003.

Zero leapt onto Dexter's bed causing him to jolt upright from surprise.

"Urgh! Zero!"

"Rise and shine brother."

"Ten more minutes," he said and pulled the covers over his head.

"Now brother, we shall have none of that you must awake," Zero said as he pulled the covers from him.

"You're not letting me off, are you brother?"

"Am afraid not. Now let's get going," he said and dragged him from his room and headed towards the library.

Zero ran his hand over the title of the books and Dexter yawned loudly behind him.

"You woke me up for this?"

"I couldn't shake the feeling about what father said yesterday," he said picking a book and skimming across some pages.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh? Nothing much but if father was correct about Lucifer being nothing but destruction, there must be a way to seal him and the seven off in these books," Zero said placing the book back and picking another.

Dexter let out a chuckle and pat Zero's shoulder.

"Zero, even if your thoughts were true, do you really expect to find the answer here?" he asked hands outstretched pointing to the entire library and Zero raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"I can't?"

Dexter let out a sigh and his hand dropped from his shoulder.

*Of course you can't. Why would someone keep something so sensitive here?"

Zero rubbed his chin lost in thought. After a few seconds he snapped his fingers and turned to Dexter.

"Have you figured it out?"

"Yes! The human realm," he said and a smirk formed on Dexter's lips.

"You are not as stupid as I thought."

"Hey! Was that supposed to be a compliment?"

"No it most definitely was not my dear brother," he said and walked away without waiting for his reply.

"Hmph!" Zero said and rushed after him.

"All of you are worthless! You dare disobey your king!"

Zero and Dexter stopped in their tracks outside the hall exchanging worried looks.

"Was that..."

Dexter dashed past him heading towards the hall as Zero called out to him.

"Hey! You!.."

Zero shuffled his hair anxiously and quickly dashed after Dexter shouting in protest. Dexter came to a stop by a limp body on the ground and seconds later Zero stood by his side chest heaving as he struggled to breathe.

"Brother?.."

Dexter bent down examining the body an uneasy look on his face. After a few seconds, he let out a sigh and stood up.

"He's dead."

Zero gulped and shifted his gaze from the body.

"Who could have done it?"

Dexter brought the tip of his finger to his mouth and licked the blood from it and his eyes widened in shock.

"Are you okay?"

Without giving him an answer, he walked farther into the hall, his footsteps echoing through the silent hall. Zero shuffled his feet before running after his brother.

Once at the centre of the hall, numerous bodies lay on the ground covered in pools of blood. Zero gagged and covered his mouth at the sight.

"These... they... they are all the commanders working for.." Zero's voice trailed off as Dexter frowned his brows in anger.

"Father! Where are you hiding!"

A deep chuckle echoed through the walls and Dexter stood protectively over Zero.

"If it isn't my two lovely kids," the voice said with a snarl," come seeking for my aid have you now."

"Drop the act father and show yourself. Unless you are despicable enough not to show your face."

From the shadows, Satan's body came into view and Zero tugged on Dexter's clothes in fear.

"What's wrong with him..he looks different," he whispered.

"My, my... are you scared?" he asked his eyes piercing into Zero's," a hundred year old demon prone to FEAR?"

Satan's eyes settled on Dexter's and held their gaze.

"What about you child. Do you think you have what it takes to have the throne?"

Dexter blinked in surprise before his gaze turned to one of anger.

"Fight me and I shall assess your worth,"he said eyes boring into Dexter.

"Don't think I won't fight you father," he said grinding his teeth in anger.

"Dexter... don't... his aura is different.." he said and Dexter turned to him with a quizzical look.

"What do you.."

Zero's eyes emitted a faint golden glow as his eyes settled on his father.

"Curse..."

"What?"

"His soul jewel... it has been cursed," he said his eyes turning to their original bronze brown colour," his soul jewel has been corrupted. He is nothing more than an empty vessel following commands."

"Then this beast is not our father," he said and turned to face him," do not dare stop me from ending it."

Before Zero could protest, Dexter lunged towards him attacking.

"Dexter! Careful!"

"What a lousy fighter..are you supposed to rule over hell when you're this weak?" he asked dodging all his attacks effortlessly.

"Don't listen to him! He's trying to distract you. Don't let him get to you!" Zero shouted as Dexter sent Satan hitting a pillar.

"You're all big talk father. You are no better in fights either," he said wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What did I miss?"

Zero stood frozen on the spot once a clawed hand grabbed his shoulder. Dexter stopped his attacks and turned to Zero. The distraction enabled Satan to launch an attack and sent Dexter hitting the wall. He fell on his knees groaning in pain.

"Dexter!"

"It will be his turn soon," Lucifer said his hand trailing down Zero's back sending cold shivers down his body where his fingers traced.

Once at the pit of his back, Lucifer dug his hand into Zero's back and he let out a pained shout. He fell to the ground motionless and his eyes slowly lost their color turning to grey and white. Lucifer held the orb above the palm of his hand a grin on his lips.

"Zero!" Dexter shouted and slowly stood up clutching onto his stomach as his fingers soaked in his blood.

Rage filled his eyes as he clenched his fists tightly his knuckles turning white. Lucifer smirked and beckoned him with his blood stained fingers. Enraged, Dexter pounced at him ignoring the pain on his lower abdomen but Lucifer caught him by his neck mid air.

"It will be a shame to end you Dexter, you and I would have ruled together," he said his grip tightening on his neck.

Dexter kicked his feet trying to free himself to no avail," I'll... kill...you.."

Lucifer let out a deep chuckle as his sharp nails dug into his neck slicing through his flesh.

"Shouldn't you be trying to save yourself? It is so admirable that even at the face of extinction you still care about your worthless brother."

Dexter's struggles soon submitted as his feet dangled motionlessly in the air and Lucifer threw his body to the ground next to Zero. The purple orb darted viciously around above his palm before flowing into Wade.

"Father..you.."

Wade's eyes slowly lost their red glamour turning into a mixture of dark purple and matte red. He blinked twice to clear the blur before turning to face Lucifer.

"His power... it is so powerful that it's sickening," Wade said as he walked up to Lucifer before going down on one knee head bent in front of him.

"Good, with his power and your strength you can take out any devils who dare defy my orders," he said and Wade nodded.

"As you wish father."

Lucifer turned and walked towards Satan a deathly grin plastered on his face.

"My dear brother, you've done hell a great favour that I can't think of anyway to thank you,"he said.

Satan's body went limp his gaze fixed unblinkingly on Lucifer's fiery eyes. With the speed of lightning, Satan's head rolled and came to a stop at Wade's feet. The headless body fell onto its knees as it disintegrated into ash. Dexter and Zero groaned in pain and soon everything fell silent.

"You did it father, hell is yours to rule," Wade said as Lucifer spread out his wings blasting gushes of air throughout the hall.

"Are you sure these guys are dead?" Shin asked shaking Dexter's body with his foot.

"Nothing to worry about brother even if they aren't dead, without their soul jewels, they are nothing," Phil said.

"Should we feed them to the Oni?" Nover asked and Phil's lip slowly curved up in a crooked grin.

"Why not, they might be in need of fresh meat," he said and grabbed Zero's leg," you grab the other one."

Together, Phil and Nover dragged the bodies behind them out of the house and into the forest heading towards the Oni territory.

"Well, hope these guys are starving for some fresh royal meat," he said tossing Zero into the pit.

"Royal meat?" Nover asked once he had tossed Dexter.

Phil shrugged his broad shoulders and together, walked out of the forest low growls echoing from the pit.