"He certainly was. At least for me. And I think somewhere deep down; Lucifer also misses the days of the Academy where he could live freely. Even if he doesn't show or act that his heart is stone now, I know it's not the case. Just watch."

"I hope you get your wish. I also want to meet the true Lucifer you talked about."

"You'll certainly get to meet him. I think I would ask him to come with me to the island. Maybe I can help him remember some of those feelings and break his shell?"

"That would be great. Don't forget to invite me. We will all come! My father would also love to see that side of his."

"Of course. It can be a group vacation." Salazar smiled. He soon noticed that they were already standing before the headquarters. "Ah, we're already here."

"If I'm not wrong, he should be on the top floor here. Let's go there," He commented.

He stepped inside the building, going to the top floor. 

Reaching the top floor, they noticed that there was only Eve sitting there. 

"Where is he?" Alicia asked Eve.

"I'm not sure. He went somewhere a little while ago," Eve replied. "Maybe try contacting them."

"I don't think we should. Let's just wait for him to return," Alicia let out as she started observing the floor. 

"This place is really nice. They have a pool table here."

"Want to play?" Eve asked, smiling. 

"Are you sure? You know I'm a pretty good player?"

"I know more than you think," Eve smiled. "Don't worry. I think I can give you a good fight."

"Go ahead then," Alicia took off her jacket, keeping it aside before walking to the pool table. 

"By the way, since you're so confident in your victory, how about we make this game more interesting?" Eve suggested. 

"How?" 

"By making a bet."

"What bet?"

"Simple. The loser has to do whatever the winner asks. Alright?"

"Do you mean anything anything?" Alicia looked at Eve, frowning. 

"Yep. Any one thing. It can be anything. The only limitations are that it can't be something that can bring physical harm to you. How's that?"

"Sounds interesting. I accept." Alicia agreed, not realizing that Eve was also the national champion during her younger days. Even though she didn't have much practice since then, she still had her talent. 

She also didn't realize that Eve had challenged her to this with a certain intention in mind. She had already decided what she wanted Alicia to do. 

Alicia, on the other hand, didn't care. She had seen the closeness of Eve with Lucifer. She wanted to bring her down a notch. And she was also pleased with the bet. She had already decided what she was going to ask from Eve as well. 

Unaware of the bet that was taking place in the background, Lucifer was still taking care of all the pieces. 

Fortunately, after a long time, he had managed to destroy the pieces of Julien's body except one. 

He took off his jacket and raised his shirt a bit, preparing for the incoming pain. 

He has been doing it for quite some time, but still, it felt off and slightly painful. He stabbed his own stomach with the last piece of Julien's body before he started decaying it. 

After the decay inside his body, the power of Julien was absorbed by his body. The energy sphere started taking shape near his chest. 

He pulled out his hand, letting the wounds heal. 

He didn't know why now, but he had started sweating as soon as he absorbed the body of Kellian. 

He wore his gloves again before carrying the cloak in his hand. He stood up, only to fall to his knees again. 

It was as if his legs had lost their strength abruptly. He saved himself from the fall, placing his hand on the ground, which made him look like he was bowing. 

"W-what is happening!" 

He couldn't understand what happened so suddenly. Why was his body so weak? Why were his legs so weak? And why did it all start after he absorbed Julien's strength?

He could feel that something was really wrong. His face was covered in sweat, just like his entire body for some reason. And he could feel that his condition was only getting worse. 

His hands had started trembling. He was shocked at what was happening and slightly scared as well. And the worst part was, he didn't know what was wrong with him. And even if something was wrong, why wasn't his healing working for him?

The cloak which was in his hand also dropped to the ground. With trembling hands, Lucifer tried to bring his glasses out of the pocket, but he noticed that he couldn't even hold the glasses to open them. 

And without opening them, he couldn't use them. The glasses needed an access to his retina to work for safety. But if he couldn't even wear them, they were useless. 

The trembling of his hands only increased with each passing second, increasing the difficulty of success. 

His face also started turning pale as his vision started becoming blurred. Before long, his hands also gave in, making him drop to the ground. 

As a last attempt, he tried to use a signal! He tried to use his lightning which he couldn't with his hand. The skies roared, making a terrifying lightning bolt fall on the roof of the building on the exact spot where he was on the lower floor. 

The lightning couldn't barge inside because of the protection of the building. 

Just that much use was enough for him though. He was finally exhausted. His eyes closed in weakness as his breathing slowed down. 

The lightning didn't go in vain though. It was noticed by Milena. 

She was flying above the city, guiding her Nobles in collecting the bodies, when she noticed the lightning bolt. 

As she was already so high in the sky, she could notice the top of the building. "Strange. There is no one there. Why would he use his bolt there? That's very odd."

She flew to the building, wondering if there was anything special there. But she couldn't see anything. There was nothing on the building except a scorching mark left on the building. 

"Why would he? It's strange. Is it his signal to us to work fast?" She wondered, frowning. 

She shook her head and flew back, thinking that she was right. She believed that he was telling them to work fast from inside the building, not even bothering to come out.. She didn't know that he was much more serious. 

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