Scene 1
Ten pov
"Every species here uses magical circles to cast spells. While it'll be easier to use the Sitri clan symbol for now, you'll eventually want your own magical sigil and spell book."
Watching Lady Sitri raise her hand, I saw an ice-blue magical circle appear in the air. A leopard's head roared from its center.
"To construct a magical sigil, you need to picture your circle clearly and fill it with the language you're most comfortable with. For Devils, that language is commonly Latin. For you, it could be whatever language best fits your understanding."
I nodded as I listened, understanding enough Latin from reading the books in their library to follow her explanation.
"The greatest difference between our world and yours is that we embed desired effects directly into the sigil. Different races use different concepts to reach the same endpoint. Devils can create a spell as long as they can imagine the result clearly enough. Angels and Fallen Angels, however, must understand the process behind what they're creating.
"The yokai use life force instead of formal spells to enhance their bodies and natural abilities. Vampires manipulate blood, and the rest follow similar principles. The only real exceptions are Gods and Dragons. They can take basic spells and turn them into spells of pure destruction. A normal pillar of flame, once enhanced by the amount of energy a God or Dragon possesses, cannot be surpassed without stepping into their ranks."
Recording the information into my journal, I committed the knowledge to a hard copy instead of trusting myself to memorize everything in one go. Watching her write Latin into the surrounding circle, I saw the script translate to water and pillar before the circle fell to the ground and raised a pillar of water from its center.
"Yes, that's drastically different from every path in my world. Priestesses and Magi get direct access to their patron God's domain, allowing them to utilize the laws that make up that authority. Although it doesn't lock you into only one expression of an element, the patron is there to let the domain experience new growth through a new vessel."
Rubbing my chin, I drew a magical circle into my journal so I could later detail it with my sigil and the laws that would make up its framework.
Instead of relying on regular spells, incorporating my understanding of law mastery had the potential to completely overhaul my own magical circles. I already had the standard motif in mind—a golden skull bearing the crown of all things evil, with the Dark Sun set at the center of the forehead.
"So your people have very little reason to fully understand or master a Law of Reality. This world must possess a weakened Gaia if she's willing to allow such abuse of her divine system. There's too little chaos here and too many pantheons to attribute it all to a single creator god. She's the only one I can think of who could force so many vastly different systems beneath one world."
Writing down the theory, I added names like Yhwach, Khoas, and even Pangu to my notes.
Their influence could be felt, but only within their own domains. That alone proved how stupid the Satans were to think they could truly oppose a Realm Holder like Yhwach.
"That would be correct," Lady Sitri said. "For those connected to the direct creators of our Devil clans, some knowledge is more accessible than it would be for someone like my husband, a Devil from a minor clan who would never naturally come across certain truths.
"My father, for all his lustful behavior around the Underworld, still understood enough about his homeland in Heaven to call Lucifer an idiot for trying to ruin the perfect situation they'd been given. They were no longer bound to Heaven's standards and were free to live as they pleased, exactly as they always claimed to want."
That caught me off guard.
I had assumed the original Devils were aligned with Lucifer's plan. A foolish plan. The war was always going to happen regardless.
And still he'd thought himself anywhere near the level of Michael, who now possessed Samael's Lightbringer domain and was feeding me a portion of it.
Whether the Yhwach of this cycle had taken that man's brain or it was simply another scheme at the level of Creator Gods, the result stayed the same.
Samael would fall no matter what.
Just as Chronos would one day be the one to end his own father's reign.
Yet this time Lucifer had added his own twist. Unable to accept defeat, he'd run into the fantasy that by fathering a race he might become a creator like Yhwach. Failing to account for the fact that he never truly stepped outside his pantheon enough to become his own force, he only dragged his descendants up to the edge of a rank he himself had refused.
He never became the main character of Earth.
Humanity still held that place, even here, while every force in existence manipulated them as the foundation of worship. Something I intended to verify for myself, since stories of humans facing Gods happened far too often in this world.
My own developing force had yet to truly claim that same kind of mortal foundation.
Not beyond Bale, who used his mortal form as a conduit to defeat Ares before losing that body and fully stepping into the rank of Major God.
"If the original Devils are still around, then this heir war is only the surface. The Satan families already lost the real war. Now it's about who can squeeze the most benefit out of the positions they still hold.
"I can see why you still value me regardless of my current Demi-God strength. I'm only one level below what this younger generation treats as Satan-class. That title carries more name than true weight if it rests only on heirs."
Watching her smile widen, Lady Sitri tapped the table lightly.
"That is one of the perks of being a God. Every other race must first maximize its natural abilities before it can begin sensing the laws behind them. But even that often becomes pointless, because the only ones capable of truly harming you at the highest level are God-Kings and above. Shiva's laws alone are enough to crush most hopes of building anything that can rival his Domain of Destruction.
"And even if Sirzechs reaches the peak of Devilkind, he would still have to shed his mortal form. Something a Devil tied to Pride would never accept easily. His laws require that he build a body capable of handling the paradox of Demonic Destruction if he ever hopes to rival Shiva's Divine Destruction."
I pictured the difference immediately.
Using his birthright as a Devil and his role as a vessel of Destruction would not simply reproduce an existing god. It would produce a new being—a different expression of the divine function that made up the concept of Destruction.
"And you want me to allow Serafall access to one of my domains so she can grow past this limit."
Leaning back, I thought it through along with the requirements.
"For now, it would have to be Force. It's the only domain she could realistically accept in her current state. As a water and ice Devil, she isn't truly opposed to my element from a broader standpoint. It's more a matter of temperature than opposition when comparing her to my Sun and Fire domains.
"I suppose I can build my Fire Domain again. Demonic Fire and Lightning. What a pain."
Just thinking about it was annoying.
Maintaining control over sibling elements already known for their unruly nature was troublesome enough. Adding Devil Factor on top of that would make it worse. Force would have to keep both in line if I wanted the result to remain stable.
Opening my palm, I let my natural black flames gather above it. Slowly, they took on a blood-red tint as I allowed the remaining Devil Factor within me to settle into the fire.
"A truly magical process," Lady Sitri murmured. "If I hadn't seen it for myself, I would think it impossible to maintain that degree of law mastery while weakened."
"In my world, people do not lose access so easily because of a minor mistake. Some would even say your worst state is exactly when it becomes possible to surpass your peak."
Scene 2
Lady Sitri POV
"Grand Marquis Bael. How may my clan assist you?"
I smiled softly while my husband released an aura equal to that of the Devil head of the Bael clan.
Standing in the middle of my throne room, Bael wore the same grin he always did whenever he imagined himself as the one truly in control of Devilkind after starting this rebellion. Second only to the Satans before their fall, and manipulative in ways anyone with basic sense could see.
Even the placement of his daughter within the so-called elementless Gremory line had been calculated. With that single move, he'd positioned himself to gather much of the wealth accumulated by the Devil factions while quietly turning himself into a shadow hand over the next generation.
"Lady and Lord Sitri," Bael said, "it has been quite some time since either of you appeared at the faction gatherings. I understand I may have been a little forceful in my marriage proposal involving Sirzechs and Serafall. If that was what pushed my closest allies away, then I offer my deepest apologies."
Showing up after nearly two hundred years with such a pathetic excuse only made his intent more obvious.
"As you know, my clan operates very independently. Whether the other clans took issue with us rejecting the alliance they desired has never concerned us. As a Prince-ranked clan, the opinions of lesser houses have never held much weight to my family. Your apology is accepted regardless.
"But for you to travel all the way to our remote corner of the Underworld, it must be for more than that. Unless you intend to pay a visit to Azazel and his Fallen Angels, you would not make this trip for a simple apology."
Dancing around the topic forced that greed in his eyes to sharpen.
"Sirzechs told me about his recent trip to a minor world. A trip where Serafall managed to bring a God into our ranks. A truly noteworthy feat, one even Lucifer would have praised. Where—"
I raised my hand and cut him off, letting my own demonic power flood the room.
"Since when did we begin pooling our resources together? What my daughter acquired has nothing to do with you. So I'll ask again, Bael. Why are you here?"
It was the clearest line I had drawn in centuries.
"She is still a princess of a Prince-ranked clan, as you said yourself. So her duty remains tied to the future of the Underworld. In fact, her indecisiveness may have already been a key factor in the aid our spy provided us. The Leviathan seat is still unsettled. Between a daughter of Lucifer and Serafall, I should not need to tell you which side many of our fellow clan heads are beginning to lean toward. Especially now that Sirzechs is pursuing her."
A threat wrapped in politics.
I nearly laughed.
My daughter still found some attraction in titles like that, yet failed to understand how meaningless they were if she remained under a Devil who refused to fully step into the rank himself.
"No honor among thieves? Damn, even our worst mortals have more dignity than this. So this is the peak of what it means to be a Devil."
Tenebris stepped into the room as if my order for him to stay put had been nothing more than a suggestion. Demonic lightning crackled around him, black at its core while white streaks leaked through it carrying the scent of the Death Domain.
Even I, standing at the edge of Satan-class, felt the danger in it.
Bael's words had clearly sounded too much like an attempt to strong-arm a God.
"Tenebris, leave this to us."
My husband moved immediately, guiding him back out toward the library where we had been studying the different branches of the Seventy-Two clans.
Silence descended between Bael and me the moment he was gone.
His eyes had changed.
The greed was no longer curiosity.
Now it was hunger.
"He held off the transformation? Even though this was only a prototype for increasing our numbers… and the current pieces were given without real limits…"
So he had seen it too.
When Tenebris compressed the Devil Factor into a new fire domain, his body had shifted into something closer to a Nephilim than a proper Devil. He still lacked the full wings that should have marked the race, and only the stubs remained—stubs he had turned into essence and infused with the last of that Devil Factor.
The lightning proved the rest.
You would only truly sense his Devil side when he used that power.
His divinity balanced the rest of him so thoroughly that, at a glance, he could almost pass for an energyless human.
"You've seen what you came to see. Now understand this—we will go to war if necessary regardless. We do not need him to cripple the rest of the Underworld for us."
That threat finally forced sobriety into him.
Meeting my gaze in silence, he no doubt felt the same thing I did—my father's attention turning this way from the rear chambers of our palace. No doubt he had paused whatever lustful entertainment occupied him simply to remind his sibling that he was still alive and still watching.
Bael had seen enough.
And for once, greed alone was no longer enough to carry him forward.
Scene 3
Tenebris POV
"So you're taking a non-conflict path. While I wouldn't choose such a path myself, it has merit if your concern is keeping your own people alive."
Watching Lady Sitri explain her family's methods, I gave a small nod of approval. Staying distant from the inner affairs of the Devil clans had more value than I'd first given it credit for.
"Yes, it's the better choice," she said. "The moment any of the clan heads truly make a move, it will become clan warfare while all of our heirs are still out fighting over their own pieces of the loot.
"But that includes you as well. From this point forward, Serafall's only real defense will be what my clan provides."
I could already hear the direction she was trying to steer this in.
Positioning me on the same level as her daughter so I would accept a place of leadership even while I considered myself too weakened to truly compete.
Before I could reject the idea, she raised a hand.
"You'll receive your own rewards for aiding us. Whether you choose to accept her into one of your domains and drag her beyond this stagnant world is an entirely different matter from what you personally gain from this ill-fated situation.
"Michael would never have aided you if he believed otherwise. He would have sealed you where he found you while striking down everyone around you. Children may believe in reputations, but beings at our level know better. One action can serve several intentions while still leading to the same outcome, Heir of the Lightbringer."
At the mention of the true name Michael had passed on to Serafall, I let out a quiet sigh.
So they knew that much too.
Releasing my wings, I let them spread behind me. They looked far closer to those of a Fallen Angel than a Devil. My divinity covered them just enough that without physically searching my body the way she had during my treatment, it would've been easy to miss the minor holy domain sleeping deep in my core.
That fragment of holiness maintained the wall of force that kept my demonic essence from fully consuming the rest of me.
Gray wings stretched behind me, their feathers reflecting the purple sunlight from above.
I smiled softly at her.
"This is why women are terrifying. Now I have to worry about my mother finding me too. Which is annoying, considering she died during birth."
The moment the words left my mouth, a familiar wave of divinity rose behind me.
"That's too late. Your mother's essence already found me."
I froze.
Persephone.
My body reacted before my pride did. I turned and tried to bolt.
I made it exactly one step.
Then a hand caught me by the wings and slammed me to the ground hard enough to kill the dignity I'd been trying to salvage.
"Now that you've realized I've been watching the son who couldn't even say hello to his mother," Persephone said, gripping my wings in one hand while her pressure pinned me flat, "do you have anything to say for yourself, brat?"
Her strength pressed down on me like a wall.
Near God-King level.
Close enough that the difference barely mattered in my current state.
I went still.
There were times to fight, times to run, and times to accept that none of your choices mattered because your mother had already decided the outcome.
This was the third kind.
"No wonder Discordia is so brutal with me!" I shouted from the floor. "She gets it from you!"
From somewhere nearby, I heard Lady Sitri laugh.
And that only made the humiliation worse.