Lucifer was very surprised to see Mae jump through the hole in the ground while holding Satan over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. His body dangled like a limp flower as she joyfully told Erebus that she had won.

“That’s great, Mae. But you can put him down now,” Erebus responded, watching Satan flop around.

She dropped him unceremoniously. “Hey, hey, will you give me something to experiment on since I’ve been so good?”

“Mm... you can have Stone.”

“Eh, I was looking forward to spending time with him,” the masked man said, his tail flicked unhappily.

“Do a joint operation or something,” Erebus said.

Mae clapped her hands together. “That sounds delightful.”

“Anyway, back to you,” Erebus turned his gaze over back to Lucifer. “How should I deal with you...” Erebus stood up, a smile glued onto his face. “Since you’re such an arrogant child, I’ll let you in on a little secret.”

Lucifer, unsure of what Erebus meant, went on the defensive, preparing himself an attack.

But the attack didn’t come. Instead, his field of vision was swallowed by darkness. He could barely discern his surroundings even with his night vision. Erebus was radiating such a thick and evil aura that it swallowed the light that illuminated Lucifer’s surroundings.

It felt as if the world was twisting and morphing with Erebus at its epicenter, the man who had previously had such an insignificant presence now dominated the entire room. All the mana in the room was being sucked towards Erebus, pulled by some unseen force.

In a mixture of awe and horror, Lucifer realized something. The strength he was faced with was bottomless.

Power that would never decay or wither, but continue to grow.

He was strong enough to annihilate this entire planet if he truly wanted to. Leaving a single continent would mean nothing to him. That wouldn’t be the extent of his strength.

Someone of Lucifer’s caliber was just an insignificant fly compared to Erebus.

As if the strings that had been holding him up were cut, Lucifer collapsed onto his knees, clutching his head.

Madness filled his eyes, he began to laugh uncontrollably. It didn’t make any sense, the one who stood before him transcended what he considered to be the most powerful being in existence.

That was too unfair.

Such unchecked power... this world was just his playground!

The aura vanished, and Lucifer was able to see once again. He was the only one who Erebus had allowed to feel his aura, so no one else had noticed the truth about Erebus.

They all thought that he was “strong” and “powerful”, but they didn’t know that there was no limit! Constantly growing and growing, when would it stop? How could it stop? Erebus’ body wasn’t designed to have limits.

Lucifer looked up at Erebus, trying to rein in his hysteria.

“So, boy, tell me... what did you learn?” Erebus asked, bending down in front of Lucifer, a mocking expression on his face. “Come on, tell me.”

“I learned my place in this world,” Lucifer whispered.

“That’s good.” Erebus stood back up, the smile still on his face. “Allow me to introduce myself properly this time... I am Erebus, the fifth seat of the Dragon Council and I welcome you to my humble abode.”

...

Amber’s shaky hands poured tea into the cups laid out before her. Her son gripped the skirts of her dress and peaked over the puffy fabric to see the mysterious guest that were seated.

There were only six people seated: Erebus, Mae, Triton, Laufeia, Lucifer, and Satan. Then Tear, the masked Vyne, Stone, Magnus, Lilian, Xaltiq, and Wolf all stood along a wall watching the others.

Satan had woken up shortly after Erebus had exposed his aura to Lucifer and was eyeing Triton. From what he could see, this fellow was also on their level, but he hadn’t bothered to engage Lucifer instead of Erebus fighting him.

Maybe Erebus hadn’t wanted him to? Satan couldn’t understand Erebus’ intentions either, he had revealed Laufeia to them after saying that he was satisfied and now they were all sitting around a table drinking tea as if Laufeia hadn’t been sentenced to death and her two executors were here.

“I would like to say something,” Laufeia spoke up quietly, her soft voice filled the entire room.

“What words do I have to hear from a traitorous wrench?” Lucifer spat.

“Wow, he’s still going down that route,” Triton muttered in amazement. “That’s some real dedication.”

Laufeia tightened her fist. “Why do you insist on fighting with me? I am no traitor, and you know that very well.”

“Your actions were that of a coward. How could you not wish for revenge?”

“Where has it gotten us until now? More and more of our kin die for the sake of this revenge!” Laufeia slammed her hand down on the table, shouting at Lucifer.

“It would end if we destroyed these angels? Yet, you refuse.”

Laufeia’s eyes teared up. “At what cost? Our son has already died and we haven’t made a single step towards winning this war for thousands of years!”

“Would you shut up...” Erebus said, resting his chin on his palm. “There’s no way that you would be able to eradicate the Pure race. In the first place, this world was created to be in complete balance, if the demons killed off the Pure race, then us members of the Dragon Council would do the same to the demons.”

“Wha--”

“I, for one, couldn’t care less about your dispute with the angels. It doesn’t matter to me if you continue fighting, if you win the war and enslave the entire Pure race, I still wouldn’t care. But, if you were to wipe them out from the face of this planet, the decree to destroy your race would be issued without delay.”

Lucifer and Laufeia both sat down, their mouths glued shut.

“You two are fighting over nothing, it’s so annoying.”

“It isn’t over nothing...” Lucifer muttered lamely.

Erebus laughed. “Whether or not Laufeia decides to avenge Noxim’s death, he is dead. There is no changing that. Frankly, killing Laufeia will solve nothing, if anything, the Demon race will lose a substantial amount of its fighting force. Your actions will only harm your race in the end.”

Satan burst out into laughter. “That’s a good point there, Master Erebus!” He slapped Erebus’ back.

Upon awakening, he began to refer to Erebus as Master Erebus. He had forcibly become one of the subordinates of Erebus, swearing his allegiance to Erebus.

He hadn’t given up his position as one of the Princes of Hell, but he was now also a servant of Erebus.

Erebus didn’t care, so it was accepted without any complaints.

A certain masked man was complaining, actually. In his mind, he was thinking that there was yet another loud and annoying addition to Erebus’ followers.

"That's why, just this once... I nullify the decree for Laufeia's death," Erebus said. "Complaints?"

Lucifer stared at Laufeia for a few counts of silence. "Fine, but, are you allowing us to carry out our revenge against the angels?"

"Mm, didn't I say that it didn't bother me? I only allowed her to live since you'd end up regretting killing her... Now you're both indebted to me." Erebus laughed as his true intentions slipped out.

Laufeia shook her head. "I should have expected that from you, Erebus."

“Well then, leave my castle, you’re nuisances.” Erebus stood up. “Ah, if you want, before they go... you can tell him who you are,” he said, his eyes zoning in on the masked man.

He didn’t bother saying goodbye and left the room.

Everyone turned to look at the man wearing a mask, whose tail was flicking and his wings pulled in as if he wanted to hide.

“Ehm,” he cleared his throat awkwardly.

“You... I thought that you looked familiar, who are you?” Lucifer narrowed his eyes.

Mae leaned forward. “Nyaha... this is going to be interesting.”

“Don’t interfere,” Triton muttered, pulling her backward. “Even I know that much.”

She scowled at him and leaned back in her chair with her arms crossed and lips pouted. “Normally you’re on my side. Why are you being so boring?”

“Erebus is in a bad mood, so I’m in a bad mood,” Triton responded. “Do you want me to hide your booze again?”

Mae grumbled. “Fine, I’ll behave.”

Vyne stepped forward. “I have no reason to disclose my identity to this person. I have severed my ties with that family, what obligation do I have to them to say who I am?”

“That haughtiness,” Satan muttered. “Those wings... that tail... mmm, I’ve figured it out. Lucifer, you’re completely useless if you haven’t.”

The grandfather frowned. “The moment he said that it was blatantly clear.”

“I do not have time for this since Lord Erebus has left, there is no reason for me to remain here any longer.”

“Definitely him,” Satan and Lucifer both said in unison.

Tear chuckled. “That horrible personality of yours is unmistakable, Vyne.”

“You!”

“Everyone figured it out already, all you had to do was open your mouth,” Tear responded facetiously.

Vyne clicked his tongue when Satan and Lucifer both nodded their heads in agreement. He removed the mask he wore on his face, revealing his sour expression.