10 years before the present day.

Lizel Himekami was a normal 7-years-old devil. Except not.

Anyone could see she was the kind of genius that was born every once in a few centuries. So much so that, despite still being quite away from even being 10 years old, she was allowed to enter a competition with high school students.

That competition was an event in Ginsei Academy. It had many levels, including one for elementary students like Lizel. The reason why she was competing with high schoolers was simply for the sake of there actually being a competition. Her teachers were the ones who suggested that.

Without getting into much detail, that competition evaluated the participants' abilities with magic, be it reading a magic formula or actually using a spell. Starting from the high schoolers, even Advanced Magic was given in the competition.

But none of that mattered. Even against high schoolers, even with Advanced Magic, Lizel still crushed all competition. That's just how much of a genius she was.

*clap clap clap clap*

The crowd cheered for Lizel. Even her opponents couldn't be mad at her. She was such a genius that it was only right she beat everyone else at everything.

"Hmph."

Even so, Lizel's expression was clearly less than happy. If there was any emotion reflected in her eyes, it wasn't happiness.

No, it was as if she saw everyone as being beneath her. All the people cheering were worth little more than ants in her eyes. And she made no effort to hide it.

But who could call her off? Who could say she was wrong? Even at this young age, she was already feared by adults. Enough that some were even making plans to send someone to marry her, or form any kind of connection. A blind person could see she would be someone important as an adult.

Eventually, the competition came to an end. Once it did, it was time for the winners to be rewarded.

The actual reward was nothing much. It was just a medal and a chance to spend some time alone talking with the Devil King. The real reward was more about showing yourself to the lookouts and other people watching.

But Lizel didn't care about any of that. The reward she wanted was to talk with the Devil King.

At the time, there were rumors going around that Barbatos planned to start a new Devil King War soon. Most people didn't believe it, after all no Devil King ever let go of power before they were on death's door, and Lizel herself didn't care much for it, but she felt it was prudent to be sure.

Normally, Lizel should be happy about the possibility of a Devil King War, after all it would be a chance for her to become Devil King. But there was a problem: Lizel's family, the Himekamis, often got Lovers Arcana, which was the weakest one.

As strong as she's likely to become in the next few years, Lizel had no hopes of winning with such odds. That's why she needed to talk with Barbatos and either convince him to not host a Devil King War until the next generation, or at least let her pick a different Arcana.

"Alright, here it goes."

Lizel asked to immediately be granted her audience. Once she was called over to the Devil King's room, she reminded herself of her objective.

So she entered the room. Barbatos did not look the part of a Devil King, but Lizel would never say such a thing in front of him. She would show only the utmost respect.

"It's an honor to meet you, oh great Devil King. My name is Lizel Himekami."

"Oh yeah, sensei knew that. Lots of people are talking about you. You seem to be a bit precocious though, your parents didn't teach you it's fine to take your time in life?"

"I-I'll remember that."

Lizel felt Barbatos was the one not taking his life seriously enough, but she didn't care enough to pursue the topic.

For the next few minutes, Lizel played the part of an innocent young girl. She kept telling Barbatos how he was something like a hero to her, how she really enjoyed him being Devil King and how she thought he was doing an amazing job.

All of that was to get rid of any doubts Barbatos might be having about himself as Devil King. If you're king of everything, but you're having doubts about yourself, surely hearing a young and innocent girl say how amazing you are gets some of your confidence back.

But Barbatos reaction was different from what Lizel expected.

"Wow, are you like an adult in a child's body or something? Even sensei can't lie as good as that."

"T-those weren't lies."

"Your words are very convincing, but your eyes are ratting you out."

Lizel looked at Barbatos the same way she looked at her parents, her servants, or any other people. She looked at them as if they were simply pebbles on the road.

Any other Devil King would have even a child like Lizel killed because of this. Some would maybe take it upon themselves to "reeducate" her and make her into a sex slave. Yet, Barbatos simply seemed amused.

"I'm not going to punish you or anything, so just say what's on your mind."

"… Is it true you plan to host a Devil King War?"

"Yup. Not now, but maybe in about 10 years or so. That should be enough time for the children of your generation to mature enough."

As Lizel feared, it seemed there would be no escaping the Devil King War. Then, she had to at least escape drawing the worst card.

"In that case, could you please let me pick my Arcana?"

"Nope. I mean, I could probably do it with some effort, but I don't really feel like it."

Things weren't looking good for Lizel. She considered selling her body to Barbatos, after all losing in the Devil King War meant death. But Lizel was only a child at the time and Barbatos didn't look at her with lust, so it seemed unlikely that he'd accept.

"If I remember right… you're a Himekami, so your Arcana would probably be Lovers, right? Yeah, I can already see the two of you aren't meant to work together. But let sensei see something."

Barbatos simply looked at Lizel, but she could tell he was doing something. Lizel couldn't have known, but Barbatos was using the power of Star's Arcana to see her destiny, at least as well as he could.

"Hooh, that's interesting. Sensei is excited to see what you can do with Lovers. Have you considered learning how to draw out its power?"

"Is there even something to draw out?"

"There is! Sensei isn't going to lie and say it's actually the strongest Arcana, but if used right it could probably put up a mean fight."

Given the destiny Barbatos saw, he decided to lend Lizel a hand in learning how to use Lovers' power.

At least in theory, all Arcanas were equal in power, though that was absolutely not true in practice. But how powerful would Lizel grow if she could learn to use her Arcana? Barbatos was excited to see that.

"Then how can I learn?"

"Sensei's not sure. I also can't really use its power. But I do know who can teach you, actually a whole race of people."

For a second, Lizel felt like throwing up. She could already predict Barbatos' next words.

"Humans. Lovers Arcana's power is the power of love, not just romantic or sexual but all kinds of love. That's why it's hard for us devils, especially nobles, to use its power. We're not really taught how to love someone else. But you can probably learn how to from humans."

"Is that… really true?"

If Lizel looked at devils as if they were pebbles, humans wouldn't even be dirt. She really thought of them as a bunch of nothings that only existed to serve under her and make her life more convenient.

There really was no one worse than Lizel, a girl without a shred of empathy, to get the Arcana that was powered by love.

But, as much as she despised humans, she was willing to try anything that would help her survive the Devil King War.

"Sensei thinks so. If anyone can figure out how to use Lovers, it's a human. If you do actually find the key to Lovers' power, let me know. I'm also curious."

Lizel felt like she had to swallow her own vomit, but it couldn't be helped. She said all she wanted to say, so she left Barbatos' room.

Soon enough, Lizel would begin to live amongst the humans.


Lost was a 6-years-old mixed-blood devil boy living in the Chevalleze region in the Devil World. He lived in a village together with many other mixed-blood devils.

No one knew where he'd come from. No one knew Lost's parents or when he appeared in the village and Lost himself didn't remember anything. It was as if he had simply popped into existence.

He was currently living with the then 2-years-old Poran and her family. Although not related to her by blood, Lost did think of her almost as a little sister.

That's why, even being so young, Lost went out to hunt with the other mixed-blood devils. And he wasn't the only child there. Once the boys reached 5 years of age, they had to come hunt together with everyone else.

It's not that the village had an evil chief or something, it's just what they needed to do to survive. Even the girls were only excused from hunting when they were pregnant or caring for a young child or someone sick.

"*sniff* *sniff* There's something close by."

Being a wolf-type mixed-blood devil, Lost had a keen sense of smell. He was still learning, but he found something he thought they could eat, so he told the adults.

They surrounded the creature Lost had found. It was a fairly big monster, so even the adults were a little scared. But they had hunted that kind of monster once before. It looked like a moose with electricity running on its antlers, and it was also the size of a tree. They knew its meat was tasty, though it had a strong smell, and that there would be a lot of it, but they were still scared.

"What should we do?"

"… We can't afford to let this pass by. Let's divide into 2 groups, and the oldest members of each group will lead the charge. If possible, let's leave the children here."

The adults discussed a way to safely hunt the monster. That monster alone would surely feed the village for a good while, but it would only come at the cost of a few lives, surely. That's why the oldest ones, who are almost unable to hunt anymore, will lead the charge and probably be killed.

Since Lost and the other children didn't take part in the planning part of the hunt, they tried to kill time by playing around. Of course, they knew not to do anything to warn the monster of their presence before the time came.

So they had to play silently. That's all Lost had ever known, so of course he enjoyed playing like that. But sometimes he wished he was strong, strong enough that he could hunt alone while everyone else stayed back playing together, and then he'd join them.

It's simple, maybe even a little stupid, but it's the closest thing Lost has to a dream.

"Let's go."

Those words marked the beginning of a bloody battle.

The adults fought as well as they could. They hadn't been able to eat well recently, if ever, so they were not at peak strength, but the Devil World is a world where the rule is survival of the fittest. Even if their friends and family were killed in front of them, it would all be meaningless if they didn't win in the end.

As for Lost and the other children, their job was to try and stay safe. That was easier said than done, since a random electric attack from the monster moose could land on them and that would be it.

After a good time fighting, it finally came to an end. A number of mixed-blood devils had died, even some children who happened to be unlucky. And that's not to say about the ones who were gravely hurt.

But the people that survived and those back at the village would have something to eat. And for that, they had to be grateful.

Even Lost and the other children had to help carry the hunted moose, since the adults were now tired and lacking a few numbers. Once they finished bringing their hunt back, the first thing the villagers thought was not about how they'd get to eat it, but about the people who'd sacrificed themselves.

The village kept a small memorial for them as well as the other people who'd died. It wasn't much, but it was at least something.

After that was taken care of, they began preparing food. There was a lot of meat, but they knew to preserve some on the off-chance that they were unable to hunt anything for a while.

"It stinks, don't wanna."

"Don't do this now. You have to grow big and strong."

Poran was being a picky eater, but times like this were the little bit of peace Lost had in his daily life. It wasn't much, but it was his happiness.

Unlike Poran, Lost wolfed down his plate. After all, his dream was to become the strongest so he could protect everyone. The first step to that was eating well.

The second step was getting some good sleep. Lost went to sleep as soon as it got dark, since he'd rise with the sun. Once he was up, he'd do some light exercises and then wait for the start of the next hunt.

That would be the case on a normal day, but not on this day.

Not long after he woke up, Lost and the other mixed-blood devils saw an unusual sight. Thron Golgotha, the then head of the Golgotha house, which lorded over the Chevalleze region, came to their village.

This was no normal event and it really scared everyone. Why would he come here? If he was going to demand something out of them, the only thing they really had to offer were the women.

"Please, be at ease. You all seem to know who I am, but I'll introduce myself anyway. My name is Thron Golgotha, the lord of this region."

Despite the villagers' worries, Thron seemed to be trying to calm them down. While the villagers couldn't stay completely calm, things at least got a little better.

"I've come to you today with an offer. My family has been studying a way to make mixed-blood devils stronger. I understand your life is hard, and I'm sorry I can't do more for you, but I would really appreciate it if any of you were willing to help me out."

This was suspicious no matter how it was looked at. Sure, the Golgothas never did anything openly against the mixed-blood devils, but they also never really helped. So why come here now?

But could they even refuse his offer? They had no way to know, but Thron was fully planning to simply come attack at night if no one came with him. He would get his "volunteers" one way or the other.

"I-I want to be strong!"

Lost was the first to raise his hand and say that. Despite being a child, he wasn't naïve. But still this life was destined for nothing but misery. So what's really the problem of taking this chance to maybe achieve his dream?

After Lost, a few other mixed-blood devils raised their hands. In the end, about 5 people seemed to want to go with Thron. Lost was the only child. The rest were people who couldn't hunt anymore or were getting too old.

"Then, please come with me. I promise to support this village while you're away. And, once you come back, you won't regret making this decision."

Thron left the village, and Lost and the others followed him. It took a good while, but they eventually arrived in the Golgotha mansion.

Once there, they were well taken care of. They got to bathe and eat good food. All of them could surely say that it was the most comfortable day of their life.

At night, Lost got to meet with Morus Golgotha, a boy about his age. Well, meet might be a little too much, they just happened to run into each other. But Morus' eyes were already enough to tell Lost exactly what the Golgothas' intentions were, though it was hardly unexpected.

Everyone else would learn of it the next day. They were taken to the basement. Gone was the good treatment they had received until then. There, they were just test subjects.

"Here are the results, my lord."

"Let's see."

"I want to look too, father."

Thron and Morus looked at the test results they were handed. In summary, Lost and the others were tested for compatibility with the various experiments the Golgothas were doing.

Amongst it all, something caught their attention the most.

"Hooh, I don't think I've ever seen such compatibility."

"Are we going to do it with him, father? Please let me do it."

"No, this is too big of a chance. I'll personally see to it."

Thron then walked up to Lost, who was strapped down on a table. Because of all the sedatives he had been given, he was late to react to that.

"Congratulations. Your results show a lot of promise, so we'll use you in the Darkness experiment."

"You'll probably want to die, but do your best to stay alive, alright?"

That was Lost's last day as a normal mixed-blood devil. From there, he would become something else, something that no one expected.