Chapter 206: The link with the system was severed

Julian’s heart pulsed. Even if this was a consciousness space, he could feel his heart thudding heavily in his chest.

The system asked him to accept it, but...

"What if I can’t?"

> [And why can’t you? For now, you will no longer be in the Creator’s line of sight. And your actions will no longer be bound by the system. This is good for you]

Yes, it sounds good. It sounds terrific, but why can’t he be happy about it?

His heart is pulsing... painfully.

He felt like he was about to lose a very important part of his life, and it was tearing him apart.

He didn’t know what to do about this feeling.

"If I... if the link gets cut now, will I... will the link he connected again?"

Maybe he was out of his mind. Maybe he had just grown to depend on the system way too much in order to survive. Or maybe... he would truly miss this unhelpful system.

The screen did not respond and instead pulsed one last time, a soft, warm purple glow.

> [FINAL QUEST: BE HAPPY, KIM JOWOON.]

> [REWARD: A LONG LIFE.]

> [STATUS: COMPLETED.]

The purple light shattered into a thousand tiny stars and vanished. A single, hot tear escaped Julian’s closed eyelid and traced a path down his cheek.

"Open your eyes," the Head Inquisitor barked, his patience thinning. "To keep them shut is to admit that a demon hides within."

Julian took a shaky breath. 1

"I’m innocent," he whispered.

He felt lighter—unnervingly so. The world felt quiet, stripped of the digital noise he had grown used to.

But even as his soul felt lighter, his heart had grown heavier. Why did he have to lose the system?

Was this also a plot for the world? Was this... another bout he had to suffer?

His chest shuddered.

"If you are innocent, then open your eyes."

Julian took another shaky breath and slowly lifted his head.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, staring directly into the depths of the mirror.

The hall held its breath at that moment to see what would happen.

For a second, the mirror remained clear. Then, a soft, brilliant white light began to emanate from the center of the glass. It grew brighter and warmer, bathing Julian in a celestial glow that made the white robes of the Inquisitors look dull by comparison.

The light signified total innocence. There was no demon. There was no foreign entity, and there was only Julian.

Julian fell to his knees, the weight of the moment—and the loss of his last link to his old world—finally breaking him. He began to sob, his shoulders shaking as he wept on the cold marble floor.

"The light is pure," the Inquisitor declared, sounding stunned. "There is no lurking entity. This man is the rightful owner of his soul. Whatever demon that had manipulated him has gone for good."

Alaric quickly rushed forward, ignoring the guards. He swept Julian into his arms, shielding him from the light and the prying eyes of the court. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"The Mirror does not lie," the High Priest whispered. His voice was thin, rattling with a reverence that bordered on terror. His white hair, a testament to his supposed purity, seemed dull compared to the light that had just bathed Julian. His hand shook as he lowered the golden censer, the blue smoke curling aimlessly. "To doubt this result is to obtain the wrath of the Weaver herself. The boy is pure. He is... untainted."

Aurelian did not move. From behind the silk veil, the Emperor looked less like a god and more like a man who had finally reached the end of his tether. He had used every weapon in his arsenal—the calculated cruelty of psychological torture, the soul-tearing heat of truth serums, and finally, the terrifying Inquisition of a rival Empire. Every single one had shattered against the shield of Julian’s perceived innocence.

He remained fixed to his throne, his face deathly pale. He looked at the crying scholar and the brother who held him, the realization sinking in like a slow-acting poison: the ’game’ had finally, truly ended in his total defeat. He had tried to prove Julian was a monster to justify his own envy, only to inadvertently crown the man a saint in the eyes of his own court.

The Council of Nobles, who moments ago were leaning forward, prepared to cheer for the crackle of a pyre, now sat in a state of stunned paralysis. The ’Demon’ was gone. The ’Usurper’ was a myth. All that remained in the center of the pit was a broken, weeping scholar who had suffered under the Sun’s scrutiny and emerged more brilliant than the light itself.

Julian buried his face in Alaric’s chest, the familiar, grounding scent of winter and leather pulling him back from the brink of the void.

He felt a strange, hollow lightness in his chest—a quiet feeling that was both terrifying and liberating.

The System was gone. The ’other’ Julian was gone. He was just Julian now—or perhaps, finally, he was just Kim Jowoon, allowed to live at last.

Aurelian finally stood. His silhouette against the marble was jagged. He didn’t speak to the court; he didn’t address the Inquisitors. His gaze was fixed solely on the two men at the center of the hall.

"It is finished," Aurelian’s voice was a dead, flat tone, expressing how he wasn’t very amused at this turn of events. "The search is complete. Julian Von Astrea is cleared of all suspicion of demonic influence or conspiracy."

He paused, his hand gripping the railing of the dais. "He is to be released into the custody of the Duke of the North immediately. They are to leave the Capital by sunset. I do not wish to see their faces within these walls again."

It wasn’t an apology as he had promised, and it sounded more like an exile. But to Julian, it sounded like the gates of heaven swinging open.

He was done with this hell of a capital. It was time to return to the north. Ah, did he still have a few winterizing balms left. Now that he couldn’t use the system anymore, he would have to live like how others lived when they lived in the north.

But, it was going to take more than the cold to chase him out of the North and back to the Capital.

"Aurelian!" Alaric called in a loud roar that caught even the attention of the inquisitors, and Julian’s eyes widened. Why was he calling the lion now when it had finally decided to sleep?

Alaric glared daggers at his brother, and if looks could kill, Aurelian would have died ten times over. Then, in front of everyone, he demanded,

"That apology," he said. "You have to keep your word and apologize sincerely to Julian. Or are you, the Sun of the Empire, not a man of his words?"

Julian’s mouth fell open, and his eyes widened in disbelief. Why was he trying to provoke the Emperor now?

Ah, I feel this moment. It’s like his entire soul is shaking