Chapter 481: Verdict (2)
Chapter 479
"I don’t think our mothers will strike a deal with the devil for their children, though."
Someone shouted down from the spectator stands.
"Then your mother is one selfish human, no offense."
Sergeant Lincoln’s voice was sharp as he glared into the crowd.
".... And you speak of making a deal with the devil when we just established that Ray has always been human and something happened to him on the way to Wall Steel.
"You all are speaking like he intentionally did this to himself."
Lincoln paused.
His hands tightened behind his back as he turned his gaze toward the jury.
"Yes, he is a werewolf.
"Yes, he hid what he is.
"Yes, he possibly attacked Mr. Jackson.
"Yes, he threatened Berg and even engaged him on multiple occasions, which I bear witness to."
Berg smirked.
Lincoln continued.
"... Yes, he looks like a monster based on all that has been said today.
"But have you all thought that maybe this is the right kind of monster we need in this war?"
Jack lifted a brow.
"Meaning?"
Lincoln took three steps forward before straightening his uniform.
"Aspirant Dawson battled a Five-Spined Aberrant toe to toe.
"Yes, he did it with his werewolf self, but even still, isn’t that part of him?
"It’s his strength. He groomed it to the level we see today.
"And he managed to hold off a Five-Spined all alone."
His gaze swept across the chamber.
"How many of us in this room, except Leader Kyre, of course, can boast of achieving something like that?
"How many of us here can stand toe to toe with a Five-Spined?"
Lincoln slowly turned his gaze toward Berg.
The man’s smirk faltered slightly.
"Can you, Berg?"
Silence.
"Because I certainly can’t. In fact, I barely was of any use during the battle.
"So what are we doing here?"
Lincoln’s voice grew heavier.
"You all fear the fact that he could attack us from behind, but I haven’t seen him do such a thing throughout his one year in the Corps.
"Instead, he fought time and time again against whatever threatened his friends and humanity."
He pointed toward Berg.
"When a One-Spined Aberrant crashed into the Tier One Gate they were all in, who sacrificed his life for you all to escape safely?
"Who later stayed behind to battle the Aberrant and then killed it?"
Lincoln’s eyes hardened.
"Yes.
"This same monster you all condemn."
The murmurs in the hall grew louder.
"Are we all deadass and blind here?"
Lincoln’s voice rang through the chamber.
"You all watched the footage where he saved lives, and even some Aspirants testified that he identified the locations of the Aberrants’ hearts.
"Whether he did it for a selfish reason or not, he still saved lives."
He paused.
"Including mine."
Lincoln drew in a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
For a moment, he looked around the chamber before finally staring directly at the jury.
"I will implore the jury to consider all these and come to a just decision.
"Thank you."
With a firm salute, Lincoln turned around and walked out of the courtroom before finding a place to sit.
Murmurs and whispers immediately exploded across the hall.
Ray could hear everything being said around him, but he purposely blocked out the words coming from the jury officials.
There was no need to listen.
Even without eavesdropping, the expressions on their faces were enough.
He already knew what they were thinking.
And what they were planning to do.
Finally, Captain Jake stood up from his seat among the jury with a paper in hand.
His gaze flickered toward Ray.
For a brief moment, a flash of pity appeared in his eyes.
Then he walked toward where Jack sat and handed him the envelope.
The man received the envelope while Jake left to return to his place among the jury.
Opening it, Jack pulled out the paper inside and stared at the words written across it.
Silence.
Everybody remained completely still.
The entire hall was as quiet as a graveyard, with everyone holding their breath in anticipation of what was about to come.
Even the online community had gone completely silent.
Not a single comment appeared.
Millions of people watched.
Every human waited for the verdict.
After a brief moment that felt like an eternity to Ray and everyone who cared about him, Jack finally cleared his throat.
"The verdict is in."
Ray slowly lowered his head, his expression hidden beneath his silver hair as he remained lost in thought.
Jack’s eyes glided across the hall.
Then he lifted the paper once more and continued.
"... The jury have all decided that Aspirant Dawson is too great a threat to leave alive.
"Despite his minuscule positive achievements, his temper, unknown power, and previous verbal threats against humanity are too great to ignore."
Van’s jaws tightened.
An ache began forming in his chest.
Frost crept upward from beneath Trisha’s feet, spreading slowly across the ground.
Caster was already moving his hands while mumbling several words beneath his breath.
Van’s hand hovered over his chest as his breathing grew heavier.
Beside him, Felix’s hands bulged as his nails slowly began to elongate.
It was clear.
The cohort had already made their decision.
Jack continued.
"... And the jury have all decided to have Aspirant Dawson executed, with his body given to any famous scientist willing to dissect and experiment on it.
"That’s the verdict."
Berg and Bryce exchanged looks.
Satisfaction filled their faces.
Then they grinned.
Neither of them could contain it anymore.
They suddenly embraced each other tightly.
The audience erupted into a thunderous cheer, seemingly satisfied with the verdict.
The livestream wasn’t any different.
Comments flooded the screen almost instantly, millions of viewers celebrating the decision.
Ray remained motionless, his head still lowered.
He listened to the cheers.
The screams.
The celebration of his impending death.
And then—
A voice sliced through the noise.
"RAY!"
Ray’s head snapped upward.
His heart skipped a beat.
’No—No. What the fuck are you—?!’
It was already too late.
Two arrows sliced through the air toward him.
THWIP!
They struck the chains binding his body.
A loud beep followed.
BEEP!
Then—
BOOM!
The arrows detonated fiercely, blasting apart part of the links holding Ray in place.
A cloud of black mist suddenly erupted.
From within it, a massive wolf, as large as a small house, tore toward Ray.
Caster was riding atop its back.
He jumped off before the beast reached Ray and landed directly in front of him, immediately taking a firm stance.
At the same time, Trisha slid beneath the stands, gliding across a ground covered in ice.
"Fuck you all. The he—"
"Get them!"
Jack’s stern command cut through the chaos.
Ella and the Vanguard members immediately surged forward at incredible speed.
A powerful blast of air rushed toward the enormous wolf.
But—
The wolf vanished.
It was almost as if it had teleported.
In the next instant, it reappeared beside Ray.
Its massive jaws clamped around the chains.
Then it pulled.
Hard.
Metal groaned beneath its strength.
Caster remained standing directly before Ray, his body positioned firmly between his friend and the approaching Vanguard.
A Vanguard member intercepted Trisha.
But before he could do anything—
A blur shot forward.
BANG!
The Vanguard member was sent flying backward, crashing violently into one of the stands.
Felix stood beside Trisha.
The Captains seated among the jury were already preparing to jump down when—
BANG!
The sound was loud and sharp, almost like a bomb had exploded inside the hall.
Everyone froze.
Every gaze turned toward the source.
The double doors had been thrown open with such force that they slammed against the walls.
And walking through them...
Was a man holding a cup of steaming coffee.
He was of fairly average height, perhaps even considered short for his age.
An axe was strapped across his back.
He took a long sip from his coffee as though he had walked into an ordinary morning meeting rather than the middle of a chaotic execution.
"Sorry I’m late."
He took another sip.
"I hope the verdict hasn’t been passed yet, right?"
Ella, who had been moments away from smashing her staff into one of the cohort, turned toward him with an irritated frown.
"Raze?!"
Captain Raze let out a long yawn.
He casually looked around the hall, taking in the frozen chaos surrounding him.
Then he took another sip from his coffee.
"Well..."
His eyes swept across the courtroom.
"It doesn’t matter, does it?"
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"The verdict can be overturned."