For a moment nothing happened, and then Mephistopheles, a short, slim demon with luxuriant hair cut slightly above his shoulders (not counting the two longer strands falling to his chest) and pulled back so that it covered his left eye, stood up. His face, with its well-trimmed moustache and small beard, did not show any terror nor fear. At best, anger. He pressed his lips together, readjusted his jacket and walked out, as if what had happened a moment before was merely a macabre spectacle. He was followed out by the others, quickly, silently. Beelzebub, as instructed, stayed where he was, not taking his gaze off the floor himself, not knowing whether he was more horrified by how quickly this escalated or furious at what was happening. “Stand up. I had to, you know very well yourself. Sorry. If they had seen, you know yourself, it wouldn't have been good....” Lucifer said, and as always he was sure of what he was holding on to. “But they are not the ones who rule Hell. You and I...” “You. Only you,” Beelzebub interrupted him by standing up. He had already decided: he was furious, more so than those who left here, more so than he had thought himself. He was not looking at Lucifer but at the blood and the bodies. “I spoke about public executions, it is true. But not like this. Not like this.” “Beelzebub, calm down. I just wanted...” “That's exactly what you wanted. Congratulations, they're definitely scared now,” growled the hunter interrupting him again. He rubbed his forehead beating his thoughts and again leading his gaze over the whole mess right next to his desk.

"You're angry with me. I understand. And now we can run this together, you and me. They won't dare take me off the throne. They will never raise a hand against you again because they are afraid," the god of war spoke and looked at him as if nothing unusual had happened.

"If anything, they will not throw you down. I am obviously one of them, aren't I? I can bow down with them, fall silent with them, and stand in line with them if it improves your reputation. That's how it was, is, and will be. I'm going to them; that's where I should be now. Once again, I congratulate you. Nothing will stand in your way," replied Beelzebub before he tried to leave.

"Wait," he was immediately stopped by the Lord of Hell, who himself now fixed his gaze on the corpse.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Explain this to me. You yourself spoke of executions, yes? It helped, and they will rather be afraid, as they should be. What is it then? Because I don't understand."

"Did you check who the prisoners were?" asked quietly the god of fidelity, lifting his gaze at last to his face. For a brief moment, they stared at each other again, and with each passing moment, it was the Lord of Hell who lost his certainty under the weight of his servant's increasingly cold gaze.

"No," he admitted at last.

Beelzebub nodded slightly and approached the bodies slowly.

"Minsuf, fifteen years old, in his fourth year of law, was locked up for two days for educational purposes. He was notorious for disrupting classes at the Academy. Lutar, eighteen years old, would have received his diploma in a month's time after finishing his specialization at the Duke. However, he was locked up for eight days for insulting the management. He had to get it, even though he was right. Andon, a twenty-one-year-old craftsman from the poor, was locked up for three days for stealing food. They were starving. Makar, sixteen years old, was locked up for breaking into the Academy's library. Boys do this a lot. Nius, twenty-eight years old, was locked up for a month due to his debt at the third-floor casinos." He fell silent, raising his icy gaze to Lucifer again. "There was only one prisoner here who deserved to be in the dungeons. He had beaten one of Lilith's girls."

"I didn't know," muttered the god of war, his calmness vanishing in an instant.

"Of course not. Because they were convicted by the Hack, and I confirmed the sentences. I taught some of those boys. Minsuf wanted to join the committee to abolish conflicting laws, and I had already arranged a place for Lutar. Didn't you see they were still boys? Didn't you see who you were killing?" Beelzebub didn't back down.

"I thought it was the plebs of the second floor, not the students of the Academy."

"Just because you didn't bother to check the paperwork doesn't justify what you did." The Hell Hunter shook his head slightly. This time, he moved confidently towards the great carved gates of the Throne Room, emerging into the high marble corridor. He advanced with one of the expensive red carpets to the stairs.