Chapter 145 Saving Schaf (1/2)
Baal wasn't expecting such a crowd. Even as a Demon Lord, it was unnerving to be in the presence of so many powerful figures. Whatever Zero planned behind his back had better not be a repeat of what happened at Half Moon village. There was no way he was going to agree to what the brunet wanted. Death was the most lenient and apt punishment for a traitor. There was no chance of sparing Schaf.
Hades and King Yama sat at one end of the table. Gabriel hadn't approached the God of Death or the King of Trials regarding Kerberos or Schaf. Yet, the two most important visitors were at the table. Merlin also graced everyone with his presence, surprising even Lucifer. In addition to the Gods who attended the meeting, Shittomi and Amon decided to attend despite not being directly involved in the case.
”Now that everyone is present, let us commence the meeting. I shall read out their crimes. Please hold your objections until all their crimes have been read out,” Gabriel announced. Nobody spoke but there was a unanimous silent agreement.
”Kerberos, the Guardian of Hell's Gate has hereby committed the following offences. According to the inter-dimensional treaty signed between Heaven and Hell, Kerberos has committed a first offence crime against the abyss. He threatened to annihilate the stability of the abyss plane with his amassment of magic to turn back time. His sins and punishment will be dealt with accordance to the laws of Heaven seeing that he is the direct subordinate of Hades - the God of Death.”
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Gabriel continued to read out sections of the clause Kerberos had broken with his scheme. Zero almost yawned listening to the lengthy speech but tried his best to remain awake.
”The second offender is Schaf, Kerberos' accomplice. By aiding Kerberos to amass magic stones for the purpose of turning back time and threatening the abyss plane's stability, Schaf has committed first-class treason against the abyss plane. His punishment is decided by the verdict passed by at least three out of six, no seven, Demon Lords. The Demon Lords Lilith, Baal, Lucifer and Mammon have decided that Schaf will be escorted to the Purgatory to have his crimes weighed and judged accordingly. There shall be no parole for his crimes before the judgement.”
Zero sat up straight and gave Enma a meaningful glance. Just the night before, Zero called Hades, Enma and even Merlin to let them in on his plans. As is luck was on his side, Gabriel hasn't contacted any of them. That gave Zero the advantage he needed to win them over to his plan.
It was a very simple plan. Hades would punish Kerberos briefly and let Kerberos guard Sleepy Cave for about a hundred years until Bob was strong enough to take over the duty. This meant that Hades could instil discipline in his dog while keeping an eye on the dangerous dimensional monster. Sleepy Cave was a hazard that needed to be watched. Hua Tuo had no concerns about having a three-headed dog act as a guard. Merlin thought it was a brilliant idea. Having a powerful guard there meant that Hua Tuo was free to travel more and Merlin could free the resources he used to guard the Cave for something else.
The second part of Zero's plan involved Enma and Buddha. The God of Enlightenment will offer Schaf an olive branch to make up for his sins when Enma is judging him for the sins he'd committed. It was a good cop and bad cop strategy like what Isis had suggested. Without any better options, Schaf would surely choose the path of repentance. To sweeten the deal, Zero asked if arrangements could be made for Schaf to return to Heaven's fields after he has repaid his sins. Hades agreed out of obligation much to Zero's delight.
All that was left was for the verdict to be passed after the meeting. Bob and Mii didn't know what to think about Zero's plan. It sounded frighteningly reasonable and for a moment they wondered if Zero came up with such a plan by himself.
”Any objections?” Gabriel asked. He looked around and found that nobody looked too pleased or discontented. The Gods were wearing poker faces and the Demon Lords were expressionless. Even Zero looked completely neutral as if he was meditating.
”If there are no objections, the meeting will be concluded. Thank you for attending the meeting, the administrative team will prepare the necessary documents by tomorrow. Kerberos and Schaf will know about their sentences once the verdict is out.”
The archangel bowed and excused himself but nobody else in the room moved. Once they were certain that Gabriel had left, Merlin broke into a proud smile. Enma gave Zero a look and nodded before giving the brunet a pat on his head before leaving. Hades bowed and apologised to the Demon Lords.
”I'm terribly sorry for all the trouble Kerberos has given you. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make it up to you. It must have been difficult sustaining the plane with my dog causing trouble.”
Lucifer was touched that a Great God would lower his head to apologise on behalf of his subordinate. ”Please do not say such things, Hades. We are glad that you can finally be reunited with Kerberos. The fact that you've already decided to punish Kerberos strictly is enough for us. It was our fault for not getting to the bottom of the case sooner.”
Merlin looked uncomfortable when Lucifer said that. For the wizard, it was very difficult to admit that Schaf was only able to get so far because he'd allowed laziness to get better of him. Hunting for a single document when he had an entire library to maintain was something that Merlin thought he could procrastinate on. He assumed that it had been misplaced and didn't bother to look further into it. If it weren't because of the Demon Lords' efficiency, Merlin would never have known that it was stolen. Zero raised his brow at Merlin but the Wizard God decided to look the other way. He couldn't bring himself to apologise and Zero's expectant stare was hurting him.
Eventually, the Wizard God gave up.
”I'm sorry about the stones too.... that was my fault. There, I said it. Is that enough?” he snapped at Zero who beamed.