Father Black watched them freeze.
Not just pause—but hesitate.
And in that hesitation, he understood something fundamental.
He was right.
The one thing the Host of Heaven feared more than anything else in existence was Lucifer winning.
Not humanity's extinction.
Not the corruption of the Eighth Earth.
Not even the spread of sin.
No.
Lucifer Morningstar himself was the original wound carved into their race. The first betrayal. The first failure. The sin that proved Heaven was not perfect.
They could tolerate humanity's death.
They could tolerate devils, false gods, even corrupted worlds.
But they could not tolerate Lucifer claiming victory.
And Father Black's proposal—
Allowing the Fallen into the Eighth Earth—
Was a dagger pressed directly into that ancient scar.
Because if Lucifer entered the Eighth Earth freely, unopposed by Heaven…
Then the path to the Nether would be open.
Undisturbed and Unchallenged.
And once Lucifer crossed that threshold—
