Chapter 11.3. Demon Kings Recovery (3)

  “Once I reached the Heavenly Realms, I was no longer able to absorb Qi from my surroundings. The absorption rate would have been far too powerful for the environment to handle.”

  “Don’t hold me to all of this though,” he added. “This is just my speculation.”

  “Anyway, because that absorption rate would have been so extreme, I would have ended up absorbing the world’s life force itself just to cultivate. That is why a small world was created within me.”

  “This small world serves as nourishment for my cultivation. The Qi from all the previous realms was compressed into that space, and as it combined, it formed a Qi energy source.”

  “That source helped me break into the Heavenly Emperor Realm before it was completely depleted. It seems that once you reach the peak of the Heavenly Emperor Realm, luck becomes necessary to advance any further.”

  “Luckily for me, Sabertooth provided the perfect situation,” Lucifer continued. “The last thing I needed was a battle so fierce that my own life would truly be in danger.”

  “Because I survived that battle, I was finally able to break through and enter the Overlord Realm.”

  “As for why I’m taking so long to recover, it’s because the energy realm within me was depleted after reaching the Heavenly Emperor Realm,” Lucifer said.

  “Natural energy recovers slowly since my own body is now the source of Ki, while the world inside me serves as the container.”

  “I see, that’s very interesting,” said Kane. “Even if it’s only speculation, I’m sure there’s some truth to it.”

  “This world you speak of, what does it look like?” asked Kane.

  “Think of it as a much smaller version of Earth inside me,” Lucifer replied. “Everything in that world is under my control.”

  “It’s filled with Ki, and I use that Qi to fill my Dantian, the energy centre of Ki.”

  “Now that I’m in the Overlord Realm, my Dantian is far more powerful, which means it takes much longer to fill it with Ki.”

  “Qi really is an interesting type of energy,” said Kane.

  With that said, Lucifer was still undecided on how to pass the time.

  In the end, he decided to walk around the castle and check on each of the floors.

  He got up from his throne and, as he exited the throne room, was instantly teleported.

  He arrived on the second floor, with Kane appearing shortly after.

  The second floor was a vast grassland that stretched for miles, and in the direction Lucifer was facing, a large forest loomed in the distance.

  They soon reached the forest, where the trees were exceptionally tall.

  They walked for a while without any trouble, and Lucifer found it rather boring.

  “Kane, we’re in a forest, yet we haven’t run into a single monster. What’s going on?” asked Lucifer.

  “My lord, no creature within the castle would dare attack you,” Kane replied. “They are intelligent enough to know that you are their owner.”

  “Hmmm, at least they know that much,” Lucifer said with a sigh. “Still, it’s boring.”

  They continued deeper into the forest and eventually seemed to get lost.

  The farther they went, the darker it became, yet Lucifer’s bored expression never changed.

  With no creatures willing to attack him, there was no reason for even a hint of enthusiasm.

  They reached the centre of the forest with relative ease.

  Right in front of them stood a black door that led to the third floor.

  “Finally. That was so boring it felt like I’d been here for hours,” Lucifer said as he opened the door.

  “By the way, Kane, where’s the guardian of the second floor?” Lucifer asked before stepping through.

  “My lord, this entire forest is the guardian of the second floor,” Kane replied. “It may look ordinary, but it’s a living, breathing creature.”

  “Hmmm, so what you’re saying is that we were walking on the guardian’s back,” Lucifer said.

  “Yes, my lord,” Kane answered.

  “Interesting,” Lucifer responded.

  As they passed through the doorway, a blinding light engulfed them for an instant before vanishing.

  They found themselves standing in a wasteland.

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  Dead trees stretched as far as the eye could see, and the ground was completely cracked, showing just how dry it was.

  Although a sun hung in the sky, it felt like nothing more than decoration.

  It brightened the wasteland, yet gave off no heat at all.

  The land was cold.

  Demons aren’t affected by the cold, so that wasn’t a problem for them.

  The real issue was the wasteland itself—endless cracked earth and dead trees as far as the eye could see. There was nothing else to guide them.

  “Kane, enlighten me. How do you plan to get us out of this situation? I’m not about to wander around only to realize I was walking the wrong direction,” Lucifer said, his patience thinning.

  “My lord, where is your sense of adventure?” Kane replied, almost teasing.

  “KANE,” Lucifer bellowed.

  “As you wish, my lord,” Kane said, snapping his fingers.

  Immediately, an energy wave erupted from him, spreading far and wide across the wasteland.

  The ground trembled, and faint lines of energy radiated outward like a map being drawn across the dead land.

  Lucifer raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Hmmm… I see. You’re planning to locate the path using energy?”

  Kane nodded, his aura flaring brighter as the energy wave scanned the wasteland, revealing faint outlines of the terrain beyond the horizon.

  “Not bad,” Lucifer muttered. “At least something here can keep me from wandering in circles.”

  The wasteland now looked slightly less endless, and the two of them had a sense of direction at last.

  “Follow me, my lord,” Kane said.

  Flying was always an option, but there was no rush, so they walked instead.

  Along the way, countless skeletons littered the ground—some humanoid, others twisted into strange, unrecognizable shapes. Massive rib cages lay half-buried in the cracked earth, skulls frozen in expressions of rage or despair. It was clear that whatever had died here had not gone peacefully.

  “Kane, let me guess,” Lucifer said casually. “These things won’t attack us because I’m the ruler of this castle, right?”

  Kane let out a soft laugh. “Not this time, my lord. They aren’t attacking because of you—it’s because of me. These remnants bear an extreme level of hostility toward all living beings.”

  “Hmmm,” Lucifer muttered, glancing around at the skeletal remains. “Well, at least this floor is a little more interesting… and I mean a little.”

  The wasteland remained silent as they continued forward, the skeletons watching them with empty eye sockets as though the land itself remembered death all too well.

  They walked for quite a while until they eventually came across another black door. This time, Kane took the lead and opened it.

  There was no blinding light. Instead, pitch?black darkness greeted them. Once they stepped inside, the door behind them closed and vanished, just like before.

  “So this is the fourth floor of my castle, huh,” Lucifer said.

  He activated his Demonic eyes, trying to find a path, but all that surrounded him was endless darkness stretching in every direction.

  “Kane, do you mind lighting things up,” Lucifer asked.

  “I would, my lord, but it seems this place nullifies any attempt to create light,” Kane replied.

  “Oh, I see,” Lucifer said. “So this isn’t a floor meant for fighting. You’re supposed to find your way in complete darkness. How interesting. And I don’t see any door, no matter where I look.”

  He paused for a moment before adding, “If all else fails, I’ll just destroy this entire floor. Being trapped somewhere with no exit would be incredibly annoying, especially since going back isn’t an option.”

  “My lord, destruction isn’t always the solution,” Kane said calmly. “You’ve already destroyed enough floors; don’t you think?”

  “One more won’t make a difference,” Lucifer replied.

  They walked around for quite some time, yet the darkness remained unbroken and no exit revealed itself. Lucifer’s patience began to wear thin—this was taking far too long. That’s when an idea struck him.

  “Hmmm… what if looking around isn’t the answer?” Lucifer muttered thoughtfully.

  “My lord… I don’t understand what you mean,” Kane replied, genuinely puzzled.

  “This floor is designed to frustrate you, to strip away your hope of ever escaping. It doesn’t give you a way to go back either. So the solution isn’t to search—it’s to do nothing. Become one with the darkness, and a way forward will be revealed,” Lucifer explained.

  “My lord… that logic doesn’t make any sense,” Kane said, raising an eyebrow.

  “Maybe not, but neither does standing around in a pitch-black void with no exit, does it? Overthinking, relying on sense and logic… that’s exactly what traps you here for longer than necessary,” Lucifer replied with a grin.

  Hmmm… I guess you do have a point, Kane conceded.

  Lucifer then sat down, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes to meditate. How long he remained there, even he couldn’t tell—it might have been minutes, it might have been hours. But eventually, a soft light shimmered in the darkness, and a pristine white door materialized in front of them.

  Kane took a deep breath, his glowing eyes narrowing slightly as he glanced around the floor.

  “My lord… this floor isn’t just infused with holy magic—it’s completely saturated with it. And from what I can sense, the source isn’t some random artefact or residual energy. This is… a guardian,” Kane said cautiously.

  Lucifer raised an eyebrow, his annoyance barely masking his curiosity. “A guardian? In my own castle? Are you telling me there’s a living being—or something equivalent—made entirely of holy magic protecting this floor?”

  Kane nodded slowly. “Exactly, my lord. Its power is so intense that even being here reduces your strength. And the energy… it’s not natural to this world. It’s something akin to the essence of a celestial being, maybe even higher. This floor wasn’t designed by mortal hands—or even demon hands. It’s… something else.”

  Lucifer groaned and pressed a hand against his forehead. “Of course it is. Of course, I would have a floor in my castle powered by the exact opposite of everything I am… Well, Kane, it seems we’re about to meet our ‘welcoming committee.’”

  Kane clenched his fists. “Shall I prepare you, my lord?”

  Lucifer smirked despite his frustration, his red eyes gleaming with that familiar sadistic excitement. “No, Kane… this will be fun. Let’s see how long this floor lasts before it regrets existing.”

  Your wings, my lord—your wings have changed, said Kane.

  Lucifer then realized that his wings were out, but instead of his red-and-black bat wings, it was his white-and-black angelic wings that had emerged. Lucifer face palmed and sighed.

  Looks like they reacted strongly to the holy magic on this floor and forced themselves out, said Lucifer. Kane, what I’m about to tell you can never leave this floor, he added, his expression turning serious.

  I understand, my lord, replied Kane.

  I am part human, demon, and angel. I can’t tell you how that’s possible because I don’t know myself, but here I am. I have been birthed twice and reborn once. I was originally born on a planet called Chronos, a planet of so called gods.

  Things happened, and my parents sent me off that planet. When I awoke, I was once again an infant, but this time I was born to human parents—hence my human DNA. Then more things happened on Earth, and the Supreme Being himself descended from Heaven and adopted me as his son.

  The day I entered Heaven, I awoke inside a very special tree—one that forcibly turned me into a half?angel. I did something while I was in Heaven, and after that I tried to fight the Supreme Being… my father. I lost. As a result, I was cast out of Heaven and sent to Hell. So yes, you could say that I’m a fallen angel, said Lucifer.

  Kane stood in silence for a moment before speaking. My lord, if you were born on a planet of gods—and if your parents were gods as well—does that not mean that you yourself are a god? asked Kane.