Chapter 31: 500th Day
"M-Master Infinity, we-"
Cough-
"We tried our best but," one of them mustered the strength and courage to mouth the words out. Unfortunately, that only angered him further.
"Tried?! Your best!?" he roared, his voice much louder than before.
"Do you think I can say that to the Lord? To his face?"
Hearing that, the little voices that had tried to give reasons ceased. With lowered gazes, everyone remained in their positions, sweating profusely because they had indeed failed at the task.
"You-" Infinity was set to scold further, but just prior to that, a voice echoed via the closed door - the constant knocking sound followed by a loud call.
"Master! Master Infinity!"
"Who goes there?" Infinity, furious because of the interruption, dashed forward in an attempt to open the door.
However, as he had taken only ten steps, still away from the door, he felt a nerve-wracking sensation that caused him to experience goosebumps and piloerection at the same time.
"This familiar presence," he muttered, raising his gaze after momentarily staring at the floor and the individuals sitting around.
With long strides and swinging his arms, causing the door to open, Infinity found himself at the doorstep, standing in front of the guard.
Although angry, he had no intention of scolding, for behind the soldier stood a young man wearing a dark suit, which almost made him blend into the background.
The only two features visible to Infinity were his glowing, bright red eyes and the reddish, smoke-like aura that surrounded his figure.
Tap, tap—
With the sound of footsteps audible, Lucifer approached Infinity slowly and steadily.
"Is everyone present?" Lucifer asked, his voice as menacing as ever.
'Lord Lucifer? Here?' Infinity was rather surprised, utterly baffled and puzzled at the same time.
Lucifer had barely granted any audience, and encountering him usually meant certain death. Therefore, it stirred both excitement and fear, along with curiosity, to finally see Lucifer for himself.
"Yes, Lord. Everyone who took part in the mission to save Miss Maya, Sir Daniel, and Sir Noah is in the room."
Lucifer took a few more steps, almost entering the room when he paused momentarily.
Turning back, he questioned, "What about Vineca?"
"That—"
Infinity started to sweat and gasp at the same time because he didn't have a definite answer to that.
How could he admit to failure in front of him? The thought itself weighed heavily on him, causing him to feel an invisible pressure.
Lucifer, understanding the situation, merely walked past him, entering the room.
Everyone in the room stared at Lucifer, standing straight while their legs trembled.
Lucifer walked and took the center of the circle so that he would be visible to all. Infinity accompanied him and stood right behind him.
"Today marks the 500th day of our organization."
The moment he mentioned that, everyone widened their eyes in surprise. They weren't aware of this.
Though silence was still maintained in the room.
"Clap, will you?" As the words left Lucifer's mouth, everyone started clapping as if there was no tomorrow.
It slowly ceased, however, and silence was maintained again. But the nervousness that had briefly vanished returned when Lucifer posed the question, "And where is Vineca?"
Of course, none of them could answer.
"S… C… Are you here?"
The two specific men who were present when Jorren transformed appeared in front of Lucifer, taking a few steps forward.
"Yes, Lord," both of them bowed humbly in front of him.
"Vineca… was she not in the temple?" he asked, prompting an answer.
"Forgive us, Lord, but with our search magic, we could not find any traces of Miss Vineca in the temple."
Their voices quivered due to fear, but surprisingly, Lucifer didn't react much.
"Hmm, Z, what do you think? Can you find her?" Lucifer changed his attention to someone who stood behind all the men that had formed the circle.
His outfit was the same as everyone else's, with the only exception being his mask, which had the letter 'Z' engraved on it.
"Yes, Lord, I can find her," an instant answer erupted from Z. Some of the men standing there clenched their fists with envy because the great Lord whom they followed took Z's name specifically.
C and S, too, were rather embarrassed and somewhat jealous as they had failed, and now the task fell on Z. But not one… not one among them doubted Z's capabilities.
"Then what is keeping you here then? Make a move."
With Lucifer's orders, Z left the room and dashed away to find Vineca.
As for the others, they awaited Lucifer's next words because even they knew that his appearance here meant something big, something different!
"Team beta has found the location of the War Devil's place…" Gasp!
The news was a surprise to them. It caused them to stare at each other.
"As I speak, they are now at war with the Devil's vessels."
"So, without further waste of time, I command Team gamma, that is you, to go and help them until the leaders arrive. Got it?"
"Yes, Lord!" everyone said in synchronized tones that conveyed utmost respect.
"Any questions?" Lucifer asked as he handed a piece of paper that had the location of the War Devil's hideout to Infinity.
And among all, just one of them, specifically Y, raised his hand.
"Yes?"
"Lord, are you not going to join us in the battle?"
To this, Lucifer chuckled after a brief pause.
"Infinity will answer you that," saying this, Lucifer teleported away from the place.
"Y! Are you an idiot!? Why would you question the Lord!?" And just as Lucifer left, Infinity raised his voice, which was similar to the thundering outside!
"Um, I just wanted to know-"
"You idiot! Don't you know the strength of the leaders of the organization?"
"What do you think will happen even if one of the leaders participates in the battle?"
To this, he replied with a deep voice that meant volumes, "Annihilation."
"Exactly. And if the Lord also participated, it would be Complete Annihilation!"
"…"