The air instantly solidified, and Lucifer was no longer as gentle as before.
An energy like winter's cold snow spread throughout the bar; Angelis could even feel her body temperature draining away.
She couldn't help but shiver, a situation that should have been impossible for a City Spirit.
Because as long as she wished, she should be immune to heat and cold.
But Lucifer redefined reality, making everyone's senses in the hotel subject to his will.
However, he found that Dane's expression hadn't changed at all. He thought for a moment; the Shazam Force shouldn't be able to withstand him.
Was it a power Death gave him?
He guessed correctly; the ability Dane gained, the Gift of Life, could not only manipulate other people's souls but also his own.
But generally, no one would dare to do this, because one slip-up could easily make oneself a lunatic.
Seeing that such intimidation was ineffective, Lucifer could only disperse his magic.
"You should know that, as of today, there is only one Key to Hell left."
"The one who possesses it not only has the ability to freely enter and exit Hell and reality, but is also destined to be the Lord of Hell."
Dane nodded calmly: "I know."
"Then you still dare to bring this up to me? I might not be able to kill you, but there are many ways to make someone suffer. Do you want to try?"
But Dane was unfazed; he was confident: "The reason I made this request is because I know you are tired of Hell, aren't you, Lord Lucifer?"
This wasn't him making things up; in the comics, Lucifer, tired of the endless scheming and unchanging desolate landscape of Hell day after day, had long wanted to stop being the Lord of Hell.
To put it plainly, he led the rebellion against God back then because he had foreseen his future of taking over Hell, and he was dissatisfied with this future, which is why he fell out with God.
This process, in a more grounded version, is:
A father left his son an inheritance. This business was very profitable and lucrative, but it was also dirty, tiring, and felt undignified.
The son didn't want to do it, but the father wouldn't let him do anything else, so the son argued with his father.
The father said, "This is the family property I left for you; it's for your own good."
The son said, "I don't want it, I don't want it, I just don't want it," and then the father and son started fighting.
In the end, the old ginger was still spicier; the son didn't win and could only inherit the business his father left him, with a bruised face.
After a few years, the son was still unhappy with it and wanted to skip work to go out and play. The World was so big, he wanted to see it.
So Lucifer came to the human World and opened a struggling, dilapidated bar here.
Even like this, he found life interesting, much better than that damn Hell.
He didn't even care if his wings were broken.
If he just packed up and left, the position of Lord of Hell couldn't remain vacant forever!
Someone with sufficient status needed to replace him, even if only temporarily.
In the original work, the substitute he chose was the Dream Lord Morpheus; as the third oldest of the Endless Family, he had enough ability and prestige to be the Lord of Hell.
But that would be after he recovered his power, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to control the thousands of demons in Hell.
This was also the reason Lucifer wanted to get his hands on the dream sand earlier; with this, he could threaten Morpheus and force him to become the Lord of Hell.
Then he could relax and slack off.
But in Dane's view, Morpheus would have more than half of his power plundered by himself in the future, so why bother with all that trouble?
Why not just give him the Key to Hell?
Anyway, in the original work, Morpheus eventually gave the Key to Hell to someone else, so what was the point?
After listening to Dane's explanation, Lucifer suddenly became speechless.
He did have this idea, but he hadn't even started planning yet!
It was like having your plan calculated by someone else before you even started.
But he still shook his head, then nodded again.
"I don't object to you wanting to be the Lord of Hell, and giving you the Key is not impossible~."
"But I hope you can at least acquire one Dream Lord artifact first, otherwise, the demons won't obey you."
"And that's not the worst part; the Hell dimension is closely connected to other dimensions. Once the Key to Hell is transferred, many gods might come to demand it from you..."
Oh? There's such a good thing?
To Dane's surprise, he was delighted rather than surprised by the news. He had always been thinking about how to enrich the Shazam Force.
But most gods have already entered another dimension; the Eastern Heavenly Court, the Greek gods' Mount Olympus, the Aesir's Asgard, the Egyptian Gods' Afterlife, and so on, are all in that dimension.
Dane had tried all the dimensional gates in the Rock of Eternity, but none of them led to that dimension.
There was only a Small God Realm where three silly goddesses were imprisoned, which was also gradually declining due to the Scepter's seal.
But if the Hell dimension is connected to the divine dimension, wouldn't he be able to contact many gods and then seize their divine power when the opportunity arises?
He felt that the Shazam Force still had room for improvement.
Lucifer looked at his surprised expression, somewhat unable to understand his thought process.
Lucifer's power was entirely natural; he had never experienced a weak stage.
Naturally, he couldn't imagine that someone like Dane, whose future was already destined to achieve multiplicity, would still need to plunder the divine power of others to enhance his strength.
Dane made up his mind and said to Lucifer: "I accept your conditions. There's no need to sign a contract; this will be our gentleman's agreement."
Actually, it was because even if a contract was signed, it would be easy for Lucifer to go back on his word, so he simply didn't bother with this futile effort, and could leave a good impression.
Lucifer nodded; as a god of style, he wouldn't go back on his spoken promise.
After all matters were discussed, Dane took Angelis and walked out of the Lux bar.
As soon as they stepped out of the bar's door, Angelis couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and her tense body relaxed.
Facing an ultimate Boss like Lucifer, even without directly confronting him, she constantly felt terrified.
She couldn't help but look at the man beside her. Was he always so fearless?
To be able to chat and laugh with the Lord of Hell, it was indeed the right decision to leave a good impression back then.
"Tell me Gabriel's exact address."
Angelis snapped back to reality and quickly told Dane everything she knew.
"I don't think you need to go this time. Be careful, that woman Gabriel might hold a grudge against you."
Dane smiled, his figure already disappearing into the air.
Angelis stood quietly for a moment before turning to leave.
When Dane reappeared, he was in front of the somewhat dilapidated church.
He was a bit strange; even if Gabriel had been demoted to a mortal, couldn't she find a better church?
Or was it that an Angel's enlightenment was truly that profound? Always going to the most suffering places?
"You're a mendicant monk, aren't you?" Dane remembered this religion didn't seem to have such a practice.
But he didn't think much of it, directly pushing open the heavy door. Inside, it was pitch black, with a few faint flickers of candlelight.
He stepped inside.
"Who's there?"
Under the cross, a woman in a white robe knelt, seemingly in prayer.
"Do Angels also need to pray?"
Dane walked behind her.
The woman turned her head. She had long golden hair and a cold, beautiful face, giving off an aloof aura.
"Who are you?"
Because she had lost her divine power, Gabriel couldn't see the divine light on Shazam.
It was so late, and a strange man appeared in the church, and she was the only woman in the entire church.
But Gabriel wasn't flustered at all. She firmly believed that evil could not prevail in God's church.
But Dane knew that was nonsense, because demons could not only freely enter and exit churches, but also kill people inside.
If God could truly see the sins happening in churches, He should first purify those priests who liked to "exorcise" little boys before anything else.
So Dane didn't bother with her faith.
"Archangel Gabriel, why do you linger in the Human World?"
These words directly and precisely hit Gabriel's sore spot.
She frowned, her expression seemingly very displeased.
"Mortal, this is not something you should concern yourself with. Moreover, you haven't answered my question. Who are you?"
As mentioned before, Dane hated arrogant people who liked to look down on others the most.
So when he saw Gabriel still putting on the airs of an Archangel, he simply stopped pretending.
White lightning flashed around Dane, electric arcs coursing over him. With a flash of white light, his casual clothes transformed into a wizard's robe.
"Mortal, huh?"
"Now you are the mortal, Gabriel. Do you still remember the etiquette for mortals to meet a deity?"
"Kneel, I permit you to kiss my toes!"
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