Unlike him, Lucifer still needed to touch the object directly to have his decay take effect, at least for now. 

While the APF Variants were flustered at the sudden destruction of their maze, something flashed past them, akin to a human figure. 

But it was too fast. And when they tried to take up defensive positions, the APF group noticed that their hands had vanished at some point in time. 

They were incapacitated. And seeing their defenseless states, a passing Uprising Warlock tossed molten metal at them, melting their bodies. 

Another pair of APF's strongest Warlocks was killed right when it seemed like they could hold on while having an advantage. 

 ...

In a different part of the city, a gust of wind sent a house flying far away. 

The house crashed into another battlefield, causing the team of people from the opposing sides to dodge it in a hurry. Intense sounds rumbled from the crash as a couple more houses took off to the air. 

The dust cloud continued to circulate through the town, turning denser and denser as time passed. It was unknown about the cause or reason.

Raia had wanted it that way. But, there was one part of the town, around its edges, where the dust cloud was at its thickest. 

Sounds akin to the rumbling of thunder resounded nonstop from the place as splinters of wood and granules flew out like bullets, a resultant of the shockwave from the fierce exchange. 

As for those that flew into the sky, they were fine. But for the ones that couldn't fly or jump high, they were being killed in large numbers.

Standing on one of the rooftops, Lucifer was watching everything. 

'So this is what a true battlefield of the strongest Warlocks looks like. Some really fascinating abilities are on display. It's true that none of them should be underestimated,' he thought, frowning. 

He stood on the roof with Alicia. As for Raia, he had finally gone to clash with Varant. Lucifer and Alicia were told to stay behind for the moment and attack Varant at the right time. 

Lucifer shifted his gaze to a different place where he could see the houses developing numerous tiny holes. 

Most of the holes were the size of pinholes, barely visible unless one observed them from closeup. But, it showed the sheer power behind the damage resulting from the exchange between Raia and Varant. 

In the town, there were discrete battlezones that were obviously ear-shattering. It was where the strongest of the two sides fought. 

The outcome of their fight would dictate the course of the war. After all, everyone among them was able to tide through the war on their own. 

So, they were the real deal that signified which side won or lost. 

Suddenly, a large number of houses began to sink into the ground as the place turned into a quicksand, sucking them all in. 

In another location, a volcano gushed out from the ground, getting frozen up instantly as a hill formed in the place. 

Similarly, in one part of the town, some of the houses were compressed into small chunks of their material makeup before being hurled across the entire place. 

Every attack turned more explosive than the previous before the entire terrain changed. 

Once a town full of houses was now a battlefield void of civilization. The almost flat plain terrain had wholly changed into the most harmful piece of land.

There seemed to be volcanic eruptions, poison swamps, rumbling blades of metal, depthless gorges, sunken holes of sand, sparks of explosions, discharges of lightning.

Moreover, the rampant rumbling of thunder could be heard at places, and finally, the most prevalent of them all, an effect that sought to destroy the structural integrity of everything, damaging the very piece of land itself. 

The roof on which Lucifer was standing had also suffered an attack that had destroyed it entirely. 

As there was no good place to stand, Lucifer was instead standing in the air, twenty meters above the ground. Alicia also stood beside him. 

"Uhmm, Alicia?" Lucifer suddenly asked. 

"What?" Alicia responded in a snap. 

" You remember that bet I won and that you owe me a favor? I want you to do it now," Lucifer said calmly. 

"What do you want me to do? And didn't you get any better time? Come on! We are told to keep an eye on the battle and help in killing Varant. Can't it wait?" Alicia inquired. 

"Don't worry; it won't take long. Moreover, the battle of Raia and Varant has just begun. It'll take a long time before we are needed. So you can certainly do it. In fact, it'll take less than a minute," Lucifer said innocently.

"Fine! Tell me what I have to do?" Alicia inquired. 

"I want you to hug me," Lucifer said with a straight face. 

"What the heck? What is with that request?" Alicia asked, stunned. She didn't understand what it implied. 

"Just a hug. It'll take less than a minute. It's not like I'm asking for a kiss or something," Lucifer replied. "There's a reason behind it."

"What reason?" Alicia asked, staring at him like she was going to kill him.

"My mother… Whenever I was sad, she used to give me a hug. I don't know why but I'm feeling really depressed and missing her. I'm also missing her hug that always lightened my mood. Can you hug me in her stead?" Lucifer explained. 

There was some truth in his statement, which was mixed with some lies too. 

Seeing the sadness on Lucifer's face and understanding his genuine sounding reason, Alicia nodded. "Fine."

She stepped closer to Lucifer while spreading her arms. 

Lucifer also spread his arms as he hugged her. 

The figure of the two of them stuck closer as they hugged.

"Don't be depressed. We're going to win today, and then we're going to see a new world," Alicia said to Lucifer while hugging her. 

"That's right. We'll win today, and then everyone will see a new world," Lucifer said as he slowly raised his right hand and brought it closer to Alicia's ears. 

"My new world," he whispered before a faint snapping sound was heard. 

Alicia's eyes opened wide before they closed slowly. 

Her limp body lost all its strength as she lost her consciousness because of Lucifer's trick. 

With Alicia in his arms, Lucifer flew into the distance. 

He went into the bunker, away from the battlefield where Ayn and Veracity were staying.

"Keep an eye on her. She wouldn't wake up for a few hours, and I should be back by then," Lucifer told Veracity before he left the place just as fast as he had come. 

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