Lucien stepped through the portal and found himself walking on a surface made of dark stone. The ground beneath his feet was rough and uneven, as if it had been formed by volcanic activity and never properly smoothed. Each step echoed slightly in the strange atmosphere of this dimension.
Purple clouds swirled overhead, and the air carried a distinctly toxic quality that would have been lethal to most humans. Lucien could smell sulfur, ash, and something else - something that spoke of decay. But the toxic environment wasn't enough to harm him.
'So the environment here wasn't suitable for life at all. That explained a lot about why Limbo was considered such a dangerous realm.'
He wondered how Illyana had survived here for so long.
'Magic, probably. And Belasco would have had reasons to keep her alive and functional.'
After walking for several minutes along the stone path, he saw the castle in the distance. It was exactly as imposing as Illyana had described.
The stone path led directly toward its main entrance, as if this route had been designed to funnel visitors exactly where Belasco wanted them to go.
At that moment, an arrow whistled through the air toward his head.
Lucien's hand shot up and caught the projectile inches from his face. The arrow was crude but effective, its tip designed to punch through armor and bone. He looked up toward the source and saw a demon archer positioned on one of the castle's towers.
Immediately, multiple other arrows came at him. Not just a few - thousands of them, fired from positions all around the castle. They filled the air like a deadly rain, each one enchanted so that fire erupted wherever they struck the ground.
They didn't even come close to touching him.
A small wall of mana had materialized around Lucien, deflecting the projectiles harmlessly away.
The arrows struck his barrier and disintegrated, their enchantments proving inadequate against his defensive capabilities.
He walked casually forward as the barrage continued, completely unbothered by the assault.
"Throwing arrows at me, huh?" he muttered. "I should return the favor."
Lucien brought out his hand, and mana began swirling around it in visible patterns. The ground beneath his feet started to shake, then to crack, then to split apart entirely as his power reached down into the earth itself.
A massive piece of land was ripped out of the ground, easily half the size of the castle. Stone and dirt held together by pure mana, floating in the air, like a miniature mountain.
With a casual throwing motion, Lucien launched it at the castle.
The impact was catastrophic. The entire structure, centuries of dark architecture, was obliterated in a single moment. Stone blocks the size of cars flew in every direction, walls crumbled to dust, and towers that had stood for millennia collapsed into rubble.
When the dust began to settle, only debris remained where the imposing castle had once stood.
Lucien looked at the wreckage and knew it wasn't over. Destroying the building had been the easy part.
From the rubble, demons began to rise. Not just a few - dozens, then hundreds of them. Each one was armed, their eyes burning with rage at the destruction of their master's stronghold. They started running toward him with supernatural speed, swords and axes raised, battle cries echoing across the wasteland.
"Hmm, where is your master?" Lucien muttered.
"Arise," he said calmly.
Seven shadow knights materialized in the pathway between him and the charging demons.
The demons reached the shadow knights, and the slaughter began immediately.
The shadows moved with strength and overwhelming skill. One knight's blade swept through three demons in a single motion, their bodies falling in pieces before they even realized they were dead. Another knight parried a demon's axe strike and countered with a thrust that punched through its chest and emerged from its back.
Wave after wave of demons charged forward, and wave after wave was getting destroyed by the seven shadows. The knights worked with perfect coordination, covering each other's flanks, exploiting openings, and maintaining formation even as hundreds of enemies threw themselves against their line.
At this moment, Lucien saw someone flying above the castle's rubble.
Belasco.
His skin had a slight red tint, his eyes burned with inner fire, and his entire presence radiated centuries of accumulated magical power.
Their eyes met across the battlefield, and for a moment, there was perfect silence between them despite the ongoing battle around them.
Then Belasco began chanting.
The words were in a language that predated human civilization.
Magical energy gathered around the demon sorcerer like a storm, crackling with power that could reshape cities.
Lucien simply stood there and waited.
The spell launched - a concentrated beam of pure destructive force that should have been capable of vaporizing a city block. It struck Lucien's casual mana barrier and dissipated like smoke against glass.
Belasco's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed. He tried again, this time with multiple spells layered together. Destruction magic and soul manipulation - a combination that should be impossible to defend against.
Lucien walked forward as the magical assault washed over him harmlessly.
The demon sorcerer switched tactics. Illusion magic wrapped around Lucien, trying to trap him in false realities where pain was real but escape was impossible. Mind control attempted to seize his consciousness and turn him into a puppet.
Nothing worked.
The mind control was repelled by Ashborn's blessing, and Lucien's perception stat was so far beyond what was required to counter Belasco's illusion magic.
His mind was his own, his perception clear, his will unshakeable.
He continued his steady advance toward Belasco's position.
The sorcerer tried summoning magic next, calling forth creatures from the deepest parts of Limbo to aid him. Massive demons materialized, each one the size of a building.
Lucien's shadow knights cut them down without breaking formation.
Belasco's attacks became more desperate. He tried multiple more spells, but every spell failed.
When Lucien was close enough, he simply jumped.
The leap carried him through the air faster than Belasco could track. One moment, the demon sorcerer was floating fifty feet above the ground, seemingly safe from physical attack. The next moment, Lucien's fist connected with his jaw.
The impact sent Belasco hurtling backward like he'd been hit by a freight train. He crashed through the remains of his castle, bounced off several chunks of rubble, and finally slammed into a section of wall that was still standing.
Lucien landed gracefully and walked toward where the sorcerer had fallen.
Belasco pulled himself out of the rubble, ichor flowing from cuts on his face and arms. But instead of looking defeated, he was smiling.
"You're strong," the demon admitted. "Stronger than I expected any mortal to be. But you don't understand what you're dealing with."
He gestured at the destruction around them. "This was never about defending my castle or my small portion of Limbo. My plan was never to invade Earth directly."
Belasco's smile widened, showing teeth that were just slightly too sharp. "I planned to send Illyana to Earth so that she would awaken the Soulsword. That blade is the only thing that can help me take full control of Limbo - not just this small part that the Elder Gods have bound me to."
The demon sorcerer's eyes blazed with triumph. "And now I can sense that she has awakened it. And you have brought her to me."
Lucien's expression didn't change. "Interesting story. Are you done?"
Belasco launched himself forward with supernatural speed, claws extended, magical energy crackling around his form. The attack was blindingly fast, backed by centuries of combat experience and fueled by his desperate fury.
Lucien caught his wrist and broke it with a casual twist.
The demon's scream echoed across the wasteland as bones snapped like twigs. But before he could pull away, Lucien's other hand grabbed his throat and lifted him off the ground.
"You seem to have a high opinion of yourself. You really think you can touch her with me around?" Lucien spoke, his voice perfectly calm.
He threw Belasco straight down into the ground with enough force to create a crater twenty feet wide. The demon's body bounced once, then lay still for several seconds before slowly beginning to move again.
Belasco tried to cast a healing spell, but Lucien was already there. A kick to the ribs sent the sorcerer skidding across the stone surface, leaving a trail of ichor behind him.
The demon managed to get to his feet and attempted another offensive spell. Lucien walked through the magical attack and backhanded him across the face, sending him spinning through the air to crash into another pile of rubble.
He grabbed the demon by the head and slammed him face-first into the ground, then dragged him along the stone surface for several yards before tossing him aside like a broken toy.
Belasco's body was starting to show serious damage now. His left arm hung at an unnatural angle, his face was a mask of blood and bruises, and several ribs were clearly broken. But his body had somehow started to heal.
"You cannot kill me," the demon sorcerer gasped, his voice thick with pain but still defiant. "As long as I am bound to the Elder Gods, I am immortal. My body may break, but it will always heal. My power may be depleted, but it will always return."
Lucien picked him up by the throat again and examined the slowly healing injuries with interest.
"The Elder Gods made me what I am," Belasco continued, his voice growing stronger as his wounds closed. "They gave me dominion over this portion of Limbo in exchange for services rendered. That bond cannot be broken by physical force, no matter how overwhelming."
The demon's laughter was gaining strength now, becoming more manic as his body repaired itself. "Nothing can kill me as long as I am bound to the Elder Gods! You can break my bones, tear my flesh, scatter my blood across this entire realm - but I will always regenerate, always return, always—"
Lucien's grip tightened around Belasco's throat, cutting off the maniacal laughter mid-sentence.
"So I just have to break that bond between you and the Elder Gods, huh?" he said with a slight smile.
Belasco's eyes were filled with confusion.
"Arise."
.....
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