Epic Of The Demonic Sage

Lucius's question was certainly quite rude in a way and also intruded upon the integrity of the Arbitrator. Everyone knew that the priests of Duran were dedicated to justice and righteousness.

What Lucius had done was already enough to make them angry. If this were a commoner, the priest would have certainly been offended enough to punish them, but with Lucius, he could not do the same.

Lucius had a higher status than a commoner, even if he was not a ranked noble, yet. That was true, Lucius actually did not have an official noble rank. In the entire mansion, only the Count and Countess had the ranks.

Lucius was technically an unranked noble and had a slightly higher standing due to being the heir of the Inanis family. This was enough for the arbitrator to not act out directly and kept a bit of control on himself.

"I see the young Lord Asher does not seem convinced with my work?" Lyle questioned.

"It is not that I am convinced, but more that I have no reason to feel convinced," Lucius answered.

And just as Lucius said this, he felt something in his mind. 

'That… the hell imprint…' Lucius thought to himself as he felt the hell energy pouring out of the hell imprint and surrounding his entire soul. 

Lucius didn't know what exactly was happening, but he could definitely guess what it could be. To test it out, Lucius decided to take a little bit of a risk. He had several backup plans in case his test failed and he would still be able to change the situation a little bit.

Lucius stared into the eyes of the arbitrator and could see the slight hints of anger present in his eyes.

'This will be perfect…' Lucius thought to himself as some hell energy was consumed.

In the next moment, Lyle felt a rush of rage in his body and he raised his hand.

~BANG~

He slammed the table hard and pointed his hand at Lucius.

"A FILTHY NO GOOD NOBEL LIKE YOU DARES CHALLENGE THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH! YOU DARE OFFEND AN ARBITRATOR!" Lyle yelled directly.

No more was there the calm and cool arbitrator there. The only thing left now was an angry and offended man. Seeing the drastic change in the emotions of the priest, everyone in the room was surprised.

Lucius on the other hand, was simply smiling and knew that his spell had worked. 

'That actually worked far better than I thought… but even if it was so, it should have not been this expressive. Perhaps there really is something hidden that I can't see yet.' Lucius thought OT himself.

"Priest Lyle, Please!" Gabriel was about to speak up when the priest reacted.

"YOU! DAMNED NOBEL SHUT UP! You all should be whipped to death!" Lyle spoke without a hint of decency.

Hearing the words of the arbitrator, Gabriel no longer felt anxious, rather than that he now felt angry himself. It was fine at the start, as the priest would have had a reason to be prodding towards them as part of the arbitration. 

But now… this was no longer arbitration, this was direct and open enmity.

"Priest Lyle, may I remind you that you are in the presence of a Count and Colonel of the Royal Army. Even with your authority as an arbitrator, you cannot act like this, especially when the arbitration is not even completed and approved by the Church of Duran." Gabriel said with a straight face.

His voice was normal, but one could feel the pressure in it. Even Lita and Kiana were feeling displeased with the Priest and felt that he was acting in gross misconduct. Kiana even clenched her fist before opening it as a layer of metal appeared on it.

John on the other hand, was a bit lost and didn't know what to do.

'Even if young lord Asher's words were a bit direct, they don't necessitate the use of such rage by the arbitrator.' John thought.

After having watched the angry priest, Lucius finally decided to speak.

"Well then, Priest Lyle… I think you already have a judgment in your mind so I don't know if this arbitration is even needed." Lucius spoke.

"Humph, I could tell that you are truly a vile person and have even colluded with some tribals." The Arbitrator stated. 

"Oh? What if I tell you that I wasn't even at the party?" Lucius said.

The priest almost chuckled upon hearing the words of Lucius, but then his eyes narrowed and a troubled expression appeared on his face.

"No… it can't be…" the priest muttered.

"What if I tell you that Keith Drew was not hurt by me but by himself? What if I tell you we never took Bethany Harrels?" Lucius questioned further.

The more the priest heard Lucius, the more his expression changed.

"No, no, no… this can't be true… WHY! How can this be true?" The priest was losing his sense of control at this point.

'So it really does work like that… huh. Tilting scales might be far more controllable than I thought.' Lucius thought to himself as the smile on his face faded away.

"I think it is time you take your leave, Priest Lyle. Nothing will come out of this arbitration, feel free to report to the church whatever you feel like. I believe in the church and know that they will learn the truth on their own. 

We don't need your bias here." Lucius stated.

At this point, Gabriel and Lita were thinking the same as what Lucius had just spoken and knew that the man in front of them was a lost cause. They had been dealt a bad hand and gotten the worse kind of an arbitrator they could have gotten.

They were even feeling a bit pleased that it had reached conclusion this fast as usually, the process of arbitration was long and grueling. But now it had been less than ten minutes and they had gotten their answers.