Without hesitation, she ran forward—threw herself into his arms. Her voice cracked with sobs. Her body collapsed against his like she was holding onto the last real thing in a collapsing universe.
"I missed you…" she wept. "I missed you so much. Even if you're not real—even if this is just a dream—you're my utopia. The only thing I ever truly wanted. I've lost everything… everything that made me me.. Without that contract.. I'm nobody."
Kang Woo said nothing at first. Then his hand rose—lightly touching her head.. "You keep calling yourself a contract devil. You're not. You never were."
Kang woo knelt down, face to face. "You are the Control Devil. It's not the contract that defined you. That was just a booster. A leash. Something borrowed."
"Your might was always your will. Your conviction And obsession to bring order. Even if it was twisted. that was your source."
"You asked what you are? You're someone who made me hesitate. You're someone who sparked mercy in me. Me, of all people."
Kang Woo raised his hand, pointing toward the now-floating Commandment. "That thing? It won't yield to someone who asks. You have to claim it."
Makima stared, hollow. "But… I failed."
Kang Woo's eyes narrowed. "Then try again."
"Even if it fails, try again. That's called courage. That's what it means to live."
"Rail under your own will. Inspire your own war cry."
"Make the Commandment bend—kneel."
Makima clenched her fists, still trembling as the vision of Kang Woo slowly faded—his figure dissolving into smoke, scattered by unseen winds. She stood alone in the void again, save for the throne that loomed like a test. Her voice cracked,. "I can't do what you expected, Kang Woo… I can't even fly like you… i can't jump worlds, can't rend apart sky with will alone. I realized it long ago…"
Makima eyes dimmed. "I'm not strong… not like you."
But the smoke that had once been Kang Woo hung in the air, one last echo lingering behind. His voice—firm, resolute, absolute. "No. You're not like me. You're stronger. I was more alarmed to face you than the Crimson King himself."
That was it. The last trace of him… and it was enough. Tears streamed down her face—not from sorrow, but. Gratitude.
And then she turned. Eyes locked on the throne. She stepped forward, gaze narrowing. Her breath steadied. Her chains slithered down her arms.
"That throne…" she murmured. "…is a lie."
With a snap of her wrist, the chains lunged forward—not at the throne, but at the empty space in front of it. The place no one was meant to see. The truth veiled behind illusion.
The chains caught something.
The Commandment of Piety—. The core.
The moment she touched it, the void screamed.
Tendrils of darkness erupted from the environment itself—jabbing, piercing, stabbing her sides, shoulders, legs. Trying to tear her away from it. To punish her.
Makima stumbled, coughing blood, but her grip never wavered. Still holding the orb, she suddenly thrust it outward. Offering it back.
The tendrils paused. But she didn't let go.
"Do you think I'm returning your life back?" she whispered.
"Wrong. I'm Granting it."
The Commandment's eye—one single, ancient eye—opened in the center of the orb. It stared at her. The air buzzed with unreadable tension.
Makima raised her face to meet its gaze. "…Can you not recognize your next owner, Commandment of Piety?"
Everything stopped. The orb twitched. Then, without resistance, the Commandment surged forward—slamming itself into Makima's chest. A black explosion roared outward, devouring the void. Darkness coiled into her flesh, rewriting the circuits of her soul. The cocoon of tendrils that once rejected her now welcomed her—dissolving into shadow and merging into her form.
From her back—a single black wing unfurled. Pure, smooth, void-dark. From her arms—threads of living shadow danced and curled, like serpents alive with sentience.
She had become . Something higher.
Makima dropped to her knees—not from pain, but from release. Her eyes glistened with quiet tears as her lips trembled into a smile. "I did it…" She whispered to the void. "…Kang Woo… thank you for believing in me."
A floating panel of translucent light formed beside her, angular runes dancing across its surface.
[Recording of the Past: Yes / No]
Makima's breath caught. Without hesitation, she reached up and pressed Yes.
The sky split. A colossal screen unfurled above her like the firmament tearing open—projecting what had happened in the past
What she saw next made her heart crawl. A citadel forged in obsidian and flame, miles high, perched in the depths of the 9th Hell. The throne itself was carved from the bones of fallen demon prince . Seated upon it was Kang Woo.
But not the Kang Woo she knew.
This Kang Woo radiated raw authority. Demonic power dripped off his form like a storm of molten iron. His eyes were unreadable. His black coat shimmered with layered purple flame , and at his sides stood Balrog and Lilith.
In front of them—an ocean of demons. A horizon of endless armies, packed shoulder to shoulder, their chants echoing across the void of Hell itself. A force large enough to cover a planet. All kneeling.
Makima, watching, could only stare in disbelief.
I couldn't even gather a hundred million Japanese citizens under me…
And Kang Woo… commands the population of a Planet.
Balrog stepped forward. A hulking creature, red skin gleaming like seared iron, his lion-like head crowned with two curved horns. The black mane down his back flicked with restrained savagery. His voice boomed with deference. "My King… when will you grant one of your Commandments?"
Kang Woo didn't even shift in his throne. "Didn't I already give you enough?" he said coolly. "You have mastery of the Demonic Armour."
Balrog nodded, silent. But beside him, Lilith stepped forward.
Lilith was stunning—elegant and terrifying. Her purple skin glistened like polished amethyst, her hair a writhing mass of prehensile tendrils. Her eighteen eyes blinked in staggered patterns, and her snake-like tongue flicked from her mouth as she spoke with sultry arrogance. "My King… am I not your wife? Shouldn't I be the one to receive it first?"
Kang Woo slowly turned his head, voice flat. "Stop bothering me with who gets what and why. My criteria isn't up for debate."
Lilith pouted—at least three of her eyes narrowed.
Balrog remained still, though curiosity bled through his tone. "…But my King, you created ten of these Commandments. never once have you given them to anyone. Can you not share their purpose?
Kang Woo stood. The air froze. Even in a recording, the presence made Makima flinch.
Kang Woo's voice rang out across the throne room. "The first benefit?" His gaze locked forward. "She will become my first wife."
Lilith hissed. "But I'm your mistress—"
"You're a paper wife, Lilith," Kang Woo interrupted, dismissive. "Because your tentacles creep me out."
Lilith looked visibly offended. Several of her tentacle-hairs flipped off in multiple directions at once.
Kang Woo kept speaking, ignoring her. "The second benefit… whoever inherits a Commandment will be my successor."
A silent ripple passed through the gathered army.
Kang Woo raised a hand, black mist curling around his fingers like living smoke. "Especially Piety. It has no drawbacks. Anyone who turns their back on its wielder becomes their slave. And as the wielder continues to move forward—while existence itself still spins—she will ascend to the highest rank of demon, second only to me."
Makima stared upward, her breath caught. Her tears still flowed. This is what I carry now…
And from above, the vision of Kang Woo looked down as if still watching Makima. She lifted her head, making eye contact with the ancient projection suspended in the sky. Onscreen, Lilith's voice echoed with mild annoyance. "My king, what direction are you looking at? Is that a new criterion for bestowing a Commandment?"
But Kang Woo didn't respond to her.
His eyes locked forward—on the screen, beyond time, beyond space—and with quiet finality, he said,
"To you, millenium from now."
The vision vanished. The screen dissolved into motes of red mist and silence.
Makima stood alone, a whisper escaping her lips. "…A thousand years from now… That's too long. I… I'll probably only live a hundreds at most. …" Her voice faltered. "…Kang Woo . Was he already—"
But before she could finish, the world around her quaked. Reality trembled. The inner realm shattered.
Makima drew a slow breath and closed her eyes. "…Time to wake up… isn't that right, Kang Woo?"
In the real world—outside—the zaiphon cocoon still pulsed with defiance, even as Lucifero roared above it. Gravity crashed down like mountains upon mountains, the very earth around them caving inward. Cracks spidered across the barrier. Lucifero grinned wide.
But then—
A thunderous explosion of darkness surged upward like a divine eruption, cleaving into the sky. A colossal pillar of shadow erupted from beneath Lucifero, blasting a 200-meter crater into the forest and throwing the Qliphoth devil ten meters away from ground zero.
Darkness roiled outward like tidal waves. At its heart, a hovering obsidian platform formed—swirling with black flame and shadow runes. The pillar faded. And from the haze…
Makima emerged. Her body stood tall at the center, cloaked in a tempest of hellblaze and pure darkness. One massive black wing extended from her back—slick, jagged, and alive with shadow. Her arms radiated infernal aura, abyssal veins glowing faintly beneath her skin. The atmosphere bent around her.
She had become the first bearer of Piety.
Lucifero's eyes widened. "…What have you done, you whore?!"
Makima opened her was still hers—yellow, flecked with crimson rings. The other had changed—blackened iris. .
Makima voice came without emotion. "…Continue my husband's legacy."
Lucifero stood across the fractured land, his eyes narrowed. He eyed her in disbelief. What's going on? he thought. Just moments ago, she barely had any mana—maybe a flicker I didn't notice—but now…
His gaze locked onto the ominous darkness surrounding her body.
Her aura… it's thick with mana. And that shade… is it darkness magic?
He didn't advance. His instincts flared—an emotion he had not felt in eons gnawed at the back of his mind.
No… I'm the king of devils. Am I actually afraid of this insignificant whore?
Even as he scoffed to himself, Lucifero subconsciously kept his distance, his muscles tensed and coiled.
Makima, now standing still on her platform of living shadow, kept her senses trained on everything.
This… this is how Kang Woo perceived the world? she thought, her mind alive with awe.
I can feel it. every change in Environment… It's like sight, sound, and touch combined. I don't need my rats anymore to see or hear. This is magic… this is what he lived with every second… Kang Woo, it's incredible.
Her attention turned sharply toward Lucifero.
His mana… it's grotesque, oily, repugnant… and yet—
She squinted. He's nervous. I can feel it. He's afraid of me.
Lucifero, frustrated by his own hesitation, roared in rage. "Are you looking down on me, whore?! So you can use magic now—do you think that makes us equal?!" His voice cracked the air. "I will not tolerate your existence!"
He threw his arm down.
A crushing surge of gravity erupted around her. The landscape shattered, ground curling inward and folding like crumpled steel. Trees were pulverized. The very soil cracked and hissed under the strain.
Makima stood silent on her floating platform. Her eyes didn't blink. Even with the Commandment of Piety… his gravity is still this heavy, she thought. No wonder he shattered hundreds of battalions without touching them.
Beyond her shadowy platform, the earth itself sank into a warped crater. Any lesser being would have been turned to paste.
Lucifero growled deeper. His anger twisted into focused malice. "Enough games." He raised his hand, summoning Gravity Magic: Evil God's Pressure Craft.
A thunderous shriek of compression rang out as boulders nearby trembled, folded, and fused together—compacted by unimaginable force into the shape of a jagged, Brown blade. Lucifero grasped it. The weapon, forged from the bones of the earth itself.
He stepped forward.
Exactly as planned. Makima said nothing—but her focus sharpened, her pupils narrowing as Lucifero took that one fatal step.
His foot hit her platform. Darkness surged like water erupting from a broken dam.
Makima's platform, previously inert beneath her, rippled and wrapped around Lucifero in a fraction of a second—like shadowy sinew. It coiled and twisted, binding his massive form into a writhing ball of living dark. The entire construct groaned under Lucifero's struggles, but it held.
Makima didn't waste a moment. She shifted to the nearest patch of unsunken soil, her stance staggering from the immense pressure that still cracked through her frame. One hand lifted. A finger curled. Her thumb dropped. "Bang."
A pinpoint hellblaze surged like an ignition point from her gesture—then it detonated.
The explosion was colossal. It ripped outward in hungry tongues of hell-dark flame, incinerating air, stone, and any hope of resistance. The wrapped shadow-ball was engulfed. Shockwaves rippled across the field. Heat fractured the sky.
Makima fell to one knee. Crkkk. Her breath hitched. The gravity Lucifero had bathed the battlefield in still clung to her bones, and some had snapped under the strain. Her lips curled in pain.
Instead, she extended her hand. Black mist flowed from her palm, shadows fusing into her own body like threads of muscle and marrow. Her bones realigned. Healed. Slowly. The agony ebbed. She stood again. And then… she tested it. She breathed in, letting blue light flow through her veins. Quincy technique—Blut Vene—awakened again, winding like circuitry across her skin. But something was wrong.
Makima's eyes narrowed. There is… a problem. Her thoughts turned clinical. My body's reacting. I can't maintain my Quincy reinforcement while channeling Commandment Ability at the same time. They're completely opposite. Just like light and shadow.
Her eyes dimmed slightly. Kang Woo… how did you wield them all so effortlessly?
She didn't wait for an answer. The battlefield gave her none. Instead, she focused as the gravity around her began to die out—dissipating like an invisible fog that had finally lost its grip on the world.
But she didn't lower her guard. She knew. That explosion wasn't enough. Lucifero was still alive.
A whisper of pressure—then a presence like a living plague descended.
Lucifero appeared in front of her. His clawed hand shot forward.
Makima had already prepared. Every fiber of her body was fortified, reinforced with the intricate lattice of Blut Vene, blue veins of light glowing beneath her skin. Her palm rose to intercept him, and with a thunderclap their hands collided—force against force, devil against devil.
She gritted her teeth. Then she noticed it—Lucifero's body shimmered with a barely-visible film. Mana skin. His injuries from before—minimal. Bruises, ..
Lucifero smirked, his jagged teeth glinting. "Didn't you ever learn?" he said. "Mana can be used for defense."
Makima something cracked. Her lips twisted upward. Her eyes widened. And then she laughed. hysterical, howling, unhinged laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA! OHHHHH—FUCKKKK THIS! THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE WANTED TO SAY IT—THE ENEMY IS CHEATING!" Her voice echoed across the battlefield. "AND MIKHAIL IS DORMANT !"
She cackled again, fingers flexing as if ready to tear her own hair out. Even now, my heart's racing. This is what Kang Woo dealt with every day?
Lucifero didn't respond. His silence was a verdict. With slow, deliberate force, he raised his clawed hand again—this time toward her neck, aiming to crush it between his fingers.
Makima stared straight at him. Her smile never faded. Because she felt it. The faint roar of rotors. The seismic pulse of heat signatures. Something massive on the approach.
Lucifero had deactivated his gravity magic—and the military, long kept at bay, had seized the opportunity. Attack choppers , several Missiles launched.
Makima didn't move. She smiled wider.
Lucifero's face twisted as he leaned in, growling inches from her. "Smiling while losing," he hissed. "You don't know your place at all."
Makima replied in a whisper, eyes half-lidded. "Want to know something really funny?"
"I'm the most wanted person in Japan right now." Her grin stretched, unblinking. "And you… just accidentally became my shield."
Lucifero's eyes snapped wide. His mana detection screamed in alarm. Too late. The first missile exploded directly behind him.. Lucifero reeled, his body twisting from the shockwave as his mana skin instinctively redirected to shield his back.
Makima moved instantly. Her Heilig Pfeil launched from her fingertips. It struck Lucifero's left shoulder, piercing through muscle. At the same moment, her prepared Hellblaze Bomb, condensed and humming with black flame, exploded against his right shoulder.
Crack! Ssskkkrrshh! Lucifero roared.
Makima's eyes scanned the damage.
The Heilig Pfeil had punctured clean through—crippling, effective.
The Hellblaze Bomb didn't bite as deeply… but where it did hit, the tissue sizzled. And didn't regenerate.
Lucifero clutched his left shoulder. "AaaAAHHHH—It burns! IT BURNSSS!"
Flames curled up his body, devouring his outer flesh like acid.
Rage overtook pain. His right hand lifted again, aiming to slam down and finish her while she was within reach.
But Makima was already gone. Vanished—sunk. The swarm of rats she had summoned earlier surged up, their tiny bodies enveloping her—and she dropped into the earth, vanishing beneath the battlefield like a ghost.
Lucifero staggered forward, smoke peeling off his limbs. His breath was ragged, enraged, molten. His flesh twitched. His muscles boiled. Bit by bit, he pulled meat from his own massive torso—fusing it to his wounded shoulder, forcing regeneration through brute will.
He snarled into the smoldering crater. "Whoreeee… You'll pay for that."