"What about me?" A calm yet confident voice filled the hallway as a man came flying down to land on his feet.
Milena's eyes squinted, seeing Lucifer. She didn't know what Sirius did to him, but she didn't expect him to be left alive, at least.
"You're back. About time you returned," Salazar let out, sighing a breath of relief. Be patted the shoulder of the young man before him. "It's good to see that you're safe. So, where did you go?"
"I went with Sirius since he wanted to show me something. Apparently it was a trap," Lucifer replied, not taking his eyes off Milena. "But I'm sure the Queen here knows about that, don't you?"
Milena didn't answer. In the background, Arthur was actually surprised. So it was right that Lucifer was taken by Sirius. His guess was right. That would mean that Lucifer hadn't contacted the Warlock Council to attack.
"Where is Caen," Lucifer asked Salazar.
Salazar replied, "I helped him escape."
"And you stayed behind?" Lucifer asked.
"Of course I did. In your absence, I was the ship of the captain. It's my responsibility to help the crew get out before me. Moreover, Caen is weak, so he wouldn't be of help either. I could've held them back longer."
"Not bad. I suppose I should thank you for taking care of everything in my absence. I really thought that you two would be dead by the time I return."
Lucifer turned around and hugged Salazar, shocking him.
But Salazar looked down after Lucifer freed him. He understood what was happening. It wasn't a hug, but it was something else. He didn't comment on it so that he wouldn't alert the enemies.
"Hahaha, we were quite close, I must say," Salazar responded, bursting into laughter. "You came just at the right time. As long as you keep Milena busy, I should be fine."
He was mostly concerned about Milena, who was largely unaffected in his Time Domain. All the others were of no threat to him.
Arthur was also a concern with his teleportation, but Lucifer believed that he could take care of them.
Lucifer glanced at the thirteen Nobles in the room, including Milena. He shook his head lightly. "There is no need anymore. I'll take care of all of them. You leave and find Caen. Keep him safe."
"Are you sure?" Salazar asked. "You don't have to take all the burden. Moreover, I know Caen. He can keep himself safe because of his abilities."
"It's alright. Don't worry. Because of being trapped for so long, I'm pretty frustrated. It's good to be back in the real world again. I want to get some steam out," Lucifer let out, stretching his arms. "You should leave. You'll just be an obstruction in my path."
Salazar glanced at Lucifer momentarily but ultimately nodded. "Alright. I'll keep him safe in that case. But I think you should know about something important first."
Milena stood silent, hearing their conversation. She didn't intervene. Similarly, other Nobles waited for commands from her.
"What important?" Lucifer asked, frowning.
"It's about the Warlock Council. Apparently they have attacked the Divine Empire. Planes filled with their Warlocks are en-route to this city," Salazar explained.
"Warlock Council? Why would they attack suddenly? Did they find out about us being here?" Lucifer asked, surprised. "From what we know, they weren't planning to attack this place? That's why we came here first."
"I'm not sure. Maybe they changed their plans. Whatever the case, keep some of your energy in reserve. After fighting the Nobles, we would need to fight the Warlock Council army too," Salazar responded before he turned and left.
"The Warlock Council, huh. Whatever, let them come too. Might as well take out all obstructions at once!" Lucifer declared, cracking his knuckles.
"But first, where is Sirius?" he asked Milena. That invisible man was also a threat. Moreover, he was also the main target here.
"He is dead," Milena responded. "But is it really true that you'll fight the Warlock Council after fighting us? Why would you fight your own team?"
" Dead? Nonsense! He can't die on his own! His life is mine! And I'll take his life with my own hands!" Lucifer yelled, ignoring the other words of Milena.
"I'm sure you're angry at her, but her life belonged to me more than it did to you! He only fooled you recently, but he was controlling me for close to a decade! It was a well-deserved death," Milena replied.
"Ah, I get it. Now I understand. After I destroyed that Dungeon Dweller, his control on Sirius broke, and in turn, the control of Sirius on you broke. So you're actually free now," Lucifer muttered, rubbing his chin.
Milena didn't respond. She raised her right hand and held the stone which she was wearing as a pendant. She snatched her pendant from her neck and tossed it towards Lucifer.
Raising his left hand, Lucifer caught the stone, frowning. "What are you doing?"
"Apologizing for my mistakes," Milena replied, taking a deep breath.
"Hah?"
"What?"
Gasps filled the hall as the Noble Lords grew shocked. Milena was apologizing to someone? Were they dreaming? Their queen was apologizing to someone?
Even Arthur and Feronia had their mouths opened. Milena had actually apologized? What the heck was happening here?
"What are you apologizing for?" Lucifer asked.
"I'm apologizing for what you went through in our Empire. And for blaming you for the Warlock Council attack. And I apologize for almost killing your friends, thinking they were with the Warlock Council," Milena replied.
"However, from the conversation between you and your friend, it's clear that you're not with the Warlock Council. Instead, you're also their enemy. So I want to ask for your help," she added.
It was hard for her to ask for help, but she was prepared now that she was back to her real self.
"That's right, Your Majesty. Salazar did mention that he's not from the Warlock Council. Instead, they were impersonating the Warlock Council to get the stone," Arthur chimed in, remembering what Salazar had told him.
At first, he thought it was a lie, but now he realized that there was a good chance he was telling the truth. These people were probably the enemy of the Warlock Council, using their names.
"What help do you want?" Lucifer asked.
"The Warlock Council is attacking our Empire. I have faith that if we fought you, we would probably win, but we'll lose a lot of our people. And I don't want to lose them. Some of them are like family to me.. So I want to do anything to save them!" Milena replied.