Now, the solution was usually quite simple. Darius would push forward the girl and give her a severe punishment to appease the old woman while giving Martin a lighter one, but making his more of asocial/atonement style punishment while the girls would be more direct/punitive.
However, the girl was dead, leaving only Martin behind. Now, that he was the main focus of the case and neither the old woman nor anyone else would accept such a lenient punishment on him.
This case… was truly insidious.
It had cornered Darius from all sides, forcing him to pick between doling out Justice at the cost of his son or subverting Justice in favor of his direct family.
There was - theoretically - no third option.
Of course, after coming to know Darius for so long, it was obvious that there was nothing of the sort for him. He clapped his hands and said.
"Bring her body here this instant."
Not understanding what the Sultan wanted to do, the guard complied. Soon, the body of the young girl Hephzibah was brought in, and it could be seen from her caramel skin that there were tight bruises from ropes around her neck.
It appeared that she had hung herself after realizing what she had done, or she might have planned to from the moment she had lost. Whatever the case, thinking she could escape her punishment through death with Darius here was wishful thinking.
Darius pointed to her body. "Return here vile girl and accept your punishment!"
[Death's Call - Level 1 Spell
Grade: Intermediate
Cost: 10 MP
Description: Call back the souls of the dead to their bodies, retaking their forms in perfect shape and becoming a part of a glorious new race. This spell can only be used on 5 corpses at a time.]
This lovely spell called back the souls of the dead from wherever they had gone to, right after restoring their bodies into perfect shape. This was just one step below resurrection in its truest sense, just a little bit off from copying the mighty Lunar Dew's ability.
If Darius had Lunar Dew, things would be easy as pie. He would just revive the woman's boy and the girl, then have her punished. Martin wouldn't even be mentioned in the case again, but the Supreme System refused to make things easy for him.
While the Death's Call spell brought back a target's soul - which meant that their full sentience and awareness were restored – bringing back a deceased body to physical perfection, it didn't change the fact that their hearts had stopped beating and their blood would no longer flow.
Those brought back with Death's Call were still unable to breathe, reproduce, feel pain or pleasure. Their bodies were like any other undead, maintained by Death Energy, only that for Darius' creation, they didn't have it focused into a core, but had it freely flowing around to emulate a circulatory system.
The girl's corpse shakily rose up as she opened her pitch-black eyes to look around with confusion. After realizing she was alive once more, her expression showed shock and fear.
The lass began to panic, but soon found that her body was bound to a table by metal shackles made from Darius' magic. The Sultan snapped a finger and had the table tilt itself until it became vertical, allowing everyone to see the girl.
The crowd was shocked and fearful, gazing at him as if he had revealed himself to be a demon. Even the old woman trembled, unable to believe her eyes.
"Silence!"
After that roar, the entire chamber became quiet. They focused on Darius who explained.
"This is through the ability of magic. I have called her true soul back from the afterlife to house her body and given her a new form of life. However, she cannot feel pain nor pleasure, unable to eat, excrete, breathe or bleed."
He pointed at the boy. "I could bring back Hashman, but as you should understand this is far from a perfect resurrection. While it would be his soul inside the body, he wouldn't be himself in the truest sense, not with a lot of life's joys taken from him. I'm sure you don't want me to disturb his eternal rest to give hime such an existence, do you Madam Hasifa?"
The old woman shook her head. The lack of the ability to feel would just make life torturous for her boy. While she wished for him back, she also didn't want him to suffer because of it.
Many in the throne room who had been ready to bombard Darius with requests to revive their loved ones went silent as they sighed. They found this much more logical and acceptable, because true resurrection was for the Gods, not Man.
"I brought Hephzibah back to hear what she has to say for herself. While alive like this, she is completely under my control, so I can guarantee that nothing but the truth will be spoken by her. This I swear on the Desert King's name!" Darius vowed powerfully.
Many faces changed once they heard his vows, especially since a wave of sand suddenly passed through the room like a breeze. Darius also felt something ethereal binding him, yet he wasn't bothered.
All eyes turned to Hephzibah, who was still struggling, when Darius roared: "Settle down, girl!"
Immediately, she complied, much to her own shock. Darius then spoke coldly. "Explain everything regarding the murder of Hashman and leave nothing out."
"Yes, Master. Three weeks ago, Hashman tried to propose to me but comparing him who came from a shitty home to my current lover, the Royal Prince, I naturally declined."
"However, Hashman had discovered that I was already pregnant with Martin's child and threatened to reveal this to you, the Sultan, unless I agreed to a bet with him that the loser would become a slave to the competition's winner in secret." Hephzibah started narrating in a neutral tone of voice like she was a robot.
"LIES!" Hasifa screeched with anger as she rose to her feet.
Darius snapped a finger, which caught the attention of the old woman as he shook his head. "Sit down! You've just heard me explain that the current her is unable to lie. You might not like to hear what she has to say, but it is nothing but the truth. Now sit down and do not interrupt again!"
