- Lucifer -

An intense chill goes down Taro’s spine. A similar feeling as the first time he met with the great serpent Lucifer. All of his cells could tell he was in immense danger.

"This shouldn't have happened like this.... None of this was supposed to happen like this..." The deranged woman cackles, "Ahhahaha! Isn't funny that it all falls apart right at the end?! Ahahahaha!"

“Saint Justina’s defiance, Shion’s affection, Asmodeus, and even the destruction of my tower and armies were all caused by you…” she hisses, “You are the harbinger of my misfortune. I cannot accomplish my goals while you still breath.”

Suddenly Taro feels a hand on his leg. He looks down to see Saint Justina holding it. Akari bravely gets between the boy and the demon lord. Shion erstwhile was trying to hold her mother back. Taro feels his delirium come over him. His senses becomes blurred and he sees a new perspective:

The cold winter seeps into her bones. A young woman sits on the porch alone. She would cry if it were possible. The gentle breeze soothes the lonely soul. The woman stands up with her mind made up.

She was going to die.

The maiden starts to descend towards the snow. Her toe just grazing the ice when someone holds her back. She looks back to see a holy figure, her long beautiful fingers holding hers felt cold to the touch. The figure smiles softly.

“To waste such beauty on such a cruel death… That is a sin.”

Her first thoughts seeing her beautiful ashen hair was how much it looked like gold in the sun.

……

*cough *cough…

The woman was leaning against a pillar softly coughs into a cloth. Dark red splotches color its pale surface. Her lifeless eyes drift aimlessly. Until cold fingers cover her vision.

“Guess who?” they playfully call,

“Ohh… Don’t tease me Orochi!~” she cries,

The pair laugh and talk into the night…

……

In a dark room, the emancipated woman lies lifelessly in her bed. Her body deteriorated to such a degree that feeling itself became an abstract concept. In the deep darkness she feels a presence by her side, someone who wasn’t there just a moment ago.

“Ah.. It’s you…” She weakly smiles, “I’ve missed you… you know?”

The stranger doesn’t say anything.

“Orochi…” She continues… “Are you still there?... I can’t see any more…”

……

They hide in the bushes. Villagers call and scream, but she does not mind. She did not understand everything that happened. Only that the angel was the only one she wanted to be with. The horned angel leads the girl by the hand in a great escape. For the first time in her life, she felt alive.

……

The two needed shelter desperately. This time the girl was the one leading the other. They come across a small hamlet. The church was the only one generous enough to house the pair. The child was born there. She could only remember how warm she was… Was it love she felt… Or was it fear?... The woman was afraid of the answer.

……

The horned angel begged and pleaded. Two people held down the angel. Lucifer begged the gods to make it so that the baby would not make a sound. From the slot, the woman could see her face. The cold faced Saint Justina, weighs her lover’s sins. When they took her, she could only gasp with her mouth agape. Her eyes still remain dry however...

……

Alone. The crushing loneliness overwhelms the woman. Only a damp empty cave and its inhabitants meets her eternity.

The baby cries. She cries, cries and cries…

“Stop crying…” She bites her lip,

Falling to the ground she says under her breath…

“I’m the one that wants to cry…”

……

A slime plays with the girl…

It was love wasn’t it? Wasn’t it…?

Where did it come from… She doesn’t remember.

…….

Taro is transported back into the current time. Looking around it seems that everyone else has had a similar experience.

"What... just happened...?" Akari asked,

"Haahh... Hahhh..." The saint Justina pants in her ragged breath while looking at Taro, "That... Was all I could muster... To share your symptoms with everyone else here... and give sight to Lucifer's pain,"
Before anyone could say anything a awful waiting cuts across the room.

“AAAAAGHHHH!!!” Lucifer collapses under the weight of her grief. Reliving her memories summoned uncountable feelings within her, all begging for an outlet.

The woman wretches in anguish. Everyone could only watch in pity for the poor woman.

Shion walks up to her.

“S-Shion…” Akari says

Taro holds up his hand in front of the red oni to signify pause,

“Mother...”Shion starts

“You don’t have to call me that…” she says, “I know I haven’t done right by you…”

“You’ve worked so hard on your own…” Shion hugs her, "And even though you haven't felt it... You were never alone..."

"I..." The heart broken mother looks at her child, "Even after all this... You still wish to console me?... After all I've done..."

“That slime… it came from her didn’t she?” Taro interrupts,

“He’s right.” The angel admits,

The scarred slime hops in front of the serpent lord.

“Her last wish was to stay with you, a wish I begrudgingly agreed to grant.”

Lucifer wordlessly hugs the slime.

“I’m sorry… I'm so, so sorry…” she cries,

Miraculously tears well up in her eyes and streak down her face.

“Huh?... What is this?...” she touches the tears,

“I’m,... crying?... I can’t.. Stop.. I… I!”

The tears burst from her eyes, and the demon lord sobs into the air.

The first cry that she could never have on her own.

……