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 surrounded by absolute darkness.
Thousands of eyes stared at him, each 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."
He examined his surroundings.
"And this place…"
His expression remained calm.
"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 rapidly began to change until his body stabilized into a complete shape.
He appeared to be a fifteen-year-old boy, with long black-and-white hair reaching his thighs. One of his eyes was entirely white, while the other was completely 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.
With a snap of his fingers, 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."
He raced through the World of Sealed Shadows at tremendous speed, shooting upward with unbelievable acceleration as the tentacle-like appendages connected to the surrounding eyes reached for him.
Before they could seize him, he escaped.
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, its form stretching and growing taller.
Eventually, it took on a humanoid shape.
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 rest of its body was entirely pitch-black, resembling a sealed doorway that led nowhere.
The devil remained expressionless.
He watched the Shadow complete its transformation without saying a word.
Once it finished, he 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 covered in lush green leaves spread throughout the land, while gray clouds gathered overhead and the scent of damp soil filled the air.
The faint sounds of crickets and birds echoed in the distance.
The scenery felt strange and unfamiliar.
It resembled none of the places 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."
He paused.
"But first, I need to discover where I am."
"Shadow, I'll remain here. Go and find our location."
The Shadow nodded, detached itself from beneath his 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 slipped into another shadow and continued observing the village.
People exchanged goods.
An elderly woman sat weaving wool.
A man worked quietly in the fields.
Such scenes were painfully familiar to the devil.
He had witnessed them billions of times…
perhaps even more.
A telepathic message suddenly 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 for a moment, then opened them again.
A cold 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 while 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 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 what appeared to be 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 continued forward 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?"
He looked more closely at the newcomer.
"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 forming across his face despite himself.
"I don't know… but this child frightens me."
The younger guard burst into laughter.
"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 was 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 as blood erupted from the wound. He choked violently, struggling to breathe.
At the same moment, the devil moved.
He 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.
A moment later, both corpses exploded violently, spraying blood in every direction.
The Shadow rose and assumed a humanoid form before devouring the remains with savage hunger, leaving nothing behind.
At the same time, the devil raised his hand.
The blood scattered across the ground rose into the air and flowed toward his palm.
The veins across his arm swelled as the power within his blood increased.
Five minutes later, the Shadow finished devouring the two corpses.
Its twisted, deranged smile returned.
The devil had absorbed every remaining drop of blood, so he decided to test his newfound strength.
He examined his left hand—the hand that had absorbed the blood.
"I feel refreshed… This will greatly increase my physical strength."
He clenched his fist and punched one of the nearby walls.
Half of it exploded into tiny fragments as 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 one hand as though attempting to protect himself and spoke 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 and 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."
He turned toward the village.
"Come, Shadow…"
His smile widened.
"It is time for the massacre."