Chapter 87 When Darkness Answers
Lucifer emerged into the garden of the dream world like a shadow tearing through silk. The air tightened around him, thick and heavy, as if the realm itself held its breath. Dark vapors curled around his boots, seeping into the dream-soil like ink.
Behind him, light cracked open the sky.
Michael descended in a burst of brilliance, wings flaring wide. The glow around him flickered with fury pure, righteous, dangerous.
“Hand it over, Lucifer.”
His voice carried the weight of a storm, shaking the leaves of the glowing dream-trees. Lightning slithered along his sword, alive and restless, begging to be unleashed.
Lucifer didn’t bother turning fully. A slow grin sharp and taunting lifted his lips.
“And what if I don’t?” His voice was soft, almost amused. “I didn’t take it from you to begin with.”
The garden shifted, air rippling like disturbed water.
Dreams stepped out of the space between thoughts, his presence bending the world around him. Wisps of green energy snapped at his fingertips, sparks drifting into the air like broken stars.
“Then you’re not leaving my realm alive,” he murmured, eyes narrowing.
Lucifer chuckled, the sound low and cold.
“Two against one,” he said, spreading his arms slightly as shadows unfurled from his back, stretching like the wings he once possessed. “How very bold. Show me what the Archangel of War and the King of Dreams are truly capable of.”
Darkness rolled off him in slow, heavy waves, swallowing the colors of the dream garden. His eyes deepened into an infernal red glowing, hateful, ancient.
“Sometimes,” he whispered, “I wonder if Father made a mistake… giving you the title of Prince of War.”
Michael didn’t wait for another insult.
He lunged, sword cutting through the air with a crack that split the sky open. A spear of white-hot lightning shot forward, burning a trench of light across the ground. Dreams reacted instantly green energy spiraling from his palms, twisting like vines made of starlight, hurling toward Lucifer with lethal precision.
Lucifer didn’t retreat.
He welcomed it.
A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he thrust out his hand. Darkness erupted, massive and violent, like a beast freed from its cage. It slammed into both attacks at once.
Light collided with shadow.
Dream-energy wove through darkness like a living serpent.
The entire garden trembled dream-trees shivering, skies cracking, the ground splitting beneath their feet.
The explosion knocked all three back.
Michael skidded across the dream-soil, blood marking the corner of his lip holy blood glowing with a faint golden hue. Dreams staggered, wiped the crimson from his mouth, and lifted his head slowly, emerald eyes burning brighter with every passing second.
Then he raised both hands.
The realm answered him.
Green currents swirled up his arms, humming with raw power power that made the air tremble and warp. The sky dimmed, shadows fleeing from him as if he commanded the very heartbeat of the dream world.
“I am Dreams,” he said, his voice echoing with a resonance that felt ancient and inescapable.
“King of the dream world. Master of every sleeping mind.”
Energy gathered above Lucifer, twisting, coiling, forming a halo of shifting green lightning.
“I cage you, Lucifer dream binds dream!”
Green lightning spiraled above Lucifer’s head, threads of emerald power weaving into a tightening crown. The light hissed as it closed in, warping the air with the force of Dreams’ will.
But Lucifer only laughed.
His laughter echoed through the dream world wild, sharp, a sound that didn’t belong in any realm touched by peace. The shadows around him thickened, curling like smoke rising from a burning forest.
“You’ve forgotten who you’re trying to snare,” he said, voice dropping to a low, dangerous rumble. Darkness pulsed from his skin, each wave thicker than the last. “You rule humans… only when they sleep.”
A crack split the space above his head. His horns tore through, black and curved, glistening with a hellish sheen. They rose like weapons forged from night itself. The shadows around him writhed as if alive hungry creatures crawling from the void, drawn to their king.
Lucifer lifted his head, eyes glowing a violent, blood-deep red.
“But I,” he growled, the sound shaking the dream soil beneath him, “am the Father of Nightmares.” His wings of shadow unfurled wider, swallowing the garden in creeping darkness. “Lucifer Morningstar. King of Hell.”
The ground trembled as he stepped forward.
“Hunter of souls.”
The crown of green lightning collapsed the moment his power surged.
A storm of pitch-black energy exploded from him, roaring outward in a wave that devoured the dream world’s light. Dreams’ magic shattered instantly breaking apart like shards of glowing glass caught in a hurricane.
Dreams didn’t even have time to shield himself.
The force slammed into him, lifting him from the ground. He hit the earth with a sickening crack, dream-soil splintering beneath his body. His breath escaped him in a ragged groan.
Lucifer hovered over him, a silhouette of living darkness, his eyes burning like fire trapped behind glass.
“You shouldn’t have stepped into this fight, little brother.”
Dreams tried to push himself up, arms trembling violently, but his strength was already gone stolen by the nightmare that now towered above him.
Lucifer’s gaze shifted toward Michael.
The fury in Michael’s eyes dimmed for a heartbeat as Lucifer’s expression softened into something disturbingly close to amusement. With a lazy flick of his wrist, Lucifer tossed the necklace toward him. It spun through the darkened air, catching no light because there was none left around him.
“Take it. I don’t need it.”
He dissolved into the shadows, his body fading first, then his wings, then the burning outline of his eyes until only drifting wisps of darkness remained, floating like black ash.
Michael caught the necklace.
It pulsed faintly in his palm wrong, distorted, but he didn’t notice. He felt only the hum of power, unaware that its glow had been tainted. Twisted. Turned into a silent poison.
Lucifer had corrupted the holy aura, burying darkness inside it like a hidden blade waiting to cut.
Every time Michael used it, it would drain hims tealing pieces of his power, piece by piece… until there was nothing left to take.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for reading this chapter! Things are getting darker, deeper, and a whole lot more intense, and I’m honestly having so much fun bringing these scenes to life. Lucifer, Michael, and Dreams really showed their true colors here, and I can’t wait for you to see what happens next.
If you enjoyed this chapter, don’t forget to like, comment, and share your thoughts with me. Your reactions, theories, and support mean so much and truly inspire me to keep writing more for you.
See you in the next chapter!