"When anger rises, think of the consequences." - Confucius
After Lute's resounding cry, the courtroom went silent. Angels of all status looked at her with numerous emotions, ranging from shock to surprise.
"Why?" Lute said with anger, "Why have you not punished him!?"
The commander slammed the table with her fist, nearly cracking it into two as tears flowed from her eyes.
"My sisters… My sisters died because of him and his compatriots!" Lute said, pointing towards Sir Pentious, "This filthy snake should be imprisoned for his part in killing my comrades!"
As the commander looked up, she thought the angels would be happy that she was telling the truth because they were forced to let Sir Pentious in. But instead, all she got from them were looks of sympathy.
Frustrated, she shouted at them, "Why are you looking at me with those pitiful looks!? Are you ignoring that you have let a Sinner into our home!? Answer me, Archangels!"
"ANSWER ME!"
As Lute was finished with her rant, every angel was scared of how Lute talked back against the archangels. Even Emily and Sera were shocked by what the Commander had done.
"Is that so?"
Soon enough, every angel looked at the source of the voice, revealing it to be Michael.
"You want to know why?" Michael said, whilst turning to his brother, "Gabriel, would you explain."
"Of course, Brother," Gabriel said to his eldest brother, "Allow me to explain."
"First, you saw Emily's memories. You saw that Sir Pentious had no intentions of destroying Heaven," Gabriel said as he once again showed the court Emily's memories, "In fact, let's ask him once again."
"Sir Pentious, do you intend to destroy Heaven from within?" Gabriel said to the snake.
Immediately, Sir Pentious said to the angel, "No! I would never attempt to destroy Heaven!"
"And why is that?" Gabriel questioned further.
"Because… I'd waste my chance to be here!" Sir Pentious responded, "My sacrifice against Adam would be for naught if I want to destroy Heaven! I'd rather go back to Hell if I had the chance if I entertained those thoughts!"
After Sir Pentious' declaration, Gabriel looked at the snake and said, "Thank you for telling the truth Sir Pentious. Now, I'll explain the second reason."
With a snap of his fingers, a white book with golden arches appeared in Gabriel's hand. Based on its appearance, many of the Seraphim know that this was the Book of Names. The problem was that its appearance was similar to Saint Peter's book. They wondered why Gabriel had a copy which prompted one of them to ask Gabriel.
"Lord Gabriel, is that the Book of Names?" the Seraphim asked the archangel as he replied, "Kind of. Because this book is not just the Book of Names, but the Book of Life."
The courtroom went silent that Gabriel had revealed one of Heaven's greatest treasures. The Book of Life is not just like Peter's Book of Names but was the first book that recorded the souls that deserved to enter Heaven. It is also the only book that records who entered Heaven and how they died in their mortal life.
"This holy treasure has been recording itself since the First Man's arrival. It is the only book that cannot be tampered with by anyone. Be it demon, angel, or Archangel" Gabriel explained, showing the book's importance, "Also, it is up to the book itself if it will allow a second party to alter its contents."
Gabriel opened the book and revealed its only rules through the orb. The rules are as follows:
No angel can hold and read this book, lest permitted by an Archangel.
The Archangels are the only ones who can alter the book, lest the book has permitted them.
Any angel that altered the contents (including the Archangels) without permission, will be punished by the courts of Heaven.
"As you can see, these are the three most important rules that the book itself must follow," Gabriel said to the court.
"And to answer your question, Lute. Here's your answer," Gabriel said when the book flipped its pages with fervor until it stopped.
The orb showed what the page showed, revealing the highlighted text.
"Sir Ephraim 'Pentious' Carter I"
"Born XX-XX-1848"
"Died XX-XX-1888"
"Cause of Death: Snake Bite in Bengal"
"Status: Winner"
"Remarks: Ascended on the XX day of XX, in the year of our Lord 202X. Died by the hands of Adam, the First Man. Permitted to enter Heaven due to self-sacrifice."
Upon the words shown by the book, every angel in the courtroom was stunned. It's one thing for them to witness a Holy Treasure. But for them to see that it has recognized Sir Pentious as their own is inconceivable.
"So…. Even the will of our Father has recognized Sir Pentious as our own….." Sera thought as it dawned on her of the possibility of redemption.
"Ephraim Carter… I haven't heard that name for so long…." Sir Pentious thought.
For two centuries, Pentious was able to ensure that no Sinner in Hell would figure out his true name. Unfortunately, he nearly forgot about it, to the point that it became a habit of him to write his Sinner name on documents requiring his signature. If it weren't for Emily, he might've forgotten his name completely.
Meanwhile, Emily was surprised and happy that the Book had acknowledged Sir Pentious as part of Heaven. But, that's not the case for Lute.
When the text was revealed, she had never before been so horrified. It dawned on her that every angel in the gallery now sees her as the wrongdoer in attempting to toss Heaven's first redeemed Sinner to jail. Even her sisters are shocked that the Book of Life accepts their supposed quarry into Heaven.
"While my brothers and I were working on Sir Pentious' case, I made the foresight of checking the Book of Life to see if Sir Pentious' name is there," Gabriel solemnly said, "It surprised us that the book has recorded him into our kingdom."
"When that happened, I thought of trying to conceal it," Gabriel replied to the angels, but his tone shifted into disappointment, "But….. I cannot in good conscience leave this information in the dark."
When Sera heard what Gabriel said, it made her reflect on her actions of hiding the Extermination from Emily. At first, it was her duty that Heaven should never discover about the Exterminations done by Adam and his Exorcists. But, due to Adam's loose lips, Heaven found out about the whole debacle.
"And because of this…. I almost threw away my relationship with Emily…." Sera pondered, knowing that she was this close to losing her sister.
"So there you have it, Commander," Gabriel said to a horrified Lute, "Do you still wish to throw him in prison?"
Lute looked up with horror as the rest of the angels awaited her answer. Their eyes gaze upon the commander who is now trembling with fear and embarrassment.
With her bravado fully slipped, she uttered in defeat, "No….. I….. I don't wish to throw him in prison."
Satisfied, Gabriel said, "Thank you for your answer, Lute. Now then, let us proceed with your punishment."
"Brother Michael," Gabriel said as he turned to his eldest brother, "You may now announce Lute's punishment."
"Thank you, Brother," Michael said, as he stood up to face Lute.
"For your crimes in the unsanctioned maiming of Vaggie and attempted arrest of Sir Pentious," Michael announced to the court, "You are hereby stripped of your authority as Commander of the Exorcists and demoted to the rank of Lieutenant until further notice."
Gasps filled the courtroom, shocking them with the news of the now-former Commander's punishment. They all thought Lute would get a light sentence, such as suspension and house arrest. But they never imagined that the Archangels would give her such a harsh punishment.
But, while the Seraphim were surprised, the Exorcists reacted violently.
"How dare you strip our Commander of her authority!"
"Who do you think you are!?"
The Exorcists were angered by Archangel Michael's judgment that they were hurling insults and threats to the Archangels. Never before did they talk back against the Archangels because he had demoted their Commander to a lower station.
Meanwhile, Lute fell to her knees when she heard her punishment. It was one thing for the Archangel to berate her. Now, she has been stripped of her authority as Commander and been demoted to a lieutenant.
In a blank state, she looked at her Exorcists who were fervently defending their commander, wondering why it had come to this. She soon became conflicted about what had happened as her emotions ran rampant, further sowing chaos in her mind.
It wasn't long until Michael slammed his gavel so hard that the entire courtroom shook with its power. The Exorcists went silent, causing them to look at him. What they saw afterward was terrifying.
They saw the Archangel gripping the gavel that was about to break.
"Had enough, my Exorcists?" Michael said, in a cold tone that brought shivers down their spines.
Suddenly, Lute snapped out of her stupor when she heard what Michael said.
"What did you say?" Lute said in shock as Michael smirked at Lute's reaction.
"That is correct, Lute," Michael said with pride, "As of today, the new commander of the Exorcists will be me."
Soon enough, the Exorcists went in shock that the Archangel had decided to be their new leader. All their life, Adam was their leader and the one they trusted for the rest of their eternal lives.
Now, it would be led by the Archangel of Justice!?
Many of the Exorcists present began to shout in protest against Michael's decision, protesting how the Archangel declared himself as the new leader of the Exorcists.
Suddenly, Lute screamed at the top of her lungs and said,
"THAT'S ENOOOOOOOOOUGH!"
The room shook from the com- lieutenant's scream that the Exorcists stopped their protests. They looked at their former commander who was panting hard from her scream.
"That… Is…. Enough…" Lute said, turning her attention to her Exorcists, "I demand that you stop talking back to our leader."
Upon hearing her statement, the Exorcists were gobsmacked! They thought Lute was directing her anger towards the Archangels but it appeared to be the opposite.
"Ma'am, what are you-" one Exorcist said when Lute cut her off, "Shut up."
"I've had enough of you idiots ruining our reputation by talking back against our new leader," Lute said to her Exorcists, shocked by what Lute was saying to them.
The Lieutenant turned towards the Archangels and said, "I may be resentful that you have punished but I want to know one thing. What makes you entitled that you deserve to be our new leader?"
From her question, every angel was surprised by Lute's question and it also made them think of it too. They know that Michael is the archangel of justice and was one of Heaven's greatest warriors and smiths. But, they had never heard of him leading the charge to Hell. The last time he fought against someone his caliber was his fight against Lucifer.
Meanwhile, Michael smirked at his lieutenant when he said, "Finally. I've heard something sensible coming from you, Lieutenant."
"Very well, I'll explain why I chose myself as your new Commander," Michael replied, as he snapped his fingers showing to them Michael's memory through the orb.
The orb showed what looked like a shooting range. It showed target dummies made out of clay that resembled the demons from hell and multiple gunshot holes in its walls. From Michael's point of view, he was reloading an automatic rifle. Made out of angelic steel.
From the revelation, the courtroom went in shock. Since when did Michael make such a weapon!?
"As you can see, I am testing a prototype rifle made of angelic steel. Its design is inspired by the modern rifles made by mankind," Michael said to the shocked audience, "Now, this memory shows one of my tests on how effective they are."
Then, the orb showed Michael firing his rifle at the target dummy. Gunshots echoed throughout the courtroom, as Michael's shots went through the dummy, obliterating it to pieces.
Suddenly, the orb changed, revealing another memory of Michael holding a small pistol. Aiming, Michael fired multiple rounds, hitting the dummy with ease.
Finally, the orb changed to another memory, showing the Archangel on a barren land. He is lying down and is using a sniper rifle, aimed at the practice dummy. As the angel squeezed the trigger, the gun fired, destroying the training dummy's head.
Once the orb dissipated the memory, every angel was in shock and awe. Shocked that all this time, Archangel Michael was building new angelic weaponry. As for the Exorcists, never before had they been surprised that Michael was making their new weapons.
"So you see, this is what I've been doing for the past millennia. I've been training myself on wielding the latest weaponry mankind has to offer," Michael said, as the orb showed other memories as well, "But I didn't dabble on weaponry alone. I also trained on the latest tactics and martial arts the world has to offer."
From his statement, the orb showed Michael reading history books about war, having interviews with former military personnel Winners, and training under Winners who are masters in martial arts.
For the exorcists, they had never seen such training done by an Angel, especially Michael. They began to think of their former leader. Whenever they see Adam, all he's done is lounging in different places and doing nothing but partying and slack off. Heck, the only times Adam gets serious is when he supervises their training when Extermination is on the horizon.
"Now you know why I declared myself as your new leader," Michael said to his Exorcists, "Do you still have any objections?"
From that statement, Lute and her Exorcists wanted to deny him. But, after seeing how Michael has proved to them otherwise, it would be counter-intuitive on their end.
"No, sir….. We have no objections," Lute said, prompting the other Exorcists to follow suit.
"Good. Now before we end this first half, Lute, I order you and some of your sisters to leave," Michael said, "My reason is that you might run the risk of losing your emotions when we discuss redemption. I will brief you on what has occurred during the second half. Do I make myself clear?"
Lute tightened her fist that she was to be dismissed by her new leader. But with no other choice, she replied, "Yes, sir. Exorcists! To, me!"
After issuing her command, Lute and some of the Exorcists left the courtroom, leaving Michael satisfied.
Once the last Exorcist has left the courtroom, Michael said, "And with that leaves the end of our first half. We will have a thirty-minute recess before we continue to our next topic."
"Court is adjourned!", Michael said as he slammed his gavel to signal the end of the first trial.
Meanwhile, while Lute is leading her Exorcists out of the courtroom, she can't help but feel embarrassed and disappointed that the Exorcists weren't led by her. Heck, with Michael at the helm, it might lead her sisters to forget about Adam.
Because of this, she vowed to herself that she will do whatever it takes to bring the Exorcists back to her command.
"Don't worry, Adam….. I will take it back!" Lute thought with intent, "I will get these Exorcists back under my command!"