Last time, after appearing in the battlefiel to bail the Demon's Western Forces, the Devil King has fallen into the hands of the church.

Satan Jacob's first memory is the taste of blood and how quickly it cools all around him. He imagines that -as he watches his parents and siblings and aunts and uncles be brutally murdered- some fond memories of them must've crossed his mind. He knows that his life before the massacre wasn't terrible, but for the life of him, his first accurate memory is watching his entrails fly out of him and the sound of his mother's screams. He watches their corpses still, cool down and rot, unable to move. He watches as the crows feast on them, and only desperate, tear-ripping screaming keeps them off himself. Satan barely remembers either of them, or anyone else he might've called family, and so, mourning them is a waste of his time.

Not that he thought he'd have that much time at all.

For whatever reason, the demon has failed to finish him off, which would've been merciful. Instead, Satan's most vibrant memory of his childhood is the itchy feeling of his middle stitching itself back together at a painstaking pace. It's like he's been sewn back together, like an old cherished ragdoll that should really go into the trash, by a pair of untalented, hesitant hands. It hurts.

So, Satan's first memory isn't anger or bloodthirst or fear, it's pain.

The water is cold enough to burn, and as it shocks him on its way down his face and body, he imagines it is holy. It's a dirt-cheap trick, the effectiveness of sacred magic against demons, but Satan is well-acquainted with the feeling. He is immediately awake but maintains an air of grogginess for appearance's sake. It's not challenging when his body weights him down, the blood flowing through his vein feeling sluggish. He's spelled or drugged, if his capturers are smart, probably both.

"Awaken, Devil, in the name of the one true god." The voice is low, but it's easy enough to determine that it belongs to a woman. She sounds like very little fun to Satan, but as his joints ache from being pulled up and away from him, and he feels chains wrapped him like the world's most secure caterpillar, he imagines that's probably the way she likes to live life. He raises his chin, barely, and has one instant of panic when he opens his eyes to darkness. He shakes his head and realizes that he has cloth around his eyes. Satan bites down a sigh of relief; he's blindfolded, just blindfolded, nothing more.

"Is that how you wake yourself every day in the mornings? Doesn't it put you right back to sleep?" He's unsure if he genuinely failed to evoke a reaction or if the woman knows better than utter her distaste out loud.

"As you've most likely gathered, you have been taken and sealed by the Joint Resistance Force of Ente Isla, and now lay in the custody of the Church, specifically of the Inquisition Panel and it's Head Inquisitor." She tells him so with no relish or inflection as if it was all the same to her. "I am the Head Inquisitor, my name is Crestia Bell."

"And what are you hoping to accomplish with my imprisonment, Inquisitor?"

Satan finds it amusing that the humans believe they can subject him to suffering he hasn't been through. He has several theories about why they looked for his imprisonment so purposefully, but none of them shall bear fruit. The Devil King clawed his way to the top through violence and cleverness and being willing to hurt and get hurt more than any other demon, the humans don't know pain the way he does.

"The church wishes to study the sudden increase in demon's experience with Magical Power in the last 50 years. I have been indicated to use any means necessary to procure the information." So, torture then. "But for me?" she adds, "I just want you to pay for the things you've done."

Oh yes, definitely torture.

"Is it over?" Emilia asks over the dining table. She's taken siege in the guard's quarters of the dungeon, refusing to be any farther than strictly required from the Devil King. Emerada and Albert have come down from the briefing with some bread and cheese. Timely, because Emilia is tired and hungry, but too stubborn to abandon her post. All her life, she has prepared herself for a long and violent campaign where she would slaughter her way to Devil Castle.

On her first major win in battle, a month into her journey, the Devil King Satan laid injured and unconscious, magically bound a mere doorway from her. Emilia should be happy, but instead, she feels adrift, like her entire life has been taken out from under her.

"I wish," Albert answers her gravely.

"Initial repooortss indicate that the deeemons have not retreated from aaaany other continent, onlyyy the Wessst," Emerada's whispery words, tragic as they are, bring with them a sense of normalcy. Some hero Emilia is -gladdened by the continuous despair of her people. Her green eyes travel dazedly towards the black iron door, settling to look beyond the prison to where the worst of demonkind rests inside. The church is confident in their ability to keep the Demon Lord restrained, but not confident enough to keep him anywhere near a city. Emilia and the others had arrived at the forgotten Daisy Keep, 87 clicks away from the Central Continent's capital. Population of 30 divine casters, the mysterious Crestia Bell, Hero Emilia Justina, and her three companions. Over 30 humans hoping to keep contained a creature who razed the world they knew with a flick of his wrist and greed for a soul. "Theee church is sending annnn envoy, to bargaaaain the Devil Kinnnng's life for their retreeeat." Emilia frowns at the statement.

"Do you think they'll care? I figured one of the Demon Generals would step up and call it a day." Emilia pictures once again the Devil King's sagging form and how not a single soul stayed behind to help the demon.

"From my experience, at least from the demons I handled in the North, they have significant loyalty to Satan," Albert says this with a level of discomfort, and so, Emilia curves her curiosity as to how exactly he could know such a thing. "I'm unsure if it'll be enough to deter their continued advances."

"Yess, but" Emerada rejoins, "their suuuperpower is no longer there. Buuut ours isss." Emilia knows they mean her. The half-angel child that had finally given humanity a fighting chance to stand on equal footing against the invading demons. Whenever the demons were in a pinch, a Demon General, or worst, the Devil King himself would materialize and impossibly turn the tides. The demons were not only numerous, but their commanding officers wielded an ever-increasing demonic power. It was almost like they got stronger every time humanity fought them.

Emilia's eyes drift to the door, where Crestia Bell is awakening the Devil King; she tries not to wonder what must be happening inside the prison chambers.

I... still have no idea where this is going, and yet, here we are haha. What did you think?