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Chapter 193 Battle of Prides

A colony of bats appeared in his room. The Demon Ethics professor wasn’t fazed at all. In fact, he welcomed his late night visitor with a cup of Poxie tea.

"Welcome, headmaster. I’ve been expecting you. Care to join me for a cup of tea?"

Lucifer materialised and smiled gracefully as if he was merely coming over for a chat with a long-time friend.

"Sure, it would be my pleasure."

The Arachne demon offered the cup and Lucifer accepted it. They sat down on luxurious couches and took the time to enjoy the fragrance. Lucifer found it amusing that such a low-life could act so completely arrogantly in front of the Lord of Hell. Youngsters nowadays were truly ignorant.

"I heard that you’re thinking of a job change recently from a few sources. What exactly about the Academy didn’t you like? As one of our more popular staff, it hurts me to think that you would be leaving us so soon. The students will be sad to know that their professor would be leaving without a reason."

Rhinestone smiled and played along. With a dramatic sigh, he looked right into Lucifer’s eyes. Rumours had it that the Demon Lord had a knack for knowing when people are lying due to one of his unique abilities. Now that the pest Zero had brought those annoying eyes back, it would take too much effort trying to conceal his true intentions.

"Indeed. I’ve been considering it for a while now. Teaching the younger generation brings me great joy but I’ve always found the lack of career progression something to be dissatisfying."

Lucifer nodded. There was no lie involved in that statement but he knew clearly what Rhinestone was implying. He wasn’t here for leisure chit-chats but if that was what Rhinestone wanted, he would oblige. After all, Baal was already working on crushing the Arachne demon’s forces. If anything, he knew he could count on one of his best students in his entire career to take care of the mess. This was a battle of pride between two very different types of educators.

"I believe that isn’t quite the case. You know that I’ve always offered you the opportunity to do more and contribute to the ideas on how we could help our students progress further in life. The Academy has always believed in providing a safe environment for our students to experience what society would be like outside of it. Century after century, the graduates of Morning Star have proved to become very successful individuals in any field that they chose to be in."

Professor Rhinestone smiled. His eyes hardened. "Of course. That is only to be expected of the finest Academy in the Abyss. However, I’m sure that your lordship is aware of our current status as a proud species. We have many excellent students who could do so much better if not for certain restrictions. Why would the Academy not encourage them to spread their wings and take to the sky? Why are we limiting our future king and queens in this never ending cycle of monotony?"

Lucifer set the cup down. He met Rhinestone’s cold gaze that blazed with bitter hatred. Once upon a time, a very long time ago before he lost his eyes, Lucifer thought the same. It was the reason for his fall. Angels were proud and mighty beings with wisdom unparallel to mortals. The only ones they bowed down to were Gods who flaunted their powers in fickle manners according to their whims. Why was it that angels had to cater to the Gods’ tantrums just because they were more powerful as an existence? It wasn’t fair. Lucifer disagreed and decided to rebel. Michael and Uriel were with him initially but seeing how the skies were painted red with the blood of their brothers, they decided to surrender. Lucifer, being unable to look past his pride and hate, continued at the expense of precious lives. That led to the fallout and civil war.

While the angels were fighting a civil war, humans became the first and only creatures in the world to sharpen their wits and weapons. They learnt from Lucifer’s fall and developed terrifying ways to take down the Gods that Lucifer hated so much with their cunningness and stubbornness. Lucifer hated Michael for it. This could have been them, the proud angels, if they didn’t quit halfway.

That was then. After losing his eyesight for many centuries, Lucifer learnt to look at the world in a different way. His hate withered away and he saw the world through Uriel’s eyes. When one was too focussed on something in life, they lost focus on the more meaningful things. His lost brethren wouldn’t come back even if they took down the Gods. When an angel fell, they returned to the cycle of life to the Natural Plane. Lucifer and Michael were the more aggressive kinds of angels who would bathe in the blood of their enemies. On the other hand, Raphael and Uriel were more sensitive to the cries of the weak, lost and hurt. Being empaths, Lucifer failed to understand that such a clash would hurt them. If he’d been a better leader back then to realise this, the fall out wouldn’t have happened. Michael saw that and decided to swallow their wounded pride for the sake of their brothers. Lucifer had been young and too blind to that. It hurt his pride to admit it but Michael was definitely a better leader. He was a leader that the angels could follow.

Right now, looking at Rhinestone made Lucifer think that the times have changed. The Arachne demon was a reflection of his younger self, walking the path of destruction. Lucifer couldn’t hate him entirely. He only pitied the young demon for being unable to see past his wall of pride. It was obvious how Jeremiah idolised this professor. Lucifer didn’t usually look so closely into the profiles of his students. There were simply too many students and too many things that demanded his attention. However, the canary demon was an attention-seeker. It was inevitable that Lucifer would come across a thing or two about him at some point.

"That is for the younger generation to decide," the Demon Lord told Rhinestone. "We only provide them with the foundation. What they choose to do with the knowledge is their responsibility. As an educator, you’re overstepping your duty boundaries by dictating their lives for them."

Rhinestone had enough. Who was Lucifer to tell him what he can and can’t do?

"Overstepping my boundaries? I think you’re misunderstanding something. I didn’t become a Demon Ethics teacher just to teach students how to get along with other races. I teach it to bring out the ruler in them. As proud demons, we don’t need to make concessions to anyone or anything we don’t want to. Those in power should take it all and the weak can only curse their fates. It’s ridiculous to think that there is justice in this world. The strong will always triumph over the weak."

Lucifer didn’t disagree. Instead, he nodded. "I agree. However, don’t you forget that you’re talking to a Demon Lord who was once an archangel. Even the strong can fall, nobody is infallible. What’s more important is the strength of many rather than the strength of one. Gods have fallen to humans because of their arrogance, we will not be repeating their mistakes."

Rhinestone snorted and rolled his eyes. Pleasantries long thrown out of the window.

"This is why all you Demon Lords are nothing but cowards who have spent far too long playing into the hands of Angels and Gods. The past is the past, the present is the present. Why go on an all-out confrontation with the Angels and Gods when we can wear them down and chip at their defences? there is no need for chivalry, we are demons. Everything we do is only a means to an end. So what if we act a little cowardly? It doesn’t matter how we do it, the ones who will have the last laugh will be us. You’ve grown old, Lucifer."

Lucifer didn’t bristle at the blatant disrespect. "Is that so?" he asked calmly.

The lack of reaction got to Rhinestone. For some reason, he felt as if Lucifer wasn’t treating him as a serious threat.

"I may not be able to get to you or any of the six Demon Lords now but I’m not foolish. A snake can never hope to win against a tiger but it can always kill its cub."

Lucifer didn’t react to that. "Did you think that the tiger would let its cub stray too far away from it? The snake may be cunning but the tiger isn’t foolish. What better way to get rid of the threat than to lure it out from hiding? The tiger cub may be young but it is by no means weak."

Rhinestone laughed. "Yes. That’s what you think. What if I told you that I have that tiger cub in my hands already? There is absolutely nothing you can do about it either assuming you can get to him. He should be dead by now and his death will topple the balance of the plane. Didn’t you feel that just now? It wouldn’t be long before the portal is forcefully opened. As the plane disintegrates with his death, there will only be two choices for all demons to make. Flee to Earth and conquer the humans or perish with this plane."

Lucifer’s eyes narrowed. He knew that they were up to something but Rhinestone’s madness was worse than he anticipated. What made him think that Demon Lords could die so easily? Even if he got to Beelzebub’s body, the child would simply reincarnate again. Demon Lords do not return to the void. Their souls are bound by duty to the plane under a pact with Gaia, Hades and Isis. This was a well-kept secret.

"Oh, did I forget to mention that it was thanks to that meddling brat who took Kerberos away that we finally figured out a way to trap a Demon Lord’s soul and drain its life force to fuel that gate? The Hell Hound may no longer be here but Schaf has been a very dutiful servant. The set up still works flawlessly. Did you think that magic stones were the only way to activate the never-ending time loop? They were useful and hardworking pawns but this is the end of the line for the Abyss. Even if you killed me right now, the plan will still be set in motion. Nobody can stop the wheel that has been set in motion."

Lucifer wasn’t too sure about the success of Baal’s mission with how Rhinestone had so much confidence in his plan. Something was missing, There was something major that all the Demon lords had overlooked somewhere.

Rhinestone coughed out blood when Lucifer’s shadow pierced into one of his lungs. The crazy half-spider grinned and chuckled maniacally when Lucifer’s eyes glowed crimson. The Academy’s air shrank and it felt suffocating under the angered Demon Lord’s aura.

"Talk. If you don’t talk, I shall rip your memories out myself."

Rhinestone gave Lucifer a challenging stare with a shit-eating grin. "Try me. You won’t be able to stop it."

Before Lucifer could start his torture, the spider-demon activated a curse magic that caught Lucifer off-guard. The Demon Lord cursed and put up a defensive shield. In that short exchange, Rhinestone successfully thwarted Lucifer’s plans to extract any information. the Demon Lord could only vent his anger at losing his lead by blasting a hole through the expensive glass window. The Academy shook under Lucifer’s rage.

Rhinestone’s soul was no longer in existence. Lucifer glanced down at his left wrist. That nuisance sacrificed his existence to place a mildly annoying but binding curse on him. Not only did Lucifer miss the opportunity to unravel their plans, he now had to deal with the curse of being unable to express his honest thoughts. It was a strange curse to choose but for Lucifer, this was a curse placed at the worst possible timing. Thanks to the curse, anything that he tries to convey would be automatically twisted against his will.

"Baal to Lucifer, we’ve recovered Beelzebub thanks to Zero and Rayneld. What about Rhinestone?"

Lucifer growled. He couldn’t answer them.

"Lucifer? Is there something wrong? Zero, does this connection not work?"

Zero checked the connection and Mii confirmed that it was working.

"Is something wrong?" Baal tried again.

Lucifer wanted to say yes but the words were automatically misconstrued. "No, everything is good."

The Demon Lord of Pride cursed. That darn curse worked with mental thought messages too. he thought about asking Baal’s secretary for help seeing that there was a witch in her village that knew a lot about curses. However, his actions were immediately restrained by that darn curse.

"What the-" Lucifer growled. Just how powerful was this curse? The Demon Lord rushed over to his study and tried to write a letter. His hand moved mechanically and crafted a message that completely went against his will.

The Demon Lord growled in frustration and threw the paperweight into the wall. The poor object crashed into the magically reinforced wall and shattered into smithereens.

"Great timing, just great timing," he swore to himself. As the proud prince of the abyss, Lucifer really didn’t want to ask for help. Unfortunately, the only person he could think of who could help him out of his predicament was one of the last people he wanted to see.

With heavy reluctance, Lucifer closed his eyes and reached into the bond he had severed many years ago.