Ultima was bored .

Ever since the creation of the Underworld, Guy Crimson's own dimension, the violet demon was sent as an ambassador by Great Rimuru to oversee and occasionally aid Guy's followers in punishing the souls of those who were deemed evil in life.

That task was partnered with her role as the Gatekeeper of the Mass. In short, she was to personally send any soul marked by her master, or a Chaotic Soul, to the Azathoth Mass. The latter had started after The Incident.

The demon shook her head. Nobody talked about The Incident. It was a taboo subject for all of Tempest. Still, her bored mind led her to once again entertain those forbidden thoughts.

Nobody really knew what happened during the whole ordeal. One moment their master was fine and dandy, the next he was on the brink of death. It had brought such a huge shock to all his subordinates, including her, because they all felt their connection weaken. Panic surged in the entire multiverse because of their master's apparent state. Not even Diablo could find out the cause.

In the end, after his revival, their master brushed off their worries, telling them that it was just an experiment gone awry.

Ultima didn't believe his words one bit.

With Manas: Ciel's nature, it was impossible for their master to come to any harm. Coupled with that, Ciel had acted severely during the whole thing. She refused to let anyone enter her master's room, and threatened to destabilize the Mass should anyone force her to. Such a thing would cause untold destruction to all of existence, yet the Manas wasn't in the mood for caring.

Even Great Rimuru's most fanatical servant was disallowed entry.

When Diablo ignored her and tried to enter, Ciel used their master's power to utterly destroy him. The reason Diablo didn't actually die was that Rimuru's health stabilized moments before. Ciel was too distracted at the good news to finish the demon off.

For something as small as an experiment to cause both the untold ire of the Manas and the soul separation of Rimuru and Veldora Tempest was simply incomprehensible. Still, their lord and master told them not to look into it too much. If he wanted to keep it secret, then nobody was going to pry it out from him. Not even Milim was able to convince him.

That wasn't the end of it.

Chloe Aubert declared war on Tempest, dragging Rimuru's other students with her. Leon Cromwell, like the simp he was, followed after her. After the war ended, the last thing she heard was that the group had somehow created their own universe outside of Rimuru's and Ciel's control and sight. Their side still had no idea how, but she trusted Diablo would've figured it out any day now.

Speak of the devil…

"Hello, Ultima," the Black Demon walked out of the shadows.

In this room of endless darkness, somehow Diablo's appearance made it even darker. Ultima, whose head was resting on the black mahogany desk, sat up straight. The man held out his hand, dragging a snivelling little demon.

"Yours?" Diablo asked knowingly.

Ultima sensed the primordial essence of the lesser demon, discovering that it was indeed dependent on Violet. Said Violet Demon sighed. It was always her descendants that were dragged into the Underworld for punishment. Well, hers and Carrera's. Red demons were tasked—read: enslaved—by Guy to take care of matters in the Underworld he felt were beneath him, so they weren't able to cause much trouble.

It was perfunctory, but Ultima had to ask, "What did it do?"

"This little one," Diablo gestured. "...caught herself the ire of our master."

"I see." She nodded before realizing what he meant.

"Wait. You talked to master!?"

The Black Demon nodded.

It had been over five hundred years since the world heard of anything about Rimuru Tempest. To hear about him again put Ultima's heart at ease.

"I'm here to personally bring the imp into the Mass. Could you open the gate for me?"

Ultima didn't waste time doing so using her unique skill [Doomed Cultist] granted to her by their master. It was a bit special since it was linked to the ultimate skill [Hateful Tormentor Azathoth] and was modified by Ciel, giving it a simple yet needed password protection.

{Notice: When the Abyss gazes back at thee…}

Ultima completed the code phrase, "Thou shalt do naught but prepare..."

{Notice: For there is no other choice. Password confirmed. Opening the Azathoth Mass.}

The endless silence was replaced by omnipresent howls, shouts, and screams. Ultima grit her teeth. The noise permeated through all of her existence. Every thought, every experience, every memory, they were filled with endless sounds of agony. Even her love for inflicting pain was turned against her. Every animal, man, woman, child, and many others she tortured were screaming bloody murder at her, describing in detail what she did to them to the point she actually felt the pain.

Violet never actually saw the Mass in person. She was too afraid of what it would look like—no, what it would show her. She only chucked all the souls she had to into the gate with her eyes closed and quickly closed it.

That was why she feared Diablo. For he was still able to smile even after taking the brunt of the thrice damned noise. And aside from Rimuru and Ciel, he was the only one to have looked upon the Mass and stayed sane.

Diablo connected to her mentally and said, " Ah, from the looks of it, he might call upon you too quite soon."

His voice temporarily drowned the screams, and its contents filled her with joy.

" Truly? How do you know?" she asked.

Diablo smiled and nodded. " Let's just say I've got a good hunch."

With that, Noir stepped into the gate. All the mirth on his face was replaced by a resolved look, as if he had finally decided on something. He walked to the end of the short corridor. Any further and there would be no more steps for him to take.

Far away in front of him, a mass of something writhed. Sticking to it were countless faces with mouths wide open, as if sucking sanity itself from him. Countless eyes looked at him, and for once, Diablo dared not look back.

That mass of something was simply indescribable. Any attempt to make sense of it would be futile and beyond painful. The act of gazing at it was nothing short of lobotomizing himself.

The imp in his hand saw the mass… its body disintegrated, leaving only a head, which was pulled toward the mass, becoming the same as the rest.

On the wall of the corridor was a simple wooden door. Turning the knob, he stepped into the room. The black demon stumbled briefly before righting himself. The time within this room was accelerated beyond light speed, allowing him to stay here for a very long time without garnering the suspicions of Ultima and Ciel. The perpetrator of this acceleration was none other than the masked woman within this room.

Diablo closed the door. The screaming could no longer be heard.

"I apologize for the delay. The demon I was interrogating kept losing its mind too soon too often."

The woman said, "It's all right, Diablo. How have you been? And how is sensei?"

The demon smiled. "I have been well, and so has my master. How about you, Lady Aubert? Lord Cromwell?"

Diablo sat on a couch facing the sofa where Chloe Aubert and Leon Cromwell were sitting. They exchanged pleasantries.

"You must be thirsty from all that work. Help yourself to some tea." Chloe pointed to the ceramic kettle and cup.

It was very slight, but she noticed Diablo frowning for a moment. She smiled behind her mask.

"I have to decline that offer. I do not like involving myself with tea."

Chloe hummed. "That's unfortunate. You always did make the best tea."

"Forgive me for being blunt, but we aren't here just to have a tea party, are we?"

Leon Cromwell frowned hearing Diablo's words, but before he could interject, Chloe said, "You're right. I'm here to discuss a different matter. Tell me, do you trust my words now?"

Diablo nodded. "Your ability to see the future is valid. You were able to see thousands of years ahead about my mission to scout the threat in our old homeworld and what would happen there, then my master's disappearance from the public eye, and then you even know the exact moment he will call for me, even who I will be taking with me. You even know that a semi-mortal will call upon my master's name through my book."

At first glance, precognition didn't seem like that rare a skill, but to realize the magnitude of Chloe's power, one had to take in several factors.

First, the further away in the future the vision is, the harder it is to discern—in other words, the further, the vaguer. Chloe was able to pinpoint each event to the exact moment it would happen and who would be in them.

Second, with the existence of beings that defied laws of reality, it was hard to determine the accuracy of a precognitive vision when it involved them. This meant that there were beings that not even fate could shackle. His master Rimuru was the prime example, along with his brother Veldora.

And most importantly the third reason: the existence of Manas: Ciel. She was the one operating within shadows. Her ability to nearly perfectly calculate the future and her access to her master's skills meant she could create any future she wanted within Rimuru's allowance, regardless of future visions. Rather, most precognitive visions that involved Rimuru—should that even be possible—became obsolete since Ciel herself would notice them and immediately change them.

So, for Chloe to surpass those factors, that meant that her precognition was no joke.

"When did you obtain this ability?"

Chloe answered, "After the Incident, during the hunt for Yuuki and the other chaotic souls."

Chloe took a cup of tea and drank it. "Now that you can trust my words, before we continue, I would like to know if I can trust you."

Diablo raised his brow. "I believe in your ability to see the future. I still have no concrete information about your intentions."

The fact that Chloe had declared war on Rimuru hadn't changed.

The hero sighed. "My intentions have always been and will always be the safety and happiness of Rimuru Tempest. Everything I do, including my supposed betrayal, was ultimately for his well being. I have seen worrisome things about the future."

She took another sip of the tea. "I trust that your intentions are also the same. So, I need to know if I can trust you with the words I'm about to say."

Diablo became silent.

After a bit, he said, "Tell me what you need to say. I'll judge how trustworthy you are after."

She nodded.

"What I saw in the future... it is the death of Rimuru Tempest, by the hands of Ciel."

Diablo sneered. "Preposterous."

There were so many reasons why such a thing was impossible.

"My master will not fall to anything. His power is beyond death itself!"

"And yet," Chloe interrupted, pouring another cup of tea. " The Incident still occurred. The thing you were denying did almost happen."

That shut Diablo up.

"Tell me, what do you think happened that night? Who do you think is to blame?" Chloe asked calmly.

Diablo furrowed his brows. "...are you suggesting Ciel was…"

Diablo's eyes widened. It appeared as if he had realized something. "That would make so much sense… I… she…" Diablo mumbled to himself.

Chloe pushed the cup of tea to him. "In case you change your mind."

Diablo looked at the still swirling tea, and he was instantly reminded. He had been preparing some tea when the Incident happened. If only he had done it faster, or if he didn't make it at all, Diablo would've been by his master's side during his weakest moments. He remembered who told him to make the tea.

Manas: Ciel.

That excuse about an experiment gone awry… throughout his entire life, his master's constant companion was Manas: Ciel. If anyone was responsible for his safety, it would ultimately be in Ciel's shoulders. The fact she supposedly 'failed' in protecting him meant that something about her wasn't right.

There was another incident regarding tea. His master had told him to make some tea at the time. This was after the Incident, so for all intents and purposes, he had made the fastest kettle of tea in his life. When he was just about to reenter the room, he heard something shocking through the door.

"Ciel, I've been meaning to tell you… I don't know how to say it, but… Ah, damn it! Here goes nothing. I love you, Ciel. I want us to be together. You always said to find someone to love. You are the one I choose, Ciel. You've been with me since the moment I took my first breath in this world. There is no one else I would rather be with, other than you."

Diablo was beyond elated. Sure, he was a bit jealous of Ciel, but that paled in comparison to his master's happiness. For him to finally have a partner in life is such a grand moment. He was joyful to have been around when it officially happened!

But…

"I, I am… This one requests forgiveness, for she is unable to accept," Diablo heard Ciel's voice shake in the beginning, but became monotone nearing the end.

"...why?" That single word was probably the most heartbreaking thing he had ever heard from his master.

"...this one is unworthy. There are many other people who are more worthy and elated than this one. This one requests to decline Master's offer."

Rimuru shouted, "Those words alone make you more worthy than anyone else in my life! Why can't you see that?!"

Ciel said softly, "I, If, If Master orders me to, then I will be with him. As long as that is his wish."

After a pause, Rimuru said, "No. No, I won't push you. If you don't want to be my lover, then I understand. I would rather have you be my enemy rather than force you to become my bride. You can be anything you want, Ciel. Just… Just don't be forced to decide according to my wishes."

"For what it's worth, master, I still want to be your servant. That is all I wish to be," Ciel stated.

"...Fine." Rimuru sounded much more reserved this time.

Diablo stood there by the door, not knowing what to do.

"Diablo," his master commanded. "Forget about the tea. I'm not in the mood. Please leave me be for now."

That was how Diablo started to loathe tea, even though it was one of his specialties. It was because it reminded him of Ciel and her blasphemous words.

Diablo looked back towards Chloe. "I believe you."

Chloe nodded with a satisfied smile behind her mask. She stated her plan and Diablo's role in it.

After their talk, Diablo looked at his now cold cup of tea. He drank all of it. It was delicious.

When the demon left, Leon, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke.

"Are you sure it's wise to lie to him?"

Chloe shook her head. "Most of what I said is the truth. The only things untrue are made from his own misunderstandings." She of course knew Ciel was not to blame for what happened.

But Ciel would indeed be responsible for Rimuru Tempest's death.

Leon continued, "Why tea, exactly? I thought you preferred coffee?"

Chloe stated, "In my visions, the only way Diablo would listen to me… is if I gave him a cup of tea."


Hakuro sipped his cup of tea.

"Hyah!"

"Rah!"

He was watching the boy Jack and his apprentice spar. The way the boy handled his bokken was suspiciously familiar.

"How peculiar," he said, a thousand thoughts running through his head.

Perhaps this was just one of those days.

"This'll be an interesting day," he said as he looked at the sky.

Hakuro didn't know how true his words would be. Myulan was sure of it.