The sound of those slow claps reverberated to the back of my mind, making every hair on my body stand on end.
Immediately, I looked in the direction from which the sound was coming and saw a man in a long black cloak, half-closed eyes, and a smile that looked more like an ugly grimace.
He barely had any hair on his head and was fat, but his presence was several times more intimidating than most of the devils I'd seen in the underworld.
"What? Why do you look so surprised to see me?" Valper Galilei asked. "It wasn't my neck you came here for."
I faced him. "Surprised? Yes, I am. But not because I found you, but because you're even uglier than I thought you'd be."
[A group of patrons laughed at your poor joke.]
[50 credits were sponsored.]
Valper gritted his teeth, but then ran his right hand along his round chin.
"Really? Well, I guess I haven't really been taking excellent care of myself since I was excommunicated from the church and became a fugitive. In fact, I thought I'd be out of the Church's reach here, but what a nasty surprise I got. Devils working with the Church." He smiled sarcastically. "I don't know who would be more disappointed—Lucifer or God... Oops, sorry to use that word in front of you. I know that word bothers your kind."
"I don't think your God cares either," I said, having to bite down hard on my teeth to contain my pained expression.
"Not even Lucifer is among us anymore to say what they would think about an alliance between their two main creations."
The bold expression on Valper Galilei's face disappeared. "So, you know?"
"There are many benefits to being the son of a Maou..." I replied.
"But that changes nothing. I'm here to finish what I started."
Valper's smile widened, and it bothered me more than I expected. There was something in those small, half-closed eyes that gave me the feeling of being dissected.
'I need to finish him quickly.'
Just as I was about to advance towards Valper Galilei, a purple magic circle formed under his feet.
'What the fuck? This old man shouldn't have access to magic... should he?'
In an instant, the circle exploded and a stream of black lightning lashed out at me like a hungry snake.
I reacted on pure instinct, summoning a magical barrier and dispelling part of the attack. The rest pierced through, destroying the floor and blowing up the walls behind me.
Valper laughed. "Oh... So Sirzechs Lucifer's little boy knows how to defend himself. How adorable... But what are you going to do with this?"
He raised both hands, and this time dozens of magic circles appeared around him, rotating slowly like the gears of a killing machine.
Each one was brimming with power: lightning, black fire, blades of cutting wind — a combination of elemental magics that I would never have expected from an excommunicate. Valper pointed at me, and the storm descended.
I was forced to move. My demonic wings opened with a snap, and I shot to the side. Even so, the explosions followed me as if they were homing missiles.
The moment I realized I couldn't avoid everything, I summoned a reinforced shield, but the pressure was absurd.
The fire licked my skin; the lightning pierced my defense and threw me far away. I rolled on the floor, tasting the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.
Part of my school uniform was on fire, and my body was still shaking from the shock of the thunder that had hit me.
I raised my head angrily and saw that Valper was walking slowly towards me. "Are you sweating, kid? You should be. I studied forbidden magic while the Church was trying to hunt me down. Do you really think I would confront a man who has dedicated his entire life to understanding how to destroy beings like you?"
I gathered what little strength I had left and slammed my hands on the ground. A stone wall rose between us, but it lasted less than three seconds. A bolt of black lightning shot through the stone and exploded in my direction.
Again, I couldn't escape.
The pain seared through me, as if every nerve in my body had been ripped out and burned.
I didn't think I could take it, but when I opened my eyes, after pressing them shut with so much pain, I was still standing...
Strangely, Valper was in the same position as when we started our conversation and also near the center of the room.
'What...?'
The scene was the same as before. The walls. The floor.
I looked down at myself, expecting to see a burnt uniform. But there was nothing. Not even a scratch. My body was clean, with no sign of the violent fight I had just fought — or thought I had.
But the pain... ARGHH! It was still there!
I staggered back a step and fell to my knees.
"W... what was that...?" I muttered.
Valper let out a low laugh, as if savoring my reaction. Then, with a theatrical gesture, he pulled something out of his cloak. "You've just felt the effect of the Excalibur Nightmare, kid." He turned the black sword slowly. "One of the cruelest holy swords ever forged."
"The curious thing about the mind of humans... or devils... is how fragile it can be when it believes it's dying. The body reacts to what the mind believes is real. If you think you've burned, the body will feel the pain. If you think you've died, the heart stops."
He approached, Excalibur Nightmare in hand, and bent down to my height. "Fear, boy... is the most powerful weapon in the world. The perfect illusion causes real wounds. Every pain, every cut you've felt now... It was all real for you."
I tried to control my breathing, but I was failing. It was as if my brain was still processing the phantom pain of the battle that didn't happen.
'So... I fought... and lost... in an illusion?'
"That... That's the reaction I wanted to see. Now, let's see what you keep in your arrogant mind." Valper stood and raised the Excalibur Nightmare.
"NO! WAIT-!"
I didn't have the strength to react when he drove the Excalibur Nightmare into my head. It didn't kill me, but it took me to my own hell.
When I opened my eyes, the pain was gone.
But the emptiness that remained was worse.
The sound of those spells being cast by Valper Galilei gave way to a constant din of keyboards, printers, and phones ringing in the background. I rubbed my eyes, feeling my vision adjust to the clarity of my new surroundings.
It was... an office. Gray. Minimalist. Sterile.
Concrete walls, enormous glass windows overlooking a city I knew all too well. New York. The stone jungle stretched as far as my eyes could see, swallowing the horizon in a monotonous gray.
I looked around, confused. 'But... I was in Kuoh, in Japan.'
Something wasn't right. My heart was beating too fast. But the worst thing was... I didn't know what. Part of me accepted this new reality as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Another part screamed that it was wrong.
I was wearing a black suit with a red handkerchief in the left pocket. The tie tightened around my neck like a collar, and on the dark wooden desk, a pile of papers stared at me. All signed by me.
Milicas Gremory, CEO of Gremory Enterprises. At least that's what the sign on my desk said.
'What the fuck?'
My head throbbed, and a million images invaded my mind at once. Business. Meetings. An empire built with my hands. I took the Gremory family to new horizons after my parents died. Now, Gremory was the leading name of a technology megacorporation that dominated half the human world.
The glass door opened, and a woman walked in. Tall, with black hair in an impeccable bun, thin-framed glasses, and a cold stare.
"Mr. Gremory, the meeting with the shareholders starts in ten minutes."
"Who... who are you?" The question slipped out before I could think.
She was obviously surprised. "Makima, your secretary. You look... pale."
'Makima...? Was that really her?'
The Makima I knew was... Wait, no... Who had Makima really been? And who had I been?
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