A thick, angry vein violently popped out on the side of Luke’s temple, his jaw clenching so hard the bone looked like it might snap.

Yet, his noble training kept him rooted to the spot, his hands curling into tight fists as Lucien and Nadia smoothly passed right beside him, their shoulders nearly brushing his as they ignored his presence entirely.

As the Student Council group disappeared through the heavy oak doors of the executive suite, a low, mocking laugh echoed from the shadows of the hallway behind Luke.

"Well, well, well..." Rufus Semjaza sauntered out from a recessed archway, his blood-red hair messy, his black eyes wide with a mischievous, unhinged glee.

Lilith walked right beside him, her dark hairs catching the ambient torchlight as her lips grew wide on her face in a matching, sinister smirk.

"The absolute love of your life... has another love of her life. Isn’t that just tragic, Luke?"

Luke didn’t turn around immediately, his voice freezing the air. "What do you want, Rufus? If you’re here to contest our match again, do it when my brain is active."

"Oh, I’m not here to fight," Rufus chuckled, stepping closer until he was just a pace behind Luke, his eyes locked on the closed council doors.

"How about we join your new council? There’s an official examination required for anyone wanting to take a seat under your banner, right? I’m absolutely sure Lilith and I will pass just fine. After all... we all want the same thing. We want to see those high-and-mighty princesses fall from their thrones."

Inside the sprawling, black-marble Student Council room, the heavy doors clicked shut, sealing out the noise of the academy.

Nyx moved behind her grand obsidian desk, draped in the natural shadows of the room, while Dahlia, Riley, and Nadia took their respective places along the council table.

Meghan stood in the center of the floor, her eyes darting briefly to Lucien, who had casually leaned against the far wall, his expression unreadable, before she focused entirely on Nyx.

"Speak, Meghan," Nyx commanded softly, leaning forward. "You mentioned the seals. You mentioned the names of the old world. Tell us exactly how the Primordials got trapped."

Meghan took a deep breath, her hands resting over her heart as the ancient, bitter history poured out of her. "It started right after Lucifer’s fall... eighteen years ago. Around that exact same time, when the King of the devils was killed, the fallen angels realized they couldn’t control the dark realms if the original Primordial Devils remained active.

So, they plotted with the High Angels of the Ethereal Hierarchy. They convinced them that the original devils should be gone for good, claiming we were nothing but the ultimate bane of human existence."

Dahlia’s eyes flared with a cold fury. "And the angels went along with it."

"The angels unfortunately agreed," Meghan nodded, her voice straining. "But to enact a seal that powerful, they needed the ultimate leverage. They hunted down and captured your mother, Geraldine.

They aggressively tortured her, trying to force her to tell them where the weapon was, the singular, primordial weapon that could permanently kill any devil, the very blade that had pierced Lucifer himself. But... your mother was incredibly good at keeping secrets. She didn’t give them a single syllable."

Nyx’s jaw clenched, her golden eyes burning with a rabid, silent intensity.

"Because she refused to break," Meghan continued, "the fallen angels had no choice but to use an alternate, massive dimensional ritual to seal the Primordial Devils away into the deep abyss. I don’t know how you, Nadia, or Riley were not part of that purge... you must have been hidden well.

But we, the children of the primordial’s, were part of it. Some of the children of the ancient devils are still trapped down there in the dark right now. The rest of us, like Luke, Rufus, and myself... we managed to slip through the cracks of the seal before it was too late.

We came to this academy for one reason: to find a way to unseal the rest of our families so we can finally slaughter the fallen angels and take back the weapon."

Nyx let out a long, slow breath, her fingers tapping against the obsidian desk. "That weapon you’re talking about... it’s going to be a massive problem for your little rebellion."

Meghan blinked. "What do you mean?"

"It’s not with the fallen angels, and it’s certainly not hidden in the abyss," Nyx stated coldly, leaning back into her chair.

"Before my mother was taken, she managed to smuggle the weapon completely out of the upper realms. It’s currently buried somewhere deep within the human world. No one knows the exact coordinate, and no one knows who has it. Until that blade is found, any assault on the fallen angels is suicide."

From the dark corner of the room, entirely detached from their panic, Lucien stood with his arms crossed over his chest.

Hearing them go back and forth, analyzing the ancient history and desperately stressing over the missing, god-killing artifact, a silent, deeply arrogant smile slowly spread across his face. His red and greenish-blue pupils gleamed in the dim light of the council chambers.

’Let them search the ends of the universe,’ Lucien thought, his mind trailing back to the system screen floating inside his soul.

’They can plan their little wars all they want... but they have absolutely no idea that the very weapon that murdered the King of the devils is already sitting right inside my pocket.’

A/N: If you’re enjoying the novel, please consider supporting it with your Power Stones and Golden Tickets. Every vote helps the story reach more readers and motivates me to keep releasing new Chapters.

Also, don’t forget to leave an honest review. Whether it’s praise, criticism, or suggestions, I read every review and appreciate the feedback. It helps both me and future readers.

Thank you once again for your support, and I’ll see you in the next Chapter!

— Author ^⁠_⁠^