Chapter 91: No mercy for the guilty.

Ava shook her head, sniffling. "We split up quickly, I don’t know where they went."

Logan cursed and kicked the center table, clutching his chest as if his heart might explode from pure exasperation. "If she had told me the truth about why she wanted me to come to Atlas City, I wouldn’t have even crossed the city gates! I would have stayed at the capital!" He thought.

Clinton swallowed hard, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. "But brother-in-law, the Divine Soul Maiden owes you....."

"Shut your mouth!" Logan snapped, turning his glare onto the husband. "Yes, she owes me a favor or two. But I am not going to waste a life-saving, heaven-defying favor on stupid people... even if those stupid people happen to be my own family!"

Jerome and Hansel Spegger watched quietly deciding not to say anything in the matter entirely.

As Logan stood there, his mind racing through escape routes, a sudden, sharp sound broke the tension.

From the courtyard outside, growls from stone salamanders echoed through the doors. The beast’s’ growls grew louder, accompanied by the heavy, rhythmic thud of armored boots marching in perfect unison.

Logan’s face drained of color. His breath hitched. "They’re here."

Ritah let out a sharp cry, grabbing Clinton’s arm so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Listen to me carefully," He hissed, dropping into a low, urgent whisper as he hurried toward the center of the room. "I will try to negotiate a lighter punishment. Maybe I can convince them to just confiscate half of your family property and demote you, Ritah, instead of sending everyone to the executioner’s block."

Clinton blinked, looking utterly bewildered by the grim options. "Wait... can you not just do away with the punishment entirely? You’re a powerful man!"

Logan looked at Clinton as if the man had just suggested they jump into a volcano for fun. "Shut up, you absolute fool!" Logan snarled, the long-standing resentment finally boiling over. "I blame you for this! This is what happens when someone comes from a lowly, talent less family! If my sister had married a man of prestige, power, and high class with resources, instead of marrying for something as useless as ’love,’ the odds perhaps would have been in our favor right now! We would have had the political weight to brush this off. But no, I am stuck trying to negotiate for your lives with a penniless romantic!"

Before Clinton could even stammer out a defense, the front entrance shattered. The doors burst completely off their hinges, splinters flying through the air like deadly needles.

Standing in the ruined doorway, framed by the cold light of the courtyard, was Julia. She stood tall, her face gleaming with an oppressive aura of pure pressure that made the gravity in the room feel ten times heavier.

She looked absolutely furious. Her eyes were like twin chips of ice, and one look at her rigid posture made it crystal clear: Julia was absolutely not here to negotiate, compromise, or listen to excuses. She was here for blood.

The moment she saw Logan, Julia’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits, and she let out a cold, mocking scoff that sounded like grinding ice.

"Well, well. Logan," Julia spat, crossing her arms over her chest. "I must say, I never figured you to be a stupid man. But apparently, I misjudged your intelligence. Are you actually brainless enough to hide a fugitive?"

Logan’s heart did a frantic flip-flop against his ribs, but he forced his hands to remain still. He shook his head so fast hair almost grew on his bald head.

"Julia, wait! You completely misunderstand!" Logan stammered, raising his hands in a defensive stance. "I swear on my ancestors’ graves, I just got here! I had absolutely no part in this madness. In fact, I was literally just about to call the Divine Soul Maiden the very second I found out what my brain-dead niece had done! You can check the camera footage!"

Julia didn’t buy a single word. Her body straightened, her posture stiffening like an unsheathed divine blade. She didn’t even look at Logan as she pointed toward the couch.

"Men," Julia ordered, her voice cutting through the room like a whip. "Grab the runaway Soul maiden."

Two soldiers marched forward, their heavy armor clanking ominously.

"No! Stay away from me! Mother, help!" Ava wailed, her voice shrinking into a pathetic squeak as the guards reached out their gloved hands to drag her away from the cushions.

Ritah lost all her dignity in a fraction of a second. She threw herself off the sofa, landing hard on her knees right at Julia’s polished boots. She grabbed the edge of Julia’s coat, tears streaming down her face..

"Please, ma’am! I beg you! She is just a child, she didn’t know the gravity of her crimes!" Ritah pleaded, her voice cracking with pure motherly agony. "Please tamper justice with mercy! Take our money, take our house, take my life instead! Just leave my daughter!"

Julia’s face remained a blank wall of stone. She didn’t even glance down at the weeping mother. "As a Soul maiden yourself... you should be ashamed for raising someone that has failed to understand her sacred duty."

With a cold flick of her wrist, Julia ripped her coat out of Ritah’s grasp and barked at her men, "Stop wasting time! Drag the soul maiden away!"

"Mother! Father! Uncle Logan, save me!" Ava screamed, her fingers scraping against the tiles as the guards hoisted her up by her arms and marched toward the broken doorway.

Clinton looked like he was about to faint, his face the color of sour milk, while Ritah stared helplessly.

And Logan? He stood there. Completely quiet.

He didn’t move a single muscle, breathing so softly he might as well have been a statue. Logan knew the brutal laws of the Soul maiden world all too well. The absolute moment he opened his mouth to defend Ava, he would be legally tied to her crime. He too would have to take part in whatever horrific, soul-crushing punishment his sister’s family was about to incur. Ava was not worth wasting all that he had worked hard for.

So, Ava was dragged out amidst bitter tears, terrifying wails, and the endless growls of the stone salamanders outside.