Once he finished with his office work, Lucifer headed to his throne room to receive petitioners. He took a seat next to Lilith and waited for the inevitable Beelzebub-related hullaballoo. It wasn't long before a portal opened up. Out of it barged Archduke Belial Lackmaster. The fierce bull-headed, dragon-winged archduke of the Fifth Circle snorted furiously, eager to shed blood. He grabbed the soul of a nearby Confederate officer and ripped off his head, tossing the damned human's bleeding, decapitated body into a corner to regenerate.
"I see you still favor dramatic entrances, Belial," Lucifer sighed. "What troubles you this time?"
"Lord Nergal tells me that Beelzebub has been killed by the Iron Knights!" Belial spat. "He said they were plotting with Cruciata and Kushiel!"
"Beelzebub has indeed been murdered," Lucifer answered. "We do not yet know who was involved. Cruciata has been taken into custody, the Iron Knights have gone off the grid, and Kushiel is obviously untouchable. Does that answer everything?" He wisely didn't mention that the Iron Knights were with Kushiel right now. Belial would just take that as proof of his angry accusations.
"Kushiel is NOT untouchable!" Belial snapped. "We can invade Heaven and force God to give us Kushiel!"
"Isn't breaking the peace treaty to arrest Kushiel in circumstantial evidence just a bit extreme?" Lucifer said dryly.
"Not at all!" Belial growled. "Kushiel and his Inquisition answer to God! Mark my words, He ordered Kushiel to do this! Angels of a feather fucking flock together!"
"Doesn't he have an indoor voice?" Lilith whispered to her husband, rolling her eyes.
"Belial, why do you care enough for war?" Lucifer asked. "I always thought you disliked Beelzebub."
"True, I was never fond of that slippery bastard," Belial responded. "He was always too obsessed with putting humans and ex-humans in their place. Let's be honest, some humans make fine demons." He nodded approvingly to Lilith. "But the thing is, he was an archduke. An attack on any archduke is an attack on all of Hell! I'm not the only one who feels this way, you know. Baphomet thinks we need to act, and soon. Even Asmodeus and Mammon are reluctantly admitting to me that war is inevitable."
"Belial, be sensible," Lilith said firmly. "God just collaborated with us to crush the Iron Knights. If God was sponsoring the Iron Kights, why would He destroy them?"
"He moves in mysterious ways!" Belial shouted. "He's a tricky old bastard! You of all people know that, Lucifer!"
"I know of no such thing!" Lucifer snapped. "He's the closest thing to a father I have! If Kushiel IS involved in this, then he's gone rogue!"
"Getting sentimental in a crisis gets you killed!" Belial thundered. "I fought on the front lines in the rebellion, Lucifer! I know what letting your judgement cloud your decision-making does to you! I was nearly butchered by more former friends than I care to count! Even an old girlfriend tried to take my head off!"
"Rest assured, we're investigating," said Lucifer. "We'll soon get to the bottom of this murder."
"You'd better," Belial said as he opened a portal and stepped back into the Fifth Circle, "or we're all dead meat."
Lucifer slumped back on his dark throne and sighed. "Today just gets better and better."