Yagami stood in absolute darkness. A faint groaning sound caught his attention. He moved forward until his eyes fell upon a pit amid soil and fire...
Inside it, a burned and half-dead person lay, but still breathing. Yagami was shocked.
Yagami stepped closer.
At that very moment, he heard footsteps. Yagami turned his head and saw a demon slowly approaching the burned figure.
His eyes widened in horror. He shouted:
"Stay back! Don't come near!"
His hand instinctively reached for his sword... but his belt was empty.
"My sword... where is it?!"
He gritted his teeth, his jaw trembling. In rage, he charged and threw a punch... but the fist passed through the demon's body, as if going through air.
Yagami's breath caught.
"Am I... dead?"
But suddenly, the same demon appeared beside Yagami.
"No... this is my past."
Yagami stared at him in disbelief. The demon was exactly like himself—a mental manifestation.
This was no longer just a dream... this was part of his inner truth.
The demon said:
"I am the monster within you. When you gave your eye to the Sun Goddess, Amaterasu, and in mourning your brother, you wished for unlimited and great power... that part of my power which still existed in this world gave it to you."
Yagami's eyes widened as he said:
"So... the monster within me is you?"
The demon said:
"Yes. My real name is Lucifer. God of Hell. The Satan who is now under your command is one of my eight high-ranking generals. In truth, he follows my orders... because he senses my aura within you. He would never obey a human, because he hates them."
Then, with a serious look, he said:
"Now look carefully... see who that burned person is."
Yagami looked down into the pit with surprise and fear. His eyes widened further.
Lucifer stood beside the burned figure, said a few words—but Yagami couldn't hear the sound—then the dead person revived again, but in exchange, Lucifer turned into particles of light and vanished.
When the face of that person became clear... Yagami was shocked.
It was none other than the Demon Queen, Echidna.
Yagami said in disbelief:
"Why did you revive her?"
Lucifer, with eyes full of regret, said:
"Because she is my love..."
Yagami thought to himself:
"If he finds out that Echidna died again, things will get really bad..."
Lucifer continued:
"Aphrodite (Echidna) and I used to meet secretly. We didn't want the gods of the demon tribe to find out... but one day, one of the Kings of Hell (one of the eight generals), namely Kijo, saw us.
She was madly in love with me, but I had no feelings for her. I had rejected her marriage proposals many times.
Angry, she went to the demons and revealed everything. All the Kings of Hell turned against me, except Satan. He was the only one who trusted me and respected my decisions."
Yagami listened in astonishment.
Lucifer exhaled angrily:
"I went into the palace. The seven Kings of Hell were there... and Kijo stood in the middle.
Kijo said: 'You are a traitor, Lucifer! You are not worthy of being the god over Hell. All the kings confirm this!'"
Lucifer's eyes glowed, his voice deepened:
"At that moment, I lost my temper. I released my pure demonic energy...
They all collapsed to the ground. As if a mountain thousands of tons heavy had fallen on them... I could feel the sound of them being crushed...
And I said only one sentence:
'You stood against your creator... Know your place, trash!'"
Then I heard a massive explosion;
I was quickly teleporting myself when...:
Kijo's laughter echoed in my mind:
"It's too late, Lucifer..."
Yagami listened carefully.
Lucifer continued:
"I activated my teleportation magic and reached the place where I had a rendezvous with Aphrodite...
But when I arrived... the only thing I saw was a large pit and a burned body inside it.
With tears coming and a choked voice, Lucifer said: "I realized it was Aphrodite."
[Lucifer continued:
*"When Kijo saw that she couldn't defeat me, even with the support of the demons and the eight generals, she went to one of the goddesses, the Goddess of Evil and War, Athena (Tartarus).
Athena, upon hearing the story of Lucifer and Aphrodite, laughed and said she had been waiting for such a day."]
I ran toward her... I wanted to cast healing magic, but...
I am a demon. My healing magic wouldn't work on a goddess...**
Lucifer said softly:
"I went to the throne and stood before Zeus, the God of Thunder."
Zeus said:
"What do you want here, Lucifer? King of Demons?"
I said:
"I want only one thing from you... in mourning for my life, spare Aphrodite's life!"
Yagami said in amazement:
"You stood before Zeus... he could have destroyed you?!"
Lucifer gave a bitter smile and said:
"Perhaps my power decreases in heaven, but I have thousands of souls... Zeus can never kill me."
Yagami: "Then why didn't you revive? Why didn't you return?"
Lucifer closed his eyes and said in a calm voice full of pain:
"Because I gave all my souls... so that Aphrodite could live."
Black Clover Association – Central Council Hall
Shinkuro slammed his hands on the table and said in a hoarse voice:
"How many casualties did we suffer?! That angel… and the legendary swordsman… where are their bodies?!"
Daigon lowered his head and said:
"Sir… about 30% of the association's members were killed. From that angel, not even ashes remain… Of the legendary swordsman, only the lower half of his body is left."
Shinkuro fell silent for a moment and murmured under his breath:
"Our only hope… is just Yagami. He's the only one who can get us to the top floor…"
Daigon continued hesitantly:
"Sir… there's another piece of news. The president of the Divine Swordsmen Association, Nami… has awakened. But… no magic, no skills remain in him."
Shinkuro said in surprise:
"What was his level… before he lost his power?"
Daigon said:
"Level S, sir. One of the strongest…"
Shinkuro frowned and said:
"Impossible… Let's go see him."
Shinkuro and the commander left the room and headed toward Nami's room.
At the same moment…
Yagami woke up in a room with heavy eyes and a tangled mind.
He took a deep breath and said:
"I'm back…"
He raised his hand, looked at his palm, and clenched his fingers into a fist. He took a deep breath and said:
"Teleport."
In an instant, he vanished into the air and reappeared near his friend's grave… An eerie silence reigned there. Yagami raised his hand and said:
"Satan, appear."
From the depths of the shadows, Satan emerged with his usual pride, but upon seeing Yagami's face, he quickly bowed:
"Your orders, master."
Yagami said calmly:
"I spoke with your true master… with Lucifer."
Satan said with sparkling eyes:
"You met him?! So that means… Lucifer is returning?"
Yagami paused for a moment, then looked directly into his eyes and said:
"No… he won't return. But he chose me as his successor."
Satan's eyes widened, and with hidden anger he said:
"You?! You don't deserve to succeed my creator! You're a human."
In that very moment, Yagami spread his hands, and crimson dark energy swirled around his body. A harsh and deep voice that had merged with Lucifer's said:
"Know your place, Satan. You stand against your creator!"
Satan's body trembled, sweat dripping from his face. He involuntarily fell to his knees and said in a shaking voice:
"Yes… master… forgive me…"
(To be continued…)