Hero of Darkness

The whole empire was suddenly shaken as soon as the news of the second prince, Rogis Hos Sigfreed's trial in the Imperial Court of the Vulcan Empire was declared by the authorities. And the one to judge the trial was going to the Emperor himself. 

This was going to be the first time in the history of the empire that an imperial prince was facing Imperial Justice and that too when the whole empire was going to witness it. 

Unlike the Rakos empire, the people in the Empire of Fire didn't have any access to information networks or anyone had any rights to publicly broadcast anything. The only way they received such information was through the official spokespersons of the imperial administration who mandated what kind of information spread among the masses. 

If not for the first prince and third princess themselves being the ones who used their influence, connections and supporters throughout the empire… the imperial family would've buried the matter and killed everyone including the victims and their families just to smother the incident. Something that they had done in the past very effectively. 

And this was the main reason why Rathnaar told Kahn to join hands with the prince and princess themselves as it was the only way for them to accomplish the task efficiently without having to use their personal resources or risk being caught. 

And now, the imperial authorities themselves had no choice but to acknowledge the crime and with church and the entire dwarven race that was also riled up because of the first rumor about Throk Oakenshield being a victim of the second prince just because he was a devotee of the church of hetrax and a dwarf, there was no way they could bury the matter. 

If they had only leaked the recording of the cruelty faced by the humans in this empire, people who didn't care in the first place wouldn't have bothered to find any faults with the second prince. Rather, he would've become a hero to most of the people of this empire who abhorred the human race. 

The Cause and Effect were perfectly planned by Rathnaar and Kahn acted solely based on his instincts that the plan was the best approach they could do. 

Plus him having a Domain of his own thanks to Dimensional Law divine ability also played a big part since only a 5th stage saint and above could have a domain. This made both Hector and Venessa think that Kahn was indeed a powerful ally who sided with them.

But the biggest damage was done by Rogis himself who was so full of himself that he revealed his plans to kill his two siblings and then get rid of the church and enslave the dwarven race. So there was no other way to escape being impeached at this point. 

And now… it was finally the time for the last part of phase three... 

The Imperial Justice. 

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Massive holographic orbs were spread throughout all the main cities and towns of the empire as the image of the imperial court was revealed to the population for the first time in the history of this empire. 

Thousands of people that included all the important people from the imperial authorities, Fireborne clans, church and the dwarven race were seated in this vast imperial court's hall that was 2 kilometers in length alone. 

Thud! 

Thud! 

Over a dozen semi-saint royal guards in red armor brought in Rogis and escorted him to a stand of the defendant in front of the emperor and his 4 advisers who were seated on the first platform while the emperor sat on his throne at the 3rd one. 

"Rogis Hos Sigfreed, you are brought here for questioning for the charges against you. 

Namely for planning the murder of the imperial prince & princess as well as having the intentions to destroy the Church of Hetrax, our God and having the notions of enslaving the entire race. 

Do you accept your crimes and admit that you are guilty?" stated one of the Fireborne advisors. 

"No! All the charges against me are false and I have been framed for the crimes I didn't commit." spoke Rogis. 

"Lying to the imperial court and that too in the presence of the emperor himself is a grave crime. It will only be added to your sentence." spoke another female advisor who was also a fireborne just like the rest. 

"How do you explain this then?" asked the 3rd advisor and signaled their people to run the recording. 

The whole empire was reminded of the cruelty and his evil plans again as it was broadcasted. 

"These are all forged! It's a ploy to besmirch my name. 

Those people aren't even real. No one has even found them since this recording was spread. I'm sure they used someone to imitate my appearance or used some sort of illusion spell." spoke Rogis as he denied it openly with an expression of someone who was wrongly accused. 

"So are you certain that those people aren't real or they're using something to create this whole illusion?" asked the last elderly advisor. 

"Yes! I'm innocent. All the evidence against me is forged!" spoke Rogis with a righteous expression. 

"If that's the case… Then how do you explain this?" asked the old fireborne and another clip started. 

A room full of blood and wooden blunt weapons suddenly appeared on this screen. 

This was the exact hall in the castle where the whole thing took place in the first place. 

"This is from your castle that we found during our investigation. There are a total of 53 different types of human blood samples that also match the number of people in the recording. 

How do you plan to explain that?" 

Rogis was taken aback but did not show the surprise on his face. Because he clearly remembered that he ordered his people to clear the site after they evacuated because of the explosion. 

"That could be the blood of any human that was planted in my castle. If I was truly guilty, I wouldn't have left any trace behind." spoke Rogis with a sarcastic tone. 

Because without any witnesses, there was no way to prove that it wasn't a staged crime site. 

Just then, in a section for the imperial family that also included Rogis' mother and the second queen… a tall and well-toned figure of a woman stood up and walked forth. 

Stood in front of the advisors and the emperor, catching many of them by surprise. 

Kahn, who was watching this broadcast in Nidavellir spoke… 

"And here comes the biggest bomb." 

"What is the meaning of this?" asked the Emperor in a grim tone. 

"Since Rogis claims that the humans in the recording aren't real and some random human's blood… I would like to offer the imperial court some key evidence." said Venessa. 

"What kind of evidence?" asked the emperor. 

To his question, Venessa clapped twice and her voice resounded in the entire court. 

"Bring them in." she ordered. 

Step!

Step! 

Step! 

Soon, more than a dozen guards appeared in the court and escorted a group of people towards the main stand. 

Gasp! 

Gasp! 

Not just the people in court but also those watching throughout the empire gasped collectively. 

Because the group that was brought were the victims they saw in the recording. 

Suddenly, Rogis had an ashen expression as he was caught off guard. 

"The imperial authorities can check if the blood samples from the crime site belong to these victims or not." spoke Venessa. 

Kahn had a smirk on his face as remembered the night of the incident. Because this was his doing all along. 

When they rescued the victims and healed their bodies, each of the assassins that were in charge of tending to the injured also had an additional task of collecting their blood in vials while treating them. 

Because it was obvious that the crime site would be wiped clean by the guilty party. 

This move was also explained to Venessa when Kahn handed over all the victims and their families to her. And this was going to be an ace up in the sleeve. 

So they waited for the recording to spread first and then poured down the blood samples in the empty hall that was already cleaned by the second prince's people. 

Because of that reason and the victims that were supposed to be taken care of, he had been carefree and said that the footage was forged. 

But this wasn't the end to the second prince's surprise. 

Venessa clapped again as more people were brought in. 

"Who are these people?" asked the female advisor. 

"These are the soldiers under the servitude of the second prince. And also the ones who were tasked with carrying the victims to a certain location." explained Venessa. 

"What location?" asked the emperor himself with a curious voice. 

Soon, Venessa signaled her people and in front of the whole empire that was watching… 

Dozens of big crates were brought in by over a hundred soldiers. 

"Take them out." she commanded. 

Soon, the crates were turned around and the soldiers unloaded the content inside them. 

This time… even the emperor himself was shocked as he saw what was spread across over 100 meters in the middle of the imperial court. 

Rogis was frozen on the spot as he saw the key evidence that was going to spell his doom for certain. 

The evidence that shook the whole Vulcan empire at this moment was…

Thousands of human skeletons.