"My lord?", a skeleton dressed in a dark robe called out to the figure sitting atop the throne.

"What is it?", a deep, throaty voice belonging to the figure on the throne replied. At a closer glance, it looked like the figure was slumped on the throne.

"We… have news about the coffin that you ordered us to keep an eye on."

At those words, the figure sat up straight, his skeletal body rattling and eyes glowing.

"Go on."

"The energy in the coffin… has disappeared. More specifically, it went into the body of a devil by the name of 'Sekirai Agares'. The Agares clan has a mansion within the city of Athens, and our scouts spotted the devil entering the museum where the coffin lay, coming in contact with it and absorbing the energy."

"Tch. The old man took another vessel, huh?"

"Pardon?"

"It's nothing. Send a High-Class Grim Reaper to deal with him. And a few Middle-Class if they see fit."

"Understood."

As the dark robed figure left the throne room, the skeleton leaned back onto his throne.

'Agares, huh? Is it because of their bloodline…? Or is it… something else…'

"Hey Ajuka?", Nathan called out to the man who he had been staying with for the past week.

"Yes?", Ajuka replied without looking up from his project.

"Should I talk to my parents?"

"Sure."

"Okay. I'm going now."

"See you."

"Can you teleport me to my house?"

"Of course."

Ajuka raised a hand and snapped his finger, instantly creating a magic circle underneath Nathan to teleport him back to the Agares mansion.

Nathan appeared in the living room, and somehow, seconds later, Sekirai's parents appeared as well.

Nathan stared at Alisa and Sekezer, who returned the stare, making it into an awkward staring contest.

Eventually, Sekezer broke the silence, "We heard that you fought a Stray Devil."

"Yeah.", Nathan didn't try to deny it.

"Did you win?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

"Good. Did you take a hit?"

"Nope. Not a single scratch on me."

"Even better. Did you kill it?"

"Yeah. What else was I supposed to do? Leash it?"

"No. It's good that you killed it. Make it know its place."

"Is that everything?"

"Yeah. You can go now."

That was when Alisa snapped.

"How could you two be so calm?! Especially you, Sekezer! Our little boy, OUR Sekirai! We could've lost him there!"

The father-and-son duo looked at each other, before Sekezer took the initiative to talk to his wife, "Well, we didn't lose him. And he beat the Stray without taking a single hit. What else could you want?"

"I want him to be safe!"

Nathan butted into the conversation, "But I AM safe. I've been staying with Ajuk-, Maou Beelzebub for the past week, and the accident was just a one-time thing. The Gremory clan is already taking action on this matter, and that won't happen again."

"...", Alisa was speechless, before she pulled Nathan in for a hug. "I'm sorry. I just don't want to lose you, my little boy."

Nathan awkwardly reciprocated and patted her on the back.

'You've… already lost him.'

Nathan and Balher were walking side by side in a mundane part of the Underworld.

"Why do I have to come with you?", Balher complained as he slumped his shoulder, his large frame towering over Nathan, who was standing next to him.

"My mother wanted me to have an escort after the last incident, and what better escort than you, the strongest member of my father's peerage?"

"Boot-licking me won't make me happier."

Nathan chuckled as he continued walking, stopping at a stall from time to time to get some food.

"Where are we going anyways?", Balher sniffed his food before taking a bite of it, asking Nathan a question in process.

"I don't know yet. I'm just walking around for fun."

"We could be training right now, you know?"

"We could. But I don't want to, and by extension, you don't want to. Unless, of course, you want to go against my father's orders."

Balher wisely decided to remain silent and eat his food.

The two continued walking for quite a bit, until Balher suddenly stopped Nathan by holding a hand out in front of him.

Nathan, who noticed the sudden stop, immediately began sensing the environment around them.

His eyes furrowed as he spread his senses in order to find something unnatural.

'I don't feel anything', he thought before asking Balher, "Is there something wrong?"

Balher frowned before saying, "My instincts are going crazy. It's screaming at me to… DODGE!"

Balher shouted before warning Nathan, prompting both of them to launch away from their current location.

Immediately after the two left, their former spot was replaced by a… skeleton in a dark robe, who was holding a scythe.

The skeleton smiled creepily as it opened its mouth, before closing it a moment after.

Balher said to Nathan, "Stay close to me. We don't know if he has other accomplices."

"Okay.", Nathan nodded after seeing Balher's face. He was completely serious.

Nathan tapped his bracelet and prepared to call Ajuka, and as he was just about to do so, a black barrier washed over both Balher and Nathan.

Nathan frowned before realizing the barrier's effects, "Our connection to the world is cut off here."

Balher didn't get a chance to reply as the dark robe figure, who Nathan assumed was a grim reaper, dashed at Balher and slashed at him with his scythe.

"Balher, that's a grim reaper. Try not to get cut by their scythe."

Nathan warned Balher as he charged up a magic circle, preparing to assist Balher in his battle.

As Nathan raised his hand and prepared to fire the spell, his danger intuition came into place and before he knew it, he reappeared a few meters away from his spot, where more grim reapers appeared.

Nathan's eyes hardened as he created a barrier around him, slowing down time as he narrowly dodged two more grim reapers that came from behind him.

'1…2, 3…4…5. There's 5 of them. I'm at a disadvantage… I can't stall for time because Balher might not be able to defeat the other one…'

Nathan analyzed his situation for a moment before deciding on his course of action.

With the limited space in the barrier, Nathan would try to force the grim reapers to fight him individually.

"Alright," Nathan announced to the grim reapers, magic circles appearing from around him, "Let's do this, you pieces of shit."

The response he received was them charging at him.