About a thousand meters from the Kusanagi residence, on a hidden balcony, a young man in a black suit, appearing to be in his twenties, was lying on the balcony. Surrounded by cover, he held binoculars, intently watching the direction of the Kusanagi house.
Click!
The sound of a door opening made the young man instantly alert. When he turned and saw his companion, he relaxed.
"Number Two, it's time for the shift change."
Dressed similarly, the companion was a middle-aged man in his thirties, handing a boxed meal to the young man as he spoke.
"Number One, you're late."
The young man complained lightly, stood up, took the boxed meal, and handed the binoculars to the other.
Unbothered, the middle-aged man, called Number One, took over the position on the balcony and looked through the binoculars toward the Kusanagi house.
Though the view showed only a large luxurious villa with no clear details inside, the middle-aged man stared unblinkingly. Though dull, this was their important job.
"Number One, what do you think the family's higher-ups are thinking? Making us guard here all day doing nothing, what's the point?"
Sitting on a low chair, Number Two complained while eating, his tone tinged with resentment and dissatisfaction.
Number One chuckled but said nothing, clearly used to such complaints.
Back in the day, he had been the same—young and ambitious, wanting to make a move, gain recognition and support from the family's leaders, and rise quickly.
But time made him realize how ridiculous he was back then. He was so focused on this and that, yet he missed opportunity after opportunity right beside him. Even now, after all this time, he was still just the lowest-level intelligence officer in the family.
Perhaps to the young man in front of him, those sent by the family to manage business or engage in military and political affairs were the ones truly entrusted with important responsibilities. He had no idea that what he was doing at this moment was actually a huge opportunity—one that, if properly seized…
Shaking his head, the middle-aged man silently thought, why bother worrying so much about others? That stubborn young kid would probably waste any opportunity he got anyway.
Just then, the young man's voice came from beside him again:
"Always making us watch that debauched, self-destructive guy is such a waste of our time!"
"What kind of damn Demon King is that? All he does every day is fool around with those foreign women and nothing else. Such a powerful force wasted! I really don't understand how someone like him could become the supreme God Slayer. If I had those powers…"
His tone was full of disdain and jealousy. Normally, the young man would never dare say such things. But after months of meaningless surveillance here, he had grown restless and lost all patience, unable to help but grumble.
The young man didn't realize it, but the middle-aged man's expression suddenly changed drastically!
"Number Two, shut up!!!"
He suddenly stood up and kicked out. The young man let out a miserable scream as he was kicked to the ground, his boxed meal spilling everywhere.
"Number One, you…"
Clutching his stomach in pain, the young man was completely caught off guard, not understanding why his usually friendly companion suddenly attacked him.
"If you want to die, go die yourself. Don't drag me into it!"
"How dare you slander the Demon King behind his back? Do you know that if anyone else heard what you just said, you'd have died ten times over by now!"
The middle-aged man's face was full of anger, his tiger-like eyes flashing a cold, chilling light as he growled at the young man.
He wasn't really that concerned about the young man. Although they were from the same family, the family was huge after thousands of years of inheritance. Before this mission, they didn't even know each other. The middle-aged man was mainly worried about being implicated himself.
"Number One, I… I…"
Finally realizing his mistake, the young man broke out in a cold sweat, feeling terrified. Looking at the middle-aged man, there was no hatred in his eyes, only endless gratitude.
Because the other had just saved his life!
"Sorry, Number One, I spoke out of turn just now. I didn't really mean it about that lord…"
He stood up. Although his stomach still hurt from the kick, it was nothing to the young man now.
"Phew… alright, Number Two, looks like you've been a bit tired these days. Ask for leave from above and go rest for a few days. I don't even remember what just happened."
The middle-aged man's anger subsided a bit as he patted the young man's shoulder. Looking at his partner's expression, he felt a bit helpless. They really were too young…
"I understand…"
The young man nodded blankly, feeling he did need a break.
There was a hint of desolation and helplessness in his heart. Even if that Demon King was useless, he was still a Demon King—one word from him could decide the life or death of a mere ant like himself!
Just as the young man was about to say something, suddenly a voice came from beside them—
"Hey… is that all? I wanted to hear more."
A man's voice came from nowhere, suddenly sounding right beside them.
Startled, both turned sharply. When they saw the man standing at the edge of the balcony with a half-smile looking at them, both the young man and the middle-aged man instantly turned pale!
They believed the man wouldn't recognize them, but they definitely recognized him!
Because the newcomer was none other than Kusanagi Sora, the seventh God Slayer they had been surveilling for months!
"Lo-Lord Kusanagi… we… we…"
Though experienced and trained to remain calm in emergencies, the middle-aged man couldn't help trembling all over, whispering in endless fear.
As for the young man, he was already speechless, his expression full of nothing but despair.
As members of the family, they had heard the Demon King's fearsome reputation since childhood. Although this Demon King they had been watching for months seemed different from those they had heard about, the young man instinctively felt overwhelming fear and despair.
The words he just spoke were all heard by the other party. What awaited him now was…
His face turned ashen, his mind blank. The young man knew he was finished…
"Don't look so scared, brothers. I should be thanking you for watching my home for so long. Thanks for your hard work!"
"Although I didn't bring any gifts for you, hahaha…"
Sora took in their expressions with a casual look, then laughed heartily.
Hearing Sora's words, their already terrified hearts jumped again. They had long been discovered, yet foolishly thought otherwise…
Exchanging a glance, both knew there was no way out today. One wrong move might even bring disaster to their family and loved ones. A resolute look flashed in their eyes as they nodded.
"Stop!!!"
Just as they were about to swallow what was in their mouths, Sora suddenly shouted.
"I'll say this once: spit it out, or even if you die, I will…"
His smile vanished, eyes narrowed slightly, a devilish curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Though he used no powers and gave off no aura, the two instinctively dared not disobey Sora's order and obediently spat out what was in their mouths, leaving only despair and coldness in their hearts…
"Tsk tsk… you're quite professional!"
Looking at the two poisons on the ground—enough to kill several elephants—Sora clicked his tongue with a smile.
Without a word, the two had completely resigned themselves. They had been told countless times how terrifying and dangerous the Demon Kings were, and now they finally experienced it firsthand.
Before these powerful, inhuman beings, they couldn't even summon the courage to resist!
They no longer hoped to survive. At this moment, their greatest wish was only that their families would not be implicated…
"Now, let me guess, you two are from the Four Great Families, right?"
Seeing their ashen faces and silence, Sora didn't care and casually sat on the balcony, continuing:
"Seishuuin, Seishuuin, Renjou, Sayanomiya…"
He named them one by one. When he said "Sayanomiya," their pupils slightly contracted. Sora's mouth curled into a slight smile.
"Heh… so you're from the Sayanomiya family. I even know your next-generation family head…"
Sora was about to say he knew the Sayanomiya family's eldest daughter or something, but the two's faces suddenly turned grim, bowing repeatedly to Sora—
"Lord Kusanagi, we deserve to die! We deserve to die! This has nothing to do with anyone else, it's all our fault! We deserve to die…"
Looking at the two people who were already so scared that their faces had turned pale, Sora's eye twitched slightly as he touched his own nose. Am I really that terrifying? I haven't even done anything to you yet!
He guessed that in their eyes, at this moment, he must be the most terrifying devil in the world. Damn it! If he had known earlier, he would have borrowed Athena's scythe to show off a bit. That might have been even more impressive!
"Alright, all of you shut up!"
Not wanting to waste any more words on these two guys, Sora spoke in a commanding tone.
Sure enough, the next moment, the two fell silent like frightened birds, keeping their bodies bent over and not daring to make a sound.
"Go back and tell your family head that tomorrow at noon, I invite him to visit the Demon King's residence. No excuses for taking leave. If anyone dares to take leave, I will personally come looking for them!"
"Also, don't let him come too early. If he comes too early, I won't entertain him. And don't come late either; if he's late, I won't care about lunch."
"Alright, alright, you can scram now."
Seeing the two still dumbfounded and at a loss, Sora waved his hand impatiently.
And these are supposed to be descendants of a great family? Their psychological quality is way too poor!
Well, Sora was just talking big without feeling the pain, completely ignoring what his fearsome reputation as the Demon King meant to other humans.
"Yes, yes, Lord Kusanagi, we will definitely deliver your message!"
The middle-aged man was the first to regain his composure. He hadn't expected to survive this encounter, and now he showed a face full of joy as if he had escaped a disaster.
Seeing his partner still dumbfounded and at a loss, the middle-aged man didn't mock him at all. Considering that the guy hadn't even wet his pants just now, that was already quite good. He quickly helped the young man up and hurried away, disappearing from Sora's sight.
It was quite ridiculous. When he first arrived, he heard that clueless young man badmouthing him. Sora had thought about whether to show the Demon King's authority and slap him to death right then and there.
After some thought, Sora decided against it. After all, he was a broad-minded, kind-hearted young man of the new era. How could he be so petty and cruel?
Ahem… Okay, Sora admits that what the guy said was actually true, not a false accusation. He was just worried that if he acted on it, people would think he was guilty.
So, to avoid showing any guilt and to prove he was innocent, the great Demon King generously decided to forgive that guy. Sigh…
"Erica, Liliana, and the Great Witch should have handled their side by now, right?"
"Tch, we'll have fewer gatekeepers from now on. It's hard to find people who are so responsible, working 24/7 for free…"
Muttering to himself, Sora thought that if it weren't for Miss Kaoru's refusal to answer the phone, he wouldn't have wanted to lose such responsible gatekeepers.
But whatever, it didn't matter whether his family had gatekeepers or not. Without lingering any longer, Sora vanished from the spot in a flash…