Chapter 101:The Devil’s Instinct

The fortress wall stretched beyond the horizon like a mountain built by mankind to challenge death itself.

Thousands of soldiers patrolled its length every day...

Yet everyone knew the truth.

The wall wasn't built to stop the ghosts.

It was built to buy humanity a little more time before they died.

Veteran reapers often bribed or threatened rookies into taking the most dangerous patrol routes. Every extra hour away from the edge meant another chance to live.

Lucifer...

Volunteered.

The cold wind brushed across the endless wasteland beyond the wall.

Nothing moved.

Nothing breathed.

Only dust.

Chirin floated beside his shoulder in her scythe form.

"I'll never understand you."

Lucifer smiled.

"What is it this time?"

"Everyone runs away from danger."

She looked toward the endless wasteland.

"You walk straight into it."

Lucifer rested both hands behind his head.

"Hard work can never defeat overwhelming talent."

"..."

"So?"

"So if you aren't talented..."

A grin slowly spread across his face.

"...you stop competing fairly."

Chirin frowned.

"What does that even mean?"

"This body isn't special."

He clenched his fist.

"Above average at best."

"If I cultivate normally..."

"I'll never surpass the Soul King."

Silence.

Then Lucifer's crimson eyes slowly narrowed.

"So instead of training..."

"I'll force evolution."

"Again."

Chirin sighed.

"I swear..."

"You are the only idiot who treats death like a training partner."

Lucifer laughed.

"And that's exactly why..."

"...there is only one Devil."

The smile vanished.

His entire body froze.

Something...

Was wrong.

A suffocating pressure crawled across his spine.

Lucifer slowly lifted his head.

Far beyond the horizon...

The earth itself was moving.

No...

Not the earth.

A black tide.

Thousands...

No...

Hundreds of thousands of distorted ghosts sprinted toward the wall.

The air itself screamed.

A horn echoed across the fortress.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!!

"Ghost Wave!"

"Ghost Wave Incoming!!"

Every military camp erupted into chaos.

Soldiers rushed to their positions.

Cannons rotated.

Formation barriers activated.

Archers prepared soul arrows.

Everyone waited behind the wall.

Everyone...

Except one man.

Lucifer stepped onto the edge.

Then...

Jumped.

"What is he doing?!"

"He jumped!"

"Is that recruit insane?!"

Even Amaira's eyes widened.

"He..."

"...went alone?"

Commander Daun watched silently from the highest tower.

Her expression never changed.

Lucifer coated both himself and Chirin in crimson soul energy.

The ghosts rushed toward him like a living ocean.

He smiled.

"Now..."

"...the real fun begins."

One swing.

CLEAVE.

A crimson line crossed the battlefield.

Silence.

Then—

Thousands of ghosts vanished simultaneously.

Not exploded.

Not shattered.

Erased.

The front line disappeared.

Lucifer dashed forward before the remaining ghosts could recover.

His giant scythe danced like crimson lightning.

Heads rolled.

Bodies dissolved.

Souls scattered into glowing particles.

Whenever ghosts surrounded him—

DISMANTLE!

Dozens of invisible slashes erupted.

Ghosts collapsed one after another.

When entire armies rushed together—

"Raging Tempest."

A crimson tornado exploded across the battlefield.

The storm shredded everything inside it.

Even the soldiers atop the wall could only stare.

"...Monster..."

Minutes became hours.

The battlefield became a sea of fading souls.

Lucifer's breathing grew heavier.

His soul energy rapidly declined.

Chirin warned him.

"You're running out."

Lucifer only smiled.

"Who said I was?"

His left eye glowed crimson.

"Gluttony."

Black chains burst from his shadow.

They pierced every defeated ghost nearby.

Their souls flowed directly into Lucifer.

His exhausted body immediately recovered.

The soldiers watched in disbelief.

"He's..."

"...absorbing ghosts?"

Ghosts continued pouring toward him.

Lucifer vanished.

Sloth.

His presence disappeared completely.

The ghosts froze in confusion.

A second later—

He reappeared behind them.

Severance.

Entire groups were cut apart before realizing he had moved.

Whenever attacks became impossible to dodge—

"Greed."

Time distorted.

The ghosts slowed.

Lucifer walked calmly through their attacks before separating them with another Cleave.

He never used Envy.

Ghosts had no thoughts to read.

Instead...

His Demonic Eyes searched endlessly.

Every movement.

Every weakness.

Every opening.

Nothing escaped him.

Eventually...

A claw pierced his shoulder.

Another tore through his ribs.

Blood splashed across the battlefield.

The soldiers gasped.

But Lucifer...

Started laughing.

"Lust."

Pain became power.

His muscles swelled with crimson energy.

Every wound only made him stronger.

The battlefield transformed into his playground.

Then—

A roar shook heaven itself.

The ghost army suddenly stopped.

A massive figure emerged from the endless sea.

Nearly ten meters tall.

Its body constantly shifted between hundreds of screaming faces.

Its aura crushed ordinary ghosts.

Even the soldiers on the wall instinctively stepped backward.

Amaira narrowed her eyes.

"Upper-Class Ghost..."

"...almost Special Grade."

Commander Daun finally stood.

"So that's the commander."

The creature locked onto Lucifer.

Its hatred was overwhelming.

It had spent centuries preparing this invasion.

Lucifer had slaughtered half its army alone.

It wanted him dead.

Now.

Lucifer rested Chirin across his shoulder.

"So..."

"You're the boss."

The ghost roared.

The ground exploded beneath its feet.

"Wrath."

Crimson flames erupted around Lucifer.

His aura exploded.

His speed doubled.

His strength soared.

The giant ghost crashed toward him.

Lucifer answered with—

"Cleave."

BOOOOOOM!!

The collision split the battlefield.

Shockwaves erased thousands of lesser ghosts nearby.

Even the fortress trembled.

Lucifer slid backward.

The ghost barely moved.

It roared again.

Lucifer grinned.

"Perfect."

The ghost attacked repeatedly.

Lucifer disappeared.

Sloth.

He appeared behind it.

"Dismantle."

Hundreds of slashes carved across its back.

The creature howled.

Its wounds immediately began healing.

Then...

It opened its enormous mouth.

Nearby ghosts were sucked into it.

It was devouring its own army.

Lucifer laughed.

"So..."

"You eat too?"

Black chains erupted around him.

"Gluttony."

Both monsters began consuming the battlefield.

Souls poured endlessly toward them.

The ghost became larger.

Lucifer became stronger.

Neither intended to stop.

Suddenly—

Lucifer frowned.

"My body..."

"It's reaching its limit."

His human vessel couldn't withstand such enormous soul energy.

Then his eyes shifted toward Chirin.

"I've got an idea."

Instead of absorbing the energy into himself...

He redirected it into Chirin.

Her crimson scythe trembled violently.

Darkness wrapped around its blade.

Power continued accumulating.

More.

More.

More.

Until—

Lucifer smiled.

"Enough."

The ghost sensed death.

It abandoned feeding.

Every remaining soul gathered into a massive shield.

Lucifer slowly raised Chirin.

The world...

Fell silent.

One swing.

"Cleave."

Nothing happened.

For a heartbeat...

Everything froze.

Then—

Reality split.

The ghost...

The battlefield...

The clouds...

Even distant space itself...

Separated.

Far beyond the atmosphere...

A lonely star silently divided into two perfect halves.

No explosion.

No sound.

Only...

A clean cut.

The ghost commander disappeared completely.

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Every soldier...

Every captain...

Every commander...

Could only stare.

Amaira whispered,

"...That's impossible."

Commander Daun slowly narrowed her eyes.

"This recruit..."

"...what exactly are you?"

Lucifer planted Chirin into the ground.

His breathing became ragged.

He laughed weakly.

"That's it?"

"I was hoping for something stronger..."

His vision blurred.

The battlefield spun.

Then...

Darkness.

He collapsed.

Later...

Lucifer slowly opened his eyes.

A familiar voice greeted him.

"So..."

"What exactly was that?"

Chirin hovered nearby.

Lucifer blinked.

"What?"

She stared directly into his eyes.

"Don't pretend."

"You weren't yourself."

"There was a moment..."

"...when it felt like someone else was holding me."

Lucifer remained silent.

Then sighed.

"It's not possession."

"It's overflow."

"...Explain."

Lucifer looked at his own hand.

"My true existence..."

"...is infinite."

"This body isn't."

"My soul contains power without end."

"But a human vessel..."

"...can never contain infinity."

"So every time I exceed what this body can safely handle..."

"My power leaks."

He slowly clenched his fist.

"And the more it leaks..."

"...the closer I become to what I truly am."

Chirin's expression turned serious.

"So that's why your eyes changed..."

"And why you kept smiling while slaughtering everything."

Lucifer nodded.

"In my original form..."

"My emotions weren't human."

"They were celestial."

"They were vast enough to shatter worlds."

"So long ago..."

"I sealed those emotions together with my full power."

"Without those seals..."

"My instincts take control."

Silence filled the room.

Finally Chirin asked quietly,

"And if those seals... ever completely break?"

Lucifer looked out the window.

For the first time...

There wasn't a trace of a smile on his face.

His voice became almost a whisper.

"Then..."

"The First War..."

"...will look like a bedtime story."