POVs will move around, but it will still be written in third person and just switch who we follow. There's some mild body horror described in this chapter.

Today was a day of change in the Devildom. Today, the Demon King had officially passed his crown to Lord Diavolo as he laid to rest for eternity.

Lucifer stood alongside his friend as the King passed in his sleep–never changing from his comatose state that Lucifer had come to know him in. Diavolo knelt at his bedside with his forehead pressed to his father's heart, unashamedly crying out his pain with gasps and wails of agony to accompany the tears staining his cheeks. At some point, his true form had emerged, and the scene was concealed by the span of wings wrapping around the royal blood.

Lucifer grieved himself, as the King had been the one to grant him and his family a second chance after their fall from the Celestial Realm. The King had done so much for him, and now Lucifer would repay the act in supporting his son. Of course, his relationship with Diavolo had begun as just that, courtesy and politeness out of the debt Lucifer would always have to the Demon King, but it had advanced to a trusted partnership between real friends. He and Diavolo had spoken about most things together–his war against the Celestial father, his grief in the loss of Lilith, the pressure Diavolo hid from his people when the King fell comatose–yet this had been one conversation which had yet to be brought up a second time: what they would do when the King laid to rest. Diavolo may have gone without the presence of his father for decades now, but the King was still alive and carrying the helm of the Devildom atop his head. Lucifer remembered telling Diavolo that he could sense the pride that the sleeping King carried for his son, and the tender moment that the two friends shared after that.

The one instance where they had discussed the King's death, Diavolo had confessed to fearing the crown. He could handle the responsibilities, the diplomacy, and the status that came with the crown–after all, he had carried such things already–but he feared the implications that came with bearing the title as the King of the Devildom. He had turned the conversation around after that, not expanding further, which had left Lucifer wondering what aspect of the crown he feared if not the aspects he had already taken on.

Evidently, he would soon find out.

Diavolo had finished sending his father off, and now turned to Lucifer with a bright golden gaze. Lucifer offered a hand, and Diavolo took it. The two steadied each other as they headed for Diavolo's quarters where they could be in true privacy until their time was up.

"I do not know how I can continue, Lucifer. It overtakes me." The confession is not lost on him, although he initially shows no response. After a moment, he decides that his best course of action to support his friend may be to help him work through what exactly he fears, and what it is that is overtaking him.

"I am here for you, Diavolo. Whatever overtakes you now, will cower in the presence of us together."

"Not this." This was growing to be increasingly concerning. Diavolo was not one to be pessimistic, let alone to completely disregard his reassurance. He stepped back momentarily, trying to take stock of the situation again for something he may have missed, but his friend was changing.

Diavolo was trying to contain something, and he was failing. A demon as strong as him can start a war in seconds if he wanted to. A demon unable to contain an internal beast would level realms at a time if not challenged. As he tried his best to support Diavolo in his continued struggle to contain whatever beast within him threatened to break free in this weakened state of grief, he signalled Barbatos to summon his brothers.

Satan took up the rear behind his (now all awake) brothers as Mammon led the rush through Lord Diavolo's palace. The second born was still their second-in-command in the absence of Lucifer, and Levi may hate him, but he would never rush into a possible battle without being directly at Mammon's side. Their history was beyond his understanding, but he did not need to understand to accept it in full. Asmo and the twins were a trio not to be messed with, but they were all susceptible to getting distracted or detached from the group far too often in dire situations. Hence, Satan stayed behind them to ensure that the brothers all remained together as a unit.

Mammon kicked down Diavolo's door and prepared to release his demon form, only to immediately stop and stare. His reaction stumped the other five brothers, and they bumped together as they stopped abruptly. Satan, barely able to see into the room from behind the other four, saw Mammon gag and turn away before steadying himself on a table.

"Oi, not again!"

Levi turned the same way and held a hand over his mouth before sharing Mammon's reaction. Asmo and the twins looked in to immediately turn away and avert their gaze. Finally, Satan got a look at the scene before him.

Lucifer was uselessly in a calm position, trying to comfort Lord Diavolo who screamed in agony on the ground beside his bed. Under Lord Diavolo's skin, a figure was trying to push through. Hand stretched the skin of his back as they pushed against it from the inside, limbs and bony shapes pushed against the Lord's skin as a second voice overlaid his screams. With a final wail of pain, the being phased through its cage and appeared next to Lord Diavolo on the ground drenched in blood.