Ch. 6 - Discovering newfound strength

Using the teleportation circle, we appeared exactly at the same dilapidated structure where we left earlier.

During that time, Serarall was humming happily to herself.

I wonder how she can keep herself so positive every single minute. Not to mention, what is she even happy with? Because wherever she's getting it, I want some of it.

"Okay, first things first, I'm not going to force you to stick with me for my mission, if you want, you're free to go around, however, you must not attract the attention of the Angels, can you pinky promise me that?" She turns around to face me, uttering a few conditions that don't seem that bad to follow.

It sounds more like safety protocols that a mother would tell her child.

"Yes, Mom," I said with a simple roll of my eyes, just to tease her.

"Hehe, alright son~" Serafall, startling me, adorned a grin on her face as she teased back. Before I could get back on her, she quickly disappeared before my eyes, leaving me alone in the dilapidated building.

Well, that's great, now that she's gone, everything that happened so far finally came crashing down on me.

One moment, I was resting in my apartment when I got attacked by my former master, got stabbed in my heart, got accidentally transferred to another world again but this time, back in ancient times, almost finding myself at death's doorstep before I turned into a devil, visited Hell or Underworld whatever Serafall likes to call it and by the end of the journey, I'm back to the world of living once again.

Great, simply great.

The question left for me is, what do I do now? With the details that Serafall filled me in earlier, do I have to join this Great War that I don't find any sense participating in just because I'm now part of the devil race? Do I even want to fight Big G of the Bible himself?

Being in a new world finally gave me a small space to breathe. Unlike the world of Marvel, at least I don't have to constantly look behind my back and expect to meet some Super-Villain or worse, one of the Marvel Universe's Gods.

This world seems safer to me. I mean, from what Serafall told me about the Supernatural side of this world, this Universe is quite similar to the Marvel Universe except that it's on Normal Mode instead of Nightmare in terms of difficulty.

With all of these positive elements, as long as I keep my head low and focus on growing my strength, what could go wrong?

***

"Are you sure he smells human?"

"Yes, Milord! Once in my thousand years of living, I never doubted my sense of smell! Although his devil smell is overlapping and almost dominating, it's impossible to hide the smell of a human from my smell!" Kneeling on the floor was someone whose appearance would put even the wealthiest person to shame in terms of clothing and aura.

In front of this kneeling man was another figure whose presence was so suffocating that the space itself seemed to curve and bend like a waving surface of the sea.

His sharp violet pupils combined with his eerie aura, pressed on the kneeling man, despite not moving, the man felt a huge pressure weighing down on him, as if for every second he spent, the heavier the pressure became.

"…Good, you may leave now, as a reward for this information, the Barbartos Clan will be granted to take over the Animal Research department, I'll inform Lord Lucifer myself about that." After a moment of silence that seemed to choke the kneeling man, the man sitting on the throne finally spoke.

"Thank you, Lord Zekram!" The man finally stood and bowed his head before leaving, not daring to use a teleportation circle directly inside as it is considered taboo and very disrespectful to the owner of the house.

As someone with a very wide and powerful influence inside the Underworld aside from the four great Satans, Zekram has eyes in almost the entire Underworld, so he's always informed of whoever goes in and out.

It's also a coincidence that Serafall has been under his radar for quite a while, mainly due to her immense talent in her clan's trait at such a young age. Such seedlings should be nurtured to increase the chances of them winning the Great War.

Although her lack of participation in the war and inability to consistently follow orders from those above her is something that he's been frowning upon, it is undeniable that she'll be a very important piece to accomplish their revenge on the being who vanquished them.

"Hmm…Interesting, what are you planning bringing a devil who reeks of human, Serafall."

***

Not knowing that I just gained myself a stalker, my eyes were darting around as seeing the humans who lived in the past is almost surreal, although I know that they're living and alive, I can't help but see them as people who are already dead, after all, I'm kind of someone who was from future and these guys are long dead during that time, buried and forever forgotten.

Well, here's to my past self thinking that history is just a bunch of bullshits that the government made up.

"Excuse me? May I ask you to not please block my passage?" Suddenly getting interrupted, I shifted my head and saw a random man carrying what seemed to be a basket filled with fruits and vegetables, from the looks of his sweaty face and exhausted expression, I could tell that the man was a breadwinner.

"My…apologies?" I muttered confusedly, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to understand the man in front of me nor is he supposed to understand me either. Still, I stepped aside for the man to pass.

"It's fine, lad. Just watch where you're standing still next time." The man gave me a short smile before going back to seriousness. The weight of the basket he's carrying is no joke considering he's human.

Upon passage, I started weaving through the traffic of camels, carts, and busy men, before finally finding a good and safe place to stay for a while.

I need to find somewhere I won't be disturbed.

With this in mind, I scanned my eyes around and saw a huge cart on its way toward Jerusalem's front gates, probably to exit the city.

Realizing that this was my chance to leave and explore outside instead of staying in a city that is the last place a new devil like me would go into.

Thankfully, I could still use some of my spells using this weird energy I could feel inside of me. I just recently discovered earlier that I no longer need the assistance of a Dimension to borrow energy to harness my spells, instead, I now have my very own energy reserves to fuel my magic.

It kind of feels weird at first but I know I'll get used to it somehow.

As soon as the huge cart passed by my location, I quickly but quietly cast a wind spell to disrupt the coachman, forcing him to stop the cart and cover his eyes from the clouds of dust attempting to enter his eyes.

Taking the opportunity, I swiftly ducked under the cart and used the cart's body underneath to carry my own weight, effectively turning me into part of the cart itself.

Once the coachman recovered and the wind finally dispersed, he wasted no time and resumed driving the cart.

Meanwhile, I was surprised that I didn't feel any strain on my muscles considering I was literally carrying my own weight underneath a moving cart on a road full of bumps and small potholes that almost seemed as if every time the cart ran through it, it would overturn the cart.

Hidden and unseen, the cart swiftly moved past through the gates of Jerusalem, finally entering the wide and outside world.

***

In the meantime, Serafall just got reunited with her companions for Lady Leviathan's given task of killing three popes of the Church.

"Where have you been, Lady Serafall?" As someone who is the direct heir of one of the Devil's pillars, Serafall is still respected by them despite her unsatisfactory performance when it comes to participating in the cause of the Great War.

As much as they want to scold her for deviating away from the main mission, they can only swallow their frustrations and wish that they were born with a higher status than Serafall so they could at least have a say against her.

"I've been…scouting." She lied, one can already tell how bad she is at lying as her eyes dart around without daring to look them in the eye.

"Sigh…Well, if you're truly 'scouting' as you're saying, Lady Serafall, I assume you now know the current locations of the three popes we're targeting."

"….Of course! One is located on the north side of-" Before Serafall could continue, she was interrupted by the person she was talking to, slapping his own forehead.

Slap!

"Lady Serafall…we scouted around Jerusalem and found out that all the popes of the churches are having a secret meeting in an undisclosed location which we thankfully found. The only thing that's holding us back from raiding them is because we're waiting for your arrival, Lady Serafall."

"Oh." Serafall, who was unable to say anything, could only scratch her head and follow the lead of her companions for now.

'Oh Lord Satans, please help us get through this task.' One certain companion prayed in his heart.

***

I almost fell asleep hiding under the cart, thankfully, a certain pothole startled me, snapping me back to reality.

I should be far enough now.

Letting go of the rotting and decaying wood I'd been grabbing onto for the past few minutes, I felt my back drop and rub against the rocky road, watching as the cart finally rode past me.

Rubbing my bottom, I stood up and looked around me, finding myself in the middle of nowhere, lush trees surrounding me on both sides.

Well, the road will probably lead me to another human settlement, but I don't plan to stay underneath a cart for entire days, I might as well drop off now and assess my current situation first.

Walking past the side of the road and entering the forest, my legs brought me forward for a few minutes until I arrived at a small clearing, enough to establish a small temporary home for me, away from anyone who might come to harm me.

Putting that aside, I also have other plans for today. From what Serafall told me earlier, one of the boons that comes with being a devil is the increase in all aspects of physical strength,

I want to test them and what place is the best to test them but an empty place in the middle of nowhere.

The first thing I want to test is my speed. Previously before I turned into a devil, my speed was above normal, which is pretty much obvious considering that as a sorcerer, physical is part of our training back in Kamar-Taj.

I don't need to bend down and prepare myself to run as fast as I can similar to how professional runners do before the start of the competition, after all, during the middle of a fight, do I also need to bend down and prepare?

So, a single command that my brain delivered to my legs, caused me to cover 50 meters in a single moment, I haven't even blinked yet when I already found myself in my destination.

Oh wow, I blinked.

I didn't know I would be that fast. If my guess is correct, it would take a human around 10 seconds to reach the same distance.

It should be fast enough right? I mean, according to what Serafall told me, I'm on the threshold of a Middle-class devil, so there's still more room for improvement.

Next is the strength, hopefully, it would be somewhere near Captain America's strength, that way, I can finally hold my ground against people like them.

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 7 - Attempt to go back home]

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