Significant time had passed since I started my journey to gain more power in order to protect my loved ones and myself from anyone threatening our lives.
I was now 30 years old and had fully developed my body to its absolute peak. I could now take on the strongest overlords of the Pride Ring with pure physicality alone.
My magic had also improved significantly. I could now use any spell I wished from my grimoire without having it around me. This was further enhanced by my ability to manipulate souls and turn them into my own power. With this, I could further empower any spell I wished to new heights and even enhance my already monstrous body.
With all of this combined, I had the ability to take on four of the Sins at once, and even stalemate Lucifer in a battle to the death.
And speaking of Lucifer, Charlie had finally introduced me to him as her boyfriend. I was pleasantly surprised to see him so excited about finally having a son-in-law.
Lucifer and I would usually hang out under the excuse of him wanting to test me. He claimed he just wanted to make sure I knew my stuff—whatever that meant.
In reality, we would go out fishing and compete with each other to see who could catch the biggest fish. Sometimes we would go and create rubber ducks in his workshop to pass the time when Charlie wasn't around.
He was more of a dad to me than my actual father ever was. But one day, as we were making more rubber ducks, he asked me what my favorite bird was, and without thinking, I said, "A raven." He slowly turned his head toward me, looking slightly offended by the answer.
"What?"
"I like crows. What's wrong with that?"
"Oh, nothing. It's just that ducks are better," he replied.
We stared at each other for a few seconds, until Lucifer suddenly got up and punched me in the face.
"Ahh! What was that for?!"
"It's a lesson. You'll learn that the superior bird is the duck."
And just like that, Lucifer and I began to battle. Our fight echoed throughout Hell—blades clashed, and the very terrain we once stood on was now a barren desert.
"Ha... ha... Was that really necessary?"
"Of course! I haven't had this much fun fighting since I left Heaven!"
"Man, the only person who got me this tired was Michael!"
"Well, I hope you enjoyed it, 'cause... I'm gonna pass out now."
I collapsed on the coarse sand and fell into a deep sleep. As I continued to slumber, Lucifer approached me and carried me back home to rest.
"You were really close to beating me this time, Stygian. I have high hopes for the next King of Hell."
---
A few hours had passed, and I woke up with my entire body feeling as stiff as wood. But the most unusual part was that Charlie was next to me holding... gauze?
I looked slightly down and was horrified to find I was inside a cocoon made of gauze. It was gripping me so tightly I couldn't even move. Coupled with the fact that my body was incredibly stiff, I couldn't escape from my restraints.
I struggled for a good few minutes before I just gave up and went back to sleep, with Charlie using me as her own personal body pillow.
Morning rose, and I woke up to the sounds of sinners screaming as they were being slaughtered by the Exorcists. Charlie was still sleeping beside me, oblivious to the fact that today was Extermination Day and that sinners were being killed left and right.
I used my teleportation to escape my binds. I checked my phone to see what time it was—it was 11:58 p.m., just two minutes before the end of the extermination.
So I woke her gently by kissing her on the forehead. She began to stir in her sleep and smiled upon seeing me out of my cocoon of bandages.
Charlie fully woke up, yawning, then proceeded to hug me tightly.
"I was so worried yesterday. When Dad brought you to the hotel all bruised, I didn't know what to do."
She hugged me tighter, not wanting to let go.
"Charlie, you don't have to worry about me. I'm okay, see? Not a single scratch on me now."
She examined me from top to bottom and was slightly shocked at how fast I had healed. But she didn't care, as long as I was safe and okay.
"Wow, that healed fast. But I'm still confused—why did you end up getting in a fight with my dad?"
"Well we got into a disagreement about what's the best bird and... we'll he nearly killed me for it."
Lucifer wasn't trying to kill me, but it sounded better if we were locked in a life and death battle instead of a children's squabble.
Glass shattered in Charlie's head as she realized that her boyfriend had been beaten to a pulp by her own father.
To say Charlie was furious was an understatement. Inside, she was absolutely boiling, but on the outside, she was just smiling gently at me.
"Oh, is that so? Well, I'll be going out for a while, love. Just need to take care of something real quick."
Charlie kissed me on the lips, then proceeded to leave.
I honestly had no idea where she was going. I assumed she was heading toward a pharmacy to buy more medicine—just to be sure I was okay.
Man, am I lucky to have her.
I looked outside and saw that the extermination was finished. I was feeling kind of bored, so I decided to go out and stretch my wings for a bit.
As I was flying across Pentagram City, I spotted something near the Cannibal District. I landed close to it and slowly approached.
It was a girl with grayish skin and a missing eye. She was bleeding profusely, and without thinking too much about what happened, I used my magic to heal her.
Fortunately, I was able to heal her just in time before the bleeding got too bad. What concerned me, though, was that I couldn't regenerate her eye. This must have been the work of an angel.
After I finished healing her, she fell asleep from exhaustion. I stood there thinking about what I should do with her.
After a few minutes of deliberation, I decided to take her back to the hotel.
Guess she's our first tenant there.