Chapter 79: High Spirit, Council of All Spirits

Three days later, Royal Palace, Hall of All Spirits.

The Hall of All Spirits is a special place deep within the Royal Palace where entry is forbidden to anyone on ordinary days.

Inside the hall, there are twenty stone columns, each carved with countless intricate and complex patterns, depicting the legendary life stories of a former king of the United Kingdom.

Additionally, there are numerous stone tablets of various sizes scattered throughout, commemorating those who made outstanding contributions in the kingdom’s history.

The Hall of All Spirits serves as a sanctuary for all former royal families and heroes of the United Kingdom and is the only sacred hall capable of holding the royal family to account.

Under the watch of the High Spirits, lies and violence are not tolerated; all sins will be laid bare, and the agency council will render the final judgment.

It is both a memorial hall and the highest court, capable of even judging the current king in the most extreme circumstances.

This time, the Hall of All Spirits was convened to deliberate on:

The Second Prince of the United Kingdom, Ban Meikailande.

After eradicating the evil organization “Throne of Immortality” that had taken root in the dark corners of the capital, Liliya publicly exposed the cruel experiments secretly conducted in collusion with the Second Prince Ban, causing an uproar.

These actions, so inhumane that even Vilyric felt discomfort, resulted in the prince bearing the brunt of public outrage and the fury of public opinion.

In fact, it is precisely because he is a prince, possibly the future king, that such behavior is even less tolerable.

No one would want a tyrant who treats human lives and his subjects like dirt to rule over them. With Liliya and her faction secretly fanning the flames, the incident caused ripples that quickly turned into a tidal wave of unfavorable rumors against the Second Prince.

There was no way to stop it.

One cannot deny that Liliya’s sudden attack indeed caught Ban off guard. With his domestic support drastically suppressed, most of his schemes had relied on the external organization “Throne of Immortality.”

Now that the undead had been eradicated, Ban felt as though his arms had been abruptly severed, forced to operate under others’ constraints, leaving him unable to effectively counterattack the public opinion assault waged by Liliya. Under the weight of countless solid evidence she brought forward, he was even compelled to participate in this council.

Although this overly smooth situation slightly exceeded the princess’s expectations, even if the other party had some ulterior motive, it wasn’t something she could simply avoid by hesitating.

During the King’s funeral ceremonies, normal affairs ought to be postponed until everything concluded, yet this matter was too significant, with public discontent swatting at the gates. With the cooperation of multiple parties, Liliya successfully opened the Hall of All Spirits as an exception.

Of course, this was also related to the increasing influence of Princess Liliya within the kingdom.

Apart from the presiding Second Prince Ban, other princes— including the physically ailing and seemingly lackluster young princess Mona— were all present.

Over a hundred high-ranking nobles from the kingdom and influential figures from the City of Courage, including the three legends, as well as heads of various guilds and renowned strong individuals, were all invited to listen, seated around the grand hall.

The review mechanism of the Hall of All Spirits is public voting or mandatory judgment by the ancient spirits, with the latter taking precedence over the former.

Additionally, the council is hosted by three supreme arbiters who maintain the proceedings.

Due to the recent death of the former king, the positions of the arbiters fell to the three most highly respected individuals from the City of Courage.

Griffiths Tuls, the Chancellor of the Kingdom, 87 years old, has been in politics for over sixty years, soon becoming a veteran of three reigns.

Angus Stephens, head of the legendary family that has trained warriors for generations, with almost every heir reaching the legendary level. He is the current patriarch and the cardinal of the kingdom’s guardian ducal house, as well as the biological father of the legendary adventurer “Lightning” Vunar.

Lastly, there is Herbert, the legendary adventurer who has been defending the City of Courage for over thirty years, the President of the Adventurers’ Guild, whose fame surpasses the previous two due to his rugged demeanor and love of freedom, having never adopted the surname or title bestowed by King Anqi Luo, thus not establishing a family.

The three of them took their seats in the central high judgment area, their expressions solemn, with the ancestral spirit monument behind them representing the kingdom’s supreme authority; the stone pillars and tablets of the former kings and heroes encircled the spirit monument.

The Second Prince Ban Meikailande sat in the lower judgment seat, wearing a half-smile as he looked toward the initiator, Liliya Meikailande, across from him, seemingly unbothered by his current predicament.

Vilyric, wearing the “Cognitive Disruption Mask,” sat beside the princess, curiously looking around.

Next to them were Hua, Nickles, Edwina, and others, who were present as close attendants to the Fifth Princess.

Xiao Guang, due to her special status and temperament unsuitable for such scenarios, wasn’t brought along by Vilyric; instead, the Giant Dragon Miss was left in the pet space to watch.

Because of the mask’s effects, no one present could perceive Vilyric’s true identity except for Liliya, who had been informed beforehand. However, since the princess herself stated the black-haired girl could be trusted, the other attendants naturally had nothing to say.

However, just before the proceedings began, the Priestess noticed a fleeting, barely perceptible glint of malice in Ban’s eyes when he looked at her sitting beside Liliya.

Recalling what Liliya had said about him secretly investigating her, Vilyric quickly understood.

This guy can’t be jealous, can he?

“Silence! The Council of Spirits now begins; everyone, please rise and welcome the arrival of the Ancient Spirits!”

President Herbert declared solemnly with his distinctive loud voice as he rose along with the other two arbiters. Under their guidance, everyone in the Hall of All Spirits stood up in unison.

Even the most carefree person, who had just been joking around with a beautiful noble girl beside him, Mr. Vunar, did not dare to act recklessly at such a moment, instead straightening his posture and attentively focusing on the three arbiters and the imposing black spirit monument radiating an unusual aura behind them.

Buzz…

The stone monument emitted a faint white glow, rising in a column toward the top, transforming into a hazy orb of light approximately one meter in diameter that enveloped the entire Hall of All Spirits with an invisible thought.

The three arbiters raised their voices in a chant.

“Glory to your arrival, High Spirit, please bring absolute justice to this council!”

“Please bring absolute justice!!”

Synchronously, everyone echoed loudly, their voices rolling like thunder, yet strangely in unison, as if drawn by some force to act collectively.

Naturally, Vilyric was unaffected by such peculiar energy; though she stood, she merely went through the motions, pretending to lift her mouth a few times to meet the expectations.

Besides, the Priestess noticed a rather foolish Holy Knight dame present, who also seemed untouched by this power.

A barely noticeable faint golden glow emerged around her, covering her body and blocking the waves’ influence.

Noticing the oddity with Edwina and her bewildered, left-looking-right-looking demeanor, the Priestess found it somewhat amusing and slyly pinched the soft flesh on the waist of the casually dressed Holy Knight.

“Ah!”

The latter let out a soft yelp in pain, finally snapping to attention, giving Vilyric a grateful look and reciting the prayer phrases with noticeably delayed timing.

However, Vilyric felt a bit curious; why, despite being of the legendary level, were the others invariably affected by that strange force, while only Edwina could be exempted?

Was it because she came from another country?

No, that couldn’t be right; there are other foreigners here too.

So, is there something special about her?

But this foolish girl doesn’t seem to have anything particularly unique aside from her obviously not-so-smart brain, right?

It’s all so confusing.

   

---