Several minutes after Lakshman walked out of the trial room, the Commandment of Justice yelled loudly in anger. They had already stopped broadcasting the visual from that room as they feared something else might happen to make them lose face in public. So, his screams of anger and rage were only witnessed by the angels present in that room.
With his screams stopped, Ford glared at them all and shouted, “Why are you all standing around for?! He just attacked me, the Commandment of Justice and the leader of the Nine Commandments of Light! Go after him!”
Alan glared at him fiercely and bellowed, “That’s enough from you, Ford! You’ve crossed your limit!”
Ford was taken aback at the shout and he asked, “What limits? What nonsenses are you sprouting?!”
“Have you already forgotten what just happened? Has it slipped through your mind that quickly?!”
“N-No!” Ford replied with his face filled up with anger. “How could I forget? He manhandled me and gone as far as to destroying the room!”
Ben, the Commandment of Benevolence, snorted and said, “No, idiot. He destroyed your pride!”
Ford looked shocked at those words as Ben continued speaking.
“He destroyed your pride in public view. Remember? Everything happened in the trial was broadcasted to everyone to witness; directly ordered by you of course. They saw everything; from the point of him grabbing you, countering your spells and throwing you like a rag doll into the wall.”
“Good thing he didn’t take you seriously, or he would’ve killed you and there was nothing we could’ve done to save you! I didn’t expect him to this powerful or aggressive when he becomes angry!” Reece, the Commandment of Respect, said with a resigned look on his face.
“Be glad that he came to make friends; not enemies,” said Hip, the Commandment of Friendship, with a heavy sigh.
Ford was alarmed by the words spoken to him by his comrades and he suddenly flew into a rage. He began to surge with power while radiating in golden-blue aura that surrounded him. The angel guards quickly backed away for fear of their lives as the rage of the Commandment of Justice was unleashed.
“THAT BASTARD!!!” he bellowed at the top of his voice and it caused the room to shake violently from the sheer pressure of his power. “HOW DARE HE—!”
Before he could complete his sentence, however, a shower of water dropped over him from above. A small black cloud hung over his head and continued to rain him with water until he calmed down and powered down before vanishing in thin air.
Completely soaking wet, Ford shook his hair and waved his white wings to get the water out of them. Then, he glanced towards the Commandment of Happiness with an exasperated look on his face.
“Must you always shower me with water?” he asked her in an exasperated voice.
Happy grinned happily and said, “It seems to work. Far better than words, I’d say.”
Ford stared at her with a strange expression on his face before shaking his head in exasperation. Then, he shook his head and ran a hand down his hair as he turned to look at his comrades.
“What’s the plan now?”
“We have to review the situation,” said Hope, the Commandment of Hope, with a look of discomfort forming on his face. “Like the rest of us, you’ve seen the memories he exchanged with us and they clearly prove his innocence.”
“They could just—?” Ford began, but he was shot down with a serious glare from Free, the Commandment of Freedom.
“That! That one-sided decision making of yours is what angered the Phoenix Titan and made him treat you like a rag doll!” Free said in a serious voice.
Ford flinched and said, “Stop repeating it so many times and what do you mean it angered him? I was making analytical deductions based on what I knew about him.”
“You surely were not when you screamed about your leadership and how your word is final,” said Free with a look of exasperation on his face.
“Oh…” said Ford and he suddenly looked uncomfortable with his behaviour. “I was just a bit angry because he labelled my deductions as injustice.”
“No. It was your ego that got hurt the most,” said Reece and caused Ford to grit his teeth in irritation.
“How many times have we told you to control that reckless justice and the respect the other person deserves?” Hip asked with an exasperated look on his face.
“Fine! Fine! I admit it! It’s my fault!” Ford said in annoyance despite not willing to admit it aloud. “Anyway, let’s review the situation based on the information we just received from the Phoenix Titan.”
As the rest of the Nine Pillars of Power nodded in agreement, the Commandment of Comfort snorted.
Ford knew what exactly she thought and he spoke to her seriously by saying, “Comfy! Either, be lazy or be serious! Decide on one already!”
Comfy shrugged her shoulders and she lazily leaned on her chair before closing her eyes with a blissful expression on her face. In a matter of seconds, she fell asleep while the rest left the room while muttering about what had taken place just now.
***
While the entire continent was focused on the trial, a certain someone was sitting silently in their room inside the angel castle. She was the daughter of the Angel King, Zex Angloid and that would make her the Angel Princess. She had golden wings sprouting out of her back, but were currently folded and she had long flowing white hair that fell, all the way, down to her waist.
The Angel Princess was wearing a gloomy expression on her face because of all that she had faced that day. It was her eighteenth birthday and on that day, the Angel King had arranged for a match fixing to decide her partner to be married to. Unfortunately, he could not be present because he had to attend the Phoenix Titan’s trail as the King of the Angels.
The princess, who had her head down gloomy, sighed deeply as a group of four maids stood near her. The maids looked worriedly at the princess, then glanced at each other before silently agreeing on what to do.
“Princess? Are you okay?” One of the maids asked in a concerned voice.
“Is something wrong?” Another maid asked with a worried look on her face.
“Do you perhaps need a drink?” A maid asked politely as she magically materialised a tray with a glass and jug of water.
The princess shook her head and remained silent while bringing up her hands to clutch her face.
The fourth maid, who had not said anything yet, suddenly realised why she was looking so upset.
“Is it the marriage partners, princess?” she asked curiously.
At those words, the princess swung her head up sharply and caused her white hair to swing back while gleaming in the light and revealed the beauty of the Angel Princess. She was very beautiful with smooth features and soft looking skin if anyone wanted to touch her. Her eyes were white and seemed to glitter in the sunlight streaming through the room windows.
“Don’t even remind me of it!” she said sharply and even though she spoke in anger, her voice sounded really light and nice to hear.
Like requested by her father, the Angel King, she had met with the marriage partners one-by-one privately in the castle as requested by parents of both sides. They believed it would give the young angels a time to themselves to find out more about each other and decide whether they should get married or not.
Each of the marriage partners were really rich with the backing of their parents and grandparents’ assets and properties. She really did not have anything to say to that, but their behaviour, attitude and beliefs upset her greatly.
One man practiced the sword daily and wanted someone on his level as a sparring partner, which he wanted to place her in. Another man clearly stated, without a doubt or hesitation, that she must listen to his every word, otherwise, he will punish her severely. Someone else was very calculating with the way he kept asking her about her assets, the money they currently hold and so on.
There were plenty more and they all displayed an odd sense of behaviour that caused her great discomfort. As such, once they all left and she was finally left free, she ran into her room and collapsed on her bed in tiredness. She could not believe how self-interested the men were that visited her and not once did she feel comfort with any of them.
“How can men be so selfish…? I don’t understand…” she muttered and caused the maids to look at one another.
The four maids had been present during the times the princess spent with each of the marriage partner, however, at a distance. Even so, they noticed the discomfort that the princess tried her best to avoid showing to the other party to not hurt their feelings. She only did it because she thought their hurtful feelings would come back to create a headache for her father, the Angel King.
“They just weren’t suited for you, princess,” said a maid a few seconds later.
“Yeah! They just aren’t meant to have a woman like you, princess,” said another maid brightly.
“Mmm…” the princess said slowly in a dull voice. “That guy who practices the sword, does it just to show off to his friends and colleagues. The guy who sounded like he wanted to control me; who the heck does he think he is? Did he think he could become king of the continent or rule me by marrying me?”
“They just aren’t simple peace loving people like you, princess,” said one of the maids with a small smile on her face.
“Maybe, but what is up with that calculating type person; constantly asking me about my assets and such. I mean, why did he need to know about them to marry me?” the princess demanded in an angry voice. “And, what is up with—?”
“Stop it already, Sonia!” one of the maids said in a sudden sharp voice and startled the princess into silence.
Normally, if a maid had used such a voice on a princess, she would be punished severely. It was not the same between the princess and these four maids because they were childhood friends. The four maids were hired at a very young age when the princess was just a kid and through the years, they grew up together to become really good friends.
“Just how long will you keep complaining about it?” the same maid asked with her eyebrows raised in annoyance and her hands placed on either sides of her waist. “Learn to let it go.”
Sonia nodded in agreement and said, “You’re right. I will let it go. I’ll let go of all these matches by telling father the moment he returns home! I can’t believe that none of them asked a damn thing about my likes, dislikes, hobbies, tastes and such. Absolutely nothing! Did they even pay attention to me at all? No! They just kept going on and on about their own stupid prideful activities! That’s why, I don’t need people that don’t care about me!”
The maid sighed while another maid shook her head and said, “Are you sure you’re making the right choice?”
Sonia nodded and said, “Yes because I’m before the marriage, so I doubt I can be happy after the marriage. It’d be just like burying myself in a grave that I dug for myself. I don’t want that!”
The third maid sighed and finally asked the really important question.
“What do you want then?”
Sonia suddenly looked as if she was staring into the distance while ignoring the maids standing in front of her.
“All I want is the love, happiness and friendship that come with the bond formed between a husband and wife,” said Sonia in a dreamy voice. “It was the same between my father and mother, but she is gone now and my father’s gotten a little distant with me. Even so, I want to try and achieve the same kind of wonderful relationship that existed between them.”
All three maids looked surprised while the fourth maid chuckled humourlessly, causing the princess to stare at her with an irritated look on her face.
“Sorry, but your dream sounds childish,” said the maid with a sorrow look on her face. “Most men, these days, don’t have much time to spend with their wives, let alone ensure you feel the way you want to feel.”
“That might be true, but I won’t give up! If there’s still a small hope, I’ll keep believing in it!” Sonia said in a firm voice with a confident expression on her face.
The four maids looked at each other and all at the same time, sighed heavily in resignation. They realised that nothing they said would change her mind, which they noticed since the moment they joined the maids of the castle. Inwardly, however, they were happy to see the simple loving friend of theirs continued to believe in simplicity than get accustomed to the luxurious life of a princess.
At that moment, the door to the room swung open and an elderly looking woman appeared. She was wearing rimmed spectacles on her nose and had her hair tied into a bun behind her head. Like the others, she was also wearing a maid uniform, but it appeared to be a different style to the rest. She had her hands placed on top of each other on her stomach as she gracefully entered the room.
“Ah! Nana!” Sonia said happily when she turned and saw the woman enter the room.
Sonia called her ‘Nana,’ but her actual name is Natasha. She served in the castle as the head maid since before Sonia was born and after her mother passed away, brought Sonia up like a mother. As such, Sonia calls her by the name ‘Nana’ because she considers the head maid as her second mother.
Sonia quickly got off the bed and onto her feet before she asked, “Nana! Has father returned?”
Natasha shook her head solemnly and said, “Unfortunately not. It seems that he is delayed at the Phoenix Titan trail.”
“Oh…” Sonia said slowly and looked very disappointed. She quickly recovered her smile and asked, “How about we see the trial? It’ll be a really good time killer, right?”
She winked at the head maid and brought a small smile to form on Natasha’s aging face.
“As you wish,” said Natasha and she bowed before releasing her hands and turning around.
She clapped her hand twice and held them both in front of her before she said, “Display Broadcast.”
In an instant, magic particles began forming in front of her like a large screen, which soon created a large rectangular shape that hovered above the ground. For a moment, the display appeared to be blank when, all of a sudden, visual began to stream into it for them to view.
“What?!” the four maids exclaimed while Natasha and Sonia stared at the screen in astonishment.
On the screen, a scene where a single man, sitting on a chair, was surrounded by seventy white winged angels. Those white winged angels were all super elites and are also super strong according to the training they regularly go through to keep their power and ranking position. All the them appeared to be gasping for breath while clutching their throats as if they were being choked.
The single man that was surrounded by the choking angels, seemed to be choking them with nothing, but his energy. This shocked the girls watching the broadcast screen as they believed the elite angels were as strong or stronger than the Phoenix Clan warriors.
At that moment, they heard the man speak in a powerful voice that stunned the girls watching the screen.
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“I am partially guilty for allowing the Voice of the Phoenix to take control of me and causing such mass destruction! Even so, I cannot let myself lose my ground here because I made a promise; a promise to my parents, to Felix, to my childhood friend and to everyone that I couldn’t protect. I am their hope and I will not allow myself to perish by a one-sided judgement from an arrogant man who delivers injustice!”
Hearing such passionate words caused Sonia’s heart to sympathise with the man, who was being submitted like a victim. Suddenly, the seventy angels suddenly staggered backwards as the man applied more of his power and caused Sonia’s eyes to widen in surprise.
“He’s trying to kill them!” the maids shouted in unison.
Sonia, on the other hand, shook her head slowly and said, “No, he’s not… This is just a… warning…”
They turned to stare at her in disbelief as they accepted her words without asking how she came to such a conclusion. Unlike them, she was very proficient in analysing magic and with such a skill at her disposal, she could instantly see how mercifully the man was handling the elite angels with white wings.
Just then, the Commandment of Justice angrily shouted, “I’ve heard enough! Leave this murderous bastard to me!”
His words caused a great wave of anger to surge within Sonia and she thought, “That arrogant fool!”
As the angels backed away in relief, the remaining members of the Nine Commandments of Light quickly rose to their feet. The Commandment of Comfort attempted to rise to her feet, but felt extremely lazy to apply her muscles. So, she remained sitting and watched the proceedings take place, causing Sonia to laugh heartily.
“Ford! We need to talk this through!” the Commandment of Freedom shouted in a firm voice.
Ford shook his head as he stared at the Phoenix Titan, who was still sitting on his chair before he said, “No more talking! It’s time to deliver the judgement!”
He began surging with power that caused the ground to quake violently, causing everyone to almost fall. While surging with power, he was surrounded by a golden-blue coloured aura, which was his Elemental Glow and represented his nature. With the nature of justice driven recklessness, Ford faced the Phoenix Titan with a fierce expression on his face.
“In the name of justice, I bring you the judgement of death!” Ford bellowed and he charged at the Phoenix Titan at high speed.
He towards his enemy at high speed, who appeared to remain motionless while still seated on his chair with his head bowed. As Ford reached his prey, he instantly pulled his sword out and attempted to cut the enemy down vertically.
Sonia suddenly felt a pain in her chest as if someone close to her was being attacked and she automatically cried out, “Get away!”
At that moment, the Phoenix Titan moved an unbelievable speed and dodged the swing of the sword as he rose off the chair. The swing of the sword from the Commandment of Justice cut the chair in half and caused it to topple to sideways. Without pausing to check, the Phoenix Titan brought his right arm forward and grabbing Ford’s neck firmly.
“GAAFFFF!!” Ford exclaimed sharply and he dropped his sword before attempting to desperately free himself from the choke hold the Phoenix Titan was holding him in.
The girls in the room, watched in shock as the Commandment of Justice was held firmly by the throat. They witnessed him conjure several magic attacks, but they all got destroyed before they could hit their intended target. Sonia immediately narrowed her eyes and guessed that the Phoenix Titan nonverbally countered all of them, becoming impressed in the process.
For a few seconds, the Phoenix Titan held Ford at the choke hold before throwing him aside as easy as throwing a rock. Ford flew away at high speed from the throw and smashed heavily into the side of the room wall. He lay in the rubble before he pulled himself out and staggered to his feet while rubbing his neck.
There was a stunned silence within the room before the four maids together whispered, “No way… The Commandment of Justice… The strongest of the warriors… was defeated… just like that?!”
“Impressive,” said Sonia happily and caused the maids to look at her in astonishment.
“Manners, princess,” said Natasha with a side long glance at her with a frown on her face.
Sonia grinned at her and said, “Cheer up, Nana. You know that arrogant guy deserved what he got!”
Natasha remained glancing at her, but the frown soon vanished and a small smile appeared on her aging face. The maids noticed this and they were alarmed by it, but did not say anything as they turned back to look at the screen.
“I’m sorry that I used violence, but I was left with no choice,” said the Phoenix Titan and he sighed heavily.
As the view focused on his face, Sonia suddenly gasped in shock the moment her eyes fell on his face. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in astonishment for reasons unknown to her. She suddenly placed a hand to her chest and gripped her clothes tightly as her heart began to beat faster for some reason. Glancing once at her chest in surprise, she looked back at the Phoenix Titan’s face displayed on the screen.
“I came here to make friends with the Angel race that I foolishly fought against and pushed away in the ancient times. Yet, I came all this way to see that the angels still hold a great grudge against the Phoenix Clan for our mistake so long ago. On behalf the Phoenix Clan and all those that hurt you so long ago, we are truly sorry! Please! Find it in your hearts to forgive us of our mistakes made so long ago!”
The angels seemed to be surprised, including the girls within that room. Sonia’s expression softened and a sad smile formed on her face at the sincere apology the Phoenix Titan was giving to the angels present there and to all others that were watching this live broadcast. It really created a powerful impression of him in her heart, which seemed to beat as a strange sensation ran through her chest.
After that, the Phoenix Titan used what seemed to be memory magic that would allow the angels present to view the memories he was exchanging with them. Sonia also wanted to see it, but realised it would not work due to being far away from the place. She did, however, become mightily impressed by unafraid he was of the gods when the angels fear them greatly.
It looked like they stood still for a few seconds before anyone moved again in the screen. When they did, the Phoenix Titan said something about leaving the judgement to the angel officials, causing Sonia to sympathise with him again, however, it caused her great confusion when he mentioned about ‘wives’ in his parting statement.
“This Phoenix Titan is really—!” she began when she stopped as the Phoenix Titan came to a stop and turned around as the view zoomed towards him.
“I may make mistakes in trying to do good, but if there is hope, even if it’s a dying one, I will keep on fighting for it!”
Sonia’s eyes widened in shock as she suddenly felt something jump in the pit of her stomach and an invisible arrow stab into her heart. Those words that he used were very similar to her own words with their similar beliefs in hope and she became mesmerised by him as he left.
As soon as the Phoenix Titan left the room, the broadcast was suddenly cut and the screen became blank. Realising the reason behind its apparent unreachability, the head maid deactivated the magic and the screen turned into magic particles that vanished into thin air.
“I can’t believe he defeated the leader of the Nine Commandments of Light!” One of the maids said in an alarmed voice. “Thrown aside like a rag doll! I simply can’t believe it!”
“That’s true!” Another maid said with a shocked look on her face. “He was chosen, at an early age, to be the Commandment of Justice due to how much power he possessed and the great symbol the star he was born under carried.”
“Yet, such a person was suddenly defeated with ease by someone from the Phoenix Clan?!” The third maid said with a horrified look on her face.
“I won’t forgive him!” The fourth maid said through gritted teeth with her hand clenched tightly. “I know he apologised for the made in the ancient times, but I cannot forgive him! He goes and defeats the man who stands for justice in our society?”
“I accept the Phoenix Titan’s actions,” said Natasha and surprised the four maids. As they looked at her with questioning looks on their faces, the head maid solemnly said, “It is us who should apologise to him instead. He came all this way to attend a trail upon learning that he was falsely blamed for the destruction of the Demon Continent and the countless deaths of its inhabitants.
As such, I feel he was in the right to let his anger out and manhandle the Commandment of Justice the way he just did. We are also forgetting the fact that the Phoenix Titan did not go seriously on him, which actually may have saved his life judging by the ease in which he grabbed his throat and threw the man aside. My support goes to the Phoenix Titan and I hope he is judged innocent.”
She, then, shrugged her shoulders and said, “In the end, I’m simply a head maid with the job of looking after the princess while leaving the main decision making to the heads of our society.”
The four maids looked at her in awe for a few seconds before they turned to ask the princess for her opinion. Before they can ask, however, they saw a strange expression formed on her face. She was still staring at the place the screen was moment before with a mesmerised expression on her face. This caused the maids to look at one another before turning back to look at the princess.
“Um… Princess,” began one of the maids questioningly, “what do you think of the Phoenix Titan’s actions?”
Instead of replying to the question asked, Sonia suddenly said, “It’s him…”
The four maids looked confused as they asked, “What?”
Sonia turned to look at all of them with a wide smiling forming on her face as she said, “It’s him! It’s the person I’ve fallen in love with! I’m in love with him!”
This alarmed the four maids and caused the heard maid to look at her with a curious expression on her face.
“H-H-How can you love him after all that he’s done?!” One of the maids demanded irritably. “Look at what he did to the Commandment of Justice! He was manhandled and his pride got crushed!”
Sonia waved a hand casually and said, “That was his fault for angering my beloved husband.”
The maids’ eyes widened in shock while Natasha stared at her with an expressionless face.
“H-H-Husband?!” the four of them exclaimed at the same time. “I think you’re jumping the process there!”
“It’s because I’m going to marry him, silly!” Sonia said cheerfully and stunned the maids.
“Look, Sasha!” said one of the maids in annoyance. “He’s the Phoenix Titan, one of the greatly despised Phoenix Clan member! How can you say you’re going to marry him?!”
Once again, Sonia waved her hand and said, “Hatred can be fixed with a good amount of love and I believe our union will be exactly that! Besides, you heard him! He came here to make friends; not enemies!”
“Yes, but…” said the maid slowly and hesitated as she desperately tried to think of some way to stop her from thinking about marriage at that moment.
Natasha suddenly said informatively, “He is already married, princess.” Sonia looked at her in surprise as she continued to say, “Yes. He was married ten-years-ago to seven wives and only recently got married to another wife. That makes a total of eight wives that are currently married to him.”
Sonia was taken aback by the information she just learnt and the maids suddenly took the opportunity it created.
“See! He’s already married eight! I doubt he has any more room to marry a ninth one!”
“That’s right! He might have enough fingers to count them, but not enough hands to take care of them all at the same time!”
Sonia remained silent for a second before she calmly said, “Oh well. I might as well become the ninth.”
The maids looked as if they were thunderstruck while Natasha nodded her head slightly in agreement.
“You want to what?!” the maids exclaimed in unison with shocked expressions on their faces.
Sonia grinned at them as she said, “Think about it. The God of Freedom said we are free to marry however many wives we want, so long as love can be shared equally. The Phoenix Titan’s been married to seven wives before recently getting married again. With eight wives by his side, he’s surely providing equal love, happiness and friendship to them all, right?”
As the maids looked confused and clueless, Natasha suddenly looked at her seriously as she asked, “Does it have to be him?”
Sonia heard the seriousness in her voice and also saw it in her face. Putting on a serious face of her own, she nodded back as she said, “Yes, Nana. I do love him and I really do want to be with him!” She suddenly looked embarrassed as she said, “I guess this is what you call ‘love at first sight’ right?”
The head maid stared at her seriously for a moment before nodding slightly in understanding.
“Very well. I understand,” said Natasha and surprised the maids by her next dialogue. “I will arrange a plan for you to visit the ground world secretly to meet him in person to express your feelings.”
“Thanks, Nana! You are the greatest!” Sonia exclaimed happily and she rushed forward to hug the head maid tightly in happiness.
The four maids stood at the side with looks of unease planted all over their faces. They were unable to do anything to stop this love bonding and as such, they sighed in resignation as they just gave up.
“What we now do is be quiet and keep this all a secret?” the four of them asked in unison in dull voices.
“You’re absolutely correct!” Sonia said and she beamed at them as she broke away from Natasha to give each of them a hug.
“Wait for me, my beloved~! I’ll be with you soon~!” she thought cheerfully while smiling happily.
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Author's Note
Hello my amazing readers and thank you for reading this wonderful chapter. Well, I believe it's wonderful because I did some thinking and after coming to a conclusion, I wrote this one blast. Almost a blast because it took me two days to write and while I am surprised that it turned into such a long chapter, I still found it enjoyable to write. So, I hope that you also found it enjoyable and will want to read more as the story continues!
On a side note, I spent a bit of time making my first AMV and I feel it turned out pretty good. Sure, it might be not that great compared to some of the pros on youtube, but it's the best that I managed with my ample amount of creativity and resources available for me. The song is called Bring Me A War, sung by A Skylit Drive and the anime I used is DBZ. Please check it out here.