"Leo! Rias!"
"Sona? You two are here too?"
Sona Sitri and Rias Gremory located Leo the moment he spoke and hurried over.
The three regrouped first, then finally took in their surroundings.
It was a wide space, dimly lit, with low visibility—like a sealed underground chamber.
Leo, Rias, and Sona exchanged quick looks, silently analyzing everything they could.
"This isn't the human world. It feels like an isolated alternate dimension," Sona said, regaining composure faster than the others.
"Was it artificially made? Or naturally formed?" Rias muttered, frowning.
Alternate dimensions weren't uncommon. Devils knew how to construct them and frequently used them as arenas for Rating Games. Leo and the others had entered plenty before.
"It's artificial," Leo said, walking to a wall and running his hand across its surface. "Natural alternate dimensions don't have obvious man-made structures like this."
He was right. Natural spaces tended to resemble accidental fragments of landscapes—forests, plains, deserts—formed in the gaps of the world, unstable and short-lived. Unless special conditions were met, no one used them.
Artificial spaces were different. They had humanlike structures—towns, plazas, buildings. Even this vast underground chamber was unmistakably constructed.
"Then it's clear what's happening." Rias's eyes narrowed. "We were attacked, weren't we?"
"That much is certain," Sona replied, glasses gleaming. "A forced spatial transfer, directly locking onto our demonic power. This wasn't just an attack. It was a targeted abduction."
"Which leaves one question," Leo said quietly. "Who's after us?"
Three Kings—three devil rulers of their respective servants—sorted out the situation almost immediately, their rapid exchange narrowing down the problem with precision.
Clap—clap—clap.
A round of applause echoed unnaturally through the space, followed by a mocking laugh.
"As expected of the rising stars of the devil world. Thank you for understanding the situation so quickly. Saves me the trouble of explaining."
The voice came from everywhere at once, reverberating through the chamber with no discernible source.
"Who are you?" Rias demanded sharply.
The answer was a derisive chuckle.
"Don't mind the details. We are the forsaken and betrayed dead, cast aside by devils who forgot us. Our purpose is to reclaim what was stolen... and exact vengeance."
Rias and Sona exchanged confused looks—but Leo understood instantly.
"You're from the Old Maou Faction, aren't you?"
The moment he said it, both Rias and Sona stiffened.
The Old Maou—Lucifer, Leviathan, Beelzebub, and Asmodeus. The original rulers recorded in scripture, the progenitors of devils, feared by Heaven and humanity alike.
All of them died in the long war, leaving only distant bloodlines behind.
The current Maou were reformist leaders who inherited the names but not the blood. Rias's brother, Sirzechs Lucifer—originally Sirzechs Gremory—took up the title only after becoming a Maou. He wasn't a descendant of the original Lucifer.
The same was true for Sona's sister, Serafall Leviathan—born Serafall Sitri, inheritor of Sitri House's lineage.
None of the Four Great Maou possessed the original blood. The original bloodlines had been expelled centuries ago.
"Do not call us the Old Maou Faction!" the voice snapped, suddenly furious. "We are the True Maou Faction—the rightful heirs of the Maou! The current ones are traitors who stole what was ours!"
His voice burned with hatred.
"You false successors—sitting on stolen thrones—don't deserve to speak the Maou's names!"
Their attacker was clearly one of the remnants exiled to the far corners of the Underworld centuries ago. A survivor of the civil war that split devilkind.
Back then, two ideologies clashed:
The old bloodlines—the war hawks—wanted to continue fighting angels and fallen angels to the bitter end.
The reformists—Gremory House, Sitri House, Astaroth House, Glaysa-Labolas House, and others—wanted peace before devils died out completely.
The conflict grew until it erupted into the great devil civil war. Years of fighting ended with the reformists victorious. New Maou were chosen. The old faction was annihilated or forced into hiding.
Every devil knew this history.
Which meant Rias and Sona instantly understood why they were targeted.
"You still cling to that outdated hatred?" Sona shouted, her voice ringing cold in the chamber.
The unseen man laughed sharply.
"Outdated? The ones who forgot their pride and let angels and fallen angels strut before them—that is the true disgrace! You reformists deserve to be purged, sacrificed to honor the Maou who fell in war!"
"Let's see if you can survive this cleansing. And let's see whether your precious Maou can cling to their stolen seats once you're gone."
Leo, Rias, and Sona were targeted for obvious reasons.
Rias and Sona were blood relatives of current Maou—perfect targets for vengeance.
Leo had no Maou relatives, but since awakening his mutated trait and establishing a connection with his Evil Pieces, Ajuka Beelzebub had shown personal interest in him—summoning him, watching him, supporting him.
On top of that, his financial backing came from Sitri House—Leviathan's family—through Sona's sister and Sitri's heir. And now he'd befriended Gremory's heir as well.
To the Old Maou Faction, he might as well have had a target painted on his back.
Their meeting at Kuoh Academy must have leaked—giving the attackers the perfect chance.
"This labyrinth space will be your grave," the voice said coldly. "The room you're in now is only one small part of a far larger maze."
"Your servants have been scattered elsewhere, each facing their own trials."
"Every room holds a test. Pass it, and you may open the door to the next."
"We'll be waiting for you in one of the chambers—assuming you survive long enough to reach us."
"Struggle as much as you like, lapdogs of the false Maou! Hahahaha!"
The mocking laughter echoed until it gradually faded away.
Zzzzt—Zzzzt—Zzzzt—Zzzzt—Zzzzt!
Magic circles flared to life around the chamber's edges, releasing crimson light.
"Leo! Rias!"
Sona and Rias immediately regrouped with him, standing back-to-back.
"Stay sharp!"
Leo didn't move, eyes narrowed, watching quietly.
A deep, guttural roar shook the room.
Shapes emerged—twisted silhouettes stepping out of one magic circle after another—until the chamber was filled with hostile forms.
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You can read up to chapter 140 on patreon.com/NiaXD.