Chapter 280. King of Hell (3)
“Oh, that looks like the Material Realm.”
Standing atop a sphere floating in the void, Lucifer looked into the distance and muttered.
“If you head over there, you should be able to return.”
“Hmm. It’ll probably feel like you’re falling, but it’s nothing serious. Just endure it.”
"..."
"..."
"..."
No one answered Lucifer.
Not me.
Not Daji.
Not even Kang Yujin.
All of us were completely exhausted.
“Why does everyone look like that?”
“I think it’s a miracle we made it this far alive.”
“I already told you. It was much harder when I came through here in the past.”
“This route has become extremely easy now.”
“I’m starting to respect you...”
I had genuinely thought I was going to die on the way here.
We had gone through so many hardships that explaining every single one would have been exhausting in itself.
“No wonder Taigong Wang thought escaping from Hell was impossible...”
“I agree.”
Daji muttered with her shoulders slumped.
Unlike the rest of us, who had mostly endured everything with our bodies, Daji had relied on sorcery.
Even so, it had been brutal for her.
Most of her transformation had already come undone, and much of her body had returned to the form of a nine-tailed fox.
“I even started wondering whether we should just stay in Hell forever...”
Even Kang Yujin, whose physical ability and mental endurance were both beyond ordinary standards, was so exhausted that he could barely move.
“Still, we’re almost there.”
“All you have to do now is go over there.”
Lucifer urged us onward.
In the end, we had no choice but to force ourselves up and head in the direction he pointed.
But Lucifer didn’t move.
He simply stood there.
“Lucifer.”
I called his name.
He remained with his arms folded, silently watching us.
“Aren’t you coming?”
“I’ll remain here.”
Lucifer answered calmly.
“Hell will disappear completely before long.”
“I intend to share its fate.”
"..."
I silently looked at his face.
He wore the same face as me...
but his expression carried the dignity and responsibility of an emperor who had once ruled a vast empire.
“Lucifer...”
“Do you have no intention of reviving?”
I asked.
“You only have part of your soul left right now, but... if you took power from me and Kang Yujin, you could probably manifest in the Material Realm again.”
Kang Yujin and Daji both flinched at my words.
“I am already dead, Nameless King.”
Lucifer spoke slowly.
“You must have heard plenty about that from Belial.”
"..."
“If I forced myself back to life now, it would only look pathetic.”
Belial had told me more than once.
He could never forgive anyone who tried to defile Lucifer’s honorable death.
That was why Belial had despised those who attempted to resurrect Lucifer.
“As you already know, Pandemonium has effectively fallen.”
"..."
“The surviving demons are seeking a path of coexistence with humanity.”
“If I appeared again now, I would only create more chaos.”
Lucifer’s voice was cold and composed.
He had accepted the destruction of the empire he once led.
“But Lucifer.”
“Won’t you fight until the very end?”
I questioned him again.
“Weren’t you a rebel?”
“Shouldn’t you resist Taigong Wang to the very end?”
"..."
“You must want to take revenge with your own hands against the one responsible for all of this.”
Lucifer silently stared at my face.
After looking at me for a while...
he slowly shook his head.
“No.”
“It’s fine.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re here.”
Lucifer placed a hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll leave it to you, Nameless King.”
“Lucifer...”
“If there is someone to carry on after you, then it is never truly the end.”
“Isn’t that right?”
I remembered hearing something similar before.
“I have passed on everything I can give you.”
“Then your struggle is also my struggle.”
"..."
“Defeat Taigong Wang, Nameless King.”
Lucifer spoke with imperial dignity.
“You possess the Holy Grail, a holy relic made from the jewel on my forehead and filled with the blood of the Son of God.”
“And Kang Yujin, who reproduced my power, stands beneath you.”
“You can win.”
“Lucifer...”
Looking at his face, I spoke.
“You invaded the Material Realm and slaughtered countless humans.”
“So I can’t approve of you.”
“Yes.”
“That is only natural.”
“But I promise you something.”
I looked directly into his eyes.
“I’ll keep fighting for victory until the very end.”
“Good.”
“That is the spirit.”
Lucifer nodded with satisfaction.
“There’s no benefit in wasting time.”
“Go.”
“Understood, Lucifer.”
After that exchange...
I turned my back on him.
Just as I was about to move in the direction Lucifer had shown us...
his voice came again.
“Nameless King.”
I glanced back.
Lucifer was smiling at me.
“Thank you for becoming Belial’s friend.”
"..."
Those words...
felt strangely human.
Lucifer...
For a moment, I wondered whether Lucifer had simply become tired.
If he truly had been fighting since before the Creator made humanity...
then Lucifer was probably the being who had struggled longer than anyone else in the entire universe.
If so...
he had been fighting for far too long.
Maybe it was finally time for him to rest.
"..."
I didn’t answer.
