Chapter 559: Deprivation by the Laws

Hawking’s status as a demi-god chosen one of the Lie King Bansen was not the most fearsome aspect. What truly made Penn wary was Bansen’s mastery over realms such as lies, deception, intrigue, trickery, and illusions. Thus, as a believer of the God of Intrigue, one had to engage in scheming against their own kind from the start, growing through intrigue and slaughter, lies and deception. Only those who stood out could achieve success and gain the recognition of the great Lie King. Those who failed along the way had no choice but to become dependents of the successful ones or be abandoned.

In such a cruel competitive environment, being abandoned meant the end of life!

Therefore, even within the evil faction, the believers of the God of Intrigue were the most feared. Mad enemies were not scary; what was terrifying were those who remained rational yet were full of cunning!

Against any opponent, Rosenberg’s schemers would stop at nothing, never showing mercy. To them, compassion was synonymous with weakness—especially when dealing with someone like Hawking, who had climbed from the bottom to the pinnacle of the main world.

Thus, Penn never even considered escaping through Hawking’s path.

As for the president of the Dalarn Adventurers’ Guild who left a strong impression, Penn chose not to go that way because he didn’t know much about this true god chosen one of Dalarn. Although the person displayed legendary strength, as a true god chosen one, they should at least be able to wield demi-god-level power. Who knew what other cards they might have?

So, it was better to choose the Shadow Sage he was familiar with.

It must be said that Elder Penn’s decision was not only correct but also extremely wise. If he had chosen Clinton, the weakest legendary sword saint present, he would likely lose the ability to resist upon meeting him. So, it was better to take a gamble on the Shadow Sage!

However, Elder Penn clearly didn’t expect that Marx’s true nature was not to kill him outright. But if he let the target escape in front of that Natural Guardian chosen one, wouldn’t it anger them?

So, although the Shadow Sage didn’t kill him, he also had no intention of letting him go.

The demi-god mage trembled, and a dark veil instantly covered the entire region of Firn City, blocking out the sky.

“Why?”

Paine, having lost the bet, questioned the Shadow Sage in disbelief. The demi-god archmage who wielded shadow power smiled gently and said, “If we let a traitor like you escape so easily, how can the three major forces of Fallen Tarin still have any face to show? In the future, anyone who’s dissatisfied will defect, and then the forces of Fallen Tarin will have no place to stand in the Main World!”
Hearing the Shadow Sage’s explanation, Paine was left speechless.
It was then that the Golden Strongman finally reacted. He rushed over from his residence.
Although the several forces that had appeared in the city were probably even a match for him, the strongest warrior assigned by the Church of the Dawn Lord to guard this place demanded his presence. If he simply abandoned the city and fled, he would surely face pursuit from his own forces later!
Unluckily, this unfortunate Golden Strongman arrived right where King of Lies’ chosen one, Hawking, was. Before he could even speak, Hawking took notice of him.
The Golden Strongman felt as though there were abyssal whirlpools in the other person’s eyes, drawing him into endless dreams of fear and leaving him unable to respond to the outside world.
It was also to avoid being pursued by the Church of the Three Radiant Gods that Hawking showed mercy, refraining from using lethal techniques like the Nightmare Domain, which could manifest any illusion, and instead resorting only to the less harmful method of fear dreams.
Though suffering some hardship was inevitable, his life was spared, which could be considered a lucky day for this unfortunate Golden Strongman!
Seeing the other party swiftly eliminate the threat, Paine realized he was determined to get rid of this troublemaker. The deterrence strategy relying on the territory of the Land of Dawn had failed, and even if the Church of the Three Radiant Gods sent someone, they would likely be too late to stop these four demi-god-level warriors!
With death in his heart, Paine decided to fight to the death, seeking one last glimmer of glory for his life. At least he had succeeded in reaching the legendary realm, fulfilling his lifelong pursuit, and could die without regret!

At that moment, Clinton, who had remained silent until then, spoke to Penn, who was surrounded: “Give up! This is your last chance. If you surrender now, on behalf of my great lord, His Majesty Donald, I can plead with Elder Yin to merely expel you from the Thieves’ Guild and spare your life. However, the power of the Fruit of the Laws must be taken back, though you can still retain some of the lifespan granted by elven blood, giving you enough time to attempt to reach the Legendary realm again!”
Hearing these words, Penn still felt a glimmer of hope. After all, the environment in the neutral faction wasn’t as cruel as that in the Fallen Tarin region, where everything followed the law of the jungle—might he even escape by chance!
But after hearing the latter conditions, Penn completely gave up on any hope of escape.
Having tasted the power of a mighty domain and then being reduced to an ordinary Golden Assassin in an instant was tantamount to death for him! So how could Penn agree to such a compromise?
Seeing that Penn didn’t respond and instead appeared even more resolute, Clinton knew he wouldn’t choose this sole path to survival!
In such a situation, those who defected out of deep hatred or extreme injustice might still deserve sympathy, but traitors who betrayed the organization that had nurtured them for selfish reasons certainly didn’t deserve pity!
“Since that’s the case, surrender! Resistance is futile under the mighty power of my lord!”
Upon hearing Clinton’s words, Penn merely sneered. He had no direct perception of the power of that Natural Guardian. In his understanding, no matter how powerful a true god might be, could they be more of a direct threat than these half-gods before him?
Seeing that Penn didn’t acknowledge his words, Clinton didn’t bother arguing with a dying man. However, since Penn clearly underestimated the power of his true god, it couldn’t be tolerated. So he raised a hand and released a charred, board-like shadow in front of him, drew a line on it, and shouted, “Seize!”
Before his words faded, a glow of rules suddenly appeared around the legendary thief Penn, who showed a painful expression.
“No…”
Realizing something was wrong, Penn let out a desperate cry of anguish, only to find that the domain power he had possessed was inexplicably disappearing rapidly out of control.
The other three half-gods present stared in shock at the bizarre sight of a legend having his power stripped away in an instant and falling back to the Golden rank.