---
As Lucifer's eyes landed on the miserable, broken man lying in the corner of the ninth cell, he froze.
For a moment, he was speechless.
He had witnessed many devastating scenes before, but seeing Valdren in this state struck him deeply. A heavy, cold sensation settled in Lucifer's chest—shock and disgust mingled with rising anger. He had expected Valdren to be in bad shape, but this… barely alive, humiliated, and utterly shattered… affected him far more than he had anticipated.
His jaw tightened. His hands clenched into fists as quiet fury ignited inside him. This was the man he had come to rescue, and they had reduced him to *this*.
Lucifer exhaled slowly, forcing himself to remain calm. His mind raced even as rage simmered beneath the surface.
A sharp sting of guilt pierced him, knowing Crotivia was anxiously awaiting her father's return. Seeing Valdren in such a wretched condition only strengthened his resolve.
---
Just as Lucifer gathered his thoughts, a painful groan escaped Valdren's lips. Flegris viciously kicked his abdomen with pure disgust.
"Die… Die, you filthy toy… Oh wait, no—don't die. Don't you dare die yet…"
"If you die, then whose helplessness and desperation will my queen enjoy? You aren't allowed to die. Not so soon… Didn't you hear what the King ordered in today's royal court session? He commanded everyone to search for your half-breed daughter. So tell me… if you die, who will accompany the new toy, huh?"
"Yes… I'm a werewolf, but I do love hearing your pitiful whimpers."
---
Witnessing Flegris's abusive and obnoxious behavior toward Valdren, Lucifer snapped his fingers. A powerful sound barrier instantly enveloped the entire prison.
He deactivated his concealment and invisibility magic, then spoke in a cold, emotionless tone:
"Don't you think kicking a frail and powerless human is a rather disgraceful act for monsters and demons?"
Hearing the sudden voice echo through the chamber, Flegris spun toward the source, her body jolting as if struck by lightning. A primal fear erupted from the very core of her being, surging upward like ice-cold water flooding her veins. *No... this can't be... Who dares invade my hunting ground? My instincts are howling—run, flee, tear him apart—but my legs won't move. This human... he smells wrong, like death wrapped in shadow.* Her golden wolf-like eyes widened in sheer disbelief and raw shock, pupils dilating as her predatory instincts—honed over years of dominance—screamed in warning. She had been utterly certain, absolutely convinced, that she was alone in Her Highness, Demon Queen Syrakara's personal "playground," free to indulge in her cruelty without interruption. Yet now, a mere human boy stood before her, materializing out of thin air as if the shadows themselves had birthed him. Her heart hammered violently against her ribs, each beat heavy and erratic, while a cold sweat broke out across her furred skin. It wasn't simple fear of humans—on the contrary, like her queen, she reveled in breaking them—but the impossible way he had appeared, slipping past every ward, guard, and layer of security, triggered a deep, existential dread. Her ears flattened against her skull, her tail instinctively tucked low, and for the first time in countless cycles, her confidence as a werewolf torturer cracked wide open, replaced by a trembling uncertainty that clawed at her gut. *This terror... it's ancient, like prey before the pack. My wolf blood is freezing. What monster wears a boy's face?*
Steadying her racing heartbeat with visible effort, she demanded:
"Who are you?"
"How did you get in here?"
"Who sent you?"
"Why are you here?"
Then, like a true wolf, she threw her head back and howled at the top of her lungs, attempting to summon the monsters guarding the prison entrance.
"Aaawwooooooo… Aaauuuuuuu… Oooowwwwwoo!"
While Flegris howled frantically, Lucifer stepped toward her with slow, deliberate steps and asked calmly:
"What pleasure do all of you get from torturing innocent humans, elves, and dwarves?"
His question went unanswered as she continued howling with all her strength.
Lucifer's lips curled slightly. "Those guards won't hear you. I've already cast a sound barrier."
Seeing her panic, he continued, "But watching how you monsters and demons enjoy playing with the lives of your captives… I really do want to know. What kind of kick, what satisfaction, what twisted pleasure do you all derive from this?"
As soon as Flegris realized the sound barrier was active, genuine fear flashed across her face. Like a scared, beaten dog, she stammered:
"Wh-who… Who are you?"
Lucifer replied coldly, "You don't need to know who I am."
With extreme leisure, he snapped his fingers twice. "You know what I just did? I've deployed a confinement barrier to isolate you and every other monster inside this prison. By 'other monsters,' I mean those two hundred pale white creatures wielding scythes. I call it… the Celestial Cage."
He clicked his tongue. "Tch, tch, tch… How unfortunate. Why do so many monsters and demons seem to gather in the Risen Kingdom?"
"Now that I've seen how much you all enjoy torturing the innocent… you've awakened a long-buried fetish of mine. Just like you, I also love to kill. I love to butcher. The sight of fresh, glowing red blood satisfies me. But unlike you, I don't enjoy slaughtering the innocent. I prefer to butcher those who are truly crazy… those beyond redemption. Just like all of you."
"And you know… it's been quite a while since I last cooked for my family. What do you think about wolf meat? Do you think they'll like it?"
Flegris didn't answer. She trembled with intense fear. *Wolf meat? He speaks of me as livestock... My core is screaming, this prey has become the hunter. Run, rip, escape—but the air itself traps me. This fear is eating me alive from the inside.*
Mustering what little courage she had left, she asked shakily, "Why… Why did you come here? Don't… underestimate us. Do you really think you have the upper hand right now?"
Lucifer smiled faintly. "Oh, that's a question I can answer."
"Didn't you just mention that your king ordered everyone to find that man's daughter? His daughter—Crotivia—is both my friend and a member of my Velmora family. At her request, I came here to rescue her father. Isn't that fascinating?"
"But now that I think about it… there were two elves still alive in the sixth cell. I should rescue them too."
Lucifer summoned Mara and Zyrelia from his shadows and instructed them to carry the two surviving elves from the sixth cell to the ninth cell.
Seeing Mara and Zyrelia emerge from Lucifer's shadow and head toward the sixth cell made Flegris even more terrified. Still, she refused to give up. Gathering her courage once more, she said:
"Human boy… there is still time. Surrender now. At most, what can happen…"
Pointing toward Valdren, she continued, "Just like this human, Queen Syrakara will use you as her toy too, but at least your life will be spared… Otherwise, the moment I get out of here, I will tell everyone about you… And even if you kill me and all the guards present here… how will you take three people with you at once?
Fine, let's assume you know concealment magic and can make yourself invisible… But can you make the others invisible too?"
Hearing her words, Lucifer asked, "How are you so sure that I will leave through the same path I came from? Wouldn't that be foolish?"
With that, Lucifer walked toward Valdren. He reached him and broke his shackles.
He then cast his advanced healing spell [Rapid Regrowth]. At a visible speed, Valdren's severed fingers and tongue regenerated. All the bruises and wounds on his body began to heal. The swelling in his private parts reduced, his broken teeth regrew, and a luster returned to his lifeless eyes. In no time, Valdren had recovered significantly.
Flegris watched the impossible scene unfold with wide-eyed horror and utter disbelief that bordered on panic. A deep, bone-chilling fear rose from the core of her being, twisting her insides like a vice as she witnessed the mangled, half-dead human she had viciously kicked and tormented only moments ago begin to mend before her eyes. *No... impossible... I broke him, I owned his screams, and now... he's rising like some unholy mockery. My wolf soul is cowering—this human undoes my work with a word. The terror grips my marrow, primal and ancient, like facing the alpha that devours its own pack.* Flesh knitted together with unnatural speed, bones realigned with audible pops, and color flooded back into his ashen skin. Her claws dug painfully into her palms, drawing her own blood, while her breath came in short, ragged gasps. This wasn't mere healing—it was a complete erasure of her carefully inflicted suffering, a direct challenge to the power she had always wielded so arrogantly. Nausea churned in her stomach, and her legs felt weak, as if her werewolf strength was draining away. How could a mere human command such magic? The realization shattered her worldview, leaving her trembling uncontrollably, her mind racing with the terrifying implication that she might no longer be the predator in this room.
Before Flegris could fully process the sight, Mara and Zyrene returned carrying the two elves.
After laying both elves before Lucifer, Mara said, "Dad, the elf Zyrelia brought is still alive… but the one I carried is already dead. What should I do now?"
Lucifer thought for a moment, then chanted a spell: "[Cathedral Domain]."
As soon as the chant ended, a golden light illuminated within the previously deployed confinement barrier—the Celestial Cage—covering the entire prison area.
Everyone present felt the thick, nauseating stench of rotting flesh, blood, pus, urine, and death rapidly fade and dissipate. Maggots and worms covering the floors and bodies began to sizzle, burn, and turn into black ash. Piles of severed organs, congealed blood, and chunks of flesh on the ground and walls started smoking heavily and slowly disintegrated. Dried and fresh bloodstains on the walls, floors, and torture equipment began to bubble and evaporate. The dark, oppressive, and corrupt atmosphere of the prison weakened significantly as pure holy energy spread, making the air feel lighter and cleaner. The overwhelming putrid smell dominating the area became much more tolerable within moments.
Painful cries echoed from the direction of the prison entrance.
Lucifer looked at Mara and Zyrelia. "I have cast this holy magic. The monsters near the entrance of cell number one are all related to death or curse attributes, so in this holy domain they are feeling pain, as holy magic is the nemesis of death and curse attributes. Now both of you go and kill those vile beings."
The overwhelming display of power only deepened Flegris's growing horror into something visceral and all-consuming. A profound terror emerged from the deepest core of her being, spreading like wildfire through her limbs and making her fur stand on end. *This light... it burns my very essence. Holy magic in the heart of our domain? My instincts are fracturing—prey, predator, nothing... I am nothing before him. The fear is alive, clawing from my gut to my throat, begging me to submit or die.* Never in her life had she faced such utter helplessness and domination. Lucifer's casual command over life, death, purification, and barriers left her paralyzed, her mind reeling as waves of dread crashed over her. This human boy was no ordinary intruder but an enigma far more dangerous than anything she had encountered—a force that rendered her strength, her queen's authority, and her very identity as a feared torturer meaningless. Her instincts howled for escape, yet her body refused to move, trapped in invisible restraints. At this moment, she could neither attack Lucifer nor anyone else, nor could she escape the invisible cage that trapped her. A whimper escaped her throat unbidden, the sound humiliating and foreign to her ears.
Meanwhile, the moment they received Lucifer's orders, his two shadow-daughters left to complete the mission.
Due to the [Cathedral Domain] holy magic, the body of the recently deceased elf completely disintegrated.
The other elf, whose limbs had been amputated and who had been lying half-dead, blinked in confusion as he looked at Lucifer. He couldn't understand what was happening or why a human would infiltrate this prison in a kingdom of demons and monsters.
While the elf pondered this, Lucifer's voice reached him: "What is your name? Where are you from?"
But the elf could not answer. With great difficulty, he opened his mouth, revealing that the monsters and demons had also cut out his tongue.
Lucifer asked nothing more. He simply looked at the elf with sympathy and cast his mythical-tier healing spell [Eternal Vitality].
With the help of this spell, a continuous regeneration process began in the elf's body. In no time, his hands, legs, tongue, and teeth were perfectly restored.
In such a short time, Flegris had witnessed so much that she was no longer even surprised—only deeply, soul-crushingly horrified. Lucifer had become a complete enigma to her, a being whose power made her feel small, insignificant, and utterly vulnerable for the first time in her existence, as if the core of her predatory soul had been laid bare and found wanting. *This boy... he is the end. My wolf howls in terror from the abyss of my core, begging for the pack that will never come.*
After healing the elf, Lucifer turned toward Valdren, who had by now regained some consciousness. He walked over with a friendly smile and said, "Uncle Valdren, let's go… It's time to say goodbye to the Risen Kingdom."
Valdren looked at him and asked with great difficulty, "H… How will you make us… all leave?"
Struggling, he raised his hand and pointed toward Flegris. "See, there is that monster girl… Child, how will you make us all leave from here?"
Lucifer replied, "Oh, Uncle Valdren, you don't have to worry about her… She isn't any monster girl. She is my unlimited supply of meat. And as for how we will leave this place… it's a surprise."
As Lucifer spoke with Valdren, the male elf, his body now restored, approached, knelt before him, and said, "Young man, I am Galathor Hazelwood. Thank you for saving my life. I was captured by someone from the border of the Hemis Kingdom and the Human Alliance and trafficked here as a slave."
Seeing him kneel, Lucifer said, "If you are from the Hemis Kingdom and specifically from the Hazelwood family… then both of us should be distant relatives. You don't need to kneel in front of me."
Galathor asked, "What does that mean?"
Before Lucifer could answer, Mara and Zyrelia returned carrying the corpse of one of the two male monsters.
Seeing the monster, Lucifer glanced at Flegris and asked, "What is that corpse called?"
Trembling all over, Flegris answered in a frightened, timid voice, "Morghyra."
Lucifer walked toward his daughters, caressed their hair lovingly, and said, "Good work."
He then touched the Morghyra's corpse and stored it in his spatial storage. "Uncle Valdren and Brother Galathor… can both of you walk a little?"
Valdren shook his head while Galathor replied, "I can manage it."
Receiving their answers, Lucifer told Zyrelia to capture Flegris and asked Mara to carry Valdren.
He then cast his [Void Transit] spell on everyone present inside the prison. In the blink of an eye, all of them vanished from there.
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