finished. "As you can see, looks like the Red River Pact clan had this planned in advance, huh? Not to mention, that's straight-up treason against the Empire's rules, right?"
He spoke slowly, and a few people in the courtroom had a certain glint in their eyes. These folks hated Freon and his son — now that Darian had given a nice little ending to the brat, they were more than ready to ruin the father too, as hard as possible.
Darian took a deep breath, thinking fast. He needed to find a way to help Rhea. But he had to stay calm and take it one step at a time.
The Judge gave a signal, with a slight excited smile; things were definitely getting way more interesting: "Let's go in parts. What other problems were there, why did it take so long to destroy the core, and how the hell didn't you all die from the poison?"
"Yeah, that part wasn't recorded, and none of the other nine saw anything past me, so I'll just give my word for it," Darian said with a calm look. This time, he didn't sound like some psycho. He wasn't trying to act like someone else anymore — he was just being himself.
He started talking, and dropped a piece of info that only the strongest clan and the Empire really knew for sure: the existence of a 'celestial artifact'.
Everyone there had heard rumors about it, but no one had ever really believed it. It was during a mission with only Red River Pact members that they discovered the existence of this book. At the time, not even a dozen of the strongest beings on Earth could get near it.
Over time, that clan did a lot of research and found out there were two more just like it. That's when they were sure it was an artifact created by the power of the heavenly laws.
That name — "celestial artifact" — was just something they came up with to describe it, since everyone agreed it was above the level of a supreme artifact. Strangely, it had the form of a book.
Darian knew the real origin — and he knew no normal person could get close to it or even understand what it actually was. So… yeah, he could say whatever he wanted.
He said that after defeating the target, that celestial artifact was triggered like a self-destruct mechanism. It drew energy from the law-core inside the planet.
Everyone was swallowed by the explosion, but by some miracle of fate, Darian used the power of the supreme artifact core to save everyone.
They had seen that after Raon died, Nayara picked up the core and charged it using the life force of the other four traitors. Anyone would've done the same — it was the safe and fair thing to do for the mission. Later, they saw her use a bit of that energy to distract the planet's natives, but she didn't use even half of what she had.
In the final fight against the target, she didn't have to use the rest. But beforehand, Nayara placed that core by the door as a precaution, in case the enemy tried to escape or something unexpected happened.
So, Darian's words made some sense. He, with his insane healing power, survived longer and instinctively ran to use the core just to stay alive.
"Somehow, I managed to use it..." Darian explained, with a dramatic sigh.
In his head, he silently thanked his master. She didn't just put him through hellish training, she also trained him to act a little better — among *many* other things.
Darian had never felt so humiliated by someone's sarcastic remarks. But those ten months had been the most valuable of his life. She taught things in a really methodical way. Now he could just be himself and still pretend a little — as long as he didn't overdo it.
"All the law's power got burned up in the explosion, and everyone was in critical condition, barely hanging on. Luckily, I managed to keep them alive, putting them into a coma while I slowly recovered my strength and healed them. As for the poison... since the law-core had lost its power, it didn't poison us during that time."
"It took ten months. When everyone was finally healed, I didn't know when they'd wake up — it could've still taken days. So to make sure the core didn't recover even more, I went alone and burned all my strength to destroy it and finish the mission. We came back, and they woke up here on Earth."
"Basically, we had to deal with the traitor issue first. Then we handled everything alone and short-handed. After that, this huge problem showed up… and almost killed us. Fate turned me into a healer, and I was lucky enough to fix everything." He ended with a heroic look on his face.
Everyone listened in silence, thoughtful. There were a lot of questions, sure — but no recordings, and no one besides Darian could say what really happened.
As for the supreme artifact's power, everyone was sure it could pull off a miracle and save them. Even with low energy, the power inside those cores could flip the whole outcome of an S-rank mission.
If things really went down that way… then this young healer had just shown potential that was straight-up insane. He reacted fast and saved everyone. Then, on his own, kept them alive — ten months of hell, and he still came out on top.
The Judge gave a nod, satisfied. Then he spoke calmly to the room:
"We didn't have proof those five were directly involved. With these reports, only Raon's act of betrayal has been clearly confirmed. But that doesn't clear the clan members, nor does it prove their guilt."
Freon's face twisted slightly, but deep down, he was still calm. Nothing had changed — and his revenge was getting closer.
"The punishment for causing two mission failures has been lifted, reducing the penalty level from 6 to 5. The leadership of Azure Haven Clan is clearly guilty of betrayal. The death sentence still stands for both of them."
The room went silent. The clan members weren't even slightly relieved.
"Damon's life has already been taken and his soul captured for refinement. His soul will now be released from that final stage. Now, continue with her punishment."
The Judge pointed at Rhea. Leander narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath, ready to die without hesitation.
Freon gave a slight smirk, already thinking about how to deal with those now completely unprotected youths. The soldiers gave a signal, and one of them started activating the needles again.
"Judge, sir."
Darian's voice rang out suddenly, making the Judge look at him. He signaled for the soldier to stop and allowed Darian to continue, slightly curious.
"I know a few things I believe are... relevant. Actually..." Darian turned to Freon, then looked around at several important figures nearby. "I'm sure. A lot of people here are involved in a conspiracy. And it's not something as small as betraying the Empire… but betraying the entire Earth."