Chapter 110: Judged

“Did you see what just happened?” Asmodeus said, hovering in the sky, invisible to all mortal eyes, a few feet away from the villa.

“Yes, we all did. We were right here,” Beelzebub replied, rolling his eyes.

Asmodeus fixed him with a sharp glare. “That’s why you’re the least among us.”

Beelzebub’s eyes widened. “How dare…”

“Enough,” Leviathan cut in. “Both of you. We have a bigger problem.”

Belphegor nodded, head tilting as he watched Leitana smile and wave at the car driving away. “Leviathan is right. That’s not what matters. She is a problem.”

“Problem?” Mammon murmured. “I wouldn’t classify that little girl as a problem.”

“Oh?” Beelzebub drawled. “Then enlighten us, Mammonnnn. What would you call her?”

Mammon shook his head slowly. “It’s clear Lucifer doesn’t see her as a vessel of God meant to be corrupted.” His jaw tightened. “It disgusts me to say this, but… I think he likes or better still loves the mortal.”

They gasped everyone except Abaddon.

He hadn’t spoken since they arrived in the mortal realm. His dark eyes followed the supposed Star of God as she turned toward the villa. She placed one bare foot on the stone step then stopped.

From where he hovered, Abaddon saw it clearly.

Her body went tense.

His eyes narrowed just as her gaze lifted, directly toward them.

“I think she can see us,” he said calmly.

Their chatter died instantly.

“What?” Leviathan scoffed. “That’s impossible. She can’t…”

The words caught in his throat.

Leitana was staring straight at them.

Even from this distance, her expression was sharp. Focused. Almost… assessing.

“What the fuck,” Mammon muttered. “She can’t see us… can she?”

Asmodeus leaned closer, wings folding tight. “I don’t think she can see us. But she can sense us.” Her voice dropped. “We need to leave.”

Beelzebub growled. “Why? Since when are we afraid of some pale little wench?”

“She’s not just some pale wench,” Abaddon said. “Can’t you see it? The way she glows? The light around her?” His voice darkened. “She’s wrapped in the Almighty’s glory. It makes no sense that Lucifer can touch her and not be struck down.”

Leitana suddenly shook her head, as if dispelling a chill, then turned and walked back into the villa. Her bare feet padded softly against the stone. The oversized shirt fluttered around her thighs.

She never looked back.

Above, the Princes of Hell hovered in silence, wings utterly still.

Asmodeus exhaled shakily. “She definitely felt us. Even if she doesn’t know what we are.”

Belphegor watched the villa doors close. “Like prey sensing the pack before the hunt.”

Beelzebub scoffed, though the mockery was gone. “She’s supposed to be dying. Weak. Fragile. How does a half-dead vessel of light sense seven Princes of Hell from fifty feet below?”

Mammon’s wings twitched. “Because she’s not just a vessel anymore.”

All eyes turned to him.

“Lucifer didn’t just touch her,” Mammon continued. “He bound himself to her. That pact we witnessed? It runs both ways. His darkness in her light. Her light in his darkness.” His voice hardened. “She’s carrying a piece of him now. And pieces of Lucifer tend to wake when Hell gets too close.”

Leviathan’s voice was grim. “So every time we approach, she feels the echo.”

Abaddon spoke again, voice deep and steady.

“She didn’t flinch. She judged us.”

The word lingered.

Judged.

Asmodeus wrapped her arms around herself. “We need to tell him.”

Mammon let out a short, bitter laugh. “Tell Lucifer his little lamb sensed us watching? That she stared down the Lords of Hell without blinking?” He shook his head. “He’ll laugh… then tear our wings off for spying.”

“Or worse,” Beelzebub muttered. “He’ll thank us. If her light starts peeling back his glamour if she sees what he really is…”

“It could burn him,” Leviathan said.

“Or save him,” Belphegor added softly.

Mammon rounded on him. “Save him? Are you insane? The Morningstar doesn’t want saving.”

Abaddon cut through the tension. “He cannot go back.”

They all turned.

“We followed him when he fell,” Abaddon continued. “We chose exile. War. Darkness. If he turns toward the light now, if that girl drags him toward redemption then he is no longer fit to rule.”

Ash settled over them.

Mammon flared his wings. “He’s still the strongest.”

Abaddon met each of their gazes. “Then we remind him why he fell.”

Asmodeus swallowed. “You’re suggesting—”

“I’m stating,” Abaddon said. “If the Star of God threatens to pull him back, we cut the thread.” His eyes flicked to the villa. “If necessary… we cut her.”

Leviathan shifted uneasily. “He’ll kill us.”

Abaddon smiled, cold and thin. “Only if he knows.”

“And if he finds out?” Belphegor asked.

“Then we remind him why he was cast down.”

One by one, they faded into the morning light.

All except Abaddon.

He lingered, watching the villa where a dying girl had stared into Hell itself…

…and hadn’t looked away.

Then he vanished.

Leaving only the echo of wings on the wind…

and the certainty that they had taken notice.

They would never let their king return to the light he once despised.

Leitana stepped inside, her heart thudding hard against her ribs.

She knew what she had felt.

Something powerful had been watching her. Something ancient. The chill still clung to her skin.

She took a steadying breath.

Papa God, open my eyes, she prayed silently….

Just as a hand pressed down on her shoulder.