The large hallway was filled with all kinds of nobles; most of them were fancily dressed, some were discussing amongst themselves about businesses, and some others were happily chatting about the most recent gossip they heard.
All of them were sitting by the many comfortable-looking chairs standing in front of the large windows that faced the cubic arena.
The stench of alcohol and smoke was staining the walls; in the private rooms I could hear the sound of women giggling and moaning.
Leo took my hand and dragged me somewhere far away from the adults. Downstairs, in a remote corner of that underground arena, was a large room completely red.
Red-painted walls, red cushy couches, red carpets, and red-tinted glass windows.
In the middle of the room, there was some sort of throne elevated from the rest of the furniture by a slab of marble. On it sat a man a lot older than me; he seemed to be roughly the same age as either Elvis or Ilay, so around late teens.
He had long, wavy brown hair and blue eyes. He was slumped on his throne with Leonora sitting on the armrest of his chair, her back leaning against his shoulder as the two of them were sharing a snack.
The rest of the kids there were wearing some really small masks that they picked up in a small casket lying next to the door of such a strange room.
After picking up a mask and putting it on, the girl noticed. She jumped off the throne and immediately ran up to me.
"Lucifer! You made it! You were able to convince your mother to let you in? That's amazing; the others were dying to meet you!" She quickly greeted me, taking both my hands and dragging me close to the center of the room. "Guys! This one here is Lucifer!" She shouted while raising my hand for everybody to see.
Everybody turned around and rushed over to my position.
"Oh, you're the son of the Scarlet! Guys, the son of the Scarlet Devil!" One of them repeated.
"Oh, he looks a lot cuter than his name would give in." Another girl commented.
"His hair is truly as vibrantly colored as described."
"So he's the one belonging to the household that escaped the curse of the land dwellers!"
"Hey, you've been in the Fracture, right? Can you tell what it looks like?"
All the while I was being flooded with comments and questions, Leonhart was trying his best to put himself in between the other kids, trying desperately to get closer.
"Guys, stop!" A deep voice restored order; it came from the guy sitting on the throne.
"Can't you see that our guest is uncomfortable? Take it easy; he's going to live here, so we have all the time in the world to ask him your question. Take it easy, and let's just enjoy tonight's event." The man said as he raised the glass he was holding in his right hand.
He looks annoying.
It was what I had in mind the first time I laid my eyes on him.
Doesn't he feel a bit… I mean, standing in a room like this is starting to hurt my eyes a bit, and not only that, but to sit on a throne… God, I'm dying of second-hand embarrassment.
As the crowd dispersed, he stepped down and came closer to me to whisper some incomprehensible gibberish into my ears, only to then return to sitting on his throne.
A bell rang, and the focus of everyone's attention shifted towards the window facing the arena.
"So? What do you think of this place? Beautiful, isn't it?" Leonora asked me.
Now? I too would like to see the fight in the arena. And where did he get his drink? I too am a little thirsty.
"Oh, well, I was a little surprised when we took the elevator, but this place looks nice." I responded, uninterested in continuing the conversation.
"By the way, do you know why that man infiltrated here? What did he want to do?" I asked her.
She was taken aback by my question; she exchanged a puzzled look with the man sitting on the throne, and then he answered in her stead.
"Isn't it obvious? A peasant like him probably wanted to steal some riches or free a slave that got sold here; whatever it was, it doesn't matter now that he has fallen into our hands." He responded.
As if! Usually people suck up to get into high positions. If he infiltrated here, he probably had a whole plan ready… Aren't you even a little bit concerned? Well, I guess when you're this rich you can afford to be. I bet you also got some really powerful servants.
Wait a second, did you say… slave? Wasn't slavery abolished like… two or three hundred years ago? This place sure is something.
While everyone else seemed marveled at the sight of the intruder fighting waves upon waves of slaves thrown at him, I fixed my eyes upon a familiar, round-shaped individual sitting in a corner of the room, greedily munching on some cake.
Ignoring Leonora, who was trying to talk to me, and her brother, I headed towards that individual.
"Hello again, fat fuck!" I greeted him as I stood in front of him.
"Oh, it's you again. What the fuck do you want from me?" He was squealing like a pig, stuffing his mouth full, and talking while eating his food.
"An apology, isn't it obvious? You punched me in the face for no reason; you should be glad your head is still attached to your neck after what you did." I replied as I tried to slap away the food from his hands; unfortunately, the cake was much squishier than I expected it to be, so it just splattered all over my hands and the wall.
Ah, fuck, now my hands are all covered in cream… You fat pig, this is all your fault. Where can I find a tissue to clean it? Where?
I wiped my hand over his shoulders to clean it properly, and then when a servant offered me a drink, I took it only to pour it all over him.
The fat man then got up, squaring himself up, preparing himself for a fight.
"What, are you going to punch me again? Do you want to die?" I taunted him as I summoned my demonic weapon and pressed it against his chest.
Come on, do it! I swear if you do anything bad, I'll make sure Uncle Kiriams exterminates your whole family. Now get on your knees and start kissing my foot.
"Hah! Come on now, bow down. It's not that hard; perhaps you need a little more motivation. Don't worry, I'm here to support you." I whispered to him as I aimed the gun at his leg.
"You fucking piece of—"
"What? I can't hear you. Can you repeat yourself louder? I couldn't hear your apology properly." I said it out loud purposefully in order to bring attention to us.
"Hey, aren't you taking things a little too far?" Another kid asked me as he gently tried to pull the gun away from the fat one.
"No, absolutely not. He ignored the pecking order, and now he has to get humiliated for it. Isn't that how things work up here?" I responded, shoving the guy away. "Don't bother answering. That wasn't a question for you." I added it as soon as I saw him opening his mouth.
Ah! How satisfying, this place was truly made for me.
The pig was gritting his teeth; I could hear the sound of his teeth grinding against each other in frustration. It brought joy to my ears, and after some more persuading, he finally fell on his knees, with his forehead on the ground, apologizing.
"I apologize. Can you forgive me?" He said.
"Apologize for what exactly? I can't remember correctly; can you remind me again?" I taunted him.
This feels amazing. I can see why they love doing it. Yes… I can get used to this.
"You…" The pig glared at me but stayed on his knees.
"Now, now, there's no need to be this petty. Our friend over here has already shown his goodwill by apologizing. I hope you can reciprocate his goodwill so that your little argument won't sour the mood of the room any longer. After all, this is supposed to be a joyous day." The guy that was once sitting on the throne was now standing next to me; I didn't even hear him making a sound as he walked up to me.
He had his arm wrapped around my neck and whispered to me in a calm and collected tone.
"Yeah, sure, I can let it go for today. It's no big deal." I answered as I put the gun away and extended my hand towards the fat man to help him get back up.
But as he tried to reach for it, I immediately turned around and walked away towards the large glass window to spectate the fight. Unfortunately, it was already over; all the slaves were lying on the floor, some of them had broken limbs, but none of them had been killed by the intruder.
Oh, he managed to hold his own against… a dozen? No, probably a lot more than that, slaves. He's definitely not any ordinary man.