Pearl rose from his seat and approached the center of the bar in front of everyone's attention and discussion. And for once even his cloak of arrogance couldn't hide the fatigue in his eyes, he looked older than usual, like the weight of the guild sat on his shoulders as his voice carried across the hall, the aristocratic accent turned to something more along the lines of "I couldn't be bothered and I have a dentist appointment soon" accent.

He said:

"With all the facts laid out, and testimonies given, it is about time we move into closing statements. Each of the nine involved will speak once more, we'll begin with the seven who unfortunately loses their lives."

The room hushed. Even the clatter of tankards and armor faded, one by one, the members of the New Destiny stepped forward to deliver their words, first were the seven that were killed by Olga.

The first survivor, a broad-shouldered crossbow user, spoke with bitter restraint.

"I don't care if anyone claims hypnosis, she wanted blood, she got blood, I knew it from the moment I see her. If you guys wanna blame it on a puppetier, then fine, but then she's guilty for not resisting or even acknowledging that it's happening. That makes her an accompliance at the least, and you know what?" He turned to me, "Fuck you, CJS69Real, you've been a real asshole this entire trial, you have no business being up here other than the fact that you were there to witness it, so you should just make one statement and fuck off."

"Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?" I snarkled.

"No, I kissed your mother." He rebuted.

"She's fucking dead." I said.

"You're welcome." He added

I picked up my sword and walked towards him, I wanted to, but then I realize that Pearl had already pulled my sword back with some kind of telekinetic magic, while shaking his head disapprovingly.

No matter, I thought I could still just pop his eyeballs out of those sockets with my barehand, I thought, so I turned back and forth, glaring at the both of them.

Pearl then coughed and spoke.

"Isaac, please refrain from personal attacks during trial, CJS had been warned before, and neither of you will be forgiven if this repeat."

"Tch." I said, as I sat back down.

I tried getting another drink, but Hailie approached me and held me on the wrist, I looked up, her cyan eyes was that of distant sadness, something that I couldn't bear to see.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh… Cory- Um… You're not being yourself, please drink some water."

"Y'all always wanna stop me ain't cha, god damn it ya basturds."

I shook her off and took a bottle of moonshine anyway… But then put it down, fine, I'll drink some bland, boring and useless water.

The second person was then called to testified, the only women in the seven who died.

"I believe this is politically motivated. As you might know, New Destiny is a combination of Destiny and Omnitetris. Olga's the representative of Omnitetris, but she's been losing influence after the influx of ex-Destiny players joining VR the past 2 weeks, so she's trying to weaken us in order to not tip the balance."

After that statement, I looked at Olga, who surprisingly, didn't response. Which either mean she was respecting the rules of the court, or she's just so guilty that she's speechless.

The third was calmer, but his voice dripped suspicion.

"I second that, let's not ignore the obvious. Destiny made up most of this guild, Olga wasn't Destiny, she was Omnitetris. You really think she wouldn't seize the chance to gut us and chalk it up to bad luck?"

The fourth survivor, ErikDop, the guy who tried to kill Hailie, nodded in agreement, building on it

"Exactly, we've got to be honest with ourselves. If we let one outsider cut down seven Destinies and get off scott-free, what does that say about us?"

The fifth leaned on his sword and looked almost regretful.

"I'm not saying she meant to kill us, but… If I remember correctly, there's actually a hypnosis kind of spell that just increases your innate bloodlust and hatred, so maybe, she had that brewing already, which is a problem."

The sixth shook his head.

"Hypnosis? Bloodlust? Politics? I don't even care, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, nine entered that dungeon, and seven didn't walk out alive. And we all agreed on who was left standing with a blade in hand? Olga."

And the seventh, finishing the chain, gave the quietest but perhaps the sharpest cut.

"We trusted her, and whether she was tricked or not, she failed to uphold our trust, and that makes her an unreliable teammate."

After hearing all of that, the alcohol inside me spoke as I burped once more.

"Away n' bile ya heed."

Looking back, I understood none of those 4 or 5 words I let out.

The repetition of the same claim, dressed up in seven different outfits, made the room feel claustrophobic.

By the third statement I was already grinding my teeth, by the seventh, my nails had dug crescents into my palms.

Each voice dripped with the same accusation, Olga wanted blood, Olga chose this, Olga might even have had the politics lined up from the start.

Half of pointed back to Omnitetris versus Destiny. As though they ain't even one guild now, as though old banners still flew behind 'em like ghosts.

God damn inner politics, this was exactly what I said about democracy in a zombie apocolypse, have we learned nothing from The Walking Dead?

"Let us proceed." Pearl spoke, before approaching me and took a shot glass for himself.

"Ayyyy brother!" I chuckled at my new drinking partner.

"No, I just need to get the edge off with one small shot, while you need to refrain yourself, as Hailie said."

"Joykill lookin' ass." I groaned.

Then, Olga herself stepped forward.

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