with the fact that he’s waiting for the portal to be completed. “This is the only neutral territory in Hell. When you’re here, your powers are diminished.”
Understanding settles in me, and I let go of the hope that somehow Ire will hear me.
“Interestingly enough,” Morax goes on as he begins to circle around Lucifer, like he just really enjoys pissing the Devil off, “this is also where Lucifer created Hell.”
Morax slaps a palm against the huge black stone. “Right here. This stone is the pillar of Hell. It was erected by the blood of the Fallen. The Abdicated. The beloved Morningstar, who advocated for the importance of darkness in the scheme of balance,” he says, as if the words taste bitter in his mouth. “But the most important fact is that this stone carries Lucifer’s essence. It’s what created this realm. He is Hell’s architect, Hell’s foundation, and he cannot be killed...at least, not naturally.”
I watch as Lucifer’s face pales, obviously catching on to what Morax is getting at.
“It was thought that no power or weapon in all the realms can do Lucifer harm, but that’s not true, is it, Luce? You can be taken down, it just has to be done by our little Annuli, doesn’t it?” Morax taunts, nodding to us.
My stomach drops at the revelation. Is that really possible? Can Morax force us to reset the Devil so he can take over Hell? Morax continues, pulling me from my shocked thoughts.
“What do you think happens to Hell if Luce is reset?” he asks, like some teacher eager to impart their wisdom on the class. “What happens to the Morningstar’s essence when he’s reset?”
Morax looks at Lucifer as though he’s waiting for the Devil to provide the answer. Satan just stares at him, and I’m surprised when the hate and rage I saw before melt. Instead, all that’s on his face now is profound disappointment and disgust.
“When you three reset him, his essence goes right along with him. His essence will pop back into existence at its genesis. Which is Heaven. Not Hell. He will no longer be the Devil, the original demon. And once that happens, he won’t be here to feed his essence into the Origin Stone. He will no longer power Hell at all. The foundations of this place will be stripped of what they need to exist. You understand now, don’t you?” he asks, looking between us and Lucifer.
Delta and I share a wary, confused look, but the Devil looks away, his gaze trained on nothing as Morax lays it all out for us...but is that a flash of fear in Lucifer’s eyes?
That...that can’t be good.
Morax lands a smack on Lucifer’s back, his teeth gleaming with his sinister glee as he looks back at us. “You see, little Annuli, when you scythe the Devil, all of Hell will cease to exist.”
34
“It’s time, Annuli.”
My head swarms with the buzzing of horrified shock.
“So this was always your goal? Not just to kill the Sins, not even just to defeat Lucifer, but to destroy all of Hell?” Delta asks, like she’s just as confounded as I am. “We’re in Hell,” she points out.
But as soon as she says it, we both look over at Toreon and the portal he’s making, and that bit falls into place.
Delta scoffs. “You and your little mindless groupies are going into Heaven,” she realizes. “The Legion will decimate you,” she declares, hope alight in her eyes once more.
Morax smirks. “As soon as I open my mouth, they’ll fall to their knees at my feet,” he says with overwhelming arrogance.
Delta’s hope dims, but she plasters a sneer over her face to hide it. “Gross,” she retorts, looking at Morax like he’s a walking plague.
Her purposeful misinterpretation of his words makes the smirk fall from his face. “Should I fuck the insolence out of you first? Or make you watch me start with your sisters, knowing it will soon be you and there isn’t a thing you can do to stop it?” Morax growls.
Her hands ball into fists, and her wings tense. “Never going to happen, you snake-eyed fuck,” she pops back.
A sound behind me makes me turn, and with a sickening lurch, I see Toreon collapse on the ground.
“No!” I start to rush over, only to be blocked by a trio of Morax’s demons who step in to intercept me. I skid to a stop but not fast enough to keep me from barreling into an armor-plated chest of the flaxen-colored demon as