Least in Heaven: Chapter 1 – A Judas Priest

Cover by @An_dres_art

Chapter 1 – A Judas Priest

My life was never something I enjoyed. It was never something I could say I was proud of, and yet I never tried to change it. As a mercenary masquerading as a priest, I only took up the priesthood for the cover it provided. During an age of resurging traditionalism, no one batted an eye at another man who wanted to be a priest, especially when I appeared to have all the signs of someone who truly wanted to serve God. People would come to me at my secluded monastery, give me my job, and I’d complete it. Then I’d resupply and rest back at the monastery. In my line of work, I killed all kinds of men: normal, superhuman, those with power, those with little to none, those who were religious, those who pretended not to be, those who were traditionalist, and those who were liberal, not caring who I killed, only caring that I got paid.

The only man who did care about what I did was Fr. Francesco. Everyone else in the monastery either kept to themselves, was too afraid to scold me, or was in the same business as me; however, Fr. Francesco was the most honest priest I knew. He constantly hounded me about my sins in such detail that it seemed like he was there. Fr. Francesco said he heard it from his guardian angel, who was told about it by my guardian angel. I didn’t care much for his judgments. What I cared about was arguing over the moral justifications as if they actually mattered, only to shrug them off in the end.

He got slicker about trying to convert me during the days I tried to relax. He’d read me Scripture verses, fictional stories, his life stories, and stories about the saints that would in some way relate to my sins or lead up to a lesson about repentance and the cost of murder. Despite him constantly being after me, some part of me enjoyed his company and efforts. Maybe it’s because he’s the only person who made an effort to care about me and never gave up. One day, a group of people who wanted revenge against me came to shoot up the monastery.

When it happened, Fr. Francesco saw them first and shielded me from their bullets. After taking care of them, everyone in the monastery was dead except for me, and Fr. Francesco, who was somehow clinging to life. I tried my best to heal him, but he stopped me because he knew that this was his end.

With his final breath, Fr. Francesco said, “Repent. Repent, Fr. Luther. There’s goodness in you that can yet be saved.”

As he breathed his last, he spewed fire on my face. I writhed and screamed in pain as the fires felt as if they burned me down to the soul.

“Do not let this opportunity go to waste, Luther. What’s there left to live for? Your next paycheck? The next murder? Why not give yourself to the role you pretend to be in for something greater?” I heard a voice say.

I decided to do as Fr. Francesco said, and soon after, the fires subsided. Looking around, I saw a winged dark figure with a white bird helmet, a white halo, and three white pincers for fingers appear over me.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Your guardian angel, the one who was feeding information to Fr. Francesco’s guardian angel, to him so he could help you repent,” he said.

“Ah. So, you’re the snitch?”

“There’s no time to joke. Your life will soon come to an end, and you will either spend it making up for what you’ve done or being alone here until you grow too old enough to take care of yourself.”

Feeling a debt to Fr. Francesco and not really caring about living a long life, I accept the request to make up for what I’ve done, and ask, “What do I need to do?”

“Something you’re familiar with. Giovanni Coronamento continues his sinful works in the shadow of the Dominion’s new world order. Bring him to repentance and kill everyone else who stands in your way.”

“That’s it?”

“That is all.”

“Why something so simple?”

“An assassin is who God made you to be, and an assassin is all you are.”

“I can’t argue with that. Alright. I’ll take on that contract for the salvation of my soul.”

It’s been a few days since I chose to change. I’ve been on Giovanni Coronamento’s trail so I could pick the right opportunity to get to him, and it hasn’t been easy. He’s a celebrity to the public, and always has guards and others surrounding him as if he’s expecting someone to take his life, even in this new world he’s helped to create, where he’s part of the leadership ruling the world. He’s never too hard to pick out from the crowd, given his slicked back black hair, confident green eyes, and he usually wears purple and gold dress outfits. In between my recon, my guardian angel pushes me to pray, so I do so for advice and to regain some patience.

“It’s good that you’re taking my advice and growing closer to God,” my guardian angel says.

“I don’t feel many of the benefits,” I admit.

“You don’t need to feel them to get anything out of it. I know a man like you hardly feels anything at all, and is only satisfied by cold, hard results.”

“You must hate the fact that you’ve had to watch over me my entire life. How many times have you asked God to give the responsibility to another angel?”

“None, and I’ve never wanted to leave you, not for a second.”

“Is that so?”

“You were entrusted to me before you were born, and I’ve tried to help you ever since, starting when you were born to those cold-hearted, white-collared criminals and bankers who were your family, to the days when you were an assassin with allegiance to no one. I’m sorry that you’ve never felt the true warmth of love in your life, but you will after this is over.”

“I…I appreciate it.”

“Oh? Does the heart of stone feel?”

“It has ever since it was shown true kindness by Fr. Francesco. Part of me regrets that I never showed it to him back.”

“He never wanted it back. He only wanted to share the love that God gave him and the salvation of your soul.”

“Then I guess this’ll not only be my gift to God, but also my gift to him to show that his efforts weren’t in vain.”

Picking myself up from my prayers, I continue to follow Giovanni to see that he’s now in one of the hero association offices that his corporation owns.

My guardian angel says, “This waiting for an opportunity to go after your targets is irritating me just as much as you. Haven’t you assaulted buildings like this before?”

“I have, but I had help back then. I thought you would’ve known that,” I say.

“I did, and that’s the point I’m getting at.”

“Are you going to help me get in there to get to Giovanni?”

“Yes. I can sneakily pick people off for you and empower your sword and gun. Turn around, and let’s give it a try.”

I do as my guardian angel says, and watch as he goes out from behind my back to cut apart walls and piles of trash left in the building we’re in. Since it’s under construction and nighttime, no one is here to bother us, and there are plenty of things to use as target practice. The speed at which he slices and stabs happens within the blink of an eye. As for empowering my sword and pistol, both of them are made with killing superhumans, armed men, and robots in mind, but with my guardian angel’s help, they can cut through concrete like butter and blast apart metal and piles of bricks as if they were paper. These’ll be perfect.

“Are you ready?” my guardian angel asks.

“Yes. I am. Let’s get this over with,” I say.

Walking from the construction site to the Coronamento hero association office, I enter the front entrance waiting room and am immediately shot in the side of the head. Despite the shot, I don’t move a single muscle as if nothing had hit me. Looking over to who shot me, I see that’s none other than Giovanni himself.

He backs off to his gathering of superhuman, robotic, and cybernetic security forces and says, “Guess you’re not a normal assassin, Fr. Luther.”

“I guess you should’ve had people watching out for assassins like me,” I say.

“Or the worst people like the media who want to invade my privacy and falsely accuse me of crimes.”

“Heh, I can’t argue with that first part.”

“Who hired you? Maybe we can come to a deal, and you can work with me instead. We’re men of the same faith, aren’t we?”

“I come on a mission from God to bring you to repentance for your sins.”

“Huh. It’s no wonder, given your appearance and profession, then, but you’re mistaken. I have no sins on my soul, and I’ve paid for all my crimes with my time in prison.”

“You’ve done nothing more than pretend to be virtuous and repentant. How about you do us both a favor? I’ll leave if you truly promise to repent of your ways and be the man your employees and the public think you are.”

Giovanni looks around him and says, “I promise to go to confession the next time I sin, as I always do, but right now, there’s not even a venial sin on my soul.”

Looking over to my guardian angel, he says, “He makes dishonest confessions. This was never going to be easy for you. God wouldn’t have sent you to convert Giovanni if it were.”

I wait for a second and see that no one else hears or sees my guardian angel.

“Okay. The hard way it is then.”

As I draw my sword and pistol, my guardian angel slices through the group of superhumans and armored heroes that try to dodge pile me. In one swipe, they’re all cut in half and fall lifelessly to the floor. Giovanni retreats as he fires his pistol at me, and his robotic guards come at me. I shoot down many of the robots with my enhanced senses before they reach me, charge at those remaining, and cut my way through them. Going after Giovanni, I chase after him and see one of his superhuman guards carry him away. If I were a beginner, I’d think he was being brought to the uppermost floors, but knowing the Coronamento Corporation, he’s probably being taken down to the more secure lower floors.

“Do you have a plan to get down there?” my guardian angel asks.

You can read my thoughts?

“God allows me to. Hurry, let me know what your plan is. The authorities and backup from Giovanni’s friends are on the way.”

Usually, you’d need some legitimate way to access the lower floors since the doors leading to them are reinforced to account for a superhuman attack.

“I see where you’re going with this, and God willing, I’ll be able to open them for you.”

Thank you. Since the building is on high alert, and the elevators are locked down, I take the stairs. I then cut through the locked doors and reach the last floor I can go down, where a group of armed guards is hanging around a set of heavy double doors that look big enough to drive a truck through. They immediately open fire on me, so I dodge between their shots and manage to deflect some of their shots back at them with my sword, along with firing shots of my own. With the way clear, I nod to my guardian angel to try to break down the heavy doors. He holds back both his arms and then lunges them forward, blowing open the door and sending them flying into the underground facility.

“Praise be to God,” I say as I cross myself.

Entering the underground facility, I see the two heavy doors set into a wall across from me, and four floors beneath me, filled with cells holding superhumans being released. At the very bottom, I see Giovanni, who appears surprised to see me, yet the look of confidence and his smile don’t fade from his face. Not wanting to box myself in on this narrow walkway, I throw myself down to the lowest floor and land on one of the security guards, killing them. Breathing in and out, I push my senses to their limits as more of Giovanni’s security descends upon me all at once. Usually, everything feels a bit slower, but with the further enhancements from my guardian angel, time feels as though it’s been brought to a crawl.

Taking advantage of this boost in power, I slice and shoot my way through everyone around me, sliding under their attacks, leaping off each one like platforms to get to others above them, before coming down and finishing off the remainder of them in a whirlwind of bullets and spinning my sword around. By the time I hit the ground, time resumes to its normal pace, and all of Giovanni’s guards are dead. No one else is left alive except for the scientists and staff of the facility, who cower in their rooms. I head over to where I saw Giovanni go and find him in a secure room with glass panels, working on a machine, before turning to me with the same expression he always seems to have. I try breaking through the glass, but my sword and pistol don't make the slightest scratch on the glass.

“You’ve gotten further than most other assassins, Fr. Luther. For that, you have my respect,” Giovanni says as he claps.

“I don’t need your respect. I need your repentance,” I say.

“For what exactly? Assuming you’re closer to God than I am and an actual priest, tell me, what are my sins?”

Looking over to my guardian angel, he tells me Giovanni’s sins as told by his guardian angel, and I relay them to him, saying, “You are guilty of hiring scientists to experiment on unwilling prisoners you were meant to execute for their crimes or show mercy to. Additionally, you hire hitmen to get rid of subversives in society that you deem too dangerous to live, bribe officials to overlook your crimes, and give people favors for instituting unjust laws against people of other beliefs.”

“You criticizing me for hiring hitmen is funny, given your true profession. I know that you’re no real priest. I’ve looked into your background and found that my corporation has hired you to do much of its dirty work, which, I might add, was justified. God and His Church finally have majority control of the world under my ally, the Dominion of Mercy and Justice, and those who seek to undermine it jeopardize it and the salvation of souls.”

“There are other ways to keep it safe, and torturing, killing, and discriminating against others of false beliefs isn’t the way to do it. I may be an assassin first, and priest second, but God has changed that.”

“Really? What changed in that hit that got everyone in your monastery killed except for you? Was that your coming-to-God moment?”

“Yes. A fellow priest who had been constantly bothering me to repent finally got through to me. Now, aided by my guardian angel and tasked by God, I am to bring you to repentance to save my soul.”

“I can’t say the rewards of your contract can be matched, but as I’ve said before, I don’t have a sin on my soul. Keep chasing me if you wish, Fr. Murphy. We’ll see who truly has God on their side.”

In a second, Giovanni’s room rockets away down a tunnel and disappears from my sight.

“How come you didn’t allow me to break through the glass barrier and let Giovanni get away?” I ask my guardian angel.

My guardian angel breaks through the barrier, then says, “That show of strength and skill you had for Giovanni was a watershed moment for him. It should’ve gotten him to repent, but he refused.”

“He should’ve taken it when he had the chance. Now, I have to make more of a mess of his corporation.”

“You had many of the same chances, and didn’t any of them, except for the last one.”

I let my guardian angel’s words sink in as I continue my chase of Giovanni by using my enhanced speed to run down the dark tunnel after him.