The demon straightened fully now.
Its form shifted—no longer merely monstrous, no longer just a war-beast born of the dungeon. The air recognized him, gravity subtly bending toward his presence as if the world itself acknowledged a sovereign.
He spread his arms.
"Lucifer," he said calmly.
"Son of Sebastian, Ruler of Hell."
The name carried weight.
Not metaphorical—physical. The ground groaned beneath it. Zerathis itself resisted, then yielded.
"In this universe," Lucifer continued, eyes locking onto Alzwalt,
"my double count is unmeasurable. I could rule this world… or erase it."
Alzwalt tilted his head slightly, golden wings settling behind him like folded banners.
"Is that so?" he replied pleasantly.
"Then try."
Lucifer smiled.
And vanished.
The shockwave arrived first.
Alzwalt crossed his arms just as planetary gravity inverted. Mountains in the far distance cracked, the open field folding inward as if squeezed by invisible hands. Lucifer reappeared above him, fist descending with force enough to crush continents.
Alzwalt met it head-on.
The impact detonated the sky.
Light and demonic energy tore through the atmosphere, splitting clouds into spirals. Alzwalt slid backward kilometers, boots carving glowing trenches through stone—then stopped, wings flaring to anchor himself.
Lucifer laughed.
"Oh, I like you."
He split.
One became two.
Then four.
Eight Lucifers rushed Alzwalt at FTL speed, each copy radiating half his strength—but half of infinity was still absurd. They attacked from every vector, fists, claws, gravity distortions overlapping into a lethal lattice.
Alzwalt blurred.
He weaved.
Sword flashed—light sheared through space, bisecting one copy. Another was crushed mid-charge by a gravitational counterpulse Alzwalt redirected with a flick of his wrist. A third slammed him through the ground, burying him deep—
—and immediately followed him down.
The earth erupted.
Alzwalt burst upward, carrying Lucifer with him, spinning once before hurling him across the battlefield. Lucifer smashed through a forest, uprooting trees like toothpicks, embedding himself into a cliff—
—and stepped out laughing.
Nearby, beneath a wide tree untouched by the chaos, Kaelven sat comfortably in the shade, arms folded behind his head.
Lucifer flew past him, crashing into several trees.
Moments later, he rose again, brushing bark from his shoulder.
Kaelven glanced between the two combatants.
"…These guys are so unserious," he muttered.
"You're enemies. Why are you enjoying each other's company?"
Neither answered.
They were already moving again.
Lucifer seized control of Zerathis's gravity entirely.
The world turned against Alzwalt.
Up became down. Space compressed. Oceans in the distance surged unnaturally. The planet's own pull wrapped around Lucifer like a second body.
"You're fighting the world now," Lucifer said, eyes glowing.
"Let's see how divine light handles inevitability."
Alzwalt's wings spread wider.
Light surged outward—not resisting gravity, but overwriting it. For a brief, impossible moment, Zerathis was held in suspension, frozen between hell and heaven.
They clashed again.
Fist to sword.
Light to abyss.
Each strike sent shockwaves across continents.
Lucifer adapted with terrifying speed—anticipating Alzwalt's angles, countering strikes before they fully manifested. His hyper-regeneration repaired damage instantly, wings of shadow briefly unfurling as he drove Alzwalt back step by step.
Then Lucifer grinned.
"Let's try something new."
He placed his hand against Alzwalt's chest.
"Devour."
Demonic energy surged forward—draining life force, divinity, light itself—ripping into Alzwalt's core.
Alzwalt didn't resist.
He didn't move.
He allowed it.
Lucifer's eyes widened as the energy poured in.
At first—power.
Then—
Pain.
Light didn't submit.
It burned.
Lucifer's veins glowed white-hot. His body began to swell, cracks of radiant fire bursting across his form. He tried to pull back—
Too late.
Alzwalt's voice was calm.
"You cannot consume what defines your extinction."
Lucifer screamed.
His body expanded—
—and exploded.
The blast erased the battlefield.
Alzwalt reacted instantly, light erupting outward in a vast dome, containing as much of the detonation as possible—but even restrained, the explosion carved a massive crater miles wide, vaporizing everything at its center.
Silence followed.
Ash fell.
Far away—
In Hell.
Sebastian froze upon his throne.
The ruler of Hell rose slowly, eyes narrowing.
"…Lucifer."
The air trembled with his fury.
"Ifrit," Sebastian commanded, voice cold as annihilation.
"Go to Zerathis."
His gaze burned with intent.
"Find out who killed my son."
Back on Zerathis, within the smoking crater—
Light flickered.
Golden radiance knitted flesh and form together as Alzwalt regenerated, wings reforming, expression unreadable.
He straightened.
And felt it.
A massive dark presence, rising to the south.
Alzwalt turned his head slightly.
"…Interesting," he murmured.
The purge was not over.
It had only been noticed.