Chapter 9

In the muddy battlefield, a solitary figure was running.

On the track made of cinder, running barefoot caused sharp pain, and with over a hundred kilograms of heavy armor on his back, this was no longer training but a form of punishment.

The cinder track, sprinkled with water, did not stir up black dust, but was full of malicious mud. The originally smooth bare feet were now covered with wounds.

Every few hundred meters, the slender figure would fall once. Even with her body covered in injuries and mud, the young girl would struggle to get up and try to run forward, only to...

Fall again...

The fresh blood flowing from her bare feet formed a blood trail, extending all the way...

To her, the physical pain was nothing; the most painful was the piercing gazes of the people around her.

Some passersby felt a bit sorry, but no one stopped her.

Because this was the highest court of Sulfur City, the most sacred and fair place in the eyes of the citizens. If someone was being punished, it was because they had committed a corresponding crime.

On the side of the track, two judges in robes with silver masks were whispering.

"Is that Captain Diana from the Urban Management Team? Why is she running laps here, barefoot and in a single layer of clothing, carrying heavy armor? It seems like she's being punished."

"Didn't Lord Insomniac order the track to be watered this morning? It seems it was prepared for her?"

"What did she do?"

"Didn't the Urban Management Team act on their own a few days ago? They launched a new crackdown without reporting it, and it seems Lord Insomniac caught them in the act."

"Acting on their own? Isn't that a serious crime? At the very least, they should be exiled... Oh, I get it!"

"Yes, sentencing the entire team to exile would be too harsh, but not punishing them at all is also impossible. So, these past few days, this lady has been coming to complete the necessary procedures, but Lord Insomniac hasn't seen her. Today, he finally agreed to see her, and just 'casually' mentioned wanting to see the Urban Management Team's heavy load cross-country running training, and she voluntarily went to run."

"…If it were handled through the proper procedures and handed over to the court, the punishment for an unauthorized violent action would be at least exile, which is clearly too severe. But if there were no punishment at all, others might follow suit, and future punishments would lack credibility."

"Yes, the best way to handle it is probably like this: first, let it cool off for a few days to make her realize the severity of the situation, then let her 'voluntarily' accept the punishment as a warning to others. The law is rigid, but people are flexible. This way, it maintains the dignity of the law without improper punishment, allowing the guilty to escape. The balance in this approach is worth studying. Lord Insomniac is truly remarkable."

"…We should hurry to work. I feel Lord Insomniac is watching from the top of the tower. If we leave a bad impression of not working diligently, it will be troublesome."

The two judges hurriedly left. It was already time for work, and they, draped in their robes, had their own cases to handle.

Dark elves have very sensitive ears, and the judges' discussion did not escape Diana's notice. She gritted her teeth, stood up again, and, swaying, supported the hundred-kilogram armor, continuing her punishment.

At the top of a nearby tower, in Lord Insomniac's office, the unscrupulous Chief Justice was raising a telescope to watch, but unlike the judges' speculation, he was not watching to supervise but to appreciate the scenery.

"Indeed, the wet single layer of clothing reveals the beauty's figure completely. The mud makes her moving body even more sensual. Next time, no matter how those guys oppose it, I will definitely include a mud wrestling event for women in the sports meet!"

Putting down the telescope, I seriously considered the possibility of getting this policy through the parliament.

As for the punishment? The dignity of the law? Is that really important?

"Although the old stubborn guys in the parliament might not allow it, I have approved it!!"

Sharing the view with me was a middle-aged man with a lecherous smile. Although his appearance was quite distinguished, he exuded a hint of weariness from within.

Wearing red light armor, wielding a large two-handed sword of fire red, with hair that burned like flames, he was like a blazing inferno. Even in the peaceful city, he was fully armed, with a silver broken sword at his waist, perhaps the only other color on his body.

He had numerous titles such as "Phoenix of the East" and "The Man with the Immortal Body," but the one he was most known for was his identity as the Red Lotus Sword Saint.

A hundred and thirty years ago, he led his adventure team to launch a surprise attack on the undead army of the Eternal Night Grand Duke, successfully beheading the Grand Duke and causing the entire undead army to collapse. It was a classic plot of a hero slaying a demon king and saving the world.

Afterward, he declined the invitations and rewards from various countries and, inexplicably, came to the neglected underground city world, establishing this unique city.

When the unique reputation of Sulfur Mountain City spread to the surface again, the hero's fame soared once more.

"Living Epic," "The Perfect Hero," the people on the surface called him.

But at this moment, facing the sexy curves barely hidden under the wet single layer of clothing, the square face of the righteous man also showed a lecherous expression.

"Let's just have a mud marathon. Get the dark elves from the Urban Management Team and the female priests from the church to participate, only in their underwear. Ha ha, just selling tickets would make a fortune."

Adam, the Red Lotus Sword Saint, as my direct superior and the mayor of Sulfur Mountain City, found great pleasure in causing trouble for his subordinates and the civil parliament. How could he not like my proposal that would surely make the old guys in the parliament explode with anger?

Don't be fooled by his lecherous behavior; in my system, this guy is a 262-level demigod, equivalent to at least a king in the surface world.

"Hey, old bachelor, you've gotten stronger again."

Last week, he was only level 260. For such a high-level existence, advancing even a little is difficult. Gaining two levels in a week is simply unbelievable.

"Yes, old bachelor, your eyes are still so sharp. The Fire Phoenix gets stronger with age. Now, my Phoenix Heart is burning to its limit. I should be able to beat you in your prime."

"Hehe, even if you are invincible, you're still a middle-aged old bachelor."

"Yes, just like you, who uses skeletons as a partner."

After the two old bachelors, who had been single for hundreds of years, habitually hurt each other, they both sighed.

"When will this bachelor life end? To find a girlfriend..."

"I'm already numb to my left and right hands. If you hadn't interfered, I would have had a woman long ago, and maybe even a son and grandson."

"Are you boasting? Is having a physical body so worth boasting about? My left and right hands are just bones!"

"Boasting? You're boasting to your face. And those rumors about me being cursed, making the city's beauties avoid me! The beauty I 'accidentally' bumped into last week, what a beautiful encounter, but she went to the Holy Temple to drive away the curse, thinking it was a bad omen... Do you know how I felt at that time!"

"Of course, that's why I told the desert beauty you were cursed!"

"How could an outsider know these rumors? It's definitely you, you bastard!!"

Well, next, the most perfect human hero Adam and the most dignified Chief Justice of Sulfur Mountain City, Lord Insomniac, started fighting like children.

But as usual, this meaningless fight ended quickly.

Although a demigod warrior easily overpowered me, a weakling with less than five combat points, I, who have no sense of pain, am not afraid of him. Various sarcastic remarks about being a bachelor continued.

"Deserves to jerk off for life, old bachelor."

"Legend says that being single at 30 makes you a great mage. You're almost 200 years old, so you must have upgraded to the ultimate archmage. Come on, cast a fireball for me to see."

"Do you want me to use magic to turn your left and right hands into girls? Guaranteed to be super cute. Oh, you're wavering, you're actually wavering. Don't be silly, if magic could do that, I wouldn't still be single."

Of course, while I was verbally hurting him, my heart was bleeding.

"I'm 376 years old and still single... I need to be resurrected!!"

By the time we remembered we had important matters to handle today, it was already sunset. Indeed, as a philosopher once said, mutual harm only leaves emptiness.

"Hey, you came to me today, not to fight, right?"

"Of course not, Margaret sent me to do something important. What was it? Let me think!"

"Sure, you're senile."

"Don't interrupt! I'm almost there! Oh, right, there are two things, no, actually one thing."

"Hmm?"

"I'm about to die, you should know that."

He said his own death as casually as if he were talking about where to go tomorrow.

"Of course, at least one year, at most three years, and you'll be gone."

I, of course, knew. In the character information in my system, his name had a red border (lifespan nearing), indicating he was close to his end.

"157 years, I've lived long enough, with no regrets."

Is that so? No regrets? Well, the average human lifespan on the Axi continent is 60-80 years. This guy, with his incredible strength, managed to live for nearly two centuries, which is indeed a long life.

"If you want to live longer, it's not difficult."

Of course, it's not difficult. Such a powerful warrior, if he were willing to believe in the gods, any apostle status would grant him endless life. If he didn't want to serve, he could reincarnate into a long-lived race like angels, demons, or undead, which would not be difficult for him.

But Adam smiled, a light and carefree smile, as if he had already seen through the impermanence of the world, despite still being young.

"No, 150 years is too long for a short-lived human. I've lived enough. A village boy who achieved nothing has completed his hero's dream. Now, most of the people I knew are dead, and I've done everything I wanted to do. It's time to rest. Besides, always standing at the top is not a good look, and it's time for the new generation to take over."

"…You're still thinking about Lisa." His carefree attitude didn't fool me.

Lisa Grant, Adam's former companion and secret love, died over a hundred years ago in the battle against the Eternal Night Grand Duke.

With his abilities, if he really wanted a girlfriend, he wouldn't have trouble finding one. The two weddings, if he had really insisted, with his combat power, he wouldn't have let us disrupt them.

"Hey, you're really a love saint. But, aren't you a bit selfish?"

"Yes, I am selfish." He nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry to Margaret. As an immortal, she is still young and should have better choices."

The great sage Margaret's infatuation with Adam, and Adam's inability to let go of his deceased girlfriend, was an open secret among the upper echelons of Sulfur Mountain City.

The so-called two weddings were more about hoping Margaret would give up on him. Of course, Margaret, without hesitation, contacted me to give Adam's weddings "gifts," clearly showing her determination not to give up.

Rumors can be spread, and they can also be dispelled. The fact that everyone now knows this secret is probably because Mayor Adam enjoys seeing it.

"A foolish love triangle. Well, as an outsider, I don't want to meddle, but since you want to die, I can guess the other thing."

"Of course, since I, the jailer, am about to die, you, the prisoner, are also due for release. Congratulations, Eternal Night Grand Duke, how does it feel to be about to gain freedom?"

Yes, this Sulfur Mountain City is actually a prison. The hero Adam, the great sage Margaret, and the ancient red dragon Little Red are the jailers.

And I, the former Eternal Night Grand Duke, the Undead Emperor, am the only prisoner in this prison!

"Then, hero Adam, are you sure you want to let me out to destroy the world?"

"Up to you, without Lisa, the world can be destroyed if you want."

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