Dimensional Descent

"… Valiant Hall uses 20% of resources allocated for students without ever participating in resource competitions…"

"… Valiant Hall has exactly 793 cases of corruption in just this past half year alone since we began to track…"

"… Case 1: Student Aderil, guilty of embezzling merit points…"

"… Case 2: Student Xiron, guilty of embezzling merit points…"

"… Case 3: Student Faeynore, guilty of embezzling merit points…"

"… Case 7: Student Ren, guilty of exchanging merit points for favors..."

"… Case 8: Student Engkas, guilty of exchanging merit points for favors…"

"… Case 11: Student Morgo, guilty of exchanging merit points in exchange for sexual favors…"

Like a monotonous drone, Raylion began to list all the instances of the past half year. The stories were packed with such detail that one found it difficult to believe that they were fake. Things were only made worse by the fact these individuals of Valiant Hall weren't presence to defend themselves.

Things only continued to become more and more oppressive the more time Raylion spent speaking. It seemed that he had done thing on purpose, placing the most benign crimes ahead of the quickly worsening ones.

Explanations of exploitation, theft, and even sexual assault and violence were described in vivid detail, leaving many sitting in a state of half being at a loss and another half truly uncomfortable.

"… Case 22: Student Salor, guilty of …"

"… Case 31: Student Kirs, guilty of …"

"… Case 47: Teacher…"

The moment Raylion said the word teacher, the entire arena seemed to have deflated. It wasn't the kind of deflation one might experience from a waning balloon, but rather the kind that one would experience the second after a bomb dropped… The kind of deflation where the world lost its sound, color and feel before a blinding light and a cacophonic boom assaulted the senses.

Up until this point, Raylion mentioned no one but students. Though these matters were serious, especially since many of them were in high positions, it felt as though this matter could still be dealt with easily. At the very least, if it was only the young that were corrupt, things would be easier to handle.

But the moment Raylion said otherwise, it felt as though the whole world came to a grinding halt.

"… Arnla, guilty of skipping out on private tutoring and stealing the merit points of students for nothing in return."

"… Case 48: Student Nige, guilty of …"

"… Case 49: Student Ril, guilty of …"

"… Case 50: Teacher Ven, guilty of …"

There was no respite. The names of teachers, famous ones even, began to be named one after another. It was a relentless onslaught of detailed stories spoken in a voice that couldn't have been less lively. But, that only made it all the more grating on the soul.

"… Case 102: Teacher Lujor, guilty of …"

Raylion's words were endless. By the time he reached higher into the triple digits, many began to realize that some names were appearing more and more often. Whereas in the beginning one might appear just a single time, the worse the crimes became, the more it seemed as though the same people were committing them.

"… Case 239: Student Lanceryn, guilty of posting fraudulent missions for enriching himself…"

"… Case 243: Student Lanceryn, guilty of …"

"… Case 331: Teacher Dryn, guilty of using disciples for labor without teaching appropriately in response…"

"… Case 334: Teacher Dryn, guilty of…"

"… Case 549: Teacher Pool…"

"… Case 561: Teacher Pool…"

"… Case 792: Teacher Ingsan, guilty of selling Valiant Hall's inventory to the merchants. His actions were learned of by one of his students, resulting in her rape and subsequent death."

"… Case 793: Teacher Ingsan, guilty of gross negligence. In a Campaign against our sworn enemy, the Oryx Tribe, his decisions led to the death of 14 geniuses of our Valiant Heart Mountain. The only survivor has been bribed into silence and has suffered through untold humiliation, Sael Liers."

Leonel's gaze, by now, was boring holes into Raylion. This only became worse after he heard Sael's name. He didn't care for the woman, but that didn't mean he wanted to hear her name in this context.

Even if what Raylion said was true, weaponizing the names of victims in this way, was simply gross beyond recourse.

Raylion calmly rolled up his scroll, taking his time as though he didn't have a care in the world.

By this point, there were numerous members of Valiant Hall who had stormed into the arena. But, without a place for them to sit, they could only stand on the dueling platforms, their gazes alight with fury as they stared at Raylion.

Amongst them, there was a familiar figure in Sael. Her aura was so heavy that a wide space had been carved out around her. Everyone knew that if there was going to be a battle, she would be the one to fight. But at that moment, it seemed it took everything within her not to rip Raylion limb from limb at this very moment.

"I've listed out many names. By now, they've likely become jumbled in your minds to the point that their crimes are meaningless. Honestly, I never wanted to reveal the trials and tribulations of victims in this way, but there was one matter that pushed me over the edge. It was this exact matter that made me understand that Valiant Hall had no right to be the arbiter of justice any longer."

Raylion continued to speak, completely unperturbed.

"Six months ago, a Brave City on a small Fourth Dimensional world known as Terrain accepted three disciples.

"This seems like a story we all have been through, however that isn't the case. There is nothing about this story to be respected or revered.

"Of these three disciples, only one actually went through the necessary trials and earned a right to stand by our sides. As for the other two, they were let in through the back door."

A murmur went through the crowd, but Raylion seemed to have not noticed.

"This was truly an unfortunate case. Whether out of jealousy or spite, this third disciple, a man who should have become one of our brothers, was killed by one of these two disciples before ever getting the chance to step foot onto our Mountain. The name of our lost brother is Anared Keafir, may we mourn his loss."

The crowd grew silent, a bubbling animosity brewing in their hearts.

"Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. The killer of our worthy brother appeared at our gates no more than two months ago. Intent on keeping his lofty status, he disregarded our customs and disrespected his seniors, even to the point of smearing our treasures and weapons as trash.

"The end result was three of your fellow brothers bleeding to death while hanging from a tree.

"And what did Valiant Hall do, you might ask? Out of fear for this person's background, the matter was swept under the rug and ignored.

"I wish this was the end of our story, but unfortunately it is not. In retaliation, our brothers did the only thing we could. Since we didn't dare to offend a man with such a powerful background, we could only try to smear his name.

"But no more than a week after our only path toward redemption was taken, Valiant Hall stepped in once again, not only allowing the destruction of King of Ores Faction, but also removing our posters and smothering our hearts."

Raylion swept his gaze over the crowd, his gaze just as expressionless.

"However, it was this final matter that broke my final hint of hope in Valiant Hall.

"Rather than fighting for those it should, Valiant Hall sought to appease this man. Despite not being a part of a reputable Faction, and even without the slightest hint of understanding toward Crafting – this was a man who had the audacity to say that a Tier 7 treasure was nothing but garbage – was allowed to enter the Golden Exchange List at the behest of Valiant Hall.

"Not only was this man appeased to the extreme, but his so-called Crafts led to the deaths of seven more of our brothers."

The atmosphere was silent but seemed to simultaneously boil. By now, even Sael's momentum seemed to have lost its sails, her rage feeling as though a bucket of cold water had been poured over it.

"I will not say the name of this man. Some of you know of him, some of you don't. But, his name is one I feel too much disgust to speak with my own lips.

"I can only say that the tyranny of Valiant Hall will come to an end this day. I, Raylion Wranleth, will not stand for it."

Raylion finished and stepped from the podium, his expression just as calm and unhurried.

They say that the worst movements in all of history always had a common enemy. There may have never been a Nazi Party had the Jewish never existed.

It seemed that Raylion had decided to make Leonel exactly that.