KABOOOOOOOMM
Luke hit the ground like a falling meteor, carving a massive crater into the earth. Shockwaves rippled outward as dust and debris shot skyward.
For several seconds, nothing was visible.
Then the dust slowly cleared.
At the epicenter lay Luke—sprawled flat in a perfect Yamcha defeated pose, twitching faintly.
Lilith stood over him, one heel planted triumphantly on his body.
Chin raised.
Eyes gleaming.
She lifted her wrist ever so slightly.
And unleashed the most villainous ojou-sama laugh she had in her arsenal.
"O~HOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!"
Behind her, the four remaining UAVs flew past in a tight celebratory formation, trailing smoke like victory ribbons.
"…O-hohoho… ho?" Lilith's laugh faltered as she glanced aside. "What's happening here?"
She noticed Belphy collapsed on the ground.
"Oh, nothing," Solo said casually, dusting off his hands. "We just had a little fight."
Belphy lay unconscious, taken down not by combat—but by crippling disappointment.
Lilith sighed.
"You told him about Episode VII, didn't you?"
---
Demon King Castle
"Aaahahaha! Getting swarmed by those drones was really something else!" Luke said cheerfully, carefully ignoring the part where he lost. "You and Bub never stop making fun toys."
The castle's great hall flickered under torchlight. Monstrous sculptures loomed along the walls, and ancient paintings glared down with enchanted eyes—charm spells designed to instill terror in visitors.
Today's visitors were demon elites.
They barely noticed.
Luke, bandaged and freshly dressed in a crisp suit, sat at the breakfast table with Solo, Lilith, and a barely-conscious Belphy.
"So," Luke asked casually, "what brings you here?"
"Have you seen the news about Lich's latest discovery?" Solo asked. "About the goddess virus?"
"Oh, the goddess particles?"
"…particles?"
"Yes. The thing you and Lich named the goddess virus forty years ago." Luke sipped his tea. "It's trending again because Lich finally figured out its function. But its real name is goddess particles."
Lilith stiffened. "You… knew the goddess created it? How?"
Luke blinked. "Because I still lived in the goddess realm when she made it."
The table went silent.
"WHAT!?" Lilith shrieked, half-standing. "YOU'RE FROM THE GODDESS REALM!? AN ANGEL!?"
Luke pointed at his halo. "Color changed, sure, but it's still a halo. Angel wings too. Isn't it obvious?"
Lilith stared at him, utterly speechless.
Solo scratched his cheek. The trope was so cliché he'd just assumed everyone already knew.
"Anyway," Solo said slowly, "what else do you know about the virus?"
"Hm…"
Luke tapped his chin, pretending to think.
"…I don't feel like telling you, bro. Hahaha!"
"Tch."
Luke smirked. He was powerful, ancient, and insufferable. After freeloading at his castle centuries ago, Solo knew this all too well.
"Anyway, is that why you're here—"
TING-TING. TING-TING.
An iPhone alarm rang.
"Oh! Almost 9 AM. Let's continue this in my office." Luke stood. "You haven't been to the tower in eighty years, right? You'll like the changes."
---
Demon Tower – 1st Floor
The moment they entered the tower, everyone's jaw dropped.
The once hellish spire had become…
Corporate.
A grand lobby. Automatic doors. Reception counters. A massive wall directory. Security staff in suits. Demons rushing past with coffee cups stamped with a green Medusa logo.
"Welcome to Demon Tower," Luke announced proudly. "Home to Murica's biggest corporations!"
He leaned in and whispered, "And also the most evil."
The demon employees looked exhausted, dead-eyed, and severely under-caffeinated. Their overpriced coffee didn't seem to be helping.
So. Corporate.
Luke led them toward the VIP elevator. Several suit-wearing demon executives were already inside.
As Lilith stepped in last—
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
A warning flashed.
The panel displayed a red silhouette of a horned female demon with a bold X over it, suspiciously resembling Lilith.
"What the hell?" Lilith snapped.
"Ah." Luke smiled far too happily. "You need to take the employee elevator."
"LUKE! YOU ASSH—"
The doors closed on her scream.
---
Elevator
Relaxing jazz music filled the air.
"You finally changed everything like you always wanted to," Solo said.
"Well, you've been teaching me a lot of things, bro."
TING.
Floor 30.
"Excuse me, this is my stop," a necromancer said politely as he passed through them.
The doors opened to reveal an office floor packed with undead workers hunched over computers. Many wore wrinkled shirts. Some rested beneath their desks.
"That's my 30th-floor boss," Luke explained cheerfully. "He runs a Black company now. Very loyal employees—none of them have gone home since day one."
Solo and Belphy shivered.
TING.
Floor 70.
A rat demon exited onto a floor marked Dismay Entertainment, its logo three suspiciously familiar circles.
"That's my 70th-floor boss," Luke whispered. "His entertainment company takes beloved movie franchises and ruins them for profit. And fun."
Solo shuddered. Belphy whimpered.
TING.
Floor 99.
"Have a nice day," an elderly, gentle-looking demon said kindly as he stepped out.
His floor was pristine—family-themed décor, smiling portraits of happy demon families everywhere.
"And him?" Belphy asked carefully.
"Oh, he runs insurance companies."
Belphy nodded.
"Of course he did."
---
Floor 100
"Welcome to the 100th floor!"
Luke threw his arms wide toward Solo, Belphy—and finally Lilith, who emerged later after physically wrestling her way through what could only be described as an employee flood.
Color assaulted them immediately.
The floor was a crime scene.
It looked like someone had kidnapped a tech startup, a circus, and a preschool, then locked them in a blender and set it to enthusiastic. Fake trees sprouted from the floor. A rainbow slide curved through the room for no reason. Bean bags shaped like animals that were definitely not meant to exist lay scattered everywhere. Dominating the far wall was a massive sign in an aggressively playful font:
BOOGLE
Belphy stopped walking.
He stared.
Offended.
"…What the hell is this?"
Luke tilted his head. "Hmm?"
"I thought your aesthetic was supposed to be spooky. Intimidating. You know—demonic."
"Huh? Why would you think that?" Luke asked genuinely. "If you mean my castle, that was the previous Demon King's taste, not mine."
Lilith frowned. "There was a previous Demon King…?"
Luke smiled.
He did not elaborate.
"I prefer something colorful!" Luke continued, spinning in place. "Something that truly represents me! A vibrant demon! Hahaha!"
Lilith snorted. "Yeah. A deranged clown."
Luke clapped his hands together, unfazed. "Anyway! As per my contract with Solo 130 years ago, I have exclusive rights to manage demon life using government-built technology. And among all the companies I own in this tower, I personally manage Boogle—the company responsible for organizing all information in Murica!"
He puffed out his chest proudly.
"I also named it Boogle as a tribute to a company from Solo's old world!"
Solo blinked.
…But I never told him what Google's office looked like, he thought.
"It's only been a few months since Boogle introduced the internet to the public," Luke continued, "and as expected, the public reception has been AMAZING—mainly because I advertise it myself! Hahaha!"
---
Recreational Room
They entered a massive spherical chamber bathed in sterile, bluish light.
The curved walls were covered in thousands of monitors, each displaying a live feed of Murican citizens. In the center floated a control platform packed with Boogle employees, fingers flying across keyboards.
Lilith's breath caught.
"…Those are Murican people."
"Yes!" Luke said proudly. "All of them are workers whose jobs require computers and internet access. It's almost nine in the morning, so they're logging in."
Belphy narrowed his eyes. "Why does everyone look exhausted and depressed?"
Luke answered immediately. "It's Monday."
Belphy paused.
"…That explains everything."
Luke nodded sagely. "Half of them worked through the weekend to meet deadlines. The other half actually enjoyed their weekend, which makes Monday even worse."
Solo frowned. "Are you about to host a massive video meeting with all of them?"
"Nope!" Luke said cheerfully. "They don't even know they're being watched."
Lilith stopped breathing.
"…You built Boogle to spy on Muricans?"
"Spy? Nooo," Luke waved dismissively. "This is my reward for investing in Solo and Murica."
He smiled wider.
"You'll understand in a moment."
Luke stepped onto the central platform and slipped on a headset with practiced ease.
He glanced at the floating clock.
9:00 A.M.
Perfect.
"Connect me to the tower."
"You're connected, sir."
Luke adjusted the mic and cleared his throat.
"Attention all floors. This is your CEO, Lucifer Morningstar."
Across the tower, demons froze mid-task. Pens hovered over paper. Claws stopped above keyboards. Coffee cups paused halfway to mouths as thousands of eyes drifted toward the ceiling speakers.
"It's Monday…"
He let the silence linger.
Then—
"RELEASE THE CLIENTS!!!"
The command thundered through the building like a declaration of war.
Demons moved instantly.
Keyboards clattered. Screens filled with text. Phones rang. Emails launched. Messages sent. Calls connected.
TING.
KRIIING—KRIIING.
Across Murica, notifications detonated.
And then—
"NOOOO!!!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I NEED TO REVISE IT AGAIN?!"
"Sniff… sniff… sob sob…"
A synchronized wave of despair rippled across every screen.
Demons screamed. Some hurled objects. Others slammed their heads against desks. A few puked into trash bins. Several simply collapsed and wept openly, clutching their monitors like betrayed lovers.
Luke threw his head back and laughed.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"THIS—THIS IS WHY I STOPPED BULLYING DEMONS FOR A CENTURY AND LET YOU ALL PLAY GOVERNMENT AND 'PROGRESS'!"
Solo, Lilith, and Belphy flinched.
Luke's presence had changed.
The playful madness peeled away, revealing something sharper. Darker. Honest.
Luke loved misery.
He loved despair.
Especially when it came from people who were once proud, powerful, and impossible to intimidate.
Killing them was boring.
Too fast. Too clean.
And demons didn't even mind dying.
But humiliating them?
Breaking their pride and forcing them to keep living with it?
That was art.
"THIS—THIS IS MY NEW HIGH!" Luke cackled.
"THE ONCE FEARED, ARROGANT DEMONS—SHATTERED! CRUSHED! HUMILIATED! WITHOUT ME USING A SINGLE DROP OF POWER! HAHAHAHA!"
The trio exchanged uneasy glances.
This was the real Demon King.
In the past—
When a necromancer nearly invented a new powerful magic, Luke destroyed his research and made him start over from scratch.
When a warlord unified demon tribes, Luke defeated him and left him alive and weakened—right in front of the enemies he'd wronged.
When Belphy finally completed a masterpiece painting, Luke vandalized it.
Luke was the reason demons never built a functioning civilization.
Why "demon invasion" was named by the demons as the Great Escape.
Ironically, the only demon he never bullied was Lilith.
Not because she was strong, he said—but because her greatest dream was to meet a charming demon prince who wasn't an asshole.
The universe had already taken care of the bullying for him.
Luke spread his arms wide, basking in the screams echoing through the tower.
"DON'T YOU THINK THIS IS THE BEST FEELING EVER?!"
Belphy muttered, "Ugh… psycho."
Lilith shivered. "He's scarier now than in his true form…"