" Mother... " he murmured, his eyes searching through the fog of pain.

He saw her. She was still on her knees, in the middle of the bodies.

" Lucifer... " she said, her voice weak.

He wanted to get up, to join her. But he could no longer move. His eyes closed, and darkness overwhelmed him.

The remaining Sidest, terrified by this demon who had risen again and again, fled into the night, abandoning their dead.

The village of Norwes was nothing more than a field of ashes and corpses.

And in the center, a fifteen-year-old boy lay, his mother on her knees beside him, praying one last time.

" May the angels come to help my son ", murmured Alicia.

The rain began to fall on the battlefield, its warm drops washing away the blood that stained the ground of the village of Norwes. The flames flickered, gradually extinguishing under the downpour, as if the sky itself wanted to erase what had happened here. The bodies lay in heaps, some still smoking, others already cold, their eyes open staring into the darkness with an empty gaze.

Lucifer was on his knees in the middle of this carnage.

His hands were trembling, still clenched on the hilt of his sword, a weapon he had not released even when he had collapsed. Around him, the bodies of the Sidest formed an irregular circle, a barrier of flesh and blood that he himself had erected. But there were also other bodies. Bodies that he had struck without discernment.

There was young Tod, who was only twelve years old. He had been caught in the melee, had shouted his name, and Lucifer had struck without seeing, without hearing. There was old Mart, who had always been kind to him. He had sliced her as he would have sliced an enemy.

" The angels come to help me? " he murmured, his voice hoarse, barely audible.

He began to laugh. A jerky, broken laugh that sounded like a disguised sob.

" The angels come to help me ", he repeated, louder. " The angels... the angels... "

He raised his eyes to the sky, and the rain rushed into his eye sockets, mixing his tears with the water from the sky.

" Did you see that, mother? " he cried, his voice breaking. " Did you see what I did? I became worse than them. I killed them all. All of them... I don’t care about victims or enemies, all of them will go now..."

He struck his chest, where the spear had pierced him.

" I killed innocents, mother! And I’m not even sure I recognized them. I no longer know who was who. "

He collapsed, his forehead touching the mud.

" What have I done? "

Around him, the silence was absolute.

" I feel like I’m going crazy... In my rage, I... "

He was muttering erratic words, mentally, he was truly broken.

Lucifer raised his head. He had empty eyes, his gaze fixed on the horizon.

" I am dead ", he murmured to himself. " It’s over. I am dead. "

His voice echoed in the silence and suddenly, the rain stopped.

The drops were suspended in the air.

’ Had time frozen? ’

Lucifer blinked, incredulous. He got up slowly, his legs trembling, and looked around him. Everything was motionless. The raindrops hung in the air, and he could see his own reflection in each of them.

" I am really dead..."

" Almost ", said a voice behind him.

He turned abruptly, his sword raised, but there was no one.

" Who is there? " he cried, his voice echoing strangely in the frozen air. " Show yourself! "

" I am here ", replied the voice, soft, almost melodious.

And a silhouette appeared before him. She had long chestnut hair with orange reflections. Her eyes were iridescent, changing color with each movement, shifting from green to golden, from golden to red. She wore a long black and orange dress that seemed made of smoke and flames, and on her forehead, five curved horns stood, black as obsidian.

Behind her, two pairs of bat wings unfolded, membranous and dark, crossed by red veins that pulsated.

" Who are you? " asked Lucifer, his sword still raised, his voice hesitant.

The woman tilted her head, a smile on her lips. " My name is Aeshma. "

" Aeshma? "

" The Demonic Princess of Sin ", she added, as if it were obvious.

Lucifer felt his legs weaken. He took a step back, his sword trembling in his hand. " A demon? "

" A demon princess ", she corrected with a smile that showed canines slightly longer than normal. " But details, as they say... "

She took a step toward him, and her wings folded slightly against her back. The black and orange dress floated around her, despite the absence of wind.

" I have never felt such pure hatred from a human ", she said, her voice taking on a more serious tone. " I have crossed centuries, I have seen kings, conquerors, tyrants. But you, Lucifer... "

She stopped, her iridescent eyes plunging into his. " The hatred that burns in you is so pure that it attracted me through the dimensions. It is the most beautiful thing I have seen in millennia. "

Lucifer gripped his sword tighter, but he could not strike her. Something in her gaze paralyzed him.

" You came... for what? "

Aeshma approached further, so close that he could feel a heat emanating from her, a heat that was not natural. She raised a hand, and her fingers brushed the wound on his side. Lucifer winced, but she smiled.

" So I came to grant your wish ", she said softly. " In your rage, in your pain, you cried out. You said you would sell your soul to purge this world. You said you would do anything... "

" Are you ready to give me what I want to avenge yourself on this world? "

Lucifer looked at her. She was beautiful, terribly beautiful. But he saw beyond, in her iridescent eyes, a depth that sent a chill down his spine.

But what did it matter? He had lost everything. His mother, his village, his friends, his innocence. He had killed innocents. He had nothing left to lose.

" I am ready to sell my soul ", he said, his voice not trembling. " If it is necessary to purge this world of these scum. I will do it. "

Aeshma laughed: " Your soul? Lucifer, you do not understand. Humans are always afraid of selling their soul, as if it were the most precious thing they possessed. But your soul... "

She approached, her hand brushing the boy’s cheek. " It is already soiled. It is already blackened by the blood you have shed. Your soul already belongs to me~"

" Then what do you want? " he asked, impatient. " What do you want in exchange for your power? "

Aeshma stepped back, and her wings unfolded behind her, immense, threatening.

" Become my consort and I will give you the power to reduce them to nothingness...And in exchange...You will open the gates of the abyss..."