Father Black let the stunned silence hang for just a heartbeat longer, then flashed a lazy, almost playful grin.
"One more time, for the people in the back," he said, voice light, like he was offering candy instead of rewriting the fate of worlds. "Heaven—join Earth. Fight with us against Lucifer."
His eyes slid past Gabriel, past Michael, and landed pointedly on Raphael far in the rear.
Raphael didn't need a second invitation. It seemed like be myself he had chosen not to speak, father Black was looking down on him.
In his mind, this was a single that should not go unpunished.
He shot forward like an arrow of pure indignation, wings blazing, stopping just behind Gabriel with a dramatic flare.
"Join humans?" Raphael sneered, loud enough for every watching soul to hear. "Those filthy, sin-soaked worms who roll around with devils and demons like pigs in mud? Disgusting. Allying with you trash would be a crime worthy of extinction!"
