City of Sin

Foundational Laws

“Perfect, I just so happen to be missing a witness,” Richard said as he saw Ruben, not pausing the procession that was moving through the portal to enter the teleportation temple.

The place was already full of people who had come to see just how he was going to take Yaya Turing away from his island— while confrontations between the major families were common, few ever occurred so directly.

A row of knights were stood outside the portal to the island, guarding it carefully. Seeing Richard’s soldiers appear, their captain stepped forward and shouted, “This is the entrance to the Turing Family’s personal domain. It is closed to all visitors today; those who wish to barge in should consider the foundational laws of Faust!”

Many of the nobles watching felt a chill run down their spine. The city of Faust’s operation was based on a number of fundamental laws that could not be broken, and places like the Church of the Eternal Dragon, the floating islands, and the teleportation temple were special zones that were protected. If Richard killed the knights sent by the Turing Family, he would be going against these laws and incur the wrath of the city itself, with the Rainbow of the Moons attacking him. This seemingly put him in a dilemma, because his hour’s ultimatum was up. While the Turings couldn’t simply hole up forever, but the delay would at least serve as some consolation.

However, Richard wasn’t one to follow the rest. He didn’t even bother conversing with the knight, simply pointing a finger forward as ten night elves jumped forward and drew their six-barrelled thunder cannons. The captain’s eyes went wide in horror, but his scream was drowned out by thunderous explosions that obliterated the entire squadrons.

Once the booming came to a halt, the only sound left in the hall was the whirring of the gun barrels. Richard stepped over the clumps of flesh on the floor and walked into the portal, followed by Asiris, Ruben, and the many night elves. It was only afterwards that the spectators awoke from their daze, starting to rush inside as well.

Duke Turing himself was standing on the other end of the portal, confronting Richard the moment he came out, “Richard! This is unspeakable humiliation towards my family, and the nobles of this city at large! We will not simply give up an important member based on baseless accusation; follow the laws and settle this in court.”

Richard sneered in the face of the denouncement, putting his hand on the hilt of the Judge, “So you won’t hand him over? I’ll consider it a declaration of war.”

Turing seemed completely ignorant of the threat, “Don’t think we’ll bow down to your threats. Even the ruler of the Alliance can’t treat one of the fourteen like this!”

The Judge was already unsheathed at this point, with Richard losing interest in the conversation. He stared at the Duke indifferently, “Turing, you just made a mistake you shouldn’t have. I’m not someone who tolerates repeated hostility, I’m someone who destroys the source.”

By the time Turing realised that the threats weren’t empty, the sword was already slashing down. His thoughts froze as he shouted, “This is a floating island! You can’t—”

The voice was drowned out as the Judge sliced down to his left and right, the force from the attacking forming a huge ditch as the shockwaves crushed all the buildings and people on the island. A dozen fireballs— each with a red exterior and blue core— flew towards various parts of the island, their individual explosions merging into an enormous conflagration that burnt everything in its path.

The spectators watched dumbly as the shockwave sent the defenceless Duke to the ground, only protected by a barrier Richard had set up for their sake. He had planned to leave them all with their reputations intact, but unfortunately they fell to the ground themselves in sheer horror. As the ashen Duke Turing stood up, however, his response was the same.

There was nothing left on the island, no castle, no garden, no barracks, hills, or treasury. Everything had been replaced by scorched earth, an island that had been planned for decades seemingly left without a trace of its existence.

Turing wanted to believe it was all an illusion, but the heat wafting into his face and the horror of everyone nearby confirmed that this was the truth. He stared at Richard with indignation, but no words would come out.

The power of this strike alone was still acceptable; if one had to measure it, both Sharon and Philip had shown displays of might that exceeded it. However, the truly shocking thing was Richard’s gall; did he not fear the wrath of the city?

Richard slowly sheathed the Judge and the hundreds of souls it had just absorbed. Outside of Turing himself, everyone else on the island had turned to ash. These explosions couldn’t even be withstood by saints.

It was after a near full minute of silence that Turing started laughing hysterically, “You actually destroyed the island! Ha, Faust will kill you and destroy your soul! No one can withstand the city’s strength!”

As though to lend credence to his words, rainbow light shot down from the sky and illuminated the entire island. Near-boundless magic bubbled forth from the rainbow of the moons, leaving those present feeling insignificant in the face of divine strength.

“It’s the Rainbow of the Moons!” “It’s going to destroy this place, run!” "It’s too late!"

A number of panicked cries rang out, the nobles who had wanted to witness the spectacle now scared witless as the power of the moons covered the entire island. The portal had already lost its effect, and space was locked so no one could escape.

Richard was the only one present who remained calm, “Shame. Faust isn’t as unstoppable as you make it out to be. Past, present, future, there are always people who can ignore its laws. As for me... Well, you could never imagine the power I wield here.”

The rainbow of the six moons started to glow stronger and stronger, tides of energy forming in the vicinity as they formed hills, lakes, fields, and forests to return the island to its base state. There was no attack or massacre, however; instead, Turing felt his connection weakening as the island broke away from its initial orbit and started floating down. The nobles all around started screaming in fear as the perimeter started to break down, but their worst fears were alleviated when it quickly stopped at a new orbit and started moving slowly.

The portal soon regained its radiance, the power of the moons fading away. However, a pallid Turing rushed to the edge of the island and looked out, confirming from the angle that he was now island 7-7. The other nobles started understanding just what had happened as well, most of them gasping in shock. Richard had just destroyed a sixth level island in one strike, but instead of punishing him the city had restored the island and then demoted it to the lowest position. This meant the Turings would be the target of the next Blood Path!

“How did this...”

“Are the laws gone?”

“No, they still exist, it’s just that...” The person saying this suddenly shut up, realising what he was about to say. The fundamental laws governing Faust still existed, but they simply couldn’t restrict Richard any longer.