The creature's hollowed eyes cast downward, seemingly disinterested in Lady Fate's judgment.
"What I am does not matter; it never mattered."
He shifted slightly, chains rattling softly against the stone beneath him.
Lady Fate felt a flicker of irritation at his indifference. All she desired was to witness his fear, anger, or despair—but all she had was a hollow husk.
Its origins were a shadow, lost even to her, a nameless void, barely a whisper. Then her expression subtly shifted as a memory arose; if only she hadn't overlooked that day, they wouldn't be here.
Her eyes flared with indignation, momentarily exposing the tempest behind her composed facade.
"After so long of amassing power, only to find yourself bound before me."
The room stilled, electric tension crackling through the air, but he remained silent—a response she did not seek; she wanted to witness his humiliating performance.
She towered over him, golden chains supporting her, sprawling from beneath her garments, a necessary image of authority, a memory of the one she loathed most in all existence.
The Lady's jaw tightened, her fury masking uncertainty.
She paced, thoughts tightening into resolve.
With a flick of her wrist, the scepter in hand summoned a chain as thick as rope, wrapping it around his neck. The glimmering metal embodied her merciless will.
She drew closer, feeling the resonance of power between them, stark against his pathetic stillness.
"Do you understand, dear creature?" Her voice dripped with condescension, each syllable laced with mockery. "You were a whisper in the fabric of my tapestry, a fluke among my carefully woven threads—
a mere footnote in the epic of my reign."
But he remained silent.
"And how poetic that the fated hero, long held in contempt, stands before me now…"
At that moment, she glimpsed what she longed for—the fury in his eyes, rippling with pure rage.
Yet, to her surprise, he bit into her chain. After a few moments of struggle, it shattered.
The chains that supported her faltered, and she fell, her headgear flying away. The Book-Keepers desired to help their Lady, but fear gripped their hearts.
As she struggled to rise, she found him towering over her, indifferent to her plight, which only stoked her anger. He looked down, a piece of the broken chain in his mouth, and spat it out, watching it disintegrate a few meters away.
With fury transcending logic and reason, he spoke.
"If you want to proceed with the trial, start it now. I came out of my own will, and I can leave the same way."
She gritted her teeth, taking his words as a true threat.
Sprouting more chains, she regained her imposing height; one enveloped her headgear, placing it back atop her head.
"Despicable barbarian," she muttered through clenched teeth.
Despite her irritation, she decided to initiate the trial—no execution, as he was of no use to her yet.
"Fine, if you're eager for destruction, who am I to refuse?"
She summoned a scroll and began.
"Desecration of the living and the unliving.
Defilement of sacred techniques.
Extinction of entire bloodlines.
Theft of forbidden scrolls from the Rinagoz Archives."
Her voice rose, detailing hundreds of his crimes, earning gasps from the audience.
She concluded, "So what does one who commits such acts deserve?"
Her words hung in the air like a challenge. Yet the creature's expression remained impassive, as if her charges bore little weight.
Dame Fate's tone grew grave as she continued, "Even Death itself refuses to claim him; the Great Reaper fears his power. The Daemon Lords have rejected him, fearing the destabilization he brings. Not even I myself would take him."
She paused. "His audacity knows no bounds; he has shed the name given to him."
She met his gaze and asked, "How do you plead against these charges?"
He remained silent for a moment before responding, "The only thing this creature deserves is complete and utter erasure, so that even his essence ceases to exist."
A collective gasp rippled through the room.
"Erasure? So he is to be erased?"
Dame Fate's gaze burned with intensity as she pulled out a worn scroll adorned with ancient symbols pulsating with dark energy.
The scroll unfurled, revealing the edict of the Celestial Tribunal.
Dame Fate concluded, "The only fitting punishment is absolute annihilation—leaving only a void in his place. All in favor, say 'I.'"
The Book-Keepers stood motionless before, unified in unison, they solemnly declared, "I," raising their hands in unanimous agreement.
Their collective affirmation hung in the air, a foreboding declaration of the creature's fate.
Dame Fate's eyes gleamed with gleeful intensity as they fell upon him.
"The Celestial Tribunal supports my call for punishment."
As she spoke, a swirling vortex of stars appeared, coalescing into a colossal entity that settled upon one of the thrones.
The being, composed of shimmering, burning stars, regarded the nameless creature with a deep voice resonating through the space, "Oh, how much we both detest you, oh nameless one."
The creature raised its gaze, revealing azure eyes that glowed with strange etchings, sensing this being was worth his attention.
"And who are you supposed to be?" the creature asked condescendingly.
"I am the one who shall oversee this trial as both Judge and Executioner," it declared.
The two locked gazes, energy igniting between them, rippling through the space with tempestuous force.
"What makes you so bold?" the creature inquired.
"Why should I fear a being I've encountered for the first time, I don't fear you?"
"It's not the first time I've approached you, its just that someone like you is blind to my presence.
"You don't fear me, you say but you the one whose the most afraid of confronting me.
The creature just looked ahead with a detached expression.
"Don't believe me, here."
Truth lifted one finger lazily, detaching a star, which struck the creature's forehead.
Lady Fate looked up, intrigued from her idle task.
"Why bestow this creature a gift?" she asked.
And with that, an intense silence enveloped the room, tension brewing as the trial began in earnest.