Chapter 6

It was finally time to meet at Seir’s to make our way to the location where the King of Hell summit would take place. I zipped up my trusty jacket, got onto my bike and floored it to Seir’s at full speed.

As I made my way to the gate I spotted Alice waving at me in front of the double doors. She was wearing her usual maid outfit but for a split second, I saw her smiling, just what had happened in the last few months?

“...My Lord is awaiting you in the reception room.”

“Ah right! How have you been Alice?”

“...I have been fine, how has your health been Kuro?”

OK, who is this Alice and what has she done with the real one?

“I-I’m good! Has Shiro arrived yet?”

“...No, but from what my understanding is, she will arrive any moment.”

“Ah right, we’ll I’ll see you in there then Alice.”

“...Yes, I have prepared coffee too, I will serve you some once Shiro-san arrives.”

“R-right.”

I made my way to the reception room and opened the door. I spotted Seir standing dressed in his most formal attire. He was looking out of the window and had a serious look on his face. The second he noticed my presence, he fired bloodlust at me at a level that would even make the old man think twice of approaching him. He wasn’t the only one that had been training though, so I returned his bloodlust at the same level, after a few moments of stalemate he stopped and returned back to having the same goofy grin he always had.

“Looks like we’ve both been busy huh my little Kuro-kun.”

“Who’s you’re Kuro-kun!?”

“Hahaha! Kuro, there’s something that I need to tell you, I wanna do it before Shiro-chan arrives.”

“...OK.”

Seir returned to his serious look and began talking.

“My mother had difficulty having children. Although this never bothered my Father much, it was a constant cause of pain for my mother. She decided to allow my father to father a child with another woman, my father thus fell in love with a human woman right here in Japan and thus my sister was born.”

“...”

“My mother couldn’t have been more happy, my father’s mistress was even allowed to live on the estate, as you know it’s not uncommon for Devils to have more than one lover. I can only hazard a guess as to how, but the four of them including my sister were having a happy life. My Father was a fair ruler and he had a good relationship with the humans by way of being a high profile businessman who was fair to his employees, as well as the yokai, who he gave free reign, so that they could run their own affairs. Soon after my mother even got pregnant and I was born, the amount of joy that my family felt at the time was so strong that even the infant me could feel it, but soon after that, he came.”

“Who?”

“Lucifuge Bael.”

“...!”

“That’s right, the current King of Hell. He had heard that my father had fathered a Damien and personally came to investigate. I want to make something clear now Kuro, Damiens going berserk and losing control, is a myth.”

“What!?”

“That’s right, it’s just a way for the ruling class to have complete control over those that they feel are inferior to them. I was only 7 years old but even I could understand those words that came out of that man’s mouth. The Panopticon Prison where you spent a part of your life…”

“...!”

“I already know Kuro, I’ve always known. The second you crossed into my territory after you escaped, it was I who kept your presence hidden from the Extermination Division.”

“...I see.”

“The division that runs the Panopticon use a combination of drugs and other methods to make Damiens demonic energy go out of control and completely take over their senses. That is how the entire population of Hell has been hoodwinked into believing that Damiens are dangerous.”

“...”

“Getting back to the matter at hand though. Bael used his status as Satan to try and take my sister away as his servant. He said that he was doing it so that he could keep an eye on her, since her father was a strong high profile Devil and it wasn’t clear how much damage she would do when she finally lost control. In reality however, it was so that there wouldn’t be a single example of a Damien not going berserk, thus sparking doubt in the claim that the Bael house had spent centuries, brainwashing into the Ars Goetia and wider hell as a whole.”

“...”

“Bael knew that my father was among a very small minority that didn’t believe the lie that had ruined the lives of so many for centuries and now that same man had a Damien child of his own. He knew that he had to find a way to silence my father before word would spread of my sister’s existence. My father naturally was not going to give into Bael’s demands so decided to fight to protect us.”

“...”

“My father wasn’t weak. Although, being the type that never had the ambition to do anything more than live a happy life with his family, he wasn’t strong either. It didn’t take much for Bael to defeat and kill him. He then went ahead and killed his mistress and took my sister. He left my mother and me alive and said that if she didn’t keep quiet about this, he would come after me. He reported that my sister had gone berserk and killed our father and her mother and that it was my father’s dying wish, for him to keep my sister alive as his servant and not punish her for the crime of killing him.”

“...”

“Soon after my mother passed away, whether it was due to grief, depression, illness, even suicide, I don’t know. I became the head of the Great Seir family and was alone. No, that’s wrong, I had Alice. Alice was the familiar of my late father and stuck around even after he died. I know my sister is still alive, Bael is using her as a symbol to threaten any high profile Devils from repeating the same mistakes as my father.”

“...”

“...I’m sorry Kuro, your parents. I could have done more to save them, even if I made it on time that night, I don't really know what I would have done. If Bael found out that I was showing even a slight bit of disobedience, then I don’t know what he would do to my sister.”

“...”

“This King of Hell summit is the only way for me to legitimately challenge Bael, rescue my sister and change the perception that Damiens are inferior and dangerous. I might of hid most of this from you, but I was serious when I said that if you helped me. I would not allow a tragedy like what happened to my sister and your parents happen again.”

I had always known that Seir was hiding something from me. But for it to be something like this was not within my expectations. I never thought that someone, who never looked like they were on the back foot would allow themselves to show this level of weakness to anyone. It just showed how much Seir trusted me and for that I was happy.

From this I could also confirm that both of our enemies were in same circle of high profile people and this made things a lot easier.

“OK.”

“Huh?”

“He’s all yours Seir, I’ll watch your back, you just focus on looking forward.”

“Haha...ahahahahahahahaha, you never cease to amaze me Kuro, thank…”

“You can thank me after we’ve saved your sister! Anyways, where is Shiro?”

“Yahhhh it’s been so long since you’ve seen her, I bet you can’t wait eh?”

“Wahahahahahahaha, you couldn’t be more wrong foolish Prince. I’ve seen the stack of porn that he thinks he’s finally learnt to hide from these aged eyes. That snow girl couldn’t be further from his type. Don’t worry foolish boy, I made sure to cover little Shiko’s eyes when I had a look.”

“What the hell old man! And how the hell is that even possible, Shiko is a blade!”

“Stop laughing Seir, or I’ll tell Alice about that video of her you sent me the other day.”

“Y-you wouldn’t.”

“Just try me!”

Soon after that Shiro and Alice entered. Shiro wasn’t in her yokai form but behind her smile I could sense that she had gotten strong. It was like the air around her was similar to that old lady’s. No, I’d say that it was even sharper and thicker than hers. Even the old man was getting chills. Just what kind of training did she put herself through?

Time passed and we began making preparations to depart to the site of the Summit. Seir supposedly had a villa in the vicinity of the site and we were planning to stay there while we were in Hell. We all gave each other a determined look and finished making preparations.

The summit to decide the next King of Hell, was upon us.