Itogami Island, an artificial island constructed with every possible means by the Itogami family. A massive artificial island built atop an underwater dragon vein, blending cutting-edge scientific technology, Feng Shui arts, and magic.
Located in the northwest Pacific Ocean, approximately 330 kilometers south of Tokyo, it was a city entirely made of carbon fiber, resin, metal, and magic, connected by a colossal floating structure called the Giga Float.
The island's temperature remained above twenty degrees Celsius year-round. Its population was around 560,000. Though administratively classified as Itogami City in Tokyo Prefecture, it was actually a special administrative region with an independent political system, and the world's most unique Demon Sanctuary.
A Demon Sanctuary referred to a place where humans and demons coexisted. On this Earth, humans and demons were fundamentally hostile. Demon nations led by the three main Night Empires and human-led nations were wary of each other, with minimal interaction. However, under the Sanctuary Treaty led by the First Primogenitor, they maintained a strange surface-level balance.
A Demon Sanctuary was a city where humans and demons could live together. Most of the island's residents were researchers, their families, and specially gifted individuals recognized by the city, including demons who were research subjects. In return, these demons were granted corresponding citizenship rights, allowing them to study, work, and live like humans. However, demons wore bracelets that restricted their abilities or served as tracking alarms for easy identification.
As an academic city, Itogami Island was filled with major corporations in precision machinery, high-tech materials, and renowned university research institutions. For this reason, Itogami Island was a highly special area infiltrated by various organizations and forces, a chaotic mix. Yet, this very blend of global organizations made the city's technological development the world's most advanced.
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At Itogami Island Airport, Immigration Counter.
Through bulletproof glass, Natsuki looked at the staff inside, her face slightly furrowed. Of course, it was because the irresponsible Fourth Primogenitor had left a single sentence in her ear before vanishing.
"Natsuki-chan, I'll leave these troublesome immigration procedures to you. Aurora and I will wait for you at your place."
Thinking of Aslan's words, Natsuki felt deeply annoyed.
Didn't he know how troublesome the procedures were for demons entering Itogami Island?
As a hub for researching special demon existences, Itogami Island's immigration management was extremely strict. Blood tests, fingerprints, iris scans, DNA scans, magical power verification, and mandatory bracelets signifying demon status and serving as surveillance devices were required. Even privileged classes needed sufficient guarantees and a series of procedures.
At least show up yourself!
But now, because Aslan found it bothersome, he'd gone to Natsuki's villa, leaving her with a furrowed face and Liana, who looked at her hopefully.
Beside her, an Attack Mage holding a scanner, dressed in combat gear, looked at Natsuki helplessly. "Sorry, Instructor Minamiya, this really… can't be done…"
As a native of Itogami Island, Natsuki served as an instructor for the island's security team. The two staff members handling security and immigration management in front of her were naturally her students.
Natsuki sighed inwardly in resignation.
(I've been teaching them to uphold the law fairly for so long…)
But complaints were just complaints. Natsuki painfully rubbed her temples and pleaded again. "Can't it really be simplified? They've already entered."
As soon as she spoke, Natsuki felt her face heat up, her dignity nearly gone.
She no longer had the face to meet these students. The head instructor leading the way in pulling strings—rumors like that might spread across the island by tomorrow, right?
"It really can't be done, Instructor Minamiya. At least we need a photo, don't we?"
"How can we issue an ID without a photo?"
The two Attack Mages were also helpless. It wasn't that they didn't want to pull strings, but how could they? There was no information, let alone a photo. When asked for an identity, Natsuki couldn't say.
Natsuki grew even more despairing.
Seeing her like that, the two Attack Mages exchanged glances, gritted their teeth, and handed her two blank immigration forms.
"Please, Instructor, fill these out and submit them to the special district security team tomorrow."
Natsuki sighed, then with a dark expression, used teleportation and left. She was going to find the culprit who'd ruined her hard-earned reputation and teach him a lesson.
Only Liana remained, watching Natsuki leave while her blood was drawn, feeling like crying. She didn't want to go through these complicated procedures either. She was once privileged too, but now she'd fallen.
At that moment, the Attack Mage beside her approached arrogantly, raising a magic gun seriously. "Please cooperate, we'll start drawing blood."
"Alright." Liana showed a complex, indescribable expression.
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On the other side, Natsuki hadn't yet found Aslan to teach him a lesson when she received information from Itogami Island's top management. They asked her to go to the island's center to discuss matters regarding the Fourth Primogenitor.
After all, the events on Gozo Island weren't exactly top secret but were widely known. The archaeology team excavating the twelfth matrix, Fairy's Coffin, was funded by multiple parties, making it like a sieve.
Naturally, news of the Fourth Primogenitor's appearance had leaked, along with his current power. He possessed strong spatial abilities, and his Beast Vassal didn't seem merely at the Primogenitor level—its magical power fluctuations were far more terrifying than those of the First Primogenitor's Beast Vassal.
If the other three Primogenitors were like mobile nuclear warheads, equivalent to standard warheads stronger than Little Boy, capable of destroying a city in one strike, then the Fourth Primogenitor's Beast Vassal was on the level of the Tsar Bomba.
Now, the Fourth Primogenitor, considered the strongest, had awakened and wanted to reclaim his power. This was both a challenge and an opportunity. It might help them advance further in awakening Cain. And perhaps, they could control this immensely powerful Fourth Primogenitor through Cain?
Though rumors said Cain was killed by the Fourth Primogenitor, as those determined to awaken Cain, they knew secrets even the other three main Night Empires didn't.
In fact, Cain wasn't killed by the Fourth Primogenitor—or rather, the Fourth Primogenitor was controlled by the Deva and the other three Primogenitors. Even Cain's death was part of his own plan.
The Fourth Primogenitor and Cain had a deep connection. Especially seeing the Fourth Primogenitor's gender, they were even more convinced. After all, the original Fourth Primogenitor, Zero, was a young man and had been Cain's assistant for a very long time.
Wasn't this a coincidence? They could work together to awaken Cain.
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In the Itogami Island General Corporation Meeting Room.
Natsuki sat on a leather chair, legs crossed, her right hand holding a folding fan and propping up her face, looking impatiently at the people across the table.
"Though I don't know what you're thinking or what plans you have, I must warn you that the Fourth Primogenitor isn't someone easy to get along with."
As she spoke, Natsuki recalled her recent experience and couldn't help gritting her teeth. "Of course. But we're confident that once he hears our grand plan, he'll be easy to work with."
"Let's hope so."
Seeing the group of executives ignoring her words, Natsuki wore a mask of suffering. Right now, she could only hope these executives didn't have overly reckless ideas, as she was both Aslan's subordinate and an Itogami Island executive.
If she didn't genuinely care about Itogami Island, she'd have run away. Following Aslan wouldn't be bad. At least he was generous, casually granting such powerful abilities.
Now, Natsuki only needed a thought to swap the air inside the executives' bodies, easily wiping out all of Itogami Island's top brass.
"So, how do we get close to the Fourth Primogenitor now? And what if he doesn't want to awaken Cain?"
"Maybe we can use the Hiina family's daughter to get close. Cain's Miko—I think the Fourth Primogenitor will understand our intentions, right?"
"If he doesn't want to awaken Cain, let him die in the Blazing Banquet. I doubt the other three Primogenitors will let the Fourth Primogenitor fully awaken."
Over thousands of years, the Blazing Banquet had been held several times. The Fourth Primogenitor might have awakened before and was now awakening again.
"Alright, let's do it." Hearing the man in the center, the others agreed. "Yes, that shouldn't be a problem."
"I'll arrange it immediately, finding a way for them to meet."
And Natsuki, sitting nearby, looked sadly at the group, their bodies gradually filled with an unknown black gel-like substance.
"By the way, make it natural. We need to make His Excellency enjoy himself."
"Almost forgot, we also need to clean up some cases. We must let His Excellency see our integrity and loyalty."
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"Yawn~~" Aslan yawned boredly, then hugged Natsuki, pressing her head.
"Let go!" Natsuki said, extremely displeased. She wasn't a kid anymore; she didn't want to be held like a doll.
"No way. Natsuki-chan, with a body like this, you're perfect for hugging like this."
"What about that matrix?"
"She's tired and sleeping, so I came to find Natsuki-chan." Aslan said irresponsibly.
Natsuki was so angry she couldn't help snorting. If she could beat this guy, she'd definitely teach him a lesson.
"By the way, Natsuki-chan, what do you think? Interested in being Itogami's mayor?"
Natsuki struggled but couldn't break free. She couldn't help puffing her cheeks and saying, "Not interested. The mayor has too many things to handle; I don't want that."
"Alright then, Natsuki-chan, just stay quietly by my side." Aslan wasn't upset by the rejection.
After all, these controlled executives couldn't keep managing everything. Having forces under his command would also reduce many hassles.
And so, the Fourth Primogenitor arrived at Itogami Island, loyal to him.