Power Thief's Revenge [BL]-Chapter 199: Wits and Will

The Hague was cold that morning, washed in rain and the color of steel. The limousine hummed quietly down the narrow street, wipers scraping back and forth like tired metronomes. Hermes sat by the window, watching droplets race each other down the glass.

Across from him was Shani and Raphael.

"So." Hermes began, breaking the silence. "This is it. The Soyuz trial by the International Criminal Court."

"Pre-trial," Shani corrected without looking up. His tone was light, almost teasing. "They’re just deciding whether to have a real trial later. Think of it as a dress rehearsal."

Raphael nodded. "A prologue. An overture."

"That’s one way to put it," Shani said. He finally looked up from the file, his rusty eyes with silver rings calm but sharp. "Russia insists they can’t be tried at all. They’re not part of the ICC, so technically the Court has no jurisdiction."

"Then why go through with it?" Hermes asked.

"Because," Shani said, "the Soyuz landed on American soil. And the ones who brought it down were two very famous American heroes."

He smiled faintly. "That complicates everything."

Hermes frowned. "So the ICC’s just bending the rules?"

"Russia has all rights to decline, but..." Shani corrected. "ICC had warned them about how if they chose to not have a trial, they would be allowing other countries to make their assumptions about them without knowing the facts. And that can tarnish their international relations."

"That’s... basically blackmail, huh?" Hermes muttered.

"With some diplomatic poetry, yes."

Raphael crossed his arms. "And we are here to testify against them, correct?"

"You two are key witnesses for the prosecution," Shani said. "You saw everything. You rescued the children. You made sure the ship stayed intact."

Hermes frowned. "Are we also being put under scrutiny?"

Shani’s mouth curved. "Luckily, not for the law. You didn’t kill anyone, didn’t damage the ship, didn’t make things worse. But you’ve definitely made enemies. Our relationship with Russia has always been difficult, and they despise American heroes quite openly."

"Why?" Hermes asked.

"Well, they see American heroes as nothing more than divas in capes. American heroes are used for marketing, entertainment, and media influence. Russian heroes are more like firefighters, soldiers, police officers— They are focused on serving the country without getting much screentime."

A few moments of silence passed. The van hit a puddle. Water splashed up the sides like static. Hermes stared out at the quiet, rain-washed city... white buildings with blue glass, people hurrying by in coats and umbrellas.

Raphael then broke the silence. "Your power, Verdict... It managed to manipulate our destinies, saving us from a life-long curse. What are the limitations? Can you change the fate of the world?"

Shani smiled as though he’d been expecting that question. "Verdict isn’t about control. It’s about equilibrium. I weigh what a soul has done against what the universe has given back. I just give people what is coming for them."

Just in time, something caught Shani’s eye. He leaned against the window, gaze fixing on the crowd gathered across the street....

A blur of umbrellas, flashing cameras, and shouting reporters.

At the center of it all stood a tall man in an immaculate navy coat, surrounded by bodyguards and microphones. His smile gleamed for the cameras, all charm and polish, but his eyes didn’t match.

Shani’s tone softened, almost curious. "Well... speak of imbalance."

Hermes followed his gaze. "Who’s that?"

Shani’s lips curved faintly, though his eyes darkened. "A British noble. Lord Callum Vexley, Duke of Edevane. Philanthropist. Humanitarian. Savior of refugees... or so he likes to say."

The cameras flashed again, catching the man’s self-satisfied grin.

Shani continued quietly, "He’s been accused of trafficking thousands of immigrants through his ’charity’ housing projects. Even funded ethnic purges across half a dozen countries. But lack of evidence... cleans all sins."

Raphael frowned. "So he’s walking free."

"Not for long." Shani corrected. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

The van rolled forward through the drizzle. Shani didn’t take his eyes off the noble gaze unreadable somewhere between pragmatic calmness and righteous fury. Hermes felt the hairs on his arms rise.

He didn’t know why, but something in Shani’s silence told him that the next few minutes would not be ordinary.

The van slowed near the edge of the crowd. Reporters shouted over one another, lights from their cameras scattering like artificial stars. Lord Vexley turned his head slightly, teeth gleaming as he gave some well-rehearsed answer about false accusations and political sabotage. He looked as if he believed he was untouchable.

Hermes leaned forward. "You really think he did it?"

Shani’s eyes never left the man. "I don’t think. I know."

"Then—"

"Why don’t we confirm?" Shani said softly. He raised one hand, palm open to the rain.

The air shimmered. Tiny constellations bloomed between his fingers, tracing the faint outline of a balance scale made of starlight. Sanskrit glyphs spun around it, glowing like fireflies caught in glass. The world dimmed slightly... as if the clouds thickened, muting all color but gold.

Raphael blinked hard. "Wait, you’re.... You’re using it here? In public?"

"Only you two will see it," Shani said, calm as a man reciting a prayer. "Verdict hides from the undeserving."

The constellation scale tilted gently in his hand. Across the street, faint scripts began to form around the British noble. Lines of glowing dust, symbols too ancient for Hermes to recognize. It rose from Vexley’s body like smoke.

The scale tipped violently to the right, the saffron and green heavier than the white and blue.

"It’s not like ours," Hermes murmured, remembering the imbalance Shani once revealed between him and the others.

"No," Shani said. "Yours leaned toward fate. This one..." His eyes hardened. "This one leans toward his own choices. This means that his misdeeds are larger than the punishments he received. It’s not fair."

The golden glyphs scattered like embers, and in Shani’s right hand the constellation light condensed...metal forming out of brilliance, shaping into a sword that shifted seamlessly into a spear, its shaft engraved with stars.

Hermes instinctively reached out. "Wait... Are you going to—"

"Yes."

Shani hurled the spear.

It cut through the air without a sound, invisible to everyone else. The moment it struck Vexley’s chest, the noble froze mid-sentence. The cameras kept flashing, the reporters still yelling questions... but Hermes saw the man’s face pale, his confident grin crumbling.

Vexley staggered back, clutching at his heart. The spear dissolved into stardust. No one but Hermes and Raphael seemed to notice a thing.

"What... what happens now?" Hermes whispered.

Shani lowered his hand. "You’ll see."

Right then, a flurry of voices erupted from the reporters. Phones buzzed, cameras swung away from the noble as a woman shouted, "Breaking news! The Crown has revoked the Duke’s title, effective immediately!"

Another reporter cut in, "They’re transferring him to Emirati custody?!"

"The Al Jinn family? Weren’t they the ones that the duke once had close relations with before but then he ultimately betrayed them by putting the blame on them for all his accusations?"

Vexley’s head snapped toward them, horror replacing arrogance. "No! No, that’s not possible! You can’t—"

He tried to push through his guards, shouting incoherently. The crowd watched in confusion as security men grabbed his arms. His voice rose higher, desperate.

"I didn’t do anything wrong! You can’t send me to them! They’re maniacs! They’re gonna make me into a sex slave and torture me!!!"

The media frenzy turned chaotic, microphones thrust forward, questions shouted over each other.

Hermes stared, frozen. He was terrified but also amazed by his old friend’s power.

Outside, the noble was still screaming as he was dragged toward the waiting convoy, his perfect image dissolving into panic. The crowd devoured it, some pitying, others gleeful... but to Hermes, it didn’t just feel like justice. It felt like an inevitability.

He turned back to Shani, who simply brushed the remaining stardust from his palm. "You made him suffer for what he did to others."

"The Golden Rule." Shani smiled. Do not do unto others what you do not want to be done to you."

"Alright," He said, twisting around. "We’re here. Everyone got their serious faces ready?"

Hermes didn’t answer. He was still watching Shani. The man’s calm expression returned, but Hermes noticed the faint tremor in his fingers before he tucked them into his coat pocket. Maybe Verdict did cost him something after all.

Raphael gracefully got out of the limo. "Your power is truly magnificent, Shani. It’s good that we’re on the same side."

Shani smiled faintly. "I’m on justice’s side. If you stay there, then we shall always be on the same side."

They stepped out into the drizzle. Reporters turned immediately toward the new arrivals, cameras flashing, questions overlapping in English, Russian, Dutch. Hermes pulled his hood tighter, ignoring the noise.

As they walked toward the entrance, Raphael leaned closer. "Will you be alright, my Lord.?"

Hermes hesitated. "I don’t know.... This is my first time in a foreign country and being in a court trial.... We’ll see how it goes."

Hermes had experienced many hardships, like fighting gods and monsters. But somehow, something as relatively mundane as a court trial was more intimidating. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t settle this by just fighting or taking the powers of others.

This was a battle of wits and will.