"Hello ladies, this is not time for talks, the apocalypse is here and we have to get out of this planet."
Lucifer's voice was deep and rough, carrying exhaustion and finality in every syllable. The heat from his aura rippled across the broken street as his wings folded behind him, horns gleaming faintly in the ash-filled dawn.
Ella blinked, stunned by his appearance. His eyes burned with mixed red and gold, his skin marked with black and crimson runes that glowed softly beneath the blood and dust. Francisca swallowed, her grip on her staff tightening.
"What… happened to you?" Francisca asked quietly.
Lucifer's eyes flicked toward her for a moment. Then he exhaled, steam curling from his lips in thin trails.
"Adam happened," he said. "He's… beyond anything I've ever faced. He's planning to take this world's core. Destroy it. Rebuild it for himself."
Ella stepped forward, staring at him with wide, trembling eyes. "Who… who is Adam…?"
