Under the open sky, Adrian walked towards the area that used to be the central square once, but now it was just a pile of rubble.
Like before, Akila was taking him through the longer path, probably to show Adrian the destruction he had caused before his tribal trial, bound in chains.
As they headed towards the square, Adrian saw the tribal council seated on a raised platform, looking down on him with stern faces. Some of them even had an expression like they were itching to kill him.
But the council wasn’t the only one trying to off him. The entire tribe had gathered there. Most of them were covered in leaves that served as bandages. They were hurting but had plenty of energy as they shouted insults, demanding a death sentence for the damage he caused.
Rocks were thrown at him, but Adrian made no move to defend himself. Partially because they couldn’t even tickle him. Not like he was going to let them know about it.
As the crowd got louder, A’Mila raised a hand, signalling for silence. The tribe members reluctantly quieted down, but the resentment in their eyes didn’t.
"Outsider," A’Mila coldly addressed Adrian. "You stand accused of slaughtering our kin and destroying the peace of our settlement. Before we deliver judgment, do you have anything to say in your defence?"
Adrian opened his mouth to speak, but the tribespeople erupted into shouts and insults, drowning out his voice. A’Mila raised her hand, silencing the crowd.
"Let him speak," she commanded, her tone firm. "Everyone has the right to defend themselves... even the outsider."
Adrian took a deep breath before continuing, his gaze fixed on A’Mila’s. "As you said, I have been accused of the crime. However, I do not have any recollection of committing such acts. But I trust that you and the tribe wouldn’t lie to me. You showed me hospitality for days."
The crowd murmured, not buying Adrian’s words, but A’Mila silenced them with a stern look. She might have lost some favour because of her association with Adrian, but she was still the tribe’s Chieftain, and they had to respect her.
"Go on," A’Mila instructed Adrian to continue, but Adrian hesitated momentarily before speaking again.
"I may have... harmed some of your tribe members," he admitted, his voice heavy with remorse. "But I plead innocence to the accusation of killing the teens. It wasn’t me... it was an assassin called Red."
Yet again, the crowd erupted into angry protests, accusing Adrian of lying and twisting the facts. But amidst the chaos, a voice cut through and someone unexpected stepped up to help Adrian.
It was Rina, who himself had a trial scheduled after Adrian’s for his crimes of backstabbing and abandoning his friends. But that wasn’t the reason he spoke up.
"He’s telling the truth!" Rina shouted, his voice echoing above the noise. "The Outsider didn’t kill my friends. It was a different monster!"
The tribe shouted for Rina to quiet, but A’Mila intervened, granting Rina permission to speak.
"I saw it with my own eyes," Rina continued, his voice trembling as he remembered the sight of his friends being slaughtered. "How my friends were killed, how almost I was killed. I don’t know if the Outsider killed the rest or not, but I know it wasn’t him who killed Leno and Shika."
A’Mila then raised her hand, gesturing she had heard enough and asked Rina to step back and await his trial. Once the guards took him back, she turned her attention to Adrian.
"Rina’s account of events may be true," she acknowledged, "but the Outsider still killed members of our tribe and destroyed our homes. As such, he must be held accountable for his actions."
Hearing those words, Adrian stared at his feet and nodded. He knew it was wishful for him to think he would get away from the trial unscathed.
Besides, he could feel the disapproving gaze of the tribe directed towards A’Mila. His uncontrolled actions had made A’Mila untrustworthy in the eyes of the others. By punishing him, A’Mila would recover some of the lost respect.
Adrian got all that. But he wasn’t willing to be the sacrificial lamb for someone else when he had his own revenge to take. A’Mila had been kind towards him, but that didn’t mean he would die for her or for ’justice’.
"I’m sorry, it got to this..." Adrian mumbled, looking up at A’Mila. "But I have no plans of dying before I take my revenge."
Without hesitation, Adrian shattered the chains binding him without any effort. The tribe gasped in shock as the unbreakable chain was destroyed in a moment.
"Capture him!" A’Mila yelled as the council aimed their weapons at Adrian, prepared to kill if necessary.
Adrian wasn’t holding back either and retrieved the Minotaur’s Broadsword to fight. Despite his vow to refrain from using the Soul Devourer ability again, he knew that if push came to shove, he wouldn’t hesitate to resort to it, even if it meant living with regret for the rest of his days.
However, before either party could move, a dense smoke clouded the area, shrouding Adrian. Just then, a feminine voice echoed through the smoke, commanding the council and the tribe to lower their weapons.
Adrian was perplexed, not knowing what was going on. He didn’t know who or what had intervened and doubted the tribe would heed the smoke’s command.
Yet, to his surprise, not only did the tribe lower their weapons, but they also respectfully bowed towards the swirling smoke. Well, almost everyone did, with Akila being the exception.
The dense smoke gradually took on a woman’s form, standing beside Adrian, her face turned towards the council.
"What are you doing here?" A’Mila asked the lady, her eyes staring daggers at her.
"Is that how you greet your mother?" the woman scoffed before turning around to face Adrian. "Besides, it looks like you’re having fun without me. You didn’t even notify me about your cute little pet here."
"This is a trial-" A’Mila interjected but was interrupted by her mother.
"Then, as a Shaman, I’m dismissing this trial," the lady replied nonchalantly before grabbing Adrian’s hand and guiding him back to A’Mila’s tent. "I’ll wait for you and Akila there, but make it quick."