1 Vermillion Heir

The year 003 New Era, after the fatal viruses D-Strain was unleashed amongst humanity in the late 21st century, it wiped out 80% of Earth's population, leaving only 3 billion people alive. This caused the fall of several countries and governing bodies worldwide, and the result of this disaster was the formation of the United Earth Alliance or UEA. However, another reason for the UEA's appearance is humanity's all-time lowest birth rate resulting in the damage caused by the virus not be recovered even in several decades by some estimates or even over a century.

This caused the UEA to set up accords of preventing any and all acts of warfare or other deliberate actions that can cause the loss of a massive amount of human life. After the Life Preservation Accords ( or LPA) were set up, then came the mass dismantlement of weapons of mass destruction and the tightly controlled production of efficient life-ending weaponry ( mainly guns).

Over the next few years, humanity entered a phase of peace and coexistence of races, religions, and other dividing factors that initially divided humankind in the past. However, one event shooked humanity in its entirely, the prosecution of the organization that unleashed the D-Strain Virus.

***

As the crowd in the courtroom made a stir, wanting nothing more than to tear apart the twenty on trial, the judge banged his gavel and demanded in a booming voice.

" ORDER, I SAID ORDER IN THE COURT!"

The crowd soon quieted down even though they continued to seethe quietly as the trial continued. The prosecutor then relayed the evidence against the twenty on trial.

" As everyone knows in the jury, the IIB or Information and Investigation Bureau finally found evidence on the origins of the D-Strain Virus residing in the former American state of California is a privately owned lab by a now-deceased medical institute chain CEO, but allow me to enlighten you on the whole truth of the matter."

The crowd talked amongst themselves in curiosity, and the prosecutor continued displaying his case against the defendants.

" While I won't confuse you on all of the medical and genetic jargon involved, I will explain everything as plainly as possible."

The prosecutor then brought a holographic projection displaying several files.

" What you see before you are the results of thousands if not tens of thousands of simulations of various versions of the D-Strain Virus on its lethality and spread rate plus possible chances of mutations. All these simulations point in one direction mass causality rate of a targeted portion of humanity in its entirety."

One member of the crowd watching the trial called out.

" EXECUTE THOSE DEVILS ALREADY!"

The crowd roared out in approval, and as the judge called for the order once more and once the group settles down, the prosecutor continued displaying the evidence through the hologram after clearing his throat.

" What should draw your attention to these simulations is the targeted victims. The portion of humanity that can be considered on the former average and lower rungs of intelligence quotient or IQ. The use of several thousands of human test subjects determined this targeted part of humanity by finding the portion of DNA that governs intelligence."

The crowd quietly absorbed this new information, and the prosecution did not stop there.

" For those wondering where the test subjects came from, they came from various slums across the world when humanity was far more numerous than what it is today. And I must inform everyone watching this trial that this is not their only crime against humanity."

The entire world murmured at what else these twenty scientists did aside from unleashing the D-Strain Virus. The prosecutor continued as the world absorbed what he just told them for a few moments.

"Their other more arguably worse crime was the spread of a secondary virus that lowers the sperm count of men and directly harms on a woman's eggs, thus making the birth of new life for humanity reach an all-time low that is to this day."

The world watching this trial felt an intense mixture of emotions, rage, sorrow, and despair. The prosecutor took a deep breath and proclaimed.

" I rest my case."

As the jury and crowd murmured amongst themselves, the judge demanded order once more with his gavel. As the next part of the trial was for the defense to present their case, the judge, with gritted teeth and a begrudging tone, said.

" What do the defendants have to say for themselves."

The twenty did not have a single lawyer to defend them. Every single one flatly denied defending them once they found out who they are, even if it broke contracts or could have them experience imprisonment for rejecting government summons. Their chosen representative walked forward with a confident appearance and casual smile, then said.

" As to what my associates and I say in our defense is this. We did it for the greater good. Your welcome."

All the other scientists nodded in agreement except one that facepalmed himself even as he is handcuffed like the rest making it a bit difficult. The crowd, jury, and judge looked at the representative dumbfounded as he continued with fervor.

" You see, we of Hindsight knew that war was at the horizon at the time, and unlike World War 3, also known as the War of Resources, it was highly likely going to turn into a nuclear war which would have undoubtedly wiped out humanity one way or another. So my like-minded colleagues and I decided to save the ones worthy of leading society to a brighter future and remove the unneeded wastes of space by combining our various specialties to create what you called the D-Strain Virus and the secondary virus to prevent the cause of that situation in the first place, overpopulation. So once more, you are welcome. Now lets us be on our merry way."

19 of the 20 held out their hands, expecting someone to uncuff them while the odd man out just shook his head, exasperated at the delusions of the 19 scientists. The world looked at the trial gobsmack. The judge banged his gavel and looked towards the jury, and asked.

" Has the jury reached a verdict?"

The judge sounded tired as he asked, and the jury woke from their stupor and looked at each other. They are all of one mind, with the judge and the representative of the jury proclaimed.

" We the jury find the defendants guilty on all charges."

The judge nodded and gave the sentence to the twenty scientists.

" By the power vested in me, I sentence these twenty to the maximum sentence of death."

As 19 of the scientists protested against their sentence, the guards promptly detained them.

" You can't do this!"

" You owe us for your current peace!"

" I demand a retrial!"

"Unhand me!"

The judge looked at them and sneered as he told them.

" May you find mercy in whatever faith you believe in, for you will find none here."

As the guards dragged the scientists to the transport to Death Row, the crowd soon started to riot to tear the scientists apart in a frenzy. And after the guards fighting tooth and nail to reach the transport, the scientists are on their way to Death Row. As most the scientists denied the situation they were in, one looked to the ceiling of the transport and muttered to himself.

" What did you think would happen, you delusional fools."

***

It is the day for the execution of Hindsight's members. Almost every single one of the scientists resisted being strapped to the electric chair as the scientists were executed until the last one did not resist and was being very compliant. The executioner looked towards the man and asked the same question as to the other scientists.

"Any last words or prayers?"

The man shrugged and replied in a grim tone.

" Nothing, in particular, thanks for asking."

The executioner raised an eyebrow and then asked, feeling curious since there was still time before the man before him, his designated time of death.

" You seem different from the others that made the D-Strain virus. They all kicked up a fuss and screamed at the top of their lungs to let them go. Why is that?"

As the man awaiting death sighed, he explained himself.

" I knew what my end would likely be unlike those deluded fools, so here I am accepting my just deserts."

The executioner then asked him another question.

" Why do it? Why help make those viruses?"

" I fought in World War 3 as it was winding down to pay for my loans to University. I saw what that war wrought on my first official day of duty. People fighting for the tiniest scraps to survive even if was almost inedible, and I nearly died because I had a piece of jerky."

The man bitterly laughed at the memory and asked, sounding morbid.

" Do you know of the final battle for World War 3?"

The executioner rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then answered.

" I think it was North Korea's dictator threatening to use nuclear missiles but was stopped by his people when he was about to do it."

" That's it for the most part, but he did manage to fire one missile that reminded everyone of the power of a nuclear weapon. The missile hit Hong Kong, turning it into the uninhabitable ruins that it is today, and I saw the damage firsthand from a distance. A dead city that was once full of life."

The man paused for a few moments to wet his mouth and continued.

" Once I saw the signs of another war on the horizon over resources again, I felt dread and despair. Especially since, even on the news, negotiations between countries involved thinly-veiled threats of the use of nuclear weapons, I could see the world becoming like Hong Kong all over again."

The man then showed a bitter smile and said.

" Imagine my surprise when Hindsight reached out to me for my skill sets in genetic manipulation and analysis along with software programming and a bit of engineering. I originally got those skills in university to try and create crops that I could grow on my own and sell the rest to survive that point where food was scarce and drinkable water even more so."

The executioner commented with a frown.

" Yeah, I remembered those times when I was younger; they were a few steps short of hell on earth."

The man nodded in agreement and continued.

" As they explained their plan and why there doing it in the first place and while thought they were idiots to be expecting gratitude for their deed, I went along with it anyway. What they were aiming for could also stop future wars to some degree and allow humanity more time to develop more advanced technology to counter food shortages or even further space travel to colonize other worlds like the slowly terraforming Mars project or a few of the nearest solar systems with worlds expected to be habitable for humans."

The man sighed, looking like he aged several years, and said.

" My greatest regret is that I won't be able to see how far humanity goes from here on."

The man then said to the executioner.

" It's my time to die."

He pointed to the clock overhead, and the executioner got the electric chair ready. Before the executioner pulled the lever, he told the man.

" You still deserve to pay for what you did."

" I'm aware; thanks for listening."

The executioner nodded and pulled down the lever, sending millions of volts of electricity to the man. He did not cry out as he bit his lips, holding on to his last bit of dignity and pride. As the voltage continued to increase, the man finally died, and the execution switched off the machine and gave the man a small prayer.

" May you find peace, where ever you are now heading towards."

***

A beautiful woman with flaxen hair and violet eyes was giving birth to her firstborn child. The woman's husband was a handsome young man with shoulder-length crimson hair and icy blue eyes with the beginnings of a goatee on his face was pacing just outside the room where the midwives were helping his wife's birth. Though he is worried, he had a constant smile on his face about his firstborn child.

The door to the room opened, revealing one of the midwives and told the man.

" Lord Zeoticus, your child has been successfully born with no complications, and your wife is ready to see you."

Zeoticus had a broad smile on as he thanked the midwife.

" Thank you for your services."

" It was my esteemed pleasure, My Lord."

Zeoticus entered the room and saw his wife holding his firstborn, and he asked.

" Venelana, how is our child?"

Venelana smiled at her husband and told him.

" She is well, Zeoticus. Though I was not expecting us to have a child so soon after our marriage, it truly is a pleasant surprise."

" Yes, this calls for a celebration, and I can't wait to tell Lord Phenex about our daughter and all our friends and relatives as well."

Venelana had a wry smile as she reminded him before he ran off.

" Dear, aren't you forgetting something?"

Zeoticus looked at his wife, clueless at what she meant, and asked.

" About what?"

Venelana had a pleasant smile as a tic mark formed, and the room started to warp around at her power radiating from her. Zeoticus knew he messed up and broke out in a cold sweat but not daring to back away because that would only make it worse for him. Venelana told him curtly what he forgot.

" Our daughter's name, Dear."

Lord Gremory vigorously nodded his head, then quickly saved his bacon by telling his wife the name he thought of for his new daughter.

" How does the name Nadeira Gremory sound to you?"

Lady Gremory pulled back her power and told her husband.

" I like it, Dear, good choice."

Zeoticus sighed in relief and muttered quietly to himself.

" Good thing, she liked the first name I thought of because I was too excited about my first child to think of a proper name."

" What was that, Dear?"

Zeoticus responded in a slightly panicked voice.

" Nothing, Dear!"

Venelana looked at her husband with suspicion for a moment or two, then disregarded her husband's antics in favor of cooing her daughter. Zeoticus then walked over to his wife and newborn daughter to join in the cooing and gushing over Nadeira. But, unknown to them, their daughter has a secret they are not aware of in the slightest.

( 7 Years Later)

"Wake up, Young Mistress."

"Wake up."

A maid was trying to wake up Nadeira Gremory as she gently shook her. The maid sighed, feeling exasperated at the young Gremory's unwillingness to get up. Suddenly, the door to Nadeira's opened, revealing another maid coming in. Her uniform is a conservative Victorian-style maid uniform; she has short pitch black hair with pale skin and fiery red irises that seemed to be made of flames with sharp features on her face that gave her an icy and aloof impression. One feature that stood out from her was her long pointed ears that identified her as an elf.

The elven maid looked at the other maid and said.

"You're new here, correct?"

"Um, yes."

The other maid looked at the elf nervously as she heard some stories about the elven maid in front of her from the other maids. The elf then introduced herself with a small curtsy.

"I am Lisaterra, Nadeira's personal maid. So I ask you, why are you here?"

"The head maid sent me to wake up the Young Mistress."

Lisaterra clicked her tongue and muttered.

" Troublesome old hag."

She then refocuses on the maid in front of her and warns her.

"Let me make something clear to you; I am assigned to the Young Heir by Lady Venelana, and all duties related to the Young Heir are automatically assigned to me unless I am told otherwise by Lady Venelana so, please leave."

The maid quickly bowed and started to leave the room, but Lisaterra stopped her for a moment and told her.

"And do be a dear and tell the hag of a head maid to mind herself, or we WILL have another lengthy about our assignments which won't be pleasant in the slightest."

"Yes, right away!"

The maid quickly made herself scarce, and Lisaterra looked at the sleeping Nadeira and sighed, then commented.

"The things I do for you."

Lisaterra pinched the young Gremory's nose and covered her mouth with her other hand. After a few moments, Nadeira got up in fright, unable to breathe, and Lisaterra moved her hands away from the Young Gremory. Nadeira took a few quick breaths, then calmed down and scanned her room. Her eyes landed on the Elven Maid, then the Young Heir plopped back down and started to go back to sleep.

Lisaterra sighed, then moved to the other side of Nadeira's bed and saw a pile of books then said.

"Again, Nadeira, you spent all night reading instead of going to sleep."

The Elven Maid looking exasperated once more, then muttered.

"Fine, let's do this the hard way."

Lisaterra placed her hands under the mattress and flipped it along with its sleeping occupant. This woke up Nadeira as she complained.

"Lisa! Was that necessary?"

The Elf shot back.

"Is it necessary for you to spend all your time reading through the books in your family library?"

"Yes!"

Lisaterra nodded and told the Young Gremory.

"There's your answer. Now we need to get you ready for breakfast with the Lord and Lady."

Nadeira groaned but made her way to the vanity in her room and looked at herself. She has long vermillion colored hair, which is a few shades lighter than her father's, with flawless snow-white skin and a pair of glittering amethyst irises that are similar to her mother's eyes. Lisaterra walked up behind the Gremory and started brushing the vibrant red hair. Nadeira looked at herself in the mirror and thought to herself.

'I still can't get over the fact I am living a second life now, and I am a cute girl instead of a guy.'

She mentally sighed and continued thinking to herself.

'Well, I still like girls, that much I am sure of, and I don't see guys that way, but I am only seven in this body, so there is no telling how puberty will hit me if at all because to top it off I am not even human in this life.'

Nadeira brought out her black bat-like wings, identifying her as a devil of the three Biblical Factions. She smiled at her next thought.

'Then there is the fact I am living in a fantasy world of sword and magic, which sounds like something in an Isekai genre Light Novel. To think I would wind up like this after having a hand in wiping out Earth's human population with the D-Strain virus, I wonder where those delusional fools in Hindsight went after they died. If there was an afterlife, I thought I would end up in one of the unpleasant ones for bad people, but whatever, I have a new lease on life and will enjoy it.'

Lisa finished brushing Nadeira's hair and proceeded to braid it together as the Young Gremory continued her thoughts.

'But still with what I learned so far has shown me that this world which is an alternate Earth with different dimensions connected to it is perilous with me being a Devil of all things and the existence of the Biblical God, his Angels, and Fallen Angels. Let's not get started on the fact the Myths from my Earth are real here, Gods of various regions, Monsters, and Legendary Items. I need more books on the world or worlds as it is because there is one thing I believe in all else it's that knowledge is power.'

Lisaterra notified the Young Gremory lost in her thoughts.

" Young Mistress, I am done with your hair, and I recommend you head to the dining hall; the Lord and Lady are waiting for you along with the Matriarch."

"Grandmother as well? This is rare."

Nadeira thought about her current family as well as she heads to the dining hall.

' Still to be part of Devil nobility which has Solomon's 72 Pillars set up plus Extra Devils and the 4 Satans. My family is the Gremory family, where their inherited traits are a bit of supernatural luck and immense Demonic power. My father is Zeoticus Gremory, and my mother is Venelana Gremory nee Bael, who has the Power of Destruction inherited in the Bael Family. While my Grandmother is Patricia Gremory and my Grandfather died in a skirmish with Fallen Angels. Currently, things are tense between the Three Biblical Factions as the Satans are slowly stirring up trouble from what I overhear from my parents and grandmother's conversations. Just my luck, another war is over the horizon, but I don't know the reasons for it yet.'

The Young Gremory reached the dining hall and greeted her parents with a small curtsy.

" Mother, Father, and Lady Matriarch, good morning."

While internally, Nadeira is cursing.

' Bloody freaking hell, if there is one thing I hate in my new life, it has to be using courtesy regularly in formal settings like now because if Grandmother is here, it's not good news because she is assigned to watch the borders between Devils and Fallen Angels.'

The oldest Gremory at the table has frazzled, messy mid-length red hair that reaches her shoulder with icy blue eyes and looks no older than her daughter-in-law, Venelana. She is in a black and red military dress uniform that resembles something from the European Renaissance. Patricia Gremory called out to her granddaughter.

" My sweet granddaughter, can't you just call me grandma or gran-gran?"

Despite Patricia's serious duties, she is actually quite laid back and dislikes formality amongst family and friends. Nadeira is not fond of close relations because, in her previous life, she was quite anti-social, so she uses courtesy to keep people at a distance for the most part after learning it.

" I regret to inform you that I do not wish to do that, Lady Matriarch, and only want to give you every bit of respect you are due."

Patricia pouted and replied.

" You are seriously an uncute brat."

Patricia's reply made Nadeira smile and thanked her.

" Thank you for the compliment, Lady Matriarch."

The head of the Gremory family snorted and looked towards her son and said.

" Zeo, you better make me another grandchild, one that is preferably at least cuter than this brat."

Zeoticus sweat-dropped at his mother's request while Venelana giggles at the family's antics she married into, feeling thankful it is a warmer household than the Bael Family. After they all got together and ate breakfast, Patricia told her family why she is here today. She let out a tired sigh and told her son and daughter-in-law.

" Things are looking bad Zeo, Vene, the Satans are serious in seeking this war with the Biblical God and his Angels and the Fallen Angels. Within the next century or two, they will start the war, and depending on how things go Nadeira, and one of you may be forced to participate in the war under the Satans' orders. I suggest you get Nadeira's combat training started to ensure she has a better chance of surviving in the coming war."

A look of worry passed between the husband and wife while Nadeira is cursing her luck but accepting her fate because from what she read so far is that all Devils, both common and nobility, obey the Satans out of fear and awe, especially Lucifer who hacked into the Biblical God's Holy System to create Lilith, the Mother of All Devils and separated Devils from God's system making it so that what Lucifer did could not be undone. However, this created a weakness for the race as they are now harmed by things related to the Biblical God and the light element that all Angels use.

( 1 year later)

I, Nadeira Gremory, am lying on the ground, tired from the combat training my Grandmother put me through, plus the light physical excises I added to my daily routine like sit-ups, push-ups, squats, and running. Just a light load, for now, to condition my body for a greater foundation. If I had to explain the devil's combat style in RPG terms, they would all mostly be mages: strong range abilities but limited close-quarters combat.

While there are exceptions, and I aim to have strong close combat ability, I am stuck learning the traditional method of practicing Devil Magic, sparring. My Grandmother stood over me with a crooked smile and said.

" Come on now, Brat. I have done mock battles over 2000 times, so show me what you are made of!"

I glowered at her and picked myself up despite the soreness of my body. My Grandmother gave me a cocky smirk and silently taunted me by leaving herself wide open. With Devil Magic, it is all about imagination, and thanks to my past life of LN and Manga, I have no shortage of ideas to work with. I first coated my body with a protective layer of Demonic Energy then augmented myself to improve my physical ability.

Next, I concentrated my magic on my mind to speed up my thought processing. As I was just about to start my next bit of magic, my Grandmother called out.

" Hurry it up, Brat! The Doves and Crows are not going to wait for you like me!"

" Grandmother, this a practice match, and I still need to get used to using magic one step at a time so that I have the basics down."

I evenly told her and went back to my next bit of magic; I created a solid construct of Demonic Power in the form of a red halberd. Then I got my last bit of magic ready in the form of a pair of magic circles on my sides plus another one behind me. As I finished preparations, my Grandmother called out.

" Finally ready?"

I just nodded at her, and she then said with an easy-going smile.

" Then come."

I started by using the two magic circles at my sides to bombard her with small but fast bullets of Demonic Energy like a machine gun. She casually sets up a magic circle for defense, blocking my attack, and I started up the magic circle at my back which imitates jet propulsion with Demonic Power. I charged at my Grandmother and swung my Halberd at her cracking her magic circle.

She smirks at my straightforward approach, and as I broke through her defense, she flys back before I could hit her and casually sends an orb of Demonic Energy at me. I deflected her attack and charged at her once more as I continue to fire my bullets of Demonic Energy at her, and she countered with multiple magic shields stopping my construct from reaching her. She shakes her in wry amusement and tells me.

" While you make good use of your immense Demonic Energy by using multiple bits of magic at the same time, you lack experience and practice at using your magic at a satisfactory speed, but thankfully, you are still too young for any real responsibilities, so you have plenty of time before the war starts. But let's end this for today."

She then conjured a massive sphere of Demonic Energy and sent it at me with great speed, breaking through my protective layer and sending me crashing into the ground. Looking up at the Underworld's violet sky, I thought to myself.

' I love magic, and I found out I like getting stronger, plus fighting helps me kill time in this world of limited entertainment aside from my lessons with my tutors. But I truly don't want to see another war, especially one that has supernatural shenanigans in the mix.'

I sighed and thought to myself some more.

' But what can I do? Right now, I am just a kid, one with magic, sure, but still just a kid, and I am far from the strongest. And if there is anything I learned in my eight years, it's that personal strength is the most important factor in how you decide your fate. I will become strong no matter what, but to truly form a strength on bar with a faction, I can't do it alone. However, I have a few ideas that make use of knowledge from my past life to create my own army loyal to me, but I need more information and wealth to fuel my future research.'

My Grandmother extended her hand towards me, and I took it as she said.

" Let's go grab lunch."

I nodded and thought to myself with resolution.

' I will get the strength I need to decide my fate and not to ever lower myself to anyone else.'