- What the…? Lucifer said from the other side of the communication crystal.
He saw Satan wearing a red mask with Lucis under his feet.
- Satan, what are you doing? Why is Lucis there? He said in a voice filled with killing intent while narrowing his eyes.
Satan stepped on Lucis even harder.
"Cough!"
Lucis flapped like a fish out of water.
[I'm not sure. Why don't you ask your son?] he said in a calm voice.
Lucifer's expression hardened.
It wasn't that Satan had gone to the Ernor Continent and kidnapped Lucis.
If something like that had happened, there was no way he wouldn't have noticed it.
Then, there was only one other possibility…
- Rakisguard…
[Mr. Lucifer!! I… I'm sorry!]
Rakisguard, who had been restrained by Balrog, lowered his head.
It was easy to guess what had happened based on his reaction.
Lucis had gone to Earth on his own, fought Satan, and lost.
He had lost from the moment he decided to fight Satan.
Lucis might not have known it, but Lucifer how 'foreign' the archdukes were.
He knew that there was no way his son would be able to beat them.
Lucifer frowned.
- How pathetic.
"D-dad…"
Lucis trembled as if he were shocked and bit his lips.
He felt a complex mixture of fear, regret, and anger.
[Okay, then.]
Satan kept talking in a relaxed manner.
His eyes behind the mask were shining with madness.
[You know why I haven't killed this brat, right?]
He had captured his opponent’s son.
There probably wasn't anyone dumb enough to not understand that.
- Kill him, Lucifer replied in a cold voice.
[Oh…?]
- I have no intention of taking care of a son who acted without knowing his place.
It was a cold way of speaking.
It was as if there wasn't any emotion mixed into it.
His cold eyes were directed toward Lucis.
- So, is this the limit of a mixed breed?
"Ugh…"
Lucis bit his lips; tears flowed down his eyes.
He couldn't breathe properly.
Mix-breed…
The words that were like a curse to him stimulated him.
Up until that point, countless demons had called him that.
That adjective of his had never changed, but it was the first time he'd heard his father calling him a mixed breed.
'It… hurts.'
He felt that his heart was going to be torn apart. It hurt.
He felt his consciousness becoming fuzzy.
While he was feeling hazy, he heard a spooky laugh.
[Lucifer.]
- …
[Isn't he your son?]
- That doesn't mean anything.
His eyes were cold, and Lucifer talked in a dry voice.
- Since when are descendants important for a demon?
[Hmm.]
- Satan, don't try to use silly tactics. Were you expecting love toward someone of the same blood from a demon that doesn't need to reproduce?
It was an obvious question.
Demons didn't need to reproduce in the first place, so it would be ironic if they felt affection toward their blood descendants.
[Then…]
Satan looked at Lucifer.
[Why did you have a child?]
- …
Lucifer remained silent.
His words were contradictory.
If his son weren't important and meaningless, he wouldn't have had Lucis.
If he was an accident, he would've been able to get rid of him easily while she was still pregnant.
It would be too hopeful to think that an archduke would feel remorseful about killing a baby.
- It was an accident…
[An accident, huh?]
Satan laughed.
[Lucifer.]
Lucifer didn't answer.
Satan raised his hand while laughing out loud and a black blade aimed at Lucis's head.
He looked at Lucifer's face through the mirror.
- You…!
He saw him frowning without being able to maintain his composure.
He opened his mouth in a hurry, but it seemed like he had realized something, so he closed it again.
Satan burst into laughter.
[HAHAHA!!!]
Did demons feel affection toward their kin?
His low-probability bet turned out to be a success.
If Lucifer really didn't think much of Lucifer, he would've cut the conversation. No, he wouldn't have accepted the call in the first place.
From the moment Lucifer received the call and started to give excuses, the result had already been decided.
[You did something quite cute. Are those the feelings of a dad?]
- …
"F-father…" Lucis said in a tearful voice.
"I'm… sorry."
- Shut up, Lucifer replied in a cold voice.
He looked at Lucis with a troubled expression on his face.
Was that how it felt to see your son make a mistake and become a death row prisoner?
* * *
- What is it that you want?
In the end, they returned to the starting point.
Lucifer admitted that Satan had the power in their conversation.
Satan kept talking in a relaxed voice.
[You already know what I want.]
- War…
[Yes, Lucifer, let's have a war full of blood, flesh, destruction, and madness. Let's kill each other and fill our stomachs.]
- It seems like you've become crazier after going to Earth, Lucifer answered in disbelief.
The Satan he knew wasn't that crazy—you could at least reason with him.
- Do you know what situation the demons are currently in? he said in an anger-filled voice.
- Ernor, Hwan, and even the planet you're living on, Earth.
He hadn't heard of one of the three worlds mentioned.
- Heavens’ forces want to eliminate demons from all worlds connected to the Hell of Nine Skies.
He kept talking as if he were chewing something.
- The Hell of Nine Skies will be separated from all the worlds. You know what that means, right?
He looked at Satan with sharp eyes.
- We won't be able to return to the Hell of Nine Skies.
[…]
Satan remained silent at Lucifer's words.
His body trembled as if he couldn't hold back the laughter.
He grabbed his stomach and let the laughter out.
[Why does that matter?]
- What?
[What does it matter if we can't return to the Hell of Nine Skies?]
- Are you out of your mind?
[That's something I want to ask.]
The red mask distorted.
[Were we ever sane?]
- …
Crack.
"AAGGHH!!"
He stepped on Lucis's arms.
The arms twisted, and black blood poured out.
Lucifer's expression hardened when he heard the screams.
Although he was trying to act as if it didn't affect him, you could tell it did based on his expression.
- Satan…
Lucifer kept talking with a voice that had a strong killing intent in it.
- Stop.
[You know what you must do for me to stop, right?]
Satan opened both arms.
The darkness devoured the light around him as if it had suddenly become night.
[Come here and kill me. If not…]
He stepped on Lucis's arm, which deformed and twisted.
A horrifying scream spread through the place.
- I told you to stop.
He sensed a chilling from the other side of the communication crystal.
Satan burst into laughter and kept calmly speaking.
[Your son is going to die here.]
- …
Lucifer remained silent and gave Satan a disgusted look.
- Disgusting.
[Hmm?]
- Aren't you ashamed of using a cheap hostage strategy?
It was a childish provocation.
[Since when did we care about things like that?]
He kept talking with deep, sunken eyes full of madness.
[Were you expecting compassion in a fight among demons? Were you expecting morality? A fair and beautiful fight? Were you expecting a fair fight with rules in place?]
Nonsense.
[Wake up, Lucifer. We aren't like that. We never fought like that. Do you remember the battle against the Demon King? What did we do back then? Did we fight fairly using only our fighting power?]
They didn't do that.
They'd used tactics like kidnappings, conspiracies, misunderstandings, and reality distortions.
They’d forced a soldier of the Demon King's army to hug a bomb and charge toward his allies.
They’d spread plagues and curses to kill the demons that served the Demon King.
Sometimes, they cut the Demon King's underlings into pieces and sent them to him.
[Why are you trying to pretend to be nice? You’re asking for mercy and concession? I'm the disgusted one. What was it that made you become so pathetic?]
- …
[Do you want to blame me? Are you cursing me for kidnapping your son and threatening you?]
Satan lowered his head toward the communication crystal.
The eyes behind the mask were shining with a yellow light.
[Come here, Lucifer. Become crazy with anger, become blind with resentment. Fight me, and…]
He let out a chilling laugh.
[Kill me.]
BOOM!!!
The giant throne Lucifer was sitting in was destroyed.
- I'm going to say it one more time, Satan… he said in a suppressed voice.
He felt that Lucifer was trying his best to be as calm as possible.
- If I give up on everything and go there, you will become the angels' next target.
He kept talking in a low voice.
- Don't expect the angels to go to Hwan before going there to target you. Satan, you're going to become their next target. I'll make it so.
He was threatening him.
The communication crystal couldn't withstand Lucifer's demonic energy and started to crack.
It was clear how much anger he was feeling at the moment.
- There's going to be no winner in this fight. It doesn't matter who wins or losses, we're both going to lose it all. Do you still want to fight me despite that?
[…]
Satan didn't answer.
He raised his feet and stepped on Lucis's other arm.
CRACK!
Lucis’s pained scream was enough of an answer.
[Who do you think I am? I'm death, the end, anger itself. I'm Satan. It doesn't matter if it's an angel or a god. Tell them all to come here. Come here and fight me. It doesn't matter what you say because I'm not going to stop.]
‘Why…?’
'Because it's not my problem!!'
‘RIP Satan!! ‘
