Grind the Heel, Just for Good Measure...

"Fufu~ oh, just look at you all." She scanned around the room, noting how some were still trembling. "God gets all the good followers, and I end up with a bunch of scared puppies. It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic."

Once again, as she expressed her displeasure, the wave of apologies came back again.

Okay, as ironic as it would sound, the enjoyment that Lucifer was getting earlier from the subjugation was starting to wear off quick.

"Alright, that's ENOUGH!" Her voice boomed through the room as all other voices ceased. "Congratulations, you've convinced me. You all get to keep your pathetic lifes for another day."

Lucy could hear the sighs of relief washing over the crowd.

"Tsk! To think I'd put all my important duties on hold for this. How disappointing, indeed..." She held her chin up, completely taking the 'higher than thou' posture as she wasn't even looking at her followers anymore. "Whatever, you wasted enough of my precious time, so you all better start working on sending me back before I---"

Before she could finish, she felt something hit her back. Something cold that spread over her and made the dignified queen let out an very undignified welp.

Every single one of the cultists that were once prostated on the floor raised their head to see what happened, only to see their lord down on her knees, hugging herself as her trembling body was drenched in water, and just behind her was one of their brethren holding the bucket.

"W-w-w-what the FUCK?!" Lucifer's head whipped around to look at the bold, to not say 'completely braindead', human that had drenched her. Of course, like the rest, he started to tremble when her crimson eyes met his. "H-h-have you... completely l-lost your MIND?!"

She doesn't get any real answer. Instead, the man only stared at her, the bucket slipping out of his hands and hitting the ground.

"Are you fucking mute or something? I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!"

As she clenched her teeth and her face reddened in anger, she already began lifting her hand in position to snap her fingers.

'So that's how you all repay my goodwill?! FINE, THEN! Have it your way, you MISERABLE SHIT STAINS!'

*snap*

...

'...huh?'

Lucy's eyes darted around the room confused. She watched as the hooded men looked at each other. They were all perfectly fine and just as confused as her.

Of course, she tried it again, and then again, and then just a few more times after that.

"W-what? What the fuck is this?!" Lucifer questioned as she looked at her own hand like it was a faulty remote. "Where did my powers go--- ahh!"

Amidst her confusion, the water drenching her body had slowly made it's way through her suit. Just as she truly felt the cold feeling all around her body, a jolt of electricity coursed through her, causing the queen to fall to her knees.

"Ack! W-what the... fuck did you DO?! Ahh..."

As the seconds passed, Lucy noticed it was starting to get hard to breathe. Her entire body was burning like fire and her vision was turning blurred.

The cult members only watched as the once seemingly almighty queen of Hell became a panting mess on the floor.

"...shit, did it really work?" One of the more brave ones of the group was the first to straighten himself to look over at the queen, with the rest of the room following suit.

Murmurs ran through the crowd for a bit, until one of them spoke up.

"Of course it did..."

They all turned to the one who said that. It was the same cultist who had tossed that water in the first place. "After all... this isn't or lord at all!"

Lucy's eyes widen at the blasphemy she had just heard. 'Did he really just said that? After everything that just happened?!'

Regardless, the man continued. "This harlot is just some demon bitch whose so afraid of doing her job. She's trying to mislead us! There's no way the true Lucifer would fall to a simple bucket of holy water!"

Whispers and murmurs ran wild after that, all the men present looking around each other while Lucifer looked down at the ground, her mind officially getting left in the dust, unable to keep up with everything that was happening all at once.

'Harlot? Afraid? Fucking HOLY WATER!? Did he called me 'just some DEMON BITCH'?! What in the hell is even happening anymore!?'

Going back two sentences on that train of thought. They just had a bucket full of holy water on them. That... actually explains a lot.

Despite all the misconceptions of the church, due to centuries of knowledge having been lost to time, they still managed to get some stuff right. Holy water and other blessed symbols being detrimental to demons being one of them.

Of course, there's always a "but". It's not exactly lethal. At least, not in the extent a human would think. Hell, Lucy even knew someone who used a cross on her neck and all she would say is that it "stings just the right way".

Unfortunately, even if not lethal, getting drenched the way she got was still bad news. You see, there was something not many knew about, be it human, demon or angel. A special "fuck you" from her sister up high to the fallen angel, given just as she got kicked out of heaven.

She was made SPECIALLY sensitive to it.

On top of a slight burning feeling, her muscles would stiffen, making sure she couldn't even move properly. As it was, she was powerless and defenseless, even weaker than a average woman.

As that sinked in, she started to look at the men around her differently...

"H-hey, hold on! Let's not---" Before she could get her words out, many pairs of hands were already on her, forcing her onto the ground.

She did her best to kick at them, but it not only didn't do jackshit, her legs were also quickly restrained.

"Y-you fucking BRUTES! Unhand me this inst---" She stopped mid sentence as the buttons of her suit and red shirt were ripped opened, leaving her black bra exposed. "A-ack! Cut it out! I'm your---"

"Shut it. You already ran that mouth of yours for long enough..." The one in front of her said as he forcefully closed her mouth with his hand. "Come on, boys! Let's teach this bitch a leason!"

Another roar from the crowd made it all clear for Lucy. They weren't going to listen, and she wasn't going anywhere for some time...