Lucifer: Godless Reawakening

Only a few moments had passed, yet it felt like minutes to those who could barely breathe under the crushing darkness the being radiated.

Despite standing before so many aether users and the experienced warriors who had already gathered around him, the being didn't move an inch nor showed any sign of being alerted by their presence. His focus remained on just two figures, two specific humans who would become a massive headache once Zagreus moved forward with his plan and summoned his Lord.

The silence didn't last long before the head of the academy stepped forward and said, "You really have the audacity to walk into this place and threaten us. You even killed one of us."

Zagreus' brows lifted slightly as he replied, "You are either blind or biased not to realize that I did you a favor by killing that mole."

Edward's eyes widened. David was a mole?

"You won't be taking anything back but blood and defeat," the security chief declared confidently, his eyes narrowed and spear held firm.

Zagreus sighed. "Those who want to be sacrificed with them can stay. Those who don't want to get involved may leave now."

A wave of pressure swept through the students. More than half of them, mostly from the junior years, rose from their seats.

For strong warriors like Natalie or Emma, it might not have been much to endure. But for those who had only just stepped into the world of magic, those who had only just been introduced to humanity's greatest adversary, Zagreus was like a whale they couldn't even begin to face. Even lifting their eyes to look at him felt like staring at death itself, something that could claim them without giving them a chance to resist.

Natalie snickered at the sight of so many students leaving the stands at once, as if their departure would change anything.

She glanced to her right and felt a flicker of relief. Despite trembling and weak legs, both Mia and Loid held their ground. They looked ready, yet not foolish enough to step forward.

She drew her shield and steadied herself for battle. She knew that if she faced that being head on, she wouldn't last more than a few seconds, even if she used everything she had from the very start. But did that realization make her step back or hesitate?

No. Not at all. If she was going to die, then she would die protecting her friends.

That was the most glorious way to meet one's end.

More than four hundred students began moving toward the gymnasium's exit. No teacher stopped them. They understood exactly what was going through their minds.

But the moment the first student stepped outside and broke into a sprint, ready to run as far as possible—

THUNK

A massive arm descended like a god's decree, crushing the student into a pulp.

When the behemoth lifted its arm, what remained of the teenage boy hung limply from its fist, a mangled ruin barely recognizable as human.

For a brief moment, there was silence. Then the horror set in.

"AHHHHHH!!" "WHAT THE HELL?!" "FUCK! DIE, YOU MONSTER!"

A towering figure stood at the entrance, several feet tall, resembling a golem with a single eye and massive arms heavy enough to crush a human in a single blow.

Spells were fired at it in rapid succession. Flames roared, ice surged, and blades of wind tore through the air. Yet the moment they struck the golem, they fizzled out as if they had never existed.

More attacks followed, one after another, but the result remained the same. It was as if they were facing a twisted, inhuman version of the Prism Ape.

Emma swallowed hard. She knew exactly what this was.

"This… this is something similar to what Talobo made back then… how did they recreate it?" she muttered under her breath.

She hadn't forgotten that feeling. The suffocating helplessness when facing the creations of that mad creator, constructs that nullified every spell infused with aether.

Back then, they had all been powerless. Everyone relied on aether to rise above ordinary humans, and those golems stripped that advantage away completely.

If not for William, things would have turned far worse.

But this time… William wasn't here. And this golem was much larger, far more dangerous than those smaller ones. It felt like an upgraded version, something refined for pure destruction.

"RUN TO THE LEFT!!"

Several teachers rushed forward, forcing themselves into the fight as they pushed the students away from the golem before anyone else could be killed.

Two instructors quickly assessed the situation and moved to distract the monster, drawing its attention. Meanwhile, three others took charge of evacuating the students, guiding them toward the dormitories where they would at least be out of the immediate battle zone.

The strategy worked, and the behemoth shifted its attention to the two moving targets hurling projectiles at it, aiming for its single eye.

Raising both arms, the golem brought them down like twin hammers. But the instructors were veterans of countless battles. They moved at the last possible moment, slipping out of range before the impact, and one of them leapt forward, climbing up the creature's massive arm.

The monster reacted instantly, lifting its other hand to crush him. But the instructor activated his skill and shot upward into the air.

DHAK

The golem's strike collided with its own arm. At the same time, the airborne instructor closed in and drove his spear straight into its eye.

The students saw it and, for a brief moment, hope flickered.

Seizing that chance, they rushed toward safety with renewed urgency. This was Ardentia. Of course the security would be strong enough to protect its students—

BOOM BOOM BOOM

A flicker on the ground followed by a chain of massive explosions tore through the compound. Flames swallowed everything in an instant. Bodies were ripped apart, blasted into fragments as blood and gore sprayed in every direction.

A huge portion of the students, along with the teachers escorting them, were wiped out in the blasts.

Kevin watched it all unfold, his eyes stretched wide and lips parted in utter shock. What… just happened?

Moments ago, the arena had been alive with roars and cheers. Excitement and tension filled the air. And now… those cheers had twisted into screams. The noise had collapsed into broken sobs.

"Feels bad, doesn't it?"

The voice scraped against his ears, harsher than nails dragged across a slate.

Kevin slowly turned toward the one who had started all of this. His eyes burned with emotions that would have unsettled even himself on any other day.

Tears welled up, blurring his vision, while his fists clenched so tightly that blood seeped through his palms and dripped onto the stairs.

Suddenly, the entire arena began to heat up as sunlight poured through the shattered ceiling, drawn toward the young man as if answering his call. It seeped into him, feeding the raw, unfiltered intent to kill burning in his eyes.

He gripped his sword and slowly raised it, the tip locking onto Zagreus.

"I swear it in the name of my mother… I will make you regret this."

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.