"I..."
While Vincent was under this internal torment, his spirituality began to destabilise — the first signs of losing control crept in. He curled in on himself on the sofa, his face a mask of guilt and agony, tears streaming steadily.
Bernadette could see what was happening — this was the side effects of the advancement potion hitting Vincent. But the reaction was violent, far beyond what she would have expected. Under normal circumstances, as long as the previous Sequence's potion had been fully digested, advancement to the next Sequence shouldn't produce such a severe response.
"Vincent! Vincent Moriarty!"
She called out urgently in her mind, trying to rouse his will, while simultaneously doing everything she could to coordinate his spirit body, astral body, mental body, and ether body, attempting to soothe him.
But it was never going to work.
Because Vincent had sunk to the darkest depths of his own psyche. He was like a condemned man who had confessed and was marching willingly to the gallows: Using innocent subjects for experiments, slaughtering children, butchering others... for all these crimes I am guilty. I deserve to be executed. Right here, right now.
Wait.
Vincent suddenly caught himself. Hold on — when did I do any of this?
In the first few years at Hogwarts, he had killed plenty of Dark wizards — but that was largely self-defence. Even the later deliberate hunts had been about ridding the world of genuine evil. The ones using innocent subjects for experiments, killing children, murdering others — that was the Dark wizards. Not him.
And then it clicked. He hadn't done those things himself — but he had devoured those Dark wizards' souls. Which meant their crimes had been counted against him.
Like hell I'm accepting that.
Vincent snapped awake. He fought with everything he had to pull himself back from the darkest pit of his mind and, with iron clarity, proclaimed his most absolute conviction:
I am not guilty.
The next second, he opened his eyes.
He was curled up on the sofa. Waves of tearing pain radiated from every part of his body — the kind of ache that comes after a brutally intense physical ordeal.
"You're alright?"
Bernadette let out a breath, a thread of puzzlement in her tone. "An advancement to Sequence 7 shouldn't have produced a reaction this severe. You were almost on the verge of losing control."
"..."
Vincent sat up with a wince. "Don't ask. A taste of my own medicine, I suppose."
He really hadn't seen this one coming. What he had originally thought of as the transmigration cheat code — the so-called "Ancient Magic" — had now stabbed him in the back twice. The first time was the spiritual weakness, which had gradually eased as he advanced through the Sequences. And this second time, the sins of the Dark wizards he'd devoured had nearly sent him spiralling out of control.
Truly a disaster of a power.
When he explained it all, Bernadette said, "So when you talked before about the side effects from your magical research — that's what you meant. Devouring someone's soul at the moment of their death to absorb their abilities. Sinister, really."
Then she added, after a pause: "Though it's a shame you can't use it in our world. Otherwise... in a way, you'd almost qualify as a Shepherd."
"A Shepherd?"
Vincent paused. Huh. When she put it like that, soul-devouring magic did bear a certain resemblance to the Shepherd's grazing ability.
He shook his head. "Even if I could use it here, I wouldn't dare. Who knows what other traps it's hiding?"
"Strange," Bernadette mused. "Why would the spiritual weakness caused by using your world's magic be gradually eased by becoming a Beyonder in our world and advancing through the Sequences?"
"I think," Vincent said, leaning back and folding his arms, "it's connected — at least in part — to the fact that the Nation of Disorder can somehow bridge two worlds."
"Unravel the secrets of the Nation of Disorder, and perhaps the answer reveals itself naturally."
Bernadette gave an "mm" of agreement. "That makes sense."
"Right, tell me about your new Sequence."
"Sure."
Vincent thought for a moment. "Sequence 7 of the Broker Pathway is called the Prosecutor."
"Prosecutor?"
Bernadette was mildly surprised. The Sequences within a Pathway don't always have to follow a strict logical thread — but jumping from "Merchant" all the way to "Prosecutor" was a bit of a leap.
Then again, once she thought about the related Sequences of the Adjudicator and Lawyer Pathways, the appearance of "Prosecutor" made a great deal of sense. It even served as supporting evidence that the Broker Pathway was indeed adjacent to those two.
What is a Prosecutor? They are different from a Lawyer, though the two roles do overlap in criminal proceedings. A Lawyer is typically retained by an individual client to argue for the most favourable outcome. A Prosecutor, by contrast, represents the state — reviewing cases, presenting evidence, and charging individuals with crimes, with the ultimate goal of bringing criminals to justice.
Vincent continued: "After becoming a Prosecutor, I gained three abilities.
"The first: I can perceive what crimes a target has committed. More accurately — know them, since I can't actually witness the crime itself as it happened.
"The second: when I perceive a person's crimes, I can use the Words of Order to first declare them guilty, then specify the charges — and the target will receive the corresponding punishment. The exact punishment comes from the world itself, or from certain existences, and is tied to the severity of the crime. The most severe punishments are immediate death, or losing control on the spot.
"The third: for a crime that is actively being committed, I can directly declare the target guilty without specifying the charges, which both punishes them and restricts their ongoing actions. The efficiency benefit is one thing — the real advantage is that it's the fastest way to stop a crime already in progress."
He summed it up: "In short, there's really one core Beyonder ability — the Words of Order. Everything else serves it."
"The Words of Order is a special supernatural language. You learn it automatically upon advancing to Prosecutor."
Bernadette raised a question. "By your description, isn't the Prosecutor's Words of Order somewhat overpowered? Most Beyonders have committed murder at some point. Declaring someone guilty of murder — wouldn't that simply kill them outright?"
"If that were true, the Prosecutor would not be a Sequence 7."
Vincent shook his head. "After a charge is declared, the target doesn't suffer the outcome directly. There is a process — the sentence being carried out. So if they can dodge or resist the punishment, they can escape the Accusation's effects for that instance."
"Additionally, issuing an Accusation against a Beyonder of higher Sequence than yourself is constrained by your own spirituality — the punishment becomes significantly weaker. Though for you, that limitation doesn't apply."
He paused and added, "My spiritual intuition tells me that when I advance to a certain future Sequence, the Words of Order will undergo a qualitative transformation. Once I bring an Accusation, the punishment will persist — non-stop — until the verdict is fully carried out."
"That said, even then, the punishment can still be partially circumvented through abilities like Mirror Substitute or a Wand Substitute."
"That covers everything from advancing to Sequence 7."
Bernadette listened and said, "The way you describe it, the Words of Order could serve as a disruptor in a same-Sequence fight — open the engagement with an Accusation, then follow up with your other abilities."
"That's right. As long as you have sufficient supporting capabilities, which suits our particular situation rather well."
"Exactly."
Vincent checked on his spirituality. "After advancing to Sequence 7, my spirituality has grown considerably. It should be enough to sustain heavier use of the Mystery Pryer Sequence 5 abilities. The above-demigod abilities are still out of reach, though."
"That's not surprising. The gap between Sequence 4 and Sequence 5 isn't simply a matter of spirituality or Sequence number. It's fundamentally about divinity — for any Beyonder, it represents a qualitative change in the very nature of one's existence."
That reminded her of something. "Go into the Nation of Disorder now and see if anything has changed — and whether the scales have granted you any new abilities."
"Sure."
Vincent was genuinely curious. The last time he advanced — to Sequence 8 — the Nation of Disorder had opened up to reveal its true nature, which had led him to contemplate constructing his three-part Honorific Name, and to discovering the Boon ability. Perhaps Sequence 7 held its own surprises.
To be continued…
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