Episode-798
Chapter : 1595
Lucifer’s face twisted. It wasn't rage. It was annoyance. It was the look of a perfectionist who had drawn a straight line and had someone bump his elbow.
"You missed," Roy wheezed, staring up at the Devil with hateful, tear-filled eyes. "She made you... miss."
Lucifer flicked the blood from his finger. He looked at the scattered remains of the diamond.
"An insect," he muttered, his voice cold. "A fragile, pointless insect throwing itself into a fire. She achieved nothing but a few seconds of delay."
"She achieved... everything," Roy gasped.
Lucifer stepped forward. He walked to Roy. He looked down at the spear protruding from the Arch Duke's shoulder.
"Delay is not victory, Roy," Lucifer said. "I missed the heart. Fine. I will just pull it out and stab you again. Or perhaps I will just step on your head. The result is the same."
He raised his boot. He positioned it over Roy's skull.
"This time," Lucifer said, "try not to have any servants interrupt. It is rude."
He began to bring his foot down.
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Lucifer’s boot descended. It was a slow, crushing motion, backed by the weight of a mountain. Roy stared at the pristine white sole, knowing this was the end. He couldn't move. The spear in his shoulder pinned him like a butterfly. The pain was blinding, white-hot tendrils of void energy eating his nerves.
He didn't close his eyes. He thought of Jasmin. He saw her face in the diamond dust scattering across the floor. He felt a surge of grief so profound it momentarily eclipsed the physical pain. She died for me. For an old man who failed to protect his house.
The boot was inches from his face.
BOOM.
The sky above the estate tore open.
It wasn't the purple light of the Devil. It was a brilliant, blinding flash of blue and gold. A massive circle of complex runes, fifty feet wide, burned itself into the air directly above the courtyard.
The air pressure spiked wildly. The smell of ozone and ancient parchment flooded the area.
Lucifer stopped. His foot hovered inches above Roy’s nose. He looked up, his expression shifting from boredom to mild irritation.
"Guests," he sighed. "So many guests today."
From the center of the magical circle, a pillar of light slammed into the ground between Lucifer and Roy. The shockwave forced Lucifer to take a step back—his first retreat of the entire invasion.
As the light faded, a figure stood revealed. It was Headmaster Valerius. The ancient mage was floating a few inches off the ground, his robes billowing in an arcane wind. His eyes were glowing with white light, and he held a staff that pulsed with the power of the kingdom’s ley lines.
But he wasn't alone.
Around the perimeter of the courtyard, space distorted. Pop. Pop. Pop.
Twelve figures materialized. They wore the golden armor of the Royal Guard. These weren't the standard soldiers; these were the King's personal elite, the Lion’s Claws. Each one was a High-Ascended level warrior. They landed with weapons drawn, forming a protective perimeter around the fallen Arch Duke.
And behind Valerius, a massive projection appeared. It was a holographic image of King Liam Bethelham himself, projected from the capital.
"LUCIFER!" The King's voice boomed from the projection, amplified by magic. "Step away from my Arch Duke!"
Lucifer lowered his foot to the ground. He looked at Valerius. He looked at the Royal Guard. He looked at the projection of the King. He looked utterly unimpressed.
"The Headmaster," Lucifer drawled. "And the little King. You are late. The party is over. The decorations are broken."
He gestured vaguely at the ruins of the castle and the red stains on the floor.
Valerius didn't speak. He slammed his staff into the ground. A dome of blue protective energy sprang up around Roy, shielding him. The mage’s face was a mask of concentration. He knew who he was facing. He knew that even with the Royal Guard, fighting a Devil King was a coin toss with death.
"You have violated the Treaty of the Gray Lands," Valerius said, his voice echoing. "You have attacked a Sovereign Lord of Bethelham. This is an act of war, Lucifer. If you do not depart, the full might of the Academy and the Crown will descend upon you."
Lucifer laughed. He picked at a piece of lint on his sleeve. "The full might? You threaten me with ants, wizard. I could kill everyone here in three minutes. Maybe four, if you run fast."
Chapter : 1596
He looked at Roy, safely behind the blue barrier. He looked at the spear still stuck in Roy's shoulder.
"However," Lucifer said, his tone shifting. He looked at the sky. The purple hue was fading, returning to blue. His window of absolute dominance was closing. Maintaining a manifest form in the human world without a host required immense energy, and the portal he had used was destabilizing.
He looked at Valerius. "I did not come for a war today. Wars are messy. Wars take time. I came for a message."
He pointed at Roy.
"The message has been delivered. The Lion is broken. His claws are rusted. His cubs are scattered."
Lucifer turned his back on the assembled might of the kingdom. It was the ultimate insult. He didn't even consider them a threat worth facing.
"The debt is partially paid," Lucifer said over his shoulder. "The girl paid the interest."
He looked at the spot where Jasmin had died. He didn't smile. He just stared at it for a second, his expression unreadable.
"Diamonds," he muttered to himself. "Annoying things."
Lucifer raised his hand and slashed the air. Reality ripped open, revealing a swirling vortex of black and violet energy—a gateway back to the Abyss.
He stepped toward it.
"Wait!" King Liam’s projection roared. "You will answer for this!"
Lucifer paused at the threshold. He turned his head slightly.
"I answer to no one, Human King," he said. "Pray I do not return. Next time, I will not stop at the Duchy. I will burn your throne room."
However, as soon as Lucifer spoke, Liam’s aura surged, rising as high as an ocean that could cover the entire world. Even Lucifer knew that if this power were unleashed, both humans and demons would suffer catastrophic consequences. Still, he didn’t care what King Liam might do here. Since he couldn’t use the Spear of Nihil for a few days, he planned to avoid fighting him. He also knew that Liam wouldn’t fight back—not now, at least. So, he smirked and looked away.
With a swirl of his white cape, the Devil King of Pride stepped into the void. The rift snapped shut behind him with a sound like a thunderclap. The purple tint vanished from the sky. The oppressive weight lifted from the air.
Silence rushed back into the courtyard.
It was a heavy, terrible silence. The adrenaline faded, leaving only the horror of the aftermath.
"Secure the perimeter!" the Captain of the Royal Guard shouted, breaking the spell. "Medics! Get to the Arch Duke!"
Valerius dropped the barrier. He floated down to Roy's side, his face pale. The ancient mage looked old, suddenly. He looked at the devastation around them—the crushed soldiers, the ruined gates, the crater where the diamond statue had been.
"Roy," Valerius whispered, kneeling beside his old student. "Roy, can you hear me?"
Roy Ferrum lay in the dust. The Spear of Nihil had dissolved into black smoke when Lucifer left, leaving a gaping, cauterized hole in his shoulder. The Diamond Queen had shattered, but in doing so, she had stripped the spear of its conceptual power. The erasure curse had been spent destroying her absolute defense, leaving only a bolt of void mana to strike the Arch Duke. Roy didn't feel the wound.
He was staring at a spot a few feet away. The wind was picking up, blowing the loose dust into the air, but the heavier pieces remained.
Roy was locked in a gaze with Jasmin.
Her crystallized head lay on the stones, staring back at him with sightless, diamond eyes. Nearby, her severed arm lay reaching out, as if still trying to push him out of harm's way.
'Jasmin,' Roy rasped, the image burning itself into his mind. The horror of it—the beauty of the diamond mixed with the butchery of the act—broke something inside him.
'The girl?' Valerius asked, following Roy’s gaze.
The Headmaster froze. He had seen battlefields. He had seen massacres. But the sight of the young maid, turned to an imperishable statue and scattered like broken pottery, made his stomach turn.
'She... she stopped it,' Roy whispered, his voice trembling uncontrollably. 'She didn't run. Look at her, Valerius. She is still looking at me.'
"A noble soul," Valerius said softly.
Valerius closed his eyes for a moment, unable to hold the gaze of the severed head. He waved his staff, and a gentle cloth of mana wove itself over the remains, covering the head and the limbs, hiding the tragedy from the open sky.