Lucifer: Godless Reawakening-Chapter 244: Catastrophic existence

"Where are you going?" William asked, half-dazed as he saw his lover getting up from the bed.

Emma wore the sweater from the rack and turned to answer him, "Going to meet father."

William hummed, "This late. Is there something concerning?"

Emma nodded, "You can say that but please don’t ask me what it is."

William pursed his lips and got up from the bed.

Emma fully turned to face him as he approached her and cupped her cheek, "Whatever the case is, I don’t want you taking unnecessary burden, okay? You don’t need to tell me what it is, but as an emotional support, my arms are always waiting for you."

Emma looked up, into his warm eyes.

Pushing her weight on her toes, she kissed him briefly before whispering, "I know, and don’t worry, I won’t hesitate from claiming my throne whenever I want to."

William lightly chuckled before taking another feel of her lips and then telling her, "Don’t stay awake till late."

Emma nodded before she made her way out of the room.

She couldn’t go to eavesdrop on her father after dinner because she knew she would fail. And Sherry also didn’t insist since that girl also lacked the necessary skills.

So, rather than living with the constant anxiety gnawing at her, she decided to ask him directly.

*Click*

Arriving at the library, she pushed open the gate. And as she expected, reading under the candlelight was her father.

"Emma? What happened?" He worryingly asked as he rested the book down and approached her.

Emma gave a brief nod before asking, "Is there someone else here as well?"

Vitori shook his head, "But what happened?" He could tell that his daughter was worried about something or she wouldn’t have approached him so late.

Emma exhaled a sigh and asked, "Father...did you have a talk with Uncle Jeromy about something related to pre pre-great war era?"

Vitori froze for a brief moment, and that alone was enough to confirm it.

There was no need to ask how she had learned about it. Sherry and Emma shared the kind of bond where nothing remained hidden. Much like the understanding between Vitori and Jeromy.

The silver haired man let out a measured sigh and gestured calmly. "Sit down."

Emma complied without a word and took the seat across from him.

Vitori closed the book in his hands and lowered his voice. "Tell me why this matters to you. Does it have anything to do with William?"

Emma flinched, almost imperceptibly. She quickly masked it and replied evenly, "Why would you assume that?"

Vitori gave a slight shrug. "Not long ago, that boy was bound by the Chains of Damnation, dear."

Emma pressed her lower lip between her teeth before leaning back in her chair. "Can I not ask about this without answering you? Would you refuse to answer otherwise?"

The situation was far too delicate. Emma could not bring herself to confide in anyone. The fact that she had even kept it from William showed just how dangerous the knowledge was.

Vitori’s expression softened as he looked at her.

"You know I would never hide anything from you, my child. If you do not wish to explain your reasons, I will not force you."

He paused briefly before continuing in a quieter tone.

"He recently discovered some scriptures. Ancient ones. Their condition was so ruined that he had to reconstruct the fragments himself, piecing together what little could still be deciphered. Even then, he managed to interpret only a third of what he found. But that alone was enough to reveal significant information."

Emma gave a small nod, her silence urging him to continue.

Vitori hesitated. He was not entirely certain of the accuracy of what he had been told. Still, after a moment of internal debate, he decided his daughter deserved to hear it.

"This concerns the era before the Great War," he began slowly. "A period absent from books, monuments, and official records. Scholars have long assumed it resembled our current age, only calmer. Devils and humans coexisting in tense separation. Minor clashes, nothing more."

He paused, fingers tapping lightly against the closed cover of his book.

"But from what Jeromy relayed to me, whether entirely accurate or not, it was far worse than what we face today."

Emma’s brows drew together. She leaned forward slightly. "Worse how?"

Vitori exhaled through his nose, the sound heavy. "Unending war, Emma. That is what I heard."

He shook his head slowly, as if trying to dispel the image forming in his own mind.

"This planet was used as a battlefield even before the Great War officially began. The Deities deployed humans as their forces. The Devils sent their own legions. They were locked in relentless conflict, each side clawing for dominance."

Emma’s fingers tightened against the armrest of her chair. "Why here?" she asked quietly.

"I do not know." Vitori’s gaze dropped to the floor. His voice lowered further. "There are descriptions... fragments really. They speak of air and water so saturated with hostile energy that a single lapse in concentration meant death. The atmosphere itself was lethal."

He swallowed.

"Chaos beyond measure. Countless casualties. The soil grew heavy and swollen from excess moisture." His jaw tightened slightly. "And that moisture was blood."

The room fell into silence.

Emma’s breathing slowed, but her mind raced. The image was horrifying, yet what unsettled her more was the implication. If this had truly happened, then history had not merely forgotten it.

It had been deliberately erased.

"Then... something arrived," Vitori muttered, his voice thinning as though even repeating it felt dangerous. "An existence that stood with neither side. Yet it was so powerful that ignoring it was impossible."

He leaned back slowly, fingers interlocked before him.

"No one knew where it came from. But its presence carried something strange. It gave the impression that it had descended to bring peace. To end the war."

Emma drew in a slow breath. Her heartbeat quickened against her ribs, loud enough that she feared it might echo in the room.

"Did it succeed?" she asked.

Vitori held her gaze for a long moment before shaking his head.

"No. It failed to persuade them."

His voice grew heavier, almost strained.

"But it did stop the war."

Emma’s fingers curled against her lap, her eyes widened.

Vitori looked away, his jaw tightening before he finished the thought in a low murmur, the same exactly thing Emma expected,

"By slaughtering both sides. Two entire races erased."

A pause followed.

"All by its own hand."

Silence swallowed the room.

Emma stared ahead, her thoughts unraveling. One existence. Not stopping two armies, but erasing two entire races. Humans and Devils alike.

Even Vitori seemed unsettled by the weight of it.

"There was nothing clear that could identify who that being truly was," he added after a moment. "Most of the text was too damaged. But there was... an illustration."

His expression darkened.

"And it was disturbing, Emma. It looked nothing like a human. In fact, it appeared more grotesque than any Devil described in modern records."

Emma exhaled slowly and leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees.

"Was there anything else?" she pressed. "What happened to that being afterward? How did life begin again on this planet? There must have been a second origin. And who even recorded this if both races were wiped out?"

Her questions spilled out faster now, urgency seeping into her voice.

Vitori gave a faint nod. "I asked the same. Jeromy could not decipher that portion yet. But he believes the remaining scripture contains the missing pieces."

Emma’s heel began tapping against the floor, restless and uneven.

Now she felt a sharp urge to either read those scriptures herself... or burn them before anyone else could.

She had already heard fragments about William from the Shaman. She knew he had once been an existence feared by both heaven and hell.

But this...

This could not be him.

Could it?

"Emma."

Vitori’s voice cut through her spiraling thoughts. She blinked and looked up at him.

"I do not know what is troubling you," he said gently. "Nor why this topic unsettles you so deeply. But remember this. I am always here for you."

His gaze was steady.

Emma forced herself to breathe evenly, though her mind remained anything but calm.

In a calmer voice she said, "Can you let me know if he tells you anything else? Please, father?"

Vitori warmly smiled at her and rested his hand on her head, "Of course, I would. You can be rest assured about that."

Emma nodded and soon got up from her seat.

As she made her way back to the room, she muttered under her breath, ’There is no doubt about it...this sudden change of Death Sinks appearance is caused by William somehow. And it wouldn’t be long before someone appears who would expose his origin to the world.’

A deity? A Monarch-ranked Devil? Or maybe Emma herself given she was blessed by a high angel.

Things have become more severe suddenly.