CHAPTER 21
A slight tapping on my head brought me back from la la land. A painful headache reared its ugly head. I tried to roll over and found no response from my body. I opened my eyes.
Oh… Satan. That is painful—too much light. As everything returned to focus, I realised that my hands and feet were bound to the chair on which I was propped up. I remembered the silver hair, and my heart almost exploded in panic, and I scanned the surroundings for any sign of Him.
A few feet across the bare room, a simple table and a throne-like chair were the only other pieces of furniture in the spartan interior. On the throne sat the source of my panic, a woman, not Him. I tried to take calming breaths, inh-
‘You are still detained dunderhead.’
Never mind, then.
I gazed upon my captor, and it was now apparent that hers was a different shade of silver than Rizevim. She appeared young, with carefully stylised locks, deep ruby eyes, and a look that would humble even the most fierce men. As a Devil, she was drop-dead gorgeous, but the maid outfit was a dead giveaway to her identity. Lucifer’s wife kidnapped me—the Lucifer, as in the Satan, who rules the Underworld: Grayfia Lucifuge, the Silver-Haired Queen of Annihilation.
‘I’m fucked, aren’t I?’
Her sharp gaze remained impassive, and she seemed in no hurry to start whatever she was about to do.
‘Do Devils go to Heaven?’
‘That’s where the overgrown chickens and their Father are, idiot.’
As I was sweating buckets, Grayfia got up and stalked towards me. Every step was like the deafening gong of a clock announcing my final hour.
She was so close now that I could smell the fresh citrus and jasmine perfume she was wearing. This made me self-conscious about my hygiene, or lack thereof.
She extended a slim hand, unmarred by the many battles she won, and grabbed me by the chin. Her face was so close now I could feel her breath. I did not dare to make a sound. She turned my head one way and the other and, seemingly satisfied, returned to her throne.
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“You.” Her voice was calm and projected confidence only one at the top could have.
“Y…Yes? Your Majesty?”
“What is your name?”
“I’m Tsukuyomi.” An arch of a delicate eyebrow was her response. Oh shit.
“The Tsukuyomi I know is in a shallow grave.” The ‘I put him in’ went unsaid. I chose this name because it was the name of the Japanese moon deity. I wanted to pay homage to my mother, and I regret that now.
“Callen, ma’am.”
“Mind explaining why you possess an artefact of an extinct Pillar House? Ipos no less?”
Several thoughts came and went rapidly. Can she detect the system? Was I being followed the entire time? Are the New Satans secretly working with the Old Satan faction?
‘Give her the truth, kid. She is not someone you can lie to.’
‘And then what? Get House Ipos extinct for real?’
‘Trust me on this one.’
There are two options here. Lie and die, or tell the truth and then die. Wonderful.
“My full name… is Callen Byleth-Ipos.”
“A bold claim. Both went extinct in the Great War. One by my very hands.” Can this woman not be utterly terrifying for a single second?
“I can prove it! It is the truth!” The ropes keeping me in place dissipated at those words, and the feeling was restored to my limbs.
“Well? The stage is yours.”
“Right here? My Byleth Legacy is somewhat destructive.” I was proud of my Arcane Singularity, but saying those words to her, of all people, felt like a kitten showing their ‘kill’ to its mother, who happened to be a lion. That could sneeze away entire cities.
“You can cast whatever spells you need to.” She didn’t even get up from her seat.
I summoned my sword and fed my mana into the weapon for the first time since I received it. The illusion array was deactivated, and in place of my drab, typical longsword, the Sword of Ipos manifested in all its glory. A meticulously enchanted blade, with glowing runic arrays across its length and a bejewelled hilt, the end being one single ruby, with the golden oak of the house shining inside.
“I don’t know how to prove my Ipos ancestry, but my mother entrusted me with this sword.”
“And Byleth?”
I unsummoned the blade and hesitantly cast Arcane Singularity with the smallest mana I could physically put into it.
The familiar wrongness materialised before me, and a loud bang followed. To my shock, a barrier that I did not know existed appeared in a perfect dome around my chair, and not even the air outside was disturbed. Grayfia did not react to this, and her expression conveyed even less.
“Your father was a Byleth?”
“No, he was just a common Devil.”
“How come you have their signature ability?”
“I… My family was attacked. I was sent to a facility for experimentation. I have no clue how I gained the Byleth Legacy beyond that.” My words seemed to affect her finally, and if not for my state of hyperawareness, I doubt I would have noticed the slight softening of her eyes.
“Your mother?”
“She… She didn’t make it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Even though she sounded sincere, I did not dare hope that my ordeal would end.
We sat in awkward silence. I was saying my final rites, and she was probably thinking about what to have for dinner.
After what felt like hours, she got up and walked toward me. She seemed even more imposing than before. I stood at a respectable five feet ten inches, and she had at least six inches on me. Would I be sent to another facility? Sent back to Rizevim? Made a slave to the New Satans?