Hellbound - Chapter 5

The killing intent striking Lucifer was palpable. He was all too familiar with this feeling. Countless demons had leveled their hatred at him. However, it had been some time since he faced the killing intent of someone more powerful than himself. It was often considered bad form, even among demons, to go out of your way to fight humans or demons more than a few levels outside your own. Few demons of the same level could ever match Lucifer’s ability, and since he was an unknown to the demon world, he carried little animosity. The only ones who wanted to kill him were those who underestimated him.

However, his levels had been reset, and Lilith was a level twelve targeting him with all of her fury. He instantly could tell by her positioning that the strike she was preparing came with the intent to destroy his life. Lucifer’s instincts cut in, and his skills forged by years of brutal training caused him to move before he could even think. He leaped over the bathtub and then shoved his hand into the water.

As Lilith lunged forward, magic trickled from his fingertips, mixing with the water and instantly converting it all into steam. The steam, with nowhere else to go, immediately erupted upwards with a concussive force. Lucifer had kneeled, using the side of the bathtub to hold on, but his hand was immediately facing the brunt of the explosion. The marble tub cracked under the force, and the room became filled with steam.

He had hoped that this would be sufficient, but a moment later, the erupting steam was blown away by another force, far sharper in nature. He looked up to see the enraged Lilith descending on him. Her blade had cut through the steam, separating it to the sides and giving her a clear view of him. Although she had lost some power and momentum, she was still about to bisect him with her blade. His eyes desperately scanned the floor next to the bathtub, and immediately fell on a black pipe. He grabbed it and swung up.

He had already blocked part of her blow; however, all else he could do was throw himself back and try to disperse as much of her attack as he could. The two objects slammed into each other, creating a metallic thud. Lucifer was shocked at how tough his makeshift defense turned out to be, as it absorbed the strike.

This didn’t mean he was safe. Although he had blocked the blade, the force of the impact was astronomical. Lucifer was only a level 1, and soon he was thrown away. He struck the wall with enough force that it cracked. The air was driven from his lungs, and he couldn’t help but slide to the floor, his body throbbing with a piercing pain. However, he was still alive.

As the steam cleared, revealing the wrecked bathroom, the person who seemed to be the most shocked wasn’t Lucifer, but Lilith. She was staring at him with a look of disbelief.

“You… survived?” Lilith panted, her shock slowly morphing back into fury. “Survive this!”

“Mistress, stop!” Before Lilith could do more, a small body threw its arms around her waist, grabbing onto Lilith’s legs. “It’s Empusa’s fault! Empusa did this!”

“Empusa…” Lilith blinked, a bit surprised by the imp’s actions.

“I’m responsible. Empusa copied Mistress to test his bottom line. Empusa just wanted to tease him. Empusa didn’t think he’d notice and reject her. Empusa is at fault!”

Lilith’s murderous aura slowly dissipated. Her eyes turned slightly dark as Empusa explained everything that happened. Lucifer couldn’t help but let out a breath of relief. He actually hadn’t realized it wasn’t Lilith. Rather, his actions came from a different direction. However, if it looked like he had rejected her advances, perhaps that would be for the best. When Empusa’s apologies broke into sobs, Lilith sighed and put the blade away.

“Empusa, clean yourself up. Use the guest bathroom.” She ordered.

“Y-yes, mistress.” Empusa sniffed, wiping her tearful face.

She glanced once in Lucifer’s direction, then lowered her head shamefully and ran to the door. This left just Lilith and Lucifer standing in the damaged bathroom. There was water everywhere, and the steam was still dissipating. Lilith looked down at Lucifer, an indescribable expression on her face.

“So… someone owes someone an apology.” Lucifer coughed.

“For what?” Lilith sniffed. “I protected my servant from a predator.”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“You… you hurt my servant.” She sniffed. “You should understand Imps are mischievous. They tease and play, but their intellect is little better than that of children. If you did take advantage of her…”

“I didn’t!” Lucifer snapped back angrily. “Besides, I thought she was you!”

“So, you thought you could push me around?”

“No!” Lucifer yelled. “That’s not what happened! Why the hell do you have to be so violent anyway! You almost killed me.”

“Almost…” She suddenly looked awkward. “You should be dead. I’m not a reaver, but a level 1 shouldn’t be able to survive the attack of a level 12. How did you do that?”

“It… was just a trick I learned.” He shrugged. “I was lucky.”

“Hmph… you should remember that going forward. The only reason you’re even here is that I’m granting you a chance. I can kill you at any moment!” She pulled her knife back out and inspected it.

“I’ll keep that in mind!” He growled back.

“Tcht, what did you even block with? This knife is top demon-forged steel. You shouldn’t have any possessions of your own, let alone one that could block demon-forged steel.”

“It’s yours, not mine.” Lucifer picked up the black cylinder and finally glanced at it. “It’s shockingly sturdy. What is this thing?”

He hadn’t had a chance to look at it thoroughly before. It was long, about eight inches, and completely smooth, made out of a polished obsidian. It was seamless, with no visible joints or markings. It had managed to block a steel blade without getting marked at all. It was slightly curved and a bit bulbous at the top. When he finished examining it, he looked up to see Lilith staring at the item unblinkingly. Her cheeks began to darken, and her hands shook.

“Th-th… a gag gift… I’ve never… u-used it.”

Lucifer tilted his head. “A gag? A gag weapon? Why would a joke be built to take such a beating?”

“None of your business!” She suddenly became enraged again. “Forget it! I’ve decided you’ll die!”

“Eh? Why?” Lucifer grew fearful when he felt her killing intent return.

This woman really was unpredictable! She lunged at him again, and he was forced to use the cylinder to defend himself. This seemed to enrage her further, and he found himself being kicked, slapped, and punched. However, all of her focus seemed to be on his weapon, as if it had personally offended her. It was only when he opted to let go of it that she finally took it and released him.

At that point, his body was bruised and beaten from head to toe. Lilith stood up, the weapon hidden away somewhere as she glared down at him with hostility.

“Hmph! I forbid you from dying! You will take responsibility for your mistakes today! You owe me!” She huffed before storming out of the room.

Lucifer couldn’t help but stare after her. He didn’t even know what he had done wrong. Why was this damn woman so aggressive? He found himself even missing Eve a little bit. She might have betrayed him completely, but at least she had never beaten him up.

Thankfully, Lucifer was filled with techniques and skills from a lifetime of training. Although he was only level one, that also meant that he didn’t possess all that much life force in the first place. He was able to recover his body quickly, and after using the remaining water in the tub to quickly clean himself up, he managed to crawl into the guest bedroom and pass out.

That would end up marking his first night in hell. His dreams were filled with visions of Eve betraying him and Michael pointing and laughing at him. By the time he woke the next morning, his eyes had returned to a smoldering fury. By the time Lucifer had pulled himself out of bed, his body had completely healed. Had Lilith seen him, she would have been completely shocked. It wasn’t even a magic thing. Lucifer knew countless healing chants and internal energy circulation techniques. He had trained hard and rested little. He had long perfected means of healing rapidly and being prepared to fight once again.

That said, he took his time getting up this morning. He hadn’t noticed the guest bedroom the first time he had entered Lilith’s suite. It consisted of a single room and a bath. It was smaller than some of the suite’s closets, and yet still felt quite roomy for Lucifer. As he sat up, he found fresh clothing laid out for him. Since the previous night, it looked like Lilith had provided him with clothing. At least, she was repenting for last night in her own way. Perhaps, he could make a minion out of her after all.

Those were his thoughts until he actually tried to put the clothing on, only to find that it was several sizes too large and hung off him uncomfortably. He finally left the bedroom, an annoyed expression on his face.

“This clothing doesn’t fit,” Lucifer growled as soon as he stepped out, finding Empusa currently in the process of cleaning the kitchen.

“Empusa is sorry,” Empusa responded, her eyes avoiding his. “This was all Empusa could find in the building. She had to borrow clothing from a demon on floor three!”

“Yeah? And where is your mistress now?” Lucifer didn’t know why, but finding out Lilith hadn’t even bothered with his clothing left him feeling irritated.

“Mistress has left early this morning,” Empusa replied while seemingly focusing on a particular part of the marble counters in front of her.

Lucifer couldn’t help but notice her change in temperament. She was definitely a bit nervous facing him after the night prior. A part of him wanted to apologize for his outburst the night before. He immediately crushed that feeling. Those were still the thoughts of the Lucifer who was played a fool. That was the Lucifer who was used and stabbed in the back. He would no longer apologize for the actions he chose to take.

“I’m leaving,” Lucifer stated instead, turning toward the elevator.

“Leave?” Empusa finally looked up and then rushed in front of Lucifer. “You can’t leave! Mistress has ordered you to remain in this apartment until she-”

Her voice broke, and she looked away. Lucifer’s eyes narrowed.

“Until she what?”

Empusa bit her lip. “Empusa can not allow Master to leave.”

“She’s trying to find a way to reverse the bond, correct?” Lucifer grinned, causing Empusa’s face to notably pale.

“Ah! Th-that’s not… Empusa doesn’t know!”

“That doesn’t matter.” Lucifer pressed. “You said it already. I’m your Mistress’s Master. That means you have to do what I say, not what she says. I order you to escort me.”

“N-no!” Empusa took a step back. “I won’t.”

“Are you not my servant?”

“Actually…” The imp shifted uncomfortably, her long ears wilting. “I may have misled you last night. Although I am Ms. Lilith’s servant, I am not paid by her directly. I must follow her orders, but I do not have to do as you instruct.”

Lucifer blinked, a bit surprised by this revelation. Then again, he had already figured out that Lilith couldn’t own such a place on her own salary. It sounded like she was some kind of demon equivalent of a nepo baby. To someone like Lucifer, who came from an orphanage and was then adopted directly by the hero’s association, he couldn’t relate whatsoever. He met Empusa’s eyes, but she still shyly looked away.

“Neither you nor Lilith has any right to control my movements. Although this is the demon realm, there are still rules, aren’t there? I am not her minion at the moment.”

“That-“

“And since I’m not her minion, I am free to move about as I will. Here, I’ll tell you what. If you come with me, we can be back before she returns, and she will know nothing. Or, you can stay here and explain to her why I am gone when she finally gets back.”

Empusa’s eyes widened in panic. “W-wait!”

“You decide.” He walked past her and opened the elevator gate.

“Ah… f-fine! Empusa will go! Empusa is coming!”

She jumped onto the elevator. He waited for a few moments before he shot her a glare. She panicked, pulling out the key and turning it on. It apparently hadn’t occurred to her that without the key, he wasn’t going anywhere. Whether she realized this later, Lucifer didn’t really care. His focus was on his own goals.

The elevator reached the lobby, and they walked past the gargoyle, which didn’t even move from its perch. Soon, they were standing on the street. The sky was lighter red today, perhaps because it was earlier in the morning. Lucifer glanced around once before his eyes fell on Empusa.

“I need directions.” He stated.

“Directions?” Empusa looked back and then narrowed her eyes. “You don’t know where you’re going?”

“Why do you think I asked you to come?” He rolled his eyes. “If I tried to find everything myself, I wouldn’t be back in any reasonable period of time. Give me directions, and maybe we can be back before your mistress returns, yeah?”

Empusa’s shoulder slumped in defeat. “Fine, Empusa will help.”

“Where do demons accept missions?” Lucifer asked. “I want to do a mission.”

“Missions?” Empusa gasped. “You want to become a Guardian?”

“Guardians?” Lucifer frowned. “I thought they were called Reavers.”

“Reavers are different.” Empusa shook her head. “Reavers are demons who have permission to go to Earth. Going to Earth is naturally risky, so they won’t just send any demons. You become a Guardian, and only after achieving a certain level can you gain permission to be a Reaver. Just see it this way: all Reavers are Guardians, but not all Guardians have what it takes to become Reavers. Only the strongest demons are allowed to infiltrate Earth.”

“Alright then.” Lucifer shook his head. “I guess I’ll become a Guardian.”

Empusa still looked hesitant. “Even a Guardian has requirements. You have to succeed in the Trial mission.”

“What is the Trial mission?”

Trials are random, but you must go with a Guardian Instructor who will assess you. However, no Guardian will oversee a mission unless you’re at least a level five. You have no chance of becoming a Guardian at level one. You should concentrate on leveling for now…”

“Don’t you level by completing missions?”

“Missions allow you to earn leveling experience the fastest, but you can obtain such experience by working any job.”

“Any job?”

“For example, those on the racks make a good amount of experience, just look at Lilith, who has already reached level twelve at her young age.”

“Young age? How old is Lilith?”

“Hehehe… you’re actually asking a girl’s age. I bet you won’t believe this, but Lilith isn’t even over a hundred… wh-why are you reaching for me!”

“I just want to strangle you a little bit. Did you say a hundred?”

“It’s considered good for most demons to gain five levels every hundred years! Most demons won’t even become Guardians under two hundred!” She spoke in a panicked voice.

Lucifer stopped advancing on her, taking a deep breath. Demons who lived as long as they maintained their soul power had a different concept of time compared to mere humans. Perhaps, this was one of the reasons demons felt fine consuming humans, whose lifespans were ant-like to some of the older ones. It really was shocking. A human only had a hundred years to live. That meant their leveling was similarly scaled. Most humans were over level ten by the age of adulthood. It turned out a demon under a hundred was still considered a youth. Wait, didn’t that mean Lilith was actually a young woman?

“How old are you?”

“Hmph! Empusa hinted at Lilith’s age, but you dare to ask about Empusa? Empusa is definitely a young beauty!”

Lucifer decided to ignore how her voice cracked at that. Instead, he was thinking about his own issues. He needed to take on missions. That was the only way he could grow quickly.

“I can’t wait ten years.” Lucifer’s expression darkened. “I can’t even wait one.”

If he had to wait so long to begin his revenge, then there would be no point. Everyone he wanted to punish would be dead before he ever even got out of hell. Empusa stared at him for a long while before responding.

“There might be… one way.” Empusa’s words were slow and quiet.

Lucifer reached out to grab her, but stopped when she flinched. “You do? Please, tell me!”

“V-very well…” She flushed. “Empusa will take you to the Guardian HQ first. There, Empusa will help.”