chapter 3: Ajuka

The laboratory was huge, with a ceiling so high it seemed to disappear into the darkness above. The walls were covered in black and green tiles, and the lights flickered on and off intermittently. The air was heavy with the smell of chemicals and machinery, and every so often there was a faint rumbling from deep within the building.

The shelves were filled with glassware of all shapes and sizes, some empty and some filled with various experiments. The countertops were scattered with notes and diagrams, and the floor was covered in stains and scorch marks from past experiments. The whole place had a palpable sense of danger as if anything could go wrong at any moment.

A tall handsome green-haired man leaned against a table filled with said experiments, His eyes were closed as if in thought, while a pencil behind him hovered in the air constantly writing and jotting down things as if it had a mind of its own.

Those were the only sounds in this huge laboratory, The man's soft inhaling and exhale the periodic thump of laboratory equipment far away, and the tip of the pencil with each word it jotted down.

"Sirzechs what do I owe the pleasure of your visit to my home?" The green-haired's voice was soft and delicate like a spring breeze As if a knowledgeable scholar rather than the super devil he was.

"Ajuka old friend there's no need for formalities." Sirzechs sighed leaning against the wall for support, A quirk he and Ajuka shared.

"You seem stressed, Is heaven acting up again? Or is it another stray devil case?" Ajuka said chuckling a bit and turning around to face his friend, A cup of coffee materialized in his hand almost instantaneously.

"Coffee?" Ajuka offered which in turn Sirzechs merely shook his head.

"No, it's not heaven or the fallen angels not even a stray devil case…It's something to do with my brother." Ajuka just frowned a bit at that, He knew just how much his friend valued his family.

"something to do with your brother?" Ajuka said concerned worry filling him, Other than the Gremory family Ajuka was also aware of Aureolus's birth.

He didn't know his name or even appearance just that lady Venelana was pregnant, Sirzechs specifically told Ajuka because other than his wife Grayfia and his family, Ajuka was the closest person to him, And sometimes he trusted Ajuka even more than his family.

"Yes…well, it's the reason I'm here, Basically, I need you to examine my brother, I scanned his body in the first ten minutes of his birth yet I didn't find even a sliver of demonic energy in him." Sirzechs sighed rubbing his temples "My mother proposed that his demonic energy was just so little at birth I couldn't detect it myself, But I figured if anyone knew it'd be you."

Ajuka's eyes widened a bit in astonishment before biting his cheek in thought "You're brother wasn't born with demonic energy is what you're saying?… Sirzechs that's impossible, Even ants in the human world have some form of detectable mana in them."

As a devil of science and logic, Ajuka found an outlier like this hard to believe because it went against all his preconceived notions and the knowledge he understood beforehand.

"I know it sounds outlandish but just trust me on this, but how long will it take for you to finish this project you're working on currently?" Sirzechs asked getting straight to the point.

"If what you are saying is true…Then I would like to fully analyze him, Blood samples DNA samples, Urine samples, etc I don't want to leave any stone unturned if this is the case, and it'll take me approximately 7 or so years to finish the project I'm currently working on." Ajuka responded without missing a beat, He was far more interested in Aureolus's situation than anything else but he wasn't the type to drop a project halfway through, 7 years after all was but a blink for a devil.

Sirzechs nodded sighing seven years wasn't too long or too short of a period for a being like him, A teleportation circle appeared underneath his feet.

The conversation was quick and decisive not that Sirzechs wanted that outcome, but he knew how Ajuka was when involved in his experiments and projects, His friend preferred to be alone not liking to waste words.

"So how was it Dear?" Grayfia's melodious voice almost dissolved away all of Sirzech's stress these past few days as he relaxed, sitting down beside her.

"Ajuka said it'll take him give or take 7 years til he can take a look at Aureolus," Sirzechs responded "You know how he is…He'd rather burn in Hades than stop a project halfway."

Grayfia giggled a bit at that but nodded nonetheless "That isn't too long…And it'll be enough time for Young Master to fully grow into his demonic reserves."

Grayfia like the rest of the family didn't believe Aureolus lacked demonic energy because it just seemed too absurd, A prospect like that is just too irregular for them to believe in.

In their eyes, it was just a late awakening many powerful devils in chronology were born frail and vulnerable with tiny drops of demonic energy at birth, surely Aureolus was the same, The main issue now is just to make sure this is the case.

"Yeah…and…" Sirzechs stopped himself from finishing his sentence, Sirzechs truly just wanted to give his baby brother a normal childhood, He had seen firsthand how carelessly weak and low-class devils were treated by the aristocracy.

But even those low-class devils had drops of demonic energy no matter how small, Sirzexhs dreaded that day because what if he was wrong? And his brother didn't have any? The ruthlessness he would face wasn't something Sirzechs even wanted to think about.

Sirzechs understood that his parents were loving and loyal devils who valued righteousness even more so than some angels, But would that righteousness be reflected in the weakest of the weak? Or would it be turned into a cold blade of ruthlessness?

He didn't know and that made him dread the end, devils were erratic too unpredictable too impulsive, their sins sometimes influenced them too much or too little, randomly or repeatedly.

Devils like Sirzechs were powerful enough and had wills strong enough to break free of their sin, more than not it wouldn't be able to affect his actions especially it couldn't affect his actions towards his siblings or family, His love for them overpowered that sin, Though he didn't know if the same was true for his mother and father.