Chapter 490 (1): Left Hand of Divine Throne, Right Hand of Divine Throne

Heaven.

Ruined temple in the Heaven of Crystals, the Ninth Heaven.

Wayne sat on the throne. Below, six of the Seven Sacred Virtues sat on two sides of the long white table: Viceroy Mikhael (Humility), Hesione (Purity), Auriel (Generosity), Gerar (Temperance), Vilkul (Gentleness), and Milia (Diligence).

One chair was empty since Lahr wasn’t around. On the table was his divine artifact, the Staff of Gospel.

Lahr was currently in Hell. Pride had repaired the skeletal dragon by extracting the thoughts of a great number of demons, mixed with the cantos of Fear among the Seven Deadly Sins, making Lahr the new Lord of Fear. Because of the chaotic mix of thoughts, the Lord of Fear was a madman who fit right in with Hell’s culture.

The Sacred Virtues stared at Mikhael darkly, their gazes scorning the traitor.

It was a demonstration of their loyalty!

Mikhael ignored the vermin. Dressed in a white, gilded robe with long, sparkly blond hair, he took a deep breath of the sweet scent of the Heaven of Crystals, shifting his bottom to better feel the white chair beneath him. His eyes narrowed as he neared ecstasy.

This was it! He had been waiting for this day!

For this moment, he was willing to give his all, even going against his conscience and bowing to the bastard Anointed One.

Suddenly, Mikhael opened his eyes and slammed the table. “Trash, you bunch of trash. Father’s residence has been destroyed, yet you’ve done nothing—you couldn’t do anything. With vermin like you, Heaven will sooner or later meet its doom!”

Then he carefully wiped the dust from his sleeve, showing great care for his pristine white attire.

“What are you on about, Mikhael? Who do you think damaged Father’s residence? It was you, traitor!” Auriel slammed the table and shot to his feet, glaring at Mikhael like he was going to fight the traitor with his Spear of Thorns.

Whether he could win or not, he had to reaffirm his stance! Besides, even if he couldn’t defeat Mikhael, Mikhael wouldn’t dare beat him up right in front of the Anointed One, would he? Ha, the Anointed One would surely stop him.

Mikhael’s sins were much greater than Auriel’s. Compared to him, Auriel could be considered the second most loyal angel in Heaven.

The most loyal would be Hesione, who had long attached herself to the Anointed One and served him well. No one else could even compete with her. She was way out of their league.

Mikhael frowned at Auriel. Learning that it was ‘him’ who had ruined the temple, he composed himself and stopped himself from losing his temper, his face distorting for a moment. He regretted not torturing the replica before his death.

He had gone too easy on the replica!

“The temple isn’t a problem. Once I enter the tenth floor, I’ll restore this place.” Wayne leaned back and propped his chin on a hand. The entrance to the tenth level was right beneath him, and the key was in his hand. He planned to take Hesione there after the meeting.

He didn’t know who the true successor was; he could only narrow it down to either Hesione or Pride.

It was definitely not him.

The prophesied doomsday would arrive at any time, and a powerful support was necessary. The Heavenly Father’s successor had to reclaim their rightful place. Wayne would assume for now it was Hesione, and he was willing to give the Heavenly Father’s legacy to her.

He wouldn’t take the legacy. This was just posturing. He promised not to lay a finger on it.

As for the already corrupted ninth heaven, he would like to offer an apology. The style wasn’t too bad. The Astral looks were in line with the Heavenly Father’s standards of beauty, and he was sure that Hesione wouldn’t mind.

Hearing that the temple could be restored, Mikhael sighed in relief, and the other Sacred Virtues relaxed.

“Anointed One, why is Mikhael still here?” Auriel asked with a frown. “Forgive me for not being wise enough to understand your decision. In my opinion, he should’ve been executed like the traitor Lahr.”

The other Sacred Virtues agreed, save for Hesione.

She had stayed silent since she believed the Anointed One had to have his reasons. Her colleagues were too shortsighted to understand the Anointed One’s greatness. While she didn’t understand, either, she knew she should stay quiet when she didn’t know anything. She just had to wait for further instructions.

“Lahr refused to repent, so he died,” Wayne said. “Mikhael, on the other hand, repented when staring death in the eye and earnestly welcomed his judgment. For that, I forgave him and gave him a chance to redeem himself.”

“You give rewards and punishment fairly and balance being merciful and authoritative,” Auriel praised. “You’ve made the right decision, Great Anointed One.”

“I’ve been too quick to judge.”

“I saw only the sins right ahead of me and neglected the big picture and the broader world. I’m too short-sighted compared to you, Great Anointed One.”

The other Sacred Virtues echoed the sentiment.

Hesione was going to say something, but realized that the others had already said everything there was to say. She was speechless. How could Heaven develop well with this bunch of vermin? She swore that she would never expect anything from the vermin. She had to take a stand when the time came. She resolved to assist the Anointed One in managing Heaven and never tolerate any existence who could taint the Anointed One.

Son of a beach, how is this any different from Hell?! Mikhael thought. Everyone here was trash. He was the only Sacred Virtue who was actually virtuous. The Anointed One was a bastard as well. As the one reliable viceroy, he would not allow these incompetent fools and one bastard to destroy what the Heavenly Father had built.

“Speaking of which, this is my second time in Heaven. The first time, I stood at the gate for a while. Today, I entered Heaven and got a clear look at the Seven Sacred Virtues...” Wayne stroked his chin. “I’m disappointed. Among the Sacred Virtues, Hesione is my only loyal supporter. Everyone else has either rebelled against me or cursed me out, calling me a demon and putting me in an awkward place. I almost walked away.”

...I wasn’t. I didn’t. I’ve always been a staunch supporter of the Anointed One. Milia messaged Hesione. This was a key time to make their stances clear, and the good and bad would be determined. She hoped that Hesione would lend her friend a helping hand so that she wouldn’t be labeled as a desecrator.

Hesione made a face. She hesitated over whether she should say anything to Wayne. She knew that if she did, the Anointed One would correct himself and exclude Milia from the list of trash, putting her on the list of loyal subordinates instead. However, the Anointed One had already made his statement. If she said something, and the Anointed One corrected himself, how would the other Sacred Virtues think of her?

She didn’t mind, but it wouldn’t be ideal if the Anointed One’s authority was undermined.

Under Milia’s insistence, Hesione smothered a sigh and selfishly leveraged her personal connection to help her friend out. In case her colleagues overthink it, she sent Wayne a private message about Milia’s innocence rather than speaking up right before the Sacred Virtues.

Diligence had neither rebelled nor insulted the Anointed One. She was a good, loyal subordinate.

“Hesione is right!” Wayne nodded, addressing the table. “I made a mistake. Hesione just reminded me that Milia did not participate in the rebellion or call me a demon. She’s innocent. My earlier comment was incorrect, so I’ll take it back.”

(눈_눈)

Hesione wasn’t surprised at all.

Auriel and the other vermin turned to her enviously. A sex-payer was certainly privileged. There was no use for them to envy her. In the future, Hesione would wield great influence in Heaven, so they just had to keep their distance.

Milia responded telepathically in joy, marveling at Hesione’s influence. Once Hesione became the viceroy, she hoped that she wouldn’t forget her pitiful friend.

Hesione felt numb.

“Hmph, serving your master with your body and leveraging your body for power? How shameless!” Mikhael shot Hesione a cold glance. “What a pure Śār. Look at all the stigmata on you. I’m sure you’ve gone hard while protecting the Anointed One in the human world. Good work. You’re the greatest contributor in Heaven.”

Hesione clenched her fists and bit out, “Take it back, Mikhael. Do not smear the Anointed One’s name.”

“Oh, yeah. I cannot badmouth you since calling you filthy would be akin to calling the Anointed One filthy,” Mikhael said sarcastically. “What a clever plan, Śār. Let me guess, we’ll soon have to call you Viceroy Hesione of Heaven, won’t we?”

“Bastard!” Hesione gnashed her teeth, her eyes blazing with ire.

“Mikhael, did you come to Heaven for entertainment?” Wayne drawled.

Mikhael paused. He had unconsciously played the role of a spectator as he did in Hell when he saw this bunch of vermin. Only when Wayne reminded him did he realize that he had failed to adjust his role.

Yes, he was now Mikhael, the Viceroy of Heaven and He Who Is Like God. He was second to only one superior and enjoyed the glory of all, no longer the grungy, shameful Lord of Pride in Hell.

“Ahh!”

With a blissful look on his face, he lowered his head, his shoulders shaking nonstop.

The braindead behavior left the other Sacred Virtues astounded. Mikhael hadn’t been like this, at least not in front of them. They suspected that the Anointed One had literally damaged his brain.

Wayne smothered a smile, satisfied with his decision to bring Pride to Heaven and make him a viceroy. He wasn’t worried about Pride making a mess in Heaven. That guy was dead loyal to the Heavenly Father. Even Hesione paled in comparison in that regard.

Aside from his perverted side, he was a perfect viceroy.

Wayne turned to the other Sacred Virtues. “Mikhael is right. I do favor Hesione, and to me, she is far more important than any other angels. Do you have any problem with that?”

Hesione blushed, trying to stay calm but failing.

The other Sacred Virtues lowered their heads silently. They didn’t have any complaints.

“However, thoughts like that shouldn’t be voiced, so watch yourselves and don’t run your mouth in front of me. Hesione and I have a pure relationship, one between the Anointed One and a Śār.”

“In the human world, Hesione was the first to find me and believe me to be the Anointed One. Despite opposition, she took me to Heaven. When everyone attending this meeting... save for Milia, tried to kick me to Hell, Hesione continued to support me. She contributed the most to the Anointed One’s return to Heaven. Do you have anything to say about that?”

They shook their heads.

Mikhael had something to say. He mumbled that without his seal, Hesione would’ve never found the Anointed One, let alone guard him personally until she was covered in stigmata inside out. From every perspective, he should be considered the biggest contributor!

It irritated him that Hesione would become a viceroy, too. Who did she think she was, becoming another Viceroy of Heaven like Mikhael?!