Chapter 362: Beyond Lucifer’s Door
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Lucifer rested casually, one arm draped over the counter, crimson eyes fixed on Arthur like a cat watching sothing that might, or might not be worth pouncing on.
"As I ntioned to your friends earlier," Lucifer said lightly, swirling the liquid in his glass, "I’ll open the door for you."
He smiled.
"And that’s all the help I can offer."
John stiffened imdiately, cigarette paused halfway to his lips.
Arthur didn’t.
He didn’t argue. Instead, he inclined his head slightly.
"That’s more than enough," Arthur said.
Lucifer’s brow lifted just a fraction.
Arthur continued, voice calm, thoughtful.
"But I know Hell isn’t simple," he said. "The last ti I crossed into it, I didn’t find you."
Lucifer’s smile thinned.
"I found a realm ruled by Trigon," Arthur went on. "A dominion that believed itself absolute. No Morningstar or throne there."
John exhaled smoke through his nose.
"Exactly," he muttered. "It’s a massive realm, or more accurately.. realms."
Lucifer chuckled, clearly pleased.
"And yet," Lucifer said, eyes sliding back to Arthur, "you made it there without ."
He tilted his head.
"So why do you need a door now?"
Arthur’s lips curved into a faint smile.
"Because of last ti," he said, "And If we go randomly now, we will end up knocking the wrong door."
Lucifer blinked.
Arthur t his gaze evenly.
"This ti," Arthur said, "I want to enter the right house."
For a heartbeat, Lucifer said nothing.
Then he laughed, amused.
"Brilliant," he said. "Truly brilliant."
He straightened,
"Let
enlighten you properly, then."
The lights dimd slightly,
"Hell is not one realm," Lucifer said.
"It is a labyrinth."
He gestured lazily, and for just a mont, suggesting depth where none should exist.
"Infernal dinsions stacked, folded, nested inside one another. So born of rebellion. So of belief. So of sheer cosmic negligence."
Zatanna watched with quiet fascination.
"Most intruders," Lucifer continued, "end up in false Hells, pocket dominions ruled by pretenders, archdemons, parasites playing king."
His smile sharpened.
"They rule nothing that matters."
Lucifer’s eyes glowed faintly red.
"But the Central Hell..."
He tapped his glass once.
"That was the axis. The gravitational core. The place every other Hell orbited, whether they knew it or not."
He t Arthur’s gaze again.
"My Hell."
Silence settled like a held breath.
Arthur nodded once.
"I understand the structure well now," he said simply.
John folded his arms, still wary.
"And you’re really going to keep the door open for us?" he asked. "No tricks?"
Lucifer looked wounded.
"Johnny," he sighed. "I’m always honest."
A beat.
"People just misunderstand ."
Arthur stepped forward slightly.
"Once I’m there," he said, "returning won’t be a problem for . We’re skipping the maze because of you."
He inclined his head again.
"You have my thanks."
Lucifer spread his hands theatrically.
"See?" he said, glancing at John. "This is called manners."
A wicked grin.
"You should learn them soti."
John said nothing.
He just stared back at Lucifer, smoke curling between them.
Zatanna covered her mouth, barely holding back a laugh.
Lucifer’s eyes flicked between them, amused.
"Oh," he said softly. "This is going to be fun."
The music in Lux had barely shifted when Arthur spoke, his voice low enough that it slipped beneath the rhythm.
"We need nothing more?"
John took a drag from his cigarette, exhaled slowly, eyes half-lidded as if he were already thinking three steps ahead, and one step back.
"No," he said at last. "Not really. I can call a guide once we’re there. A... friend, of sorts."
Lucifer’s smile widened imdiately, sharp and amused.
"Johnny," he drawled, lifting his glass, "your friends are mostly sinners. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of them down below."
John didn’t rise to the bait.
Kara leaned closer to Arthur, her voice barely more than breath against his ear.
"Do you really trust him?"
Arthur didn’t answer.
He didn’t nod.
Didn’t shake his head or even glance at her.
He simply kept his eyes forward, calm.
That silence told Kara everything she needed to know.
Lucifer clapped his hands together once, sharp and final.
"Well then," he said brightly, "I think you lot should be going, don’t you? Linger any longer and Earth might find itself in a rather... unfortunate state."
He gestured lazily toward a side corridor where a door had not been there monts ago, tall, black, its surface rippling like oil.
"I’ve already opened the path," Lucifer continued. "Go on. Through that door."
Kara blinked. "That fast?"
Lucifer’s red eyes glead.
"Of course."
John stubbed out his cigarette. "Alright," he muttered. "Let’s go, Arthur."
They moved together, Arthur first, shadows folding obediently at his heels, Kara at his side, John and Zatanna just behind.
Lucifer remained where he was, watching them go, head tilted with theatrical fondness.
"Good luck," he called after them lightly.
"And Johnny.. don’t forget to fix your little problem too."
His smile softened, just a fraction.
"After all... what is life, without what you lost?"
John didn’t turn around.
Arthur slowed for half a step, glanced sideways at John, but he said nothing.
Then they crossed the threshold.
The world broke.
Heat slamd into them, oppressive, roaring. The air burned the lungs, tasted of ash and sulfur. The ground beneath their boots was cracked, glowing faintly with veins of molten light, stretching endlessly into jagged horizons.
The sky wasn’t a sky at all.
It was a wound, vast, red-black, churning with slow-moving storms of fire and shadow. Towering structures rose in the distance: spires of bone and iron, citadels carved into cliffs that seed to bleed lava down their sides.
Hell.
Zatanna reacted instantly, hands flashing through practiced motions.
"Erif noitcetorp," she intoned, voice steady.
A translucent shimr wrapped around her, the heat pulling back just enough to breathe.
John, oddly enough, didn’t flinch.
No spell. No shield.
He just stood there, coat fluttering slightly in the infernal wind, like this place was ho to him.
Arthur and Kara remained unaffected entirely.
The heat bent away from Arthur’s presence, shadows thickening around him. Kara felt it brush her skin, but it didn’t burn. Not really.
She stared, eyes wide, taking it all in.
"This..." she said slowly, scanning the horizon, "this is different from the last ti we tried to find Trigon."
Arthur’s gaze moved constantly, violet eyes dissecting distance, depth, layers unseen.
"It feels more real," he said quietly. "More vast.."
A pause.
"Lucifer wasn’t lying."
John nodded grimly. "No. He never does. Not about the important stuff."
He turned, already walking.
"Follow ," he said. "I’ll find a suitable spot. Sowhere with enough attention to answer back."
Arthur raised a brow. "And then?"
John smirked faintly. "Then I call a friend."
"A demon?" Arthur asked.
"Yep."
Zatanna sighed, adjusting her coat as she followed.
"Of course."
The ground cracked beneath their steps as they moved deeper into Hell, four figures cutting through an endless inferno, unaware of how many eyes had already begun to turn toward them.
Far away, sothing ancient was aware of their arrival.
Arthur slowed, then stopped entirely. His violet eyes dimd for a fraction of a second... then sharpened, narrowing as if the world itself had just spoken in a language only he could hear.
Kara noticed first.
"Arthur?" she asked, turning back toward him. "Why did you stop?"
Zatanna followed his line of sight, frowning. "What is it? I don’t sense anything."
Arthur didn’t answer imdiately.
He tilted his head slightly, as though listening to sothing distant and imnse. The air around them vibrated with pressure.
"I don’t know if it’s just ," Arthur said at last, his voice low, asured.
The shadows rippled faintly.
"But there are presences here."
Kara’s brow furrowed. "Presences?"
Arthur’s gaze lifted toward the warped horizon where Hell’s skyline twisted into impossible geotry.
"Serious ones," he continued. "And I’m not talking about the casual demons crawling around this place."
Zatanna swallowed, her magical senses flaring instinctively. "Arthur... if you can feel them.."
"They can feel us," Arthur finished calmly.
John had stopped walking.
He stood a few steps ahead of them now, back turned, shoulders tense beneath his coat. For once, he didn’t crack a joke. Didn’t light a cigarette. Didn’t even pretend to be relaxed.
Arthur glanced at him.
"These presences," Arthur said, voice steady but colder now, "they’re powerful beyond asure."
His eyes flickered, calculating.
"And they’re watching."
A distant rumble echoed across the landscape.
Kara stepped closer to Arthur without thinking, lowering her voice. "You’re saying they noticed us the mont we stepped in?"
Arthur nodded once. "The mont Lucifer opened the door."
Silence followed.
Zatanna exhaled slowly. "John...?"
John didn’t turn around.
Arthur spoke before she could push further.
"John," he said evenly, "I know you can’t answer freely. You already explained why. Magical bindings. Curses and whatnot. The usual."
He took a step forward, shadows stretching long across the cracked ground.
"So let
guess."
His eyes locked onto John’s back.
"Those things I’m sensing, those aren’t just residents of Hell."
A pause.
"They’re our targets."
John closed his eyes.
"...Yes."
The word ca out rough. Honest.
Arthur let out a slow breath not out of frustration or anger.
"It seems," he said quietly, "it really won’t be that simple."
The heat around them flared for a mont, reacting to the shift in intent.
Kara glanced between Arthur and John, jaw tightening. "We knew it would be bad," she said, "but not this bad."
John finally turned around, his expression grim.
"Welco to Hell," he muttered. "The real one."
Arthur straightened, shadows rising behind him, his violet eyes burned brighter.
"Then," he said, stepping forward, "let’s stop pretending we’re just visitors."
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If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support
than check out my patreon at
"spatreon/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want
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