Another Trip Begins

(A/N: I need feedback, I wrote this chapter like 3 times trying to get Lucifer right. Is this good?")

============

As I am about to continue about Tony's transformation I notice a small ripple within my shadow, "Speak," I say giving Legion a glace.

Rising from my shadow Legion bows in his pale male form this time. The ones around seem surprised despite seeing it not long ago, well except Ruby and Komand'r who have seen this a thousand times by now.

"As you have requested my King, the Martians are in urgent need of your aid." A thousand voices echo as my eyes narrow.

"How? Were the Keres defeated?"

"Yes, my King. An unforeseen adversary has made an appearance…"

"Hmmmm," I grumble as I think about how long this escapade will take. "Ares?"

Legion lowers his head in affirmation, "He has reclaimed the name Mars and taken the red vermin under his wing."

'That bitch defeated the Keres?' I mumble to myself while biting my cheek, I take a quick glance around at the expecting face before giving them a charming smile.

"It appears our meeting has been cut short, I am quite sorry Peter, but feel free to drop in any time. A friend of my 'daughter' is welcome any time." I give Ruby a glance which she challenges trying not to smirk.

"No no, sounds like you have a lot on your plate. I'm just excited to find out Martians are real, like, they're actually from Mars right?"

I smirk at his zealous nature, "They are…" Quickly turning to Ruby I speak curtly, "Tell Tandy and Jessica that I will return soon."

Before she can speak my feathery ashen black wings are already out, with a nod toward my guests I vanish from the penthouse. Once I appear again I am standing on what looks to be a barren desert with large dunes and whipping wind. The crimson sun beats down on me and the air feels disgusting to breathe in so I stop.

Focusing on my eyes they set ablaze as infernal magic courses through them. A few miles out towards my south I can see a large dome of purple magic, behind it is a tall sandstone wall. My eyes darken as I notice that along the wall are fifteen Keres pierced into it with their own scythes.

Blinking through space I appear in front of the wall past the magical barrier. The wall is early quite but I am only focusing on the Keres at the moment. They may be an army I reserve for niche situations and not my main force but seeing them defeated so handedly... angers me.

"WAKE UP!"

My voice echoes across the lands as hellfire breaks through the ground consuming the wall. The corpses of the Keres on the walls are quickly consumed by the flames. One by one they begin to move once again screaming in pain as they are reborn in my flames.

The stronger ones grab the weapons impaling them and pull them out forcibly to stop the burning pain, to flee from my flames. Once freed they quickly fall to the ground lowering their heads to me. As the last Keres frees herself, Alcmene, the first and queen of the Keres, speaks with her head down like an ashamed dog.

"Please punish me, my King, I have failed you."

My cold gaze looks down at them full of disappointment, "Report. What happened here?"

Her grip on her scythe tightens as her teeth clench tight enough for me to hear. "The lowly filth known as Are- Mars, has become the apostle of Trigon. We fought… I killed him 3,461 times… he did not stay dead. Eventually, I fell, and my sisters not long after."

Taking in a deep breath I think of my last meeting with Trigon, I never would have expected his other apostle was a God. No matter how weak Ares is without his millions of worshipers he is still an expert fighter and unconditional access to power would make him a scary force for anything less than a Hell Lord.

"Your loss reflects on me as well, despite your battle being unwinnable you still failed me. You could not overcome and for that, you must be punished… You shall take on Legion's job along with the imps, the Keres shall be the middlemen between magicians and ALL magics of Hell for 10 years."

Alcmene's head touches the red dirt as she kneels down on all fours, "Thank you for your Mercy, my King."

Glancing at her scythe I raise a hand towards it and bring it into my hand. "Thanatos will take the mantle of violent death for a while… You are dismissed." One by one the Keres fade into black mist returning to their home in Hades' realm.

Inspecting the damaged wall for a moment I flap my wings and fly onto the wall. Once I'm atop it I can see a vast city containing magic bringing from house to house, it resembles Babylon in its prime. But not it appears more like Babylon after Marduk's wrath sieged it. Dead ly in the beautifully paved streets, houses lay in shambles, and fires span edge to edge.

At the center of the city is a large domed building with a pillar of magic projecting into the sky fueling the barrier around us. Flying higher I see a few hundred faceless shadows standing guard at the town square that lies in front of the massive building.

Space fades around me as I appear once again in front of the shadows. The shadows quickly merge into 40 or so humanoid demons each with slightly different beautiful pale features.

In perfect unison, each kneels before me, "Legion lives to serve the King." The thousands of voices echo as they each lower their heads avoiding my gaze.

"How many were saved?"

The legion nearest me raises its head a bit, "11.547, exactly 89.3% of the population."

With a soft sigh I shrug, "I never did say I would save them all… How strong was Ares?"

"He is nothing before the might of hell…" the voices pause as the legion searches for its words carefully, "However his current power is enough to rival Lord Arawn."

My brows raise, 'Trigon is capable of giving such immense power? What happened in the 2000 years I was gone?' Moving on from my thoughts I raise a hand towards the doors of the massive building. With a thunk and shudder the metal doors swing open revealing a crowd of male and female Martians holding staves while cowering.

From the back of the crowd, an older voice shouts, "LOWER YOUR STAVES YOU FOOLS! THIS IS LORD LUCIFER!"

Pushing through the crowd is an old man of average height and thin physique… a human.

Falling on all fours the old man lowers his head, "It is a great honor to meet you again Lord Lucifer."

My gaze turns odd, "I know you."

The old man doesn't seem surprised at my words, "Of course, you wouldn't remember one as insignificant as me. My name is Sargon, I made a deal with you a few thousand years ago, my soul for an apple of Idun and the truth of the gods."

With a grin, I step closer to him through the scattered Legions, "A bad deal on your part, you should have asked for power, all answers come to the powerful."

The older man finally looks up at me with a smile, "I have long thought of that, it truly is a shame but at least I got to witness your presence again."

"You're quite the good kiss-ass, I assume you lead these people?" I gesture at the terrified yellow-skinned Martians behind him.

"Thank you my Lord, yes my lord I lead them."

Kneeling in front of him a mischievous grin grows on my face, "I already made a deal to save your people so I won't ask for anything more… but I will instead impart a gift."

The old man's eyes widen as a small part of the ground beneath me opens up. The sounds of a trillion screaming souls escape as I reach my hand into the crack and pull out a small black ball. The soul of Sargon, son of Etana. It is twisted and defiled by its long stay in hell to the point it is almost unrecognizable as a human soul.

The crack beneath me closes silencing the wails and I take a moment to destroy most of the 'too far gone' sections of the soul. With a finger, I bring the soul to the man's forehead and gently place it inside.

"AUHG" The old man grabs his heart as his body begins to change.

"LEADER! CHIEF!" a few of the Martians muster the courage to rush over and kneel next to him.

I stand not giving them much attention, "When the old one wakes up make sure he doesn't fall into insanity, feel free to use the powers of the hells."

The Legion nearest me lowers its head, "Yes my King," the voices echo back.

Looking towards the frontmost Legion I continue walking, "The Third Legion will lead me to this, 'God'."

All Legions around echo back "Yes my King."