CHAPTER 01: THE WILL OF A DEVIL
✦━━━✦┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✦ ⚠️ ✦ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈✦━━━✦✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧★彡[ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐒 — 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 ]彡★✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧◆◇◆✧✦━━━✦┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ✦ ⚠️ ✦ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈✦━━━✦
The room was designed to make existence feel small.
Walls layered with anti-magic alloys. Sigils etched so deep into the metal they felt older than language itself. A ceiling that hummed faintly, suppressing aura, suppressing intent, suppressing anything that dared to exceed what the kingdom defined as acceptable. The light was white, sterile, unforgiving—never dimming, never flickering, never allowing time to pass naturally.
At the center of it all sat Akuma.
Not restrained.Not chained.Not sealed.
Just… sitting.
Barefoot. Elbows resting loosely on his knees. Head tilted slightly as if listening to something far away—not to the guards beyond the walls, not to the hum of the suppression field, but to the slow, almost bored rhythm of his own existence. His crimson eyes were half-lidded, unfocused, like a scholar forced to attend a lecture beneath his comprehension.
Time passed.
Or maybe it didn't.
Akuma exhaled softly.
He had caused inconvenience. That was their word for it."Inconvenience to national stability.""Inconvenience to royal image.""Inconvenience to reality."
A corner of his mouth twitched—not a smile, not yet.
This cage was temporary.Everything always was.
Footsteps approached.
Measured. Controlled. Too careful.
The reinforced door hissed open, layers of seals disengaging one by one, and Princess Yakumo stepped inside first, her posture rigid despite the regal uniform she wore. Behind her followed Princess Aoi, slower, eyes sharp, fingers curled slightly as if ready to summon guards at the smallest provocation.
The door sealed behind them.
Silence thickened.
Akuma looked up.
Not startled.Not curious.Just… acknowledging input.
PRINCESS YAKUMO:"…You don't look surprised."
Her voice was steady, but the tension in her shoulders betrayed her. She had rehearsed this moment. Replayed it in her mind. Spoken to mirrors. And still, standing in front of him, the air felt heavier.
Akuma tilted his head a fraction.
AKUMA:"Surprise requires expectation. I had none."
Princess Aoi's jaw tightened.
PRINCESS AOI:"You're being held in a Class-Null Security Management Room. Do you understand what that means?"
Akuma glanced around, eyes tracing the sigils, the alloys, the layered contingencies.
AKUMA:"It means you are afraid of what happens if I stand up."
The words landed cleanly. Too cleanly.
Yakumo inhaled sharply, forcing composure.
PRINCESS YAKUMO:"You caused a Level-Blue Lockdown across the Eastern Region. You stole the Core of Azure. You destabilized the flow of resources sustaining millions."
She paused, eyes hardening.
PRINCESS YAKUMO:"You are officially classified as a national-level threat."
Akuma blinked once.
Then leaned back against the wall.
AKUMA:"Classification systems exist to comfort those who cannot control outcomes.""Threat. Criminal. Devil.""Different words. Same fear."
Aoi stepped forward.
PRINCESS AOI:"Careful."
Akuma's gaze shifted to her.
AKUMA:"That word implies authority.""You do not possess enough of it to issue warnings."
The room vibrated—just slightly.
Not from power.
From intent.
Before either princess could respond—
The alarms screamed.
Not blue.Not red.
A deep, violent PURPLE.
The lights shifted instantly, runes flaring across the walls.
⚠️ PURPLE PERIMETER LOCKDOWN INITIATED ⚠️⚠️ WAR-LEVEL THREAT DETECTED ⚠️
Princess Yakumo froze.
Her breath hitched.
PRINCESS YAKUMO:"…No."
Princess Aoi's face drained of color.
PRINCESS AOI:"Purple…? That's impossible—there's no scheduled conflict, no declared war, no—"
The system didn't care.
Another announcement echoed.
UNKNOWN ENTITY BREACHING REGIONAL DEFENSE LINESTHREAT LEVEL: UNMEASURABLE
Yakumo turned sharply toward Akuma.
Her voice trembled now—just barely.
PRINCESS YAKUMO:"…Is this you?"
Akuma stared at the ceiling.
Thoughtful.
Then—
A soft exhale.
AKUMA:"No.""If it were me, the alarm would not have time to sound."
That was when fear truly set in.
Aoi swallowed.
PRINCESS AOI:"…Then what did we just wake up?"
Akuma finally stood.
The suppression field screamed in protest.
Metal groaned.
Sigils cracked.
But he didn't release power.Didn't attack.Didn't smile.
He simply… straightened.
AKUMA:"Something impatient.""Something loud.""Something that believes strength alone grants meaning."
He turned to them.
Eyes calm.Voice level.
AKUMA:"I was going to leave quietly.""But now…"
A pause.
A choice.
AKUMA:"…I am curious."
Outside, the kingdom braced for war.
Inside the cage, the devil decided whether to care.