Chapter 482: Verdict (3)
Chapter 480
"Yawwwn... Ah, fuck. Even though I overslept, I still feel sleepy. Damn."
Raze groaned as he rubbed his face, looking utterly exhausted despite the chaos unfolding around him.
He lifted his coffee again and took another slow sip.
Scanning the hall, his eyes eventually settled on Ray.
His brows furrowed.
"Judging by what I’m seeing right now... he has been sentenced to death, huh?"
In a flash—
Ella moved.
Her staff swung with brutal precision, slamming into the backs of the cohorts’ legs and sending them crashing to their knees.
At the same time, the Dark Wolf lowered its body.
It was about to lunge toward her.
The beast moved with blistering speed—so fast that Ella barely had time to react.
But before it could reach her, Raze moved.
His hand immediately grabbed the handle of the battle-axe strapped across his back.
In the next instant—
SHING!
The axe came free.
Raze swung.
BANG!
The blade crashed into the Dark Wolf’s neck with terrifying force.
Its head was cleanly sliced off.
Yet no blood spilled.
Instead, black mist erupted from the severed beast, swallowing its entire body before it vanished completely in a puff of dark smoke.
Silence.
The cohorts were still on their knees.
Ray remained chained to the reinforced pole, his silver hair hanging around his face as he stared at the scene unfolding before him.
Confusion filled his eyes.
At this point, everything was happening too quickly for him to properly process.
He had gone from being sentenced to death, to his friends attempting to break him out, to a giant wolf appearing, and now Raze had casually cut the creature down.
What the hell was going on?
Raze slammed the handle of his axe against the ground.
THUD!
He leaned against it casually, almost as though he hadn’t just decapitated a massive beast.
Then—
He took another sip of coffee.
His gaze shifted toward the jury.
Then toward Jack, who remained seated in his position despite the chaos that had erupted throughout the chamber.
"Why?"
His voice was calm.
The jury members exchanged glances.
Jack frowned.
"Why what?"
Raze looked back toward the jury.
"Why sentence him to die?"
"Because he is a threat that needs to be gone!" one of the jury members shouted.
Raze sighed.
He took another sip of his coffee before slowly turning his gaze toward the person who had spoken.
"He is a threat? Hm."
His eyes shifted toward Ray.
"I don’t see it."
He tilted his head slightly.
"I mean, did he attack you all so far?"
Raze gestured toward Ella with his coffee cup.
"Even though I was sleeping, I was listening to everything that was being said through Ella here."
He pointed his thumb toward the Captain standing beside him.
"Throughout the trial, he was never hostile. Even when he transformed, he only faced the Aberrant and no one else."
His expression remained calm.
"When we wanted to arrest him, he didn’t attack us."
"But he threatened you all!" Berg roared.
"He threatened to maul you all in the worst ways possible!"
"..."
Raze slowly turned his head toward the Legacy.
For a moment, he simply stared at him.
Then he tilted his head.
"Look, kid."
His voice remained casual, but something about it carried enough weight to make the entire hall feel quieter.
"The others might take fancy to who you are, but I don’t give a fuck whether your father is one of the Big Four or not."
Raze took another sip of coffee.
"When I speak, you keep shut."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"The adults are having a conversation here, so don’t interrupt."
[Jimmy_Parker: Damn. Spine Reaper got some aura here.]
Raze released another slight yawn.
He didn’t even seem bothered by Berg’s anger.
Instead, he looked straight toward the jury.
"You all sentenced a sixteen-year-old kid who hadn’t done anything yet to die..."
His voice became slightly more serious.
"...and you call it justice?"
The hall remained silent.
"For so many years, I have been called a lot of names."
Raze’s eyes lowered for a moment.
"Monster..."
A pause.
"Freak..."
Another pause.
"Heartless..."
He looked back at the jury.
"Why has none of you sentenced me to death?"
"Because you aren’t a werewolf!" a Captain from the jury shouted.
Raze gave a small nod.
"Aye."
He took another sip.
"I’m not, am I?"
He lowered the cup.
"Now listen..."
His gaze sharpened.
"If a human monster like me can push the Aberrants back..."
He glanced toward Ray.
"...what more can a real monster like him do?"
The question hung heavily in the chamber.
"We all saw the same thing, but I was there that day when he fought the Aberrant."
Raze’s fingers tightened slightly around his cup.
"Even with my prowess, I had to call the other Captains the moment I heard about the number of spines that creature had."
His eyes remained fixed on the jury.
"The same threat that the ’Spine Reaper’ needed help with..."
He pointed his cup toward Ray.
"...was the same threat he stood his ground against alone."
Raze paused.
"And he saved a lot of lives."
"Yes. He saved lives, and that was because his friends were there!" Berg barked angrily.
"If they weren’t, you think he would have cared?"
Raze sighed.
His shoulders dropped slightly.
"Someone tell this kid to shut his mouth..."
He looked toward Berg.
"...or I might really do something that will get me sentenced instead of the werewolf."
Berg shot to his feet, fury flashing across his face.
"Who the hell are—"
"Aspirant Berg."
Jack’s voice cut through the chamber.
His expression had hardened.
"One more word from you and you will be sent out of this hall."
Jack’s gaze became stern.
"Sit. Down."
Berg’s brows drew tightly together.
He clenched his teeth.
But after a few seconds, he reluctantly lowered himself back into his seat.
Raze looked back toward Jack.
The man gave him a small nod.
"Go ahead."
Raze slurped his coffee.
He glanced toward Ray for a brief moment before speaking again.
"You all spoke of his vices today..."
His gaze swept across the jury.
"...but did anybody say anything about his achievements in the Aspirant Corps?"
Jack raised a brow.
"What do you mean?"
Raze sighed.
Then, for the first time since entering the hall, he stood completely upright.
His relaxed posture disappeared.
He began walking forward, coffee cup still in his grasp.
One step.
Then another.
The entire hall watched him approach.
Until finally—
Raze stopped.
He stood in the exact same spot Berg had occupied a while ago.
"Since I was the one who made the arrest, I was charged with digging into him. I saw the reports. I watched the clips of his achievements in the Corps."
Raze’s expression remained calm as he continued.
"Five months ago or so, a Gate Break happened in a city, and a bunch of Aspirants were dispatched."
He slowly swept his gaze across the hall.
"The Aspirant Corps and the Iron Corps worked together to evacuate the civilians. We thought we had gotten everyone out."
A brief pause.
"But nobody knew that a group of humans were trapped inside a temple, praying when the incident occurred."
The hall grew quieter.
"Nobody noticed them. Nobody found them."
Raze’s eyes shifted toward Ray.
"Until Aspirant Dawson, with his weird werewolf abilities, managed to track them down, rescue them, and get them all to safety."
He took another sip of his coffee.
Then—
He let out a satisfied sigh.
His gaze traveled across the entire hall, looking at each and every person present.
".... If it wasn’t for Dawson, those people could have died either from the beasts or from the wreckage of the battle."
Raze’s eyes hardened.
"And you call him a threat to humanity?"
Nobody answered.
"Aspirant Dawson and his cohort were swallowed into a Red Gate."
He paused.
"The same Gate that churned out beasts before transforming into a deadly Red Gate that sucked them all inside."
Raze’s voice carried throughout the chamber.
"The Aspirant Corps classified them as dead because a Red Gate is such that nobody—not even the Big Four Legacies here—can enter."
His eyes moved toward the Legacy families.
"Nobody can interfere."
Raze stared directly at the jury.
"For months, they weren’t seen."
He raised his cup again.
"Then, after five months, they came back out."
His voice became heavier.
"And not only did Aspirant Dawson bring his friends back safely..."
A pause.
"They also brought back hundreds of survivors."
Murmurs immediately spread through the spectators.
"Humans who had been swallowed by Red Gates that appeared all over the human planets we had."
Raze’s eyes narrowed.
"People we had already classified as dead."
He pointed toward Ray.
"He brought them back."
The chamber fell silent.
"And you call him a threat to humanity?"
Raze chuckled silently.
He lowered his cup.
"Everybody knows me. I’m a man who doesn’t speak too much."
His expression hardened.
"But I just couldn’t let this slide."
He looked toward the jury.
"The Aberrants are our enemies."
His voice suddenly carried a weight that silenced even the murmuring spectators.
"And I say this with all my might: the day I spot anybody supporting these creatures, be you human or not, I will eliminate you all."
Raze spread his arms slightly.
"Come. Arrest me too."
"We can’t arrest you, Captain."
Jack shook his head.
Raze lifted a brow.
"Why? I just threatened humanity right now, though."
"You weren’t in the wrong. You were saying that because you will protect humanity. Hence, anybody supporting our enemy is also an enemy."
Raze’s lips curled into a smirk.
"Bingo."
He pointed toward Ray.
"So why are we convicting Aspirant Dawson?"
His expression became serious again.
"All he has said, all he has done, he did to protect his childhood best friend—the only person left from his past."
Raze looked around the hall.
"Doesn’t that make him human just like each and every one of us?"
He tilted his head.
"Or can’t werewolves have those they love too?"
"That’s not the point, Captain. We can’t let him go. He is too much of a threat to trust—"
The jury member barely finished before Raze shook his head.
"Coming to the Corps, Aspirant Dawson, even with his werewolf ability, could barely do much on the battlefield."
Raze’s gaze swept across the jury.
"Aspirant Flinn beat him to a pulp."
His eyes shifted toward Berg.
"Berg has beaten him to a pulp before, too. Not until Aspirant Kai saved him each and every time."
Raze tightened his grip around his coffee cup.
"Each time he went through something, he always came back stronger."
He paused.
"Each obstacle shapes him into something stronger."
His eyes narrowed.
"Doesn’t that make you all worried?"
"...."
The jury members glanced at one another, murmuring among themselves.
Raze continued.
"A kid who could barely defend himself against bullies became strong enough to go toe-to-toe with a Five-Spined Aberrant."
His voice rose slightly.
"And you all think you can easily execute him?"
He shook his head.
"In case you all forgot, this happened within the span of a year."
Raze’s eyes swept across the chamber.
"A fucking year."
The spectators remained silent.
"Even amongst the world’s geniuses, who can boast of such growth?"
His gaze returned to Ray.
"Now just imagine letting him live for another year."
Raze’s expression became increasingly intense.
"He could potentially defeat more Spined Aberrants."
He raised one finger.
"We need this kid."
A pause.
"And that’s because—"
Raze glanced back at Ray.
Then he nodded.
"—Aspirant Dawson is a person who grows stronger after each battle."
Ray’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Raze continued.
"I’m sure he has grown stronger after his battle with that Five-Spined Aberrant."
He looked toward the jury.
"So tell me..."
His voice became firm.
"Isn’t that what we need in this war?"
A beat of silence.
"Why should we be the ones always being attacked?"
Raze’s eyes burned with conviction.
"When will we take the fight to them, huh?"
He spread his arms.
"If it means striking a deal with the devil to keep humanity safe..."
His gaze settled on Ray.
"...why can’t we just do that?"
’Damn.’
Ray stared at him.
’In the space of a few weeks, how did he manage to deduce that about me?’
His eyes narrowed slightly.
His cohort were still on their knees, unable to understand where Raze was going with all of this.
Meanwhile, Berg and Bryce wore increasingly worried expressions.
They had clearly not expected the Captain’s defense to reach this point.
Not until a General from the jury finally spoke.
"So what?"
His voice cut through the chamber.
"Let him roam free?"
The General’s eyes remained fixed on Ray.
"You do know that he could kill us when given the chance, right?"
His expression hardened.
"We can’t risk it."
Another member spoke up.
"If you are right and he grows stronger with each battle, doesn’t that make him all the more dangerous?"
The General’s words echoed through the hall.
"If we let him live and he grows immensely powerful—too powerful to contain—and then decides to doom us all?"
"...."
The spectators nodded amongst themselves.
—Yes.
—That’s right.
Raze stared at one of them.
Then he sighed.
His shoulders dropped.
For a moment, he looked almost tired again.
Then—
He dropped his coffee cup.
CLACK!
The cup struck the floor.
Raze rolled his shoulders.
Crack.
Then he cracked his neck.
Crack.
His hand reached for the axe resting against his shoulder.
His fingers wrapped around the handle.
He began dragging it across the floor.
SCRRRR...
The metallic sound echoed through the chamber.
Raze was leaving his position.
He turned his back toward the jury, his expression tired once again as he slowly walked away.
Ray’s cohort stared at him as he passed them.
Still dragging the massive axe behind him.
But where was he going?
Ray’s eyes followed him.
Then—
Raze stopped.
He was standing directly before Ray.
His head tilted upward as he scanned the towering werewolf from head to toe.
Ray stared down at him.
Neither said a word.
Then—
Raze’s axe moved.
Blistering fast.
WAM!
The metallic, non-lethal part of the axe slammed into Ray’s face with the force of a speeding bus.
His head snapped violently to the side.
Specks of blood shot from the corner of his mouth.
The entire hall gasped.
[You have taken damage.]
A blue screen flashed before the Tribrid’s eyes.
[-10 HP]
Ray barely had time to process what had happened.
Before he could think—
WAM!
The weapon slammed into his abdomen with the same crushing weight.