.

(With Lucifer, The CEO of hell)

It's been days since her encounter with those humans yet she can't help but to think about those two and what they talked about. 

Humans had always been quite uninteresting outside the few exceptions that appear from time to time.

They have always been known to us as failures due to how they align with their own sins and virtues. With most of them gaining a partial acceptance and control over them. 

The first is quite complicated to explain as it goes on the nature of demons and their connection with their sins. Connection that humans fail to make as they always make excuses for their acts instead of embracing the reason why they do them. Or they simply lose themselves in them.

It's fun to bring back the Crusades when discussing with angels… how many sinful acts committed by humans since they had the perfect moral justification since they are part of a so-called holy and sacred mission.

That is where humans fail to connect with their sins.

Demons embrace their sins using their long lifespan to taste and indulge in them till they become… boring, uninteresting and simply lacking from that initial rush finally reaching a period of complete control over said sin. We are no longer driven by them unless we so desire.

There is also their arrogance… just listen to their definition of hell as a place made for them so they can be punished for their sins. The audacity.

There isn't even anything to explain about why they are 'Punished' once you understand that Demons thrive in places filled with Chaos, Destruction and more importantly, Negative Emotions. The reason why sinners are sent to hell is an old contract that Heaven and I made to decide where the unwanted souls will end. And since Heaven won't accept filth they were simply left for us to do as we please. 

This duality in humans is what made souls fitting to become Angels or Angels so rare. And yet against all odds two of said exceptions… found her.

The blonde girl was quite the feast. Her Divinity and Purity was quite obvious even rivaling some of the humans that called themselves Gods and became the now told Myths, I just hope she isn't an idiot like the last ones that boasted about themselves  being the Ruler of the Sky. Calling himself that because of a better than average control of the weather… or the "Omniscient' ones that just had a better sight than the rest… 

But for now that doesn't seem to be the case if the look of her soul is to be believed. It rivals that of some Angels.

She will leave her be as she did with all the others that called themselves Gods, although this one didn't call herself that…

She had long understood that all things are bound to be repeated and since Lucifer herself exists, there is bound to be someone trying to reach her heights. Maybe in due time someone capable of posing a challenge to her will appear, someone capable of giving her a good time…

At least that girl seems to have something interesting within her… possessing something that is so conflicting with her regal and untainted looks said a lot since she isn't hiding it or suppressing it. That Mud filled with curses that seems to have corrupted her yet it exists alongside her in harmony.

That earned her some points as she clearly accepted this part of herself.

The other one… At first Lucifer thought that she found some kind of saint, someone akin to an angel due to how much virtue and 'good' there is in their soul but another glance made her realize how wrong she was when she found his Lust and Wrath not being repressed, hidden or covered… it just sat there for everyone to see without care. Free and simply waiting.

There isn't much to say about his Lust as he seems to have it under control, otherwise he would have been filled with it as soon as he glanced at her as most do. The only reaction she got from when he looked at me was simply recognition and understanding of who she is.

That is not to say that he was completely unaffected but he took control of himself rather easily. 

Which does bring the question of who is on the receiving end of that much Lust. Nothing pointed to that to be the blonde girl so he must have another woman despite the clear thing that was going on between the two of them…

Multiple Lovers? An actual harem is my guess. That girl will have it though taking the next step while being that closed up and serious all the time if his focus is on multiple other women…

To make it worse, her royal looks also indicate some kind of duty as well…

But back to him there was surprisingly not an ounce of fear even if he was wary of her, even having recognized how she is and possibly what she is capable of…

She finds the idea of him having something to deal with her amusing, curious even, given that lack of fear. 

But the most precious thing found in this short meeting was his Wrath.

It has been so full of life, so full of strength and so pure. It is hard to find something similar even among Demons and yet such rage hasn't broken free, releasing itself in a destructive rampage but seems to be always at the edge of spilling, about to break. 

A little push in the right direction and he may… 

“Huh?” Lucifer paused and looked at her hand that sat sadly over the now empty plate, a plate that was previously filled with the remains of the 100 Pancakes that he gifted her.  

Now she is the one feeling ‘Wrath’. She sat frustrated because someone was clearly underestimating her.

Only 100 pancakes? Who does he think she is, he should've triplicated that number in the very least if he meant to please her. 

No, maybe this is part of his plan to… to give her enough to shortly please her but nowhere enough for her to be satiated so she will be back for more. 

Yeah, definitely.

=======================

[With Ahm]

*Sneeze*

“Wait…you can get sick?”

“I don't think so… “ Someone must be talking behind my back…

=======================

[Back to Luci]

Clever human.

Frustrated and unable to do anything about it, Lucifer remembered the other part of the frustrating gift as she savored the aftertaste of the pancakes. Not only were they top notch in quality but they also came filled with different fillings.

Lucifer couldn't help but to lick her lips when remembering their taste all while holding the second part of that wicked human gift– a note and what seems to be a… strange feeling black colored ball.

This ball looks completely ordinary to her no matter what she tries which should be impossible considering what the note says.

“This contains all the information I mentioned in our deal. It works as a memory, holding it near your head while wanting to absorb its content will be enough.

Ahmya”

Lucifer thought nothing out of it and did as the letter instructed but then she found herself shocked because it… worked.

She was fortunate to witness the whole process of these memories settling in her mind or else she would miss the chance to realize the wonders of its workings. 

An object that she couldn't identify at first sended information that bypassed her mental defenses and managed to deliver information to a place near the core of her memories essentially making her assimilate those memories into her own.  

Now that is nothing short but impressive on its own since it managed to bypass all her mental defenses unhindered as if they weren't there.

Yes, she let her guard down as she wasn't expecting something like that to happen but there is a difference between lowering your defenses and straight up opening a door and letting an intruder strode in your own home.

In short, she should feel something is going on when anything foreign enters her mind yet this time her mind took this intruder as something natural and her own defenses even guided it towards its destination.

Knowing how dangerous something like this could be, Lucifer needed to ponder the information she managed to gather during their short meeting while also investigating the method that these memories used while traveling through her mind.

She sat there for hours doing her best to gather every bit she learned about him and a smile started to make its way to her lips as her time pondering earned some really interesting results.

The first thing she discovered is that the memories managed to bypass her defenses by somehow communicating its intent with her own mind the moment they made contact.

Her own mind, realizing it's intent, simply let the messenger deliver the message as they pose no threats. 

It's easy to understand why such an exchange could be dangerous as it would be done without her noticing if it weren't for her directly looking at the process. Granted, it probably won't pose a threat to someone like her due to the difference in strength but someone of similar strength would find themselves wide open and defenseless to a sudden attack from this kind of 'messenger' if said message is malicious. 

Controlling this communication could turn out to be a deadly weapon if it leaves some kind of suggestions alongside the message. 

The second thing she found is that its maker simply didn't intend to make it dangerous or threatening which should be the main reason why it let out such a feeling of being harmless in the first place, but… what if that human learns how to hide and control for his own use? 

Most Demons are known to be brutal but also simple and straightforward with their approach. Not being used to such a strange way to fight means that the entire hell could be taken over if he were to implant memories on all its residents…

And the best part? Lucifer is sure that its maker simply didn't understand what he created and how dangerous it can be if used properly, taking it as a simple tool to transfer memories.

Lucifer was feeling… excited as this was only something she discovered by accident and in such a short meeting with him.

One meeting and he is already showing such new things. And that wasn't all since there was the information he brought about Devils, Angels and different Pantheons with their respective 'Gods' living in the same world…

A different 'Hell' and a different 'Heaven' with its own 'Lord' and that pitiful excuse of an imitation of herself that died during the 'Great War'.

All that in only one world with there is already information of a couple other examples. She was aware of other works but this much in common can't be a coincidence.

And…

Maybe… just maybe… Hell could use a little expansion while also taking a couple new residents.

And If she plays her card right, even those in Heaven will want to lend her a hand to unite their distant siblings…

(Back to the Star court) 

Back with Ahm.

"What took you guys so long? I waited for months " Ciri looked frustrated as she remembered the many times she tried to contact this place, it was to the point we're many of the members of The Rats started to call her lazy due to how much she overslept during the first weeks they met. 

"Months? It's been a week for me… " Seems like Ciri felt the confusion in my voice and stopped being angry.

Yeah it's weird but she accepted it. What's one more weird stuff added into this whole thing?

"Really? I almost believed this place was a hallucination due to hunger and exhaustion if it wasn't for this little guy. " Following her words a small figure made its way to her hands and I instantly felt a connection with this small and dark figure as it was made from my Ink. 

I remember giving Ciri a bunch of ink to carry the food and water that she needed and the memories about parts of her future. I also remember pumping it with a lot since it was the first time I tried to send something across dimensions…

Did it somehow mutate due to how much energy I gave it or maybe it's due the dimensions crossing stuff… it may even be something particular from ciri's world too. I remember a lot of novels with weird stuff in them, even somewhere spirit just appears about everywhere for pretty much any reason so I can't discard that option.

Wuxia novels even got spiritual food so who knows and even here in Japan we got Yokais which are made from teapots, jars and stuff like fire.

Well regardless of the reason there is only one way to find out and that is to look into it so I tried bringing the little guy to me… but Ciri didn't let me as she kept holding it close in a firm grip. 

"I will keep it. Compensation for making me wait for so long" She seems attached to the little thing… 

"I need to see if it is alright. " I signaled for her to pass it to me. 

"That's a lie. It told me. " I guess there is no harm in letting her keep it, and it was made for her in the first place.

"Betrayed by my own creation… " 

Even Artoria smiled at us.

"I want to look into it to understand why it came back so late." She looked at the little humanoid clump of ink first before accepting. 

Looking at its memories I can see what they were doing during the months they spent in Ciri's world and as she said it seems that time flies faster in her world. 

I will look into the rest later.

"What are you doing? " Curious and with nothing else to do, Artoria asked.

"Looking at its memories" My answer seems to have triggered something on the young Witcher.

"Wait. Does that include our baths? " Well she is right on that, I could get those if I wanted.

"... No~ " I couldn't pass up the chance to tease her a little bit since it's quite fun to see her angry. Without worries.

Note to self. 

1-Filter private moments.

Also…

2-Save embarrassing moments for further teasing later.

"Damn pervert! I forbid you from looking at them. "Ciri yelled with a reddened face, who knows if it's because of anger or something else.

"What is there to look up? Grow up first brat. " 

She became annoyed at my comment but also defiant. Having seen her future self her eyes were saying 'You just wait till I grow up.' 

“Let's see, so you were training your powers…? “ Tripping root while teleporting at high speed in the middle of a forest falling face first into the mud. “Well, Kei says that mud is nice for your skin…” 

“Stop! “ 

I made a copy of the memories in the little guy's mind then returned it to Ciri. The little guy seemed to understand what I wanted and blocked those that were intimate.

Smart thing.

"So