"Haa."
He couldn't help but sigh.
"It isn't anything like that, so please calm down."
"Ah…"
Lilith sighed in disappointment.
She nodded while making a depressed expression.
KangWoo gulped and gave her a slight hug.
"You know this isn't the time to think of things like that," he said in a gentle voice.
It wasn't because he wanted her to feel good.
'Things would be troublesome if Lilith wasn't here.'
Previously, in the Demon King's army, and then in Guardian, she was someone very important.
In terms of gathering and manipulating information, her talent was so great that it seemed to have been blessed by some kind of divine being.
The Demon Cult was quite a secretive organization, but she'd been able to spread Hell's Book only a month after she'd infiltrated them.
'If Lilith wasn't here…'
He wouldn't have known how the battle between the Demon Cult and Lucifer's forces was going. He also wouldn't have known that Lucifer's son had come to Earth.
Without her, it would be as if he'd lost his eyes and ears.
'I cannot let her be depressed.'
It didn't matter what happened: Lilith would move for him.
He wasn't worried about her betraying him, but there was a whole other problem.
How well one did their job was different when there was a reward right before them.
Seeing how the attitudes of reserve soldiers had been changed thanks to rewards and made them special forces was proof of the strength of rewards.
"Demon King…"
"Let's think about this once everything is done."
"Ah, my king…"
Lilith's body trembled.
Tears flowed down her eyes.
KangWoo couldn't help but feel guilty after seeing her tremble.
'I didn't expect her to cry.'
As the one who'd thrown the bait, he couldn't help but feel guilty.
Lilith wiped her tears while smiling and clenched her fist.
"Fufu. Okay. If Mr. KangWoo says that, I'll do my best to resist."
He heard her excited voice, and his regret began increasing.
KangWoo kept talking while avoiding looking at her.
"Then, what do you think?"
"About whether demons also love their children?"
"Yes."
Did demons also have maternal and paternal instincts?
It was a hard topic.
'After all, demons don't need to reproduce.'
The question was hard to answer because the demon race didn't need to reproduce.
They could do it, but they didn't need to.
The cases of demons giving birth to children through sexual intercourse were extremely rare.
Demons weren't in the category of biological creatures.
They had been born in the darkness of the Hell of Nine Skies. They were born inside the 'Fissure' called Hell of Nine Skies, but no one knew why and how they were created.
One day, suddenly, a black fluctuation appeared in the air, and that's how demons were born.
No one knew what that darkness was.
Was it demonic energy? The manifestation of a divine being? Were they created by the Hell of Nine Skies? Not even archdukes knew the answers to those questions.
There were only three facts about the Fissures that were known:
One, the demons that were born from the Fissures were born as adults.
Two, only a few demons were born with a special power called 'Authority', but that didn't mean that all demons with an Authority were strong.
'Just looking at Sabnac was enough to notice that.'
Although Sabnac had the Authority of the Blade, he was a demon that struggled in the 1st hell.
'The third thing…'
The strength of the demons born from the fissure was decided from the moment they were born.
There were some exceptions, but the strength and limits of most demons were decided from the moment they were born.
That meant there were almost no cases of a demon from the 1st hell becoming strong enough to enter the 9th hell.
It was similar to the concept of a golden and silver spoon.
Even the archdukes had been born to become 'archdukes.'
Among the seven archdukes, there was only one who hadn't been one since the beginning.
'Baal.'
He and Baal had many things in common.
Through numerous years, Baal had reached the 9th hell from the 1st hell and had managed to kill Beelzebub, the original archduke, and take his place.
Except for him, all archdukes had been born with the destiny of becoming one.
'In the case of the Leviathan, it's a bit confusing.'
The Leviathan hadn't been born from a Fissure.
Considering that his dad was the Behemoth, the King of Demonic Monsters, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was born with that destiny.
'Okay, let's stop talking about the boring setup.'
* * *
Four pages of that is more than enough
Back to the main topic…
"Hmm, I'm also not sure about that, but I know that, if I gave birth to the King's child, I'd love it with all my life."
Lilith made a warm smile while touching her stomach.
KangWoo's eyes narrowed.
'It seems like she has the concept of love toward the same blood.'
The question was if Lucifer was also the same.
Maternal or paternal instincts weren't absolute, even for humans.
There were parents willing to risk their lives for their children, but on the other hand, there were some who killed their children with their hands.
Love for your blood descendants was relative.
'It's worth testing.'
The tips of his mouth went up.
"Lilith, search for the demon that calls himself the son of Lucifer."
"Demon King, don't tell me…"
"You said you would love my kid with your own life, right?"
He laughed out loud.
He spoke in an excited voice that made him sound like a kid that was about to go camping.
"Let's see if that's also the case for Lucifer."
"…"
* * *
Boom-!
Crack!
"AAGGHH!"
"S-stop him!"
Screams spread.
The passageway became full of explosions and the smell of blood.
A demon walked through the passage.
"How boring…"
He narrowed his eyes while looking around as if he didn't like what he saw and covered his mouth and yawned.
The name of the demon who'd destroyed everything around him was Lucis.
He had six wings, dark skin, and silver hair that reached his waist. Based on the size of his face, he didn't look that different from a human.
Unlike other demons, he wasn't that big. His skin wasn't grotesque or have too many muscles; he didn't even have tentacles.
One would think at first glance that he was someone doing a very high-quality cosplay.
"AGH!"
"E-escape!"
The faces of the Demon Cult members had turned pale as if they'd seen a monster.
They were more fearful of Lucis than the other monster-like demons.
It wasn't hard to see why.
"Hngh, you pieces of trash."
Lucis raised his hand, and black darkness gathered around it.
It was the power of his dad, Lucifer, the archduke of 'Arrogance.'
He'd inherited part of his strength.
Crack-!!
He spread his hands, and a black sphere was shot forward.
A black hole absorbed everything around it.
The darkness absorbed the bodies of the cultists trying to escape.
Tsk. He clicked his tongue while looking at them die without being able to offer much resistance.
"Rakisguard, did you find Satan’s location?" he asked while turning his head. The demon kneeling in front of him shook his head.
[I'm sorry. I grabbed the person who was supposed to be the one in charge of this place and tortured him… but I wasn't able to get Satan's location.]
"Again?"
Lucis stepped on Rakisguard's head while frowning.
BOOM-!
"You useless bastard. How many chances do I have to give you?"
He hit him aggressively.
Although Rakisguard was bleeding, he didn't dodge Lucis's attacks.
"Damn."
Lucis cursed while kicking Rakisguard.
Rakisguard slowly opened his mouth.
[Mr. Lucis, it's taking us too much time.]
"…"
[If Mr. Lucifer hears that we've come here…]
"Shut up."
His eyes shone sharply.
"I won't go back before getting Satan's head."
Lucis clenched his fist.
He remembered his dad, Lucifer.
'If I take Satan's head…'
He was probably going to be recognized.
"How's the situation in Ernor?"
[It isn't good… Raphael's forces are applying too much pressure on Mr. Lucifer's forces.]
"…"
There was silence.
Lucis turned.
"Let's go to the next place."
[Mr. Lucis—]
"Rakisguard…"
He turned his head, and his silver hair began shining.
"Don't make me say it twice."
[Yes…]
Rakisguard got up.
As he got up, his five-meter-tall body made the ceiling crumble.
"Satan…"
A strong killing intent appeared in Lucis's eyes.
'You rude bastard.'
From what he heard back then, Satan used to be an archduke that was in a higher position than Lucifer.
He'd probably made such a dumb decision because of that.
'To think that he'd declare war on us.'
He couldn't remain still at such provocation.
Even Lucifer became angry when he heard the news.
The only reason why he hadn't moved despite that was because of Raphael's forces.
'If dad can't move…'
He just had to protect Lucifer's pride.
He heard that Satan had gotten hold of that power called the Sea of Demonic Energy, but he wasn't worried.
'I'm the son of the Evil God, Lucifer.'
The situation was different from when in Hell.
Lucis walked with a firm decision in his eyes.
Crack-!
"AAGGHH!"
"AHH! S-save me…!"
As they walked down the passageway, he saw the cultists being annihilated by his underlings.
"Hngh," he snorted.
He knew it just based on his underlings.
'With his underlings being so weak, there's no need to even think about the strength of their leader.'
He didn't know about what had happened in Hell.
He'd been born after Lucifer went to the Ernor continent. He was born when Lucifer, one of the archdukes of the Hell of Nine Skies, made love to a human woman.
That's why he didn't know who Satan was or how strong he was.
He thought he didn't need to know.
'Even if he's strong…'
He probably wasn't going to be able to win against his dad.
Lucis looked at his hands that were closer to a human’s than a demon’s.
'I must prove it…'
He had to prove his strength and worth.
If not, he wouldn't be recognized as a 'demon.'
Lucis began walking.
Then…
[I heard you are Lucifer's son, so I came here expectantly, but you're just a brat.]
"Ugh!"
He quickly turned around.
Black darkness appeared where there definitely hadn't been anything before.
He saw a demon wearing a red mask.
Darkness surrounded by a veil.
"You…"
[I heard you were searching for me.]
Haha.
A chilling laugh leaked out from behind the mask.
"Y-you…"
[Yes.]
The darkness that surrounded the demon spread out like a veil.
[I'm Satan.]
‘In other words, a cheat code.’
