Chapter 31: The First Trial

The 'heart' is a fickle thing.

"What are you doing," Yukio said in leu of greeting that morning.

It was painfully obvious exactly what his brother was doing, but a small part of him hoped that if he asked, somehow the answer would change. But no, nothing changes, and the older teen only blinked at him from where he sat, a glowing orb of blue held in his hands. It almost looked like a will-o'-wisp, but the color is too rich, the eerie blue light too powerful.

It was not the first time Yukio had seen that fire, but he had never seen it as anything more than a flicker. This was strong and purposeful, filled with strength that frightened a primal part of him.

Satan shrugged, palming the fire into one hand as if it were a physical thing and not just pure power and will. The seal on his powers was riddled with holes and shot to hell to the point that he was sure he had a month left, maybe two if he was careful. Yukio knew about the fire, but he hadn't really seen it.

So, it was time to properly introduce it. Baby steps, as Yuri would say, because too much at once was a shock and led to mistakes and regret, "Practicing. Come here and take look."

"Rin, that is literal hellfire," Yukio announced, as if his brother wouldn't be acutely aware of that fact and continue to not care.

"And it's mine," Satan insisted sharply, before Yukio's thoughts could tread down any troublesome roads, "So I don't see what's the damn problem. Besides, I can control it. Do you want to hold it?"

The small ember was held just inches from Yukio's nose like an offering, equally blue eyes peering at him expectantly.

"That's…"

"It won't burn you, I won't let it." He would sooner cut off his own tail than let that happen. Yukio looked conflicted, so, as usual, Satan took the initiative and grabbed one of Yukio's hands with his own free one and turned it up. And, without a word of warning, plopped the ebbing flame into it, "Look. See?"

Yukio did not flinch like he knew he should when a ball of literal hellfire was carelessly dropped into his hand. He caught it reflexively and didn't cry out in pain or suddenly feel his hand being burned away to the bone. No, instead he gripped the fire a bit tighter and watched the blue crackle and snap but do nothing to harm him. It was warm and felt like a small sun, and yet was simultaneously lighter than air itself. It flickered in his cupped hands, sputtering weakly and tickled like a butterfly's wings. Ahead of him and unnoticed, Satan made a face as he concentrated, and suddenly the weak flame was bright and heavy with power. Yukio flinched at the sudden change, very nearly dropped the azure fire, but Satan cooed comforting words and refocused his child's grip on the flames.

Hot, so hot that the heat raced up Yukio's arms and sank deep into his chest, slowly dripping down into his bones and through his nerves. It was hot, just skirting the line of too-hot, but somehow, it wasn't uncomfortable at all. It felt like he had submerged himself into a bath, with heat that nestled under his skin and relaxed his muscles but didn't burn.

The flame flickered and pulsed like a tiny heartbeat, just a half-moment off from mirroring his own.

"I told you it would be fine. It only burns what I want," A half-lie, but one Yukio would hopefully never know. Assiah was a terribly beautiful tinderbox after all, "And I would never want to burn you, Yukio."

Yukio swallowed and forced himself to concentrate. He didn't let himself think about just how enthralled he had been with the flames.

"How long have you been practicing then? This can't be good for the seal."

Seal-this, seal-that, it all came back to that, didn't it? It was as much as a blessing as it was a pain to tiptoe around lest he break the terribly fragile thing, "That's a secret. And the seal is going to fail or get broken one day anyway, so I might as well know what I'm doing, right?"

Yukio stared at him with an expression that he was clearly thinking about something too much. It was enough to make unease uncurl itself in Satan's gut, but before anything more than that, the teen adjusted his glasses and declared:

"You aren't allowed to burn your homework or anything else with this, Rin."

Satan snorted and firmly pretended he hadn't already done that exact thing, "Oh no, I've been found out." He deadpanned instead.

"I'm serious, Rin." Yukio lectured, hand holding blue fire casually now and looking as serious as could be, "Using hellfire to burn paper is a serious violation of ethics, rules, and all things good and moral."

It took an embarrassingly long time for Satan to realize that Yukio was, at least partially, joking, "When did you become such a smartass, huh?"

"You're the worst influence. Now come on." Yukio plopped the tiny fire back into his twin's hands, having no idea what to do with it, or how (if at all) he could extinguish the flames, "Put out that fire. We have class to get to since you refused to get up for the review."

"Don't schedule it at fuck-you o'clock then!"

Satan knew that some petty teen drama bullshit had occurred last night. It was impossible to not notice just how pissed off the twin-tailed bitch was, nor the fact that her lackey had decided to start hanging around Shiemi's shadow instead. He knew all about backstabbing and betrayal, so it wasn't hard to realize that she had been abandoned, too insufferable and too weak for anyone to stand. It was just shameful that she couldn't even keep up her façade for class, and it might have been funny to watch it crumble if it wasn't, well, so pathetic. And irritating.

"Who even wants to be an Aria?!" Izumo shouted, flustered and willfully ignoring the way she disrupted class as she sneered at Ryuji, "They're completely defenseless while reciting, and have to rely on the rest of their party to protect them. They're nothing more than baggage!"

"What the hell was that…?!"

Satan rolled his eyes and, without even needing to stand up, easily cut through the mounting tension, "And what use is a Tamer who can't even summon?"

"What?" The plum-haired girl yelped, glaring fiercely at Satan, "I'll have you know that I'm the strongest Tamer here, with two foxes under my command!"

She really was trying too hard to look unshakable when it was a pointless effort. Honestly, did she think no one had noticed the way she had been sulking all day? A mask was only good until it slipped, and then it could never be put back on correctly, not when everyone had already seen what was under it. It was why Satan himself never bothered with them for any extended periods of time.

Her mask had slipped, and he could see the hesitation, the uncertainty in her eyes clearly now. He could almost see that weakness clinging to her, leaving her heart open and calling to a slumbering part of his soul.

Yes, she really was just ripe for the taking.

"And didn't I tell you that foxes have no sense of real loyalty?" Satan countered easily, "Look at you, trying to pick fights just so you can ignore your problems. Fucking pathetic! The moment you summon, they'll turn on you."

"Why you-!"

The response was weak, and Satan sighed at her stupidity.

"If you want to prove me wrong, then summon them right now. Don't count on me to save you though."

The teacher finally spoke up, tone harsh and annoyed, "That is quite enough, Mr. Okumura. There's no need to provoke your classmates."

Satan might have said more, but Yukio sharply elbowed him before his mouth could get him into trouble (again).

It turned out that Satan could not, in fact, stay out of trouble. It was near the middle of the second study session that Kaoru received a call. Satan hadn't been paying attention to anything for the past ten minutes, instead choosing to focus on teaching Kuro to catch paper balls mid-flight whenever the teacher wasn't looking his way. It was a simple and petty exercise in subtility, but whatever, he was sick of studying that he wouldn't even use.

He probably should have been paying more attention, because suddenly he was being pulled off the floor by Igor who had apparently shown up at some point.

"Don't touch me you creep!" Satan hissed, shaking off the too-tight grip easily.

"Your presence has been requested by the headmaster," Igor said, his normally perfect deadpan wavering with just a hint of irritation.

"And what the hell does he want me for?" Really, what the hell did Samael want now, and why couldn't he just come himself? No wait, that would put him near Yukio, and he didn't want that, so-

"I believe it has something to do with a certain incident with one 'Reiji Shiratori', if that jogs your memory?"

Satan knew exactly what had occurred involving that particularly nasty little shit, but he was careful and had covered his tracks, "…You can't prove anything."

"The security cameras would argue otherwise."

Damn it all.

Yukio stood and stalked over to his twin, "Rin. What did you do?"

"I didn't start shit."

"That wasn't my question."

"Ahem." Igor interrupted, pulling the shorter back to his side and away from the seething younger brother, "You can interrogate your brother after the headmaster has dealt with him."

Satan groaned. Fantastic, he had to deal with Samael being a smug shit to him and he couldn't do anything about it without raising questions he couldn't answer. He really missed being able to slap the shit out of whoever annoyed him without consequence, "Oh, not that fucking-"

"Watch your tongue before something happens to it." Igor snapped, pushed the teen towards the doorway.

"I hear you can bite through fingers like carrots. Which is total bullshit, mind you, but it sure is interesting, isn't it?" Satan's grin was all teeth and he nearly laughed when the man's perpetual frown deepened. Behind him, Kuro followed, asking inane questions such as "What are carrots?" and "Are we going to fight the eyepatch man?".

Satan really didn't anyone goading him, however, unintentionally, into fighting Igor. Especially not with all the cameras that were apparently around.

The rest of the class watched the exchange, some disturbed, some (Yukio) exasperated. It was a relief when the teachers left to escort Rin away, his familiar darting after their heels like an excited child.

In the stretching silence, Bon plainly said, "I know I've said this before, but your brother is a freak."

"He's also by far the strongest person in our class and manages to perform at least above average on virtually every exam." Yukio responded coolly, not even bothering to defend Rin when he was irritated with him, "Think of him what you want, but he's one day going to be your strongest ally on the field, Bon."

A non-distinct grunt was the only response Yukio got. At least it wasn't shouting.

Shima snapped the book he hadn't been reading for the past ten minutes closed, "I think you all are missing the real point here: just what kind of trouble do you think Rin got up to this time?"

"A fight."

"Ah, boo, that's boring. He's always fighting, so what makes this special?"

Knives, broken bones, or just a rich brat's bruised ego, were all things Yukio didn't say. Instead, "He's always fighting, so why should I expect anything different? I'm just irritated since he promised he would at least try and behave…"

It was about this time that the lights flickered out. Naturally, everyone froze at the sudden darkness, a hush falling over them for a half second before chaos exploded. Yukio ignored the crashing and yelps as his classmates panicked and tripped over themselves in the sudden darkness, instead letting his own eyes adjust. It was still surprisingly bright for a blackout, and it took a moment for him to realize where the light was coming from: every other building and light outside was still working.

He had no reason to assume that the older building had suddenly lost power due a to failed circuit or the like, but, despite all logic, Yukio was suddenly very warry.

He didn't fail to notice that the windows wouldn't budge when he tried to open one.

Someone -Shima- had managed to use their phone as a light, and one by one the others followed suit. Yukio could distantly hear the other chattering about blackouts, but he shook his head, scanning outside, "No, it can't be that. The other buildings still have power."

Bon frowned, easily catching the unease in Yukio's voice, "So what's that mean then?"

He was suddenly acutely aware that both teachers were gone, that Rin and Kuro had been taken away only a few minutes before, and with those pieces, the puzzle was quickly coming together. But instead, he lied, "I don't know, but I don't like it. Everyone should be ready for the worst-case scenario. Shiemi, Izumo, be ready to summon at a moment's notice."

"I…I already have Nii ready, Yukio!" Shiemi announced, a little nervous hitch in her voice. The Greenman squeaked from where it sat on her head.

Izumo stood suddenly, glaring at Yukio, "Hold on, who put you in charge? And what makes you think that something bad is going to happen anyway?"

Yukio let his eyes scan the room, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. There had to be something more if this really was a test, and he was amazed the others hadn't at least suspected something, "Don't you think that it's a little suspicious that only we've lost power, and right when our teacher has left?"

"A trap…?" Paku asked, her eyes wide.

"But why?"

"Because someone probably... Everyone, be quiet." Yukio hissed. It could be a test, or their lives could very well be in danger. Until he knew one way or the other, he had to treat everything as if it were as real as it appeared.

It was about that time that Yukio heard a strange moaning-growl echo from outside the door, far too close for comfort. Bon tensed, eyes clearly darting around and looking for a weapon, Shima visibly shivered, Konekomaru took a step back, and Paku let out an audible whimper. Izumo, however, took a step boldly forward, a summoning paper in hand, but…but she was shaking just the tiniest bit, her eyes darting to the paper, clearly unsure of herself now, when it mattered the most.

Whether or not Rin had shaken her or if this was purely a result of her fight last night didn't matter. The reasons didn't matter now, only the results.

"Don't summon anything you can't handle, Izumo." He hissed at her. The last thing they needed was friendly fire. He risked a glance away from the door and to the window. It had been locked through a means he couldn't identify, but maybe they could break it and escape, though he doubted it. He had been around Rin enough to know that decent windows were not, in fact, as breakable as movies liked to portray.

"I can do this, I'm not weak!" She shouted angrily.

Too loud, and suddenly something threw its weight against the door, cracking it ominously. More noises, more enemies, and Yukio didn't even waste time cursing his luck. Of course, Rin had been taken away along with Kuro, of course for whatever terrible test was planned for them their strongest fighters had to be taken away. But, once again, Yukio himself had been underestimated, his brother such a threat that no one ever considered the meek little boy with glasses.

It was their mistake.

"Get ready, we're…"

Yukio stopped, feeling his blood run cold. Even when the demon finally broke through the wall, he found his thoughts foggy with sudden, all-consuming panic. He had immediately gone for the hidden gun he had started carrying on his person at all times ever since the Astaroth incident, glad for once that Rin was such a delinquent that he could teach him how to hide even a pistol.

Except…

Except, his gun was missing its magazine.

Satan walked into Samael's office just in time to see the gaudy demon slip a black brick-shaped object in his desk drawer. His entire demeanor screamed suspicious to Satan, but then again, he was hard-pressed to think of a time when Samael wasn't acting shady, so the king of demons ignored the rising urge he felt to cloak himself protectively in flames to shield himself from any magic. Instead, he stalked towards the great oak desk and stood in defiance even as a chair was offered to him. He wished he hadn't been forced to leave Kuro outside.

"Come now, Rin, sit down and relax for a moment. We have much to talk about," Samael offered, his voice as pleasant as someone like he could make it. It didn't fit his sharp eyes at all.

"I haven't done shit," Satan stated and did nothing else. He wasn't in any particular rush to go back to the dorm and do more pointless work, but he didn't want to stay here any longer than he specifically had to.

"Now, now, do you really think I care about what these entitled brats at this school want? If it were up to them you would have been expelled the very first week, and then where would either of us be?" Samael chuckled, though the laughter faded quickly when Satan failed to join in and just continued to stare at him, "No, I just felt that we needed to have a proper chat about your future. It's been what? Two, three years since we talked?"

"What do you want?" The demon said to the other, and nearly growled when he saw a certain smugness cross Samael's eyes when he opened his mouth to talk, "And before you go and try and confuse me, I haven't forgotten our little talk a few years ago, so you can skip that part."

Samael's greatest weapon was not his powerful magic or crafting mind, but instead his ability to lead men to their dooms with nothing but words. If he was given a single millimeter, he would take an entire country with little more than a speech and his brash confidence. It had been infuriating to accept the fact that one of his children was, without question, smarter than he could ever hope to be, but eventually, Satan had learned and adapted, as he did to all things.

If Samael ruled through words and twisting your very thoughts against you, then Satan just had to tear through his narratives with reckless abandon.

Green eyes, sharper than any blade, peered at the teen in question with obvious curiosity, trying to pick him apart with just a glance. Satan fearlessly met the prying gaze, daring Samael to even try and figure the utter madness that Satan had made real.

"If you remember it so well, then you should know that your dear brother interrupted our conversation with that little temper tantrum of his. Just because he didn't like the reality of your role to play, didn't mean he had to get violent like that."

"You pretty much outright said you wanted me to be your puppet. You're lucky he got mad before I did." Well, it more went that Satan was lucky that Yukio had raised such a fuss that no one had noticed him trying to not burst into hysteric laughter at the thought of the son who hated him the most putting him back on his throne. But semantics.

"Ah yes, I wouldn't want to face the little prince's wrath, now would I?" Samael asked, sarcasm clear.

Satan ignored the jab, instead feeling a bit offended about what had just been implied, "Yukio is royalty too."

"And he's painfully human," Samael lazily flicked a finger as he spoke, and suddenly a chair bashed into the back of Satan's knees, forcing him to fall back and scooting him snugly up to the table before he could react. The Demon King ignored the teen's angry cursing and continued, languidly, "but that doesn't matter to you, does it? No, it would be more accurate to say that nothing matters to you except your precious Yukio."

Satan stopped his struggling at the way Samael's voice dropped dangerously low with curiosity and venom. He couldn't fully hide his reaction, but sudden fear gave his mind a sharp edge, and so he managed to ask with deceiving calm, "What are you implying, Samael?"

"I would rather you call me Mephisto. It has a much nicer ring to it, doesn't it?"

Satan felt his anger flair at the casual discarding of the name he had been given and this time, he couldn't quite contain the growl, "Shut up and explain."

The pressure in the room suddenly seemed to magnify from the pure murderous intent. It was just an illusion, but it still threatened to steal Satan's breath away from his weak human shell. There was no discernable change in Samael's tone that any human would notice, but to a fellow demon, he might as well have been seething, "Maybe you should stop assuming that you're in any position to demand anything from me, child."

The challenge had been issued and while most humans would freeze when faced with such an overwhelming force, Satan could feel nothing but white-hot anger that his child had the gall to think he was better than him. He had beaten Samael a dozen, no, a hundred times before, and he would do it just as easily as he always did. Such an ungrateful, arrogant brat to challenge his father who had done so, so, much for him. He had kept other demons from killing him while he was young and weak, given him every resource he could find, and, most of all, suffered for a near eternity in Samael's place just to save his miserable life from the eld-

Satan could not defeat Samael as he was, not without abandoning the false life he had made for himself. And so, he controlled his anger and did nothing but silently seethe.

Apparently, his obvious helpless frustration was amusing enough to cool Samael's temper. The challenge lessened to something manageable, and the Demon King relaxed, leaning back in his overly plush chair with a content smile, "You're lucky that I find your temper to be so cute in its futility. Plenty of our other brothers would have already killed you."

"They can try." They could try all they wanted, but the moment anyone decided that killing family was fair game was the moment Satan would step in and remind his idiot sons that the very few ground rules he laid were to be respected.

"Determined like a human, I approve!" There was a glint, hungry and cunning, and Satan knew that Samael's interest in him had grown to dangerous degrees, "But you were the one who said that you wanted me to get straight to the point, correct? Well, I have a simple question for you: Is Yukio your heart?"

All thoughts ceased, and he wasn't sure if it was shock, anger, fear, or just confusion.

His heart? But that didn't…

Satan must have voiced his confusion, for a grin nearly slip Samael's face in two, "If you're wondering, I don't mean your literal demon heart, like the blade you really should get in a habit of carrying around..." Green eyes peered accusingly at the spot over Satan's shoulder where the Kurikara should have been, "But never mind that. No, what I mean is something more metaphysical, and something so very human. Is Yukio your heart, your world, your everything? Is he the reason you wake, and the reason you continue to live?"

Hearts were something incredibly important to demons. Human hearts were little more than organs that pump their blood, and though their metaphorical hearts were where demons could latch onto and squirm into, it wasn't even somewhat the same. Demon's own, literal hearts, in contrast, held the very core of their beings. It was the cumulation of their existence, the absolute purest distillation of who they were, and without it, they would die.

It was the core of what a demon was, and yet…And yet, Satan himself…

"Why?" Was the only thing Satan could force himself to ask without exploding. Demon hearts were invaluable, yes, but human 'hearts' were something else entirely. They were the source of so much strength, so much pain, and drove them forward, so for Samael to identify Yukio as a metaphorical one, well…well, that wasn't exactly wrong.

And the most important thing was that human hearts, unlike demons, could break.

"Because a heart is a weakness!" Samael declared, pointing squarely at Satan's chest, "The heart is how humans are possessed by demons, and a weak heart is what ultimately killed Satan. He grew to love like a human, and so when that was taken from him, he couldn't survive!"

Ah, suddenly things made a lot more sense. A human heart was the source of love and often the reason humans would push to survive. It wasn't a pure cumulation of their being and was instead fickle, often at war with their own wants and identity. It was wretched and beautiful, a contradiction that drove many to madness.

Of course, it would only be seen as a liability to be exploited to a proper demon. Of course 'Rin' having a human heart so wholly invested into a single other's life was a problem for Samael.

"…You really can't understand love at all, can you?"

Love born from a weak heart relearning to connect with another was the only reason Satan had been able to grow to care about, well, anything again. But no one but Yuri could be allowed to know just how deeply he had cared in the end. Not yet, at least. And so, he could only look at Samael, feeling just a bit of pity as he realized that he would truly never understand the feeling. But, a part of him was equally relieved, for so few demons could love that it would simply be better if none ever did.

Samael, ignorant of his father's musings, scoffed at the notion of love. He had seen exactly where that had gotten enough delusional demons, thank you very much, "Any demon who learns to love ultimately finds their own death at the end of that very same love. And that can't happen to you, Rin. You have a role to fulfill, so I can't have you break on me."

'Threat', Satan's mind screamed. A threat to Yukio, to his 'heart', "If you're threatening Yukio-!"

A hand held before him somehow stole the teen's voice, allowing Samael to speak, "You may think lowly of me, but I'm not stupid. Besides, you don't have to say anything to me, I can already tell that Yukio is your 'heart'." Magic or not, Satan shot to his feet, knocking the chair back and stabbing a knife into the hardwood in an obvious threat before the clattered even stopped. The King of Time, however, looked distinctly unimpressed at the display, "Oh, don't look at me like that, you look far too much like a real demon there. I'm offering to help protect your brother, Rin."

A deep breath in and Satan managed to steady himself, "How?"

"Your brother shows a lot of talent as both a Dragoon and a Doctor. One of these fields is quite dangerous and has many…work-related accidents." Samael began, smirking at the way Satan flinched, "However, Exorcists who are only Doctors usually say behind to prepare a field team and also heal any wounded who manage to make it back. Yes, some may go out into the field, but Yukio is quite promising, too valuable to risk I would say."

"Why are you offering this?" Nothing was free when it came to deals with the devil, after all.

"Yukio might be a talented Exorcist the order very much needs, but, ultimately, you are much more important," In some ways, it was foolish to admit just how much power the other party held, but not when it was Samael speaking. No, he knew exactly how much power a child of the blue fire had, but, ultimately, he had accumulated far more resources and had too much to offer to be ignored, "Therefore, I cannot have you break if something were to ever happen to your dear younger brother. It would raise too much suspicion to hold him back after this test, but it's a simple thing to shuffle around his assignments. Well?"

Something nagged at the back of Satan's mind at that phrasing, but he ignored it as the low buzz of barely restrained anger, "And what do you want?"

"Your complete cooperation. While you've yet to break any serious rules, you've come close. I can instruct your teachers to ignore your terrible language, but behavior is another matter altogether," Samael informed, whimsy gone for something a bit more serious, "You will follow their rules to the letter, and I'll make sure Yukio is never in any more danger than he ever has to be."

"I'll obey unless it endangers Yukio." He could swallow his pride for that much, at least.

"Of course!" The King of Time chimed, nodding enthusiastically even at the sharp creak that resounded when the knife in his desk was pulled free. He watched the teen put away the knife rather skillfully, very aware that a certain demon blade was much longer and cumbersome and likely hard to eventually adapt to. Well, it wasn't like the sword would be the boy's main method of attacking anyway.

He made a show of checking a watch that hadn't been on his wrist a second ago, "Now, our agreement will go into effect in approximately…two minutes."

"Huh?" Too-blue eyes blinked in confusion, "Why then…What's happening? What did you do?"

"You're much too strong, so I decided that you didn't need to participate in the Authorization Exam with the others," Samael replied, idly wondering just how thoroughly the boy would have utterly destroyed the Naberiuses that had been used. It would have been hilariously easy for him considering his history (and wasn't dear Astaroth even more of a joke now, losing to a demon who hadn't even awakened properly?), but that defeated the purpose of the exam itself, "Don't worry, I'm confident that your brother is doing fine. I would have been notified if anyone was mutilated too badly!"

The chipper tone was a sharp contrast to the way Satan could feel his blood freeze, an icy jolt of panic shooting down his spine. He knew Yukio could take care of himself, he had trained him after all, but that didn't mean he should be fighting demons all on his own just yet! The rest of the class was a bunch of deadweights and jokes compared to Yukio, they would get him hurt as he tried to protect them!

Satan didn't remember running to the door, but he very much did realize it wasn't opening. He whirled around and snarled, "Let me out before I feed you your own intestines!"

Samael sighed, "Do you really think I don't have precautions in place? There's plenty of senior Exorcists monitoring the exam, don't you worry your little head about it! Ah, stop that, it won't work and you should know better," The demon tutted and nodded in approval when the other finally stopped trying to kick the door down. That glare really was something straight off of father's face to the point of being eerie, but he ignored his own unease to continue, "Just answer me this one question, and I'll let you run into your dear brother's arms. Human hearts are fickle things, and Yukio might grow to hate you one day. Could you even survive something like that?"

That was…tricky. It was something Satan didn't even want to consider, something he knew would break him if it happened. He would break into tiny shards of misery and self-loathing, would want nothing more than to curl back into numb apathy, and would probably curse ever rediscovering his heart…

"As long as he's happy and safe…"

…But…but he would survive. He might not be happy, he might need someone to put him back together or else he would fall back into his old ways, but he would live. If Gehenna and all the monsters it bore couldn't destroy him, then that wouldn't be the end of him. He wouldn't embrace death after struggling for so long.

"Then that's all that I have any right to demand."

…Right?

The door clicked open and Satan ran away from his thoughts, not even hearing whatever drivel Samael had to say.

When you only want to write one part of a scene, but somehow a 3k conversation springs up around it.

I'd like to throw out a quick reminder that Satan's perspective on things is not 100% accurate, nor has ever really been. Just because he assumes something doesn't mean it's true, but it's in his nature to be judgmental.

And no, this story isn't going to turn into Izumo-bashing, or any character bashing for that matter.