Lucifer was still running.
Not in panic. Not blindly.
He ran with the sharp, disciplined urgency of someone who understood exactly how little time he had left.
The mist thinned as he crossed the last jagged ridge. The circular pool came into view between fractured stone, its surface perfectly still and unnaturally calm amid the restless Highlands.
He did not slow down even after seeing the pond.
He jumped straight into it.
Cold water swallowed him whole. The impact jarred his injured ribs, sending a sharp pulse of pain through his side, but he suppressed it and forced himself downward. The monkey vanished into his Soul Palace instantly.
Lucifer followed the same submerged path he had taken during his awakening. The deeper he went, the heavier the water felt. Spatial distortion pressed against his bones as if the world itself resisted his passage. The pressure thickened around him like an invisible membrane separating two different realities.
His fingers brushed the invisible seam.
He pushed through it.
Reality folded violently around him.
For a brief moment, direction lost meaning.
Weight inverted.
Stone met his knees.
Lucifer stumbled forward into the submerged passage, coughing as water drained from his clothes and lungs. The air inside the cavern felt different the moment he crossed the threshold.
The cave welcomed him back.
The ceiling arched high above him like the ribs of a buried titan. Ancient mana hung thick and unmoving in the air. Faint runic veins spiraled across the stone walls, converging toward the elevated circular platform at the center of the chamber.
The groove was still there.
Looking at the familiar scene in front of him, Lucifer released a breath he had not realized he had been holding.
He was safe here.
At least for now.
This hidden domain was protected by an ancient formation. Anyone above B Rank would be forcefully rejected by the barrier before they could ever step inside.
For the first time since the hunt had begun, Lucifer allowed his shoulders to relax slightly.
The monkey reappeared beside him.
"Stay close and do not move around," Lucifer said calmly.
The monkey blinked innocently.
Then ignored him completely.
It darted forward with surprising speed, vanished into the Soul Palace, and reappeared dragging the Spirit Pearl.
Lucifer's breath caught.
"Stop."
Too late.
The monkey stumbled.
The Pearl slipped from its tiny hands, rolled once across the stone surface, and slid perfectly into the groove at the center of the platform where it had originally rested.
The chamber trembled.
Runes ignited across the stone floor in expanding rings. Ancient sigils awakened one after another as mana surged outward like a rising tide. The air thickened as the entire formation came alive.
A beam of pale light shot toward Lucifer.
It pierced straight between his eyebrows before vanishing.
Then a voice appeared inside his mind.
It was not loud but it was old.
Old,ancient and unexpectedly relieved.
"Finally."
The word carried a strange warmth.
Light gathered faintly above the platform. A translucent figure slowly formed, incomplete yet unmistakably human.
"I had hoped," the voice continued quietly, "that someone would reach this place again."
Lucifer stood perfectly still.
"I am Caesar," the presence said. "Western Monarch of a forgotten era."
The runes pulsed faintly in response.
"When I first discovered the Spirit Pearl, I believed it to be a treasure."
A faint ripple moved through the chamber.
"I was wrong."
The tone shifted slightly, heavy with memory.
"When I attempted to claim it, the backlash nearly destroyed me. The Pearl rejected force. It tore through my core and left injuries that even a Monarch could not fully mend."
Lucifer felt the gravity of those words.
"I survived," Caesar continued slowly, "but I was diminished."
The Spirit Pearl pulsed softly beneath the platform.
"In my study of it, I learned the truth. The Pearl is not merely a relic. It is a suppression."
"It suppresses countless monsters beneath its influence. It anchors spatial stability across the Highlands and prevents the strongest entities from leaving these mountains."
Images appeared faintly inside Lucifer's consciousness.
Colossal shadows shifting beneath invisible restraints.
Ancient monsters straining against unseen barriers.
Lucifer could only see blurred outlines, yet even that was enough to make the hair on the back of his neck rise.
"It was already acting as a natural suppressor when I found it," Caesar continued. "But its reach was incomplete."
A faint trace of pride entered his voice.
"So during my final years, I constructed this chamber. I built these runic formations as a second safeguard. The Pearl anchors the suppression. My formations reinforce it."
The runes glowed brighter.
"This chamber is the eye of the entire array."
Lucifer felt something shift inside his mind.
Knowledge poured into his consciousness.
Runic structures unfolded before him like a vast blueprint. Formation layers. Command pathways. Seal hierarchies.
Caesar was transferring the information directly to him.
"I am sending you the full knowledge of the runic formations here," the Monarch said. "So that someone may finally command them properly. Listen carefully, child. I want you to reinforce the runes and maintain the seals that bind the beasts."
Lucifer clenched his jaw as the information settled inside him.
"I could not destroy the monsters," Caesar continued. "My injuries prevented it. I lacked the stability to risk destabilizing the Pearl itself. So I sealed them instead."
"Now, if you possess the ability, eliminate them when the opportunity arises."
A brief pause followed.
"This Pearl is vital to humanity."
The tone hardened.
"Do not allow it to leave the Highlands."
The chamber felt colder.
"If the Pearl exits the Highlands' vicinity, the suppression will weaken. The monsters will no longer be contained. Worse, the backlash may fall upon the one who carries it."
Lucifer's pulse slowed.
"Outside this range, the Pearl destabilizes," Caesar continued. "And the one who carries it may suffer consequences far beyond simple injury."
The presence flickered faintly.
"You may use the chamber. You may command the seals. But understand this clearly."
The voice deepened.
"The Pearl must remain here."
Not a request.
A fact.
"I am relieved someone stands here again," Caesar said quietly. "Whether you are my blood or not matters less than this."
The presence softened.
"If you carry it beyond these mountains, you endanger more than yourself."
The projection weakened further.
"I leave this responsibility to you."
A final pause followed.
"Choose wisely."
The light faded.
Silence returned.
Lucifer stood motionless.
Just as he exhaled in relief, the voice appeared once more, faint but clear.
"I possessed many treasures during my lifetime. If you are my descendant, those treasures are naturally yours. But if you are not, I advise you not to take them."
The voice softened.
"I do not say this to threaten you. It is the truth. Everyone knows who those treasures belong to. If my bloodline still exists and discovers them on you, you cannot imagine the trouble you will face."
"It will not be about the treasures."
"It will be about survival."
"Take this advice from a fellow human."
The voice faded completely.
Lucifer remained silent.
His thoughts were far from orderly.
He had come here to hide.
Instead, he had discovered that this cave was not merely a sanctuary.
It was a control center.
A failsafe.
And he was standing at its very core.
He could feel Primordium approaching.
He could feel the seals beneath the mountain.
He could feel the runic commands resting inside his mind.
If they discovered this chamber, everything would unravel.
Lucifer slowly walked toward the platform again.
His gaze settled on the Spirit Pearl resting inside the groove.
Then he placed his hand upon it.
The moment his palm touched the Pearl, the formation awakened fully.
Runes illuminated across the chamber.
The entire mountain unfolded before his perception.
A vast three dimensional map appeared inside his mind.
Mana currents flowed like rivers beneath the earth. Seal nodes flickered across the Highlands. Spatial distortions shimmered along distant ridges.
And then he saw them.
Red markers.
Many of them.
Lucifer's expression darkened.
A total of fifteen people.... no they are closer to twenty.
Primordium agents were scattered across the mountain.
Some searched the outer ridges.
Others moved slowly inward, tightening a silent encirclement.
His gaze stopped on one marker.
A woman stood near the lower slope of the mountain.
Her face appeared clearly through the formation's perception.
Lucifer recognized her instantly.
The same woman who had calmly handed him his ticket.
Whether it was her polite smile or her careful professionalism ,all of it was a lie.
An act to fool him.
Lucifer's eyes turned cold.
"So it was you."
For a moment he said nothing.
Then his voice dropped to a quiet whisper.
"You all came here to hunt me."
His fingers tightened slightly against the Pearl.
"That was your first mistake."
His gaze swept across the mountain again.
Fifteen… maybe twenty hunters.
Lucifer exhaled slowly.
They had come prepared to hunt a boy.
They had not prepared for the mountain itself to turn against them.
The hunters had entered a cage.
They simply did not know it yet.