- Lucifer -
Lucifer had stayed in the hut long after Death left. He had been staring at the board endlessly, to the point that he could see images of it when he blinked. The scenarios he had run through in his head had pervaded all of his other thoughts. Even thinking about the five traveling to Heliopolis would be interrupted by a connecting thought of how he would deal with their respective magics.
These thoughts combined with the fact that he was in two minds about having Peter stay around made it difficult for him to think about much else. He trusted Peter's strength, but couldn't help picturing him die. The true risk of this war had set in. It wasn't that he had thought things would go perfectly fine, and everyone would get a happy ending, just that he had confidence from his prior victory in the Underground.
He pictured Kahvis attending to the friends and loved ones of those who died in the raid and wondered what he would do if he had lost someone, anyone. All these worries went silent for a moment when he heard a voice he wasn't expecting.
"We have something urgent we need to discuss," Lao said, peeking in through the sheet of the hut.
- Lucifer, Death, Kahvis, investigation team -
The nine had gone to the area where Death, Lucifer, and Kahvis had discussed their plans. Death had a look of worry, Lucifer one of anger, and Kahvis their usual tilted-head. The three leaders were standing across from the five that had left, with Peter to the side.
"I know none of you would have come back unless something serious was happening on the other side of Verdyr." Lucifer started. "How bad is it?"
"There's a Satan-lead demon army approaching," Lao answered. "We were warned by Milsi. She said the army will be here in two days, and that they're going around Verdyr."
"Why would she warn you?" Kahvis asked.
"Milsi has always been on better terms with me and my team than most demons," Lucifer informed. "I guess she doesn't agree with what Satan is doing."
Everyone's eyes were on Death. He had prior issues with Satan that had lead to fights in the past. Surely this betrayal would ignite a feeling of fierce anger within him.
"Hmm..." Death hummed. "I need to make a call to Satan." His tone lacked emotion.
Death's eyes seemed blank. He pulled out his echo and made the call. Everyone was still looking at him, feeling a growing pressure. Lucifer put his hand on Kahvis's chest and whispered "Don't say a word."
"May I ask who i-"
"Answer," Death interrupted in a monotone voice.
"Answer for what?" Satan laughed. "I assume you can already tell?"
Death's grip around his echo tightened to the point that the others were sure he would crush it. His arm shook as he spoke.
"I want to know what you think you're doing?" Death asked.
"This has been a long time in the making friend," Satan responded. "Your surprise just shows that I was giving you too much credit all this time."
["I look forward to our battle,"] Death said, ending the call.
"Inform everyone you can," Lucifer, gripping Kahvis's arm, spoke first. "We need to move the resistance and the rescued to Bolotano now. Once that's done we can focus on what comes next."
Everyone except for Death nodded. Lucifer released Kahvis's arm and everyone left Lucifer and Death alone by the war table.
- Death and Lucifer -
"Focus," Lucifer said. "Point that anger towards our more immediate enemies."
Death had his hands on the table. He was hunched, resisting every urge that came to him. He knew what he needed to do, and that riding in a blind rage towards Satan's army wasn't one of them. He lifted up the stone table and smashed it against the ground.
"I will end him," Death maintained his monotone voice as the ground beneath him started to wither. "Not just him, but every demon in Hell that dared to support that mad chimera."
Lucifer knew he couldn't be afraid to speak at this moment. What was happening now would be pivotal. He swallowed his fear.
"I think something's off."
Death looked at him. His face hadn't transformed, but the look he was giving made Lucifer wish it had.
"What exactly seems off?" Death responded coldly.
"One thing," Lucifer took an involuntary step back. "Satan didn't stop Milsi before she warned my team. He's insane, but he's also an expert when it comes to battle. He would never let someone sneak through to warn his enemies."
"Must be some kind of trap then..." Death mumbled.
"It can't be though," Lucifer corrected. "There's literally no benefit to us knowing he's coming."
"Maybe he set up a force in Bolotano?" Death hypothesized.
"That would be a terrible idea," Lucifer added. "Bolotano benefits a smaller force, not a large one. Satan himself said that Bolotano's land was one of the great equalizers of war."
Death's anger faded for a moment. Lucifer was right. Milsi's warning shouldn't have been possible, and even if it is a trap it doesn't help Satan in any way. Things weren't adding up, a fact that briefly converted Death's anger into curiosity.
"He's always hated boring conflicts," Death said. "Maybe this is his way of evening the playing field. Even with all of our strength, fighting the combined armies of Satan, Moloch, and Baal wouldn't be possible, especially if one of those three had the advantage of surprise."
Lucifer hated that he agreed with Death's guess. In all his time working with Satan he learned one consistent thing about the demon: Satan hates boredom.
"Okay, so we've figured that out," Lucifer said. "Now what? Do we all retreat to Bolotano and wait this out, or continue with some different form of attack?"
Death looked at the smashed pieces of the war table. He had a similar feeling to when he discovered the lycan's atrocities centuries ago. His body felt hollow, and his mind nearly empty. The words in his head overwrote what he knew was logical.
"All of you should stay safe," He changed to his hunter form "I plan on hunting..."
"You can't be serious!" Lucifer shouted.
The chilling feeling from Death didn't stop Lucifer from continuing.
"You can't fight all three of them! This isn't Ragnarok, you don't have the help of the other Riders, and Satan's actually talented at battle, unlike Moloch."
["I can do it...I will. End. Them."] Death responded.
Lucifer was terrified. The man he saw before him wasn't the friend he had traveled with. It was Death, Rider of the apocalypse. A figure that was practically a folk tale to gods. Whether it was because the world wanted to forget of the cataclysms or teach a lesson, Death's history had been passed around like a story of myth.
"I'm not going to let you die here!" Lucifer's voice shook. "Snap out of this. THIS ISN'T THE WORLD'S GRAVE!" he yelled as loud as he could, hoping that was all it would take to convince Death.
["First Baal, then Moloch..."] Death was speaking to himself. Lucifer's words hadn't reached him.
Lucifer got closer to Death. It went against every instinct in his body, and the feeling of pressure coming from Death seemed to almost poison the air. Each step closer had felt like it might stop his heart, his breathing becoming ragged as he inched forward. This feeling was familiar in the most terrifying way. An image of Lucifer's father flashed in his mind for a moment. He pushed the thought away and grabbed Death's arm.
"Sna-"
Death snapped Lucifer's arm in reflex. Death stared at the terrified figure before him. He blinked closer, causing Lucifer to fall over in fear.
["Help...or stay out of my way..."] Death warned.
Lucifer flew off.
- Lucifer and Saint -
Lucifer flew as fast as he could. He was looking for Saint, the one being that could help. He found her escorting the rescued and flew down to her.
"Ineedyourhelp!" His words were a jumble.
"I can see that," Saint noticed the snapped arm. "Here, give me the arm." She motioned.
"Not this," Lucifer said looking at his arm. "Death is out of his mind and I can't stop him!"
"Look-" Saint sighed. "-I know you're worried about him bu-"
"PLEASE!" Lucifer shouted, getting on his knees. "Please, just come with me. If you have even a drop of care left for the man, please come with me."
Saint didn't understand what was going on. She could tell that this was genuinely serious and not just a ploy to get her and Death speaking again. She grabbed Lucifer's arm and restored it back to normal instantly. The pain made Lucifer grunt.
"I'll fly us there," He rubbed his arm. "It'll be faster."
Saint nodded. Lucifer picked her up and started flying over to Death.
- Saint, Death, Lucifer -
Death was walking to Hrom. Lucifer decided he needed to be stopped now.
"Forgive me for this," He said to Saint.
"Wha-"
Lucifer threw her at Death. Saint knocked Death off as he climbed on to Hrom and the two were now facing each other.
'I'm going to re-break your arm after this,' Saint thought.
"Alright, what's going on?!" Her irritation was unimpeded by Death's figure.
["I'm going on a hunt...Baal, then Moloch...I will end this here..."]
For the first time since their reunion, Lucifer saw Saint's face change to one of shock. It seemed she knew better than he did what was going on. He stayed hovering in the air, hoping he wouldn't need to intervene.
"Calm down," Saint said in a soft tone. "This place isn't worth dying for."
Death blinked so that he was standing over her.
["Either help...or stay out of my way..."] He blinked back to Hrom.
'You cannot be serious?' She thought.
"Satan isn't worth this," She said. "Come with us to Bolotano so we can plan things out properly."
["There's no we...you showed that...I'm the only one that can stop this..."]
"Lucifer, I'm going to need to you make sure no one comes near us!" Saint yelled.
'She can't be serious?' Lucifer thought.
"Okay!" He shouted back. "Do whatever you have to!"
Saint's lower arms started to glow white like snow.
"I'm not letting you do this," She narrowed her eyes.
["So be it..."]
Death faced her. He blinked into striking range and was met with a swift blow to the stomach.
Saint followed up on the body shot with a quick leg sweep. As Death blinked behind her she kicked her sweeping leg behind her, knocking the shadowy figure into a stone hut.
[SAINT!"] Death shouted in a way that Lucifer recognized.