[New Quest Added!]
[Quest: A Lord Serves None!]
[Objective: Break free of your constraints and eliminate your captors!
Additional Objective: Gather information about the enemy's goals.]
[Rewards: Memories of Faiser, Barbatos Treasury Key
Additional Rewards: Valefar Treasury Key]
Killing wasn't exactly something I'd do in good conscience, but I'm supposed to be a devil, aren't I? And these people practically murdered the original Faiser while trying to turn me into a mindless slave.
I'd long since grown used to blood and death, so this wasn't anything that would faze me.
The real question was—how the hell was I supposed to deal with so many of them?
[Skills can be used with your thoughts and imagination.]
Well, only one way to find out, wasn't there?
With my eyes open, I could finally see just how disgusting this situation really was.
A man—no, a devil—stood there, looking like he had one foot already in the grave. Grey hair, hunched back, flaky skin, and a grin that could curdle blood.
Around him swarmed his followers, pathetic little minions clinging to him like slaves to a lord—some carrying notes and equipment, others just standing by, waiting to be ordered around.
One, two… fourteen.
Fourteen of them. If I'd been just a middle-class devil or lower, I'd have been screwed.
"His eyes are open!"
One of the minions shouted, and the older devil's gaze snapped toward me.
"Oh!" His grotesque face twisted into something even uglier—a feat I didn't think was possible. "Marvelous! He is awake!"
Of all the things I could've seen first after waking up, this was probably the worst.
[Race: Pure-Blood Devil]
[Rank: High-Class]
High-class. A little iffy, but manageable—especially considering my own rank.
"Get him out of the capsule!" he barked. "Let me marvel at my masterpiece!"
One of the devils—middle-class, maybe pushing high—rushed toward the screens.
I could've waited and let them play their little game, or I could do things my own way.
And if there's one thing about me, it's that I never liked doing things at someone else's convenience.
So—
The very first skill of the Barbatos line. Sure enough, it worked with just a thought.
"That—!" The devils gasped. "He can already use skills right after waking?"
"M-My, my… That's beyond even my expectations!" The old devil's smile stretched wider. "Truly the greatest creation we've ever produced!"
I ignored his rambling, focusing on adjusting to the sensation of being outside—away from the fluid, standing on solid stone, completely naked. It took me a moment to get used to it all.
For the first time in my life, I could see with perfect clarity, hear with razor sharpness, and smell every detail in the air.
My senses were enhanced. I could hear my own heartbeat, theirs too—and even feel the nervous excitement radiating from them.
This wasn't human.
This was something else entirely.
I was truly a devil now. And not just any devil—an Ultimate-Class Devil.
As I let my body and mind sync with these new sensations, greasy, trembling hands suddenly clamped down on my arms.
"My masterpiece! My greatest weapon!" he croaked, his hunched frame barely able to reach my forearms. He laughed like a madman. "Follow me! Follow your master, and I shall take you to the testing hall!"
Now, I could let him take me to the testing hall, allow him to measure my abilities, and in the process learn more about my powers too.
But well…
"No."
I didn't want to.
"W-What?" He seemed shocked at the response. Honestly, so was I. I hadn't expected my voice to sound this deep, carrying a faint old-English accent. "You cannot say no to me!"
He looked more shocked than angry. Maybe it would've been smarter to let him mutter his secrets and test me in the hall, but considering the system already explained how my abilities worked—I had no reason to follow him.
If anything, I had every reason to oppose him. And so I did.
"Move," I said, thoroughly uncomfortable with a scoliosis-ridden hunchback standing barely an inch or two away from my exposed cock.
Though damn—this body was different. Even my cock seemed bigger.
"D-Did you just order me?" His shock twisted into rage. "You? A mere experiment, daring to command your master!"
Since regaining consciousness, I'd learned one thing: this damned old man had the easiest temper in the world to provoke.
Two words—just two—and he was already fuming.
"My lord…" The devil at the screen whispered, terrified. "P-Please calm down. The facility will collapse if you release your demonic power."
And sure enough, he did exactly that.
The High Class devil—high only in power, not in status, from what I could tell—unleashed his demonic energy, shaking the entire chamber. Cracks spidered across the walls and floor under the pressure.
That was also when I realized what class differences truly meant.
The weaker ones, the Low Class devils, were already gasping for breath, crushed under the weight of his power. The Middle Class devil was barely standing, his knuckles white as he held onto the table to keep from collapsing.
As for me? An Ultimate Class devil, standing above him?
I barely felt it.
His pressure was nothing more than the sensation of standing under a shower. Not the freshness, just the weight of water hitting your skin. Noticeable, but harmless.
I brushed it aside, much to his surprise, and instead focused on the quest. Time to start questioning.
"Who are you?" I asked, genuinely curious about the man's identity.
If he was High Class, he couldn't be a complete nobody, could he?
"How dare you question your master!" he roared. "With the authority of the runes, I order you to kneel!"
Huh. So that's where his confidence came from.
Runes. Fucking runes.
"No."
One word again. And this time, he froze—shocked, confused, utterly disbelieving.
"You… you shouldn't be able to defy me!" His face went pale. "I inscribed the runes of control onto your heart! The Heart Fragment was bound by runes!"
I still don't fully know what this heart fragment—this Asura Heart—really is. But I know a few things.
It's far more complex and powerful than this decrepit old devil ever expected. It regenerated itself from a mere fragment into a full heart. It erased the runes that tried to bind it.
In simple words, it isn't something the likes of him can ever hope to control.
"Once again," I was getting annoyed now. I wanted answers, and all he'd done so far was blabber. "No."
That one word was enough to send him into a cold sweat.
"T-The runes…" His voice cracked. "T-They aren't working…"
Finally, it was sinking in.
He was standing before an Ultimate Class devil, barking orders—only to realize that an Ultimate Class could defy him with ease.
He finally understood the kind of mess he was in.
And so, without another thought, he stumbled back and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Everyone! Attack him!"
Now, I'm an Ultimate Class. I could've just stood there, tanked their attacks, and watched how strong they were. But did I do that?
Of course not.
The very first skill of the Valefar bloodline, and honestly, a damn cool one.
Pale golden chains erupted from the ground, wrapping around the limbs, torsos, and heads of every devil present—locking them in place, making it impossible for them to move.
"Y-You!" The old devil, now trapped alongside his minions in chains only I could see, nearly hissed. "You can control your Valefar bloodline too…"
He hadn't expected that, had he?
And I loved the fact that I could bind anyone on my level or lower, without a single limitation.
This ability was broken. Absolutely broken.
"M-Master—"
One of the devils tried to speak, but did all of them need to open their mouths?
Not really. The old man was enough. So I bound his mouth shut.
"Only the old man will speak," I said, my voice carrying that same deep accent as before. "Who are you?"
That was my first question. And I wanted answers.
Surprisingly, the old man was courageous. Though honestly, it wasn't smart.
He stayed silent. Which made me sigh.
"You need a threat, don't you?"
He scowled at me. "I will never answer you. I serve none but Lord Rizevim."
Rizevim. Not someone I could deal with as an Ultimate Class. That devil was on par with Sirzechs to some extent, and I couldn't afford to stick around if he decided to drop by.
Which meant—I needed answers fast.
The fourth Barbatos skill, and probably the only true damage-type one in the line.
The effect?
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"M-MY ARM!"
"LORD, MY ARM!"
"MY LEGS! MY LEGS!"
"GAHHH!"
With a single thought, two devils lost their legs, three lost their arms, blood spraying and pooling across the floor as the others stared at me in wide-eyed horror.
Including the old man.
"How… how did you use that ability without physical contact!" he screamed. "That Barbatos skill doesn't work unless you touch the body part to sever!"
He was both horrified and baffled, all while five devils writhed on the ground, shrieking in pain.
Could devils bleed to death? We might find out soon.
"You don't need to know that."
"LORD! GAHHH!"
"L-LEGS—AHHH!"
This time, the two closest to him lost their feet.
The old man froze, fear and shock plastered across his face, words failing him.
Clicking my tongue, I turned toward the middle-class devil.
"That still isn't enough, is it?"
"L-LOR—"
The head of the middle-class devil rolled across the floor, and I hadn't even lifted a finger.
"Stefan!" The old man roared. "You fucking monster!"
Funny. A devil without morals, calling me a monster.
"What." I smiled. "Is. Your. Name."
Though I am certain, in that moment, the smile looked anything but friendly.
And I had seen enough interrogations in my life to know that people folded ridiculously quick to fear.
"My… My name…" He looked at me with bloodshot eyes, furious and equally terrified. "is Rollo Ballmeth, a lesser demon serving under Lord Rizevim."
Killing the devil before his eyes got me the answer quite quickly. And I was grateful for this amazing combination.
Since the skill description said that I needed to maintain contact to use Sever, I decided to test if using Bind would be considered maintaining contact.
Sure enough, it did.
"Good," I gave him a smile, followed by—
"Why!" He roared out, as the heads of the other twelve devils rolled over, leaving behind only him.
"I will unbind you," I said. "That's a promise if you answer my question. As for them, I had no reason to keep them alive."
His eyes shook in fear as his body couldn't. He was hesitant, still unsure if he could believe me or not.
Seeing him going silent once again, I pushed a finger over his forehead.
"So, tell me." I asked, "Why and how did I end up here?"
He knew that if I wanted to, he wouldn't have his head over his shoulders. So, even if hesitantly, he did answer.
"You… During the civil war, five hundred years ago… You were severely injured and fell unconscious while protecting your mansion as your family was fighting on the front lines. They perished, but Lord Rizevim managed to find your unconscious body." He gulped, "Your family started with a neutral stance, but in the end sided with the New Satan Faction, and hence we attacked you. However, since he found your unconscious body and knew that you possessed the bloodline of two ancient pillars, you were brought to me to turn you into… into a living weapon for the Old Satan Faction."
That's pretty interesting. But considering that devils of the Seventy-Two Pillars had astounding abilities—it would make sense for them to take my body for experimentation.
And Barbatos and Valefar had ridiculous abilities from what I saw.
Still, there was so much to unpack.
The body was recovered five hundred years ago. That means for five centuries the devil world has believed that the Barbatos and Valefar pillars had fallen.
There is a massive chance that they took all the treasures and lands that my family possessed, and that was by no means good for me.
Well, that was for later. For now, I needed more information.
"What exactly is the Asura Heart Fragment?"
The system-like thing that I was seeing and hearing was most likely a result of the Asura Heart. I couldn't prove it, but I strongly believed it.
"I… I do not know much about it," he said, pressing his lips thin. "Lord Rizevim handed me the Heart Fragment and ordered me to stitch it to your heart. He said it was of an ancient being, a being that existed before any devil or god, a transcendent being. All I know… is that he had found the piece in the treasury of the original Lucifer."
That wasn't nearly enough for me to figure this thing out.
"What do you mean by transcendent being? Like an ancient god?"
He took a second before answering, "I don't know. Though I do know that the being had existed before anything and everything, and only the original Lucifer and Satans knew about its existence. Even Lord Rizevim doesn't know the truth about the heart, other than what I told you. And that the heart would allow one to surpass the limits of a devil."
A transcendent being, maybe someone on par with the God of the Bible. Maybe higher, but if this being existed… how did they die, or how did their heart break into fragments?
"Are there any more fragments?"
"No, that was all that Lord Lucifer's treasury had. The fragment and a burnt letter asking his descendants to reawaken the heart."
This was interesting. The heart clearly wasn't a Sacred Gear—it was superior, most likely a Longinus-class or higher.
"Does Rizevim know that I have awakened?"
"No," he answered immediately. "You weren't supposed to wake up for another year. Only this morning did we notice the sudden change in you and the ridiculous speed at which your body was recovering."
Good, that meant he wouldn't just barge in here—not yet.
"Where are we?"
"At an underground facility, far away from the devil society," he said. "It is an isolated area that stands apart from almost all other New and Old Satan Faction locations."
Both good and bad.
I wouldn't just walk into one of the two factions, but that also meant I had no idea where I could go.
"Final question," I asked the most important one. "What exactly was the purpose of putting the Asura Heart Fragment in me? Why me?"
He didn't want to answer that, but a slight pressure on his forehead brought out the truth quickly.
"Y-You were the perfect choice for a weapon, possessing the bloodline of two major houses. You can teleport at ridiculous speeds, covering most areas, and we believed you would awaken the Valefar binding abilities one day, which would make you the ultimate offense and defense… with the Asura Heart Fragment, you would be unstoppable." He stared at me, his head still pressed in place. "With the runes, we were certain you would obey every command, and removing your memories made it even easier."
Seeing me stare at him, he muttered quietly.
"Or so we thought…"
Thankfully, I didn't end up as a mindless puppet. They didn't understand the Asura Heart or its abilities at all, and thus they paid the price.
And with this, I had all the information I needed from him.
Which meant—
"You will… you will unbind me, right?" he asked, and well, I did promise.
"I will," I said, slowly undoing the chains.
I was a devil now, and a devil always kept the end of his bargain.
As the chains vanished, he was finally able to move.
"T-Thank you," he said nervously.
I smiled and placed my hand over his shoulder. "I always keep my promises."
Even though he was scared, he nodded firmly.
"Can I leave?" he asked. "I will let Lord Rizevim know that you escaped, but I won't tell him your location."
He was trying his best not to anger me.
I could respect that.
But you see…
A devil always keeps his promise, but never in a way that benefits the other party. Promises only ever benefit the devil.
Even now, I did promise to unbind him.
"Will yo—"
His voice stopped, eyes widening. That was all he managed before his body split in half and slumped to the floor, creating a massive pool of blood as his sliced innards spilled from both halves.
I kept my promise of unbinding him, but I never promised to keep him alive.
And well, I couldn't let Rizevim hunt me down just yet.
[Quest (Completed): A Lord serves none!
Objective (Cleared): Break free of your constraints and get rid of your captors!
Additional Objective (Cleared): Gather information about the enemy's goals]
[Rewards (Obtained): Memories of Faiser, Barbatos Treasury Key
Additional Rewards (Obtained): Valefar Treasury Key]
[Both Barbatos and Valefar keys have been stored in your inventory and can be summoned anytime with a thought.]
This system, this damn system…
[Awakening memories of Faiser Valefar-Barbatos]
The pain I suffered was unlike anything else.
A sharp, hammering agony inside my head… like my brain was being nailed apart and spread wide.
I collapsed to my knees instantly, unable to handle it, and vomited on the spot.
It was worse than any migraine, any headache I'd ever imagined. Like undergoing brain surgery without anesthesia.
But with the pain came memories.
Memories of my life—or rather, of his life. Faiser. A man who lived as debauched as devilishly possible.
Drinking. Whoring. Sleeping. —a fucking hedonist.
Born to two influential figures: Father, Faustus Barbatos, Lord of the Barbatos Pillar. Mother, Isolde Valefar, eldest daughter of the Valefar Pillar. With blood like that, he was coddled and spoiled beyond belief, living free and indulgent without a single care.
No worries. No responsibilities.
Despite that, he was hailed a genius. His control over his bloodline ability was remarkable—enough to reach High Rank without relying on his bloodline at all. An insane feat, really. But he never trained. Never sharpened himself. And in the end, he paid for it.
Though his family took a neutral stance, they eventually sided with the New Satans after witnessing the Old Satan Faction's cruelty.
The memories didn't show me how his parents died—only the moment he received the news. He was defending his manor from invading forces when the word reached him. Shocked, broken, unable to focus—he left himself vulnerable. His enemies struck, and the entire manor collapsed over him.
That was the last memory before I woke up… along with all the knowledge and instincts Faiser had once held.
That I now held.
I lay on the floor, gasping, drenched in sweat, barely conscious beneath the flood of information.
But I had it all: the history, the devil's etiquette, the manner of speech, the heir's poise. Everything that made Faiser Barbatos who he was—now belonged to me.
Because I was Faiser Barbatos. Heir of Barbatos. Last surviving devil carrying both Barbatos and Valefar blood.
And just when I believed the torment was over, I heard a voice.
"I-It's you…"
A shocked, almost horrified whisper.
"Faiser."
The voice of a woman.
"Barbatos…"
And then, a man's.
[Race: Pure-Blood Devil]
[Grade: Satan Class]
[Race: Pure-Blood Devil]
[Grade: Super Class (Sealed)]
…Yeah. I was fucked.