My mother's shoulders began to shake suspiciously, and the powerful demon in front of me, a being I estimated could hold his own against a Spirit Transformation cultivator, looked around, completely lost.
"We… just learn songs and melodies," he repeated, a hint of confusion in his voice.
I felt a strange sense of unease as this new information clashed with my entire understanding of the world.
A demon. Talking about. Saving. Souls.
I stared at the heir of House Gremory's earnest, inspired face in a sort of daze. It was then that another presence entered my awareness, one nearly as powerful as my mother's.
"Oh, Sirzechs, I finally found you," a new voice said coolly. "And hello to you too, Grayfia. Still wearing that silly braided hairstyle, I see."
My eyes snapped to the newcomer, a brunette who had dared to insult my mother. I fixed her with an icy glare.
The unknown woman flinched and shot a suspicious look in my direction, but my face was already a mask of polite smiles and narrowed eyes.
"It's good to see you, Serafall," Sirzechs said cheerfully.
"And you're as mannerless as ever, Serafall," my mother retorted, her voice tight.
"Well, at least I don't walk around looking like I'm constantly constipated, Grayfia."
"So childish."
"But it gets to you, doesn't it?" the heiress of House Sitri shot back, a challenging glint in her eyes.
Such pathetic insults would not truly harm my mother, but I would remember them. And I would make her pay for them in the future. Sirzechs stepped between them.
"Let's not argue, at least not here," he said, trying to play peacemaker.
"The winner is Katerea Leviathan!" the announcer's voice boomed. The crowd erupted in applause as the smug, dark-skinned girl spread her demonic wings and flew back to her seat in the upper balconies. "Next match: Ezekiel, heir of the House of Beelzebub, versus Layan, heir of the House of Oriax."
Sirzechs frowned as he looked down at the arena. A smirking, black-haired demon descended on one side, while the heir of House Oriax walked toward him from the other, his head hung in defeat before the match even began.
"It seems the heir of Beelzebub hasn't forgotten what happened thirty-five years ago," Sirzechs muttered.
"Yeah," Serafall added. "I wonder if that guy from House Gremory will interfere again. And if he does, will it just make things worse?"
I glanced at the whispering demons, my enhanced hearing picking up every word. The woman who had insulted my mother scoffed.
"They just can't stop showing off their power and intimidating the weaker houses. Don't they realize they're just breeding resentment? Do they even have brains?"
"Heiress of Sitri!" my mother's voice was sharp and commanding.
"Oh, sorry. I forgot you were here," came the immediate, sarcastic reply.
"Serafall, they are simply used to having power on their side," Sirzechs said calmly, his eyes still fixed on the arena, where the two combatants were now cloaked in violet and amber auras.
"It was through power, after all, that the Four Great Satans achieved so much for the demon race."
A moment later, a massive glob of violet energy slammed the heir of Oriax into the arena wall.
"Have you even been training all these years?" Ezekiel sneered. "Maybe I need to beat you senseless to make you even a little bit useful to the Underworld, Rayan?"
"Lord Beelzebub, my name is Layan," the boy on the ground whimpered.
"Whatever. I don't need to know the name of some half-rate demon."
I watched the heir of Beelzebub with cold calculation. His power was several times weaker than that of the three standing next to me, yet his social status was higher.
I had severely underestimated the problems plaguing this demon society if even an heir of a Great Satan was so blind to the abyss his house, and all of Hell, was teetering on.
"Sirzechs, don't," my mother whispered, touching his arm. "You'll only make it worse if you try to protect him."
"But what if Ezekiel loses control again, like last time? What if he tries to kill him? I can't just stand by."
"Don't worry," my mother said, her voice soft, her hand still on his arm. "I'll keep an eye on things."
I slowly exhaled a wisp of black mist. My demonic aura and the tiny fragments of my first-level Qi began to stir. I clenched my fist, forcing the twisted smile on my face to remain placid.
Sirzechs looked over at my mother, his tense expression softening into a grateful smile. "Thank you, Grayfia. I appreciate it."
My mother blushed and turned her head away. A bitter taste filled my mouth. Without her memories, she had made the same mistake again. She had allowed herself to fall in love.
Love is a destructive emotion. It can inspire mortals to perform miracles, but more often, it is the cause of their downfall.
Love is a weakness, a chain that can drag you to the bottom. I… I learned that lesson once, and it almost destroyed our clan. I do not care how you satisfy your base urges, but my instrument of fate cannot be dulled by love.
Ignoring the searing pain from my broken arm, the bone jutting from the open wound, I pushed myself off the ground. My mother's beautiful, crimson eyes watched my every move.
'I will not fail you, Master.'
'I will not fail you, Mother.'
I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second, my new objective crystal clear. I would not allow my mother to repeat this mistake. That meant I had to eliminate the cause of the error. I had to eliminate her weakness.
Sirzechs Gremory had to die.
….
"Well, it looks like that won't last long," a voice said.
As he was leaving the Colosseum, happy to have seen Grayfia and relieved that nothing terrible had happened, Sirzechs Gremory turned to see a demon with dull green hair approaching him.
"Ajuka, what are you talking about?"
"You know what. The tension between those who want to restart the Great War and those who don't is rising. Soon, we'll all have to choose a side."
"Maybe you're wrong," Sirzechs said hopefully. "We can reason with them. I was able to reason with Grayfia."
"Sorry, but I'm not really into the descendants of the Great Satans in that way," Serafall's voice cut in immediately.
"I agree. Romance doesn't interest me right now. I'm still too young and would rather focus on magic," another boy, a member of a side branch of the House of Astaroth, added with a bored expression.
"You… you… That's not what I meant!" Sirzechs sputtered, his face turning bright red. His friends just grinned at him. "Falbium, say something!"
"I want to sleep," the heir of House Glasya-Labolas said with a lazy yawn.
"Fine," Sirzechs sighed, changing the subject. "Did you see Grayfia's brothers today? They're quite interesting."
The girl with the long black hair and violet eyes frowned. "That black-haired Lucifuge boy seemed… pretty creepy to me."
"Really?" Sirzechs said, surprised. "I liked him."