Chapter 45:The Fracture of Realms

The royal banquet had barely ended.

Yet the world outside was already breaking again.

Lucifer stepped out onto the palace balcony, escaping the suffocating noise of politics, praise, and power plays behind him. The night air was colder here—cleaner, quieter.

For a moment, it almost felt normal.

That illusion broke the instant he saw her.

A woman stood at the edge of the balcony like she had always belonged there, staring into the night sky as if she was waiting for something older than time itself.

Lucifer didn't need a second look.

"Well," he said calmly, "if it isn't the dragon princess."

The woman didn't turn immediately.

Meng

"So certain," she replied, voice smooth as frost, "and yet you've never even seen me before."

Lucifer leaned slightly against the railing.

"I searched the entire world for you after the Dark Knight Ruins incident. No trace. No record. No footprint."

A faint pause.

"So either you don't exist... or you're a dragon hiding in plain sight."

Meng finally turned her head.

Her eyes sharpened.

"The dragon slayer talking about hiding things. Interesting."

Lucifer didn't react.

"If you hated me for killing your kind, you wouldn't have come alone."

Silence.

Then—

"How do you know I didn't come here to kill you?"

She moved instantly.

A strike faster than thought itself snapped toward his throat—

—and stopped a hair's breadth away.

Lucifer didn't even flinch.

Meng clicked her tongue.

"...Either you're insane, or completely confident."

"I prefer both," he said.

The wind shifted.

"So," Lucifer asked casually, "what do you want?"

Meng studied him for a moment.

"Your name," she said.

He blinked once.

"That's it?"

"You didn't give it before. At the ruins."

A faint smirk formed on his lips.

"Lucifer Morningstar."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"So it's true..."

"Now yours."

A pause.

"...Meng. Ice Dragon Princess."

The title carried weight. Not royalty—something closer to an unfinished war.

Lucifer tilted his head.

"And why come to me?"

Meng exhaled slowly.

"To save what remains of my kin."

That got his attention—but only slightly.

"The human king I understand," Lucifer said. "But the dragon king?"

Her expression hardened.

"My father is preparing to erase his own kind to wash away defeat. Dragons don't accept shame. They erase it."

Lucifer listened without interruption.

"My mother used to say," Meng continued, "we exist to protect each other. But he only sees obedience."

A beat.

"And you expect me to care because...?"

Meng met his gaze.

"I'll tell you everything about what the dragon king is truly after."

Lucifer immediately shook his head.

"Not interested."

Silence.

Meng blinked.

"What?"

Lucifer stepped closer, slow and deliberate.

"I don't need information."

His eyes sharpened slightly.

"I want you."

The air froze.

Meng took a step back.

"...You already have a woman."

Lucifer smiled faintly.

"So?"

A dangerous calm settled between them.

"The more the merrier."

Meng stared at him like he had lost his mind.

"...You are completely insane."

"Correct."

A pause.

Meng sighed.

"...Fine. If you can save my people, I'll consider it."

Lucifer's smile widened.

"Perfect."

He leaned in slightly.

"Then let's seal it properly."

Meng frowned.

"Seal—?"

He kissed her before she could finish the sentence.

Fast. Certain. Unapologetic.

When he pulled back, Meng stood frozen—processing what just happened—before quickly turning away, visibly flustered.

And leaving.

"Are you going to keep hiding there?"

Lucifer didn't even look back.

"I knew you were there the whole time, brother."

From the shadows stepped Leo.

Leo

His expression was tight. Angry. Controlled.

"You knew?" Leo snapped.

"From the start."

Leo grabbed his collar.

"What the hell was that?"

Lucifer glanced at his hand.

"Which part?"

"Everything!"

Lucifer sighed.

"You scared her off. I was about to get more useful conversation."

Leo's grip tightened.

"You're already engaged to Raven. And now this?"

Lucifer's eyes darkened slightly.

"What I do isn't your concern."

The pressure in the air shifted.

Not magic.

Something worse.

Intent.

Leo felt it immediately—and slowly let go.

Lucifer straightened his collar.

"Good. Now behave."

The silence didn't last long.

The sky cracked.

Like glass breaking across reality itself.

A massive tear opened above the kingdom—space itself splitting apart.

From it descended chaos.

Wiverns.

Dragons.

And behind them—

Kings.

The dragon king.

The human king.

And armies pouring into a new dimension like it had been waiting for them all along.

Panic erupted instantly across the palace.

Raven arrived first.

Followed by every royal, every princess, every warrior.

Including Meng—now reappearing in the chaos, tension written across her face.

And the moment she saw Lucifer...

"...Seriously?" Raven said flatly.

Raven

Lucifer didn't even bother explaining.

"She's Meng. Dragon princess. Also now on my side."

Weapons instantly turned toward Meng.

Lucifer sighed.

"Relax. She's not the problem right now."

Meng stepped forward, voice sharp.

"My father opened the realm."

That silenced the room.

"The Fountain of Youth is inside," she continued. "But it's unstable. The realm is collapsing."

Raven narrowed her eyes.

"And if it collapses?"

Meng didn't hesitate.

"Everything dies."

A long silence followed.

Lucifer exhaled.

"So it's like that."

He turned slightly toward the battlefield forming in the sky.

"Kings chasing immortality... and dragging the world into it."

He rolled his shoulders once.

"Classic."

Raven stepped closer.

"You're not going alone."

Lucifer glanced at her.

"I know."

Then he looked at all of them.

"I'm not going alone."

A beat.

"Hold the ground. Stop the overflow. Keep the world from collapsing."

He looked upward.

"I'll deal with the greedy bastards upstairs."

Meng frowned.

"You'll die if you go alone."

Lucifer smiled faintly.

"That's never stopped me before."

And with that—

He stepped forward into the broken sky.

(Before going he spent some quality time with his women)