"Ethan Zhang..."
A hurried shout echoed in my ears. I opened my eyes and saw Judge Bane, looking at me with intense curiosity.
With a thunderous roar, the vision before me exploded in a blinding flash of red light.
"What are you doing? Are you even listening to me?"
I glanced around, but then the scene in front of me made me freeze in shock. I saw it all clearly—Marshal Leopard was about to kill Ray Lin, and at the moment Ray Lin was cornered, Jerry Li appeared.
Everything that happened next was exactly the same as what I had seen before, not a single detail different. I even started to wonder if I had just been dreaming.
I looked around. Now Jerry Li was fighting The Bullheaded Keeper and The Horsefaced Sentinel, while Judge Bane watched with a broad smile.
"Stop looking, Ethan Zhang. You can't leave here. Just watch closely—I will personally take down that red-haired bastard."
I shot a sidelong glance at Judge Bane.
"Then why don’t you go yourself?"
"Do you really think those people came here to help?"
Judge Bane drawled, his voice lingering in the air. I looked at him in confusion.
"If they're not here to help, then are they..."
I stared suspiciously at the scene. Jerry Li and The Bullheaded Keeper and The Horsefaced Sentinel were simply fighting—neither using their true powers. Marshal Leopard watched coldly from the side. Of the three judges, only Victor Wei and Lucas Dao remained; Judge Quinn was still nowhere to be found.
The Twin Reapers, though injured, seemed mostly unharmed. The red-haired figure floating in midair hadn’t made a move either. For now, everyone was just watching Jerry Li’s battle.
Suddenly, the scene shifted. I saw a fat backside—it was Hollowbelly, lying on the ground with his head pressed to the earth, searching for something in some unknown place.
"That useless thing."
Judge Bane said angrily, while I could only shake my head helplessly. This was hardly the attitude of someone determined to destroy the red-haired enemy.
"Come with me."
Judge Bane suddenly spoke. I let out a surprised cry, but before I could react, he grabbed my collar and dragged me away. In a flash, I found myself in the prison behind the Hall of Lost Souls, surrounded by tortured ghosts—much like what I’d seen before.
Outside an empty cell, Judge Bane waved his hand and tossed me inside.
"Just stay here to be safe, Ethan Zhang."
I swallowed hard. The moment I entered, I realized that breaking out of this cell was pure fantasy. A flash of white light appeared before my eyes—the scene with the red-haired ones appeared again.
"Just behave yourself in here, Ethan Zhang. Don’t even think about escaping."
With that, Judge Bane left.
My cell was isolated, right in the center of all the others. Around me were torture chambers where little ghosts tormented the suffering souls—sawing them in half bit by bit. The imps cheered in delight.
There was also the cell I’d seen before, filled with sharp-toothed rats. The rats gnawed endlessly at the flesh of the souls, who could only scream helplessly, enduring in silence until death—only to recover after a while and be gnawed again.
I had to think of a way out. Specter Web could be used here, so I immediately released a surge of spectral threads, sending them out in all directions. But I quickly realized the power here was so dense, it felt like being submerged in the ocean.
With a crack, I raised my shotgun and fired at the bars. With a thunderous blast, I was instantly caught up in the force of my own attack.
When the dust settled, I clutched my right hand, blood streaming out. Not only had I failed to break the bars, but I’d badly injured myself. I saw a number of imps crawling over, chattering in alarm, their bulging eyes staring at me from all sides.
"Can you understand what I'm saying?"
I asked, but the imps immediately scattered and ran off, returning to their cells to continue torturing the souls.
"You all go back. Let me handle this myself."
As soon as I heard Judge Bane’s voice, I turned to the vision. He appeared, looking different from before—holding a long halberd, dressed in red and blue armor, radiating a fierce aura.
"Judge Bane (Sixth Tribunal), please wait a moment, we..."
Mr. White stepped forward to speak, but Judge Bane immediately cut him off.
"Did you not understand what I said?"
In an instant, The Bullheaded Keeper and The Horsefaced Sentinel, who had been fighting Jerry Li, stopped and quickly retreated to the pavilion. Jerry Li watched Judge Bane with a grave expression.
"Finally decided to get your hands dirty, old man? Still not willing to show your real strength? You’ll never kill me like this."
Before the red-haired man finished speaking, Judge Bane was already in front of him. His halberd swept across with a bang, sending a massive surge of ghostly energy in all directions. In the red glow, a streak of yellow light blocked the attack—the red-haired man remained floating in the air, hands in his pockets, smiling.
Everyone retreated to the pavilion. Jerry Li and Ray Lin joined them as well.
"Why don’t we sit down and have a proper talk?"
As the red-haired man spoke, Judge Bane raised his halberd and struck at him again.
"No matter how strong you are, it won’t work—no matter how many times you try."
With a rush of wind, Judge Bane split into seven or eight figures, each swinging a halberd in a different direction.
A flicker of panic flashed in the red-haired man’s eyes.
"Xiaofeng!"
Immediately, the red-haired man shouted. Purple beams of light streaked past him with a series of metallic clangs. He sprang into action, retreating backward.
"Do you really think I’m a three-year-old you can trick?"
As the red-haired man slid backward, Judge Bane (Sixth Tribunal) raised his long halberd and followed in pursuit. With two thunderous crashes, two masses of Malice Wraith Fire surged toward Judge Bane.
With two sharp slaps, Judge Bane blocked both masses of Malice Wraith Fire with his left hand. The fires did not vanish or explode; instead, they froze in midair, their flames suspended as if time itself had stopped.
The red-haired man continued to unleash wave after wave of Malice Wraith Fire, but Judge Bane deflected every single one. Gradually, the sky filled with clusters of black flames, suspended and motionless.
The tension on the red-haired man's face faded, replaced by a relaxed smile as he deftly dodged Judge Bane's relentless attacks.
Suddenly, the red-haired man raised both hands, and golden light burst from his body. With a loud bang, the golden glow shattered. Grinning, he finally lost his footing and plummeted rapidly toward the ground.
A streak of purple light flashed behind him. In my daze, I saw a pair of enormous hands catch the red-haired man, suspending him in midair. Facing the oncoming attack, he darted left without hesitation.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Judge Bane immediately gave chase, but the red-haired man suddenly stopped, clutching his forehead and bursting into wild laughter.
"The calamity has almost gathered, old man."
The previously frozen Malice Wraith Fire began to stir. Judge Bane rushed up to the red-haired man, and in an instant, the flames surged and merged into a vast inferno.
"Even you won't be able to withstand this, old man."
With a deafening roar, the flames instantly swallowed the battlefield. A massive sphere of black fire burst through the sky, swelling endlessly in the barren wilderness.
"This isn't good."
As Lu Zhi Dao spoke, the pavilion they occupied began to move rapidly, while the flames kept expanding, showing no sign of stopping.
"Brat, don't underestimate me."
A furious and commanding voice echoed. Suddenly, the swelling flames contracted rapidly, shrinking until they became discernible once more.
It was Judge Bane. He opened his mouth wide and began to inhale, drawing all the black flames in with a single breath. The red-haired man's eyes widened in shock.
"No, my life—"
The red-haired man shouted, but Judge Bane suddenly exhaled, sending a blast of black fire straight at him.
With a thunderous boom, the red-haired man's body was instantly engulfed by the black flames. Yet within the darkness, I caught a glimpse of golden light—the red-haired man, arms raised, surrounded by a barrier that repelled every bit of the returning black fire.
"Where's Judge Bane?"
Surprised, I looked around, but Judge Bane appeared just as the black flames vanished. In that instant, a long halberd thrust toward the red-haired man.
With a sharp rip, the halberd pierced the golden barrier with ease, stabbing straight through the red-haired man's body. His eyes widened in astonishment.
"Scream..."
A buzzing sound filled the air. Suddenly, the entire wilderness erupted with desperate, ragged screams. With a snap, Judge Bane clasped his hands together, sending visible ripples sweeping across the land—waves of sound.
The red-haired man gripped the halberd embedded in his chest, black blood spraying everywhere. The halberd seemed almost alive, striving to pierce him further as it vibrated intensely.
With a bang, the red-haired man twisted aside to dodge, causing the sweeping sound waves to explode. The space around him seemed to inhale, streams of air sucked rapidly into the warped void.
Another explosion rang out. Though the red-haired man dodged, the halberd embedded in his chest drove even deeper.
Scarlet ancient script drifted through the air—runes belonging to Old Hell, each alive and writhing. Under Judge Bane's control, they surged toward the red-haired man.