All around them, the darkness seemed like a heavy blanket. It was impossible to see, even just a few inches away.

A thick misty fog enveloped Lumia while a child with a black fringe stood by her side. However, she could only feel his presence and hear his voice.

"Luck does not exist, but there is a time when talent meets opportunity," Iblis reminded the girl. "You said you wanted to undergo another special training and weren't interested in entering a Dungeon."

Lumia nodded, and her silver hair moved slightly forward.

Only Iblis could penetrate the darkness with his sharp eyes. For Lumia there was nothing but blackness.

"And yet... there's something I still haven't figured out, my dear. Let me ask you just one question before starting. If you're willing to do so much for your brother, where did you find the spark that made you fly so high?” Scratching his chin, the Devil added: "Before getting were I am now, I had been for a few moments in the clouds, too; and only later I was dragged into the depths of hell. From there I then built a path of blood and pain to get back a bit of what I had already tasted. Why do you want to walk this path? "

Lumia did not answer immediately; instead, she closed his eyes and inhaled. The first image that came to mind was from two or three years before, when Helial was working at the tavern to earn some money. Lumia had happened to see him clean tables, swipe floors and take orders with a serene but visibly tight smile, his muscles not moving. She knew it well it was a fake smile, prepared and trained for the occasion.

While cleaning the floor, Helial occasionally had to take orders, run to the cook and bring the food back to the customers.

That job would have been really easy for Helial if he, instead of training, had been sleeping every night. But his steps never seemed uncertain, and he had never dropped a glass of beer or stumbled.

Those were the times when his brother could still smile a little. His brother had always tried not to let even a shadow darken his face, as not to influence Lumia's life. Helial did not want the pain that engulfed him to reach his sister.

"My brother's smile has always been forced, or almost always at least. I just want you to have a real smile from time to time, nothing more. "

And, although those words might seem simple, a strange amount of Mana began to stir all around them, attracted by the incredible power hidden behind that simple statement.

Tilting his head slightly Iblis whispered: "It's not the first time I've heard something like that." He shook his head.

After a moment, he went on: "How strong do you want to become?" His childlike voice suddenly became solemn, as if a deity were questioning a simple mortal.

Lumia reached out, grabbing blindly the sleeve of the child's black tunic and tugging it slightly. Their eyes met in the darkness. Black on green.

Iblis's lips pouted and his shoulders shook briefly.

“Okay.”

There had been no other words. If a Devil of Iblis's greatness had to have a whole conversation on how strong the girl wanted to be, then he wouldn't have been worthy of being the greatest Devil to ever exist in the universe.

Iblis moved in front of Lumia and, without warning, used his hand like a blade and penetrated her chest from side to side.

There was not even a whimper of pain or smell of blood.

"Not bad."

Lumia had been thrown ten meters away.

The little girl concentrated all her senses on the earth beneath the Devil's feet.

In that moment, Iblis thought it would be better to be clear: "I will fight as if I were in the First Phase. This means that I could tear into pieces someone at the Fourth Phase without too much trouble. I will use three Skills only. One to attack, one to defend, one to move. "

Lumia's face did not even flinch. The girl knew that the Devil was the last creature in this world she had to underestimate. Did it really make sense to feel better because he would only use three Skills? Probably each of Iblis's abilities was strong enough to freak out any Clan, Sect or Guild in the universe. They could even mean the destruction of any dimension.

"If you can survive ten, or better, fifteen moves against me in the First Phase, then you can probably cripple Medusa in a matter of seconds. And now, two. "

ZZZZZ

A huge broadsword of black Mana appeared in the child's hands and in a fraction of a second he attacked Lumia with a terrifying slash.

Snowflake and Frankenstein were facing fights to the death, but it was safe to say that Lumia was facing death itself. Unlike the others, who had gone to train in the Dungeons, Lumia had been lucky and Iblis had agreed to train her personally. The others, although faced with an impending death, could not unleash their full potential. But the silver-haired girl was different. Hesitation or doubt never showed in her eyes, ever.

She craved power for her brother and she would get it. This was there to be read in her emerald green irises.

Skill activated:

Divine Gravitational Field

Skill activated:

Titan Shield

A gravitational field slightly slowed the slash and a shield, translucent and ethereal, appeared before Lumia.

Looking at his fingernails, dirty because of the carrots he had cut shortly before, the child began to brood over something, completely diverting his attention from the fight. Somehow, he gave the impression that he already knew the outcome.

In fact, his attack had been slowed but not stopped. The Titan Shield immediately shattered and Lumia was beheaded. The girl's lifeless body fell to the ground.

Iblis looked at the girl and snapped his fingers.

Normally, once brought back to life, one would experience a period of weakness. It took time to completely recover one's physical faculties and retrain the Meridians in the use of Mana. This condition would last at least 12 to 24 hours.

But Iblis had his methods. Once brought back to life, Lumia was just like a few minutes before. She wasn't showing any sign of weakness and was ready to fight again.

Not even Helial could undergo such a bloody and violent training. When Iblis had punished for his incompetence and unlocked his state of the Emperor in the process, he had first killed him several times. But this time it was different. Lumia was constantly meeting the blows, without moving at all.

It seemed like the though her brother was always behind her, as if she should protect the shadow that had always covered her shoulders and prevented her from facing pain head on. And now she had to face all the pain she had been shielded from over the years, if she wanted to keep on her brother's path.