"That is all, Your Honour," a voice reverberated through the wide hall—a silence so chilling it pressed down on everyone seated, witnessing the trial that had just concluded.
All the evidence had been presented, witnesses shuffled through the stands, and now the final decision rested with the man who held the highest authority in the room. His gaze was fixed on the boy standing at the center of the student court, ether chains weighing him down. The boy's eyes remained glued to the floor—just as they had throughout the entire trial.
"Given all evidence and witness accounts presented before the court, Student Azalea is hereby pronounced guilty of violating Code Sections 45 and 54 of the Laws of Vermillion."
The moment the words were spoken and the gavel fell, a ripple surged through the room. Every single person responded with almost the exact same expression.
Satisfaction.
It was no secret to anyone present—this outcome had been inevitable. Even the young man himself showed no reaction, no change in posture or expression. He just kept staring downward, hiding his face from the sea of judgmental eyes that bore into him.
Why?
In that moment of solitude and silence, isolated from the world around him, only one word echoed in his mind.
Why? Why had it come to this again? WHY?! Why couldn't he just be like everyone else?
Normal.
And in that moment—that exact moment—what haunted him most wasn't the sentence.
It was their faces.
The people he'd once believed—if only for a moment—genuinely cared for him, now looked at him with nothing but disgust and scorn.
Even her.
Isabelle.
The one person he would have sworn ten days ago would have defended him with her life if it came to this. His best friend. His childhood friend. The only person who had ever truly cared for him.
And maybe... the only person he had ever truly cared about.
He couldn't get it out of his head.
The way she approached him when he was first dragged to the court.
That slap.
It hurt more than all the torment he had endured over the past ten days.
She had gritted her teeth, her expression cold and detached.
He had never—ever—seen that look from her before.
And it froze him.
She denounced their friendship like it meant nothing.
She called him a monster.
"Sighs"
He had endured everything up until now—every sneer, every accusation, every betrayal—and still he remained unshaken.
He couldn't let it break him.
He knew the moment he did, he'd fall apart completely.
But her?
That was unexpected.
She was someone he had shared meals with.
Someone he had taken a blade for—not once, not twice, not even three or four times—countless times.
She used to have his back.
But today, before everyone, she looked at him the same way his father had the day he was disowned.
Just like everyone else.
And now he finally understood.
From the very beginning...
From the moment he opened his eyes in this world...
He had been alone.
The signs had always been there—a truth waiting patiently to be acknowledged.
But he shied away.
He lived in denial.
But now...
Even if he tried to hold it all in,
Even if he told himself he had faced worse,
Even if he shielded it all behind a mask of cold detachment...
It still hurt.
God, it hurt.
He thought, maybe—just maybe—even if all the others spat on his face and cursed his existence...
That she, at the very least, would stand by him when he was breaking apart.
They knew him.
They all did.
They knew what he was capable of—and what he wasn't.
If he had done what they claimed, it could only mean he had no other choice.
That it was the only way.
That he had been helpless.
Yet none of them paused to consider that.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
He felt like his heart was being ripped to shreds.
The Goddess was gone.
The System had abandoned him.
It felt like being drenched in ice water on the coldest of days.
The bitter realization dawned:
All the promises… They were lies.
He had been used from the very start.
The Goddess had known he would deviate from the destined path.
She had known.
So she caged him.
Caged him with a System and the false promise of a better life—a second chance.
A new world.
Not one bound by fate, with heroes and villains and footnotes.
But a world where he could be truly free.
Peace.
That was the greatest promise.
LIES! ALL LIES!
He was used until he outlived his purpose.
And then cast aside.
The System was gone.
He was left to face the consequences alone.
The final mission.
That was the beginning of the end.
KILL AUSTON.
He knew it was impossible.
He was just a talentless, unawakened alchemist.
All he could do was support his combat-capable teammate.
But the System persisted.
It pressured him.
Promised him.
Threatened him.
And before he knew it, there he was—
Sword in hand—
Driven through the gut of the hero.
That was his only crime.
And now, just as it had happened in the game, he stood condemned by a mountain of false allegations.
"Student Azalea, what say you?" the judge asked.
He sighed, eyes blank.
He remembered that look on her face.
The single tear trailing down her left cheek.
He hated it.
God, he hated her even more than the rest.
Hypocrite.
"Just fucking get it over with," he muttered, gaze still fixed on his feet, not sparing the judge even a glance.
"So be it. From this moment on, Azalea Von Nevana shall be expelled from Vermillion. All rights as a student withdrawn. You are forever prohibited from entering its premises. If ever found violating this decree, you shall be detained under the Unified Law of Vermillion."
The judgment was passed.
A silence so thick it sat like a lump in his throat settled over the room, lingering a moment too long.
So... it had come to this.
He thought to himself.
"Sigh..." he exhaled softly, his blank eyes staring at the ceiling as hands seized his shoulders from behind, dragging him out of the courtroom.
This was it.
The end of the extra.
Azalea.