I stepped out of the bedroom that had been assigned to me the previous night by Sirzechs. After I had agreed to his proposal, he had personally brought me to the Lucifer manor. The place was enormous, easily comparable in size to the Gremory estate. Long halls, towering ceilings, polished floors, and countless rooms that all looked as if they belonged in some ancient noble palace rather than a residence.
Sirzechs had shown me to my room, explained that the finer details of our arrangement could wait until morning, and then left me to rest. Unfortunately, the morning had arrived, which was why I was now wandering the halls completely lost.
It wasn't that my sense of direction was poor. My mind was perfectly capable of remembering complex magical formulas and bounded fields. Remembering a hallway should have been trivial. The problem was that Sirzechs seemed terrible at giving directions. Either that, or he had done it deliberately. The more I thought about it, the more the second option seemed likely.
I continued walking through another wide hallway lined with tall windows and elegant red carpet. Portraits of members of the Lucifer lineage hung along the walls, their painted gazes following anyone who passed beneath them. Servants occasionally passed through the halls, bowing politely when they noticed me before continuing about their duties. Then suddenly I collided with someone, or perhaps someone collided with me. A small body bumped into mine and immediately fell backward onto the polished floor.
I looked down. My golden slitted pupils met a pair of bright blue eyes. The boy staring up at me had crimson hair that strongly resembled Sirzechs'. The resemblance was obvious enough that the conclusion was immediate. This was his son.
The boy blinked up at me in surprise. "Huh?! Who are you?" he asked. I extended my hand toward him and smiled faintly. "I believe I'm your new brother," I said casually. "Nice to meet you. I am Goetia. What's your name?" The reaction was immediate. His surprise turned into excitement almost instantly. He grabbed my hand without hesitation and let me pull him to his feet.
"Really?" he said, his eyes practically sparkling. "I've always wanted a brother!" That response was exactly what one would expect from a child. "I'm Millicas!" he said proudly, then leaned forward slightly. "Do you wanna play?"
Before I could answer, two maids rushed into the hallway behind him. "Lord Millicas!" they called out in alarm. It seemed they had been chasing him. Their attention shifted the moment they noticed me and both women immediately bowed their heads respectfully. It appeared Sirzechs had already informed the household staff about me.
"Lord Goetia, we apologize for Lord Millicas," one of the maids said quickly. "We didn't know you were awake." The other maid nodded beside her. "Don't worry about it," I said casually, barely glancing at them. My attention remained on the boy in front of me. "I'll look after him from here." Then I looked down at Millicas. "What game do you want to play?"
"Tag!" he declared immediately. Without hesitation he rushed toward one of the maids and tapped her arm. "And you're it!" Then he spun around and sprinted down the hallway. "Hurry, Goetia! Follow me! I know a place where they can't catch us!"
I followed after him, hearing the maids gasp behind me before they started running as well. "Hurry! This way!" Millicas shouted as he turned another corner. Just like that, I found myself in a game of tag. The halls of the Lucifer manor were large enough that the chase quickly turned into a full run through corridors, staircases, and open rooms. Millicas clearly knew the manor well and used shortcuts and hidden passages to avoid being caught.
By the time an hour had passed, I was "it." Millicas ran ahead of me through the hall, laughing loudly as he tried to escape. "No! Wait! We're brothers!" he shouted through his laughter. I chuckled quietly before accelerating and catching up to him in a single swift movement. I grabbed him around the waist and lifted him into the air. "I got you," I said with a small laugh. "You're it now, Millicas." He continued laughing even while dangling in my grip.
"Goetia." A calm voice suddenly called my name. Millicas immediately froze in my hands like a deer caught in headlights. I turned my head toward the voice. Another maid stood at the far end of the hallway. However, unlike the others I had seen earlier, this woman was clearly different.
For one thing, she was powerful. Extremely powerful. Her magical presence alone surpassed my own current strength. Even without actively releasing her aura, the density of her power was unmistakable. She was also extraordinarily beautiful. She appeared to be in her early twenties and possessed a voluptuous figure that the maid uniform did little to conceal. Her long silver hair reached down her back, with two neat braids running along the sides tied with small blue bows while the rest of her hair flowed freely and ended in twin braids near the bottom. Her eyes were a striking crimson red.
She was clearly not an ordinary maid.
"Yes?" I asked, meeting her gaze. "I need you to come with me so you can meet Sirzechs," she said calmly. Then her gaze shifted toward the boy still in my hands. "And Millicas, you were supposed to be studying." A faint but overwhelming aura radiated from her words. Millicas visibly trembled.
"M-mom, I was playing with big brother!" he said quickly, clutching onto me as if I were some kind of shield.
"Study."
She said only a single word.
Millicas immediately bolted from my grip like a frightened animal. "See you later, big brother!" he shouted as he ran down the hallway. I watched him disappear before muttering quietly to myself. "Way to leave someone behind." Then I glanced back at the silver-haired maid. "No disrespect," I added.
"None taken," she replied calmly. "Now if we can go." She turned and began walking, and I followed beside her through the hallway.
"Can I get your name?" I asked.
"I am Grayfia Lucifuge," she said simply. "The wife of Sirzechs Lucifer and the Queen piece of his peerage."
His wife? Then why was she acting as a maid? And what exactly did she mean by "Queen piece"? Before I could ask further questions, we arrived at a pair of large crimson doors. Grayfia knocked once. Almost immediately a voice came from inside.
"Come in."
I recognized Sirzechs' voice instantly. Grayfia opened the door and stepped inside, and I followed.
There sat Sirzechs behind his desk, a gentle smile already on his face as if he had been expecting me. I stopped a short distance in front of him while Grayfia walked past me, circling the desk before coming to a halt directly behind his chair, her posture perfectly straight and composed.
"I saw you with Millicas," Sirzechs said warmly. "Did you have fun?"
"Yes," I replied simply.
The moment he heard my flat tone, his shoulders slouched slightly in exaggerated disappointment. "Why can't you smile at me the way you smiled at Millicas?" he muttered to himself, just loud enough to be heard.
I raised an eyebrow but chose not to respond.
A moment later his expression shifted, the lighthearted air fading as seriousness settled over him. "I intend to announce your existence publicly within a few days," he explained. "However, before doing so, I thought it best for you to meet the other Satans first. I would rather they not think I'm making decisions of this scale without their input."
I nodded in understanding. "That's reasonable."
"Good," Sirzechs said. "Because they'll be here any moment now."
Almost immediately after he spoke, a crimson magic circle appeared in the center of the room. I recognized the structure instantly as teleportation magecraft, though the formula was far more refined than most human systems. A second circle formed beside it, then a third, and finally a fourth, each activating in rapid succession.
Light flashed.
The first to appear was a girl who looked to be in her late teens, with black hair tied into twin tails and bright blue eyes. She carried herself casually, almost playfully. Next to her materialized a man in his early twenties with slicked-back green hair and sharp light-blue eyes, his expression already analytical as he surveyed the room. The final arrival was a tall bald man with a neatly trimmed goatee, his posture relaxed to the point of laziness.
"You called us…" the green-haired man began before trailing off, his gaze locking onto me.
Sirzechs leaned back slightly in his chair. "This is Ars Goetia," he said, his smile sharpening into something closer to a smirk. "A rather unique existence tied to the seventy-two pillars. I have decided to take responsibility for him."
All of their attention shifted toward me at once.
"You're good at introductions, Sirzechs," I said calmly. "I only wish you were that skilled at giving directions." Then I turned my gaze across the three newcomers, studying them carefully. "You are the Four Satans?" I murmured. "Sitri, Astaroth, Glasya-Labolas… these are the Satans?"
I raised an eyebrow slightly.
If that were true, then the demon god pillars of this world were… disappointingly inferior. That was not to say the individuals before me were weak. Far from it. Their power was immense, easily surpassing most beings I had encountered since arriving here. But they lacked the overwhelming conceptual presence I associated with true pillars. Aside from raw power, their existence felt… diminished.
"Yes," Sirzechs answered calmly, "though as I changed my name upon receiving my title, they have done the same."
The green-haired man stepped forward, studying me with open curiosity. "The manifestation of the seventy-two, huh? You've gotten yourself into some trouble this time, Sirzechs," he said thoughtfully before looking down at me. "Ajuka Beelzebub. Formerly Astaroth."
I regarded him blandly.
Before another word could be exchanged, the twin-tailed girl suddenly rushed toward me. "You're Goetia?! That's super cool!" she exclaimed excitedly, stopping far too close to my personal space. "How old are you? You look about So-tan's age!" She bounced slightly on her heels like an excited child.
"Calm down," I said, raising my hand and patting her head without hesitation. "I can only answer one question at a time." The room fell momentarily silent as everyone stared at me, seemingly unsure who among us was supposed to be the child.
She nodded eagerly and stepped back, striking a dramatic pose. "I'm Serafall Leviathan! The cute and lovely Satan Leviathan!"
Why was a child one of the rulers of the Underworld?
I studied her more carefully. Despite her behavior, her power was undeniable. In fact, it exceeded Grayfia's by a noticeable margin. All of them possessed strength comparable to high-ranking divine spirits, with Ajuka and Sirzechs approaching the level of chief gods themselves.
"Troublesome… Sirzechs, you always bring interesting problems," the bald man said lazily. When I turned toward him, Serafall suddenly leaned back into my field of vision again. "Ignore him, he's just a tired old man," she said cheerfully. "He's Falbium Asmodeus."
The man gave a slow, tired wave behind her in confirmation.
Ajuka crossed his arms slightly, his analytical gaze returning to Sirzechs. "So you adopted him? You intend to announce this publicly?"
At those words, the atmosphere in the room shifted.
Even Serafall's playful expression faded, replaced by something far more serious. "Yes," Sirzechs replied calmly. "That is precisely why I called all of you here. I will need your backing… and your assistance with damage control."
"Public announcement means panic among the noble houses," Falbium was the first to speak, his tired eyes settling on Sirzechs as though already exhausted by the problems yet to come. "The Old Satan faction will react immediately. The extremist nobles won't stay quiet either."
"And it won't stop there," Serafall added, her earlier playfulness gone as she crossed her arms, expression surprisingly sharp. "Other mythologies monitor everything we do. Angels, fallen angels, the Norse, the Greek pantheons… they'll all start asking questions the moment a new existence tied to the seventy-two pillars appears."
I raised an eyebrow slightly. Perhaps she was far more competent than she pretended to be.
Sirzechs folded his hands together calmly atop his desk, completely unbothered by the implications. "That is precisely why I called all of you first." His gaze moved between them evenly. "If we present this as a unified decision rather than a personal one, the backlash becomes manageable."
His eyes shifted toward me.
"Goetia, are you willing to help me with this?"
The sudden question drew confused looks from everyone in the room.
"With what?" I asked, tilting my head slightly as I regarded him with interest.
"You heard them," Sirzechs continued. "The Old Satan faction and the extremists will inevitably become interested. And Goetia…" His smile deepened faintly. "…is exactly the kind of existence they have been waiting for."
Ajuka frowned immediately. "You're not trying to do what I think you are, are you?"
Sirzechs' smile answered before his words did.
"Goetia may serve another role," he said calmly. "A bridge between factions still clinging to the old ways. Someone capable of uniting the Underworld itself." His gaze rested fully on me now, amusement flickering in his blue eyes. "Do you think you could do it, Goetia?"
"Are you serious?" Serafall interrupted, now openly frowning. "He's a child."
Falbium rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "If he truly is the manifestation of the seventy-two pillars… the old factions may interpret him as the legitimate successor to the original demons."
Sirzechs nodded. "He is intelligent, composed, and adaptable. More importantly, he can be guided. With proper support, he could draw the Old Satan faction and extremist nobles back into unity rather than rebellion."
Before the discussion could continue any further, I spoke.
"Lead the Underworld?" I said slowly. "I am unsure."
Their attention snapped back to me.
"I could lead it," I continued honestly, tilting my head slightly. "But I fail to see why doing so would be necessary." At present, I possessed no true goal beyond growth in strength. Accepting such a position held little meaning without purpose.
Sirzechs chuckled softly. "That may be the most reassuring answer you could have given."
Ajuka nodded in agreement, studying me with renewed interest. "An interesting response."
"See!" Serafall said, pointing accusingly. "Even he thinks it's a weird idea!" She suddenly paused, realization spreading across her face. "…Wait. Did you just say you could lead the entire Underworld like it was nothing?"
"I could," I replied simply. "Ruling a state would not be particularly difficult."
Fragments of memory stirred within me, hazy and distant like dreams half remembered. Many of the pillars had once been kings, rulers, or sovereign demons. Governance, hierarchy, dominion, systems of control, these were not unfamiliar concepts. Even if I had never ruled personally, the knowledge felt instinctive, embedded within my existence.
Leadership was merely another form of structure.
They watched me carefully now, curiosity replacing skepticism.
Sirzechs spoke again before anyone else could respond. "You're correct that it isn't necessary right now." His expression softened slightly, warmth returning to his gaze. "But the Underworld has spent centuries recovering from civil war."
His blue eyes locked onto mine.
"If your existence could prevent another one… would that not be reason enough?"
I felt nothing at first.
If I were honest, I did not care about the Underworld itself. Its politics, its factions, its survival, none of it held personal meaning to me. I did not even know what I truly wanted. Perhaps simply living peacefully would have been enough.
Yet the thought disgusted me.
In my previous life I had drifted aimlessly, without ambition or ideal, and now that same emptiness felt intolerable.
Perhaps I did want something.
If the Underworld was inefficient, improving it would stabilize the environment in which I existed. A refined system would naturally produce stronger beings, better resources, greater magical development.
Creating my own magical civilization…
The idea did not sound unpleasant.
These demons were remarkably similar to humans, bound by emotion, conflict, and flawed systems. Goetia had once pursued an objective of absolute salvation through destruction, erasing suffering entirely.
But destruction was inefficient.
Instead of erasing suffering, one could construct a society where suffering simply failed to arise.
A world optimized from its foundation.
A civilization without unnecessary pain.
The thought grew rapidly within my mind, expanding with unsettling clarity.
"I suppose you have a point," I murmured at last.
The words were directed toward Sirzechs, yet in truth they served as confirmation for myself. The decision had already been made long before I voiced it aloud. Plans were beginning to assemble quietly within my thoughts, interlocking pieces forming a structure only I could yet perceive.
"So, do you accept?" Sirzechs asked, his expression relaxed, a gentle smile resting easily on his face as though he already knew the answer.
"This is the second proposition you have maneuvered me into accepting within two days," I replied, my golden slit pupils meeting his blue eyes without hesitation. There was no accusation in my tone, only observation. "You are quite the skilled businessman."
For a brief moment, Sirzechs looked genuinely surprised, and then his smile brightened noticeably, warmth overtaking the composed dignity he usually carried. "Thank you," he said sincerely before immediately turning toward Grayfia with unmistakable enthusiasm. "You heard that, Grayfia? Our son complimented me for the first time."
The shift in atmosphere was immediate.
Grayfia's crimson eyes moved toward him, her gaze softening almost imperceptibly, a warmth that contradicted the perfectly composed posture she maintained behind his chair. Yet her response carried none of that gentleness.
"Please compose yourself, Sirzechs," she said calmly, her voice smooth and precise. "The other Satans are still present."
Sirzechs' expression fell instantly, his shoulders lowering slightly as he looked at her like a reprimanded child, the image oddly at odds with the overwhelming power he possessed. For a fleeting second, he resembled nothing more than a husband being scolded rather than one of the rulers of the Underworld.
Ajuka rubbed his brow, clearly amused, while Serafall struggled to suppress a grin, her shoulders trembling faintly. Falbium merely sighed, as though this exchange confirmed expectations he had long since accepted.
A moment later, Sirzechs cleared his throat, composure returning seamlessly as if a switch had been flipped. The warmth faded into calm authority, and when he turned back toward the other Satans, the Maou Lucifer stood before them once more rather than an overly proud father.
"Now then," he said smoothly, folding his hands together again, "shall we continue?"