Zekram Bael gritted his teeth as his subordinates informed him about what happened in the human town.
"-after the angel revealed himself to be a Seraph, we had no choice but to leave the area."
"In other words, you failed your task of eliminating that brat and her human lover to bury the secrets she found out about us. Worse yet, you left such valuable intel in enemy hands and chose to run to save your own lives?"
The subordinates of the Barbatos clan instantly felt a chill go down their spines and tried to defend themselves, some of them even ready to beg for mercy.
Yet, they did not even have a second to do that as multiple orbs of pure darkness collided with their chests, annihilating them on a fundamental level.
The Bael clan's famed ability, the Power of Destruction, annihilates their very existence on the spot.
"Useless people like you no longer need to exist."
"If so, then there is no need for you to exist either? Right? Grandfather?"
The amused voice did not hide the edge behind those words as Zekram turned around, finding his descendant, Sirzechs Lucifer, leaning against the door of his room.
With a frown, Zekram simply ignored the Satan's existence and got back to work, making the ruler of devils chuckle.
"What? No welcome, no greeting?"
"Why are you here? Sirzechs?"
Sirzechs Lucifer suddenly lost his smile as his power erupted from his body along with his cold voice.
"You know why I am here. Now, spare me this song and dance."
"...is that so? Very well. Let's speak frankly."
Zekram's own demonic power erupted from his body, pushing back against Sirzechs's power, showing just how strong this old devil was.
"If you are here to talk about the issue with the Belial girl, no need to think about it. Her entire family is part of my faction, so it is not your place to interfere in it."
Sirzechs remained silent, knowing that he could not do much about that particular thorn in his and his companions' side.
The Great King faction, an alliance made up of nearly every single family head of the 72 pillars, who are still staunch supporters of aristocracy and believe that only the strong should rule the weak and that blood purity is more important than anything else.
Truthfully, if it were up to Sirzechs, he would have wiped out these bastards a long time ago, even if he was uncertain of victory against Zekram himself, thanks to how deeply this old man hid himself and the true extent of his power.
After all, he was one of the first generation of devils ever born to Lilith and one of the only two such devils still left alive in the modern era, with the other one being the original Gremory, who was still in slumber somewhere in the Gremory territory.
Shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, Sirzechs focused back on the current issue.
"I am talking about the marriage contract-"
"Let me stop you right there. Gremory. That contract was made by your father and Lord Phenex all on their own. I had nothing to do with it."
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"Yes."
At the blatant lie, Sirzechs could not help but grit his teeth in rage and nearly let loose his true form. Screw the underworld and screw the rules. His sister took priority over everything else.
Unfortunately, he knew that now was not the time to let himself go like that. Especially in such uncertain times when the heavens seem to be at their strongest, if the way their system was actively suppressing devils in the human world was anything to go by.
"...Let me be very clear, Zekram Bael. The moment you start playing with the life of my sister, I will annihilate you."
"Ho? That so? Looks like your title as the so-called Super Devil has gone to your head. No matter. You will wake up to reality sooner or later, and I don't have the time to deal with a brat like you. So, go ahead, do what you will. But remember one thing."
Suddenly, Zekram Bael's tone turned so cold that even Sirzechs could not help the chill that went down his spine.
"Never let your power get to your head and make you think that you are invincible, for even a worthless pawn can take down the King in the right circumstances. Do not become complacent because of your strength, because there will always be people stronger than you."
"Hate me, condemn me, try to kill me. Do what you will. But do not stop growing, because you are our race's pillar of strength, at least externally. And we cannot afford to lose you in these trying times."
"Hmph!"
Sirzechs did not reply to those words and simply teleported back to his home, back to his wife and son.
Yet, Zekram did not even blink, knowing that most of his words had fallen on deaf ears thanks to Sirzechs's own pride and his obsessive love for his sister interfering with his thoughts.
Looking through the various documents of old, which discussed the details of the prisons below Lucifaad. Details that were kept a secret until the death of the original four satans.
Documents that spoke of the many horrific beings held there alongside the prisoners of the Great War from all sides.
And finally, a single document that spoke of the original Lucifer's personal prisoner. One that nobody was allowed to interrogate but him.
A supposedly horrific power that could lay waste to the entire Underworld under the right circumstances.
Zekram knew that most of these things must be mere speculations, yet he had no choice but to keep digging, because he knew that any piece of knowledge would help in some way to shed light on what exactly escaped from there on that fateful day.
Truthfully, the original Bael already had a speculation on who had escaped from there based on the testimonies he got from the Barbatos devils that survived the attack on Cleria Belial.
In this world, there existed only ten Seraphim.
Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael rarely left the Heavens. Metatron was still somewhere in Japan, acting like a ninja or whatever.
Sandalphone, Raguel, Remiel, Sarielm, and Zerachiel were also somewhere in Heaven and rarely descended to the mortal world.
With all ten Seraphim accounted for, Zekram believed that this new Seraphim that had interfered in the attack was most probably the prisoner that had awakened in the underworld after a thousand years and escaped to the mortal world.
He had no way to prove this theory, but in his heart, Zekram believed this to be the truth.
"Truly, what a mess Lord Lucifer left behind for us to clean."
His eyes gleamed as he looked into the distance, towards the capital of the Underworld, Lilith.
"Get stronger, New Satans. Strong enough to face whatever may come our way. Because, with the awakening of that ghost of an era long past, there is no telling what the future holds for us."
No answer met his whispers as he went back to work, trying to find any proof for his theory.
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Author Notes: Read 5 chapters ahead on Patreon: patreon.com/Ruijard1