Other Players Enter the Game

At the lowest circle of Hell, a mid-rank Demon entered the room.

"Report!" Lucifer demanded of the demon who stood before him.

"The Imp is no longer in the Angels' custody." Replied the demon.

"Good. Do we know how or why?" Lucifer asked.

The demon shook his head negatively. "No. But he could not have done it without help."

"Interesting." Lucifer mused tapping a long-clawed talon against his lips. "It appears there is a traitor in Heaven." He smiled at the thought. Angels weren't as pure and holy as they liked to pretend.

"It would appear so." The demon agreed. Demons and Angels alike lied when it suited their purpose, but only Demons were honest about it.

"Do we know the Imp's current whereabouts?"

"We believe he is headed to the Mortal Realm" the demon replied.

"Even more interesting" he said smiling.

Lucifer smiling was a terrifying sight and a foreboding one.

"And the System?" Lucifer inquired.

"Also headed to the Mortal Realm, but not to the same place." Said the demon.

Lucifer arched an eyebrow. "The Imp doesn't have the System? Then how did the system get to the Mortal Realm?"

"No one's quite sure." The demon admitted.

"Very interesting indeed."

"When I travel to the Mortal Realm, shall I capture to the Imp or retrieve the System first?" asked the Demon. One of Lucifer's trusted lieutenants, known as Mal, he was sure that he'd be tasked with retrieving the Imp or the System.

"Neither." Lucifer replied nonchalantly.

"Neither? But…" The demon was confused.

"I think I will handle this personally." Lucifer said.

"As you wish, My Lord." Mal said bowing as he took his leave from the King of Hell. This must be important indeed if Lucifer wanted to handle it personally.

Lucifer nodded in dismissal. He was already preoccupied with his thoughts concerning the mysteries surrounding System 666. He assumed the Imp did not actually escape Heaven, so much as he was allowed to go. The Angel or Angels responsible probably thought the Imp could lead them to the System.

It had been a very long time since Lucifer had walked the Earth. He had missed it.

And he was excited by the challenge that had just presented itself. He had been bored with the neverending stalemate between the Realms. Not that he necessarily wanted to bring about Judgment Day, but he was fascinated by the appearance of an evolution system. It opened up so many exciting possibilities. And he was determined to learn more.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Back in his own room, Nicodemus fumed. He was tired of those high and mighty, self-righteous, pompous Archangels always lording over everyone. And the worst offender was that holier-than-thou ass, Michael. Centuries of being favored by God had made Michael arrogant.

Nicodemus wasn't stupid, despite what Michael thought. He knew the Imp could not have escaped without help. And no Demon would dare set foot into Heaven. They couldn't without being immediately discovered and punished.

That meant there was a traitor in Heaven.

Only an Angel of one of the three highest ranks could have released the Imp without drawing suspicion. And they were the only ones who could travel to the Mortal Realm without being questioned.

The Angel likely wanted the System for their own purposes and probably assumed that they could follow the Imp to it. What they planned to do with it, Nicodemus could only guess. But uncovering the traitor and recovering the System were the most important things to him at the moment.

He briefly thought of trying to persuade Micah and Malachi to his cause but quickly decided against it. They were smart, but lazy. And they preferred not to draw attention to themselves. They often told him to just bear with the insults of higher Angels and just do the tasks he was assigned. And for centuries, he did just that.

But Nicodemus was no longer content to be an Archangel's lackey. Regardless of the consequences, he would find the System himself and discover its secrets.

He couldn't care less about the Imp. He reasoned that the Imp simply wanted the System so he could level up and compete with Demons of higher rank. He could relate. The caste system in Hell must be at least as rigid as the one in Heaven.

He was tired of being threatened and pushed around and mocked and treated like crap. He wasn't stupid or useless.

And he'd show them how useful he was. Yes, he'd show them all.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sariel woke up in utter darkness. He blinked a few times to clear his vision, but everything still seemed hazy despite the fact that there really was nothing to see.

He shook his head and tried to sit up. This was apparently a bad idea, as waves of dizziness, nausea, and pain washed over him in quick succession. He quickly lay back down until the dizziness and nausea passed.

Finally, the sharp intense pain began to fade. Now he was left with only a dull ache in his head. Gingerly, he tried to sit up again.

This time he was successful. He exhaled slowly and tried to get his bearings. He wasn't entirely sure where he was, but he knew it was neither the Mortal Realm nor Heaven.

'I must be in Purgatory' he thought.

Now that he knew where he was, he was trying to piece together what had happened.

One minute he was preparing to take a Soul as he had done a million times before. Then suddenly there was a blinding flash of light, which not only knocked him unconscious but knocked him out of the Mortal Realm entirely.

'Ah, that was it!' He needed to find that Soul and take it to Heaven. He'd never once failed to take a Soul that he had been sent to take.

He sat down for a few more minutes until the pain had subsided completely. He had plenty of time. No Reaper would dare to take a Soul assigned to someone else.