The chamber felt smaller.
The atmosphere was suffocating, like the weight of an entire world had pressed down upon it.
Every devil in the room—lords, kings —felt like insects before the presence standing before them.
Leo took a slow turn.
The floor trembled beneath him.
His gaze swept across the gathered devils—not with hatred, but something worse.
Disappointment.
Deep, bone-crushing disappointment.
"So, you're the one they claim surpassed me?" His voice carried a bemused disbelief, as if the very idea was an insult to common sense.
Sirzechs Lucifer, the strongest devil of the current era, felt unable to reply back.
He had stood before gods.
And yet—none of them had made his instincts scream like this.
His every fiber demanded him to kneel.
Sirzechs, to his credit, held his ground, face unreadable.
But Leo didn't miss the flicker of unease in his eyes.
Leo tilted his head, as if appraising him, before letting out a small chuckle—low, indulgent, and utterly condescending.
"I suppose, compared to these miserable excuses for devils, you're… a bit more refined. A bit more dangerous."
He let that hang in the air for a moment before he exhaled sharply, as if already bored.
"But in the grand scheme of things?" He turned his back to Sirzechs, gaze once again sweeping across the room.
"You're still just an insect standing atop the corpses of titans—mistaking their graves for a throne."
A heavy silence swallowed the hall.
Sirzechs remained still, unmoving.
But everyone else reacted.
Zekram Bael looked as if he had aged a hundred years in mere moments.
Ajuka's hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Serafall, for the first time in her life, had no playful remark.
The clan heads sat frozen, unable to breathe properly under the sheer weight of his presence.
Leo took another step forward, shaking his head.
"You people… you disgust me."
His voice was softer now, but that only made it worse.
The rage beneath it was simmering, controlled, cold.
"I wish I could say I was surprised at what you've become....But this? This was inevitable, wasn't it?"
He gestured lazily towards them all, his eyes narrowing.
"Generation after generation, the bloodlines of devils have become more and more diluted—not in power, no, but in mind."
His lip curled in disgust.
"Stupidity runs through your veins like a plague....Every new devil born is weaker— in spirit."
"A race that was crafted to be better than humanity... reduced to be just like them.... bickering fools who can't see past their own egos."
His fingers twitched at his side, the air itself growing heavier.
"You could have been more."
He let the words settle, let them feel the sheer weight of that truth.
"We could have been so much more."
His gaze snapped back to Zekram.
"And you."
Zekram stiffened.
Leo took a slow, measured step toward him.
"The proud warrior I raised." His voice was almost gentle now, but the venom beneath it was unmistakable. "The best of my children."
Zekram opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Why?" Leo asked. "Why didn't you just die in the Great War?"
The chamber froze.
Zekram flinched, hands gripping the armrests of his chair as though they were the only thing keeping him upright.
"Why did you become this?" Leo gestured at him with a flick of his wrist, as if the mere sight of him was offensive. "What happened to the warrior I once knew?...The only devil I thought would never kneel?"
Silence.
Zekram had no answer.
Because there was no answer..
"The only thing you've done right—the only thing that keeps me from crushing you where you stand—is getting rid of that piece of filth, Rizevim."
A bitter smirk crossed his lips.
"Rizevim…" He practically spat the name. "The only child I ever showed love to....The one I placed my trust in. The one I nurtured."
His aura flared, the walls groaned, the floor cracked.
"And what did he do?"
"He. Stabbed. Me. In. The. Back."
His fingers curled into a fist at his side.
His voice was quiet now. Dangerous.
"I am beyond livid."
Then, after what felt like an eternity, he sighed.
And with the softest, most damning voice of all, he muttered—
"But it's not fair for me to say all this, is it?"
He let the words sink in, then exhaled, shaking his head.
"It's not like I raised you."
"So, I'll give you one more chance..."
His voice cut through the suffocating silence, each word carrying absolute authority that combined with his presence none could
"I'll give you a month to start fixing this."
His gaze swept across the gathered devils like a storm cloud, dark and unrelenting.
"Get the young ones to learn actually useful things. Teach them what it means to be a Devil, not this soft, pathetic excuse for 'nobility' you've been coddling them with."
His eyes burned hotter.
"And fix that reincarnated devil segregation nonsense you have going on...Even if they were human—or something else—before, I created Devils to surpass humanity.....Not to be second-rate copies of it."
His presence pressed down on them like a mountain.
"If they've chosen to be devils, then they've chosen the better path.....They are meant to be greater, stronger, more than what they once were."
A sneer curled his lips, disgust evident in every syllable.
"And yet… you insects mock them? Hinder them ?"
" A cockroach bullying a worm—that is what your so-called elite look like to me."
He let that sink in, watching as his words crushed whatever pride they had left.
"It just looks pathetic."
He exhaled slowly, as if already bored of their existence.
"You manage to succeed in even ten percent of this, and I'll be satisfied."
"But if you fail..."
He shrugged, casual, uncaring.
"It's fine."
The room held its breath.
"What's a few more centuries?" he mused. "I can always start again. Make another race."
"And replace you."
The air itself seemed to tremble.
"Out....Now."
Not a request. A command.
The devils scrambled, some nearly tripping over themselves in their haste to escape his presence.
But just as they reached the doors—
"Zekram, you stay."
His voice was like an iron collar snapping shut.
"And you four as well."
He lifted a single hand, pointing directly at the Four Satans.
---
After the riffraff cleared out, Leo exhaled slightly, his mind still running at full speed.
Nammu really came in clutch with the advice… My performance wouldn't have been nearly as convincing without it.
Copying the original Lucifer's memories by actively scouring Zekram's perception had been the best choice.
Yes—Leo had deployed a spell across the entire world, connecting to everyone who had known the old Lucifer.
Using this, he ran a complex simulation—a personality algorithm that replicated the Devil King's mannerisms, speech, and presence down to the finest details.
And predicting how he would act if he was slightly reformed and deeply disappointed in the devils.
Similar to how he had once simulated using Tiamat's concepts, but this time, he wasn't crafting a world with sentience.
He was simply refining a personality, running the algorithm repeatedly, testing it against simulated versions of Zekram and Rizevim within his mind.
An AI of sorts—one designed to craft the perfect words, the best lines to convey his thoughts with absolute weight.
The original Lucifer had been a tyrant, an arrogant and deeply flawed father, but one thing remained undeniable—his pride in devils.
They were his vision beyond humanity.
Even if, in his frustration, he had killed one of his own children with his own hands… That didn't exactly set the best example.
But right now?
Leo was 99% successful.
Zekram had the same powerless look he had worn in the past, according to his own memories.
Perfect.
Leo's plan was simple—eliminate any possibility of defiance before it even surfaced.
By crafting an unquestionable scenario, he ensured no one would dare to challenge him.
Power, undeniable and overwhelming, was the only justification needed.
And Zekram's reactions, had sold the performance perfectly.
As Leo stepped closer, Zekram instinctively tried to speak, his voice betraying a rare uncertainty.
"Father, I can exp—"
"Shut up."
Leo didn't let him finish.
He drove his hand straight through Zekram's abdomen.
Blood splattered, but he didn't twist the wound or push further.
He wasn't trying to kill him—not yet.
"I know this isn't enough to end you… and I won't be the one to kill you."
His voice was calm, absolute.
"Lilith would love to do it herself after I revive her."
Silence.
The Four Satans—looked utterly stunned at the mention of her name.
That was expected.
They had assumed she died a long time ago.
"Ddraig," Leo called out, not even looking back.
A heavy presence filled the room.
Ddraig entered, he no longer bore Leo's face since Vivi corrected him and turned him into discount Beru.
Now, He had shed the budget Beru look entirely, taking the form of one of his past partners.
"Take him. Heal him if you want—I don't care." His voice was as indifferent as ever. "And retrieve all of Lilith."
Then, his tone turned sharper.
"If Hades interferes in anything—kill him."
Ddraig nodded, offering only a simple, "Okay." Then, without hesitation, he left to fulfill the order.
Leo watched him go, but his thoughts deviated elsewhere.
Lilith.
The original Lucifer had been many things—arrogant, cruel, controlling—but from what Leo had pieced together, it hadn't always been that way with her.
There was a time when things were different.
When she wasn't just seen as a means to an end.
But then came the obsession.
The turning point was the creation ritual—something Lucifer learned from Tiamat of this world.
An attempt at emulating her inherent ability to create life.
The problem?
Lilith was human.
Not an ordinary one, of course—she had been absurdly strong, second only to Lucifer himself if measured in raw magic power.
But she was still bound by human limitations.
Worse yet, she had no affinity with life. Her essence, was more tied to death.
And yet, Lucifer had pushed forward, again and again, forcing the ritual upon her.
Each time one of the 72 Pillars was created, a part of her soul was lost.
Her body weakened.
The decline was slow at first, but it never stopped.
Until eventually, the damage was undeniable.
There came a point where she simply couldn't continue without outright having her body structure collapse into nothing but a lump of flesh.
That was when Lucifer—far too late—realized his "mistake".
He tried to apologize.
Well… it wasn't really an apology.
More like an attempt to salvage what was left of his "Children machine".
Leo knew this.
He rationalized it for his sanity.
Leo turned to the four Satans, his expression unreadable.
"You know, I have a lot of words to say to you..." he began.
"First of all, you're a bigger disappointment than any of those failures."
"I gave you an opportunity," Leo continued.
"Granted, it was an experiment on my part too, but all in all, I gave an opportunity."
Sirzechs furrowed his brows, cutting in, "Opportunity...? What are you talking about?"
Leo smirked inwardly.
This was the part he had set up—the moment to push thenarrative further.
According to his mission parameters, he still hadn't solidified himself as a higher power.
Sure, Lucifer was a high authority, but he wasn't truly mythical for the devils.
So what would Leo do?
Lie.
Lie like a true faker.
Truly fitting for the title of Actually Satan.
"What, you just think it was a coincidence? That there just happened to be a Super Devil born at the right place, at the right time when tensions among the devils are sky high...?"
Sirzechs stiffened, his mouth parting slightly.
"Who also happens to be part of a clan planning to rebel?"
The realization was setting in.
Leo didn't give him the time to process it.
"Or that the daughter of the Lucifuge clan just conveniently fell for you?"
Sirzechs visibly tensed.
"I orchestrated it....Sirzechs"
Leo's voice carried a chilling certainty as he continued,
"I gave you power. An opportunity to emerge as a true leader, not become a document slave."
Sirzechs clenched his fists, his mind racing.
"Granted, I didn't plan for little Astaroth over there—he's what we call a happy accident." Leo smirked slightly. "But you… you were supposed to take my place."
"Truly take my place."
His gaze bore into Sirzechs, who took a step back, suddenly feeling much smaller.
"And I was supposed to continue being dead… enjoy my life… wait for Lilith to be there… and carry on."
Ajuka, who had been silent until now, finally spoke. "Wait. But if you were dead, then how did you manipulate all of this?"
Leo turned, his eyes landing on Ajuka.
The golden rings within his crimson gaze pulsed—
Leo exhaled, his voice calm yet absolute.
"Just because I was killed… doesn't mean I was dead."
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700 powerstone = 1 chapter
1400= 2 Chapter.
You guys were so close....now I'll have to upload the bonus with the next chapter.
Power Stones and Reviews please