Lightning clawed across the heavens, splitting the sky in two.
Lucifer stood alone at the edge of the fractured mountain. The wind howled behind him, whipping his black coat like war banners. Below him lay the ruins of Caelum's Gate—the sacred land where gods once walked among mortals. Now, it was nothing more than ash and rubble.
"Six hours since my awakening," he muttered, gripping his left arm. The divine seal etched into his skin pulsed faintly—half-broken. "And already they're sending assassins."
A whisper in the wind.
He turned sharply.
Chhk.
A spear made of molten gold ripped past his head, exploding into the rocks behind him. Lucifer didn't blink. He calmly stepped forward, eyes narrowing.
A woman dropped from the sky like a comet. She landed with divine grace, her armor a shimmering blend of silver and lightning. Her wings—translucent and angelic—spread behind her as thunder cracked above.
"Atherya," Lucifer said flatly. "Still pretending you're pure?"
The Valkyrie's lips curled. "Lucifer. Fallen One. You should have stayed dead."
Two more figures emerged—one from flame, one from shadow. All bore divine sigils on their foreheads. All of them had been chosen by the Pantheons.
Lucifer chuckled, his voice low and rough. "So the Council sends their precious executioners. What are you now? Lapdogs?"
"You're not meant to exist," said the flame-born man, pulling a curved sword glowing with Sanskrit. "You defy balance. You carry both Chaos and Creation."
"I am balance," Lucifer growled. "I am the new law."
Atherya didn't wait. She launched forward, divine spear glowing, aimed directly at his heart. Her movements tore the air, each step warping space with divine pressure.
Lucifer raised his arm—and caught the spear mid-flight.
"What—?" Her eyes widened.
Lucifer's expression darkened. "Wrong move."
BOOM.
A shockwave exploded from the clash, sending stones and ruins hurling into the air. Atherya was flung back, skidding through marble like a meteor crashing into earth.
The shadow assassin struck next, emerging from a portal behind Lucifer with twin curved daggers. His face was hidden beneath a hood, but his eyes burned violet.
"Too slow," Lucifer whispered—and spun, elbowing him in the face with raw, concussive force.
The man screamed as his mask shattered. Lucifer grabbed him by the throat, lifted him midair, and stared into his eyes.
"I know what you are," he muttered. "A remnant of Erebus. How does it feel… to serve gods who abandoned your father?"
The assassin tried to speak—but Lucifer clenched.
Crack.
He dropped the body. "Pathetic."
The flame-wielder let out a roar and slammed his sword into the ground. Glyphs in Vedic script expanded from the blade, forming a massive summoning circle beneath Lucifer's feet.
"RAUDRAVAHANA!" the man bellowed.
A blazing titan, ten-armed and crowned in fire, erupted from the circle with a cry of divine rage.
Lucifer looked up at the being. "A manifestation of Rudra? Cute trick."
The fire-god swung—all ten arms in perfect unison.
Lucifer vanished.
Appeared behind the titan in a blur of black light—and drove his fist into its back.
"You think I fear gods? I burned alongside them!"
The titan screamed as its core ruptured in an instant, bursting into solar flares. The summoner barely had time to look up before Lucifer descended with a kick that cratered the mountain beneath them.
BOOM.
The summoner was buried in molten stone.
Lucifer rose from the crater, his silver hair now tousled, wings flaring. His eyes shimmered—one golden, one crimson, both glowing with divine fury.
Atherya struggled to stand, blood trailing from her mouth. "You've grown… stronger. That's not just Chaos inside you."
Lucifer walked toward her, every step cracking the earth.
"I told you," he said quietly. "I am the new law. The old gods—Zeus, Odin, Vishnu, Ra—they had their era. Now it's mine."
She tried to lift her spear, but her arms trembled.
"I won't… let you rewrite the order."
Lucifer paused. Looked down at her—then extended his hand.
Atherya blinked.
"Join me," he said. "You were always meant for more than just being a servant of Olympus."
She stared at his hand. "You're asking me to betray them?"
"I'm asking you to transcend them."
Her breath hitched. For the first time, her armor flickered with uncertainty.
And then a trumpet blast shattered the sky.
Lucifer's head snapped up.
Above them descended a radiant being clad in pure light. His wings were white gold, and his presence crushed the air like divine gravity.
Lucifer's smirk faded.
"…Gabriel."
The archangel landed, his sword made of starfire pointed directly at Lucifer. "This ends now."
"You're early," Lucifer said. "I expected Michael first."
Gabriel's voice echoed like a choir. "Michael is cleansing the Eastern Heavens. I was sent to finish what should've been done millennia ago."
Lucifer sighed. "Another dog with wings."
Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "You wear that body like a mockery."
"I earned this body," Lucifer snapped. "I earned everything. You all feared what I became—because it meant your extinction."
The two stood silent, power building like thunderclouds behind them.
Gabriel flared his wings. "Then let us see whose will is stronger."
BOOM.
They clashed midair, light and darkness colliding in a fury of divine power. Mountains split. The clouds screamed. Earthquakes tore through continents as Gabriel's blade met Lucifer's claws.
Each blow was apocalyptic.
Each clash tore open dimensions.
Lucifer caught Gabriel's blade between his fingers and twisted, sending the archangel flying through three floating islands.
"Still weak," Lucifer muttered.
Gabriel responded by opening a sigil in the sky—divine gates pouring out holy fire. "Your soul remains tethered. That means you can still die."
Lucifer roared and lifted his hand. A black sigil burned open in the sky.
"Then I'll show you what death looks like when I wield it!"
From the abyss, a hand reached out.
Massive. Celestial. Cloaked in runes of extinction.
Even Gabriel hesitated.
Lucifer pointed forward.
"Devour."
The hand descended from the sky—eating the divine fire, devouring the light.
Gabriel's expression changed. "Impossible. That's—"
"The Hand of Null," Lucifer said. "A remnant of the Primordial Before. Not even your God dared touch it."
Gabriel raised his shield—but it was too late.
WHOOM.
The hand closed over him, dragging him into the void.
The skies calmed.
Silence fell.
Lucifer dropped to the ground, panting lightly. His body steamed from exertion. The seal on his left arm had expanded—cracks spreading toward his chest.
He glanced at Atherya, still kneeling in shock.
"You saw what I did to your 'angel,'" he said, walking past her. "Still want to protect the ones who threw you into war for millennia?"
She didn't respond.
Lucifer paused.
"Decide fast," he said. "Because next time, I won't offer a hand. Just judgment."
He vanished into shadow, leaving her alone among the ruins of gods.
—
Far away, in the throne room of Olympus, Zeus crushed his golden goblet as he watched the destruction unfold through a scrying mirror.
"Lucifer has returned," he growled. "And he's awakening faster than we predicted."
Beside him, Odin stroked his beard. "It begins… the war of endings."
And high above them all, in a place even gods had forgotten…
…an ancient eye opened.
Its pupil reflected Lucifer.
Its voice whispered:
> "The child of both Light and Dark… has taken his first divine kill."