Chapter 10.2. Qi (2)

  “My Lord, I have to ask… did you notice that you are completely unclothed?” Kane asked carefully.

  Lucifer glanced down.

  Indeed, he was completely naked.

  “Well, that’s a problem,” Lucifer said nonchalantly.

  He lifted his gaze, unfazed. “I suppose I can’t stay like this, considering there are women present.”

  He turned his head slightly. “Kane.”

  At the command alone, shadows and energy converged. Kane materialized clothing around Lucifer’s body in an instant, the fabric forming seamlessly as if it had always been there.

  “My Lord, how did you know I’d be able to do that?” Kane asked.

  Lucifer glanced at him.

  “Well, it is me after all,” he said calmly. “And I can feel a very powerful energy deep within you—something I couldn’t sense before. My senses have been heightened to an extreme level, so it was obvious you had grown much stronger. As for the clothes… I wasn’t entirely sure.”

  He then noticed that the elders and Demon Lords were still kneeling.

  “You may stand,” Lucifer said.

  They quickly rose.

  “I appreciate your concern,” Lucifer continued. “As you can see, I am in excellent condition. Return to your respective domains.”

  The elders bowed deeply, unfurled their wings, and departed. The Demon Lords followed shortly after. Before leaving, however, Astarte and Ammit paused, each stealing a brief glance at Lucifer.

  He noticed.

  Moments later, they too were gone.

  Lucifer watched them fly into the distance before turning back to Kane.

  Kane, thinking his lord expected a response, simply shrugged.

  Lucifer knew it was still too early for him to enter battle.

  He couldn’t yet control his newfound power, and the idea of killing an opponent simply by looking at them irritated him. Until his control improved, real combat was out of the question.

  So instead, he decided to test himself against the ruthless creatures of the Demon World.

  To demons with intelligence, Lucifer was the King of Hell.

  But to mindless beasts—those driven purely by instinct—he was nothing more than another demon.

  Of course, he could have gone to the Forest of Slaughter, but he wasn’t in the mood to fight creatures he had already massacred countless times.

  “Kane,” Lucifer said, glancing at him, “do you know of any place where large numbers of mindless creatures gather?”

  “Yes, my lord,” Kane replied without hesitation. “There is one place in particular that I believe you would enjoy.”

  “Good,” Lucifer said. “Take me there.”

  Since becoming a lich, Kane no longer possessed wings.

  But that hardly mattered.

  Dark magic surged beneath his feet, lifting him smoothly into the air as he began flying toward the horizon.

  Lucifer followed a moment later.

  With a deafening boom, he shot into the sky like a cannonball.

  All that remained below was a shattered floor and a crater carved by the force of his ascent.

  Kane glanced back while flying and noticed something strange.

  Lucifer was flying effortlessly—no wings in sight.

  “My lord,” Kane asked, clearly surprised, “since when have you been able to fly without your wings?”

  “Hmmm,” Lucifer replied calmly, “since the moment I stepped into the True God Realm.”

  “Does that mean you’ve become a God?” Kane asked.

  “No,” Lucifer said, a faint smile forming on his lips. “I’ve become something far beyond a mere God.”

  In the context of that other world, he was now an unstoppable force.

  But this world was different.

  “I’m not yet sure how my power compares to what exists here,” Lucifer continued. “That’s exactly why I need this training.”

  They flew far from the Demon King’s castle and eventually descended into a vast, open area.

  When they landed, Lucifer scanned the surroundings.

  Nothing but a massive wasteland stretched before them.

  “Kane,” Lucifer asked, “where exactly are we?”

  “This place has no name,” Kane replied.

  Lucifer frowned slightly. “Then where are the monsters? All I see is emptiness.”

  “They’ll arrive soon, my lord,” Kane said calmly.

  So they waited.

  A few minutes passed.

  Then the ground began to tremble.

  Lucifer’s gaze sharpened as he looked around, but at first, he couldn’t see the source of the vibrations.

  Moments later, his eyes widened.

  From every direction, an enormous number of creatures came charging toward him, their footsteps shaking the earth itself.

  “Um… Kane,” Lucifer said slowly, “what exactly are those things?”

  “Those are Zealots, my lord,” Kane replied. “They are creatures that hunt in massive groups.”

  They were purple from head to toe, their bodies riddled with jagged spikes.

  Hideous faces twisted with madness.

  And those teeth—long, serrated, unnaturally sharp.

  Well… this should make for a fun test of my new strength, Lucifer thought.

  He didn’t move.

  He let the Zealots rush closer, their shrieks echoing across the wasteland.

  “Oh,” Lucifer said with a smile, “I haven’t used this in a while.”

  He raised a finger toward the Zealots charging from the front.

  Then he flicked it downward.

  An enormous invisible force crashed into the ground like a divine hammer.

  The earth exploded.

  Zealots were slammed straight into the ground, their bodies crushed, bones pulverized, flesh reduced to broken heaps embedded in the cracked earth.

  “Ha,” Lucifer said calmly. “I didn’t think this technique would’ve grown this powerful.”

  He didn’t linger.

  There was no time to admire it.

  More Zealots surged forward from all sides.

  Kane understood immediately.

  This was not his fight.

  The grin on Lucifer’s face said everything.

  Kane ascended into the sky, hovering high above so he wouldn’t be in his lord’s way.

  Lucifer lifted his hand and pointed forward.

  Then he swung his arm from left to right.

  A crescent wave of pure energy tore through the air.

  Everything in its path—every Zealot in front of him and to his right—was sliced cleanly in half.

  Bodies split.

  Blood sprayed.

  The ground was littered with twitching remains.

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  But still, more came.

  The Zealots finally closed the distance.

  It became close-range combat.

  Though calling it a fight would be generous.

  A fight required opposition.

  What followed was nothing more than a one-sided massacre.

  Each punch Lucifer threw carried absurd force.

  The moment his fist connected, the Zealot’s body exploded on impact—flesh, bone, and ichor scattering outward like shrapnel.

  Every kick was worse.

  His leg sliced clean through their bodies upon contact, cleaving them apart as if they were made of wet clay.

  There was no end to the Zealots.

  They kept coming.

  Wave after wave.

  Lucifer, however, showed no signs of exhaustion.

  If anything, being outnumbered only made him smile wider.

  The longer the slaughter continued, the more alive he felt.

  Hours passed.

  The wasteland turned into a field of crushed corpses, splintered spikes, and pools of dark blood.

  Still, the Zealots came.

  Eventually, sheer numbers began to matter.

  They swarmed him from every direction.

  Lucifer was forced back.

  Then down.

  He fell onto his back as thousands of Zealots piled onto him, claws and teeth scraping uselessly against his body.

  Their mass buried him completely.

  From the outside, it looked like he had finally been overwhelmed.

  That illusion didn’t last.

  Lucifer closed his eyes.

  Calm.

  Then he opened them.

  A pulse of power erupted outward from his body.

  The Zealots on top of him were blown apart instantly—bodies torn to pieces, reduced to fragments that rained down across the wasteland.

  Lucifer released his bloodlust onto the remaining Zealots.

  It wasn’t an attack.

  It was intent—pure, murderous intent.

  The air grew heavy, crushing.

  The ground trembled.

  The Zealots froze mid-charge, their savage instincts screaming danger.

  Even creatures that devoured anything that moved understood one thing in that moment—

  Lucifer was not prey.

  They turned and fled.

  Screeching.

  Scrambling over one another in blind panic, disappearing into the wasteland.

  Lucifer let out a slow sigh as he watched them run.

  “Haa… just when I was done warming up.”

  Kane descended from the sky and landed beside him.

  “My lord,” Kane said, genuinely impressed, “that was a magnificent display of power.”

  Lucifer glanced at the ruined wasteland around them.

  Shattered corpses.

  Cratered earth.

  Silence.

  He hadn’t even gone all out.

  Still, he felt satisfied.

  He had control.

  True control.

  And it had only taken him five hours to achieve it.

  “Kane, let’s return. I’ve accomplished what I set out to accomplish,” said Lucifer as he shot up into the sky.

  The Lord seems to be in a very good mood. That’s good, Kane thought to himself as he followed behind.

  When they reached the castle, Lucifer facepalmed, suddenly remembering the rooms and floors he had destroyed during his breakthrough.

  He asked Kane how long the repairs would take.

  “Roughly five months to restore everything exactly as it was,” Kane replied. “But the castle has a self-repair function, so you don’t need to worry too much.”

  Hearing that lifted the weight of guilt from Lucifer’s shoulders.

  “So I didn’t completely destroy my own house,” he muttered.

  Relieved, they entered the castle through the first floor.

  Almost immediately, Aurora emerged from beneath the bridge, her massive form coiling gracefully.

  “It’s been a while, Lucifer,” she said.

  “Nice to see you too, Aurora,” Lucifer replied.

  “You know,” Aurora continued, “for a King, you really know how to get yourself beaten to death.”

  Lucifer burst out laughing.

  “Hahaha! That’s funny, considering I’ve never been beaten to death—and never will be.”

  Aurora’s eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of amusement flickering within them.

  “Well then,” she said, “what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

  “It’s a simple request,” Lucifer replied calmly. “All you have to do is fight me.”

  “The most powerful Demon in the entire Demon Realm challenging me?” Aurora said, her massive body shifting. “Don’t you think that makes no sense?”

  “First,” Lucifer said, raising a finger, “we haven’t explored the entire Demon Realm. For all we know, I might not be the strongest.”

  He raised a second finger.

  “And second, you’re far stronger than you let anyone believe… isn’t that right, Aurora?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking ab—”

  She never finished.

  Lucifer vanished.

  In the next instant, his fist crashed into Aurora’s head.

  The impact cracked the air like thunder.

  Aurora’s colossal body was sent flying backward, smashing into the ground below with a deafening boom that shook the first floor.

  For a brief moment, everything was still.

  Then Aurora rose, coils tightening, eyes burning.

  “If it’s a fight you want,” she hissed, “then it’s a fight you’ll get.”

  She lunged.

  Kane, meanwhile, showed no interest whatsoever.

  Knowing this battle would take a while—and already seeing the outcome—he casually formed a chair from dark energy, sat down, and summoned a book into his hands.

  He began reading.

  Aurora attacked relentlessly.

  Her massive body moved with terrifying speed, strikes tearing through the air, each blow capable of crushing mountains.

  Lucifer danced through it all.

  He dodged every strike with ease, slipping past claws and coils by the narrowest margins, his movements smooth and effortless.

  Aurora’s size gave her no advantage.

  Not against someone this fast.

  The fight dragged on.

  Lucifer kept hammering Aurora with brutal uppercuts and crushing hook punches, each strike slamming her massive body into the walls of the first floor.

  The castle groaned.

  Chunks of black stone tore loose from the walls and came crashing down.

  Unfortunately, they were falling straight toward Kane.

  Lucifer opened his mouth to warn him—

  —but stopped.

  Kane casually lifted a finger.

  Without even glancing up, the falling rocks shattered into dust midair.

  They never made a sound when they hit the floor.

  “Show-off!” Lucifer shouted.

  “Look who’s talking!” Kane shouted back.

  That brief distraction was all Aurora needed.

  Her massive fist slammed into Lucifer’s side.

  The impact sent him hurtling across the floor like a meteor.

  He crashed into the wall, stone exploding outward as his body carved a deep crater into it.

  “Aaagh—” Lucifer groaned.

  He pushed himself up, sitting in the hole he’d made, one hand pressed to his side.

  “Okay,” he muttered, forcing a grin. “I felt that.”

  Before he could fully recover—

  Light gathered.

  A blinding beam of energy tore through the air and struck him dead center.

  The explosion swallowed the wall in white brilliance.

  Aurora stared at the impact point, her massive form tense, senses sharpened.

  Nothing moved.

  Seconds passed.

  Anyone else would have been vaporized.

  Anyone else would already be dead.

  But the one she was fighting was no ordinary being.

  Even as silence hung heavy in the air, Aurora did not lower her guard for a single moment.

  An immense pressure suddenly crushed down on the entire cave.

  The air thickened, heavy and suffocating, as if the space itself was bowing.

  Breathing became difficult.

  Aurora’s eyes locked onto the source.

  From the dust-filled darkness, two blood-red eyes ignited and stared straight back at her.

  Her breath caught.

  “O-okay, hold on,” Aurora said quickly, her voice tense.

  “Let’s relax… there’s no need to get serious.”

  Too late.

  Lucifer vanished.

  He reappeared right in front of her and threw a punch.

  In that instant, Aurora saw it—

  Her life flashing before her eyes.

  The strike never landed.

  Kane appeared between them and caught Lucifer’s fist barehanded.

  The impact sent ripples through the air.

  “My lord,” Kane said calmly, holding him back,

  “please excuse my interference, but I ask that you calm your anger.”

  Lucifer blinked.

  “Anger?” he asked, genuinely confused.

  “I’m not angry at all.”

  He shrugged slightly.

  “I was just about to get serious in the fight,” he said.

  “But you just had to stop me.”

  Lucifer relaxed his arm.

  “Well, anyway,” he continued, glancing at Aurora,

  “this should be good enough.”

  He smiled.

  “So let’s call it a draw, shall we?”

  Aurora huffed.

  “Hmph. As you wish.”

  With that, Lucifer and Kane turned, flew into the pyramid, and vanished as the teleportation activated.

  Silence returned.

  Aurora laid back down beneath the bridge, coiling comfortably.

  And resumed her nap.

  Lucifer and Kane arrived outside the throne room.

  The doors opened, and they stepped inside.

  Lucifer walked forward and seated himself upon his throne. Kane stopped a few steps ahead of him, standing at attention.

  “Kane,” Lucifer commanded,

  “call the Demon Lords for me.”

  Kane bowed his head and took his leave.

  As soon as Kane exited, Lucifer called out to Lokie—and was instantly pulled into his throne.

  “Well, would you look at that,” Lokie said, circling him.

  “Back in tip-top shape.”

  “Hm,” Lucifer replied.

  “Looks like old dogs can learn new tricks. Since when do you greet people first?”

  “Just because I’ve never done it doesn’t mean I can’t,” Lokie snapped.

  “Try being alone for thousands of years and see if you can still communicate normally.”

  “Relax, Lokie,” Lucifer said casually.

  “I was joking. Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

  “And you call me an old dog,” Lokie shot back.

  “Looks like Mister Serious learned how to crack jokes. And for your information, I don’t wear panties.”

  “I didn’t mean you literally wear—ugh,” Lucifer waved it off.

  “You know what, forget it.”

  He sighed.

  “Let’s just start. We’ve got two whole hours before the Demon Lords arrive.”

  “Your wish is my command, my lord,” Lokie replied.

  “And I must say… this new power of yours is unlike anything in our world.”

  “That’s because it isn’t from this world,” Lucifer said calmly.

  “I took it straight from the mind of an otherworlder.”

  “I see. So what do we call this power?”

  Lokie asked as he shifted into a battle stance, his body already radiating intent.

  “It’s called Ki,”

  Lucifer replied calmly.

  “An interesting name,” Lokie said.

  “So what level did you reach with this Ki?”

  Lucifer shrugged.

  “I’m sure you can feel it yourself, so why would I need to say it out loud?”

  “Hmmm,” Lokie mused, a grin forming.

  “Of course… you’ve truly mastered it, as expected of the great Demon King.”

  The talking ended there.

  They charged at each other.

  Their so-called spar was anything but gentle. Fists clashed, shockwaves rippled through the space, and the darkness around them trembled. Time lost meaning as they exchanged blow after blow, each strike carrying monstrous intent. Before they realized it, both had forgotten everything except the fight in front of them.

  Meanwhile, Kane and the Demon Lords arrived in the throne room.

  Lucifer was nowhere to be seen.

  They all stared at the throne and quickly understood—he had entered it once more. With that conclusion reached, they remained where they were. Kane moved forward and took his place beside the throne.

  Moments passed as the Demon Lords quietly spoke among themselves.

  Then, suddenly, the throne stirred.

  Lucifer emerged.

  His clothes were torn to shreds, his shirt completely gone. Cuts and bruises covered his upper body, dark and raw, clear proof that whatever battle he had just fought had been nothing short of brutal.

  Kane welcomed his lord back.

  As Lucifer opened his eyes, he saw all the Demon Lords staring at him.

  “I apologize for my late appearance,” Lucifer said calmly.

  “As you can see, I was a little… preoccupied.”

  The Demon Lords bowed their heads and took their respective seats.

  “I won’t keep you long,” Lucifer continued.

  “Over these past days—and years—I’ve spoken far too much. I’m itching for action.”

  He leaned back slightly on his throne.

  “With that said, we will resume our attack on the humans in five days. I’m sure all of you have already prepared for this moment. However, as you can see, I need a little time to rest.”

  “My lord,” Mephistopheles said after a brief pause,

  “what exactly is this immense power we’re sensing from you? Until now, we were never able to sense any power from you. Yet now that we can… we don’t even understand what it is.”

  “It’s called Qi,” Lucifer replied.

  “It comes from the world the otherworlders originated from. The fact that you can sense it means I haven’t hidden it well enough yet. That will be corrected after I rest.”

  “I see,” Mephistopheles said thoughtfully.

  “So the otherworlders possessed such a power… fortunate, then, that we killed them all before they had the chance to use it.”

  Lucifer’s eyes narrowed slightly at that.

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” Lucifer said coldly.

  “We haven’t killed all the otherworlders yet.”

  He swept his gaze across the hall.

  “That said, I believe we’ve killed most of them. Even I fail to comprehend just how many people the humans of this world have summoned from elsewhere.”

  His eyes sharpened.

  “But it doesn’t matter.

  Anyone who stands in our way will be crushed.”

  He leaned back against his throne.

  “So go. Get some rest.

  The next time we meet, we march straight into battle against the humans.”

  The Demon Lords rose as one, bowed deeply, and headed for the doors.

  Just as Astarte and Ammit were about to leave, Lucifer’s voice stopped them.

  “Astarte. Ammit. Stay.”

  The others exited without a word.

  Lucifer then turned slightly.

  “Kane, leave us.”

  Kane bowed and took his leave.

  Once he was gone, Lucifer motioned for Astarte and Ammit to follow him.

  They did so silently.

  He led them down the corridor to his chambers.

  At the doorway, he stepped inside first, then allowed them in.

  The door closed behind them with a soft, final click.