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Prince of Tennis: Ninja of Tennis
"You recognize this scepter, don't you?" Roy said, holding up the Ornate Scepter.
Leviathan, of course, knew it well. The scepter even piped up to greet the King of Envy.
"Hey there, Mr. Leviathan! Long time no see. I still remember the time you got yeeted out of Satan's Throne challenge. Man, that was—"
"Shut up!" Leviathan snapped, cutting off the scepter mid-sentence. The last thing it wanted was its embarrassing past dragged up.
Its serpentine eyes narrowed as it turned to Roy. "So, you're saying a new Lord of Hell has actually been born?"
Well, not *exactly* born yet. Roy and Alma's child was still in her belly, lingering past ten months with no sign of coming out anytime soon. But that didn't stop Roy from using the kid as leverage to spook Leviathan.
"You must've felt it, right? The Lord of Hell has risen, and she gave me this scepter, tasking me as her envoy to inspect all of Hell."
Roy spun the lie with a straight face, leaving Leviathan visibly uneasy.
That kind of bluff wouldn't work on someone like Samael, who'd probably just laugh and start swinging, envoy or not. Mammon? He'd flip a coin to decide whether to care—fun fact, Mammon had a side hustle in Gotham City under the name Harvey Dent.
But Leviathan? It was the most paranoid of the Demon Kings, which made it the perfect target for Roy's deception. If he could make Leviathan second-guess itself, he had a solid shot at getting out of the Ancient Sea unscathed.
Leviathan hesitated, coiling in front of its throne, eyeing Roy suspiciously. The timing was just too perfect. A new Lord of Hell rises, and suddenly Roy shows up in the Ancient Sea straight from the Dark Abyss? Even Samael wouldn't buy that Roy wasn't connected to Satan.
Samael: *What's that supposed to mean? I'm the brains now?*
"Mr. Blake," Leviathan said, its tone noticeably more polite, "what does Satan want her envoy to do?"
It knew better than to mess with a new boss looking to flex their power. If the new Lord of Hell wanted to make an example out of someone, Leviathan didn't want to be the target. It had no idea the "Lord" was an unborn fetus—otherwise, it wouldn't be sweating like this.
That was Roy's ace in the hole. Among the Seven Demon Kings, only Asmodeus knew someone had fallen into the Dark Abyss with Roy, and she likely thought it was her daughter, Adra. No one could've guessed who'd actually claimed the throne. Berial and Lucifer? They both thought *Roy* was Satan. The other Demon Kings weren't sure but suspected him too. Only Leviathan, seeing Roy in person, knew he wasn't the one.
"Of course, she's calling a Grand Demon Council to announce her reign to all of Hell!" Roy said. "Wouldn't you do the same if you became king? Let your subjects know who's in charge?"
It was such a reasonable answer that even the Ornate Scepter started wondering if it had missed some secret orders Alma whispered to Roy. Leviathan was starting to buy it too, and that made it nervous.
If it detained Roy, would that be seen as a challenge to Satan? The Dark Abyss was close to the Ancient Sea. If Satan wanted to make an example out of Leviathan, none of the other Demon Kings would lift a finger to help. They'd probably kick it while it was down.
What about Samael and Mammon's alliance? Please—those two only teamed up for profit, not to take a hit for someone else.
Roy watched Leviathan's eyes flicker with doubt. His plan was working.
"I've delivered the message," Roy said firmly. "Now I've got to hit the other layers of Hell to spread the word. Leviathan, open the path to Eternal Night City. Now."
His commanding tone made Leviathan waver even more. But just as the King of Envy hesitated, Roy suddenly felt his heart seize. His body went numb, his breathing labored.
Eluresha noticed immediately. "Daddy, what's wrong?" she cried, rushing to support him.
Roy pushed her away with effort, transforming into his demon form. The boosted stats eased the symptoms slightly, but the pain was still excruciating. The twenty-meter-tall giant dropped to one knee, pounding his chest in agony.
"Agh!"
"Daddy, what's happening?!" Eluresha threw herself at him, but as she touched his leg, she saw his skin peeling away like damp wallpaper.
Leviathan slithered closer, its voice dripping with mock regret. "Such a shame. My offspring injected you with my venom. No one can save you now."
Roy's mind flashed back to the small snake that had bitten his shoulder earlier. Leviathan, the pettiest of the Demon Kings, loved its dirty tricks. Sneak attacks, poison—it was all fair game. Lucifer despised Leviathan for it, calling its scheming beneath a Demon King's dignity.
But Leviathan's venom? It was one of the deadliest weapons in the cosmos. Even a Demon King would be peeled raw by it.
"You set me up back then!" Roy groaned as another wave of pain hit his heart.
"Yep," Leviathan said, its snake eyes gleaming with vengeful satisfaction. "Guess I'll have to apologize to Satan myself."
"You… aren't afraid of Satan's wrath?" Roy gasped.
Leviathan winked. "Oh, I'm terrified. But first, I want a taste of revenge. If Satan comes for me, I'll just hand over your soul. I'll figure something out."
Roy had miscalculated. Leviathan, cold-blooded as it was, assumed everyone else was too. In its mind, a dead subordinate was no big deal—resurrection was always an option. It figured Satan would feel the same.
But if Roy died in Hell and was revived by a Demon King, he'd become a full-fledged Hell creature, forever rejected by Earth.
"Daddy, are you okay?!" Eluresha sobbed, helpless. She grabbed the Ornate Scepter. "Mr. Scepter, can you do anything?"
The scepter sighed. "This is Leviathan's venom. Even the Seven Demon Kings can't withstand it. I'm powerless."
"Out of the way!" Leviathan hissed, flicking its tail to send Eluresha flying. She crashed into a wall and passed out, the scepter clattering to the ground.
"Scepter," Leviathan growled, "tell me who's sitting on Satan's Throne!"
"You know I can't spill that, Leviathan," the scepter replied.
"I'm counting to three. If you don't talk, I'm tossing you into a cesspit."
Leviathan wasn't messing around. The scepter, ever concerned with its dignity, would rather be snapped in half than defiled.
"No! Leviathan, I'm Satan's scepter. If you disgrace me, she won't let you off!"
"Hmph. You think Satan would care about a stick? Wanna bet?"
The scepter didn't dare take that bet, but it also couldn't reveal Satan's identity. They were at a stalemate.
Neither noticed Roy, writhing in agony nearby. Leviathan's venom lay dormant for a while to avoid detection, but once it reached the heart, it was game over. Not even Leviathan itself could undo it. Maybe Raphael could, or a straight-up resurrection.
As the venom spread from Roy's heart, it paralyzed him, peeled his skin, and triggered massive internal bleeding. His body began to dissolve into a pool of blood, leaving only his head intact. The venom couldn't reach the brain, so Roy felt every excruciating moment with perfect clarity.
When his heart and seal began to melt, Berial sensed it instantly. But the Eternal Night City and the Ancient Sea were different realms, so she could only tell something was wrong, not where Roy was.
"What's going on? Didn't Roy become Satan?" Berial muttered, gritting her teeth and preparing to dive back into the Dark Abyss.
"Scepter, last chance!" Leviathan hissed. "I'm serious this time."
"Can't I… think it over?" the scepter stalled.
"Are you messing with me?" Leviathan roared.
Just then, it sensed something and turned toward Roy. Strange flames flickered around his dissolving body.
Leviathan, a veteran of Hell with millennia of experience, had seen every kind of fire—holy flames of Heaven, demonic fires of Hell, wizard spells, even otherworldly psychic flames. But this? This was new.
The flame's core was golden, pulsing with awe-inspiring vitality, wrapped in a deep crimson shell of psychic energy. It grew, consuming Roy's blood and head, its intensity making even Leviathan feel a twinge of unease.
"Whoa, what a wild flame," the scepter remarked. "Never seen anything like it."
Leviathan's expression hardened. It tossed the scepter aside and studied the fire closely. Soon, Roy's remains were entirely burned away. When the flames died down, a golden egg, slightly larger than an ostrich's, sat on the ground.
"What's this?" Leviathan muttered. It didn't recognize the egg, but the immense energy radiating from it was undeniable.
And what does a snake do when it sees something intriguing? It swallows it whole.
Leviathan: *Jackpot, fam!*
Its body swelled to the size of a hundred-ton war machine and gulped the egg down in one bite. It had done this before, digesting energy-rich objects for power. But this time, it bit off more than it could chew.
The egg expanded rapidly in Leviathan's stomach, causing it to writhe in pain and feel an intense burning sensation. It tried to spit the egg out but failed. Snakes often swallow oversized prey and take days to digest, regurgitating if threatened. But this egg? It was stuck, like it was glued to Leviathan's insides.
Realizing its mistake, Leviathan, ever the impulsive glutton, tore its body into three pieces, isolating the section with the egg. As a Demon King, it could regenerate, and the separated parts reattached quickly.
"What the hell is this thing?!" Leviathan roared, furious at the loss. It spat a torrent of venom at the egg, corrosive enough to eat through its own flesh. But the egg? Untouched. Instead, those strange flames flared up again.
Leviathan's jaw dropped. Its venom, one of Hell's deadliest weapons—on par with the King of Sloth's illusions or the King of Lust's charms—had failed.
Worse, the egg started to crack under the venom's influence. With each fracture, a surge of vibrant life force poured out, shocking even the ten-thousand-year-old Leviathan.
The cracks multiplied until, with a clear, resonant cry, the egg shattered. Golden and crimson flames roared to life, and in their center stood a naked man, eyes closed.
"So this is what they meant by 'only through rebirth can one achieve nirvana,'" Roy said, opening his eyes and standing tall.
He'd just unlocked a new form.
[**Phoenix Form Awakened!**]
*(The power of the phoenix has arrived!)*