The moment came like a whisper.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: NEW DAY CYCLE – 21st FLOOR UNLOCKED]
Lucifer's eyes opened.
His body was reclined against the cold stone of a resting chamber etched deep into the vampire realm's dungeon. Blood runes still glowed faintly around him, pulsing like a slowed heartbeat.
He sat up, ran a hand through his dark hair, and stretched. Bones popped. Muscles cracked. He rolled his neck.
"Time to move."
He reached for his coat and slipped it on slowly, adjusting the collar. The moment his boots hit the ground, another message chimed.
[Floor Synchronization Complete – Floor 21: The Mourned Basilica]
A faint voice hummed in the back of his mind—low, smooth, familiar.
"You're in deeper now, boy."
Lucifer exhaled through his nose. "Morning, Damaris."
"Still calling me that?"
Lucifer smirked faintly. "Still not calling you 'Dad.'"
"Hmph. Fair."
