The gaze of Iblis closely examined Qinguang and his daughter. On the latter, his eyes lingered one second more.

Amaterasu.

The young woman was wearing a close-fitting beige tunic whose under end was slightly folded.

A golden belt enclosed her waist which glistened under the sun rays. However, the gleam of the sunshine was nothing if compared to that emitted by her big bright eyes. Whoever met her gaze would have been caught by the feeling he was admiring the splendor of a scorching supernova.

Her shapely lips, closed up to that moment, slightly disclosed just to close again. Amaterasu returned Iblis the gaze he had cast her.

The woman knew perfectly well that once inside the White Chamber, her own survival could no longer be granted.

Her white angel wings opened behind her back slightly trembled as her heart skipped a beat. She knew that one day, she would have had to end the war his father hadn’t been able win.

She spread her wings as she took a step forward towards Iblis.

The clash struck between the demoniac creature and Amaterasu seemed to split the world in two specular halves.

The ethereal silhouette of Amaterasu mismatched the glacial imposing figure of Iblis.

“You’re taking us on the brink of another war,” Amaterasu said solemnly. Her voice betrayed a hint of reticence. A heavy burden was still weighting her heart down.

“I would kill every living being in this universe until it’s just you and me, if it helped. If this let us be together,” Iblis said dramatically, stretching his hands outwards as if Amaterasu hadn’t said anything. “And if that helped, I would tear apart the face of every single member of Life since no one is worth staring at you but me. Your father, Kirin and the others would turn into dust as soon as you wanted to. The pain caused by their hatred, the very hatred which led them to lay their dirty fingers on your sister, would be washed away by one single word of yours. If one day you wanted it… the sky,” Iblis said in a melancholy voice, “and my heart would be yours.”

Amaterasu furrowed her eyebrows. A new complex inextricable feeling gripped her heart. The Devil every member of the Clan of Life was terrified by was confessing her his love just like an innocent teenager unwilling to come to terms with her previous rejections.

Iblis had often threatened his opponents. He would slaughter Clans for once single glare. This though was the first time he openly tried to conquer the heart of Amaterasu. Never would he threaten Amaterasu for not loving him back.

Iblis could easily menace the Clan of Life to declare them war if they didn’t give him Amaterasu. If he did so, everyone was sure that Qinguang himself would order Amaterasu to follow him. It would have been but a little sacrifice to avoid the entire Clan to be wiped out.

And yet, that Devil who seemed to lack any hint of shame had never mentioned such a condition. His love for Amaterasu had never been a secret. Many wondered why he wouldn’t force her to be with him, since he was surely powerful enough to afford doing so. In his shoes, they wouldn’t have given this a second thought.

In the beginning, they thought Iblis was not strong enough to impose such terms and conditions. However, after witnessing the full extension of his destructive power, they were left speechless. Why wouldn’t that frighteningly strong creature put that war to an end? Why wouldn’t he force Amaterasu all the way to his arms? No one had ever been able to answer this.

“We are not made to be together in this universe,” Amaterasu blurted bluntly.

Iblis shrugged and gave her a smile. Once again, he tried to imprint upon his heart Amaterasu’s every features, fully seizing every second he still had to look at the shape of her face before she turned and stepped back next to her father.

***

In the present

Helial was holding his chest. It felt like drowning in a lava sea. The wild rush of Mana energy flowing through his Meridians was remolding his body blazing its way to his Soul.

In that very moment, Helial was seized by the fear his body could not bear the disruptive force of that pure Mana. He cast his mind back to all the events that led him to this point. How much can one’s future change?

Up to one year before, Helial had been spending every night on a mountain nearby the village he and Lumia lived in. Every night, he would train to make the slightest progress. One day, he had seen all of his efforts be canceled altogether when some strange Curse befell him. And now… now he was blessed by the teachings of the greatest Devil in the history of the world.

Up to a few months before, it was Vidio who took care of him and his progress by providing the boy with all the knowledge he had. Despite Vidio’s effort to raise Helial as best as he could, however, his level was nonetheless a low one.

While now…

Iblis pulled out of his black jacket a little piece of clothes with a skull pattern. He tidied his hands. He turned the last traces of blood through Mana.

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Helial was still gasping for air as every impurity was eliminated from his body and leaked out of his skin pores.

***

“Which is why I think it’s time to take a little revenge,” Iblis remarked as he gave Qinguang and Amaterasu a broad smile.

Amaterasu cast Marte a glance. After insulting Iblis and almost shitting himself in terror, he had moved to the side.

Amaterasu and Qinguang exchanged an uncertain look.

“Why not?” Iblis said as he caught sight of the uncertainty in their gaze. “As Kirin said, a simple pupil can’t have reached the Emperor state in a couple of minutes, right? Only monsters like us can, after long hard training,” Iblis icily snorted, “can bring these skills to their full potential. So why wouldn’t you let your talented pupil fight my Siche? It’s just a gesture of goodwill. Isn’t goodwill your signature feature, after all?”

Iblis’ taunt made Qinguang grit his teeth. However, the king didn’t dare make no harsh move. Iblis had slapped Kirin in the face for much less. They all knew he wouldn’t hesitate to declare another war on a whim.

This was Iblis.

Iblis was chaos.

“Fight Siche in another duel, Marte,” Qinguang solemnly exclaimed. He had a stern icy glare on his face.

Marte gave Qinguang a helpless look. He could not but nod. After all, he didn’t thought that a couple of minutes would have been enough for Siche to turn the tables, even despite the help of that freaking monster. His master was, after all, Amaterasu. She was Iblis’ nemesis, the greatest master one could hope to get. Could he be afraid of challenging a girl trained by a barbaric monster?

Marte put on a brave face. His chest up, he took a few steps forward. He wore a fierce confident expression.

The air suddenly got tense for the Clan of Life.

Siche let her gaze fly over Iblis. She wondered what her master wanted her to do. Despite the uncertainty, however, her eyes were not clouded by fear or weakness anymore. They were the mirror to a God’s soul.

Her perception was now on a new level. She felt that every feat she would accomplish, every move she made would cast on the world outside the exact reflection of what she was feeling inside. The gift Iblis had just bestowed her with was more than a mere upgrade in her offensive skills. She knew it.

Before, her every conviction was shrouded by mist. She had never been fully confident about what she did. But now, everything was crystal-clear. She could neatly see what her heart yearned for. She knew in name of what to rip out the throat of her enemy. Her will was now driven by her heart, and her heart was under her firm unwavering control.

Siche let her Mana reflow through her Meridians. A brand-new power rouse up inside her chest. She immediately realized how easy it would be now to defeat Marte. But that wasn’t all. She felt she could now match even Amaterasu. She had a feeling she could defend herself against Kirin and Qinguang easily enough.

Once, such an outstanding power given to her out of nowhere would have made Siche feel lost. Now that her Soul was in the Emperor state though, she exerted the fullest control on her every will and emotion. Her physical and inner perception had been amplified. Which meant that now, she had no doubt on what was right or wrong for herself.

Siche gazed at Iblis with the eyes of a woman rather than those of a simple disciple.

Two big tears swelled up in her eyes. She was now able to make the fullest use of her own Soul.

Iblis glanced at her and shook his head to stop her, as if that had been nothing.

Ever since Iblis took Siche under his wing, he had always told her there was no need to say thank you. He was there to guide. He would do so because he himself wanted to. He wouldn’t do it in exchange for her gratitude.

Not rarely Siche’s excessive gratitude had led Iblis to hit her. The girl had learnt the lesson and knew how to refrain, frightened by the violence of that terrible Devil. More than once, Siche thought it was time for her to say thank you to the creature who helped her grow stronger then walk away, in search for a simpler life.

Iblis always made good on his promise to let her do what she wanted, be it fight by his side or not. However, Siche had always hesitated. She could not even thank him without him losing his temper.

Now that he could so neatly read her own feelings, how could she not understand what went on on Iblis’ mind?

A Devil?

Nothing like that.

To her, Iblis was a god.

A benevolent God whose heart was as just as pure as free was his soul.

He was often cruel an evil beyond imagination.

But as her soul underwent that outstanding change, Siche had felt as if a dagger had stabbed her in the heart forcing her to come back to her senses.

Under the effect of remorse and her own weakness, her love for Sore itself was wearing down. It had been dissolving with each passing day.

Now, the love that seemed to be gone blossomed out in her heart just like on the very first day.

Without giving the consequences of her gesture a second thought, Siche erupted to the full power extension of her Aura. It rippled through the sky as a shaking fear gripped the heart of the now breathless members of Life.

So they thought she could not absorb that power? That she could never wield if without having gained it through hard work?

Then why would Siche’s Aura match that of Amaterasu, and why wouldn’t it seem to disappear if compared with that of Qinguang and Kirin?

Qinguang wouldn’t believe this. He panted. With a wave of a hand, he hinted that Marte approached Siche. “Don’t let they frighten you. It’s but a trick.”

Amaterasu gave her father a strange look. She was worried about her disciple. Did her father really not notice what extraordinary power Iblis had just given his pupil? However, she didn’t fear for Marte’s death. She was still sure he would defeat Siche. Therefore, she didn’t say anything and nodded to confirm the order of Qinguang.

While the Aura of Siche intensified, her looks turned ever more similar to those of a Goddess. Her beauty had already turned the universe upside down once. But now, her bearing reached an immensely regal level.

As the tears streaked down her cheeks like jade raindrops, she stared at the Devil who had bestowed her with a new life.

A Goddess and a Devil, one before the other.

Siche didn’t seem willing to fight, now.

“What’s the matter, little one? The match is yet to be over,” Iblis said, his voice betraying his emotion. The gaze of Amaterasu had made his heart pound. Then, his disciple saw the light for the first time. The end of the tunnel.

Siche took a step towards Iblis and…

THUD

Everyone gaped at the scene.

THUD THUD THUD

Siche knelt down. She was bowing to the ground hitting her forehead until it bled. She was kowtowing before the greatest monster in history.

A goddess whose splendor would outshine that of Amaterasu herself, the angel of the Clan of Life, was sobbing as she prostrated before a Devil, her head violently hitting against the ground.

Her crimson blood stained the grass. The scene touched a chord so deep within Iblis’s heart he could not scold her.

This time, Siche hadn’t the slightest hesitation to disobey her master’s wish. This time she would show him her full eternal gratitude as open-heartedly as possible.

“Little one…”

Iblis did not dare stop nor scold her. In the eyes of the little girl he had trained now sparked a new strength and confidence. Now, in the eyes of Siche, Iblis caught a glimpse of the fierceness of a true woman.