Kazuki sat at the rooftop edge of the school, knees drawn to his chest, staring at the skyline tinted orange by the setting sun. The city seemed normal—cars honking, distant laughter, a train screeching far off—but he felt disconnected from it all.
Since the outburst in the gym, the whispers hadn't stopped. The voice of Azrakar, sometimes faint, sometimes thunderous, echoed inside his head.
"Power wasted in hiding... Embrace it."
Kazuki gritted his teeth. "Shut up."
A sudden gust of wind swept over the rooftop, and with it came the scent of burnt herbs.
He turned—too late.
A sigil glowed under his feet. Before he could leap away, chains of light shot up, binding his arms midair.
"Got you, Demon King."
The voice was clear, sharp, and female.
From behind the water tower stepped a girl in a black uniform, long silver hair swaying in the breeze, her violet eyes glowing with arcane runes. She held an open grimoire in one hand, and a glowing wand in the other.
Kazuki blinked. "Wait—what—?"
"Save it. You may look human, but your energy signature screams 'Demon Lord Class A'. Don't try to lie."
He struggled in the light-chains, grunting. "I'm not a demon! I mean... I wasn't. I think. It's complicated."
"Complicated?" she scoffed. "You cracked a school gym in half. People are talking about curses and ghosts already."
Her wand sparked. "Tell me your name. Your true name."
Kazuki hesitated. A pulse echoed in his mind. He didn't want to say it. But part of him... did.
"Azrakar," he whispered.
The chains flickered for a second. The girl's eyes narrowed.
"Well. That saves me a step."
She closed her book with a snap. The light binding Kazuki dropped, and he collapsed onto the concrete rooftop.
"Wait—you're not gonna kill me?"
"If I wanted you dead, you'd already be ash," she said, crossing her arms. "Besides... I don't think you're him. Not completely."
Kazuki rubbed his wrists. "Thanks, I guess?"
She sighed. "I'm Yuna Sera. Apprentice Witch. Demon-monitoring division. They told me to find you and eliminate you if necessary."
"Glad it wasn't necessary," he muttered.
"You should be." She turned and walked toward the rooftop door. "You've got maybe a week before something much worse finds you. Something that won't hesitate like I did."
He blinked. "Worse than you?"
Yuna looked over her shoulder, eyes serious.
"There are angels in this world. They don't forgive. And they don't forget. Especially not the one who killed you the first time."
She opened the door. "If you want to survive this second life, meet me at the old shrine on North Hill. Midnight. Don't be late."
And with that, she was gone.
Elsewhere...
In a dark, candlelit chamber far from Kazuki's school, robed figures knelt in a circle around a glowing pool. Their voices chanted in low, guttural tones. Symbols of fire and blood danced across the walls.
At the center, a scarred man stepped forward, his left eye replaced with a polished obsidian gem.
"So it's true," he murmured, watching the water shimmer with Kazuki's face. "Azrakar has returned."
He raised a dagger and plunged it into his palm, letting the blood drip into the pool.
"We begin the Rite of Reclamation. Our King must return to the throne... by force, if necessary."
To be continued...