19

Finding Kia was simple enough she stuck with Alice and as I rounded a corner I found them together.

"Hey, can we talk now?" She nods and lets Alice she will find her later. I don't know how to say that I know she's a spy and I don't care because I know she's forced to do it. I guess I could just rip the band-aid off and just say that I know.

As we pass through the halls we enter a pretty secluded spot and I hold my hand out, she looks at it curiously before grabbing it. I teleport us to my place and she looks around in confusion before she pulls her hand back and looks worried.

"Why do you look so frightened?" she snaps herself out of her emotional turmoil and goes back to an impassive look.

"I was just surprised, I didn't know you had such skill." well that makes sense I hope this world is like the original or I am about to make a fool of myself.

"Well I wanted to talk to you about something I have been curious about." she sits on the couch that's opposite the one I just sat on.

"Alright, and what would that be master Nova." ignoring the way she calls me I hope this goes well.

"What is up with your soul? why is it so restrained?" going to try to get her to confess to having soul shackles I don't know what kind of preventative measures they have to prevent talking, but I know they could talk about it in the book at least a little bit. but I also know that the shackles can act as puppet strings if the enslaved try to rebel so she may not be able to talk about it.

Judging by her reaction she is even more scared now as I lean back she is pale as a sheet and wide-eyed. in the book, she was demon king level with magic when she had her cuff broken off but that may have been with the help of black potions I can't remember well. either way with the cuff on she can't even use intermediate power. worse case the soul shackles act out and kill her I can buy an evil piece and revive her as a devil. a bit manipulative but then again I am a devil now so it comes with the trade.

"What do you mean master Nova I don't know what is wrong with my soul." she is lying but I don't need to call her out on it directly just yet. I can just say I can see souls and she will have to assume there is some truth to it or how else would I be alluding to the soul shackles?

"Well, you see I have the ability to see souls, and yours is chained up and I was wondering what the deal was." She looks down at the hands clenching in her lap and bites her lip. her shoulders start to shake and I feel a bit bad about this. she probably thinks she's going to die or be exposed and I should probably clear that misunderstanding up. "hey your fine don't take it the wrong way I wanted to help you if I can I might be able to free your soul. I just didn't know the situation and wanted to get an answer." Kia breaths hard a few times and collects herself, she then looks back at me.

"It's not by my choice and that's all I can say." she seems to be in a bit of pain as she sits there shaking a bit and I realize that it does know when the shackled is thinking of rebelling or at least talking about it. casting worthless all around her and through her I don't get much of a reaction. closing my eyes I focus on the abstract concept of a soul and imagine a soul in Infront of me bound. I then focus on pouring worthless onto the soul and to my surprise, I feel worthless draining from me into what feels like an empty abyss. opening my eyes Kia has stopped shaking and is looking at her hands and seems surprised.

"Hey I am going to try to do something real quick." she panics.

"Wait! don't help me if you can they will kill my mom!" she seems about ready to jump across the table in between us so I stop but I keep my worthless trickling in. "I don't know what you're doing but I feel like a noose that was on my neck has loosed and is just sitting on my neck instead of chocking it." wait, is it a lack of power or a lack of understanding that has to lead to me only losing the shackles instead of slipping them off or breaking them.

"Well can you tell me what you know about your situation and also the deal with your mom?" she begins saying a few names and talks about the Beelzebub mask it seems she's testing the limits of her newfound freedom. she then looks excited and looked at me.

"I am soul shackled by my father's Wife a Leviathan by the name Sabrina she soul shackled me and my mom and uses us as pawns and stress relief to beat us." she pauses and looks a bit depressed remembering the past and finally being able to talk about it. it could be that she is finding some newfound freedom and that's the reason she is being so forthcoming or it could be she's desperate and is confiding in me. either way, I listen.

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Her past is a copy of what I know and boy is it fucked to see a person that has gone through such horrible things. her mom and her have been slaves for entertainment and to be tormented since she was born. since she was a succubus at birth her dad lost interest and threw her to his legal wife and forsaken his mistress. even though she has the devour physique he didn't care she wasn't a full Beelzebub. and Kia has a half-sister who was born a Leviathan from Sabrina and that sister was always jealous she had the devourer physique and took out her anger on Kia. her sister Fatilu was also ignored by her dad who is Azgalor Beelzebub the new king of Beelzebub and since his wife couldn't give him a Beelzebub he keeps taking mistresses trying to get one. leading to Sabrina and Fatilu tormenting Kia and her mom Freya even more.

Later on, in life, Kia was sent to the dark moon to look for the were abouts of the Beelzebub family artifact the god-eating mask. this is where their old king Glorfin Beelzebub was last spotted with it. she contacts them once a month or every other month through a magical item and gives reports. she signed a contract to not talk about my abilities with them and to not talk to them about me but that should be fine either way since unless they ask direct questions she can't just withhold information.

"I can help your mom if I can find her I think I have a way to free you both but to fully break the shackles I may need to gain a bit more strength I am not sure. since you won't let me try to break yours then I will just wait till I get a bit stronger before trying. you said she is usually in the bloody vine estate in the dark shadow empire?"

"Yes I don't know the full story but Sabrina is often there and she keeps my mom with her as a maid, She should be with Sabrina at all times." after all the talking she still has some tear marks on her face but she seems a lot better after talking about it and maybe a little hope of saving her mom and herself. with this Kia should be less of an issue, not that she ever was one in the story till she set up Chen Rui to be ambushed but she tried to warn him to run away and he didn't. so I don't blame her and I plan to make sure her mom doesn't die like in the book. she can also get me into crystal valley one of the headquarters of the blood fall organization and it's also the place that the crystal dragon Jacob is at with the ancient rune tablets I need. so saving Kia's mom is not only going to have Kia super happy and take a huge weight off her. it also is my in on a lot of plans and I can make huge gains.

"Don't worry I will soon gain enough strength to try to save your mom and then I will free you two." worst case if I can't use worthless to free them after tiering up then I can kill them and then revive them as devils which should refresh their souls so to speak.

"Thank you master Nova I will serve you with all my heart if you can save my mom. I have had a good life here in the dark moon but every day I worry for her."

"Please stop with the master Nova thing it's a bit too much, just call me Nova." She smiles and I stand up. " alright I will take you back, where do I need to drop you off?" she awkwardly shifts.

"Well I am supposed to stay with you as your maid but I have been hiding at a hotel since I lost my old servant quarters." choosing not to comment I begin to walk to the kitchen. "where are you going, Nova?"

"Making dinner so we have something to eat, all that talking has me famished." she rushes in and awkwardly watches.

"I can help I cook all the time and it is my job after all." we wash our hands and I grab a chunk of meat from my inventory. I start to mince the meat and she watches and I pass her some onion look-alike of some sort. "cut that the same way after peeling it." and so we spend the next few minutes quietly working. after I mixed the meat and onions I pull out a flat top I made when I was crafting that works with magic from dragon script and basic enchanting from this world. it can get to chilling temperatures or dang near melt itself but I get it hot enough to cook with and then make some patties and start cooking.

"What is this Nova?" she watches me lightly season the burgers and the smell permeates the room.

"Burgers are one of the most popular foods from where I come from." I just remembered she doesn't know I am a devil. I guess it can wait till she's free don't want to take any chances. "I will tell you about where I am from when you are free in case anything happens." she nods and I continue to cook for us.

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Waking up to a knock on my bedroom door I groggily get up and open the door. Kia is standing there in full maid attire, it seems she is an early riser. she looks at my bare chest and down a bit before going a bit red and then turning around.

"Athena is here she said something about you were supposed to train with her this morning and didn't show up so she was worried about you." as she walks off I see her tail swooshing around in the air as if to attract my attention and the meet her eyes and she gives me a wink think I was checking out her ass. ugh now, this succubus has no reservations screwing with me. oh well, it's better than the odd looks and disdain from before. getting some clean clothes on I head down to see Athena and Kia talking and when I walk in they quiet down.

"What you two girls up to?" Athena glares at me but I raise an eyebrow and she huffs, Kia giggles at the display.

"Kia told me she is staying with you as your maid so I was telling her to watch out for your lecherous hands." ah she is jealous, I know an easy fix to that.

"If you want you could move in to watch my lecherous hands for her." her jaw drops and I pull a fruit from my inventory for breakfast, don't want a big meal if I am going to spar with an embarrassed Athena. She recovers quickly and is just as quick to deny.

"That's not ok, where not even dating yet so it would be moving a bit fast." Kia gives me a look and I smirk as she also gives a small smile. it was like we mutually understood each other, This is the perfect moment.

"Yet huh, guess I should go ahead and ask you out so you don't have any excuse." before she can even comprehend that she slipped up I hammered, she reels back as if struck and goes as red as her demon form. she reaches for her space bracelet for what I assume is her sword and I teleport to her side and grab her hand so she doesn't ruin my living room. "If it's a no just say don't ruin my interior, it would be a pain to redecorate. Athena looks down and mumbles. "Sorry can't hear you, what was that?"

"I said I would date you! did you hear me that time? you are strong enough and you also are fun to be around so I am fine with it." she looks dead set at this point. Huh, and neither of us had to die like in the original for it to happen.

"Well alrighty then girlfriend lets go spar I need to loosen up before that meeting and I hope Shea convinced the Mellon family." looking back at Kia I wave or her to follow and she does. "come one Kia lets go, maybe I can get that ring taken off you so you can practice as well." it shouldn't be a problem she wouldn't attack anyone anyway and in the original, they never told her to attack anyone in the dark moon so as long as she wears a fake and conceals her power around most people it should be fine. I will still inform Shea though so she doesn't think I am trying to challenge her authority or anything I know she can get testy on some subjects.