Chapter : 1917

  "So how do I talk to him?" Lloyd asked. "If he's the OS, there has to be a terminal. There has to be a command line."

  "There is," Eun-ha said. "But no one has used it for centuries. The last human to access it... was the man whose journals you read."

  Lloyd’s eyes widened. "Anubis."

  "Yes," Eun-ha said. "Anubis came here. He didn't just sneak in like you did. He walked through the front door. He demanded an audience. And he walked out with his daughter’s soul."

  "So it is possible," Lloyd said, a fierce grin breaking onto his face.

  "Possible?" Ben grunted. "Lord Lloyd, just because one genius did something impossible five hundred years ago doesn't mean it’s a repeatable experiment. We are soldiers, not miracle workers."

  "We are whatever we need to be, Ben," Lloyd said. He turned to Eun-ha. "How did he do it? How did Anubis get the audience?"

  Eun-ha walked back to her throne. She sat down, her expression serious. She looked less like a wife now and more like the guardian of forbidden knowledge.

  "He initiated a specific sequence of events," she said. "A challenge issued to the Great King. It is called the Anubis Protocol."

  ________________________________________

  The term "Anubis Protocol" hung in the air, sounding less like a magical ritual and more like a military operation. Lloyd liked that. Protocols were things he could understand. Protocols were step-by-step instructions.

  "Tell me," Lloyd said. He pulled a small notebook from his pocket—a habit from his Earth days that he never broke—and clicked a pen.

  "You really are a nerd," Monalisa giggled from her cushion. "Going to take notes, darling? Are you going to write down the cheat codes to Hell?"

  "If that’s what it takes," Lloyd muttered, ignoring her. He looked at Eun-ha. "What are the steps?"

  Eun-ha leaned forward on her throne. "The Anubis Protocol isn't a spell you cast. It’s a series of feats. To get the attention of the Great King, you have to prove that you are worthy of bending the laws of life and death. You have to prove you are an anomaly."

  She held up one clawed finger.

  "First," she said. "You must possess a 'Key of the Void.' A physical object that can anchor a soul in transit. Anubis used his Golem Heart. You... you might have something similar."

  Lloyd nodded. "I have the Golem Heart. And I have the Spirit Jasmin—the construct I built. She has the resonance. She’s the empty vessel waiting for the data."

  "That is acceptable," Eun-ha said. She held up a second finger.

  "Second. You must hold the 'Authority of Three Crowns.' In the Abyss, the number three represents stability. To demand a soul, you must show that you command power from three distinct sources."

  Lloyd frowned. "Three sources? I have my Steel Blood. I have the Austin Eye."

  "And you have the Spirits," Ben pointed out, his voice bored but helpful. "Iffrit. Fang Fairy. Those are external sources. That might count."

  "It’s deeper than that," Eun-ha warned. "It means political authority too. Anubis was a master of Alchemy, a Lord of his people, and a binder of Spirits. You need to be a King in your own right, Evan. You need to walk into that meeting not as a beggar, but as an equal."

  Lloyd thought about his current situation. He was the secret ruler of the North’s economy. He was the Commander of the Wraiths. He was the husband of a Devil Prince.

  "I’m working on the King part," Lloyd said dryly. "I’m currently juggling three fiancées and a duchy. Does that count?"

  "It’s a start," Eun-ha said with a small smile. Then, she raised a third finger. The smile vanished.

  "Third. And this is the hardest part. You must offer a trade."

  "A trade?" Lloyd asked.

  "The Law of Equivalent Exchange," Eun-ha said. "To take a soul out of the Abyss, you must put something of equal value back in. You cannot just take Jasmin and leave. You have to pay the debt."

  "What did Anubis pay?" Lloyd asked.

  "We don't know," Eun-ha admitted. "The records are blank. Whatever he gave the Great King... it was personal. It was something he couldn't replace."

  Lloyd went silent. A trade. What did he have that was worth a soul? His own life? His power?

  "I’ll figure it out," Lloyd said firmly. "I’ll find something the Great King wants. Maybe I can offer him a better Wi-Fi signal. If he’s anything like you, he probably appreciates efficiency."

  Chapter : 1918

  Ben snorted. "You are going to try and bribe God with tech support? That is... incredibly on-brand for you, Lord Lloyd."

  "It worked on me," Eun-ha pointed out.

  "So," Lloyd summarized, looking at his notes. "I need the vessel. I need to consolidate my power base to prove I’m a big shot. And I need a bribe. That’s the Anubis Protocol."

  "There is one more condition," Eun-ha said. "You cannot do this while the war is going on. The Great King does not grant audiences during times of chaos. The noise of the conflict between the factions drowns out individual requests. As long as Lucifer and Firefly are trying to tear the world apart, the Great King will be silent. He will be in 'War Mode.'"

  Lloyd closed his notebook with a snap. "So, we have to win the war first. We have to crush Lucifer. We have to kick Firefly off the planet. Then, and only then, can I save Jasmin."

  "Efficiency," Ben rumbled, pushing himself off the pillar. "We have to kill all the bad guys anyway. Now we just have an extra reason to do it faster."

  Lloyd looked at Ben. The big cyborg was right. The goals aligned perfectly. Saving the world and saving his friend required the exact same steps: destroy the enemy.

  "Okay," Lloyd said. "That’s the roadmap."

  ________________________________________

  The air in the crystal hall was cold and still, a sharp contrast to the fiery chaos they had just escaped. The swirling portal that Leviathan—Lloyd’s wife, Eun-ha—had opened was still shimmering faintly, a doorway between the safe zone of the Envy territory and the dangerous wildlands of the Abyss.

  Lloyd Ferrum stood in the center of the room, checking the seals on his Aegis armor. He looked tired. It wasn’t the tiredness of needing sleep; it was the deep, bone-weary exhaustion of a man who had been fighting wars for too many lifetimes.

  Ben Ironwood stood a few feet away, leaning against a black pillar. His massive metal arms were crossed over his chest. He looked bored. If he was impressed by their narrow escape from two Devil Princes, he certainly didn’t show it. He looked like a man waiting for a bus, not a warrior standing in the heart of Hell.

  "We need to move, Lord Lloyd," Ben rumbled. His voice was deep and rough, like stones grinding together. "The structural integrity of this safe zone is adequate, but Beelzebub is not known for his patience. He will be tearing the borders apart looking for us."

  Ben glanced at Eun-ha, who was standing on the dais near her throne. He didn't bow this time, but he nodded his head slightly—a small sign of respect from one apex predator to another.

  " The Professor is correct," Ben continued. "Our tactical advantage is gone. We killed Rubel, but we made a lot of noise doing it. Staying here is inefficient. We should retreat to the human realm and regroup."

  Eun-ha walked down the steps. Her dress, made of woven shadows and starlight, rustled softly against the stone floor. She looked at Lloyd with dark, serious eyes. The warmth of their reunion was packed away for now; she was in "CEO Mode."

  "Ben is right, Evan," she said, using Lloyd’s name from their life on Earth. "You have become a beacon. By killing Rubel and humiliating Beelzebub, you have painted a giant target on your back. Every bounty hunter, every mercenary, and every ambitious demon in the Lucifer Faction is going to be hunting for the 'Human who killed a Sovereign.'"

  She pointed a sharp, black-clawed finger toward the spatial rift.

  "You need to leave. Now. Go back to the surface. Fortify your position. Build your army. If you stay here, you force me to defend you, and that weakens my hold on this territory. I can’t fight a war on two fronts."

  Lloyd nodded slowly. He understood the logic. It was sound military strategy. Hit the target, cause damage, and vanish before the enemy can counter-attack.

  "I know," Lloyd said, his voice flat. "We’re leaving. But not yet."

  Ben let out a loud, annoyed sigh. "Lord Lloyd. Do not let your emotions cloud the mission parameters. We accomplished the objective. The traitor Rubel is dead. We have the intel. Lingering here is just asking for trouble."

  "I'm not lingering for fun, Ben," Lloyd snapped. He turned his head and looked toward the corner of the room.

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  There, lying on a floating cushion of shadow, was Monalisa Belphagor, the Prince of Sloth.

  She looked terrible.

  Chapter : 1919

  When they had first arrived, she had been pale and lazy. Now, she looked like a broken statue. The grey, stony infection on her skin had spread. Her left arm was completely petrified—turned to solid, lifeless stone. The grey creep was moving up her neck, threatening to choke her. Her breathing was shallow and rattled in her chest.

  She wasn't just sick; she was stalling out. Her engine was flooded.

  Lloyd walked over to her. Monalisa opened her eyes slowly. They were usually bright green and full of mischief, but now they were dull and glassy.

  "Oh, look," she whispered, her voice weak but still teasing. "My Little Lion is leaving. Are you going to run away without saying goodbye, darling? That’s very rude."

  She tried to lift her hand to touch him, but her arm was too heavy. It fell back onto the cushion with a dull thud. She let out a small, pained laugh.

  "Look at me," she murmured. "I’m a mess. I suppose you should just leave me here. I’ll make a very pretty statue for my sister’s garden."

  Lloyd looked down at her. He saw the fear hiding behind her flirty attitude. He remembered the moment back in Gator City when she had frozen time to save them from the fly swarm. She had burned her own life force to buy them seconds.

  "I don't leave debts unpaid," Lloyd said. He looked back at Eun-ha. "I promised to fix her. I diagnosed the problem, and I proposed a solution. I’m not leaving until the job is done."

  Eun-ha crossed her arms. She didn't look jealous. She looked calculating. She looked at Monalisa, then at Lloyd.

  "The procedure you described..." Eun-ha said thoughtfully. "Using the [Void Wood] to siphon the sediment directly from her core. It is theoretical, Evan. You’ve never done it before. If you mess up, you could drain her dry. You could kill a Prince of Hell."

  "I won't mess up," Lloyd said. The arrogance of the Major General bled into his voice. "I know the schematic. I know the flow rate. Her mana is stagnant. It’s thick, like tar. It’s clogging her pipes. I just need to flush the system."

  "It is risky," Ben stated from the background. "And unnecessary. She is a demon. She is technically an enemy combatant."

  "She is an ally," Lloyd corrected. "And she saved our lives. Ben, secure the perimeter. Eun-ha, monitor the ambient mana levels. I’m going to operate."

  Ben rolled his mechanical eyes, but he moved to the door, drawing his heavy sword. "Fine. But if she tries to eat you, I am going to say 'I told you so' very loudly."

  Lloyd knelt beside Monalisa. He looked at her stone arm.

  "Okay, Sleeping Beauty," Lloyd said, rolling up his sleeves. "This is going to hurt. A lot."

  Monalisa smiled weakly. A spark of that old, dangerous hunger returned to her eyes. "I like it when it hurts, darling. Just don't be boring."

  Lloyd took a deep breath. He focused his mind. He didn't reach for his sword or his gun. He reached for the deep, primal power of the Void that lived in his blood.

  He activated the [Void Wood].

  His skin didn't turn to steel this time. Instead, it turned a dull, lifeless grey. Thick, gnarled roots burst from his fingertips. They weren't natural roots; they looked like dead driftwood, dry and thirsty. They twisted and writhed in the air, seeking energy.

  "Hold still," Lloyd commanded.

  He plunged the roots directly into Monalisa’s petrified shoulder.

  ________________________________________

  The moment the grey roots pierced Monalisa’s skin, she screamed.

  It wasn't a scream of fear. It was a scream of shock. It was the sound of a frozen river suddenly cracking open. Her body arched off the cushion, her back bowing as the connection was made.

  Lloyd gritted his teeth. He felt the connection instantly. It wasn't like connecting to a machine; it was like connecting to a swamp. He could feel the weight of her soul. It was heavy, sluggish, and incredibly old.

  He activated the "suction" property of the [Void Wood].

  The roots on his arm pulsed. Thump. Thump. They began to pull.

  To Lloyd’s [All-Seeing Eye], the problem was visible. Inside Monalisa’s body, her mana veins were black. They were clogged with "Abyssal Sediment"—a thick, tar-like sludge that was the physical manifestation of her sin, her laziness, and years of stagnation. It was stopping the fresh energy from flowing, turning her body into stone.

  Chapter : 1920

  "Come on," Lloyd grunted, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "Move."

  He pulled harder. The roots glowed with a sickly, dark light as they began to drag the sludge out of her.

  It was agony for Lloyd. He felt like he was trying to suck cement through a straw. The sediment was toxic. It burned his veins as it traveled up the roots and into his own arm. He could feel the heaviness of it, the overwhelming desire to just stop, to lie down, to sleep forever. It was the essence of Sloth trying to infect him.

  "Focus," Ben’s voice cut through the haze. "Lord Lloyd, your heart rate is spiking. Keep the flow steady."

  "I’ve got it," Lloyd hissed.

  He pushed his own mana into the roots, using it like a solvent to break up the tar. Slowly, agonizingly, the blockage began to move.

  Monalisa gasped. Her eyes flew open. They were glowing with intense green light. For the first time in years, she felt... light. The crushing weight on her chest was lifting. The stone on her arm began to crack and flake away, revealing pale, healthy skin underneath.

  "Oh," she moaned, her voice trembling. "Oh, that feels... incredible."

  She looked at Lloyd. Her gaze wasn't just grateful; it was intense. It was predatory. She watched the sweat dripping from his chin. She watched the way his jaw clenched in concentration.

  "You are actually doing it," she whispered. "You are cleaning me out."

  Lloyd didn't answer. He was too busy managing the flow. He couldn't just dump the toxic sludge anywhere; it was dangerous. He had to condense it. He had to give it a form.

  He channeled the extracted sediment into the palm of his left hand. The [Void Wood] ability had a secondary function: "Fruit Generation." It could take raw energy and compress it into a physical object.

  The black tar swirled in his palm. It bubbled and hissed. Slowly, it began to harden. It took shape. It became a round, heavy object, dark grey and swirling with black smoke.

  It was a Spirit Fruit. But this wasn't a red fruit of health like he had harvested from the vines in the city. This was a dark fruit. A Fruit of Sloth. It contained all the sickness, all the weight, and all the raw power that had been clogging Monalisa’s system.

  With one final, wrenching pull, Lloyd extracted the last major clot from her heart.

  Monalisa collapsed back onto the cushion, panting heavily. Her skin was flushed. The grey stone was gone. Her mana was flowing freely again, humming with the power of a Sovereign.

  Lloyd staggered back, breaking the connection. The wooden roots on his arm retracted and vanished into his skin. He stood there, holding the heavy grey fruit in his hand. It felt cold and dense, like a cannonball.

  ________________________________________

  The dark, crystal throne room of the Envy Faction was quiet, except for the heavy breathing of a Demon Prince.

  Lloyd Ferrum stood up slowly. His legs felt a little shaky. The strange, grey wooden roots that had burst from his arm—his [Void Wood] power—shrank back into his skin until they disappeared completely. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve.

  In his left hand, he held the result of the surgery. It was a heavy, dark grey fruit. It was about the size of a cannonball and felt just as cold. Black smoke swirled around it, trapped under the skin of the fruit.

  "System check," Lloyd muttered, looking down at the woman lying on the shadow cushion. "How is the patient?"

  Monalisa Belphagor, the Prince of Sloth, didn't answer right away. She took a deep breath. Her chest rose and fell easily. For the last fifty years, breathing had felt like lifting a heavy stone. Now, it felt like air.

  She lifted her left arm. Just ten minutes ago, that arm had been turning into solid grey rock. It had been heavy, dead, and useless. Now, the skin was pale and smooth. She flexed her fingers. She rotated her wrist. She made a fist.

  It was perfect.

  "Oh..." Monalisa let out a long, shuddering sigh. A slow, lazy smile spread across her face. It wasn't the smile of a ruler; it was the smile of someone who had just taken a very strong painkiller. "My gears... they are turning again."

  From the corner of the room, a deep, scoffing sound broke the mood.