Free Web NovelChapter 356: Trust
"Elder Freen, what sort of explanation are you looking for?"
Setan remained remarkably composed despite the mounting pressure filling the council hall.
With an unhurried motion, he once again brought out the cultivation crystals Nina had given him. The translucent stones gleamed beneath the hall’s firelight, immediately drawing countless gazes.
"These cultivation crystals can greatly accelerate a beastman’s progress. Consider them compensation."
A murmur rippled through the chamber.
Then Setan produced another collection of treasures.
The familiar crimson glow instantly illuminated the hall.
"And these are Flame Crystals."
The pure fire energy radiating from them caused even the surrounding temperature to rise.
"I don’t believe I need to explain their value."
His calm gaze swept across the gathered elders.
"If there is anything else you require, say it."
For a brief moment, silence settled over the room.
Even some of the elders who had been furious moments earlier could not help staring at the treasures with slightly shaken expressions.
Yet Elder Freen’s face only darkened further.
"No matter how valuable those items are, they cannot compare to our sacred relic."
His voice rang sharply through the hall.
"What we want is the whereabouts of that female."
He refused to accept Setan’s explanation.
The sacred relic had existed for countless generations. Through wars, disasters, and periods of chaos, it had remained intact.
How could such an ancient treasure suddenly be destroyed by accident?
To Freen, the explanation was absurd.
There was only one possibility.
Setan had given it away.
And only a female could make a powerful male lose his judgment to such a degree.
The timing alone was enough to raise suspicion.
Setan had taken possession of the relic.
Soon afterward, the female had disappeared.
Then the relic itself vanished without a trace.
How could those events possibly be unrelated?
"I’ve already told you."
Setan’s voice grew noticeably colder.
"This matter has nothing to do with her."
Freen frowned heavily.
"You are the City Lord of Blazing Flame City."
His eyes sharpened.
"How can you protect an outsider female so blindly?"
His tone became increasingly severe.
"If she returns the relic, we are willing to let the matter end here."
"The relic is gone."
Setan’s expression remained unchanged.
"You may punish me however you wish."
Outwardly, he appeared calm.
Inside, however, his thoughts were far less steady.
As expected, the elders had completely rejected his explanation.
His greatest concern was no longer himself.
It was Nina.
He wondered where she had reached by now.
Had Odian already activated the teleportation array?
Had everything gone smoothly?
If so, Nina should already be far beyond the reach of Blazing Flame City.
The elders would almost certainly begin searching for her today.
The farther away she was, the safer she would be.
"Do you think being City Lord places you above punishment?"
Freen’s patience finally snapped.
His voice thundered through the hall.
"As City Lord, your responsibility is to place the interests of our people above everything else."
He slammed his palm onto the stone table.
The impact echoed throughout the chamber.
"Yet you sacrificed something of immeasurable importance to our clan for your own selfish desires and handed it to an outsider female."
His eyes blazed with anger.
"You are no longer worthy of leading this city."
The atmosphere instantly became suffocating.
Even the surrounding elders grew tense.
Then Freen delivered his verdict.
"If you continue refusing to reveal the relic’s whereabouts, you will be sentenced to three days of Ice Thunder Punishment."
The hall erupted.
Numerous elders drew sharp breaths.
Even Setan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Three days.
They were truly determined to break him.
Yian’s expression changed immediately.
"Isn’t that excessive?"
He stood up abruptly.
"No matter what mistake Setan made... no matter what mistake the City Lord made, he has contributed more to Blazing Flame City than anyone present."
His voice rose with obvious agitation.
For members of the Flame Lion Clan, whose strength was rooted in fire, Ice Thunder Punishment was among the cruelest forms of torture imaginable.
The punishment combined freezing energy with destructive lightning.
The icy force suppressed fire affinity at its source, while the lightning continuously ravaged the body.
The pain alone was enough to drive most beastmen insane.
Very few could endure even half a day before collapsing.
Even someone as powerful as Setan would likely reach his limit after little more than a day.
Three entire days?
That was not punishment.
That was an execution.
Yet Freen remained completely unmoved.
"He disregarded the interests of our people and chose to protect an outsider."
His expression was stern and uncompromising.
"How is this punishment excessive?"
Yian immediately shot back.
"But Setan said the relic was destroyed accidentally."
His voice echoed across the chamber.
"How does that prove he was favoring an outsider?"
Freen let out a cold laugh.
"Do you honestly believe that explanation?"
His gaze swept slowly across the room.
The implication was obvious.
No rational person would.
Then he looked directly at Yian.
"Of course you’re defending him."
"He’s your son."
Yian’s face darkened.
Before he could respond, Freen turned toward the remaining elders.
"What do the rest of you think?"
The elders exchanged uncertain glances.
Many of them hesitated.
Setan’s mistake was undeniably serious.
Yet none of them could ignore his years of service.
Under his leadership, Blazing Flame City had flourished beyond anything they had imagined.
Trade had expanded.
Resources had increased.
The city’s influence had grown stronger year after year.
For a long moment, nobody spoke.
The silence stretched uncomfortably.
Finally, several elders who maintained particularly close relationships with Freen stepped forward.
"I believe the punishment is justified." fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm
One elder sighed.
"His achievements are great, but this mistake is simply too severe."
Another elder nodded.
"I agree."
Once the first few voices were heard, more followed.
Gradually, the balance began shifting.
One elder after another expressed support.
Many of them looked toward Setan with visible disappointment.
Some even appeared betrayed.
Yian immediately turned toward several elders he considered friends.
His eyes carried a trace of expectation.
Yet each of them avoided his gaze.
Not one stepped forward.
Not one spoke on Setan’s behalf.
Yian’s jaw tightened.
A bunch of useless old foxes.
They enjoyed the benefits of Setan’s leadership for years, yet the moment trouble appeared, every one of them hid behind silence.
When it truly mattered, none of them could be trusted.
"You’ve all forgotten everything he’s done for this city?"
Yian’s voice rose with anger.
His gaze swept across the chamber.
"He makes one mistake, and suddenly all of you want his life?"
Several elders lowered their heads.
Others frowned but remained silent.
Yian pointed toward the treasures laid out before them.
"And don’t forget that he already offered compensation."
His finger landed on the pile of Flame Crystals.
"Twenty Flame Crystals."
His voice echoed powerfully through the hall.
"Do any of you understand what kind of fortune that represents?"
The chamber fell silent once more.
No one answered.
Because no one could.
Obtaining even a single Flame Crystal required enormous effort, resources, and luck.
Twenty of them together represented a staggering amount of wealth.
Many clans would exhaust generations of savings and still fail to gather such a collection.
"And these cultivation crystals."
Yian picked one up.
The crystal glimmered in his hand.
"Do you have any idea how rare these are?"
The silence deepened.
Truthfully, even Yian himself had been shocked when Setan first revealed the treasures.
He still had no idea where his son had managed to acquire so many priceless items.
Yet deep down, he understood something the others did not.
The treasures had never been the true issue.
No amount of compensation could erase what had happened.
The elders were not mourning the loss of resources. Nor were they concerned about wealth.
What they had truly lost was trust.
And once trust was broken, it was far more difficult to restore than any treasure.
