As surreal as the void was, Konrad had a vague idea of what to expect by now.
So when it was nothing like before—
He could only hope the spell failed.
That he'd open his eyes to the ruined floor of the Underground Club and find Kaede splayed out. That they'd have to scramble to try again, racing against time, but—
They've been in the time-space bubble, and Midori-kun's spell worked like a charm.
If only for one second. But someone also triggered Konrad's portal. No clue how or why.
And now, reality refused to settle or make any sense.
Like, they were somewhere; voids had no clouds.
But there was nothing else, either.
Did they teleport into the sky? That was impossible, and they weren't falling, anyway.
The Silver Mage taught him that portals always opened to solid ground. The spell had a built-in anchor to prevent sorcerers from ending up inside a wall or underground—
Or above the clouds.
But they were standing on them, the three of them blinking in disbelief.
Maou Midori, Konrad, and—
Yuki Sorakumo.
"W-where are we?" she asked, mismatched eyes scanning the endless blue.
At least there was breathable air. Cold and crisp, which made her shiver in her uniform.
Another thing the void lacked.
"Where's Kaede?!" Konrad asked instead, heart skipping a beat when he saw wings.
Except they didn't belong to a huge crimson dragon.
They had raven-like feathers, singed and disheveled, but he could still recognize them.
Their owner was a wreck, though.
The once flawless porcelain skin burned off. Under a patchy mess of dark hair, his raw flesh and parts of the skull were both exposed. Yet, Konrad had no doubts about who he was.
Not after those thoughts invaded his mind.
'Would you look at that,' Lucifer projected. 'My lost little lambs have returned.'
Konrad wanted to draw his sword from the guitar case, but—
He didn't move. Not that he couldn't. He didn't want to for some reason.
"What on Earth?!" the Demon Lord demanded. "Banishment doesn't do that to you—"
Yuki-san's reaction was more like what he'd expect.
She screamed, scrambling behind Konrad's legs.
And while the angel's lips—or what's left of them—moved, no sound came out. He must have used telepathy with Maou this time, leaving Konrad out of it.
Whatever happened must have ruined his vocal cords, which reminded him of Kaede again.
How she healed his while threatening to rip them out, and—
That she wasn't here with them.
The disfigured angel turned his skeletal face back to him with a grin.
'Yeah, she should be dead by now. My cute little puppet did better than expected.'
The void-like eyes flashed to the girl.
Yes, even Konrad knew. He had figured it out a long time ago, and yet—
'Well, you didn't want to come by yourself, so I had her guide you. Molding this vegetable of a girl into your beloved Lilith was simple enough—and the way you fawned over her?'
His laugh grated on his nerves. The bastard lost more than his vocal cords there.
And he remembered no fawning, but—wait, Lilith?
He had so many questions, but Lucifer's power didn't let him ask.
Being a prisoner of his own body was terrifying.
'Why, thank you,' the angel thought. 'Too bad your fear tastes foul now. It's better when you suffer for your dreams. But you've become problematic, Konrad Halstadt. I should punish you.'
What?
No, never mind. The sword, if he could—
"So what'd you do if I banished you from the heavens?" Maou Midori stepped between them, palm raised in a challenging posture. "Or did you already forget about me?"
Konrad didn't blink, and somehow still missed it.
Lucifer stood a good twenty paces in front of them one moment, then—he was behind the Demon Lord. His burned hand was caressing his hair as if he'd been doing it for hours.
It was a gentle touch, but the schoolboy's face distorted in pain.
He remained silent, but he wasn't taking it by choice.
Half-dead or not, the angel was way too powerful for them in his home turf.
"Of course I didn't, Maou-chan," Lucifer said with an eerie smile. "I'll admit getting a little sloppy lately. But after I rewired your brain again, you won't remember anyway."
The Demon Lord went slack, the pain easing from his face.
And life did, too.
That didn't seem like an improvement.
And yes, the angel was talking now, his voice hoarse at first, but improving fast.
"Tried to get your staff back," he said as his face was regrowing. "But my sister was a bit naughty, too. Well, that doesn't mean I can'd drain the life forces I've let you borrow, so it's all right."
The transformation was fast and terrifying.
And the schoolboy Midori-kun was no more, either.
Konrad's bandmate kept aging until he was that same elderly mage he had fought before.
"Hmm, much better," Lucifer sighed as the shriveled body collapsed onto the clouds. "Hate necromancy all you want, but it feels great when all the pain's gone, you know?"
The old, wrinkled man was still breathing at his feet, but that was it.
With or without the angel controlling his mind, he'd pose no threat anytime soon.
"So where were we? Ah yes. You were always stubborn, Konrad. I offered you riches and women, but you didn't want them. Could have taken you back now, too, but you refused, so—"
He pointed at the trembling girl, the sadistic smile faltering for a moment.
"Ah, guess she no longer remembers. I had poor Yuki-chan guide you. Come on, darling, don't be afraid of your favorite psychologist. Rejoice—suicidal girls can't enter heaven otherwise."
There was no way Konrad couldn't move to kick his ass for this.
No brainwashing could make him accept it.
To treat the girl he never actually knew, as Lucifer made her a copy of someone Konrad didn't remember. She was sweet and talented; nobody deserved such treatment, especially not her.
And still, for all the rage welling up inside, he couldn't move.
Kaede was no longer there. The Demon Lord has fallen. And this girl?
She had no idea who or where she was.
It was over. Whatever his twisted plans were, Lucifer won.
Will Konrad ever find out what it was about, or would he become a mindless puppet as well?
No. Too early to give up. What if he couldn't move? He had so much mana left.
Cast a lightning or a fireball, then—
"Don't bother, child," Lucifer laughed. "Even if you had the power to wound a god—which you don't—have you forgotten? Your soul's tethered to me. You can't do anything to harm me."
Right. There was something like that.
He cut him off from whatever. Not that he understood.
But there was nothing he could do. Yuki-san stumbled back on her feet, stepping away, and—
"He can't, but I do."
A familiar voice, and something huge and red divebombed into the angel's face.
"Did you miss me, bastard?!"
"Kaede?!" Konrad yelled, his stupor broken, but—
Whether it was her or not, she swept him off his feet, too.
And from the clouds, with nothing but more sky below them.
Again.
So while something insane was happening above, Konrad was falling with no end in sight.