Volume One: The Devil's Nature Never Changes, and a Dead Devil's Heart Regrets Nothing
[New Rebirth Location: The World of Sealed Shadows]
The devil opened his eyes and found himself in a place of absolute darkness.
Thousands of eyes stared at him, radiating overwhelming power.
His body was nothing more than a shapeless mass of black ink floating within the dark void.
A cold smile appeared on his face.
"I've been reborn… How irritating."
"And this place…"
"But my demonic heart does not regret its actions. If reaching my goal requires me to become even more demonic in this life, then I will surpass the very concept of evil… and that will be nothing more than a swift return to my original nature."
His form changed rapidly until his body stabilized into a complete shape.
He appeared to be a fifteen-year-old boy, with long black-and-white hair that reached his thighs. One of his eyes was entirely white, while the other was entirely black.
His skin was deathly pale, and his sharply defined face resembled that of a corpse. He had a small nose and thin lips.
He was naked.
He snapped his fingers, and clothes formed over his body.
He wore a distinctive jacket with a broad blue stripe running down its center, a white belt around his waist, and a long, loose light-purple robe with short slits at the sleeves. A broad headband with light-purple edges covered his forehead.
His smile vanished.
"Hah… I should leave before the shadows kill me."
The devil raced through the World of Sealed Shadows at tremendous speed, shooting upward with unbelievable acceleration before the tentacle-like appendages connected to the surrounding eyes could seize him.
He burst out from beneath the ground—
or, more precisely, emerged from within his own shadow as it shifted beneath him.
A massive wave of black-and-white ink surged out behind him.
For a moment, the shadow distorted as the devil emerged, its form stretching and growing taller.
It became clear that the Shadow wore a classic black military cap with sharp edges and an extraordinarily long black coat trailing behind it.
A terrifyingly wide smile spread across its face, revealing gleaming white teeth.
The teeth were visible only because the Shadow's body was entirely pitch-black, resembling a sealed doorway that led nowhere.
The devil, however, remained expressionless.
He watched the Shadow complete its transformation without saying a word.
Once the transformation ended, the devil took out a bamboo hat draped in black cloth and placed it over his head.
His voice was cold.
"Try to hide your teeth, clown. I don't want anyone becoming suspicious of me, especially when I don't even know where I am."
"I'll watch the front. You watch the rear."
The Shadow's smile vanished.
It nodded.
The devil continued walking.
He found himself in a rural region near an enormous mountain. Towering trees with lush green leaves spread throughout the land, gray clouds gathered in the sky, and the scent of damp soil filled the air.
The faint sounds of crickets and birds could be heard in the distance.
The scenery felt strange and unfamiliar.
It did not resemble any place he remembered from his previous lives.
When he spotted a village ahead, he spoke calmly.
"Hmmm… Signs of civilization. Strange. I expected to find a dead land."
"But I need to find out where I am."
"Shadow, I'll remain here. Go and discover our location."
The Shadow nodded, detached itself from beneath the devil's feet, and flowed across the ground toward the village.
At the same time, the devil followed at a measured pace while keeping his distance, observing everything through the Shadow's eyes.
The Shadow passed beside an old man telling stories to a group of children.
It then slipped into another shadow and watched people exchanging goods, an elderly woman weaving wool, and a man working in the fields.
Such scenes were familiar to the devil.
He had witnessed them billions of times…
perhaps even more.
A telepathic message reached him in a distorted voice that was barely understandable.
(Master… We are on a planet called Earth, within a country known as China—specifically, somewhere in southern China.)
The devil closed his eyes, then opened them again.
A cold, demonic smile appeared on his face.
"Return, Shadow."
At a speed that shattered light itself, the Shadow returned and stood behind him.
The devil rushed toward the village, thinking:
(Hah… China? It doesn't matter.)
(I need to develop my bloodline and obtain power… by slaughtering everyone in the village and absorbing their blood.)
He surged forward, then deliberately slowed down as he approached the village entrance.
Two guards stood at the gate.
The first was thin, with a beard and long hair tied back in a ponytail.
The second was a young man carrying a spear and wearing armor, with slightly long black hair.
From a distance, they saw a small child approaching them, wearing a bamboo hat with black cloth hanging from its edges.
The first guard shouted nervously:
"Stop! Who are you? Identify yourself!"
The devil advanced until he reached the gate, then stopped silently before them.
The second guard clicked his tongue and spoke with contempt.
"Tsk… He's only a child. Why are you so nervous, elder brother?"
"And it seems this little one isn't from the village… But wait, why is he hiding beneath that hat?"
The older guard replied nervously, sweat beading across his face despite himself.
"I don't know… but this child frightens me."
The younger guard burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha! You're afraid? My heavens… Where is your manhood?"
The devil shifted slightly to the left.
"I have a gift for both of you."
The second guard approached him curiously, unaware of the disaster about to unfold.
"And what is this gift?"
The devil leaned slightly forward, his voice lethally calm.
"Death."
Before either of them could process the word, a sharp black blade shot out from within the devil's shadow and pierced the first guard's body.
His body convulsed, and blood erupted violently from him as he choked and struggled to breathe.
At the same moment, the devil moved, grabbed the second guard by the neck, and snapped it.
The first guard, barely clinging to consciousness, witnessed his brother's brutal death before his own body went limp.
Both corpses exploded violently, spraying blood in every direction.
The Shadow rose and assumed a humanoid form, then devoured the remains with savage hunger, leaving nothing behind.
At the same time, the devil raised his hand.
The blood scattered across the ground rose and floated through the air before flowing toward his palm.
The veins across his arm swelled, revealing that the power within his blood was increasing.
Five minutes later, the Shadow finished devouring the two corpses.
The same twisted, deranged smile returned to its face.
The devil had absorbed every drop of blood, so he decided to test his newfound strength.
He examined his left hand—the hand that had absorbed the blood—and said:
"I feel refreshed… This will greatly increase my physical strength."
He clenched his fist and punched one of the walls.
Half the wall exploded into tiny fragments, while thick clouds of dust and smoke rose into the air.
The house of an elderly man standing behind the wall collapsed as well.
The old man fell to the ground in terror.
He raised his hand as though attempting to protect himself and said in a trembling voice:
"Please… I don't want to die."
The devil did not wait.
He moved and tore the old man apart with terrifying ease.
Blood burst into the air like a crimson flood, while the old man's severed head struck the ground, tilted toward the right.
His final words were:
"Please… I don't want to die."
The devil laughed softly.
"Hah… Humans cling desperately to life, even though immortality is far worse than death."
"Come, Shadow… It is time for the massacre."