Chapter 103:The Devil and The Reaper

Lights flashed across the dance floor.

People laughed.

Drank.

Forgot tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

Lucifer staggered towards the restroom, one hand against the wall.

"Whoa..."

"This body really can't handle alcohol."

His vision blurred.

The floor seemed to sway beneath his feet.

Chirin floated beside him, shaking her head.

"What did you expect?"

"You're using the body of a seventeen-year-old."

"You aren't some drunken god anymore."

Lucifer grinned lazily.

"Drunken God..."

"I like that title."

Chirin sighed.

"I was insulting you."

Lucifer shrugged.

"That's the funny thing."

"When people insult me..."

"I usually take it as a compliment."

A quiet chuckle echoed through the empty restroom.

"That's... an admirable way to live."

Lucifer slowly turned.

A man stepped out from the darkest corner of the room.

His face was hidden beneath a cracked porcelain mask.

Only his silver eyes remained visible.

Lucifer squinted.

"...Do I know you?"

The masked man tilted his head.

"The person you've been looking for..."

"And you can't even recognise him."

"You really are drunk."

Lucifer scratched his cheek.

"Ah..."

"That explains it."

He looked the stranger up and down.

"So..."

"What brings you here?"

"I'm handsome..."

"But I'm not exactly a woman."

The man laughed.

"So that's the rumour."

"The Devil truly is insane."

His smile slowly disappeared.

"You believe I only hunt women."

"That's wrong."

"I hunt those with abundant Soul Energy."

"It just so happened..."

"...that every one of them was a woman."

His gaze sharpened.

"But you..."

"If I devour your soul..."

"I'll never have to hide from the military again."

Lucifer smiled.

"You might end up being the one devoured."

"We'll see."

Without warning...

A gigantic pair of rusted scissors materialised.

They descended with terrifying speed.

BOOM!!

Lucifer didn't dodge.

Instead—

Blood Prison.

A crimson barrier wrapped around him.

The scissors shattered the barrier—

But the impact blasted Lucifer through three reinforced walls.

The nightclub exploded apart.

Concrete.

Steel.

Glass.

Everything burst outward.

The music stopped.

Screams replaced it.

People fled in every direction.

Lucifer crashed through the bonnet of a parked car before rolling across the street.

He casually picked up the broken car door.

"...Yeah."

"I'm definitely drunk."

He hurled the door.

Jack casually sliced it in half.

The two pieces spun harmlessly behind him.

Lucifer slowly stood.

"So..."

"What's your grand plan?"

"Making a scene in the middle of the city?"

"The military will be here any second."

Jack simply smiled.

"Look around."

People ran through the streets in blind panic.

Children cried.

Parents screamed their names.

Cars crashed trying to escape.

"Humans are fascinating."

"They know one touch from beings like us means death..."

"...yet they still cling desperately to life."

Lucifer sighed.

"So..."

"You're not going to answer my question."

He vanished.

Cleave.

A crimson slash ripped through the street.

Jack answered with his enormous scissors.

CLANG!!

The collision shattered nearby buildings.

Before Lucifer could recover—

One blade became two.

Two became four.

Four became eight.

Then sixteen.

Thirty-two.

Hundreds.

The blades filled the night sky like metallic rain.

Lucifer clicked his tongue.

"That's annoying."

He activated Sin of Sloth.

His body disappeared.

Then reappeared.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Dismantle shredded dozens of blades.

But not all.

One blade sliced through his sleeve.

Another cut his cheek.

One grazed his neck.

Several pierced his ribs.

Blood splashed across the ruined street.

Chirin shouted,

"You're still drunk!"

Lucifer laughed.

"Exactly."

"My body's reacting slower than usual."

Jack's voice echoed across the battlefield.

"As we speak..."

"My ghosts are attacking the borders."

"The military is occupied."

"No one is coming."

Lucifer blinked.

"You could've told me before we started fighting."

Jack looked genuinely confused.

"You attacked me first."

"...Fair point."

Lucifer shrugged.

"Still not interested in listening."

Crimson lightning erupted around him.

Sin of Lust.

Pain became power.

He swung Chirin.

Severance!

A colossal crimson line tore through the city.

Buildings.

Roads.

Steel bridges.

Everything split apart.

Jack simply raised one hand.

Hundreds of terrified civilians floated into the attack's path.

The slash stopped.

Lucifer's eyes narrowed.

"You really Wise."

Jack smiled.

"The dead..."

"The living..."

"They're all tools."

Lucifer answered by charging straight through the civilians. 

Sin of Gluttony activated.

Every wandering soul released by the destruction was devoured.

His injuries instantly began healing.

Jack suddenly disappeared.

Only a broken scissor remained.

Chirin frowned.

"Did you get him?"

Lucifer slowly shook his head.

"No."

"If he were that easy..."

"He wouldn't be Special Grade."

A voice whispered behind him.

"Excellent."

Lucifer turned.

Jack stood directly behind him.

"You really are like us."

"You don't care who lives..."

"...or who dies."

Lucifer answered calmly.

"I simply value my own life..."

"...more than anyone else's."

Jack laughed.

"Then witness true despair."

Every soul lingering across the battlefield began screaming.

Thousands...

Merged together.

The giant scissors returned.

This time—

They were forged entirely from souls.

Their blades stretched across half the district.

Lucifer looked up.

"...Should've brought a bigger weapon."

The gigantic scissors descended.

Entire skyscrapers were severed.

Railway bridges collapsed.

Armoured vehicles split apart like paper.

Lucifer vanished again.

Sin of Sloth.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Jack roared.

"Stop running!"

"Fight me!"

Lucifer smirked.

"Your attacks haven't touched me yet."

"Why should I?"

Jack's smile widened.

"Then I'll make sure they do."

The soul scissors accelerated.

Faster.

Sharper.

Relentless.

Even Lucifer began struggling.

Blood Chains erupted from beneath the ground.

Thousands of crimson chains wrapped around the giant blades.

For only—

One second.

That was enough.

Sin of Wrath ignited.

This time...

He enhanced speed.

Not strength.

Jack's pupils shrank.

Too fast.

Lucifer appeared inches from his face.

Jack immediately recalled every soul blade.

Hundreds of gigantic scissors converged on Lucifer.

"You lose."

Lucifer smiled.

"No."

"You do."

He vanished.

Jack instinctively turned.

Too late.

Lucifer appeared behind the incoming blades.

Then—

He pushed them.

The gigantic scissors pierced straight through...

Their own master.

Jack's eyes widened.

Impossible—

The blades couldn't kill him.

But they immobilised him.

Exactly as Lucifer intended.

"Checkmate."

Raging Tempest.

A crimson cyclone swallowed Jack whole.

Thousands of blades.

Fragments of soul.

Everything—

Reduced to nothing.

Before Jack could regenerate—

Sin of Gluttony activated.

His very existence was devoured.

Silence.

Only the wind remained.

A blue window appeared before Lucifer.

《SYSTEM NOTICE》

Special Grade Ghost Eliminated.

First Special Grade Kill Achieved.

Karma Points Awarded.

Lucifer stared at the reward.

"...Seriously?"

"That's it?"

"The system's stingy."

Chirin laughed.

"No."

"You're just ridiculously overpowered."

"It's trying to keep things balanced."

Lucifer narrowed his eyes.

"Whose side are you on?"

"The system's?"

"I remain neutral."

Sirens echoed through the city.

Captain Amaira arrived moments later.

The district looked as though a natural disaster had struck.

Half the buildings were gone.

Roads had vanished.

The nightclub no longer existed.

And at the centre...

Lucifer sat on a broken traffic light, exhausted.

Amaira blinked.

"...You're alive."

Lucifer looked offended.

"Thanks for the concern."

"But dying isn't on today's schedule."

She sighed in relief before quickly hiding it.

"We're leaving."

"You need to report everything."

Lucifer groaned dramatically.

"I already feel like I'm dying."

"Lucifer."

"What?"

"Can't a man complain?"

Amaira simply turned away.

"...Move."

Later that night...

Commander Duan listened quietly as Lucifer recounted every detail.

When he finished...

She dismissed him without another question.

After the door closed...

Amaira crossed her arms.

"He got lucky."

Duan smiled faintly.

"Luck..."

"...is also a talent."

"The border?"

Amaira asked.

"A Ghost Wave struck while we were away."

Duan nodded.

"It did."

Amaira slowly exhaled.

"Then..."

"He wasn't lying."

"No."

"He wasn't."

She looked towards the closed door.

"Continue working with him."

"But keep watching him."

Amaira frowned.

"Why me?"

Duan's smile became teasing.

"...Because you seem to enjoy talking about him."

Amaira immediately blushed.

"I absolutely do not."

She hurried out before another word could be said.

Watching her leave...

Commander Duan chuckled softly.

"...It's nice being young."

Outside...

Amaira stopped beside a window.

She looked at her own reflection.

"...Do I really smile..."

"...whenever someone mentions his name?"

She frowned.

"...Impossible."

She walked away much faster than before.

Lucifer's new quarters were nothing like the shared barracks.

A private room.

A proper bed.

Hot water.

Even a balcony overlooking the fortress.

As steam filled the bathroom...

Lucifer washed away the dried blood.

Chirin floated nearby.

"The military seems to be treating you rather well."

Lucifer shook his head.

"No."

"They're simply keeping me somewhere easier to monitor."

"They need me..."

"But they're afraid of me."

"My growth..."

"...doesn't make sense to them."

Far away...

Beyond the boundaries of human civilisation...

Space itself trembled.

A crack slowly opened in reality.

Within that endless rift...

A lone figure stood with his hands behind his back.

His presence was vast enough to silence the stars.

Another cloaked figure knelt before him.

"My Lord."

"The Special Grade known as Jack..."

"...has been slain."

The silver-eyed man didn't answer.

"He was killed by a newly awakened Reaper."

"...A man called Lucifer Morningstar."

For the first time...

The silver-eyed figure turned.

His eyes reflected countless galaxies.

A faint smile appeared.

"THE DEVIL"