Chapter 136 The War Between Blood
Lucifer stood at the center of the ruined battlefield, calm amid the chaos.
Ash drifted through the air, slow and weightless, settling on scorched stone and shattered armor. Broken wings lay scattered across the ground white feathers stained black, torn from bodies that no longer moved. The earth beneath his boots was slick with blood and burn marks, cracked open from divine fire and infernal heat colliding.
An angel charged.
Lucifer barely turned.
Steel whispered through the air. The angel’s momentum carried him forward for half a step before his body collapsed, lifeless. A thin scream barely more than a breath was torn free from the corpse, spiraling toward Lucifer’s hand. The ring on his finger drank it in greedily.
The gem pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Its glow deepened, red light bleeding between Lucifer’s fingers like a living thing. The air around him thickened, heavy with the echo of trapped voices pleas, prayers, unfinished screams.
None of them reached heaven.
Lucifer turned slowly, unhurried, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield as if searching for something misplaced.
“Where are you, Michael?” His voice cut through the noise, smooth and sharp all at once. “Show yourself.” His lips curved faintly. “Or has the Prince of War forgotten how to face his enemy?”
The wind shifted.
Thunder rolled across the sky, low and warning, rattling the broken weapons at Lucifer’s feet.
He tilted his head.
A shadow crossed the ash-choked clouds above.
Lightning split the heavens as Michael descended, wings spread wide, power crackling along every feather. He struck the ground like a falling star. Stone shattered beneath him, fractures racing outward in a violent web. Dust and sparks exploded into the air as he straightened, sword already in hand.
“Hello, brother,” Michael said, a crooked smile pulling at his mouth.
Lucifer’s gaze flicked not to Michael’s face, but to his hand.
Then back to the ring burning against his own skin.
The shift was subtle, but Michael felt it.
His smile faltered.
His eyes followed Lucifer’s stare, landing on the ring. The glow reflected in his pupils, red against blue. Whatever ease he’d carried vanished in an instant, replaced by something tight and cold.
He took a step forward. “What is that ring?” His voice dropped, heavy with authority—the kind that once commanded legions without question.
Lucifer raised his hand slowly.
The ring caught the light.
Inside the gem, shadows moved. Faces pressed against an invisible surface, mouths open in silent agony. A faint chorus leaked into the air broken prayers, whispered names, the sound of souls clawing at eternity.
Michael’s fingers curled around his sword.
Lucifer watched him closely.
“You already know,” Lucifer said, his tone almost gentle. “But if you need reminding these are your angels.” His eyes gleamed. “The ones who trusted you.”
He let the silence stretch.
“Some will serve me as demons.” His smile widened, sharp and satisfied.
Lucifer clenched his fist.
The ring flared violently, the screams surging louder for a single, terrible heartbeat.
“The rest…” he said softly.
“They will feed my power.”
The sky split open.
Lightning tore through the clouds, slamming into the ground between them as Michael’s fury broke free. The force of it sent shattered stone skidding across the battlefield. Wind howled outward in violent waves.
“How dare you!” Michael roared.
The sound carried power raw, unchecked. Ruins trembled. Fallen weapons rattled where they lay. Even the air seemed to recoil from his voice.
Lucifer did not flinch.
His sword slid free with a soft, lethal whisper. The moment the blade cleared its sheath, the heavens darkened. Crimson clouds churned above them, rolling low and heavy, pressing down like a gathering omen.
“No, brother,” Lucifer said, calm as ever. “How dare you.”
Michael’s wings snapped wide, feathers crackling with electricity. Light bled from the seams of his armor. “Father should have destroyed you,” he said, each word edged with venom. “Not crowned you ruler of Hell.”
Lucifer laughed.
It was a short sound sharp, humorless. “And replaced me with you?” His eyes glinted as he stepped forward, boots crunching against broken stone. “You don’t deserve the title you wear, Michael. You never did.”
The distance between them closed.
“You lit the first flame,” Lucifer continued, voice steady, merciless. “You spilled my blood.” His gaze hardened. “Father stripped you of power for that sin.”
He leaned closer, lowering his voice. “And then you committed the unforgivable one.”
Michael stilled.
Even the wind seemed to hesitate.
“The Hemilune blood,” Lucifer murmured. “You brought it back.”
Michael’s jaw tightened. His grip on his sword trembled not with fear, but with something far more dangerous.
Lucifer watched the reaction with quiet satisfaction. “Do you know what Father will do,” he asked softly, “when he finds out?”
Silence crashed down harder than thunder.
Then Michael moved.
He surged forward in a blur of light, sword blazing as it cleaved through the air. Lucifer met the attack head-on. Their blades collided with a scream of metal, the impact detonating outward. The ground beneath them split apart, fissures racing through stone as shockwaves tore across the battlefield.
They locked together, face to face.
“Does the truth hurt?” Lucifer snarled, teeth bared.
He twisted his blade, forcing Michael back a step. “Or maybe this will.” His eyes burned. “What will Father say when he learns his perfect son has a child with a vampire?”
Michael’s breath hitched.
Lucifer smiled, slow and cruel. “A mistake,” he whispered, “I helped you erase.”
Lightning exploded from Michael’s eyes.
With a sharp, violent motion, he ripped the necklace from his neck. The symbol shattered in his grasp, and the air screamed as his restraint broke. Power erupted outward, wild and blinding. His sword ignited lightning and fire entwining, roaring into a storm that swallowed his blade whole.
The battlefield shook.
Cracks split the earth. Ruins collapsed. The sky burned white with power.
Michael raised his weapon, chest heaving, voice stripped of mercy. “Prepare to die, brother.”
Lucifer straightened slowly.
Dark wings unfurled behind him, shadows stretching long and hungry across the ground. The ring on his finger throbbed, pulsing like a living heart, feeding on the chaos.
He smiled.
“Are you certain?” he asked quietly. “Because I’ve waited a long time for this moment.”
His eyes locked onto Michael’s.
“Today, only one of us falls.”