"You are way over the line, Moraine!"
The First Mage spoke to me from that ridiculous throne of hers.
Undeterred by her title and the dozen High Mages she brought alongside her for this summon, I stared back to her wrinkled face, straight to those droopy eyes of the old prune.
"I did nothing wrong."
I said with my head held high.
Not even a hint of guilt was portrayed on my face.
The First Mage chuckled at my statement, rustling the necklace of the coiling serpent on her neck.
"Nothing? You did nothing wrong?"
The old woman turned to the High Mage cladded in white next to her.
The Grand Warden. The appointed aide to the First Mage of the Tower.
At a gesture from the old woman, the Grand Warden produced a scroll from inside his robe.
He unrolled the document and announced to the whole chamber its content.
"Senior Apprentice Moraine Dazima, you have been found guilty of breaking multiple laws of the Tower.
"Possession of dark arts materials. Researching twelve forbidden magic formulas. Casting twelve forbidden magic formulas. Unauthorized research and casting on unknown formulas. Brewing thirty-eight forbidden potions. Unauthorized hazardous alchemy experimentations. Performing forbidden alchemy procedures. Forbidden direct experimentations on humans.
"On all these charges Senior Apprentice Moraine Dazima are found guilty of. All evidence and witnesses pertaining to these transgressions have been examined and approved by three Councilors of the Tower."
After the Grand Warden finished reading the scroll, the First Mage turned back to me and raised her brows inquisitively.
While keeping my pride, I responded to the charges thrusted upon me.
"As I said, I did nothing wrong. I was simply acting as how a mage of the Tower should conduct their self."
The First Mage chuckled again at my words. The Grand Warden and the rest of the High Mages in the chamber echoed out exasperated disapproving sighs.
"Performing dark arts? Is that the kind of magic the mages of the Tower of Circle should rely on? Should we stoop ourselves that low to dabble in such forbidden hideous sorcery?"
"The mages of the Tower should be accepting to all kinds of sorcery. As intellectuals who strive for the advancement of magic, we must explore every knowledge frontier there is."
"Torturing humans with untested spells? Using your fellow kind to experiment with unknown magic?"
"All my test subjects were criminals and prisoners fated for the gallows. I have tribunal documents that proves each of their sentencing. I never used innocent people for my experiments."
The First Mage stomped her foot in anger.
"You are a disgrace to the sorcerer society! A mage without moral and principle!"
Holding my stare on the old woman, I replied her words with the same intensity she carried herself.
"No, Perenia Galvons. You are the disgrace!"
Gasps resounded throughout the chamber.
Murmurs soon followed among the Grand Warden and the collections of High Mages.
The First Mage stared at me silently with an expressionless face.
Given her perplexity, I went on.
"How dare you call yourself the First Mage of the Tower? A title that was once held by the Great Bromstead herself.
"How could you lead the largest sorcerer organization in the world while not embracing magic completely?
"The banning of dark arts should be an insult to the creed of the Tower!"
The Grand Warden suddenly stepped forward.
"Dark arts have been banned for many centuries, apprentice. It is a law upheld even by the First Mage Bromstead you mentioned."
I clenched my fists upon his words.
"Time has changed! It's no longer the Guntur warriors we need to worry about! There is now a new threat upon us! One that is far surpassing all the enemies the empire has ever faced for the past 3000 years!"
I pointed to the huge glass window in the chamber. Toward the outside world.
"As we speak, countless monsters are running rampage across the Great Desert. Hundreds of thousands of them threatening to swallow Tsahanam whole. Never has it happened before in the empire's history. In Dunia's history!"
"The monsters in Tsahanam are simply acting abnormally because natural disaster destroyed their habitat."
A High Mage told from the crowd.
"Even if you were right, there is still the fact that an army of monster numbered almost as much as the sand in the Great Desert is invading Tsahanam right now."
"Just like Yuriana Bromstead fought off the northern invaders four centuries ago, we will defeat the adversaries again this time."
The First Mage finally spoke up.
I turned back to the old woman.
"But what if an invasion of this scale happens again soon? A larger army of monsters were to invade...Tchakra, perhaps? Or maybe all the creatures of Phirdaus were to clear the jungle and march toward the empire's southwest border?"
"Those are ridiculous scenarios. What's happening in Tsahanam is an abnormality that only happens every few centuries. Or maybe once in every millennium."
I nodded to her.
I had expected she would say that.
"What about the unexplainable magical hotspots across the continent?"
My question triggered another wave of murmurs from the crowd of High Mages. Nervous murmurs.
The First Mage became silent and expressionless again.
I chuckled at their reactions.
"Even though I'm only a Senior Apprentice, I've noticed the foreign energy accumulating in hundreds of locations across the whole world. How the threads of space and time were being strained and pressured in those hotspots."
I saw the faces around the chamber growing stiffer.
They knew these phenomena were not signs of peaceful time.
"Unprecedented disaster is about to befall the empire. All of Dunia. And the Tower of Circle has not done anything to prepare for it!"
"Watch your mouth, apprentice!"
The Grand Warden sternly voiced across the entire chamber.
I ignored his warning and proceeded to point to the First Mage.
"Perenia Galvons, as the First Mage of the Tower of Circle, it is your duty to guard the Serpent's Realm!
"As the First Mage, it is your obligation to the people of the world to utilize everything necessary for the safety of everyone!
"As the First Mage of the Tower, it is your duty to ensure the survival of this world, even if you have to rely on the dark to achieve it!"
The First Mage trembled furiously in her throne. Knuckles turning white as her palms were clutching the gilded handrails.
Despite I was the one being tried, I continued on speaking with accusing gaze and tone toward my judge.
"Perenia Galvons, Dunia is heading for a turbulent era. The monster invasion in Tsahanam is the biggest proof of that. The omen of what is coming.
"But you failed to recognize the signs. Or rather, you refused to acknowledge them.
"You have failed your duty as the First Mage of the Tower. You failed the moment you did not realize what must be done. You failed the second time when you refused to do what must be done when it's already pointed out to you."
The First Mage's droopy eyes had now turned glaring.
I stared her back with a burning glare of my own.
"Perenia Galvons, when calamity finally strikes Dunia and the world is not yet prepared to face it, the lives that would be lost then will be on your hands!"