This is a story that goes back to a time when the fruits of chaos are still being formed, the cruel fates yet to be revealed.

In another volume of his journey through the Underworld, the “Adam’s Heir” will fight memorable battles and meet people who might have the answers he is looking for.

Origins, convictions, and duties. Everything will be put to the test once more.

Lied and Susumu surmounted the obstacles that appeared before them with their excellent teamwork. Mare headed towards the humans as she walked past the Animus’ corpses, their bodies melted away and finally disappeared into spiritual particles.

“No one would guess it was the first time you guys fought together!” the girl, flabbergasted, said, then she fixed her gaze on Susumu “And you don’t lose to Lied, Susu!” she praised the detective and gave him a new nickname.

“’Susu’…” the detective murmured as he was feeling somewhat embarrassed.

“Hey, Susu” Zosimus called him in a playful way.

“For you it’s ‘Susumu’!” the upright member of the Ganeden police force immediately corrected his shadow about how he should call him, it sounded like one of those hilarious sketches.

Susumu glanced at Lied as the detective swore he heard him laugh, but his companion had the typical bored expression on his face. Was he just imagining things?

“Since you no longer need my armor, I suggest we find something for you to wear instead of it. In the meantime, we could all rest for a few minutes. I assume you agree with me on this, Lied” the Chains Man addressed Susumu and then looked at the Lost Prince seeking for his approval.

“Yeah” Lied nodded and said.

This last battle did take a lot out of them, especially of Lied, who continuously consumed spiritual energy to make the Undas.

“… And how do you expect to find clothes here?” Susumu asked the aztec the obvious question.

“I told you, didn’t I? The possibilities of the spirit are infinite!” a playful smile crept across Zosimus’ face within Susumu’s soul as the Chains Man exclaimed.

“Could it be that you too… with Plasticity…?” the Lost Prince questioned his companion’s shadow.

“Yeah, an old friend taught me” the Chains Man replied.

Zosimus magically sewed Susumu’s new outfit using the Plasticity property, just like Zaccharias did for Lied. The Chains Man was very pleased by how his costume turned out and even Mare approved it as she stared intently at the young man, dressed casually in a blue coat, black pants and white boots. A different but equally sensual style.

“Yes, you really don’t lose to Lied, Susu!” the lass said, her eyes sparkled as she gave him a curious stare.

“It suits you well” the couturier Zosimus commented on his outfit.

Lied let out a sigh of exasperation; for the teenager, clothes didn’t have to be pretty, just practical, as there was also no one he wanted to impress.

🐍🐍🐍

Lied, Susumu and Mare kept on walking after they took a rest. The group’s destination was, evidently, the battlefield on which Zaccharias was fighting.

They felt the slow approach of three powerful Spirit Mode users while wending their way towards the center of the commotion, meaning that confrontation was inevitable. Two of them were Pantera and Blasius, the Level -5 prisoners who managed to escape the pursuit of Chalmecacihuilt and Cihuacoatl, the Guardians of the Underworld.

“Look who we have here – the sensations of Mictlan!” Pantera said to them in an ironic tone.

“I didn’t expect to see the human police officer either. So you’re friends?” Blasius asked a rhetorical question with a sly smile.

“You are…” Susumu said and activated his Spirit Mode right off the bat.

“…Pantera!” Lied blurted out as he was also enveloped by his spiritual aura.

The cautious prince controlled his emotions and did not simply engage the enemy in a temper as he might have done in the past. Lied gave Mare the signal to keep a safe distance from them. The little girl nodded and backed away. Then, he summoned the Anima Sancta and waited with the sword in his hand for the hunter to make the first move. Pantera made a grimace of wry amusement.

“Heh, I never hunt the same prey. Instead of me, why don’t you play with him?” the hunter said as the third, green hooded prisoner came forth.

Lied and Susumu were surprised when the mysterious individual took off his hood, revealing a hideous appearance – brown hair, snake scales were seen all over his body, from head to toe, his dark green eyes matching the robe. Despite looking older because of his skin, he was actually a young man the same age as Lied, about the same height too.

“What the hell?!” Lied said as the sight of the hooded man’s body filled him with disgust.

“Normally he’s quite reserved, but that changed when he saw you, little prince. Now we even call him ‘Mad Snake’!” Pantera introduced him, he noticed a resemblance between the prince and the freaky prisoner.

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“His eyes…” Lied thought, feeling the same vibes from him which the Adam’s Heir felt when he confronted Martyr, as if he was seeing himself in a mirror.

“Watch out, Lied!” Susumu shouted as his partner was spacing out, but it was too late.

The boy was deeply immersed in his thoughts and didn’t notice the enemy coming for him; the prisoner activated his Spirit Mode as a dark green aura enclosed him, then he summoned a spiritual snake reaching up to ten meters in length that violently squeezed Lied in midair with disconcerting speed.

“DEEVOOOUUR!” the Mad Snake uttered a bellow of rage as he was completely nuts, living up to his nickname.

“This guy controls snakes?!” Lied thought as he was having trouble breathing and struggling to break free from the constriction.

Susumu aimed the Progressus Justitiae at the snake coiling itself around his companion’s neck. The bullet ended up hitting another projectile that was fired at the time; the detective fixed his gaze on Blasius, who was surrounded by a brown aura and wielded a revolver. Meanwhile, Lied was able to save himself from choking to death by slicing the reptile with his blade. He joined the detective.

“Do you have business with me?” Susumu questioned the inmate.

“Fufufu… by the way, I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I? My name is Blasius Rannulfus. I used to be a cop like you” he said.

“An aztec police officer? But if you’re imprisoned here, that means…” the human detective said.

“Sagacious. No wonder you’re working for the police, despite being so young. Yes, it’s evident that I committed a sin. Can you blame me? Everyone wants to move up the career ladder and given that the justice system is a fragile one, many will try to take advantage of it…” Blasius smirked and said.

“You corrupt weasel!” the irate Susumu called him out on it.

“When I was caught with my pants down, I had no other choice but to shed a little blood. They got me in the end and I was sentenced to prison” the sinner said.

“You killed your colleagues?!” the blue-haired lad concluded in a scandalized tone.

Lied, who was following the conversation, looked at Blasius for a moment. The teenager remembered the backstory of one of the spirits with whom he went through the trials:

“I died while pursuing a fellow police officer who was engaging in acts of corruption. That man was a Spirit Mode user and my unit wasn’t prepared.”

“I’ve heard this story before. Was one of them a man named Eduardus?” Lied asked the sinner as he thought their stories matched up.

“Ah, you met him? It’s a shame… he would have lived if only he had stopped prying into my business” Blasius said.

Susumu merely stared at the ground. The boy gripped his pistol firmly and raised his head. Both Zosimus and Lied could feel his aura getting bigger as he was guided by raw emotions, though not to the extent of losing control of himself.

“Lied, leave this one to me” the detective said earnestly.

Words weren’t necessary. The Adam’s Heir respected his mate’s wishes and nodded affirmatively. Then, Lied focused on his opponent and prepared for combat. The Mad Snake’s insatiable bloodlust was unleashed as he charged at him.

“DEVOOOOOUUUUUR!” the inmate screamed wildly, as if blowing the whistle to start the duels.

Lied faced the Mad Snake at one side of the floor, while Susumu went head-to-head against Blasius at the other. In the first fight, the snake carelessly engaged with the Lost Prince in hand to hand combat and the Adam’s Heir took advantage of the prisoner’s poor judgment to show his superiority in physical confrontation. Lied started the fight off on the right foot and came within a hair’s breadth of hitting him with a 4-Kai Unda. Meanwhile, Lied noticed that his opponent was using the spiritual properties, namely Visibility and Sensitivity, thus a fierce fight between the two young men began as Pantera watched it with special interest.

Lied and the Mad Snake temporarily fell back after a lengthy exchange of blows to assess the situation. The black-haired lad was finding it hard to dodge the snakes remotely controlled by its user. Lied knew he could die if he let his guard down.

“He’s strong…” the prince gritted his teeth and said in a low voice.

“D-DEVOOOUUUR!” the snake let out a loud screech as he, too, was struggling.

In the second duel, Susumu was exchanging gunfire with Blasius, the former aztec cop wielded his revolver as he demonstrated his sharpshooting, not losing to the human when it comes to firearm proficiency. Zosimus wasn’t helping him with his chains at Susumu’s own request; the teenager was unwavering in his convictions as he had to fight alone and prove Blasius wrong without a third party intervening, in the name of justice and standing for his principles.

“Justice will steer my spirit to victory!” the young man declared and fired several shots.

“What a joke” Blasius taunted Susumu and dodged the bullets coming towards him.

Attention once again focused on the Lost Prince and the Mad Snake as their fight remained even, neither of them were getting the better of each other. The prisoner pressured Lied with his snakes, as for the human he used the Anima Sancta to reduce the duel to close range combat, where Lied had an advantage over the enemy.

The Mad Snake started shaking from pain and put his hand on his scale-covered forehead as he felt a sudden headache that brought him to his knees. Lied found his behavior odd as he didn’t do anything. The sinner seemed to be trying to recover his sanity, and to do so he had to overcome the madness that repressed his conscience.

“L-Lied…” the Mad Snake stuttered as he murmured his name.

“What?” the Lost Prince, perplexed by the current situation, said.

“Lied…!” the inmate called him again.

“Who are you?!” Lied asked as he was visibly agitated.

The snake shot out at great speed towards the Adam’s Heir as he caught Lied flat-footed and headbutted him, knocking them both off balance. It was at this moment that their spirits connected to each other, resonating powerfully with their inner being as remote memories awoken.

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Ganeden, Regenbogen Orphanage, eight years ago

Little Lied sat alone in his corner, as usual. He was approached multiple times by three other orphaned children – two boys named Hitoshi and Kenta, and a girl named Aki – but Lied always ignored them. In one of these situations, the lass asked him if he wanted to play with them, however, the Adam’s Heir hung pale-faced and indifferent until the end. This was the finale of a familiar memory, like a lever that you have to pull in order to move on.

“Hey, she’s talking to you” Hitoshi said and grabbed the unresponsive Lied by the collar “Pull yourself together. I know you lost your memories, but we all lost important things too. Aki lost her parents in an accident and Kenta was left without his mom who died of illness, yet they didn’t give up on life. You’re not the only one suffering and you don’t need to suffer in silence!” he exclaimed.

Lied wanted to reply, to say the things he truly feels, but at that time his heart was still tied with locks. Hitoshi dropped Lied and turned his back on him.

“Enough. Let’s go, guys” the boy said coldly and walked off in a huff as his friends were speechless.

“Wait, Hito!” Aki called his name and went after him.

“H-Hito…” Kenta said softly and followed them.

The group led by Hitoshi skedaddled and never returned. Hito was later adopted by the Yasahiro family; now, his name was Hitoshi Yasahiro.

🐍🐍🐍

Lied and the Mad Snake distanced themselves from each other after their brutal and painful head clash. Blood oozed from the wound on the prince’s forehead, the red liquid fell to the black pavement and the devouring darkness of Mictlan absorbed it.

“Why? Why are you here… Hito?!” Lied gazed bewildered at the snake.

[END OF CHAPTER]