Ciel's POV
The clock struck midnight, each chime echoing like a war drum in my chest. At last, it was time.
I rose from my chair and left the study, the halls silent but heavy with the promise of blood. My steps carried me to the chamber where Serena rested. She lay peacefully, untouched by the storm that awaited us. For a moment, I simply stood there, drinking in the sight of her—my anchor, my love.
Leaning down, I pressed a soft kiss to her lips.
"I will return to you," I whispered, voice low, steady. "Wait for me, my love."
Then I turned and left before my resolve could falter.
Outside the castle, shadows shifted and stirred as the Devil's Army assembled. Their armor gleamed faintly in the moonlight, rows of soldiers waiting for my command.
"It's time," I said, my voice ringing with purpose.
"Yes, Your Highness!" they answered as one, their cry cutting through the night.
And with that, we took flight, darkness itself carrying us toward the enemy's stronghold.
Lucien's POV
"Damn it, damn it, damn it—I can't believe this is happening!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the stone walls.
"This is really bad," Lila said, her tone sharp with fear.
"Yes, I know!" I snapped back. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might tear out of my chest. "If Ciel's army attacks now, it will ruin everything—we'll lose all our plans!"
"You don't think I know that, Lucien?!" Asriel screamed.
Before I could reply, Asriel's voice thundered across the chamber. "Gordon! Announce the evacuation of the cave!"
I clutched my head, dizziness and panic twisting together. Fear wrapped itself around me like chains. Damn it, why is something always standing in my way?
"Lucien!" Asriel roared again, his fury shaking me from my spiraling thoughts. "What the hell are you standing around for?! Didn't you hear me? We need to evacuate before Ciel and his army find us!"
"Alright," I said as I made for the door, but froze when Asriel's voice thundered behind me. "Damn it! How did they even find us?"
That same question was gnawing at me.
It didn't make sense. Ciel shouldn't have been able to track us—last time, he couldn't even sense fallen angels without my help. So how? Someone… betrayed us? No. No, that seemed unlikely. But then… how?
"Lucien, let's go!" Lila grabbed my arm, dragging me back to reality. "Run with the others before it's too late!"
I forced myself to nod, swallowing the dread burning in my throat. "Alright."
Together, we rushed down the corridors, joining the panicked crowd of fallen already flooding the halls. The cave trembled with the thunder of fleeing footsteps, and still the question gnawed at me:
How did Ciel find us?
**********
Once we reached the grand hall, Gordon was already trying to bring order to the chaos.
"Everyone stay put! Remain calm and wait for Master Asriel! You wouldn't want him to come down and see you all like this, would you?" he barked.
The crowd froze instantly. No one dared move a muscle.
As we stood in tense silence, I suddenly felt something brush against my leg. Startled, I looked down—and my eyes widened. Documents. The same ones Malvrik had brought to Asriel. I bent down, picked them up, and as soon as they touched my hand, a strange sensation coursed through me.
Yes, they were enchanted—but there was something more. Something deeper, hidden, dangerous.
Before I could unravel the mystery, my thoughts were torn apart by the sound of heavy footsteps. Asriel burst into the hall, his presence commanding silence.
"Alright, listen carefully!" he thundered. "We've been found out. Ciel is coming here—with his army."
A murmur of panic rippled through the crowd.
"I don't know how he found us," Asriel continued, "but we have no choice. We must escape."
"Why can't we just fight them head-on?!" someone shouted from the back.
Asriel's eyes flashed with fury. "As much as I would love to, we cannot. Do you fools forget? The Devil's Army is the strongest force in the entire Demon Realm. Ciel used that very army to bring down Ael and his angels in the Celestial War. If we face them now, I will lose more than half my fallen before sunrise. And I doubt any of you are eager to die tonight."
He paused, his voice dropping lower, darker. "Because you know where fallen angels go after death…"
The hall went deathly silent. I already knew the answer. We all did.
"The Abyss," Asriel hissed.
A collective shudder ran through the room—including me. The Abyss… a place of endless torment. Monsters. Darkness. Pain beyond imagination. An eternal prison.
No—I couldn't end up there. None of us could.
"Now," Asriel roared, "we move. Immediately!"
With that, the hall erupted into motion. Wings unfurled, shadows surged, and one by one, the fallen angels began to rise into the air. I followed them, flying out of the massive cavern we had been hiding in, the weight of dread gnawing at my chest.
And still… those documents burned like fire in my hand.
**********
We didn't make it far.
The night sky had barely swallowed us before—BOOM! A blazing arrow of fire cut through the air, striking a fallen beside me. He screamed once before his body spiraled downward into the darkness.
I snapped my head around, my wings faltering.
And then I froze.
There he was.
Ciel.
Hovering in the air with an army at his back—demons radiating an aura so dark and powerful it made my very bones quake. Their eyes glowed like embers in the night, their presence suffocating, the kind of magic that promised nothing but death and ruin.
"Damn it," I whispered, my throat tight. "It's too late."
The sight of them alone was enough to drain the breath from my lungs. Ciel's gaze locked on us like a predator about to strike, his soldiers spreading out behind him like a tide of shadows, wings stretching across the sky.
Closer.
Closer.
Bringing doom with every beat of their wings.