System Of Judgment: Rise Of Kael

Chapter Six: The Baron’s Sin

The city stank of smoke and rot; banners of the Church burned on every street corner. “He’s close,” Kael said quietly.

“You can feel him?” Corvin asked.

“The System can,” Kael replied. “It’s like the air grows heavier the nearer I get.”

Mira kept pace beside him, cloak soaked through. “The Baron’s estate is built on the ashes of the old mines. If the System guided you here, it’s not coincidence.”

Kael’s eyes flickered with blue light. “It’s retribution.”

They turned a corner, and froze. Ahead, the road to Ashreach was blocked by rows of armored soldiers. 

Their captain shouted above the rain. “By order of the Baron, all entrances to the district are sealed. Trespassers will be executed.”

Corvin exhaled. “Of course. A polite welcome.”

Kael’s chain slid from his sleeve, glinting faintly in the lightning. “Then we make our own entrance.”

Mira caught his arm. “Wait. Look.”

Through the sheets of rain, a cart approached the barricade, driven by ragged workers, miners, their faces hollow. 

A young girl sat among them, coughing weakly. Kael’s chest tightened. “Miners… just like my people.”

The guards shoved the men aside, overturning the cart. “By decree of the Baron, all diseased are to be purged.”

The captain raised his torch. The girl screamed as the flame neared her face. Kael moved.

The chain struck faster than lightning. The torch flew, hitting the mud. The captain spun, sword half-drawn, then froze as Kael’s eyes glowed pale blue in the storm. “Who dares interfere with.”

“Judgment,” Kael said simply.

The chain whipped once. Thunder followed. When it was over, the captain’s torchlight flickered in the puddle of his own blood. Mira grabbed Kael’s shoulder. “You didn’t have to.”

“I did,” he said coldly. “No child burns while I breathe.”

Corvin muttered under his breath, “And so the legend of the ‘Storm Judge’ grows.”

The surviving soldiers ran. Kael turned to the workers. “Go. Hide until dawn.”

One man fell to his knees, trembling. “You… you’re him. The Judge of Lightning.”

Kael looked away. “I’m no one’s savior. Not yet.”

They entered the Baron’s estate through the smoke. The mansion loomed above the mines like a monument to cruelty, its marble gates carved with images of chained workers.

Mira’s hand went to her dagger. “How many died to build this?”

Kael’s voice was low. “Too many to count.”

Inside, chandeliers flickered over gilded halls. Servants shrank from sight as the trio passed, terrified whispers following them. Corvin glanced around. “Luxury born from graves. Fitting.”

Kael stopped before a grand door guarded by two knights. He lifted his chain. “Step aside.”

The guards didn’t move. Kael sighed. “Then don’t.”

Two flashes of light later, the door slammed open. Inside, Baron Varric of Ashreach sat at his table, draped in velvet, hands heavy with rings. His face was fat with greed, his smile lazy.

“Well,” the Baron drawled, swirling wine. “The Church warned me you’d come. I thought you’d be taller.”

Kael stepped into the room, voice steady but sharp. “You signed the order that buried the miners.”

Varric sipped his wine. “Ah, the debtors. Yes. Their deaths were regrettable, but progress demands sacrifice.”

Mira’s eyes blazed. “You murdered families!”

The Baron chuckled. “I cleansed pests. Call it what you will.”

Kael’s chain began to glow. “Sin Level… three hundred and twelve.”

The Baron raised an eyebrow. “So the stories are true. The System speaks to you.”

Kael’s eyes narrowed. “How do you know about it?”

Varric’s smirk widened. “Because I funded its creation.”

Silence. Even the rain outside seemed to stop. Kael’s voice dropped. “You’re lying.”

“Am I?” Varric said softly. “Who do you think financed the Church’s ‘Divine Project’? The System was meant to be controlled, sold to nobles who could use it to judge their enemies. Alaric simply grew too ambitious.”

Kael’s hands trembled. The room darkened, lightning crawling across the floor. “You built the cage that killed my people.”

“Built?” the Baron laughed. “I perfected it.”

[Judgment Commencing.] The words thundered in Kael’s skull.

He swung. The chain struck the table, splintering wood. The Baron rolled aside, surprisingly quick, grabbing a hidden pistol from beneath his coat. 

“Do you think you’re the first Judge to stand before me?” he snarled, firing.

The bullet hit Kael’s shoulder. He didn’t stop. “Maybe not,” Kael said through his teeth, “but I’ll be the last you face.”

Lightning burst from his wound. The pistol melted in the Baron’s hand. Mira lunged, knocking him off balance. “Kael! The System, look!”

Symbols burned across the walls, glowing crimson instead of blue. The air twisted; the System’s voice changed, lower, darker.

[Alternate Judgment Detected.]

[Baron Varric linked to Core Authority.]

Kael staggered. “What, what does that mean?”

Corvin’s face went pale. “It means he is part of the System.”

Varric smiled, his body starting to glow with the same crimson light. “Surprised? The Church installed fragments of the System in every noble who paid enough. We are the judges, boy. You’re just a mistake.”

Kael’s breath came fast. “Then allow me to correct it.”

He hurled his chain, but the Baron caught it midair, the links burning red in his grasp. Energy surged backward, slamming Kael into the wall.

Varric’s laughter filled the hall. “You cannot judge your maker!”

[Warning: Host synchronization disrupted.]

The System’s cold voice echoed in Kael’s mind, fractured by interference. “Kael!” Mira cried, trying to reach him. A red shockwave threw her back.

Corvin grabbed her before she hit the floor. “He’s trying to override Kael’s link, he’s taking control of the System!”

Varric raised his hand. “Kneel, little Judge. Accept your punishment.”

Kael’s head pounded. The System’s whispers overlapped, his voice, Varric’s, something older beneath. 

His vision blurred between light and darkness. “Sin belongs to the strong,” Varric hissed.

“No,” Kael growled. “Sin belongs to the guilty.”

He forced himself up, chains sizzling, every muscle screaming. Lightning clashed with crimson fire as the two Systems fought for control. The ground trembled.

[Synchronization anomaly! Host split imminent!]

Kael screamed, energy tearing through him. Mira crawled forward, shouting his name. “Kael! Fight it! You’re not like him!”

Her words cut through the noise. Kael’s eyes snapped open, storm-gray again.

[Override command: Judgment Reset.]

The chain ignited, white light consuming the red. The Baron’s scream shattered the windows as the light devoured him.

When it cleared, only ash remained. Kael collapsed to his knees, panting. Mira rushed to him, clutching his arm. “You did it. You.”

Before she could finish, the System’s tone shifted again.

[Judgment Complete. System Evolution Unlocked.]

[New Title: Arbiter of Balance.]

[Access granted to Hidden Memory Sequence.]

Kael’s vision went dark. The world melted away. He saw flashes, Alaric kneeling before an altar, priests binding a crystal in chains, and a woman’s voice whispering from within the light: “Set me free… my Judge.”

Kael gasped, slamming back into reality. Mira’s hand was on his cheek, worry in her eyes. “Kael! Talk to me!”

He blinked. “There’s… someone trapped inside the System. A voice.”

Corvin frowned. “A voice?”

Kael nodded slowly. “She called me Judge. But it wasn’t a command. It was a plea.”

Mira shivered. “What does that mean?”

Kael’s gaze turned toward the burning city outside. “It means the System isn’t just a weapon, it’s a prison.”

Corvin exhaled sharply. “Wonderful. We’re fighting an empire and a ghost in your head.”

Kael didn’t answer. Lightning flickered briefly under his skin as he whispered to himself: “Who are you?”

And somewhere far away, in the catacombs beneath the Church’s cathedral, a faint, feminine voice answered. “The first Judge. The one they buried.”

Kael’s eyes snapped open, realization and horror mixing. “She’s alive.”