Osdohrne stared with dull eyes at the two humans.

"You know, their heads would've sufficed." That was the first thing he uttered to the two children as his gaze centered itself on Alexander and Kieran. That changed instantly, however, as soon as he squinted at the bright light from the sun entering the grand stone hall of his castle.

The two demons, the one human, and the one 'Human-Born' had just entered Osdohrne's hall. Kieran let out a soft gasp as soon as he walked in, not for its beauty but plain and simple grandeur.

Everything was built of inlaid stone bricks, all dull grey and very, very old. Their backs faced the door, a dozen meters behind them. Even so, there were probably a hundred other meters left in front of them before the white steps that led up to Osdohrne's throne.

That throne was black, almost incongruous, built of what seemed to be black stone bricks held together by some type of dark mud. It barely held the shape of a normal throne, distorting with bricks protruding outward at each level.

Perhaps the most beautiful thing to be seen was Osdohrne's crown, one built of silver and plated with rubies and lapis lazuli. It wasn't anything special on the scale of crowns, not of its shape or size or brilliance, but it served its purpose. It stuck out like a sore thumb, and anyone wandering in or forced in would know what that crown meant.

Its bearer was the strongest around; the ruler.

Osdohrne was a massive being. A monstrous demon, one larger than Alexander had seen before. He was beyond the size of an elephant, beyond the capacity Alexander expected. Though he was strong, his large muscles were coated in fat all throughout his body. His skin was white, as pale as cotton, though his nails and fingertips were pitch-black. He wore robes from his waist down, flowing red and blue cloths that draped down to his ankles. Everything below, and everything above was bare, his pale, fat gut brimming past the ornate dress he wore.

And while he sat with the body of a demonic entity, one of power, he didn't bear a single horn on his head.

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows at that unfamiliar sight.

The next one to speak was Berane. "Governor, these... these are important people. Please refrain from speaking in such a manner. The one beside me is-"

He was interrupted by the governor's cackle, a laugh that exploded out into the stone halls and echoed into the walls. "Berane," he said amidst his bursting giggles. "-you should know better than to talk back. I told you something simple."

Giggles and chortles were the next things to be hard. The hall wasn't empty, after all. Maybe two dozen demons stood around, near and under the lamps and torches, alongside the doors, and beside Osdohrne.

Each of them wore different colors, as if they were assigned different purposes. Only two demons were dressed the same, the ones with axes in their hands. They were the guards. In the same way, the purpose of entities that stood and sat around Osdohrne's throne was recognizable instantly. They were trusted and beloved by him, serving him with their ideas and words whenever needed.

The demon repeated, "Their heads would have sufficed."

Alexander raised his foot off the ground only to bring it back down. As soon as his foot connected with the floor, the earth shook. The impact was strong enough to shatter the stone beneath his feet and brought the walls to shake, drowning out the echoes of the laughs and creating further dull vibrations that reached and trembled the ceiling.

Dust and crushed stone rained and drizzled down from the stone sky, cascading over Osdohrne's head and slipping his crown off his bumpy head of wrinkled white skin.

He gripped the arms of his throne and glared at Alexander. "Who in Heaven do you think you are?!"

"Lucifero."

Alexander's cold utterance froze the room. The guards who had begun to move in stopped in their tracks of metal suits. Osdohrne closed his open mouth. His servant reached for the governor's crown but retracted his arm before he could reach the golden headdress.

"The First Devil. The sin of Pride. The Star of The Morning. The Sinful Prince. Whatever you want to call me, whatever you know me as." Alexander spat out a sigh. "In other words, your doom."

"Sit up straight," he ordered Osdohrne.

The governor moved instantly. He forgot of his crown, he forgot of his anger and focused on Alexander and only Alexander. With his eyes widened, he sat up and straightened his back, lifting his hands from the arms of the chair and crossing them over his lap.

"I... I apologize, my lord," Osdohrne mumbled out.

"Speak up, boy! I didn't hear you," Alexander shouted out. This time, it was Alexander that created the echo.

The demon's face twisted with contempt. "I apologize, my lord," he repeated, louder this time.

Alexander met that response with a smile.

Osdohrne clenched his jaw. "He's here? Now?" he muttered under his breath. "This damned devil... It can't be."

Alexander closed down on the hundreds of paces between him and the demon and brought one foot onto the first step of the many to reach the black throne. "In the flesh," Alexander told him, a thin grin growing from the curling of his lips.

Those standing at Osdohrne's side knelt before him, their fists to the ground with one knee propped up and bent, and the other on the stone beneath them. "Welcome, Lord Lucifero," they said in unison.

Kieran swallowed his dry saliva. Everyone was just... accepting Alexander as Lucifero, without hesitation or confusion. Alexander didn't look the part of the fallen angel famed for his beauty, nor was his aura strong enough to cement him as the lord of demons.

But... A Demon-Born disguising himself as the demon lord was probably the last thing anyone would expect. Anyone would have to be incredibly, unfathomably stupid to make up such a plan and believe it would work.

At the same time, it did work. So it couldn't have been that stupid.

That was what Alexander focused on. That was what brought him his confidence in each word he spoke as the new 'Lucifero'.

Shadowfax let out a light purr from within the hood of Alexander's jacket. She had grown quite a bit heavier and larger over the past several hours. She didn't have to remain hidden at this point, but a chihuahua-sized dragon being pulled out from behind Alexander's head wasn't something they needed when manipulating a demon.

"This palace..." Alexander uttered as the wooden doors to the Palace entrance finally began to shut, creaking with the pushes of other demons. "It's approximately at the center of your region, wouldn't you say?"

Osdohrne nodded with vigor but remained silent.

Alexander stared up at him until he understood.

"Um... That's correct."

"Finally, a response," Alexander mumbled out. He kept staring up as the corners of his lips began to twist and curl up. "Take us there, then."

"...Wait, what?"

"Did I stutter?" Alexander asked.

Osdohrne let out a slight whimper before fervently shaking his head. "No, lord. But, Purgatorio... What purpose could you even have there?"

Alexander's magic energy flared in a torrent of darkness. "How about you explain to me first, why I would have to justify myself to you."

Silence rang out beneath them in the grand hall. Alexander clenched his jaw and glared. "Within this UnderWorld and all Worlds above and way... I am the one who is honored."

"You're absolutely correct, milord! I completely agree!"

Alexander's mind was growing weary. Pretending to be a devil wasn't anything fun for him. And considering his time on Vanaheim and all the calls he received from his elf friend after that, he had already grown tired of being called 'lord' and 'liege'.

As Osdohrne continued to spew out word after word, talking himself into his own submission, Alexander, for the first time in his life, wished he could resolve this violently instead.

Osdohrne was already planning out 'the devil's' route to Purgatorio, offering the personal transport he used to visit the small villages and large farms within his region. According to the governor, they would reach Purgatorio in a matter of hours.

Onto the next topic, Alexander aimed a finger at the demon siblings, Berane and Esila. "I'll be taking them with me."

Alexander's utterance was solid yet dull. Osdohrne wouldn't find the courage to object to that unless he had months to prepare.

"Yes, yes, yes!" he said aloud. "It's alright, I have plenty more slaves like them. I hope you find them useful."

Alexander grit his teeth as he heard those words leave Osdohrne's lips. 'Slaves'.

That's what these two children were. Not workers or scavengers, slaves. Just like the 'plenty more' Osdohrne mentioned with pride.

Osdohrne was far from wise. But he still saw the brilliant darkness that surrounded Alexander, the magic that swelled up with each breath as his eyes began to glisten with a pale, starlike light.

Osdohrne was a powerful demon. That was the only way he achieved and secured his position as a governor in the UnderWorld. But against the devil himself... against this monster that stood in front of him...

Without even thinking, he took a step back. "Milord, if I... If I made a mistake just now, you must forgive me. I had no intention to-"

Alexander's voice pierced through the cloud of shadows and magic that swirled around him, "I'll be taking the children."

"Of course, of course!" he let out. "Anything you shall seek, I shall provide! In fact, you must be very tired from your travels! O' Morning Star, would you grace us with your presence and remain in the castle for the night? We shall feast in your honor and provide you with all you wish for!"

Alexander pondered for a single second. Osdohrne didn't seem like the type to plan an assassination on the devil. Alexander's gut instincts weren't telling him anything as he thought– he wouldn't have a problem sleeping in the demon's castle.

But as a matter of trust, Alexander stared down at Berane and Esila. Now, there wasn't a hint of fear in their eyes. One by one, the siblings looked up at Alexander with brilliant eyes that gleamed with hope.

Maybe it was because they thought they were being adopted by the devil. Regardless, Osdohrne's proposition didn't faze them.

He decided.

"We shall stay, then. On the morrow, we depart to Purgatorio. After that, you and your business shall resume as normal as it did before we crossed paths."

"You are very gracious, O' Morning Star!"

Alexander silenced the governor before turning to Kieran. He smiled as their eyes met. "Told you it'd work."

Berane looked up at the two humans. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

Alexander dismissed the topic with a shake of his head, leaving Berane to drop his head and face forward.

The night that came was one of partying and feasting, but dull nonetheless. While Kieran and the siblings had left to the grand rooms the palace had to offer to sleep in, Alexander had to remain at the end of a long wooden table.

A single band of ivory sat across his forehead– A gift they had presented to him as a crown for the demon they respected and gazed upon as their king.

He silently chewed on the meat that came from some animal's leg, persisting through the tough skin and reaching the flavorful and sweet interior. He had never eaten anything of the sort, so it surprised him. Even while he ate food prepared by unfamiliar demons, vicious beings, he wasn't worried. If there was poison, Alexander was sure to survive.

By contrast, Kieran and the siblings only ate the food they had taken from Furcas.

Osdohrne sat across from Alexander, staring at him with a simple, toothless smile from dozens of meters away. The other demons couldnt contain themselves in the opportunity to party, and so screamed and laughed and cackled and shouted over each other with jokes and stories and their mouths full of food.

Alexander couldn't help but smile at that sight.

The beings of the UnderWorld were still beings. They still lived.

- - - - -

The next morning, Alexander and others departed as soon as the sun began to rise. With the break of day and the first glimmers of sunlight peering over the blank canvas of the desert plains of the UnderWorld, they set off.

Thankfully, the mechanical transport that carried them had air conditioning.

Kieran was just hours from Purgatorio, just hours from achieving his dream and his justice. And so, he sat down on the clean white seat and inhaled the crisp air that flowed out from above him.

The transport reminded him of a simple train, the ones he spent so much time on as he traveled Earth. That familiarity, combined with his hope, set him at ease.

Alexander smiled at him, before turning to Berane and Esila who sat across from him on the near-empty transport car. They were tired, it seemed. He sat across from them as he stared at Esila fall asleep in Berane's arm, only for him to press her head against his chest and lull her even further. He was tired as well, but his focus remained on bringing rest to his sister.

Come what may... Alexander decided he would protect them. He wouldn't let harm come to either of them. For their sakes... He would protect them.

It was at the same time that Osdohrne received a letter. He sat himself down on his throne and opened it up, his eyes quickly scanning its contents before grinning with glee and passing it to the demon beside him, his advisor.

The advisor, too, read the letter before staring up at Osdohrne with a grave face. "Do you see what this means? Sire Osdohrne..."

"What do you mean, Midora?" he asked. "This is good for us! Great for us!"

Midora raised the letter to his gaze once again and read it aloud, summarizing the information the governor needed to understand. "Lucifero himself is leading his forces in the Grimm Canyon. He plans on nothing short of conquest before it is his time to ascend to the World. That way, he'll grow stronger on both fronts."

Osdohrne hopeful gleam remained. He had never gone against Lucifero, and now would be the worst time for those that did. Their relationship thus far had been neutral, but now... Now he had elevated it. He had sheltered and fed and provided slaves to the First Devil...

He had gained his trust.

A wide smirk grew on his lips.

He had already helped Lucifero make his way to Purgatorio and even sold off the slaves to him. He had granted a favor, a blessing, even, on the Star of the Morning. Things were looking up for Osdohrne.

Osdohrne let out a hearty sigh before once again being interrupted by Midora.

"The boy you spoke to... The one who claimed to be Lucifero... He said he was heading to Purgatorio. And he took your transport. Do you see the issue, Sire?"

Osdohrne slowly pieced it together. Fear was settling in his heart, huddling alongside rage and fury. That young man was no devil.

"....I knew something was off from the start."

"I know you did, sire."

"Just what did those children bring to me?!"

He gripped the arms of his throne yet again, this time enraged, his strength cracking the stone and digging his black fingers into it. In his frustration, his head drooped over and his crown crashed down onto the floor once again. It rolled down the steps of his grand hall and clanked and jangled all the way down, some of its gems splitting, some cracking, and others bursting off.

Osdohrne grit his razor-like teeth and spoke through them. "That boy... I'll kill him."