Thanks to Alys, the girls hadn't moved a single step from where Aaron had left them. She had erected a protective spatial dome around them and had either killed or knocked out the Devouts who dared attack her. The attackers had been so weak that she still had plenty of Space Energy remaining in her dantian.

Aaron nodded to her. "Well done."

"Thank you, Patriarch. Congratulations on your awe-inspiring victory too."

He smiled. "Thanks."

"Yes! Congratulations!" Lana quickly said, not wanting to be left behind.

Aaron laughed a little. "Thank you." Then he sighed and became completely serious. "Now, however, it's time for a hard lesson."

He turned to the seven still conscious Devouts who had just given up on the fight. A skill gathered them together, another put them on their knees and locked them in place, and a third skill left all but one incapable of speaking. Aaron approached the one who could still talk and looked back at the girls.

"You were there when I forced Tia's hand against the Psychotic Pigs. You heard what I told her. But did you understand it?" He took his sword from its sheath.

The man's eyes widened. "Please, no. No. Spare me, please. I beg you. For the love of the Goddess of Light, please let me go."

"This is the ugliest part of the cultivation world," Aaron said, completely ignoring the man. "These people ambushed us. Despite the Priestess' words of robbery, their attacks would have killed me if they had connected. And as you know, the Ironblood clan's rules demand the life of whoever tries to take ours."

The man started trembling, but that was the extent of what he could move. "Please, I beg you. Please!"

"However," Aaron continued, "we're not unreasonable. If an attacker survives our retribution for whatever reason and ends up captured instead, we must give them a fair trial." He turned to the man. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"I was forced to attack you!" he pleaded. "My lord said he would kill my family if I disobeyed! Please don't kill me! Please!"

Aaron turned back to the girls. "I didn't even use a lie detection spell. The truth can be assessed in other ways, though even then, it isn't as important as intent and sincerity." He looked at the man. "That's understandable. Would you still attack me if your lord ordered it on the same terms?"

"No! Of course not!"

Aaron raised an eyebrow. "You would rather let your family die than kill your god's enemy?"

He wasn't thick-skinned enough for such a lie. He just looked silently at Aaron for an instant, then yelled, "My lord shall kill you, heretic! He shall have—" Aaron cut him off with a spell.

"I told Tia these exact words: believing that whoever attacks you is innocent will only make you lose your only chance at life sooner rather than later. I didn't say that because I enjoy killing, those words are the truth I have experienced time and time again. Being merciful to an enemy is to be merciless to your allies. He can't kill me, but who's to say he wouldn't attack Lana to get back at me? Or another weak member of our clan?"

He turned to the man. His sword sang, and the man's head flew. Then he walked to another guy while talking to the girls, "They value their god more than our lives. They value their lives more than ours. They value the lives of their loved ones more than ours. It's all understandable, we might even do the same if our roles were reversed. But having a good reason to kill doesn't make them less guilty of attempt murder. This is about rightful punishment, not understanding."

Aaron willed it, and the second guy's magical gag dissipated. "By the Darkness that surrounds the great—" he started chanting a spell but was beheaded before he could finish it.

"At least that guy was sincere in trying to attack me," said Aaron while walking to the third Devout. "On an important note, they are all at the Two Star level. So, if they were to be possessed like the Priestess was, they would only raise to the Four Star level. I can deal with that. If any of them were at the Four Star level like the Priestess, their potential danger would be too great for me to even give them a trial. That they attacked me, didn't beg forgiveness at once, and might attack again with greater power would be enough reason for me to even kill them in their sleep."

When Aaron ungagged the third Devout, he immediately spoke, "Sorry! I'm sorry! Please, forgive me! Please!" He started crying.

"Would you have forgiven me if I were in your place?" Aaron asked.

"Yes!" he yelled. "Yes, I would! I swear I would!"

Aaron turned to the girls. "I might have believed it if a One Star Devout told me that, but my understanding is that a Devout must please their god enough to level up. So, he is a good obedient boy. Would you, Alys, give up on your power present and future to forgive someone your boss wants dead? Would you, Lana, deny your faith to forgive a heretic? Not all our enemies are evil, but even entertaining the possibility that they are misunderstood saints would only bring your doom."

He looked back at the man's eyes and beheaded him.

"I won't lie to you," Aaron said. "Ruling over people's life and death isn't easy. It is, however, both necessary and mandatory. The Ironblood clan is sovereign, and you must judge whoever attacks you on the spot. Just make sure to follow our rules, for I won't stand abuse if I find out about it. No torture, no rape, no psychological abuse. Justice is to be served swiftly and cleanly."

The next one on the line was a woman who was looking defiantly at him. He ungagged her. "Hypocrite!" she yelled at once. "What can I even say in my defense? Nothing! You're just enjoying it, aren't you? You love making us suffer, don't you? Isn't this psychological abuse? Who is going to punish you for that?"

"Would you rather I had killed you without trial?" he asked, unperturbed by the outburst.

"Yes! I—" she started talking, but her head flew.

"Don't waste time on those who say they would rather you killed them than take part in the trial. As I said, this is about rightful punishment. This is not about convincing them of the righteousness of our methods." He walked to another prisoner, another woman. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

She was much calmer than the previous one. "Yes. I agree with most of what my sister in the faith said. What is the purpose of this? How is this any different from psychological abuse?"

"Should I give you a warm bed, feed you, comfort you, just so you wouldn't feel bad about your incoming trial? After you tried to kill me? What else do you want? Where would that end? Just because this situation isn't perfect, it doesn't make it abusive. It's been less than five minutes since I imprisoned you; how is that abuse? Or maybe you would rather I kept you unconscious until it was your time, just so you could claim I didn't give you enough time to prepare your defense?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but he gagged her again and turned to the girls. "Some will try to deflect the issue. Sometimes, unlike this one, they will even have good arguments. However, I only answered her to your benefit; you are not to do that. Always keep in mind the real reason for the trial: their attempt at your lives. If they refuse to touch the subject even when given the privilege to defend themselves..." He swung his sword and the woman's head flew.

He stood in front of the sixth conscious Devout, an old man. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

The man shook his head in defeat. "My only regret is failing to fulfill what my lord asked of me. I hope you suffer a terrible death."

Another head flew.

Finally, Aaron reached the last guy, a teenage boy. "Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

"Yes!" he yelled as soon as he was ungagged. "I didn't try to kill you! I don't even know attacking chants! I'm a healer! I swear on the Darkness!"

"But you attacked me."

"I only wanted to put you to sleep!"

"And what would be the result had I fallen asleep while under a barrage of attacks?"

The boy opened his mouth to reply, closed it, then said with a subdued voice, "I hadn't thought of that."

"Would you have still tried to put me to sleep if you knew the consequences of your actions?" He bit his lips and nodded once. "Then I also declare you guilty. The punishment is death." His head flew.

Aaron turned to the girls. "Look into their eyes and give them a quick death. That shall be the extent of your mercy."

The girls were pale. Lana looked about to throw up. Alys took a deep breath and asked, "Patriarch, with all due respect, what could they have said to save themselves?"

"Four things are involved in letting someone live. They must ask for forgiveness, be sincere, accept a harsh punishment, and give two oaths. One of them said they were sorry, that was the first step. Unfortunately, he lied when I asked if they would forgive me if our roles had been reversed. That was a failure in being sincere, so I wouldn't believe the oaths I would require of him either.

"Had he been sincere, the punishment would be to cripple his dantian, thus destroying all his cultivation. The oaths would be to not cultivate for ten years and to never do anything against the Ironblood clan ever again. Anyone who tries to kill us but can't do that much doesn't deserve the benefit of the doubt and the gift of forgiveness that comes with it."

"That's a bit..." Alys trailed off.

"Extreme," Lana completed for her.

Aaron shook his head. "They tried to kill us, maid of mine. We are only alive because they failed, not because they changed their minds. Giving them a way to survive is already a kindness they didn't deserve."

Alys flushed. "I was going to say a bit too good for them, Patriarch," she whispered. "They are Devouts. The God of Darkness can easily heal them and send them at us again."

Aaron nodded. "That's true, and I would normally not give them this chance. There are three reasons I do. First, to make sure my clansmen go for the kill when they are attacked. Trying to be merciful in a life and death fight can be lethal. Second, so my clansmen understand the weight of the lives in their hands. Killing someone in cold blood who begged you to let them live is not the same as killing in the heat of battle. Third, because it's too vicious to kill harmless people without even hearing them first. This is the least we can give them. The rules aren't perfect, but they are the best I can do."

Alys nodded and started thinking hard. Lana put Tatou on the ground and finally puked. Tatou started licking it before he was told to stop and had to obey under his soul contract. Bella was already licking a Devout's blood, and Alys didn't seem to care.

Aaron sighed. "I hope with all my heart that you don't have to learn the reason of my rules the hard way. I suffered greatly in the past for being merciful. I urge you to not commit the same mistake."

They didn't reply.

He started waking up the unconscious Devouts, giving them five minutes to think of a defense, then passing judgment over them. The girls started seeing the wisdom of his teachings as more and more people hurled insults his way instead of asking for forgiveness. It was obvious they would try to kill him again if given the chance. Live statistics were on his side.

Finally, four hours later, he killed the last of them and put his sword away. "You saw how they behaved. For the last time, the clan rules are what they are for good reasons. They might not be the most merciful, the most beautiful, the most fulfilling rules to follow, but they are the best I can make. I'm even open to changing them if you can prove them wrong."

"Yes, Patriarch," an entirely convinced Alys replied.

Lana nodded absentmindedly and said, "Yes, Patriarch."

Aaron nodded back, and with a wave of his hand, all corpses started being stripped of everything they had but their underclothes. "Also, don't be wasteful. Any resource you don't loot is a resource your enemy might use against you in the future. Funding enemies is sheer stupidity." He stored it all in his ring, then started moving toward one of the hidden stairs. "Now, come. I don't usually raid people I haven't previously declared my enemy, but I do when I'm ambushed in their home. It's only fair."

The few Devouts remaining in the temple all attacked Aaron, much to Lana and Alys' visible relief, for he killed them in the heat of battle.

He smiled.

They had learned.

Alys had been a Three Star Sorceress of the Arcane Circle for a while now, and she had seen the ugly of a powerful organization. Unlike Tia, she knew what the world was about, and it wasn't pretty. Ethically questionable magical experiences were the mildest of what she had witnessed.

Yet, she hadn't been ready to see two hundred people be executed after crying, yelling, and begging for their lives.

At least it was enlightening to see the Patriarch's words come true. Indeed, she hadn't been sure about going for the kill against anyone who attacked her.

After seeing the terrible reality of executing people, she would never stay her hand in a fight ever again.

Lana was confused. She had heard the clan rules before, but back then, she had thought of herself as a Priestess of Light first. Now, they felt much more serious than before.

Seeing those people executed in cold blood had been the second-worst moment of her entire life. It only lost to when the goddess had abandoned her. She had even considered leaving, but in the end, she had stayed.

And, in direct contrast to her first reaction to the executions, the reason she had stayed was a delightful finding.

There was a new feeling in her heart. A feeling that came from the mix of everything she saw in the Patriarch; that he was a man worthy of respect, that he was her breeze-windstorm, and that he was a source of powerful freedom. They all mixed into a single truth.

She was in love with him.

It was a stronger feeling than she thought possible. It wasn't just desire or curiosity like she had thought before, not just gratitude for his care, but an overwhelming passion. She had never felt it before, not like this, and she couldn't stand even the idea of parting with him on her own accord.

A single night had been enough for her to see killing people as mercy rather than cruelty. What would become of her in the future if she kept following him? She didn't know, and the truth was, she loved him enough to not care.

And that's when she finally understood her own freedom.

The freedom to follow her heart.

All her life, she had obeyed those who knew better. Her parents, her trainers, her goddess. Only their wisdom mattered; she had suppressed her feelings for the greater good.

But now, she found herself as a simple human that simply followed her heart. She was in love with a man, and it was alright. She would go against all she had been taught to stay with him, and it felt good.

She found love, and in doing so, she found herself.

For the first time in her life, Lana was free.