8

The cheers of the crowd ushered the angels into the tournament. They had five tasks to complete and none of the angels knew what the tasks will be as they changed every year thanks to Lucifer. The first task was to forge a weapon from blue flames, the weapons had to be good and sharp. It would have been easy except that blue flames were harmful to angels so they had to endure pain to get through the task. Balls of fire appeared before each of them, and some immediately placed their hands into it. Adriel first put in her finger, the sting made her yelp in pain and she removed it quickly. Her eyes darted to Gadreel who was staring at Michael. The angel in question had already started to form his sword slowly. Adriel's eyes widened. Even in pain, Michael was able to create a large, sharp sword, he then ran to the next line waiting for the second quest. Adriel and Gadreel stared at each other in fright. Lucifer had only thought them how to fight with another person not how to dip their hands in the fire.

Adriel closed her eyes and dug her hand in. She gritted her teeth in pain as she wiggled her hand carelessly in the fire, attempting to make a good sword. Others were screaming and Gadreel would place his hand in and out of the fire occasionally. In the end, She made a bent sword. She frowned at the shape but concluded it will do after she saw the horrible shapes some of the other angels had created. Gadreel had created a better-looking sword than hers and he smirked at her when he stared at her weapon. She groaned before running to meet Michael at the second line.

By the time the first task was done, six out of ten of the contestants had made it to the second task. The cheers of the angels were their companions as well as their heavy breaths. When the top six arranged themselves in twos on the second line, three images of Lucifer appeared. It shocked a lot of the angels as gasps were heard from the crowd.

In front of the illusions were three crystals, each of white color. The first illusion pointed at the first crystal and spoke.

"In this crystal lies a weapon for the second task. You will face an opponent so strong so the weapon chosen must be essential in the killing of the opponent". He said in a deep echo-ey voice. The other two illusions of Lucifer repeated the same thing. Ramiel, one of the angels went forward and picked the first crystal, another appeared in its place immediately. The crystal in his arms opened up and a dagger appeared. He cried in victory and moved on. Dina also followed him and picked the first crystal, when she acquired her sword she walked over to the third line.

Adriel refused to move, her eyes were fixed on Michael. Gadreel attempted to follow him as well but when he noticed Michael wasn't moving, he got impatient and went for the second crystal. It opened up and a bow and arrow appeared. Michael looked at him and shook his head. Gadreel didn't have time to understand what he was trying to say, he moved over to the third line as well.

"Will you go too?" Michael asked her. Adriel replied to him by grabbing the third crystal, it opened up and a spear appeared. Deep down Adriel believed this was the right weapon and Michael knew too as he smiled at her.

"He does like his puzzles, doesn't he?" He asked her. Adriel smirked.

"He does". Michael grabbed the third crystal as well and they moved to the line.

***

Atop the arena, Lucifer was watching the angels behind two guards. He had hidden with a barrier so no one could see him. He lied to Nahamani that he had a meeting with God when in truth, he intended to break into the room that held the sword and steal it. He needed to get past those stone-cold guards but he knew it would be easy. He was stronger than them anyway, and he was very excited about killing them because of the disrespect they showed him last time.

First, he wanted to watch Gadreel and Adriel. He knew he had only taught them one part of the five tasks so he needed to see if they had the cunning and strength to beat Michael. He heard when Nahamani ushered the angels into the competition and how they struggled to forge a weapon from the fire. He was impressed but not surprised by Michael's endurance, with a proud look he watched the angel move to the second task. Even though he was slowly hating him, he couldn't help but admire the angel he had created.

He laughed when he saw Adriel's weapon and he laughed again when he saw Gadreel silently mocking her. He hoped that Gadreel had not forgotten to keep Adriel in check. During the second task, Lucifer had a field day watching the angels fall for the tricks he had placed for them. Michael and Adriel however did not.

Lucifer's eyebrows shot up in surprise when he saw Adriel reach for the third crystal.

"Ah, so she isn't that dumb". He said to himself. When Michael reached for the third crystal as well, he walked away to accomplish that which he came for.

He walked past the angels in pride, knowing they couldn't see him until he came close to the door that hid the sword. If he had it now, there would be no need for his second phase to come to actualization. The two seraphs stood tall by the door, their faces up. Lucifer rolled his eyes.

"Big and weak". He said to himself, he contemplated whether he should reveal himself to them before killing them just to show off or to kill them silently. He chose the latter simply because he wanted to have fun with them later.

He walked over to them and snapped his fingers. At once, the two angels fell to the ground. To anyone who would walk by, it would look like they were asleep. Lucifer smiled and rubbed his hand together before reaching for the doorknob.

This was it, the moment he had been dreaming of since he saw the sword.

"Master, what are you doing?" Lucifer froze. How in the world?

Lucifer slowly turned towards the voice and his eyes widened when he saw the person standing before him.