Red

After Immortal Han Mu was done testing the Third Generation Heretic with her method, she knew that there were things they still could not comprehend.

'Is it just because I'm a young immortal or perhaps this is something the immortals simply cannot do yet?' She wondered.

The conflict between the demons and Immortals was something that had been running since times immemorial. The immortals had managed to stay on top all this time because they had strove to be better than the Demons. They had figured out their methods and plans and foiled them.

In all these, the humans were the key as they could be tainted to become Heretics. This could cause great problems for not just the other humans but also the Immortals as the humans revered them. 

If they could not figure out who was heretic and who was not, it could very well become an avenue for exploitation there. 

"Take them away… All of them are heretics." Mage Clor declared.

"No! My lord, my wife isn't one!" The man protested.

Even if his fate had been decided, he at least wanted his wife to be free. 

"Leave my mother alone!" The young man shouted as well.

~SMACK~

~CRACK~

But their words only met with harsh retaliation.

Sheathed swords struck their backs, knocking them to the ground.

"ARGH!" The man and his son could barely groan in pain before finding a heavy weight on their heads.

"You will zip your lips or forfeit your tongues." The knight said, pushing their heads into ground with his boot.

This prevented them from making any noise, and they were thrown into the pits of despair.

~thud~

The woman watching this couldn't take it and directly passed out unconscious. 

"Chain all three of them." Mage Clor ordered.

"There's bound to be others linked to them. Since they have a third generation heretic among them, there's bound to be other people related to them. A through interrogation is necessary." Mage Rizal chimed in.

"Yes, my lords!" The knights replied before dragging the family that had now been declared as heretics entirely.

The three immortals continued watching everything as the testing continued after this. Another half an hour passed as the line shortened and Asher was almost at the front.

The number of Heretics had now grown to ten, with more having been found in this time if one excluded the two heretics that the knights had brought with them.

Three of them were individuals and no more families seem to have been declared as heretics after the previous one. Though it could also be partially attributed to the fact that many people had died earlier and could have been part of the heretics too.

The Mages would have been inclined in collecting their corpses too, but since the dead heretics had come in contact with demonic powers, their abilities hadn't been awakened. As such, once a person was dead, it was almost impossible to tell if they were a heretic or not.

This had been a major issue in the past as the Heretics would often commit suicide if they were pushed to a corner so that they could avoid their kin and allies being exposed due to their capture.

The Heretics could be ruthless and decisive, which was how they had manged to survive all this time despite having been hunted by the humans constantly.

"Next," Mage Clor said as Asher finally reached the front.

~gulp~

He swallowed his saliva and tried to suppress the anxiety that he was feeling.

Tess gave his hand a reassuring squeeze that gave Asher the courage to proceed.

'Let's get this over with.' Asher said in his mind and decisively extended his hand.

Mage Clor gave a momentary glance at the boy with the bushy and wild hair. He was quite obviously injured with visible bruises as well as his long bushy hair that was now freely spilling out of the knot while also being covered in dust and dirt.

The rope that was tying his hair together had snapped some time ago and was barely hanging on due to being tangled with his hair. Though Asher had not noticed this as he had far more concerning things to deal with such as the dagger that was just about to slash his hand.

~SLICK~

Dark red blood spilled out of Asher's hand, dripping down onto the glass orb below.

Asher held his breath as he watched the fog appear in the orb. 

In his nervousness, the pain from his fresh wound had disappeared too, as the weight of the result bore heavily on him. Every second felt like a minute to him, the slivers of fog twisting and turning as if teasing him.

"Oh?" But Asher soon realized that it wasn't just him that was finding the process to be long.

The other people in the line as well as the Mages were finding it long too. The fog continue to swirl in the orb, while no change happened.

Mage Clor narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the orb carefully. Asher's eyes were locked onto it too, since his very life depended on it and the longer it took the higher his anxiety

"What's happening?" Immortal Yan asked, seeing that no result had appeared despite another minute having passed.

All the others who had been tested took less time than this making even the Mages a bit concerned.

"Did it break or something?" Immortal Wu Lei asked while Immortal Han Mu chanted something under her breath.

A formless wisp of energy extended towards Asher, much to his awareness.

"There are some instances where it can take longer, Lord Immortal." Mage Rizal explained. "The Heretic Detector is very thorough and will scour the entire blood of a person to find any sign of demonic traces within them." He added.

And just as he said that though, several gasps were hard.

"What…"

"The fog!"

Mage Clor who was the closest was stunned as he watched the fog finally change color.

"Red?"