Chapter 4 - Lucifer
Vesnic did not know where the Land of Demons ended, so he approximated it through aeons of experience and the fact that Lucifer was the last demon.
Lucifer was startled by the effect, but what shocked him most was that mana was gathering inside his mana core. By the time the spell ended, his core had expanded by half. A nonsensical amount in such a short amount of time. This would allow him to cast one or two more high circle spells in battle and for any magician this could mean life or death. Lucifer looked up in admiration, and despite Vesnic's unusual appearance, there was no denying the sheer presence he exuded. His gaze was sharp and focused; his green eye was a powerful tempest, while his red eye was a raging inferno. His posture was confident and imposing. He was a formidable presence, an entity who seemed to have control over the very world itself.
And as he stood there, suspended in mid-air, it was impossible not to feel a sense of awe and wonder at the sheer power and majesty of the scene. Here was a man who defied all logic and reason, who seemed to have mastered the impossible, and who stood poised to take on whatever challenges the world might throw his way.
For a moment, it seemed as though time itself had stopped until Vesnic's descent. To Lucifer, it looked like a true God descending into the mortal world.
Vesnic's spell replayed itself over and over in Lucifer's head. He couldn't forget it; he remembered every detail—the flow of mana, the positioning of his hand, where his eyes looked, down to the very position of the birds flying behind him. It was an experience he would never forget and probably never see again.
Although Lucifer was the God of Demons, he was untalented compared to his deceased kin. At a young age, Lucifer had no affinity with any elements, nor did he have a talent for weapons, barely being able to use his short swords at an intermediate level. The only variable that kept him strong and moving forward was hard work. He wanted to feel the pain and suffering that one had to go through to achieve something. He disliked his demon kin, who could pick up a sword for the first time and start performing sword techniques or start performing third-circle magic at mere fifteen years of age.
It was only when 'they' arrived and wiped out his family that he realised the limits of hard work.
'They' destroyed all his hopes and dreams. 'They' slaughtered and burned them in front of him. 'They' cut them in half and into pieces. 'They' wronged the women, mistreated the children, abused the men, and shattered their brains. 'They' took all the survivors away. But not before leaving one demon with pent-up hatred, loathing their very existence. 'They' killed his family before him, ripped his children into pieces, and performed animalistic actions on her. She, who was his love, was his undisputed half. The one to whom he gave his life. But 'they' took her away after using her, taunting him, taunting his weak self, and he could do nothing except watch, watch with despair and malice in his eyes. And all he could do was watch.
Now, finally, that shattered hope gradually started to shine again; it shone in the form of a dragon. At that instant, Lucifer knew what he had to do.
Vesnic landed gracefully on the ground and looked deep into Lucifer's eyes.
"So, have you got your answer?"
"Indeed... my lord," spoke Lucifer as he kneeled in front of Vesnic with his hand on his chest.
Although surprised, Vesnic expected as much, and so he smiled brightly.
---
Sitting in a room lit up by light magic, two human-looking individuals sat on shabby-looking chairs separated by a wooden table. Atop the desk were cups full of cloudy water with a smell of rust and nothing else. The floorboard groaned as the chairs leaned into it, and the room smelled of rotting wood.
"Lucifer, bring me a map of this world." Because of the Garnamians, the borders of countries were different and not known by Vesnic.
"Of course, my lord." After leaving for a while, Lucifer brought back a shabby piece of paper that was worn, frayed, and nearly illegible, with a dingy grey surface and fragile, thin texture. Placing it on the table, he opened it and laid it before his lord.
Taking a glance over it, Vesnic saw the borders of each country: the Garnamian Empire took control of the entire west of the continent, the Bestial Alliance and the Kingdom of Elves took the remaining south, with the Bestial Alliance bordering the Land of Demons. Humania ruled the northeast of the continent and was bordered by the Metalican Kingdom to the west and the Alliance to the south. Finally, and least surprisingly, the Energy Empire bordered the Garnamian Empire with the Elves and was west of the Metalican Kingdom.
He could see every capital, but the number of towns was limited, and the map did not show any different terrain. Frowning, he looked over at Lucifer.
"I apologise for the inconvenience of this map, my lord; however, this is the best I can achieve with current circumstances."
Vesnic understood Lucifer's circumstances because he was the only demon, and leaving his land gave way to potential invasions. Nodding, he spoke, "Tell me your situation about your magic."
Although Lucifer felt excited when he heard this because his lord could cancel other people's magic instantly and cast powerful spells beyond his mana pool, he did not show it.
"Yes, my lord. I have enough mana to perform ten-circle magic, but unfortunately, I do not know the correct runes for stable ten-circle magic. I can only perform enhancement magic, my lord."
"Tell me why you cannot perform offensive and defensive magic."
"I do not have any affinity with the elements."
The Lucifer he knew could use offensive and defensive magic of the fifteenth circle, so meeting one that could not was interesting. One of his [Absolute] spells was also based on one of Lucifer's spells, and it would deal large amounts of damage to organisms without destroying the terrain.
"Come here, face away from me."
"Yes, my lord." After seeing Vesnic's power, he did not think about questioning him and did as he ordered.
Placing his hand on Lucifer's back, Vesnic started to inject a string of mana into him. Through the string, he inspected Lucifer's core and noticed the difference immediately. Normal demons had dark blue mana cores, and despite that, Lucifer's had a shade of purple.
"I see…bring me twenty pieces of paper."
"Yes, my lord," replied Lucifer before leaving once again. After a while, he returned with paper of the same quality as the map. Without creating any circles, Vesnic tapped the pile of paper in Lucifer's hand, and the moment he did, the paper changed into clear, fresh paper.
Even though Lucifer was stunned, his facial expression did not change as Vesnic took the paper from his hand. Putting it down on the table, he cast magic on his finger and started to draw on it. Lucifer was familiar with this type of magic, as he had used the same one to draw the map. Eventually, Vesnic finished drawing on all twenty papers and handed them to Lucifer.
"We leave in three days; learn them all and meet me at the library," Vesnic spoke sharply and straight to the point. He stood up, nodded to Lucifer, and left the room.
Silence filled the room when he left, and Lucifer was left alone to read the papers. Looking down at the papers in his hands, he casually flipped through them. And flipped through them again. He repeated this several times, and each time, his casualness dropped, and shock, awe, and seriousness filled his face. His eyes widened as he couldn't look away from the treasure in the palms of his hands. Each paper showed a rune going from the first circle to the tenth, and there were two spells. The closer he looked, the more he realised that the circles were perfect, unlike the incomplete ones he and the entire continent were using. All the runes were simple, and each had its own meaning for why they were there. Lucifer also realised that the spells weren't the normal elements he knew of but something darker. The runes looked like a combination of all the 'dark' parts of the elemental circles compiled together.
Smiling eagerly, he gripped the papers harder, as if he were afraid they would disappear into thin air. 'Finally, I have something that can help me take my revenge. And I owe it all to him.'