"So only he is to blame, huh?"

She asked, turning back to flipping her page.

"I lost control."

White mused, turning to look at his hands.

"And that’s your excuse?"

She asked once more.

White turned his head, giving her a silent stare of annoyance before turning back to look at his hands.

’I lost control.’

He thought quietly.

[Yes, you did. Even I didn’t see that coming.]

’What really happened?’

[The Astral Monarch Skill is more of a summoning skill than a transformation skill.]

[Your soul got shifted into the body of an Astral Monarch, and it acted on your last will: which was fighting against the Punishers.]

[It acted on it, but also overacted, choosing to kill them. It even naturally used Zero Crown... without my activation.]

The system added.

’That could have gone bad... really bad.’

White mused quietly, thoughts drifting.

What if he had activated it while fighting a student?

All his last will would have been was fighting that student, and the Astral Monarch would have killed him or her.

The students were weaker than the Punishers. They would have died en masse, and the damage would be close to unhealable for them.

He had really fucked up, a mistake he never even saw coming.

And now... he was being imprisoned for it.

White didn’t bother to argue his way out.

Killing was strictly forbidden in Xtremecyber.

Now him killing a Punisher, who was on record only trying to enforce the rules?

That was even worse.

[Or you can just break out.]

The system panel flashed.

[She might have been able to take on that Astral Monarch that time, but taking him on again would be going too far.]

[All she did was send him into an unending realm and wait for you to gain back control.]

[She can’t stop him in a fight if you reuse the technique and target the intent toward escaping out of this place.]

The system offered, and while it did sound like a tempting idea, White knew it was a bad one.

Choosing to run away from Xtremecyber would do nothing but enforce the stain that he had killed an official of one of the top three academies and broken out of imprisonment.

That would leave an irredeemable stain on his name.

"Well, it’s not like I’ve got anything important to do now that I’m imprisoned."

White called out loud as he fell onto his back.

He could have said he had an End Project that he had to deal with a week from now, but with him imprisoned for killing a Punisher, did schooling even matter anymore?

"You might have a trial coming in the next few years, by Xtremecyber’s board."

She suddenly said, though White didn’t stir.

"You’ll be given a chance to defend yourself."

"I wouldn’t try at all."

White mused under his breath.

"And why is that?"

"I don’t know... I’m not a defending type of person. Explaining how I lost control, how he attacked me first, how I had to respond to it and get countered with you escalated a harmless situation... all of it just sounds like the plea of a weakling."

He said.

"So defending yourself is weak?"

She asked.

"If defending yourself doesn’t include smashing someone’s face in, then absolutely, you’re weak."

White said, turning an eye to her.

"The human world might operate on laws and justice systems, but strength dominates the awakener world."

"It’s what could make a Punisher go fuck the rules, I’ll kill him to impress my girl, and what makes a student rip him into two and only get locked up instead of getting killed in return."

White said, and looking at her emotionless face made him click his tongue in distaste.

"Can you stop acting like you’re some alien to all of this? It’s sickening."

He added.

"I won’t say you’re completely wrong."

She admitted.

"The awakener world can be barbaric sometimes, but still, Xtremecyber is different. It has managed to create a perfect justice system that prevents unnecessary death and promotes following the rules."

"I won’t argue that."

White said.

"Though, I wouldn’t say it’s perfect."

"It’s a copy at best... a frail one hanging on a thin balance."

He completed, picking a leaf from the ground and quietly chewing it.

A few seconds...

No, a minute...

Or was it an hour?

White wasn’t sure, but silence continued for quite some time, the only sound being him chewing the leaves.

"Are you not worried about what your friends in the academy have to say about you killing a staff member of the academy?"

She asked, and White shrugged.

"Good thing I don’t have that many friends."

"And the little you have?"

The words made a couple of faces appear in his mind.

"I’m sure they’ll understand I did it for a reason."

"And if they still choose to believe that you were wrong? After all, you did lose control, and killing Punisher Isaac wasn’t really a choice you made under a clear-thinking head."

"What if they choose to believe that you should be faulted for that?"

He understood what she was trying to say, and he could imagine it perfectly.

His thoughts first drifted to Morgaine, but knowing who Morgaine was, he knew she probably wouldn’t care at all.

She had been raised to kill people and consider fighting as only one person surviving.

She didn’t understand the concept of holding back, so when she heard he had a fight with the Punishers and one ended up dead, it would be something she was already familiar with.

But Nova...

He could imagine her turning her back against him as she called him a murderer.

"That would be sad."

White admitted with a whisper.

But then the sadness cleared from his eyes as his face returned to a neutral expression.

"It won’t stop me from continuing with my plans though."

"So your plans matter more than what your closest people think of you?"

She asked, as White turned an eye to her before replying in a voice extremely clear.

"My plans matter more than me existing at all."