Chapter 4.3. The King is Born (3)

  The Grand Elder called Kane over, but Lucifer interrupted. He told Kane that now he knew the truth: The Demon King’s adviser was nothing more than a spy sent by the council to keep the King under their supervision. He suspected the same of the Demon Lords’ advisers.

  Lucifer turned and started to leave The Council. Before exiting, he looked back at Kane and gave him a choice: remain with the council as a lapdog, or join him.

  With that, he walked out. No one tried to stop him—they knew they couldn’t, even if they wanted to.

  Lucifer reached the bottom of the stairs and waited. A few seconds later, Kane appeared, walking down the stairs on his knees, pledging his eternal loyalty to Lucifer.

  Lucifer sprouted his wings, and Kane did the same. Without a word, they flew back to the castle.

  Once they arrived, Lucifer immediately went to the throne room and waited for Kane.

  Kane eventually entered the throne room. He walked toward Lucifer and kneeled before him.

  Before he could say anything, Lucifer stood from his throne, grabbed Kane’s neck, and lifted him into the air.

  As he held Kane by the neck, Lucifer spoke. He told Kane never to kneel before anyone who wasn’t him, and that if he did, he would die a very painful death.

  Kane could see just how serious Lucifer was. He had no choice but to accept the words.

  Lucifer then dropped him and returned to his throne.

  Once he sat down, he asked Kane why The Gates of Hell had been closed for ten thousand years.

  Kane told him it was a long story. Ten thousand years ago, humans and demons lived in the same world, but on separate parts of that world. They rarely interacted with each other.

  But one day, the humans suddenly attacked the demons, claiming they had to purge them from existence. The demons fought back, and that was the beginning of The Great War.

  The humans may have launched a surprise attack, but in truth, they never stood a chance of winning.

  The demons had the dragon race on their side, since they were the only two races considered true monsters. Together, the demons and dragons began pushing the humans out of their territory.

  They succeeded in driving the humans back, but demons were vengeful creatures. It didn’t take long before they pushed further, invading human territory.

  Thanks to the most powerful demon among them, whose name was ..., and the strongest dragon, whose name was ..., the demons advanced relentlessly.

  But then special humans appeared—humans with absurd amounts of magical energy, so much that they hardly seemed human at all.

  The tables turned quickly. And now, the demons were the ones on the losing end of the war.

  … and … fought against the humans and managed to defeat them, but suddenly even more special humans appeared, each carrying even greater magical energy.

  … and … continued fighting, but even they couldn’t stand against an entire army of these enhanced humans.

  As their dark magic clashed with the humans’ holy magic, the collision tore open a gate in the air.

  While fighting, … noticed the gate and immediately ordered the demons and dragons to retreat through it, even though he had no idea where it led.

  The demons and dragons escaped into the gate, but three of the special humans slipped past ….

  He released a huge burst of power, causing an explosion that blew the special humans back. While they were down, he retreated through the gate, followed closely by ….

  Both of them immediately chased after the special humans who had managed to enter the gate.

  As they entered the gate, he saw that the special humans had already been dealt with by the other demons and dragons.

  He didn’t relax. Instead, he gathered the last of his strength and fired an energy beam directly into the gate. The impact triggered a chain reaction that caused the gate to explode, forcing it to close.

  One of the special humans woke up from the blast and tried to go after him. He noticed immediately, but he had no power left to defend himself. All he could do was watch as the human staggered toward him.

  As the human got closer, he suddenly struggled to breathe. Then he collapsed.

  … recognized the smell in the air — toxic, but not dangerous enough to harm demons. Realizing this, he felt relieved, pleased that the place he brought his people to was survivable for demons.

  Lucifer passed out right after the battle. He had pushed himself far beyond his limits without realizing it. His body simply shut down.

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  Years went by.

  In that time, the demons slowly adapted to the new world around them. The strange atmosphere changed them. Many demons mutated, becoming stronger and more monstrous than ever before. Their bodies grew tougher, their power thicker and harder to control.

  The dragons moved away and claimed their own territory. At first, they lived separately but peacefully. But that peace didn’t last.

  Anger and blame began to grow between the two races. The dragons blamed the demons for losing their place in the real world. The demons blamed the dragons for not fighting hard enough—especially since the dragons had almost no casualties.

  Tension kept building. The air itself felt heavy whenever a demon and a dragon crossed paths. And when the dragons realized the demons were still weak and recovering…

  they took their chance.

  They attacked.

  The war between the dragons and demons grew worse with each passing day. Battles spread across their world like wildfire. Eventually, …

  Across from him stood …

  Then a gate opened above them. A silent rift of blinding light. Both rulers stopped instantly.

  Without hesitation, they stepped into the gate together. It closed behind them and vanished.

  Their armies were left stunned and leaderless. Confusion erupted, and the fighting only grew more chaotic. At last, five demons rose from the turmoil. They seized control, stopped the senseless battle, and negotiated a fragile truce with the dragons.

  The war finally ended.

  Both sides had suffered massive losses, far greater than before. A decision was made the demons would remain in their own territory,

  and the dragons would stay in theirs.

  Years passed in uneasy peace. No battles. No clashes. Only quiet distance between the two weakened races. But the dragons began to fade. Their bodies couldn’t handle the atmosphere of the new world. One by one, their numbers slowly declined.

  The demons, however, were unaffected. In fact, they grew stronger. They felt no hunger, no exhaustion, no pain. The miasma in the air twisted their forms—making them deformed, yet far more powerful than before.

  As they adapted, the demons explored farther and farther through the strange land. In time, they discovered four ancient castles—north, east, south, and west—each one towering like a remnant of a forgotten age.

  When they reached the northern castle, they found a throne. The very throne Lucifer had once sat upon. Any demon who tried to claim it was instantly swallowed whole—absorbed by the throne and never seen again.

  So a rule was made. Only the worthiest among them could ever sit on that throne.

  Many brave and powerful demons attempted to claim the throne. Every one of them failed.

  The throne judged them unworthy, swallowing each challenger without hesitation. Because of this, the demons eventually abandoned the castle.

  But there was another reason they stayed far away. None of them understood what lurked beneath the bridge on the first floor. Thick smoke covered the lower depths, hiding whatever waited below. But they all felt it—a monstrous presence that no demon, no matter how strong, believed they could defeat.

  Fear spread quickly. So the castle doors were sealed shut, never to be opened again. The other castles were simpler to manage. Leaders were chosen for each region, and these rulers became known as the Demon Lords. Elders were also appointed—their duty was to guard the gate that the Demon King had closed before disappearing.

  A massive pillar was built to mark their new domain. The demons settled into this twisted world, adapting to every corner of it. In time, they gave the land a name. They called it Hell

  Years passed, and the relationship between demons and dragons slowly healed. Tension faded. Trust returned. Their bond grew so strong that some even tried to conceive children together. That was when they discovered the truth—demons and dragons could not produce offspring.

  The dragons then attempted to bear children among themselves. But every new-born dragon died moments after birth. The miasma was simply too toxic for their bodies to withstand. The demons, however, suffered no such curse. They thrived in the miasma.

  They spread across the land like wildfire, adapting faster and growing stronger with every generation. Over time, the difference became impossible to ignore. The dragons dwindled. Their numbers fell year after year… until none remained.

  And so the demons lived on alone. Trapped in Hell. Ten thousand years have passed since then—and the demons are still there to this very day.

  Lucifer asked Kane for the names of the Demon King and the Dragon Queen. But every time Kane repeated them, Lucifer’s head throbbed with sharp, unbearable pain.

  He quickly realized something—some strange force was preventing him from hearing or remembering those names. He didn’t know why, and for now, he pushed the thought aside.

  Instead, he asked about the black dragon sleeping on top of the castle.

  Kane explained that among the dragon children who died from the miasma, one of them turned black for an unknown reason. After its transformation, the dragon instinctively came to this castle and fell into a deep sleep at its peak.

  It had vanished once, but only briefly. When it returned, it was noticeably weaker.

  Lucifer then asked a troubling question:

  If the dragon had been sleeping here the entire time… and if the Gates of Hell had been closed for ten thousand years…

  How did the humans know about Cerberus, the Sabertooth tiger, and the black dragon?

  And more importantly—why did humans fear those three creatures?

  Kane explained that “ten thousand years” was just a number the demons eventually settled on. Back then, the Demon Lords wanted to return to their original world. Because the miasma in Hell made them far stronger, they believed they could take on the special humans who had defeated them before.

  Experiments were done, and they discovered a way: if ten of the strongest demons injected their magic directly into the gate, it would force open.

  So the demons launched an attack on the humans.

  During that invasion, three creatures stood above all others. They were so powerful that nothing could stop them.

  The black dragon earned the title Sky KingGod of WarHellhound

  Those three creatures distinguished themselves, striking terror into the hearts of humans. The black dragon, the Sabertooth tiger, and Cerberus shook their enemies to the very core. But even their power had limits.

  No matter how fierce, they could not defeat all the special humans fighting together. The demons attacked again and again, yet each time they were forced to retreat. Even the Demon Lords themselves entered the fray, pouring every ounce of their strength into the battle.

  Still, the humans’ holy magic burned brighter. Its radiance was overwhelming, unstoppable. The demons were defeated. Not just defeated—they were disgraced. In shame and fear of another loss, the elders made a final decision. The Gates of Hell would be sealed—for all eternity.

  Lucifer took a slow breath, letting Kane’s words sink in. Then it hit him—all the events, all the stories, seemed connected. Even his own arrival in Hell. It made sense now.