Lucifer: Godless Reawakening

Black flags with gemstones hidden beneath the surface.

The goal was simple and safe. Despite what the vice-headmaster had said, there was no real chance of a high-grade monster lurking in the forest. They only wanted to create a sense of urgency, a controlled panic to make the students take this seriously.

The whole examination felt lame to him, truth be told. These students were going to join the battlefield, maybe not participating in wars but one way or another they would be fighting with their lives on the line.

And for such people they have arranged this...but well.

William sprinted through the familiar greenery, searching for the first flag. He didn’t know what would count as an ideal number, but he decided to hunt down at least three.

"This is a trap."

The voice echoed in his ear, and William instinctively slowed.

He glanced over his shoulder. Hovering midair was the familiar bloodied figure—Lamb.

’What do you mean?’ he asked silently, his gaze sharpening as it flicked across his surroundings.

Was there a hidden layer to the test? Something designed to evaluate how students reacted to unexpected danger?

"There are people closing in," Lamb said calmly. "A magic circle has already been formed around you."

William frowned. ’Why can’t I sense it?’

"Because they are aware of your abilities," Lamb replied, calm as ever. "They’ve been careful to keep their distance and remain outside your perception."

This... was starting to feel less and less like a test.

William suddenly lifted himself into the air, scanning the area from above. Nothing looked different, yet that was precisely what felt wrong.

A forest should be alive. He had spent days here. He knew its rhythm, its noise, its pulse.

But now... there was nothing.

No rustling leaves. No distant howls. Just a suffocating, unnatural silence.

"Should I head back to the academy and report this?"

He turned slightly, glancing behind him—

And froze.

His eyes widened.

"Where is the academy?"

Where the towering fort should have stood... there was nothing. Only empty space stretched into the distance.

Some kind of illusion? He had a bad feeling about this.

William dropped back to the ground and placed his hands against it, closing his eyes.

He focused all his senses into telepathy, reaching outward, searching for anything... a stray thought, a hidden presence.

Then—

Something brushed against his consciousness.

A thought. Not something that slipped by accident, but something delivered with intent.

[Have a fun time dealing with them.]

William frowned. Who was that?

But before he could trace the source, something far more unsettling unfolded.

"Huh?"

He instinctively lifted himself into the air as a crimson crack tore open across the forest floor.

It spread like a wound, jagged and alive.

From within, raw and heavy Nyx began to seep out, thick and suffocating as the fissure continued to widen.

The air became to disorient, cloud turning dark at an unbelievable pace. The whole surrounding seemed to be mourning at the appearance of the change.

William’s shock was unmistakable.

Whoever had whispered into his mind had just summoned a Death Sink at will.

How was that even possible?

"Ah—tch!"

He didn’t have time to think. Something shot out of the crack and lunged straight at him.

William reacted on instinct, rising sharply into the air. The creature was far too fast, too precise. There was no room to counter.

Thump.

It slammed back onto the ground after missing its first strike.

Up close, it was grotesque.

Two massive arms bulged from its left side, while a smaller, uneven limb jutted out from the right. Its skin glowed a molten red, as if heat pulsed beneath it. Three eyes sat in the center of its face, narrow and slit like a serpent’s.

It stood nearly eight feet tall.

And the aura it radiated left no room for doubt.

’It’s a ranked devil...’

A thin line of sweat slid down William’s temple as the realization settled in.

If the first one to emerge was already ranked—

Then this wasn’t just a Death Sink.

This was a War Sink.

A Death Sink under the command of a... General-ranked entity.

...

Back at the academy—

"Don’t you feel something... off?" Kevin asked, his gaze drifting across the surroundings.

He couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but something pressed faintly against his chest. The air felt heavier, almost polluted.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Laila asked, confused. "I don’t notice anything different."

Lizel looked just as confused. "What change, Kevin? Are you not feeling well?"

Kevin didn’t answer. He slowly rose from his seat.

Around them, students had begun murmuring among themselves. The artifact screen was no longer able to track William’s position.

It didn’t make sense.

The artifact was designed to detect even the fastest movements, and there was no way William would have attacked it. So what had changed?

Kevin’s gaze lowered, and he noticed Emma standing as well. Her expression was tight, her face laced with clear panic and concern.

Without hesitation, Kevin leapt down from the upper stands, landing below and drawing everyone’s attention. He ignored the stares and walked straight toward the silver-haired girl.

"Emma."

She turned to him, her brows furrowed. "You feel it too, right?"

Kevin nodded. "Something... unholy is closing in. It’s getting harder to breathe."

Emma understood. What made them similar, in a way, was the blessing they had both received from the supreme deities.

But the real question was... what was causing this?

Just then, the vice-headmaster stepped onto the arena floor, his voice cutting through the noise.

"Please calm down and take your seats."

The two blessed ones couldn’t.

It felt as if invisible claws were gnawing into their chests, creeping upward, reaching for their throats. Under that suffocating pressure, calming down wasn’t even an option.

The bald-headed man clasped his hands behind his back and spoke,

"Now... I would like to ask all of you to cooperate with our special guest. I assure you, despite how dangerous this may appear, you won’t be harmed—"

Squelch.

Kevin’s eyes snapped wide. Several students gasped.

A black smog had formed behind the vice-headmaster, silent and horrifying. From within that curtain of darkness, a claw emerged—

And severed his head in a single, clean motion.

"What the fuck..."

Kevin swallowed hard.

They all saw it.

The vice-headmaster’s head rolled across the ground, leaving a dark trail behind. And then—

The one responsible stepped forward.

Grey-dark hair. Pale skin. Eyes bleeding red.

Its mere presence crushed the air around them, pressing down on their lungs, making it difficult for most of them to even gasp.

The being took a slow, almost lazy step forward, as if the horror it had just created meant nothing to it.

"Just give me two people," it muttered, its voice low and detached. "And the rest of you will be spared."

A faint pause followed, his eyes resting on a specific pair of students at the front.

"Kevin and Emma... step forward. Offer your heads... or watch everyone you hold dear get butchered before your eyes."

°°°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- This is a huge turning point of the story, something I wished to bring later but I know I wouldn’t be able to continue this story for months. So yeah, this is kind of beginning of the end.