Chapter 177 — 6 Months: Crowley
Hell had not changed.
Crowley had.
The moment he stepped through the doorway, the heat wrapped around him.
The smell came next.
Burning flesh.
Sulfur.
Blood.
The familiar scent of a place that had spent centuries trying to kill him.
Crowley took one step forward.
The doorway behind him disappeared.
He was alone.
And for the first time in months—
there was no Henry.
No Brook.
No Sera.
No Rick.
No Shoyo.
No one from Xcution.
Crowley's smile disappeared.
His eyes changed.
"Home."
The creature in front of him screamed.
Crowley moved.
Its head hit the ground.
The demon's body followed a second later.
Crowley didn't look back.
The road to Lilith was long.
Not because Hell was large.
Because Hell enjoyed making people travel.
Crowley walked through valleys filled with screaming souls.
Across rivers that moved like blood.
Past mountains where demons fought one another endlessly.
None of them approached him.
At first.
Then one did.
A massive demon stepped into Crowley's path.
It wore armor made from black metal.
Its horns curved over its head.
A weapon rested against its shoulder.
Crowley stopped.
The demon smiled.
"Crowley."
Crowley stared at him.
"Yes?"
"You left."
"I did."
"You've been living among humans."
Crowley sighed.
"Get to the point."
The demon laughed.
"They made you weak."
Crowley looked at him.
Then smiled.
"No."
The demon lifted its weapon.
"They made you forget where you belong."
Crowley walked forward.
The demon frowned.
Crowley didn't stop.
"That's the thing about Hell."
He looked around.
"Everyone thinks leaving makes you weak."
The demon attacked.
Crowley disappeared.
The weapon struck the ground.
The demon turned.
Crowley stood behind him.
"No."
Crowley's hand pressed against the back of its head.
"Leaving just reminds you what weak looks like."
Crowley snapped his fingers.
The demon's body exploded.
Crowley continued walking.
The remains began moving.
Bones.
Flesh.
Blood.
Everything tried to pull itself together.
Crowley looked back.
The Lazarus Pit.
His body had changed since he had acquired it.
He wasn't the only one who could benefit from its nature.
For a brief moment—
he could force a broken thing to remember life.
Then Crowley smiled.
And removed the effect.
The demon stopped moving.
Crowley walked away.
Lilith's territory was quieter.
That was how Crowley knew he was close.
Hell was never quiet.
Not naturally.
The silence here had been created.
Every demon knew what happened if it made too much noise.
Crowley approached the palace alone.
The gates were already open.
He stopped.
"That's never suspicious."
No answer.
Crowley stepped inside.
The doors closed behind him.
He walked through a long hallway.
At the end—
a woman sat on a throne.
Lilith.
Crowley stopped.
She didn't look at him.
"You're late."
Crowley smiled.
"I wasn't invited."
Lilith finally looked up.
Crowley's smile disappeared.
Her eyes were calm.
That was worse.
"You left."
Crowley shrugged.
"Temporarily."
"You became attached."
Crowley didn't answer.
Lilith smiled.
"Humans."
Crowley raised an eyebrow.
"What about them?"
"They weaken everyone."
Crowley laughed.
"You're really going to start with that?"
Lilith stood.
Crowley remained still.
She walked toward him.
"You were stronger."
Crowley smiled.
"I'm stronger now."
Lilith stopped.
For several seconds—
they stared at each other.
Then Lilith spoke.
"Behead."
Crowley's head came off.
His body remained standing.
For one second—
silence.
Then his body fell.
Crowley's head rolled across the floor.
Lilith turned away.
"Still arrogant."
The headless body moved.
Lilith stopped.
Crowley's fingers twitched.
The body sat up.
Then stood.
Lilith slowly turned.
The wound began closing.
Flesh.
Bone.
Blood.
A new head formed.
Crowley opened his eyes.
He stretched his neck.
Then looked at Lilith.
"Rude."
Lilith stared.
For the first time—
she looked interested.
"Lazarus."
Crowley smiled.
"Lazarus Pit."
Lilith's expression remained calm.
But Crowley noticed the smallest change in her eyes.
Recognition.
Concern.
"Who gave it to you?"
Crowley smiled.
"You're not the only one with secrets."
They spoke.
Not as friends.
Crowley had very few of those.
And Lilith wasn't one.
They spoke because Hell was changing.
The lower demons had become restless.
Doorways had begun opening.
Not randomly.
Crowley listened as Lilith explained.
"There is movement outside the old territories."
Crowley frowned.
"Outside?"
Lilith looked toward him.
"Earth."
Crowley went silent.
That was not what he expected.
Lilith returned to her throne.
"Something is interfering with the balance."
Crowley folded his arms.
"Brook."
Lilith looked at him.
"No."
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
"No?"
"Not directly."
Crowley waited.
Lilith continued.
"There are too many powers moving toward the surface."
Crowley thought about Sera.
The doors.
The demons.
Brook.
The Sources.
Then he looked at Lilith.
"What do you know?"
Lilith smiled.
"Enough."
Crowley sighed.
"Great."
Lilith moved her hand.
A wall opened.
Behind it was a chamber.
Crowley followed.
Inside—
books.
Thousands.
Ancient records.
Names.
Symbols.
Histories.
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
"You still keep all of this?"
Lilith looked back.
"Unlike humans, Hell remembers."
Crowley smiled slightly.
"That's ominous."
Lilith stopped before an ancient stone tablet.
Four symbols had been carved into it.
White.
Red.
Black.
And green.
Crowley stared.
"The Sources."
Lilith nodded.
Crowley moved closer.
"Michael."
He pointed toward the white symbol.
"Lucifer."
Red.
"Death."
Black.
Then—
his hand moved toward the final symbol.
"What is this?"
Lilith's expression changed.
"The Fourth."
Crowley looked at her.
"The Earth Source."
Silence.
Crowley stared at the symbol.
Lilith continued.
"Before humanity learned to control the world…"
The symbols began glowing.
"…the world controlled humanity."
Crowley listened.
"The Earth Source belongs to that relationship."
Crowley looked toward her.
"What does it do?"
Lilith's answer was simple.
"Nature."
Crowley raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds underwhelming."
Lilith looked at him.
Crowley stopped smiling.
"Right."
Lilith continued.
"Someone who awakens the Earth Source can command nature itself."
The chamber trembled.
Crowley looked around.
Lilith continued.
"Plants."
Stone.
Water.
Roots.
Forests.
The Earth itself.
Crowley's expression slowly changed.
"And complete mastery?"
Lilith looked at him.
"Energy."
Crowley went silent.
"The energy of the Earth."
Lilith nodded.
Crowley thought about Brook.
The way his power reacted when he pushed himself.
The ground.
The pressure.
The strange moments where nature seemed to respond to him.
"It reacts to him."
Lilith stared.
Crowley looked at her.
"The Earth."
Lilith didn't answer.
Crowley stepped closer.
"What does Brook have to do with it?"
Lilith looked toward the symbol.
"He was supposed to awaken it first."
Crowley froze.
"What?"
Lilith looked directly at him.
"The Earth Source was meant to develop before the others."
Crowley's mind raced.
Michael.
Lucifer.
Death.
All activated first.
"Then why didn't it?"
Lilith's expression hardened.
"Incidents."
Crowley stared.
"What incidents?"
Lilith said nothing.
Crowley stepped closer.
"Lilith."
"No."
Crowley's expression darkened.
"You brought me here."
"No."
"You told me about the Fourth Source."
Lilith looked at him.
"And that is all you need."
Crowley stared at her.
Then laughed.
"Fine."
He turned away.
Lilith's voice stopped him.
"Crowley."
He looked back.
"If Brook awakens it now…"
Crowley waited.
Lilith's eyes moved toward the green symbol.
"He will not awaken it the way he was supposed to."
Crowley's smile disappeared.
Crowley left the chamber.
But he didn't leave Hell.
Not yet.
There was another question.
A name that had begun appearing too often.
Crowley had heard it from demons.
Whispers.
Rumors.
The lower demons didn't understand it.
The stronger ones refused to discuss it.
But Crowley knew how Hell worked.
If enough people refused to say something—
it was worth finding.
He entered a smaller section of the archives.
No guards.
No records marked clearly.
Crowley searched alone.
Hours passed.
Then—
he found it.
A record.
Not a book.
A warning.
One name had been carved repeatedly into the stone.
Crowley's expression changed.
Silvet.
The record didn't explain who he was.
Not completely.
But it mentioned his movements.
His interest.
His observation of the Shinokunis.
Then—
Crowley found something new.
A location.
Not one of the original twelve.
A new Shinokuni.
Crowley's eyes narrowed.
The name had been written recently.
Far more recently than the surrounding records.
ASTERIA.
Crowley stared at it.
He read the words beneath.
A settlement beyond the original division.
A growing Shinokuni.
New walls.
New survivors.
A new beginning.
Crowley read further.
His expression hardened.
Another name appeared beside it.
Silvet.
Not as its ruler.
Not yet.
Not as its enemy either.
Crowley hated that.
It meant nobody knew.
He continued reading.
Silvet had been asking questions.
About Asteria.
Its location.
Its population.
Its defenses.
Its resources.
Its people.
Crowley slowly stepped away from the record.
"Of course."
A new Shinokuni.
A place outside the old structure.
A place still growing.
And Silvet was interested.
Crowley had never met Silvet.
Not properly.
But he knew enough.
Anyone who attracted attention from Hell—
was a problem.
Anyone who attracted attention from someone who knew too much—
was worse.
Crowley looked back at the name.
ASTERIA.
He repeated it quietly.
Then closed the archive.
On his way out—
a voice stopped him.
"Crowley."
He turned.
Lilith stood at the end of the corridor.
Crowley smiled.
"What now?"
Lilith looked at him.
"Tell your friends."
Crowley's smile disappeared.
"Tell them what?"
Lilith's expression was unreadable.
"The world is moving without them."
Crowley stared.
Lilith continued.
"And the ones who have been waiting…"
The lights around them dimmed.
"…are beginning to move first."
Crowley looked toward the doorway leading back to Earth.
Brook was unconscious.
The group was separated.
The Sources were changing.
The Earth Source had not awakened.
And somewhere—
Silvet had begun watching a new Shinokuni.
Crowley walked through the doorway.
Hell disappeared behind him.
He returned to Earth alone.
The forest was cold.
The air was quiet.
Crowley stood still.
For the first time since arriving in Hell—
he looked tired.
He had learned too much.
The Fourth Source.
Brook.
The Earth.
The awakening.
Silvet.
Asteria.
Crowley looked toward the distant horizon.
He didn't know where the new Shinokuni was.
But someone else did.
Silvet.
And Crowley knew one thing about people like him.
They didn't ask questions without eventually wanting answers.
Crowley turned.
He needed to return.
The others needed to know.
But before he took another step—
the ground beneath his feet moved.
Crowley stopped.
Slowly—
a small plant pushed through the dead soil.
Crowley stared.
The plant grew.
Then stopped.
Crowley looked toward the horizon.
Brook was unconscious.
But something else—
somewhere—
was already waking.
Crowley narrowed his eyes.
Then walked away.
End of Chapter 177