"Sa… tan…?"
Lucis's eyes widened.
He'd been searching for him since secretly going to Earth.
An archduke from the demonic realm was in front of him.
"Ha… haha."
The tips of his mouth went up.
The one who hadn't appeared at all after declaring the war had come out on his own.
He couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
A strong killing intent came out from him, and he raised his hand. A pitch-black darkness gathered around it.
"I was wondering where you were hiding, so you finally crawled out."
[Hoo.]
The eyes behind the mask were shining.
The mask twisted as if he found the situation interesting.
[So you aren't afraid.]
"Is there a reason to be afraid?"
[You're saying some funny things.]
Satan laughed.
A chilling sound flowed out of the mask.
A reason to be afraid?
He was an archduke, someone that was among the strongest in the Hell of the Nine Skies.
There wasn't a reason not to fear him.
Of course, the title of ‘Archduke’ wasn't as prestigious after they'd lost against the Demon King, but they still couldn't be compared to the average demon.
[Hey, brat, you don't know me?]
"I know about you. You used to be an archduke of the Demon World, and you're leading an organization called Demon Cult."
[It seems like you don't.]
"What?"
[If you really knew about archdukes, you wouldn't be able to remain so calm. Didn't Lucifer teach you anything?]
"Ha, how dare a rat who hid after declaring war say my father's name."
[A rat… Doesn't that also apply to Lucifer?]
His eyes narrowed.
A strong killing intent surged from him.
[Why did a brat like you come here instead of him?]
"My father isn't needed for killing someone like you."
[You're an arrogant brat.]
The mask twisted.
[No, maybe you're just stupid?]
"Let's see how long you can keep such a calm attitude."
Lucis lowered his body.
Strong demonic energy started to gather around his hand.
Lucis looked at Satan calmly.
'He isn't a big deal.'
The presence he could feel coming from him and the pressure…
It couldn't be compared to when he'd met his dad.
He felt that his guess of Satan being an idiot who just liked to bluff seemed right.
'I can do this.'
Such a thought crossed his mind.
He gulped.
He lowered his body and raised his hand. He put a lot of strength in his legs to throw the darkness with all his strength.
At that moment…
[Now that I think about it, you don't look like a demon.]
"…"
His body trembled.
- You don't look like a demon.
- You're different from a Demon.
- I can't believe you're Lucifer's son.
He’d heard those things a lot.
He'd become tired of listening to those words.
"Shut up."
He glared at Satan.
An appearance that was closer to a human’s than a demon’s.
That was the result of having mixed human-demon blood.
- He isn't a demon.
- He's just a clumsy mutt.
- Why was Mr. Lucifer with such a worthless human…?
- Look at that guy. Why does he look so ugly and weak?
Although he was half demon and half human, he'd been raised along with demons since he was little.
He'd learned their values, beliefs, thoughts, and how he looked to demons.
It was as if humans were looking at someone born as a hybrid with a bug—he was grotesque to them.
He cursed.
Himself, his mother, and everyone that was ignoring him…
He needed to prove that he was the son of the Evil God; that he had Lucifer's blood running through his veins.
He'd gone there to prove that.
'Kill Satan…'
He was going to kill Satan, the demon that was the object of every demon’s fear, with his own hands.
There should’ve been no better way to prove himself than that.
[A half-human, half-demon mix…?] he asked in surprise.
* * *
Lucis frowned.
"Didn't you lose against a human?"
[…]
"I heard it from dad. The Demon King, who defeated all seven archdukes in Hell, used to be a human."
Satan remained silent.
Lucis kept talking with a cold voice.
"In the end, aren't archdukes idiots who lost against a human?"
[You're one noisy son of a bitch. Lucifer would cry blood if he heard you talking.]
"What?"
[Ah, ehem.]
Satan coughed in surprise.
After returning to his normal way of speaking, Satan kept talking in a low voice.
[Your dad also lost against the Demon King.]
"That's something from the past. Now, it's different," he said confidently.
[Hey, you rude double-standard bastard… Ah. Haa. Haa.]
"…"
Lucis frowned.
"It seems like you're out of your mind."
[No archduke is sane,] he said while laughing confidently.
Lucis's eyes shone sharply.
There was no point in talking anymore.
"Let's stop talking here. You talk too much for an archduke."
[Hoo.]
"If you're really an archduke…"
WHOOM.
A huge amount of demonic energy gathered around him.
Dozens of black spheres rose around Lucis's body.
"Prove it with your strength."
[Ha, HAHAHA!!!]
Satan laughed out loud at his words.
[Okay, if you want it that badly, I'll show you…]
Demonic energy spread like a black curtain.
The red mask distorted.
[Who I am.]
BOOM-!
The ground shook.
Satan opened both arms.
[Come. Show me your worth. Your existence.]
Lucis frowned.
"It isn't me who has things to prove."
[You talk too much, come.]
"You're the one who's going to need to prove things, Satan."
[Okay, come on.]
He raised both arms.
The black sphere began rotating.
"Rakisguard! Open your eyes and look carefully!" he shouted to his watching underling.
[Stop talking and—]
"Today! Here, I, Lucis, will show you!!"
[Excuse me?]
"I’ll show you whether or not the being you serve is a worthless mixed breed or the demon who will follow Evil God Lucifer!"
[Can you hear me?]
"See it! Feel it! Realize it!"
[Stop, I'm having a hard time maintaining this concept.]
BOOM!
Lucis stomped on the ground.
Crack. A fissure appeared over the ground, and intense energy spread.
His silver hair that reached his waist was flickering.
Lucis slowly opened his mouth while talking coldly.
"With this battle, I'll show—"
[Fuck, you're making me cringe, so stop talking and fight. I'm having a hard time trying to maintain the atmosphere. Why are you making me struggle so much, you bastard?]
"…"
[Do you know how much I cringe every time I do this? Huh? I'm so ashamed that I struggle whenever I think of this while sleeping.]
"What…?"
[Hey, this is that, right? You were born as a mixed race and grew up being discriminated against, am I correct? Are you a teenager? What the fuck do you want to prove and why? Why are you doing this to me? Just let the atmosphere flow.]
Satan was struggling.
Lucis frowned after seeing him with an attitude that made him look like he had a double personality.
"So words aren't going to work with you."
[Then please, fight me.]
"Don't worry."
He readied himself.
"Even if you regret it, you can’t get away now."
He stomped the ground and extended his hand.
Black spheres flew toward Satan.
Satan's eyes shone.
[Oh fuck, finally,] he said in a moved voice.
Satan spread the curtain covering his body.
The black spheres Lucis shot out were blocked by the curtain.
"Ha!"
He opened both arms, and six black wings flapped.
Hundreds of feathers shot out, and the demonic energy feather poured down like rain.
Crack-
"Huh?!"
Satan's body scattered away into the air.
He appeared in front of Lucis in the blink of an eye and spread his hand to grab Lucis’s face.
Then, holding his face, he threw him like a baseball.
CRACK-!!
White dust rose from the ground, and Lucis's body went flying.
"Cough!"
He quickly got up.
"Huh?"
Lucis's eyes filled with confusion.
When he got up, Satan was already in front of him.
"Paf!"
Cough-!
He kicked Lucis's head like a soccer ball.
A vein exploded from inside his nose, and he started to bleed.
"W-wait…"
He raised his hand.
He couldn't understand what was going on.
Even if he was against an archduke, he was still Lucifer's son.
Despite that, why was there such an overwhelming difference in their strength?
[Oh, fuck. I'm feeling refreshed.]
It seemed relaxing to him.
"Damn!!"
His expression distorted.
His silver hair fluttered, and he gathered demonic energy from within his body.
"AAHH!!"
Giant spheres that were around ten meters in diameter appeared in his hands. The giant balls of demonic energy started to drag everything around into them.
"Die!!" he shouted and launched his attack forward.
But…
Slash-
A black light cut the sphere.
The black sphere was split into two too easily.
A red mask appeared from behind the demonic energy that was scattering away.
Satan stepped on his head.
"Cough!"
He collapsed and his head was stuck to the ground…
Next, Satan stepped on Lucis's neck.
[Master Lucis!!]
The demon called Rakisguard came running.
Before he could charge toward Satan, a giant demon appeared next to him and weighed him down.
[Cough!]
[How dare you interfere.]
The demon who'd weighed down Rakisguard, Balrog, frowned.
A beauty with black hair walked from behind him and searched for something on Rakisguard.
"Ah, Mr. K… Satan, Here is what you've been looking for."
She gave him a black communication crystal.
KangWoo, no Satan, frowned while looking at the communication crystal.
[Fuck…]
He sighed.
He grabbed the communication crystal the beauty with black hair gave him.
[Haa,] he let out a sigh.
[I don't want to do this anymore…] he mumbled in a tearful voice but soon shook his head.
There was no other choice.
'Haa, fuck.'
His head hurt.
The wise man's time weighed on him.
It was as if a bearded man who had succumbed to capitalism said “nyaa” at the end of each word to promote a video game.
He felt ashamed.
'Life is too hard.'
How long did he need to live like that?
Whir-
Light flowed out of the black communication crystal.
He saw the face of a demon through the round and mirror-like communication crystal.
The eyes of the demon looking at him through the communication crystal widened.
[You…]
"Ahem."
'First, getting into the mood.'
Satan spoke in a chilling voice.
[I'm Death, I'm The End. I'm the father of all those that are angry. I'm anger itself.]
'Good. That didn't sound bad at all.'
Only a red mask was visible in the middle of a vast darkness.
[I'm Satan.]
'YES! THIS IS IT. This is what I call an archduke! This is Satan!'
Unlike how he was feeling, his mouth moved naturally.
