Devil’s Whisper (6)

Chapter 56: Devil's Whisper (6)

Azrail Astaroth Pov:

"So that's what happened..."

{Yes. When Latia left the library, I introduced her to Tiamat, and she started living in the Familiar Forest to train. Her parents allowed it since they knew about my relationship with Tiamat…}

After Tiamat abduced Latia and Arthur, Alice explained what happened within Astaroth Castle after I left.

'For Latia to overcome her fear of libraries because she wanted to learn how to reverse time and help me…'

I smiled at that thought. She deserved more head pats.

The Astaroth Clan's library was one of the few places I hadn't wiretapped.

When I tried, Krens kicked me out and banned me from visiting for six months, so I had no idea what happened inside it.

'I told her that reversing time with [Power of Time] was possible without evidence, but she believed me enough to research the possibility for over half a month…'

Latia most likely had a feeling that there was more to the aftereffects of my near-death experience, but she never said anything to me because she knew she wasn't capable of helping me.

Instead, she went straight to the single thing she could do at that moment — improve herself.

My [Queen] was indeed amazing.

"You said she decided her second Demonic Power Nature, right?"

{Yes. Latia said not to tell you, though.}

"Why…?"

{Because she wants to surprise you.} Alice laughed a little. {If Latia succeeds, the results will blow your head off.}

Alice's high evaluation made me wonder what Latia decided for her Demonic Power Nature, but I held my curiosity back.

"By the way, Alice. Can we meet?"

{Why?}

"Well… There's someone I want you to meet."

{Is it someone who can help heal your lifespan?}

"Not sure about that, but meeting her will definitely reduce your lifespan…"

{Who is it…?}

"I recruited a [Knight]… I thought I'd introduce her to you…"

{When exactly did you recruit a [Knight]?}

"A while back… When are you free, though?"

{I'm in the middle of something, so it'll take around half an hour. Is that fine?}

"Yeah."

With that, the [Communication Magic Circle] disappeared.

Naturally, the person I wanted Alice to meet was Lyra.

'Great Sage… Considering what I showed Lyra, how much time do you think we have before she makes a move again?'

[Answer. A decade, at the very least.]

'That's more than I calculated, but I also factored in my terrible luck…'

If Lyra tried to dissolve [Soul Corridor] or forcefully end it, half of her soul would collapse instantly.

There was no solving it without backlash.

She could do that whenever she wanted, but she'd first need to find a method to heal her soul before I attacked her.

There were only a handful of items which had such miraculous effects.

Some examples would be Amrita from the Hindu Pantheon, Elixer of Life or Peach of Immortality from the Chinese Pantheon, and Holy Grail from the Christian Pantheon.

In short, all of those items fell into the 'territory of gods.'

The possibility of Lyra obtaining one of those was as close to impossible as it could get.

Not to mention, her real problem was her body, not her soul.

Finding a perfect vessel and transferring her soul to it was almost impossible, and it became even more difficult with me keeping an eye on her.

Unless she pulled something out of her ass again, I was good for the time being.

'The image I left in Lyra's mind should also help…'

Lyra believed I didn't care about my family, so their worth as hostages was non-existent in her eyes.

That was exactly how I wanted her to see me.

Now, she wouldn't waste her time using those close to me as leverage against me, which meant there was one less thing for me to worry about.

'Her perception also establishes that she won't push me around because of the information she has on me…'

She believed I wouldn't hesitate to abandon Azrail Astaroth's identity if it became a hindrance, which kept her at bay.

Ever since she stabbed me, all my actions were to leave that impression on her.

'For now, she can only hide behind the information to stay alive… But I can't keep her out of my sights for too long…'

Lyra's backstory was full of inconsistencies and holes — from power levels to character motivations. I could think of around seventeen off the top of my head.

Either she purposefully avoided the most crucial parts or lied about most of it.

For all I knew, it could be a mix of both.

After all, I had no method to confirm her background, and neither did I care much about it, to be honest.

What mattered was the present.

"I have nothing to do…"

After looking around the empty training field, I walked towards the dense forest surrounding it and deactivated [Thought Acceleration].

I'd usually deactivate this skill when I needed to wait for something and had nothing better to do.

'Even while showing her wealth, Lyra held back from revealing all her treasures. That means she has something worth hiding in there…'

After what happened, the critique of the situation would be that I should have killed Lyra when I found out she survived Alice's attack.

It would have been the most optimal course of action.

I took a gamble when I realised Lyra could deceive [Soul Corridor] instead of eliminating her on the spot.

As for the gamble's result — I'd call it a success despite the drawbacks and risks involved.

And depending on how things develop from here, it might become a massive success.

Of course, if it failed, the results would be just as detrimental.

"Hmm…"

I leisurely walked through the forest, and after around ten minutes, I stopped and glanced towards my right.

"What do you want? If you want to sneak up on someone, at least do it properly…"

Flinch!*

The lion flinched at my sudden declaration before jumping out of his hiding spot and landing near me.

We maintained eye contact for a few seconds, only for him to lower his head politely.

"I thought you were a defenceless child. I apologise."

With those words, the lion turned around and left.

As its body disappeared into the forest, I started walking again.

"What a random interaction…"

While this island belonged to the Astaroth Clan, it was one of our clan elder's territory, who specialised in monster taming.

She used this island to experiment on animals and turn them into Demonic Beasts with unique abilities. The successful ones became her familiars while the failures were left here to survive and reproduce.

The lion who tried to attack me was one of those failures, an animal with the strength to kill a Middle-Class Devil by itself.

In the future, I wanted to create a place like this, too.

But now wasn't the time to think about that.

As the forest thinned and the distant sound of waves grew louder, my thoughts about Lyra gradually subsided.

.

.

.

"Haah..."

After travelling for around twenty minutes, I walked out of the forest, arriving at the island's shore as a cool breeze blew past me.

No wonder some people used this island as a vacation spot. The scene from the shore was mesmerising.

'It's so pretty. I feel like extorting Lyra again…'

Her knowledge, wealth, treasures, strength, experience, and capabilities.

I wanted to take as much of them as possible.

If it were before she backstabbed me, I might have considered eliminating her for the threat she posed, but that was out of the question now.

She was too resourceful to die.

'Within a decade, I need to take whatever I can from her…'

That was how much of an impression [Disguise] left on me.

The skill taught me a method to manipulate my soul instinctively, something I considered impossible without using Magic until a few days ago.

It opened an endless amount of possibilities for developing [Soul Magic].

The more I learned, the better it became.

'She must have revealed this to show how useful she can be and increase her value…'

Even as I wandered on this island aimlessly, my 5% body was analysing and mastering [Disguise].

As for the 70% body, it focused on creating an actual safe haven for my 5% body — a place no one except me had access to.

'If that's indeed the case, you succeeded, but Lyra, you are focusing on the wrong aspect of this situation…'

For her, it was a race against time with her life on the line.

She wanted to free herself before I became too strong for her to handle.

However, it wasn't the same for me.

I wanted to achieve my primary objective through her within a decade.

My goal wasn't to subdue or control her during this time.

That'd happen on its own if I succeeded, and all the information she had on me would become useless.

After that, she'd be mine, all mine. [1]

'I need to achieve those three goals by the time canon starts…'

The first was to nurture a group of powerful and loyal subordinates.

Recruiting Lieselotte, Arthur, Selina, and Le Fay was part of accomplishing that goal.

The second was to develop my Demonic Power Nature over the next few years, something I wanted to do while learning [Soul Manipulation] from Lyra.

It'd bring a qualitative change to my abilities.

As for my third goal and the reason I wanted to learn [Soul Manipulation]—

'After that, let's speedrun to the Super Devil level before I turn twenty…'

It took Ajuka and Sirzechs around a hundred years to reach that level through natural growth, right?

I'd do it in a fifth of that.

Part of it was to suppress Lyra before she even had a chance to rebel against me and strengthen myself, while the rest was to spite Ajuka.

If I could become a child again, this time, I'd pee on that bastard's face instead of his lap.

'Though, I have no idea how to do that right now. [Soul Manipulation] is the only thing that might lead to some breakthrough regarding Super Devils…'

The situation was concerning, to be honest, but strangely enough, I felt no sense of urgency.

Was it because I knew Lyra couldn't threaten my life no matter what she did?

Maybe.

'Then again, as long as I remain alive, there will always be hope…'

I wouldn't be careless while dealing with her, though.

Unlike when I made her my [Knight] to make a slave out of her, I held Lyra in high regard now, both for her capabilities and mindset.

But that was it.

No matter how capable, I still wanted to torture her to death.

'Thinking about it brings back bad memories…'

I looked down at my body, remembering the [Shadow Merge] attack Lyra did against me during our rematch.

In an instant, her body phased through mine, and she destroyed my limbs and left me covered in numerous life-threatening wounds.

That was the only part I never expected to happen.

I miscalculated how much [Shadow Domain] had nerfed her during our first battle.

Lyra didn't seem much weaker than Alice in close combat, but her Magic Power Reserves held her back massively.

The [Shadow Merge] attack must have consumed a tenth of her reserves at the very least.

"Sure enough..." After thinking about it for a few seconds, I groaned. "The only thing good about her is her face…"

But similar to all my decisions, I had no regrets about what I did.

For better or for worse, Lyra was what I needed to improve.

[Notice. Accomplished task: 'Get a Sugar Mommy' from Master's To-do list.]

+

[Pros:

1. She might give you money if you ask politely.

2. She's mad hot.

3. She can teach you about magic and combat.]

[Cons:

1. She's mentally unstable.

2. Will 100% kill you if not given attention to twenty-four-seven (Not psychopathic; she simply wants your attention for herself).

3. Might become a yandere with how infatuated and obsessed she is with you (Her ovaries stimulate upon seeing you).]

+

Honestly, I'd bite.

'I almost forgot how wild my To-list is…'

[You were on a roll back then, Master.]

'The good old days…'

A decade ago, I couldn't have imagined my second life would turn out like this.

It was far from the 'ideal' version I had in my mind, but well.

'After my engagement banquet, it all went so south that I ended up north…'

It seemed like things were settling back into place now, and I was much stronger than I originally planned.

My previous ideal version would be at Peak Ultimate Class or Satan Class during canon because I wanted to 'focus on research.'

My priorities were in the wrong place before.

'Peak Ultimate Class to Super Devil. My goals changed a lot in barely six months…'

As those thoughts crossed my mind, a [Communication Magic Circle] appeared near me.

{Azrail?}

Now that the matter with Lyra was settled, at least for the most part, I needed to talk with one last person — someone who had been worried about me all this time.

"Hey, Rias…"

My dear fiancee.

Rias and I hadn't talked much for the last six months outside of small conversations.

From what I knew, Sirzechs told her that I was still recovering from my injuries in Bucharest, so she didn't bother me by visiting abruptly and only asked about my well-being every week or so.

{How are you?}

"I'm fine, but… Your breath is heavy. Are you alright?"

{Ah… Yeah. I was training with Akeno, so I am a bit tired. That's all…}

Rias and Latia's brains did work on similar frequencies.

'A bit tired seems like an understatement...'

Although she hid it quite well, I could tell Rias was leaning away from the Magic Circle and panting heavily to catch her breath.

"I wanted to talk about that, too. Remember when you asked me to train you and Akeno?"

{I do…}

"I'm free now. We can start next week if you want."

{Huh…? What about your recovery? Don't push yourself…}

"My body has recovered completely…" I smiled after hearing Rias' concerned voice. "And I also need to exercise, you know?"

Technically, that wasn't a lie.

My body never had any problems, to begin with.

The real issue was my depleted life force.

{Are you sure?}

"Yes. How about watching some movies togather after training?"

{Really?}

The exhaustion vanished from Rias' voice almost instantly, and she returned to her usual cheerful self.

"Yeah, so get some rest since it'll be exhausting."

{Mmh. Then, I'll see you next week, okay? It's a promise! Bye!}

Rias sounded more excited than usual, and the [Communication Magic Circle] disappeared.

'I'll work on developing my Demonic Power Nature with this 25% body while teaching Rias and overseeing Bucharest…'

Depending on how I develop it, my Demonic Power Nature might require a lot of information to work correctly, so training Rias and Akeno would benefit me, too.

I could study both [Power of Destruction] and [Light Power] like I did with Latia's [Power of Time] while training her.

No. Considering how much I had improved since a few years ago, the results would be far better than they were while observing Latia.

Other than that, it'd also help Rias out, so it was a win-win situation.

I also planned to help Akeno overcome her trauma over the next year, or she would never achieve her full potential.

The dozens of self-help books I binged might do something meaningful for the first time in my two lives.

'70% can focus on research and learning [Soul Manipulation] from Lyra while 5% masters the skills I learn…'

The one thing I was unsure about was meeting Sirzechs, Serafall, and Falbium again.

I hadn't seen them since my engagement banquet.

Even after waking up from my coma, I talked to Ajuka, met my parents, slept with Amy, and left without meeting them.

I did send Serafall a thank-you note for taking care of me at the Serafall Memorial Hospital, but she never replied.

'There's no point in thinking about it. I'll leave it to my future self…'

That sounded like a plan.

.

.

.

A [Transportation Magic Circle] appeared at a distance from me, and Alice walked out of it.

Unlike her usual informal attire, she wore a red-themed body armour, a silver-hilted sword hanging on the left side of her waist.

"What's with the armour?"

As far as I knew, Alice rarely wore an armour.

The last time I saw her in one was when I spawned into this world.

"I was hunting monsters to kill some time..."

What kind of monsters required her to be that prepared?

Then again, I bullied people online when bored, so I had no right to comment on how someone spent their free time.

"So, where's the [Knight] you want me to meet?"

"About that… First, promise me you won't get too mad…"

I didn't ask her not to get angry.

This was simply damage control because I knew damage was inevitable.

Alice narrowed her eyes at me. "Azrail… What did you do this time?"

She sounded genuinely scared.

"Don't look at me like that… I saved someone's life, you know? We both know her…"

"We both know her?"

"Yes…"

Those words confused her further, and just as she was about to speak—

"Huh…"

Alice glanced towards her left as a small, pitch-black dot of darkness appeared on the ground next to us.

Under our gaze, the dot expanded into a sphere, and from within it, Lyra's body emerged.

"It has been a while, hasn't it, Alice?"

Those words and the smile on her face would make people mistake them for old friends.

Unlike before, Lyra wasn't dressed in her body suit.

Instead, she wore a white, sleeveless dress that covered her entire body below her neck, matching opera gloves that reached her upper arms, and a pendant.

Her attire wasn't anything exquisite, but the simple yet elegant design made her presence far more aristocratic than the extravagant outfits most High-Class female devils wore.

'I knew it already, but how does an ancient assassin vampire have a better fashion sense than me?'

Sometimes, life was a bit too unfair.

Alice's red-themed body armour amplified her beauty and presence several times, contrasting her blonde hair and grey eyes perfectly.

As for Lyra, she looked like a beautiful villainess straight out of some fantasy manhwa.

And then there was I, standing between them while wearing a white shirt, black pants, and a lab coat.

It couldn't get more basic than that.

[Strong Isekai Main Character energy.]

To think a day would come when Great Sage would pick on me.

Indeed, I raised her well.

"Demonic Aura. Azrail…" Alice's pupils shrank when she saw Lyra, her eyes slowly moving back to me. "What the fuck did you do?"

This was the first time I had heard Alice curse.

The look on her face was the same as when she threatened Diehauser over half a decade ago.

No, it was worse than that.

"Since you recognise her, I'll introduce her properly. She is Lyra Darkvein, or as you know her, Shadow Fiend. And…" I raised my hand towards Lyra. "My [Knight]…"

Lyra smiled at Alice, clearly taking pleasure in the latter's anger.

"I hope we can get along, Alice…"

"Azrail…" Alice clenched her fists, staring at me with deadpan eyes. "You realise what this means, right?"

"Yes. I know…"

While I was in a coma, I knew the pain and agony my family went through because of Lyra.

I heard about the Serafall Memorial Hospital from Alice and saw what happened within the Astaroth Clan through the wiretaps later.

I heard my mother crying next to my bed while my father tried to support her despite his mental state.

I saw Latia and Rias spending hours next to me regularly, talking to my unconscious body and asking me to wake up.

Sebas and Vanessa were in the same condition.

From the day I was attacked to when I woke up, my family was in shambles.

They barely even talked to each other.

"You knew…" Alice clenched her fists, her hands trembling slightly. "And still did it…"

Alice was also affected by that incident.

After all, she was the person closest to me.

No matter how much she tried to hide it, I could tell that much.

"Yes…"

Reviving the one who caused all this was no different from disregarding my family's grief.

I knew it but still chose to heal Lyra because I needed her for [Soul Corridor].

"Azrail… Why?"

"It was necessary."

Alice unclenched her fists and maintained eye contact with me.

She wasn't angry, just disappointed.

Alice knew about my crimes and how many people I killed, but she probably never expected that I'd disregard the suffering my family went through for some benefits.

I despised Lyra more than anyone, but she was valuable to me.

That was all the reason I needed to let her live.

'Sorry, Alice…'

In the end, that was the kind of person I was.

Emotions weren't a factor for me when making decisions of significant importance.

While I wasn't in a coma for that long in the real world, it was two years of complete isolation for me because of [Thought Accelaration].

My reaction back then was lacklustre, as I cared more about what to do next than what happened to my family while I was asleep.

However, that had nothing to do with me reincarnating Lyra.

I did it entirely for myself.

'And honestly, I am in no position to blame anyone...'

These were the consequences of my actions.

I could hate them all I wanted, but it wouldn't change that fact.

Alice must know that, too.

"Now, don't be like that. Saving someone's life should be rewarded with praise, not criticised. That's basic manners…"

Lyra walked behind me and gently wrapped her hands around my shoulders, letting them fall forward and crossing her fingers in front of my chest.

Essentially, she was hugging me from behind.

A vein bulged on Alice's forehead. "What do you think you are doing?"

"What, you ask? A [Knight] is being intimate with her [King]. Is there a problem with that?"

Alice's pupils dilated at those words.

In romance novel terms, her eyes darkened, and her expression became distant as she glared at Lyra.

"Get away from Azrail, you fucking whore…"

Honestly, I never expected the soft-spoken and gentle Alice would ever use such words.

"Why? Although I hate him, I am especially fond of his mindset, abilities, and talents…" Lyra narrowed her eyes at Alice's words, her smile widening slightly. "And as a [Knight], isn't it my duty to protect my [King] from someone radiating such intense killing intent?"

Alice's Demonic Aura surged, and she rested her hand on her sword's hilt. "I said, get away from Azrail..."

"You know, I am quite the possessive person. I hate sharing what I consider mine…" Lyra emphasised the word 'mine,' and her hug tightened as she continued. "Azrail and I are connected — both in body and soul. Should I tell you how much time we spent together, our relationship, and… What we did while alone?"

'Did she just romanticise me having control over her body and soul to mess with Alice…?'

I was about to launch an elbow straight to Lyra's stomach, but before I could—

Swoosh!*

Alice appeared ahead of me and swung her sword, creating a beautiful yellow arc above my head.

"My, oh my…" Lyra fell backwards, grabbing my shoulders to balance herself and avoiding the attack by a hair's breadth. "Such a fiery temper…"

Alice narrowed her eyes at Lyra, and the latter smiled at her before jumping away from the two of us.

"Are you that repulsed by the idea of someone stealing him away from you?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Azrail is extremely precious to me…" Alice walked away from me and stood ahead of Lyra, letting the tip of her sword slide on the ground. "But our relationship isn't like that. I'm not into children…"

Somehow, Alice boosted my lifespan and also landed a critical hit at the same time.

Alas, she just wouldn't pre-order me.

'Hmm...'

I watched as a spear made of darkness manifested in Lyra's hand, and she smiled at Alice.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds.

However, instead of engaging in close combat, Alice raised her sword in front of her.

A magic circle appeared on the tip of her blade, shooting a condensed blast of purple holy fire towards Lyra.

'Long-range energy attacks are useless against [Darkness] users. Alice should know that...'

As expected, Lyra pointed her index finger at the incoming attack, creating a thin sheet of darkness in front of her, which consumed Alice's attack whole.

Darkness's ability to devour made it virtually invincible against energy-based attacks like that as long as the user reacted in time.

But Lyra didn't devour the last attack.

"Alice, behind you…!"

A darkness portal appeared behind Alice, relaunching her holy fire back at herself.

"Don't worry…" However, Alice didn't react. She just turned her palm towards her back and absorbed the holy fire. "I'm immune to my own holy fire…"

"A devil absorbing [Holy Fire] in her body without repercussions. That is why supernaturals shouldn't have Sacred Gears…" Lyra's gaze remained on Alice's hand, and she narrowed her eyes. "A human's limited lifespan and low potential hold a Sacred Gear back. Without that restriction, it reaches the point of absurdity…"

That was the difference between the Devils recruiting a Longinus user compared to Heaven and Grigori.

Once someone became a devil, their Sacred Gear would remain with them until killed.

As for the ones recruited by the other two factions, they'd inevitably die in a century at best.

'But it isn't impossible to create Evil Pieces for Angels and Fallen Angels. I'm sure someone like Azazel can reverse engineer and alter them…'

The problem was that only Ajuka knew how to produce the required materials.

"I don't think so. After one point in their lives, most supernaturals stop improving and become lacklustre. Only a few develop their natural abilities to their full potential. What makes you think it'll be any different if they had Sacred Gears?"

"You are right. Both our races are filled with incompetent people, but..." Lyra's lips curled into a smile at Alice's statement. "The few who master their abilities are dangerous. You are one of them…"

"You are one of them, too. All the openings in your stance lead to a dead end…"

"Please. You overestimate me…"

Contrary to her relaxed expression, Lyra's voice sounded far from amused.

From how it looked, her act before was to make Alice attack her in anger, but it didn't work.

'To be honest, I'm quite interested in this matchup despite knowing Alice is stronger…'

Alice and Lyra heavily relied on their skills rather than their natural abilities or brute force compared to most supernaturals.

In essence, their fighting style was the same.

'And even if Lyra dies here, resurrecting her is no problem…'

"Azrail…" Alice glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. "Don't blink. It'll be a valuable lesson."

I gave her a thumbs-up in response and sent her a telepathic message.

{I'll explain the situation later.}

Alice gave me one last glance before turning back towards Lyra.

{Okay.}

The two of them stepped forward at the same time, and the moment their feet touched the ground—

'Holy shit…'

Lyra and Alice disappeared, leaving behind afterimages.

The last time Alice moved like this against Tiamat, I couldn't even catch a glimpse of her.

Back then, it felt like she teleported through the battlefield, but now, I could vaguely follow her movements because of my enhanced senses and [Thought Accelaration].

'No. She's going faster than she did against Tiamat…'

Her mastery of [Way of the Wind] was exceptional. It'd make people question if an elemental spell could grant someone such immense speed.

Clang!*

After running around for almost a minute, Alice and Lyra clashed weapons at a distance from where they started.

Lyra lunged her spear at Alice's face.

Whoosh!*

Alice dodged the attack effortlessly and closed the distance between them instantly.

She intended to cut Lyra diagonally, slashing from bottom left to top right.

In the face of such an attack, the best course of action would be to either fall back or duck, but instead—

'Huh…?'

Lyra jumped a few feet above the ground, moving her body in the attack's path.

It was no different from suicide, but rather than attacking her, Alice's sword slashed horizontally at where Lyra's legs were a moment ago.

'Nevermind. I would've lost my head or become Gojo if I was in Lyra's place…'

How her dress managed to follow her movements was beyond me.

"Fakes don't work on me…"

Lyra smiled at Alice, and the latter clicked her tongue.

"Tch…"

The spear in Lyra's hand contracted to the size of a pocket knife and rapidly extended after a slight movement, launching towards Alice's face.

As she attacked, four arms extended from her shadow and pulled her away from Alice, creating distance between them.

Alice dodged the spear and chased after her.

Their battle continued, and I analysed a lot of information about them.

'To think Lyra would flair this well against Alice, even if it's only a contest of close combat skills…'

Alice's physical attributes were superior to Lyra's, and she was a better swordsman than her opponent.

However, Lyra was a more versatile combatant.

Because of [Shadow Construction], she could change between weapons effortlessly, making it extremely hard to adapt to her fighting style.

Her mastery of weapons other than swords and combat sense surpassed Alice's, too.

'I never noticed it because of our difference in strength, but Lyra specialises in dodging — the complete opposite of Alice's offensive style…'

The two fought for over ten minutes, but neither managed to land a hit on their opponent.

"This is why I don't like fighting tactical battles…" Lyra landed on the ground with a neutral expression as the dagger in her hand transformed into a spear. "For opponents with similar skill level and strength, it becomes an endless back-and-forth of predictable moves…"

In short, she hated fighting those similar to her.

After all, she was at a massive disadvantage in this battle since the beginning.

"Tired already?"

"No. I can still fight, but if I do…" Lyra smiled at Alice, her eyelids dropping halfway. "You will die without your [Balance Breaker]…"

Alice scoffed at those words. "You sure talk a lot for someone who couldn't even force me to use [Incinerate Anthem]…"

"It won't change anything." As she spoke, Lyra briefly glanced at me. "Without external help, you can't kill me."

Her worry wasn't unreasonable.

If I destroyed half of her soul or altered her body slightly, she wouldn't survive a minute.

'Her definition of strength is solely based on survivability...'

Lyra might be an even bigger cockroach than me.

"You said our skill level and strength are similar? That's completely wrong…" Alice's Demonic Aura surged, and she loosened her grip around her sword's hilt. "Your skills are far below mine…"

"Skills and strength aren't the same."

"Then, I'll show you — the difference between our skills…" Alice's Demonic Aura condensed around her body and sword. "This is the first time I am using this technique against someone. Not even Tiamat knows about it yet…"

Her presence felt no different than how it was throughout their battle, which made Lyra narrow her eyes.

'I don't remember her ever mentioning a technique like this…'

Alice took a small breath and charged towards her opponent, intending to attack with a vertical slash.

There was nothing extraordinary about the attack, and the spear in Lyra's hand transformed into a shield, but when Alice's sword was about to land—

'Huh…'

Lyra's eyes widened in shock, and she hurriedly moved away from the sword's path.

I had no idea why she did that, but when Alice's attack landed—

BOOOOOOM!!!*

"How…"

"What the hell…"

Both Lyra and I were left speechless.

Alice's attack had split the enormous mountain over a kilometre from them into two halves without damaging the ground in between.

Such precise control was praiseworthy, but that wasn't the reason for our surprise.

Even I could destroy a mountain or two if I felt like it.

What surprised us was—

"Your weapon isn't enchanted, and there was no magic spell behind that attack…"

Lyra glanced at the clean, pitch-black line suspended mid-air beside her in shock.

The space was "missing" inside it, disturbing the nearby gravitational fields and causing light to bend unnaturally.

Even as Lyra stared at it, the "darkness" tried to consume her hair and dress, creating a strong vacuum.

Several leaves and insects couldn't resist the intense suction force and transformed into a glowing mist before getting devoured.

No. Technically, nothing 'transformed.'

The bonds holding their atoms together just broke apart.

"Hahh…"

Lyra snapped out of the initial shock and moved away from Alice, but instead of chasing her, the latter stared at the aftereffects of her attack.

Soon after, the space "healed" as the pitch-black slash disappeared.

"What did you do?"

For the first time since their battle began, Lyra frowned.

"I swung my sword, that's all. It wasn't magic. My weapon isn't enchanted, either…" Alice relaxed her stance, and her lips curled into a smile. "This is a technique I developed over the last few decades — one any devil can learn with enough training and dedication in swordsmanship…"

'Alice slashed space… with a technique? Is this a cultivation novel or what?'

Techniques were as the name suggested — set patterns to move the user's body and demonic power in to cause various effects.

Mastering them required too much effort, time, and talent, so they weren't well known within the devils as we preferred to develop our innate abilities more.

Alice had numerous techniques, but their effects were always physical, from strength enhancement to instantaneous short-distance movement.

Cutting space… How did it even work?

But one thing was sure.

'She's amazing…'

Since the demonic power moved within the body, copying a technique with the Astaroth Clan's [High IQ] was impossible.

"Slashing space with a technique…" Lyra's thoughts were similar to mine, and she gave a suppressed laugh in amazement. "That's absurd…"

"Demonic Power lets one create and control various phenomena using their power and imagination. I'm following the basics…"

'Basics… Yeah, sure…'

If that was an application of the basics, I should kill myself for not being the strongest person in this world by now.

As she continued, Alice glanced at me from the corner of her eyes. "I wanted to pass down this technique alongside [Way of the Wind], but Azrail was in too much of a hurry to leave the Underworld..."

'Should I be glad I left or not…'

Even if I had learned this technique, I wouldn't have been able to utilise it anymore.

Techniques were a complex form of [Demonic Power Enhancement] or [Aura Enhancement], something I couldn't do because of my immortal body.

I could replicate the effects through other means, though.

"But one attack cannot change the course of a battle…"

"One attack? You are overestimating this technique's importance. For me, it is no different from a normal swing…" Alice raised her sword and slashed it towards her side, creating a cut in space twice the size of the previous one. "As I said before, your skills are far inferior to mine…"

'Even Caliburn can't cut space repeatedly with such ease…'

The reason Caliburn was considered the strongest Holy Sword wasn't solely because of its Holy Aura but for its ability to cut space.

For most individuals, a 'spatial cut' negated their physical durability.

However, timing the spatial cut perfectly to land a hit on someone was extremely difficult with Caliburn.

The only one who managed to accomplish it with 100% accuracy was King Arthur, which made him incomparably more powerful than any other human of his time.

"Please, Alice. If you say something like that…" A light blush appeared on Lyra's face, and she licked her lips as a pair of pitch-black daggers manifested in her hands. "I might accidentally kill you…"

"Don't refer to me so casually."

"That expression…" Lyra's back hunched forward, her aura condensing around her wrists and legs. "Be careful, Alice. Otherwise, the Devils will lose one of their strongest combatants…"

Her stance was terrible and full of openings, but in the next moment, she vanished.

"Sacrificing power and defence for speed?" Alice dodged the dagger aimed at her neck, blocking the other with her sword. "But it's no use..."

Lyra smiled at that comment. "I can't overpower you in a frontal confrontation. Decreasing the gap in our speed is my best option…"

Alice prepared to defend herself, but much to her surprise, the attack she expected never came.

Instead, Lyra jumped away from her and started 'running' on air.

'She's making up for her lack of aerial mobility with [Darkness Manipulation]…'

Lyra wasn't like Alice.

She couldn't fly without using her wings, which weren't as fast as her speed on the ground.

'Her speed isn't any slower than before…'

For brief moments, barely noticeable footholds of darkness appeared under her feet, allowing her to run mid-air as if on the ground.

Within a moment, Lyra appeared at a great distance away from Alice. As for her altitude, it was about one mile.

'Just how much time did she spend mastering this technique?'

Although, it was understandable.

It'd be weird if someone as old and skilled as her had a silly weakness like aerial combat.

"Go…"

Rather than chasing after Lyra, Alice created a dozen swords of purple holy fire and shot them at her.

Whoosh!*

The swords rushed towards their targets from different directions. No matter how one avoided them, they'd catch their target at one point or another.

In response to the attack, Lyra conjured twelve orbs of darkness that devoured all holy fire swords before they could reach her.

'What will you do, Alice? Most long-range attacks are useless against—huh? What's she doing?'

Alice's stance was strange. She held her sword like a spear and threw it towards Lyra.

The space at her sword's tip ripped apart, creating a portal that devoured it completely.

At the same time, Lyra's eyes widened when a small portal opened in front of the centre of her forehead.

From within the portal, Alice's sword emerged and—

Crack!*

Lyra jolted her head towards the side, breaking her cervical vertebrae in the process.

Alice's sword barely missed her head and was absorbed by the portal of darkness that appeared behind Lyra's head.

'She snapped her neck and barely suffered any damage…'

Unlike Devils, injuries to the neck weren't detrimental to Vampires because of their [Immortality].

If a devil snapped his neck like that, he would have passed out on the spot because of spinal cord or brainstem damage.

But for Lyra, she only needed to focus a bit of her aura around her neck to make it function again.

'But why not just use [Shadow Merge] instead? Is she trying to conserve her magic power?'

That was most likely it.

Lyra's reserves were already limited, to begin with. It would be unwise to exhaust them in a pointless battle.

In the first place, why did she even pick a fight with Alice?

'I don't think she's the type to fight a losing battle, so… Is it to analyse Alice's threat level?'

As numerous thoughts passed through my mind, Lyra entered a portal made of darkness and emerged from behind Alice.

Alice summoned another sword from her dimensional storage and took a defensive stance.

However, a pitch-black portal appeared between them, and Lyra disappeared before clashing with her.

"What an annoying ability..."

"I know, right?"

This time, Lyra emerged from Alice's blind spot and disappeared again after the latter blocked her attack.

It wasn't hard to tell Lyra was purposefully avoiding frontal confrontation because of Alice's spatial cut.

It was a dangerous ability.

'Another hit-and-run attack?'

A small, pitch-black portal appeared near Alice, and she defended against it as usual.

Even though Lyra's attacks were no longer as threatening as before, Alice didn't let her guard down, but this time—

"Huh?"

Her eyes widened in surprise when her original sword emerged from within the portal.

Boom!!*

Alice blocked the attack with the blunt side of her blade, but it pushed her several steps back, which caused her expression to worsen.

Right at that moment, another portal appeared beside Alice, and Lyra came out of it, aiming her dagger at the former's throat.

Whoosh!*

Alice manifested a wall of purple holy fire between them. However, Lyra's body merged with her shadow and passed through it.

"What the—?!"

Shock overcame Alice's face, and she barely avoided the attack by using [Way of the Wind].

That was the best advantage of [Way of the Wind].

Speed wasn't all about maximum speed — accelaration and deceleration also mattered in battles.

Alice could go from zero to maximum and maximum to zero instantly because of [Way of the Wind].

"That was close…"

Alice stopped a few meters away from her original position, her left hand resting on the left side of her neck.

Although she dodged the attack, it tore the red fabric below her armour.

"Your movements are simply unfair..." Lyra's body emerged after she deactivated [Shadow Merge] and [Shadow Construction], staring at Alice with a small smile. "But your instincts are good…"

"What was that attack?"

Lyra's smile widened slightly. "It was your attack in its full might."

"No wonder it broke my wrist…" Alice looked down at her right hand as it barely held onto her sword's hilt. "As expected of myself..."

Lyra let out a suppressed laugh at those condescending words, and she rested her right hand on the back of her neck. "We both injured ourselves before the other could…"

"That aside, you are full of tricks…"

"Please. You are no different. After all…" Lyra raised her index finger towards Alice. "You have no blind spots. The ones previously shown were a lie to lure me in…"

Alice scoffed at her. "You make it sound like you have any blind spots…"

'Does that mean Alice and Lyra have abilities similar to [Gravity Detection] — a 360-degree vision of their surroundings, too?'

Considering their strength, it wasn't impossible.

"Maybe we are more similar than I initially thought…"

Lyra's tone was sarcastic, but Alice's face became repulsed when she heard those words.

"Don't lump us together. You are nothing but a psychopath who loves to see others suffer — both physically and mentally. Even your fighting style revolves around tormenting those weaker than yourself and giving them agonising deaths…"

I knew it before even introducing them. Lyra was the embodiment of everything Alice hated.

The two of them could never see eye to eye.

"Such high praise. You will make me blush, Alice…" Lyra narrowed her eyes as a scythe made of darkness manifested in her hand, and her smile widened. "Since I am in a pleasant mood after that warmup, I will show you another one of my tricks…"

In response to those words, Alice held her sword in her left hand rather than her broken right hand.

As a naturally ambidextrous person, her main fighting style was dual-wielding, so her efficiency wouldn't decrease regardless of the hand she used.

I was also ambidextrous, but not a natural one.

I learned it in my early teens to spite my friend who thought having a dominant left hand made him special.

"Do your worst…"

"You shouldn't make such comments thoughtlessly, you know?"

As Lyra spoke, mist appeared around us and covered the entire island.

Within moments, the mist became so dense that it rendered eyesight useless.

Even when I brought my hands one centimetre away from my eyes, I couldn't see anything.

Soon after, Lyra and Alice's presence disappeared, and when they left the range of [Gravity Detection], I completely lost track of their—

BOOM!*

Nevermind. The mountain behind me just got split into two.

'If it weren't for who Lyra is, Alice would have enjoyed this match up…'

Alice loved fighting other skilled combatants, but no devil reached her skill level in close combat or martial arts.

On the other hand, Lyra had honed her skills to the absolute limit.

Under normal circumstances, Alice would respect that, but considering Lyra's personality and our history... Yeah.

As I said before, their relationship was doomed before it even began.

"Haah…"

A small sigh escaped my lips.

The next few years would be difficult in a different sense.

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1: His sadistic tendencies are slipping into the serious inner monologue lol.

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Words: 7,517

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A/N:

This chapter features two old women fighting over the possession of an eleven-year-old boy.

—

In case someone forgot, it was mentioned in chapter eight that Alice has a very short temper xD.

—

Couldn't fulfil the seven-day deadline.

Sigh.

This chapter turned out way longer than expected.

+ Writing fight scenes is hard.

Originally, this chapter was 12,241 words long, so I split it into two for easier reading experience.

I'll upload the next part soon after editing it.

As for the deadline, I'll make sure it happens this time. Next chapter (not the other part since it'll be up soon — so like next to next) will be within a week.

—

Alice's spacial slash technique is based on Demonic Power. Someone from another species can't imitate it without using Magic to achieve similar results.

Demonic Power is broken as hell.

To simplify things, it's similar to how Issei developed his Dress Break.

It isn't a spell or needs a magic circle, though. It's closer to [Demonic Power Enhancement] than anything.

—

For some lore about the technique:

Alice started developing it after she lost against Vasco (she wasn't using her SG or BB, but a loss is a loss).

She started by observing Krens (Astaroth Clan Librarian with [Space] Demonic Power who killed Seraph Azrael during the Great War) for a few years.

At one point, Krens thought she has gone mad because she kept stalking him and called the clan's medical team on her.

After realising what she was up to, he taught her whatever she wanted and even showed her how he 'cuts' space.

Although not blood related, he thinks of her as his descendant, too, so he has no qualms in helping her.

Also, since Alice never used this technique in battle before, every time she compared herself to someone in the previous chapters, it was without including it.

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Do send power stones so I'll upload the chapter sooner (yes, I'm holding the chapter hostage) xD. Can we go 150?