Hollow

Just as Lucifer was starting to get annoyed by having to clean his robes, which he didn't really mind since it happened instantaneously but was still a headache, he heard a huge object approaching fast. He turned toward

the source of the sound, and as it turned out, it was Fenris.

Fenris fighting power was far weaker than that of Lucifer or Oxy.

Allowing it to fight would only lead to unnecessary injuries. Therefore, Oxy ordered it to stand by some distance away. It must have come because it could not hear the sound of fighting any more.

He recognized the expression on the giant cat's adorable face — it was worried for Lucifer — and he went a little weak.

The giant cat, which did not know what its master was thinking, approached Lucifer with unexpected speed and then looked around. When it locked eyes with Lucifer:

"Geh—!"

It flipped over and bared its belly while wailing:

"…There's a horrible monster here! Milord! Milord~!"

Lucifer grabbed his head, all the strength fleeing his body. As he looked to the sector wall in the distance, he saw that the guards were still battling the "zombies". Judging by distance alone they should not be able to hear Fenris, but there was no guarantee of that.

In a stern tone, Lucifer scolded Fenris:

"…That's enough clowning around from you."

Fenris looked up with tearful eyes, his paws clutching onto an end of Lucifer's robe, as if imploring mercy, as if apologizing. Lucifer sighed; he was not strong against adorable things. He stroked his head briefly, an apology for being too serious. However, his gaze remained serious when the cat's tears were gone.

"You're talking to the cat again, my lord?"

Part of Fenris body flattened as it was kicked into the distance. In place of its body was Oxy's foot, which he slowly withdrew.

"Lucifer-sama, there should be no value in raising this foolish lifeform. Would you allow your loyal servant to incinerate it with lightning?"

"No… being known as the one who commands the King of the Radiated Forest is quite worthwhile. Having it alive and well on our travels is beneficial to us. Back to the point — Oxy, time is short. Go loot their bodies. We might need to turn their possessions over to the local authorities, so we need to ascertain the value of those objects first."

"Understood."

"I will be in the warehouse. Take care of the rest."

"Yes! Then… what about the corpses? Should we take them back to your home?"

"No. We might need to hand over the masterminds behind the incident, so just take their equipment."

"Understood."

"Owie…"

Fenris — who had just run back — sighed with deliberate loudness.

Oxy glared coldly at him:

"Lucifer-sama's words are more important than anything you have to say. This is basic knowledge for one of his servants. A lifeform like you is the lowestranked of all his minions, so you will either pay attention or I will kill you on the spot."

Fenris shivered.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Next time, it will not be a physical attack, but magic. For the crime of disobeying Lucifer-sama, you will suffer until you pray for death."

"I understand… please do not put on that scary face…although, I was quite surprised by how majestic he looked. It was quite impressive."

Oxy's expression softened a little and he said:

"Indeed. Lucifer-sama cuts an impressive figure. At least you have good taste."

Lucifer had given Oxy an item which allowed him to communicate and understand what Fenris was saying too.

The girl (Luna) was in the warehouse. As Lucifer looked at her, the red light in his eye sockets dimmed.

She wore a strange, transparent outfit which drew attention to her body, but Lucifer's attention was on her face.

Someone had cut her across the face and punctured his eyes. From the tearshaped clots of reddish-black blood that wept down her cheeks, it was clear that he was blind.

"Well… blindness can be cured… magic really is convenient."

The question now was Luna's current condition.

She had been standing up here, but had not reacted to his arrival. Even if her eyes could not see, she should have known that someone was coming.

However, there was no reaction, which implied one thing — mind control. The question now was what sort of control he was under.

"It must be this."

Lucifer's gaze settled on the spiderweb-like headset which rested on Luna's head. Or rather, it would be better to say that nothing else looked more suspicious than it.

Just as he reached out to remove the crown, Lucifer stopped himself halfway.

Since he did not know what had caused this, he should not make any careless moves.

Turning his head around, he saw multiples tubes connected to her nape, it seemed like she was jacked in, hacking something.

In the corner of his eye, he also saw Hirata, Aoi, and the grandfather of Megumi, tied up by metal chains to a wall, "I'll free then later."

This time not out of her own free will.

A large amount of data was being pumped into Luna's head, which explained why she was unconscious. It was not difficult to guess what the data was.

Lucifer sighed after learning all this, and began thinking about what to do next.

He was mainly concerned about the benefits of bringing luna back, alongside the others, weather dead or alive didn't really matter.

However, his hesitation only lasted for a moment.

"Since I accepted this task, failing it on purpose would stain the name of the Angels of Hell."

"[Greater Break Item]."

Lucifer cast a spell on the crown shaped object. The sight of it decomposing into sparkling dust was quite beautiful.

Lucifer tenderly embraced the limp youth and gently laid her on the ground.

Then he examined Luna's face.

"After this… all I need to do is heal her eyes… though I probably shouldn't do that here."

Lucifer touched her face and then rose slowly. The undead he had summoned had were still alive, undoing the spell he had casted, now they were gone. Soon, the reinforcements — or rather, interfering busybodies — would find this place. Before that, he had to recast his facial illusion and equip his sword and armor.

He also had to recover their items quickly.

Unlike how things were when he PKed in Hollow, he could take all their weapons and gear for this own. It pleased him.

As he looked back to see if he needed to help Oxy collect the equipment,

He appeared at the entrance of the warehouse.

"Lucifer-sama."

"What's the matter? Have you already collected the enemy's gear? How about their cash?"

"Yes. However, there is something I wanted to consult you about, concerning this."

Oxy advanced into the warehouse, a black orb in his hand. It looked uneven, like a pebble one might find by the side of a river, and it did not seem very valuable.

"…What is that?"

"It seems to be something which the inferior lifeform (flatworm) I fought treasured deeply. However, I do not know what effects it has…"

"Is that so?"

Oxy the jester knew far fewer spells than Lucifer, and most of them were combat spells. This was why he could not appraise its value.

"He was using it to control the zombies."

Hearing this was all Lucifer needed to know, simply put, it was a AI core which controlled all the neurochips implanted in those corpses.

In other words, if he destoryed this, all of the others would stop moving as well.

Lucifer nodded:

"I see. Well done, you can destroy that now."

Oxy nodded. His fingers tightened slightly and a sound like that of shattering stone could be heard. Within a second, the rock turned to dust. The moment he destroyed it, the few remaining corpses outside stopped moving.

Outside the warehouse, stillness settled over the battlefield like a heavy shroud. The once-shambling corpses now lay motionless, their neurochips deactivated, like lifeless puppets with their strings cut. The distant screams of guards and civilians faded into confused murmurs as they realized the threat was suddenly gone.

Lucifer adjusted his robes absently, fingertips brushing away phantom dust. His crimson gaze flickered toward Luna's unconscious form before turning to Oxy.

"Prepare to leave." His voice was devoid of mercy or regret, only efficiency remained.

"Now then. If the recovery is complete, then let us take Luna, and the other'—"

Lucifer flourished his red cape in a grandiose manner. (Already having equipped the armour while speaking)

"—And return in triumph!"