A New World
I
Olympus II
The new home of the Greek faction.
Situated on top of New York City, hidden from both mortals and supernatural alike. And this divine realm was breathtakingly stunning, just as much as the old Olympus – The colossal pillars surrounding the teleportation hub that went beyond the sky of this realm, the marble floor adorning with intricate gold filigree, and just beyond the pillars, temples could be seen crackling with divine energy and gardens gleaming in the eternal sunlight.
But, this type of artificial beauty was not to his liking so he made some adjustments.
He burned it all.
The majestic structures as well as the inhabitants… everything and everyone had been turned to ash.
“Death and Despair.”
This made the Devil let out a long sigh. He wanted to enjoy the ‘Despair’ part slightly more but, “Alas, the clock is ticking.”
The area exploded with fire once again.
Lucifer smiled, “Well, I still have a few more insects to toy with.”
The Devil threw away the corpse of Apollo, the Greek God of the Sun, before dodging the attack from Ares.
“You know,” Lucifer conjured a handkerchief and elegantly wiped the blood from his hands, “You Greeks possessed myriad advantages. The most advanced of nations at your beck and call, concealment from the prying eyes of other factions… even time, centuries of it, and yet,” He sidestepped as Ares flew past him, “You're still acting like the uncultured swine of millennia past.”
Ares let out a deafening roar before jumping toward Lucifer.
The Greek God of War struck vertically, an attack that the Devil dodged easily while he took out an old cigar. For his next move, Ares threw a dagger at him. Lucifer positioned the cigar in such a way that the dagger cut the cap off the cigar, one-eighth of an inch, just the way he wanted.
Ares grabbed the handle of his sword with both hands before pointing toward Lucifer and releasing a large amount of fire. Lucifer moved away from the attack while holding the cigar at a correct angle to toast its foot. When he was done, he lit the cigar using Ares’ follow-up flame attack.
“Almost.”
He lightly blew at the foot of the cigar until the entire end was glowing. Then, he took the first puff.
“Perfect.”
Lucifer dodged another wide-range attack before letting out a puff, “Stop swinging that,” He pointed at the hideous sword with his cigar, “thing like a caveman. Put some effort into it, will you?”
Ares’ nostrils flared, “I will butcher you like your brother Azazel!”
This made Lucifer frown, “Ah, yes, a most inexcusable disappointment, indeed.”
The Greek God of War smiled before readying his next attack.
“Why did you lose?”
But the next statement of the Devil took all the wind out of him.
“The army, the ranker, the tacticians, the element of surprise… the Greek faction had it all, and yet you lost against Grigori, one of the weakest factions to grace this universe. Quite the perplexing outcome, wouldn't you agree?” Lucifer shook his head, “Even with all the support I generously extended, you still managed to screw it all up spectacularly. What a shitshow it was.”
Ares dropped his stance, “What are you talking about?”
In response, the Devil just let out another puff.
The Greek God aimed the sword at him and roared, “What the fuck are you talking about?!”
Lucifer frowned, “Regrettably, I don't have time to narrate your master plan like some play-by-play commentator.”
Ares screamed so hard that the veins in his neck became visible, “You know nothing!”
A diagonal sword slash, followed immediately by a wide-range fire attack and a fast plasma blast. Then came the poisonous thrown daggers accompanied by a few more strikes.
And then the pattern repeated with some minor changes and extra steps.
“How unimaginative.”
Ares stopped to take a breather as he shouted once more, “You know nothing!”
Lucifer was stopped on his track when he noticed the despair in the Greek God’s eyes. It might have been well hidden to others but it was crystal clear to someone like him.
“I suppose a few extra minutes wouldn’t hurt.”
A smile formed on the Devil’s face and it widened when he noticed Ares flinching.
“Babel, a city of Grigori contained a portal, a crack, that led to Mount Olympus; it doesn't drop you smack-dab at your doorstep, mind you, but it's close enough. Very close. And here is your so-called grand scheme – You wanted to use that portal to reclaim your home without drawing too much attention. But this contradicted the next part of your plan. You wanted to conquer Grigori, hoping that this action would put Hades back in the Top Ten. After all, having multiple rankers is always a boon, is it not?”
Lucifer sidestepped to dodge a surprise attack from one of the demigods. He grabbed her neck with one hand, squeezed until it made a popping sound, then twisted it before throwing her dead body away; all the while continuing without missing a beat.
“This part of the scheme? Simple for you but questionable for me. But the real challenge for your faction was predicting his response, all while being in the dark about his ultimate demise.”
Ares was so stunned at the revelation that he didn’t react at all other than letting out a whisper, “What?”
This made Lucifer sigh, “Even with all the breadcrumbs I've been tossing your way through the Hero faction, you still needed it spelled out for you, didn't you? The Biblical God is dead.”
Another puff of smoke left his lips, “You failed to figure out God’s secret, you failed to conquer Grigori, and you failed to keep your actions a secret. But I will give it to you. Even with all these hurdles, you somehow managed to reclaim your home… even if it was for a merely few hours.”
Seeing the look of realization in Ares’ eyes made him smile again.
“The portal I came from is connected to old Olympus meaning,” He was sure that his smile turned diabolical now, “Athena will not be coming. Your children will not be coming. No reinforcements from Olympus will be coming.”
A second pass, it turned to five. And then Ares roared in defiance, the sound shook the entire area, before lunging at Lucifer.
This time he didn’t dodge.
The Devil bit the cigar and using his free hands he grabbed both of Ares’ wrists before twisting them. And in one uninterrupted and swift motion, he took the sword from Ares, forced the soul of that hideous weapon to submit to him, and then stabbed the Greek God right in the chest.
He then struck the side of Ares’s knees and broke them before hitting him hard right at his throat.
Lucifer took a step back and looked at Ares’s gurgling broken self, “Apologies, but time’s up.”
A tug in his mind made Lucifer smile. In a flash, he pulled the sword out of Ares and threw it at the source.
And his attack struck true.
The air shimmered and a Goddess appeared. She tried to take the sword out but was failing to do so. Her form kept changing but unfortunately, her power did not affect the Devil.
“Temptation is one of my monickers, dear,” Lucifer chuckled before shifting his focus to Ares who was looking at the Goddess wide-eyed.
Taking a step forward, Lucifer grabbed Ares’s face and immediately the Greek God started to thrash around.
“Sshh~” He whispered as he put more force on the grip. A groan left his lips. The uncomfortable feeling of Ares’ soul breaking into pieces and entering his body as divinity was not the cause of it. The pain in his eyes was.
A minute later, Ares's dead body hit the floor.
Then he turned toward the dying Goddess and snapped his fingers.
That unsightly sword of Ares flew toward him, carrying the Goddess with it. She, like all other Greek Gods and Goddesses, used her same attack from before which clearly did nothing to Lucifer.
Did they not hear the phrase ‘Improvise, overcome, and adapt’?
“Regardless,” Lucifer grabbed the back of her head, “Waste not, want not… as the humans say.”
Another groan as he felt the same uncomfortable sensation in his eyes. Throwing the dead body away, he started to rub his eyes to clear away that feeling. No matter how many times he used his power, he still couldn’t get used to it.
Another nudge, a gentle one this time. It seems he wasn’t the only one who was ahead of schedule.
He quickly made some adjustments to the hideous sword and dropped it in his pocket dimension. After that, he expanded his power to double confirm if the coast was clear or not.
And it was.
Satisfied with the outcome, he closed his eyes and dropped his power level. When he reached a comfortable level, he sent out a response to the previous psychic message. And not a moment later, the air beside him started to darken and twist. And from that misty portal, a human stepped out.
“Georg,” Lucifer took out the cigar from his mouth, “You’re early.”
Unlike his previous attire, Georg was wearing the fancy set meant only for the archmages. A flowing robe covering the simple shirt and trousers, a multi-layered belt containing various magical items, and a thick grimoire adorned with jewels and runes.
Georg opened his mouth but no words came out as his gaze lingered on the dead bodies all around them. A few seconds later, he composed himself before finally answering, “This was within your expectation, was it not, Lord Lucifer?”
A smile formed on Lucifer’s face, “I take it you’ve completed your mission.”
He nodded his head, “Yes.”
A simple yet straight answer but he noticed that there was something more. And it took him a second to realize what it was. Still smiling, Lucifer pointed his cigar at Faust’s descendant, “Your insatiable curiosity had gotten the best of you again, had it not?”
Georg flinched and averted his gaze.
“Don’t leave me in suspense, how did curiosity kill the cat this time?”
Taking a deep breath, George stood straighter and met his gaze, “With all due respect, Lord Lucifer, we do not have ample time.”
“Fair enough,” Lucifer brought the cigar to his lips, “Then, did you retrieve it?”
Nodding his head once, Georg raised one arm, palm facing the sky.
Mist appeared on his palm before twisting for a few seconds and then disappearing, leaving behind a spear.
An ornate spear with a dark blue shaft, featuring golden metal decorations, in the shapes of arrow tips, that spiraled around in a double helix pattern. The silver blade of the spear was radiating a nerve-wracking sensation.
“True Longinus.”
Lucifer’s first impulse was to break this weapon, the one that took the life of his beloved brother. But he held himself back, “Not yet.”
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The Devil waved his hand over the Holy Spear and it disappeared. Then he pointed toward a specific direction, “Shall we?”
Seeing the confusion on Georg’s face, he elaborated, “Only one more cockroach left.”
This caught Georg off-guard. He examined his surroundings before extending his senses magically. Ten seconds later, he turned to Lucifer.
“Everyone’s dead?”
It was a statement that came out as a question.
In response, Lucifer pointed in the same direction with his cigar after which he started to walk, making Georg do the same.
“Got rid of the majority of the insects with my initial attack and the rest followed soon after.”
Georg glanced toward the lifeless bodies of the powerful deities, “If I may, if Poseidon was uninjured and Hades was here, would it have made any difference?”
This made Lucifer chuckle, “A few minutes at most,” Then it hit him, “Maybe a bit more than that. But not the way you think.”
Noticing the questioning aimed at him, he decided to elaborate, “Throughout the history of Greek faction, spanning from past to present, I have only tolerated two individuals. Hestia and Hades.”
“Would you have shown mercy to them if they were alive?”
“It matters not, for they were individuals of the sort who would sooner meet their demise alongside their kin than accept mercy from enemies. And they would have faced it with grace and dignity, unlike these ones” Then the Devil smiled and it earned a flinch from his companion, “Why don’t you ask the real question?”
Georg opened his mouth to deny it but, a second later, closed it and looked away.
“How did Arjuna and his team know where to strike?” Then he leaned his head toward Georg who went rigid, “And how in the DXD’s name did he defeat Hades?”
Fortunately for Georg, Lucifer didn’t let the tension linger as he moved away, giving him his breathing space.
“Honestly,” The Devil let out a puff of smoke, “His actions caught me off guard, I must confess. I thought that feigning the demise of my alter ego, Indra, would sow chaos within the Hindu faction; enough to afford us the opportunity to maneuver undetected. Yet, Arjuna bounced back rather fast. Thankfully, the others in the Hindu faction have yet to match his pace,” He said the last line quietly.
“So, do we have to worry about the Hindu faction?”
Lucifer sighed, “I spoke of destabilization, not outright collapse. So yes, we will need to address them in due course. But we will do so,” Then he raised his index finger, “Only when we are ready.”
“I see.”
“Back to the questions, for the first one, I had someone to guide Arjuna. Yes, you have given hints to the young Zhuge Liang about Cao Cao’s betrayal which helped Arjuna’s team to plan ahead. But without any directions, there was a high probability for Arjuna and his team to clash paths with Bahamut, a scenario I am not looking forward to at this stage. Hence, I asked a certain individual to give him a helping hand.”
Seeing the curious gaze, Lucifer smiled, “You will meet this individual later.”
“Is this individual also the reason why Arjuna was able to defeat Hades?”
“Yes and no,” Lucifer shook his cigar and dropped the ash on the dead body of a Greek God while passing by, “Collaborating with Tobio, one of Azazel’s protégé, maintaining the leash on Vali, the Divine Dividing wielder, and taking out the primary operation base of the Greek inside Grigori… those were solely his doing. Yes, I foresaw him and his companions going against Hades since their interests collide, just not that soon.”
“So, this individual stepped in the moment Hades entered the battlefield?”
“No, that responsibility was left to Sun Wukong. Before you ask, it was not my plan but I foresaw that,” Lucifer smiled, “Honestly, I didn’t expect Arjuna to be the one to defeat Hades.”
There was a few seconds pause before Georg turned to face him, realization hitting him, “It was a test.”
This made the Devil’s smile widen, “Yes, and he not only passed this little test but went beyond my expectations,” He immediately added, “A test that I created only for Arjuna, my son.”
Georg picked up the hint and did not push further.
“So, now that I have sated your curiosity, won’t you reply in kind?”
The surprised look on Georg which soon turned to resignation made him chuckle.
“Should’ve seen this coming.”
This made him laugh harder, “What a cute child.”
Clearing his throat, Georg started, “Just to be clear, Lord Lucifer, I have never doubted your words. But Bahamut is an unknown dragon with a power unheard of. So, when you told me that he could take out the entire Hero faction within a single minute if he chose to…”
“You decided to push his buttons.”
“I didn’t,” There was a pause before Georg smiled. It was the first time since he stepped here, “Cao Cao had that all covered,” Then the smile faded as his jaws clenched. He took a few quick breaths before his expression became neutral again.
“Let me guess, you told him about the sacred rules of dragons and Cao Cao brought Bahamut’s lovers during the conversation.”
The flinch and the crack on Georg’s expression was enough but he still wanted to hear directly from him. It was a guilty pleasure for Lucifer – to learn about the folly of the pride and the pricks.
“I never thought how dangerous ‘Adaptability’ was. To see his body turned into a holy liquid flame and then brush off all attacks while taking out each member one by one,” Georg took another set of calming breaths, “We never stood a chance.”
Cao Cao was alive then. At least his soul was. His son, Bahamut, would easily become trigger-happy if his lovers were to come into the equation. There was a reason why he was known as the ‘Black Dragon of Extinction’.
“I still do not understand why he doesn’t like that title.”
“Lord Lucifer.”
He gave Georg a side glance, “Yes?”
“If I may, how did you start the ‘Festival of the Dragon Kings’? If I remember correctly, you need a Dragon Emperor for it… well, they are known as Heavenly Dragons in this era. Still…”
Lucifer kicked away a dead body from his path before he started answering, “I am sure you have read all about the Dragons and this festival of theirs. Tell me, how much time it took for you to gather and consume all this knowledge?”
Georg glanced at the grimoire attached to his belt, “Less than an hour since there wasn’t much.”
“Preciously. Because, even though the Dragons are creatures of ‘Desire’, their lifestyle is simple. So, if a dragon, powerful enough to subdue all the current Dragon Kings, makes some changes to a certain sacred rule, all the other dragons will not voice any complaints considering that there aren’t any options.”
Realization hit Georg, “Bahamut defeated all the current Dragon kings.”
“All of them at once.”
The revelation shook the Faust descendant.
“It’s simple really, Bahamut defeated the dragon kings to kickstart the festival while I created the stage for him by reviving all the dead ‘Evil Dragons’. Last I heard, Bahamut and Crom Cruach are the only ones still in the game.”
Georg frowned, “I mean no disrespect but why did you feel the need to revive the Evil Dragons?”
The Devil smiled, “For what is to come.”
But he didn’t clarify further as they finally reached their destination, the largest and most grandeur temple in this hidden Greek realm.
“Zeus is there.”
For a few seconds Lucifer didn’t say anything. Then, out of the blue, he turned toward Georg, “I heard Athena had an enormous library near under her temple.”
Georg blinked once before bowing his head, “Sounds like a place I want to be at.”
Then his physical form started to twist and become transparent. And a second later, he was gone.
“Smart child.”
Lucifer took out an antique-looking pocket watch and set a timer. Even though he wished to take his sweet time for what was to come, he still had a schedule to maintain.
Inhaling another puff from his cigar, he kicked the door open and immediately sidestepped to dodge the enormous lightning attack.
A flashy attack that didn’t have any force behind it.
And the attacker looked completely different from how Lucifer remembered him. Muscular, handsome, and aged… he used to look like a piece of art. But now, he looked like a feeble old man who had gone completely mental. Now, he looked like, “A piece of garbage, how fitting.”
Zeus raised his lightning bolt, a weapon that reflected its master’s weakened self, “How are you alive? How did you find this place?”
“Why are you so surprised?” Lucifer started to circle his prey, “It’s not like you have seen my death with your own eyes.”
Zeus shakily took a few steps back and fired a few more lightning attacks which Lucifer dodged effortlessly. The blasts would do no damage to him but he didn’t want his suit to get any singes.
“As for your second question, you have to thank the Greek faction’s ambition for that. Hestia sacrificed her life to build this hidden realm for you all,” The Devil waved his hands to point to the surroundings, “She believed that her family would be safe, that they would move on… forget the past and embrace the future, and all that mumbo jumbo,” He scoffed, “How naïve of her.”
Zeus just kept attacking. The random pattern, the lack of power, the atrocious movement… this was beyond saddening.
“Seems like you are incapable of absorbing even basic information.”
Lucifer closed the distance and punched Zeus in the stomach. He tried to hold himself back but didn’t realize how truly weak the once-great king of the Greek faction was… since his punch tore through Zeus.
“Argh! For the love of…” Lucifer shook his bloody hand as he immediately conjured a towel and started to wipe the blood and gore off of him.
He clicked his tongue when he noticed that Zeus was very close to leaving the realm of the living. So, Lucifer stepped on his face and started to heal him through his feet.
When he was done cleaning up, he looked down at Zeus. Even with his advanced healing powers, he could barely keep him alive.
Honestly, he felt nothing when he saw the feeble God desperately gasping for air. No rage, hatred, pain… nothing. And all the scenarios he created in his head felt useless to him now.
Releasing a deep breath, he called for that power once again. When he felt that itching, he removed his legs and grabbed Zeus’s head.
“You… those eyes…”
Another dissatisfied hum left Lucifer’s lips as he put more pressure on his grip, ignoring the whispers from Zeus. He felt both the soul and head of Zeus breaking under the power. A few seconds later, the soul of the great king of the Greek faction became nothing but fuel and information for him.
Letting go of the crushed head, he took a step back and waved his hands, changing his entire attire.
“How anticlimactic.”
Sending a psychic signal to Georg, he got out of the temple and headed toward the last destination.
Georg appeared beside him a second later.
“That was…”
“Fast and disappointing, I know. Did you secure all the books?”
Confused, Georg asked, “Why?”
Now it was Lucifer who was surprised, “Do you truly believe that this place will be left in one piece once I am done here?”
Georg opened his mouth and closed before bowing his head, “May I…”
“Yes.”
Georg left immediately. But to Lucifer’s surprise, he was back after half a minute.
“Did you put the entire building in your inventory?” Lucifer stated it as a joke but noticing the flinch, he let out a sigh. Fortunately for Georg, he decided to overlook his action.
“If I may, Lord Lucifer?” Georg asked and when he saw the slight nod, he continued, “It took you around ten minutes to destroy the entire Greek pantheon, even though it doesn’t look like you took this seriously. So, why now? Why didn’t you wipe them out before?”
This made the Devil smile, “A great question, truly. You know what,” He took out the antique pocket watch and stopped the timer, “Since we have some extra time, why not I fully quench that curiosity of yours.”
Georg flinched and bowed his head again, “You don’t have to, Lord Lucifer.”
“No, no, I insist,” Lucifer’s smile widened seeing how tensed Georg became. This again proved to him how cautious the descendant of Faust was even though the Devil had given him his words.
Still, he had a story to tell, “Three reasons why I was incapable of wiping out this disease before. First was Hestia’s sacrifice. When the Greek faction was kicked out of their home by him, Hestia used her life and domain to create a haven for her family, knowing full well that they wouldn’t have survived my wrath back then at their vulnerable stage. Unfortunately for me, her spell worked.”
“A spell that hid an entire pantheon from the world… how did you break it?”
“It was a spell that created a new home for the Greek faction,” Then Lucifer turned fully to face Georg, “But there can only be one home.”
Realization hit Georg, “So when they reclaimed their old home, the protection spell on this one broke.”
Lucifer started to walk forward again, “Preciously. Now you may ask why I tipped them off at this time which led the Greeks to reoccupy their new home instead of, let’s say, decades or centuries ago. This is tied to the second reason – other pantheons. Think about it, if a once-powerful faction were to face complete annihilation, this would have made other factions band up together and come after me. So, I needed them to be weakened and distracted.”
“Festival of the Dragon Kings.”
“And a few other events here and there,” Lucifer paused for a moment before sighing, “Now, the last reason. Naruto Otsutsuki.”
Georg didn’t interrupt but he couldn’t hide his disbelief.
This made the Devil chuckle, “You do realize that with him dead, that youkai king is the strongest entity in our universe?”
Now this caught Georg by surprise, greatly so judging by his expression.
“Unlike him, our current strongest entity shows himself to the public more than he needs to, does not mind venturing out of his territory to enact justice, constantly interacts with other factions, makes significant changes in the supernatural world, and befriended the second strongest entity. But the most dangerous and mindblowing accomplishment of his is the fact that by some miracle he was able to make friends with Great Red… a Beast.”
Georg was looking at him with his mouth open.
Lucifer dropped his smile, “He is an unpredictable variable that I needed to get rid of. Luckily, I had Ophis by my side. It was a temporary alliance but it worked out in the end.”
“Did the Beast of Infinity,” Georg wetted his lips before finishing, “Kill him?”
The Devil made a shocked face, “By the love of DXD, don’t say something so dangerous. Great Red likes that youkai. And the Beasts are very fickle creatures. So, do the math.”
Georg shook his head nervously.
“Still, so far everything went well. Great Red is temporarily imprisoned in the EXE universe. Ophis teleported Naruto Otsutsuki to a different universe. And to add the cherry on the top, Shiva also got caught in the crossfire.”
It seemed the Longinus wielder had a lot of questions in his mind but in the end, he simply nodded his head again.
“Well, you will find out the details later anyway. But for now,” The Devil looked at the large tree in front of them, “I have a job to do.”
They have reached their last destination – the heart of this realm. And in front of them stood a majestic tree whose towering form reached toward the sky. Of course, both Georg and his eyes went past all of its beauty and divinity and landed right on the fruits it bear.
“Tree of Life,” Lucifer was sure it had a fancy Latin name but he didn’t bother to recall. He then turned to face Georg, conjured a piece of paper, and gave it to him, “Be a dear and open a direct portal to that location.”
The moment Georg read the coordinates, his eyebrows hit his hairline.
“Georg?”
“Yes,” The Faust descendant regained his composure and immediately started working on the portal.
As for Lucifer, he took the cigar in his hand and looked at it for a few seconds. Various memories hit him but he brushed it all off. Finally, he looked at the tree once more before flinging the cigar at it.
A painful hum could be heard coming from the tree as the fire started, a fire that engulfed the trunk in an instant and was quickly making its way up.
“Lord Lucifer.”
The Devil conjured another paper and passed it to Georg, “Another portal, and,” He pointed at the fire which was now spreading throughout the temple and going beyond it, “Get out of this realm.”
After saying his piece, he stepped through the portal and took control of it at the same time.
The moment he got to the other side, the moment he took his next breath… a sense of nostalgia hit him. It lingered there for a moment before he crushed that feeling.
This was Underworld, his once home.
“Not anymore.”
He looked at his surroundings with a distant feeling. The realm around him was the one of shadow and darkness, the haven for the creatures of chaos.
To many, this realm remained unchanged for centuries, millennia even.
“Let’s do some makeover, shall we?”
Just like the first time he stepped foot here.
His musing broke when he noticed Sirzechs Gremory and Ajuka Astaroth coming in his direction and a horde of devils following behind them.
They were coming out from the towering citadel of obsidian, the place where the Devil faction held a council.
“Unfortunately for you lot,” Lucifer raised his right arm and clenched his fingers. He felt the dryness in his eyes and the prickling in his veins, a sign indicating that he was going all out, “I do not have any evil monologue to share.”
And then he pulled his arm down.
The portal shattered and from that distorted space, the entirety of Olympus II started to fall downward.
He teleported above the Greek city, just enough to enjoy the show.
Sirzechs’s mastery over ‘Power of Destruction’ and Ajuka’s unique ability ‘Kankara Formula’ really shone during this situation. Unfortunately for them, they couldn’t wipe out the falling city in one single shot since it was filled with Divine energy… the temples, the gardens, the architecture; while not as powerful as the holy energy of Heaven, the amount was not something the current devil leaders could effortlessly brush off.
But they were not alone. And more devils started to join the fray.
“That was Olympus II,” Lucifer raised his left arm.
Another portal opened up, dwarfing the previous one.
“And this is Olympus I.”
As the first city of the Greek faction started to fall from the broken sky, the Devil felt it.
The fear,
The despair,
The agony,
He closed his eyes and breathed in those emotions. It gave him an ecstasy.
Then he started laughing, a sound that drowned the screams below him.
“A toast… to A New World.”