✦━━━✦┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✦ 🜂 ✦ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈✦━━━✦✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧★彡[ 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋, 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐄 ]彡★✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧✦━━━✦┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✦ 🜂 ✦ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈✦━━━✦
The Class-Null Security Management Room was designed for one purpose only: containment without mercy. No windows. No warmth. No color. The walls were layered with suppression alloys and ancient seals meant to pacify monsters, gods, and anything in between. Time inside the room felt wrong—thick, unmoving—like the air itself refused to progress.
Akuma sat in the center of it.
Not chained. Not restrained.
Simply… waiting.
Two months.
Two months of silence, observation, boredom so vast it became almost educational. He had mapped every vibration in the walls, every fluctuation in the suppression field, every microscopic delay between heartbeat and thought. This place was not a prison to him—it was a poorly written equation.
The heavy door opened.
Princess Yakumo entered first, her steps careful, posture rigid, eyes betraying exhaustion she could no longer fully hide. Princess Aoi followed, quieter, sharper, her hand unconsciously hovering near the artifact at her waist as if it might comfort her.
Akuma did not look up immediately.
When he finally did, it was slow. Casual. Almost amused.
Akuma:"Two months,"(a pause, deliberate)"and you finally remembered I exist."
Silence filled the room, thick and uncomfortable.
Yakumo swallowed.
Princess Yakumo:"…You knew we would come."
Akuma:"I knew you would need to."
He leaned back slightly, resting his head against the wall, eyes half-lidded—not tired, not angry—just profoundly unimpressed.
Akuma:"This room was never meant to hold me. It was meant to delay a decision you were too afraid to make."
Aoi stiffened.
Princess Aoi:"We did what we had to do."
Akuma's lips curved—not a smile, not yet.
Akuma:"No. You did what made you feel safer. There is a difference."
Before either princess could respond—
🔔 — ALARM TRIGGERED —🔔 — PERIMETER STATUS: PURPLE —🔔 — WAR-LEVEL THREAT DETECTED —
The sound ripped through the facility like a blade.
Yakumo froze.
Aoi's breath caught.
Purple.
Not theft.Not an attack.But something worse.
Something approaching.
For the first time since entering, fear visibly broke through their composure.
Princess Yakumo:"…No. It's too soon—"
Princess Aoi:"Purple means—"
Akuma:"—That someone powerful enough to erase your confidence has stepped onto the board."
He stood.
Not explosively.Not dramatically.
Just… stood.
The suppression field screamed.
Akuma rolled his shoulders slightly, as if stretching after a nap.
Akuma:"And now you're here,"(he looked between them)"asking yourselves a question you should have asked two months ago."
He took a single step forward. The floor creaked.
Akuma:"What will you offer me?"
Yakumo clenched her fists.
Princess Yakumo:"We need your help."
Akuma laughed.
Not loud.Not cruel.
A soft, almost delighted sound—as if the universe had finally told a good joke.
Akuma:"Need?"(he tilted his head)"That's a strong word from people who locked me in a Class-Null room, fed me lies, surrounded me with seals, and pretended I was a problem instead of a solution."
Aoi tried to steady herself.
Princess Aoi:"You caused instability. You consumed the Core. You became a threat to every nation—"
Akuma interrupted, gently.
Akuma:"And yet,"(his eyes sharpened)"here you stand. Not with guards. Not with weapons. But with fear."
He spread his hands slightly.
Akuma:"I could leave. Right now. I could become air. Shadow. Noise. Absence. I could watch your kingdom burn from a distance and feel… nothing."
Yakumo's voice shook.
Princess Yakumo:"…Then what do you want?"
Akuma smiled.
This time, it reached his eyes.
Akuma:"Checkmate."
The word echoed unnaturally, as if the room itself understood the implication.
Akuma:"You shouldn't have caged a devil and then prayed he'd save you."
He stepped closer, lowering his voice.
Akuma:"Now convince me… why I shouldn't let Purple become Black."
Outside, the alarms continued.
And somewhere beyond the walls—
Something was coming.