"Thatâs right. This was what I used on him. It is really handy at times," Salazar affirmed. "But it also has some bad sides to it."
"I call it Dream Illusion," he added.
"How does it work?" Lucifer asked.
"With this, I can trap any person in a dream. As long as that person doesnât realize that itâs a dream, heâll stay stuck," Salazar replied. "I can keep that dream up for around five minutes. Thatâs what I used on Kellian."
"Since I didnât want him to realize that he was in a dream, I made it a continuation of our own battle. He was fighting me in his dreams."
"Itâs certainly a good ability. But what bad side were you talking about? How does it stop you from breaking promises?" Lucifer asked, not able to link the two.
"Itâs pretty simple. I need to have my heart clean to perform this skill. If I canât, it backfires on me. And I get trapped in nightmares for months at a time, unable to get out. Even when I know that theyâre dreams, I canât come out that easily. Itâs a really bad experience," Salazar explained.
"You need to keep your heart clean? You mean you canât do anything that you consider bad or lie?" Lucifer inquired.
"Not really. I tried testing this. I can do bad things. I can even lie, and I donât face the backlash of this ability. I only faced this backlash twice, and both were the times when I broke a promise. Thatâs why I donât promise anyone anymore," Salazar answered.
â Trapped in a dream for months? Thatâs a long time to be trapped. I canât afford that. But to get to where I want, Iâll have to make quite a few promises and break them.â Lucifer thought, losing himself in deep thought.
âThis ability isnât suited for me. But can I steal the Time Manipulation without stealing this ability too?â
"So, yeah. I canât break a promise unless I want to be at the mercy of others," Salazar continued.
"Didnât you promise recently that youâll keep me safe? So if you ever tried to attack me, youâll get trapped in a dream?" Lucifer asked, thinking back to his first meeting with Salazar.
"Thatâs right. And since the backlash is immediate, itâll act instantly. So before I could even land an attack, I would be trapped. Even if I wanted to hurt you now, I canât. Youâre the safest person in this building," Salazar affirmed.
"Is he telling the truth?" Lucifer asked, glancing back.
Salazar also turned back, surprised, wondering who Lucifer was asking.
As he turned back, he noticed a woman standing there.
"Veracity? Youâre here as well? Since when have you been standing there?" Salazar asked, surprised.
"Since you started opening your heart," Veracity replied, smirking.
She looked at Lucifer and continued, "Everything he said was the truth. He hasnât lied even once."
Lucifer nodded in satisfaction.
"Ah, so itâs that. Youâre keeping me under a lie detector. Not bad," Salazar said, bursting into laughter.
"Well, you did kill four of my people. And weâve just met. I canât trust you that easily. Iâm sure youâll understand. Iâm not going to make the same mistake as my father," Lucifer explained.
"So, Salazar Lucia. Iâm sure you understand where Iâm coming from now? You know what I want as well. So do you still want to take me back? Or will you stay and help me? What do you want to do?" he asked.
Salazar turned his body around and stood up.
"Thatâs a good question indeed. I think your cause is good. But I still donât agree with the approach. Generally, I wouldnât agree to help you, but Iâll do it. Iâll do it for Zale."
"But Iâll only help you against the Warlock Council. I wonât help you with anything else, you understand?"
"That would be enough."
"Now that weâre part of the same team, can you take off the bracelet?"
"I can, but only if you promise me something."
"Seriously? Youâre going to use that against me now?"
"Iâm just taking precautions."
"What do you want me to promise you?"
"I want you to promise me that you wonât attack any Uprising Member in the future," Lucifer said.
"I canât promise that. If my life is in danger, I want to be able to protect myself. Iâm not going to sit idle if a crazy Uprising member attacks me," Salazar immediately rejected the proposal.
" Fine. Then promise me that you wonât use your powers against any Uprising member or attack them unless that person attacks you first?" Lucifer improvised.
"That I can promise. I promise that I wonât use my powers against any Uprising member or attack them unless they attack me first," Salazar promised. "Can you take off the bracelet now?"
"Iâm not taking the bracelet off. Thatâll stay on your hand. But youâll be able to use your powers. Just think of that as an accessory now," Lucifer responded before he spoke two words. "Unlock powers!"
The red light of the bracelet turned to white light.
"Itâs unlocked now. You can now use your powers. Just donât use them on my members. Also, donât try to take off the bracelet. It has protection against that. I donât want you to suffer because you tried that. So keep that in mind." Lucifer reminded Salazar as he also got up.
Salazar looked at the ant, which was walking on the ground, smiling. He spread out his domain to test his theory. As the ant came inside his domain, it became even slower.
"Argh, it feels good to be able to use my powers again. But I feel like myself again. Even though I still have this handicap, itâs better than nothing. Now, tell me. Whoâs the second person that you want to take revenge on?" he asked Lucifer.
"Follow me." Lucifer walked back to the lift with Veracity and Salazar.
The lift started going down.
It stopped on the second-highest floor. Lucifer and Salazar walked through that floor to stop before a room. "You stay here with Veracity. Iâll be right outside."
Opening the door, Lucifer stepped inside the room.
As he entered the room, he noticed Kellian sitting behind a table, looking at something on the screen of his laptop.
"I heard you took Salazar with you?" Kellian asked, noticing Lucifer.
"Thatâs right. Iâve decided that heâll work for us. I made him accept my proposal," Lucifer responded, taking a seat before Kellian.
"You know he killed four of our men?" Kellian inquired. "What do you think the others will feel when they know that youâre freeing Salazar?"