The throne room of Hell wasn’t built for comfort—it was a monument to power, fear, and silence.
Lucifer slouched on his throne, blood staining the edge of his coat. The gash in his side throbbed with a steady, pulsing ache that even his divine will couldn’t suppress. In front of him, Jue stood still, like she didn’t quite belong to the same realm.
She wasn’t afraid of him. That much was clear.
He hated how much that intrigued him.
Jue knelt down silently, her eyes locked on the bleeding wound. Without asking permission, she pulled a small blade from the side of her boot. The metal shimmered with light that didn’t belong in Hell.
Lucifer tensed.
“Relax,” she said, her voice as calm as wind brushing across glass. “If I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t waste time talking.”
She sliced the edge of her glove open and pressed her exposed palm to his wound. A glow—pure and blue—spilled from her skin and poured into his.
Pain sparked, sharp and electric. His jaw tightened. He didn’t scream.
And then the pain… disappeared.
Lucifer exhaled slowly, leaning back against the throne. “You’re not from any realm I know.”
“I’m not from a realm,” Jue replied. “I’m… between.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Vague. Mysterious. Annoying.”
She offered the faintest of smiles. “Would you prefer ‘angel’ or ‘spy’?”
He studied her. “I’d prefer ‘real.’”
She didn’t respond.
[System Notice: Emotional Sync Level 3 Achieved. Trust Threshold 21%. Time Remaining: 61 Hours.]
The blue interface flickered before Jue’s eyes. Only she could see it. The numbers adjusted as she maintained eye contact with Lucifer. His gaze was intense, but she held it without faltering.
[Objective 1: Gain Trust — In Progress]
[Persona: Seraphim — Stable]
[Warning: Target's soul structure is highly volatile. Sudden truth exposure may trigger realm rupture.]
She mentally dismissed the window.
Lucifer’s voice broke the silence. “Why did you come here?”
She didn’t miss the weight behind the question. It wasn’t just curiosity—it was disbelief. Suspicion. Maybe even hope.
“Because you were dying,” she said quietly.
He leaned forward, red eyes narrow. “And why did that matter to you?”
Jue tilted her head slightly, calculating how much truth she could afford.
“I was told to save you.”
“By who?”
A pause. Then: “Someone higher.”
Lucifer scoffed. “God?”
She didn’t answer. But she didn’t deny it either.
The Following Day
Hell’s third realm did not welcome outsiders.
The shadows here weren’t passive—they watched. Whispers slithered between stone walls. The damned souls pacing below screamed soundlessly, locked in eternal loops of regret. Fires blazed in unnatural rhythm.
And yet, within Lucifer’s keep, peace hung like a thread.
Jue walked the obsidian halls with silent footsteps, mapping every corridor in her mind. She had no need for food or sleep. Every movement she made was deliberate, calculated, clean.
Lucifer was watching her.
He hadn’t stopped since she arrived.
She was too composed. Too calm. She had the posture of someone used to gods bowing to her, not the other way around.
“You don’t flinch at screams,” he said, following her from behind. “You don’t seem bothered by flames, blood, or death.”
“I’ve seen worse,” she replied, not turning around.
Lucifer smirked. “You don’t scare easy.”
“Neither do you.”
“Difference is,” he said, stepping beside her, “I’m the thing people are scared of.”
They walked in silence. Then he asked the question he’d been circling around for hours.
“Why do you really care if I live or die?”
Jue stopped.
Her golden eyes met his. For a heartbeat, she considered lying. But she knew how to manipulate truth far better than that.
“You matter,” she said simply.
He searched her face, frowning. “To who?”
Jue didn’t blink. “To me.”
And for the first time in centuries, Lucifer looked away first.
Later That Night
Jue stood alone on the outer balcony, the wind of Hell brushing past her cloak. Below, rivers of lava carved their way through darkness, painting the sky in molten orange. She could see the boundary of the realm pulsing, unstable.
[System Prompt: Time remaining — 52 Hours. Current Emotional Intensity: 42%. Betrayal Window Forecast: 9%. Adjust strategy?]
“...No,” Jue murmured under her breath. “Stay the course.”
[Warning: Emotional entanglement detected.]
Jue’s gaze tightened. “You always say that.”
[Reminder: Target must never know the mission is artificial. Violation will result in annihilation of target consciousness and immediate operator reformat.]
She closed her eyes.
Zero was always efficient. Cold. Unyielding.
But Zero didn’t feel what she did. That flicker of warmth when Lucifer laughed under his breath. The surprise she felt when he bandaged her wrist earlier without saying a word. The quiet way he listened when she wasn’t speaking.
He wasn’t supposed to matter like this.
And yet…
[Emotion detected: Guilt. Do you wish to suppress it?]
Jue didn’t respond.
Because for the first time in over a billion years… she didn’t know the answer.
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