1 The lord's son

"What's good? What's bad?

Is it kindness, or is it mindless?

Is it hope? Is it despair?

There's a clutch, and the demon king takes it all!

What's upright? What's evil?..."

A strange figure could be seen, walking up the spiritual stairs, while chanting somewhat of a bewildering poem.

The stairs were no ordinary commodity. It was said that whoever could get to the top of the stairs would be able to travel to the spirit world. A world full of wonders.

However, until now, no one, even the devil lord couldn't walk to the top.

Only devil emperor from the higher devil world could succeed as they had special domains that let them bypass the rules of the spiritual stairs. But, higher devil world was out of reach for most people in the devil world and the other devil world.

Only a few extraordinary individuals such as devil lord could go to the devil world if they wanted to.

The boy's mind started to drift from the higher devil world to the stairs.

A pure mind and a pure heart were required to go to the top, and who in the devil world would have a pure soul. They themselves were the incarnation of evil, so where was the kindness in their heart?

However, the boy seemed to be breezing pass any obstacle. The boy's name was Dan, the notorious young lord of the devil world.

Nevertheless, he wasn't quite like a devil. He didn't have a horn growing from his forehead, neither did he have a twisted heart a devil would have.

Every person in the devil world knew he was a half breed. He was a human and a devil. His mother was a pure human. She was originally from the spirit world. However, she desperately came to this world. She was trying to run away from her enemies and escaped onto a port. But, when she appeared here, in the devil world, she got caught by the mighty devil lord.

The devil lord liked her after spending some time alongside her, so he made her his principal wife. He had over a hundred concubines, so being the chief wife of the devil lord was the highest position women in the devil world could have.

Dan was the result of their marriage. However, he was different from both the human and the devil. Dan wasn't wicked nor was he nice. He didn't look down on anyone, nor did he put anyone above him, not even someone as potent as the devil's lord.

However, he was quite mischievous; always trying to sneak out of the house. After his mother had enough, she kept him in a house arrest. Even after that, he mysteriously escaped again and was spotted in the devil's army.

The devil's army invaded other devils realms. There were about 33 devil realms, and they invaded each of them once in a while, displaying their powerful force. Yet, despite the risk, Dan dared to go there.

Dan was still contemplating the meaning behind the good, bad, kindness and mindless while looking around him.

This was his tenth time sneaking out of his huge mansion. If his mother knew he was out wandering around the spiritual stairs, he would get his ass beaten.

He didn't understand devils. They only fought and killed. If not each other, they killed other creatures. It was as though fighting was the only way of living for them.

His father, being the devil lord of this realm would constantly pick a fight with another realm's devil lord. After Dan's birth, he went to pick a fight with a powerful devil lord, and because of that, Dan hasn't seen his father even after 14 years.

The devil's lord subordinate only allowed him to train and kill. He wasn't allowed to kill other devils, but they did make him kill the demonic creatures. They were quite serious about his training as he might have to take the crown of the devil lord for the future.

"Phew, finally here."

Dan looked in front of him. All he could see was countless stars and a single moon. The moon looked distant, but it was quite close. It was only a few centimeters away Dan. Even though that was the case, Dan wasn't showing any sort of excited expression. He seemed genuinely chilled about the situation.

But, the truth was quite far from it. Dan was more excited than he ever been in his life. This was his moment. He might be able to escape the cage he was placed in, and explore a broader world after taking a few more steps, so how could he not get excited?

If it weren't Dan but instead another devil, he or she wouldn't take any further steps. Not even the devil lord would take any further steps. The spirit world was something devils didn't understand, and no one from devil world could enter it, so they didn't dare take it not seriously.

Dan's mother was an expert from that world, but part of her memory faded when travelling to the devil realm, so they didn't have much knowledge about the other world even after using different techniques upon her. They couldn't use force because she was a powerful expert and most importantly the wife of a devil lord, so they used treasures for information.

Alas, as she couldn't remember all of her past, they only got information about the way the mortal lived. They had no idea how many experts there were in that world.

"I wonder what mother's going to say."

Dan stood stiffly while recalling his mother's expression after he tried to sneak out outside once. His mother was the only person in this world he ever considered as a family member. He hadn't seen his father since his birth, and his siblings were quite scary. They would be killing people while they were not training.

She thought that the world outside the mansion was too cruel for Dan, so she stopped him every time he tried to sneak out.

She wanted him to train, read and study morals so that he wouldn't turn into a vile person in the future.

Even when other siblings of his; the son and daughter from stepmothers were fighting and conquering territories, he would still stay inside the mansion, training and studying.

After a while, he took the last step. It was the final steps in the stairs. As he stepped on it, the moon in front of him lit up, and the other celestial bodies surrounded Dan. It looked mysterious yet scary.

His figure soon disappeared from the stairs.

He was nowhere to be seen. As soon as he disappeared, there was a sudden tremor from the devil world.

It came from a thirty years old woman, who was releasing her intense aura. She was stunning, to say the least, especially in the devil world, she was the most beautiful women to be found.

The devils around her felt like ants and were terrified while looking at her.

She turned her head towards the spiritual stairs, and a sad smile lasted on her face. Tears rolled down her cheek as the aura retracted back.

She got hold of a crystal which she took from her sac and said:

"He is gone."

There was only silence after that. The devils that were around her turned into a paste as she blinked her eyes. She smiled bitterly and flew towards the south. Her figure disappeared after a few seconds.