Chapter 534: Paying An Old Friend A Visit

___ Underground Cell ___

Twenty lay on the cold stone floor of his cell, his limbs bound by thick chains attached to the wall behind him. He wore striped white and black prison clothes that hung loosely from his emaciated frame, making it painfully obvious how much weight he had lost.

His head had been shaved roughly with a razor, leaving several small scars across his scalp, while the skin beneath his clothes was covered in old whip wounds and fresh bruises. He looked nothing like the loud and energetic man Damian remembered from Earth.

Months of imprisonment had reduced him to little more than skin and bone, and even the shape of his skull was visible beneath his damaged scalp. The cell itself was barely furnished, containing nothing more than a stone floor, a wall, and a heavy steel door with a small barred opening. There was no bed, no proper food and apparently not even enough water to keep him healthy.

Across from him sat Damian.

His consciousness had manifested in the form of a fifteen foot tall figure, though the appearance was still unmistakably him to anyone who knew him well.

Damian stared at his old friend for several seconds, and a tired smile appeared on his face. After everything he had endured since returning to the Underworld, he had almost forgotten that the people he had left behind on Earth had been suffering as well.

"I’m sorry I let this happen." Damian muttered, his voice unusually quiet.

He stretched out his left hand and activated his Dark Miracle. Dark particles immediately began escaping from Twenty’s body, rising from his skin like tiny fragments of black smoke before flowing toward Damian’s palm.

The particles carried away some of the lingering corruption and exhaustion weighing down Twenty’s body, but the prisoner remained unconscious for several moments before finally reacting.

"Aaah..." Twenty let out a faint groan as his eyelids slowly opened.

His vision was blurry at first, but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the cell, he noticed the enormous figure sitting only a few metres away from him. His eyes widened in terror. He immediately pushed himself upright, his chains clanking loudly against the wall as instinctive fear took control of his body. He opened his mouth to scream, but his throat was so dry that nothing came out.

"Those monsters don’t even give you enough water... Bastards." Damian muttered with a frown.

He raised one finger and activated Dark Miracle again. A small ball of water slowly formed above his fingertip, perfectly clear despite the darkness of the cell. Damian calmly pushed his hand forward, and the water floated through the air toward Twenty’s face.

The starving prisoner stared at it for only a second before greedily opening his dried lips. The water entered his mouth and he swallowed everything in one desperate gulp.

A loud sigh of relief escaped him as the last drop disappeared. Strangely, the water did more than satisfy his thirst. Warmth spread through his body, the emptiness in his stomach faded and some of his lost energy returned.

Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!

The sudden coughing immediately caught Twenty’s attention. He looked toward the enormous figure again and his eyes widened when he saw the stranger coughing up blood. Damian wiped the blood from his lips with his left hand and took a slow breath, his weakened consciousness struggling even with something as simple as maintaining its form.

Twenty stared at his face for several seconds, studying the strange combination of familiar and unfamiliar features before realization slowly reached him.

"Bro? Is that you?" Twenty mumbled, disbelief and hope mixing in his voice.

The man before him could hardly look like Damian. His long white hair did not match the young face Twenty remembered, his skin was unnaturally pale and his expression carried an exhaustion that seemed far deeper than anything physical.

His right hand hung uselessly beside him, completely covered in bandages, while his entire presence felt strangely different. Yet there was something in his eyes that Twenty recognized.

"Even now you can still recognize me?" Damian chuckled lightly. "It’s been a while, old friend."

Clank!

Twenty immediately lurched forward, trying to embrace Damian, but the chains around his wrists snapped tight and violently stopped him before he could reach his friend. Damian simply chuckled at his abrupt excitement.

"Don’t bother. Even if you can reach me, you can’t touch me. This is not my body, just my consciousness."

Twenty blinked in confusion. He had lived most of his life as a thug and had absolutely no understanding of concepts like consciousness projection, spiritual manifestations or soul techniques. He simply stared at Damian as though his friend had started speaking another language.

"Bro, I missed you... I thought you’ve forgotten all about us." Twenty cried out, quickly covering his mouth afterward as his emotions threatened to overwhelm him.

His eyes shifted nervously toward the steel gate behind Damian, particularly the small square opening protected by iron bars.

"Don’t worry, I have isolated this space. No one can hear or see what’s happening here. You can speak freely." Damian explained calmly, offering him a reassuring smile. "And no, I didn’t forget you all."

Damian slowly pulled open his robe, revealing the scar across his chest where his human heart had once been. Twenty stared at it in silence, his expression slowly changing as he realized just how much his friend had changed.

"I spent ten years unconscious from that wound, and the last few months, I have been fighting every day to gain control of my empire." Damian spoke calmly, as though discussing events that had happened to someone else.

He glanced toward his bandaged right arm and gave a faint smile. "As you can see, I have not been doing very fine myself."

Twenty stared at him for several seconds before slowly lowering himself onto the floor again.

"Hold up, brother... You have an empire?!" he suddenly blurted out.

Damian chuckled, clearly amused by the fact that this was the detail Twenty had focused on most. "Of course. I’m one of the seven Princes of Hell... My empire is like an entire continent."

Twenty’s eyes widened considerably.

"And those demons are causing you trouble even though you are their Prince?" Twenty asked with a fierce frown.

Damian rolled his eyes. "They can have my power if they succeed in killing me. But you don’t have to worry. I have one more fight in two months. After then, I’ll come back to Earth, avenge my people and take you all to my empire, where you can have all the big booty girls and alcohol you want."

Twenty’s exhausted face suddenly lit up like a light bulb. "Really?"

Damian slowly smiled at his old friend’s reaction.

"But if I don’t return after two months... then just know I’m dead."

Buzz!

The excitement disappeared from Twenty’s face.

Damian slowly rose to his feet, his enormous head nearly touching the ceiling of the cramped cell. His expression became stern as he looked down at his friend.

"If that happens... Go ahead and take your life with the others. You will be reincarnated without memories of the horrors you just experienced and you can start fresh. After then there is no need to suffer anymore for my sake."

Twenty stared at Damian, and despite his normally carefree personality, he could tell immediately that Damian was not joking. His friend had accepted the possibility of death as a genuine outcome.

Twenty slowly shook his head. "I have faith in your brother!" he said firmly.

A genuine smile finally bloomed across Damian’s face. He extended his hand and began drawing several symbols through the air with his finger. The symbols glowed briefly before flowing into Twenty’s body.

[Bestow: Dark Miracle]

[Target: Twenty Shots]

"Use the Dark Miracle to heal yourself of the aches, hunger and thirst, but don’t heal your physical wounds or they may notice. Finally, only use it when you are here alone, and no matter what, don’t use it on anyone else. Focus on saving yourself first. I’ll save the rest in two months." Damian ordered calmly.

A familiar grin slowly appeared on Twenty’s face. "Ooh shit.... You sound like a Prince now and not a lawyer."

Damian rolled his eyes. Even after everything that had happened to him, Twenty somehow still managed to maintain his ridiculous sense of humour.

"Just remember my instructions and wait for me." Damian smiled.

His enormous figure slowly began fading, the edges of his body dissolving into dark particles until his consciousness completely disappeared from the cell.

Damian’s eyes slowly opened, and he found himself seated upon the Throne of Power once again.

Rin was sitting comfortably on Damian’s lap, his small body curled against him as though he had been waiting for the conversation to end.

"Giving out Dark Miracle to Twenty may be a good idea, but don’t forget you are the one who will bear the responsibility for every miracle he does." Rin warned, his expression unusually serious.

Damian looked down at him calmly before turning his attention toward the holographic map floating above the throne. "I put him in that situation. It’s only natural I pay the price for it." Damian answered without hesitation.

Rin let out a tired sigh in defeat. He knew there was no point arguing with him about this. Whatever consequences came from the decision, Damian had already accepted them.