Yize was not kind enough to provide them with “food.”
Now, with permission granted, these monsters, who had once terrorized the empire, displayed their most primal predatory instincts.
The Tribunal Hall became a hunting ground.
Screams, cries, pleas, and gulping sounds intermingled.
Within just a few tens of breaths, all the nobles who had been pushed onto the Central Platform turned into withered corpses.
The sweet scent of blood permeating the air reached its peak intensity.
It was not just the smell of blood, but the intoxicating fragrance of life essence that only the Blood Race could perceive, evaporating from them.
Riya’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. She had not fed for far too long.
Ever since leaving the Yarsed Territory, she had been suppressing the deep bloodline’s craving for blood.
Fighting eight Blood Pillars in a row, using Bloodline Power to suppress them for an extended period, had drained her almost to the point of exhaustion.
Normally she could restrain herself, but now, immersed in such thick blood fragrance… Her throat rolled involuntarily, the act of swallowing revealing her inner craving.
At the edges of her silver eyes, a trace of scarlet began to spread, like drops of blood falling into clear water, quickly diffusing.
Angelica keenly noticed her sister’s change. Her heart tightened, but she didn’t know what to do.
Yize then turned to Tina, as if the bloody execution just now was merely an insignificant interlude.
“High Priestess,” he asked, “do you think my judgment is fair?”
Tina clenched her teeth tightly, saying nothing. Her eyes were filled with fear, but more so with a profound venom.
She looked at Yize as if she were staring at a demon crawling out of the abyss.
She began to regret— regret why she had proposed the idea of a public execution of Riya, regret why she had underestimated the fighting power of the Blood Race, regret not figuring out that behind Riya stood the variable that was Yize.
But regret was already too late.
Yize stared at her, then suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly.
He noticed that the fire elements burning Tina were undergoing subtle changes— their light was gradually dimming, and they even began to actively avoid Tina’s body.
This phenomenon was very unusual. Once Elemental Magic takes shape, it continues to act until the Mana is exhausted.
Unless…
Yize’s gaze fell on Tina’s face. That delicate face, bearing elven features, was now twisted in pain, but one could still see the subtle differences from pure-blooded humans—sharper ears, finer skin texture, and a faint emerald glimmer deep in her pupils.
A guess formed in Yize’s mind.
“I’m curious, High Priestess,” Yize spoke slowly, his voice clearly audible in the silent Tribunal Hall. “Aren’t elves on bad terms with the empire?”
These words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake. The nobles were stunned, the priests of the Ten Holy Temples were stunned, and even Angelica showed an expression of shock.
Tina’s body stiffened abruptly.
Yize continued, each word like a hammer striking Tina’s heart: “How did you, an elf, manage to become the High Priestess of the empire?”
He paused, then corrected himself: “No, I should ask—how does a High Priestess possess Elven Bloodline?”
The Tribunal Hall erupted.
“Elven Bloodline?!”
“High Priestess Tina is a half-elf?!”
“How is that possible… The High Priestess of the Ten Holy Temples must be a pure-blooded human!”
“She concealed her identity… This is blasphemy! Blasphemy against the Ten Holy Temples!”
Voices of doubt, exclamations, and angry rebukes rose and fell in succession.
If Yize’s violent suppression had terrified the nobles earlier, then this revelation now touched a deeper taboo in their hearts regarding race and faith.
A brief shock and panic appeared on Tina’s face. Although she quickly forced it down, that fleeting expression was enough to confirm Yize’s guess.
But she still kept her mouth tightly shut, refusing to speak.
Yize looked at her like that and suddenly let out a light laugh: “With that expression on your face, you make it seem like I’m the Antagonist.”
His smile carried a chill: “But just because you won’t talk doesn’t mean I can’t make you.”
“Perfect timing,” he said, “I think this empire needs to be reforged.”
These words were spoken softly, yet they weighed a thousand jun.
“But after all,” Yize looked back at Tina, “you made my Riya suffer quite a bit.”
His voice suddenly turned cold: “If I don’t vent a little, it’s truly hard to quell the hatred in my heart.”
The moment his words fell, Yize moved. No magical radiance, no Aura burst. He simply reached out and grabbed Tina’s right arm, which was nailed to the cross.
“Since Elemental Magic has little effect on you, then—”
“Crack!”
A crisp sound of breaking bone rang out. Tina’s right arm was crushed at the elbow joint, bone piercing through skin, exposing the white fracture ends.
The intense pain caused her to let out a shrill scream, her body convulsing wildly on the cross.
But Yize’s movements did not stop.
Dozens of green rays of Healing Magic lit up in his palm, enveloping Tina’s broken arm.
The shattered bones healed at a visible speed, the damaged skin reknitted.
In just a few seconds, that arm returned to its original state—except for the lingering agony and the trauma to the mind.
Then—
“Crack!”
Yize crushed it again.
The scream rang out again.
Healing Magic lit up again.
“Crack!”
Crushed.
Healed.
“Crack!”
Crushed.
Healed.
Yize repeated this cruel process. He crushed Tina’s limbs, then healed them, crushed again, healed again.
Each time the sound of breaking bone echoed, the temperature in the Tribunal Hall dropped a degree; each time the scream reverberated, the nobles’ hearts tightened.
This was not punishment. This was a ritual of shredding dignity.
By the tenth time, Tina’s scream had turned into a hoarse sob. By the fiftieth time, only hollow despair remained in her eyes.
By the hundredth time, after Yize crushed her left leg for the last time and used Healing Magic to restore it, Tina was limp on the cross, like a shell devoid of soul.
Her Mental Barrier, after these hundred tortures, had completely collapsed.
Only then did Yize stop. He took a bottle of Potion from his Storage Ring.
The moment they saw that bottle of Potion, Bart and Riya both froze.
Bart’s pupils contracted, a traumatized expression flashing across his face—he would never forget how No.2 had, after drinking that thing, obeyed Yize’s orders like a puppet and ultimately died by self-destruction.
And Riya—
Her breathing suddenly quickened.
It wasn’t because of fear, but because of some deeper emotion that even she didn’t fully understand.
She recognized that bottle of Potion. The side effects of that Potion still affected her deeply…
And now, Yize was taking it out to use on Tina.
‘Why?’ ‘Why use this on Tina?’
A nameless irritation rose in Riya’s heart. She knew it was absurd—Tina was an enemy, the Trial Leader who had sentenced her to execution.
There was no method Yize could use on her that was too harsh.
But as she watched Yize force open Tina’s mouth and pour that Potion down her throat, Riya felt her nails dig deep into her palms.
She knew Yize was doing this to obtain information, for… for her.
Logically, she understood it all.
But emotionally—
“Gulp.”
Tina was forced to swallow the Potion. The pale blue liquid slid down her throat and began to take effect almost instantly.
The emptiness in her eyes gradually replaced by a dazed obedience. Her body stopped struggling and leaned docilely against the cross, waiting for Yize’s orders.
Yize nodded in satisfaction and turned to walk toward Riya.
On the way here, Headmaster Kleya had briefly explained to him the situation of the Ten Holy Temples—this religious institution held half the power of the empire and was the biggest obstacle to the Royal Family’s centralization of power.
Yize’s plan was clear: take control of the Ten Holy Temples, support Sara’s ascension, and forcibly change the blood of the empire’s noble class.
And Tina was the key to opening the doors of the Ten Holy Temples.
“Riya,” Yize said as he walked toward her, “is there anything you want to know? You can—”
His words cut off abruptly. Because in the next second, Riya threw him fiercely to the ground!
“Bang!”
Yize looked up in shock and met a pair of eyes, inches away, that had completely turned scarlet.
Flutter. It was Riya. Her silver short hair had grown to her waist at some point, the ends slightly fluttering in the air.
Behind her, a pair of massive blood-colored wing membranes spread open.
What was most striking were her eyes—completely turned blood red. But deep within that scarlet, a trace of Riya’s gentle yet stubborn light could still be seen faintly.
She was pressing down on Yize, their bodies tightly pressed together.
Riya’s breath was hot and rapid, spraying onto the side of Yize’s neck.
“So sweet…” she murmured, her voice sounding a bit dazed.
The tip of her nose approached Yize’s neck, she inhaled deeply, and an intoxicated expression appeared on her face.
“Yize, the taste of your blood… so sweet…”
“I’ll just take one bite, it won’t hurt much…”