Once again, the members of the alliance known as Death's Group would gather together, or at least the ones that were still alive would. This time, it would be to decide their first target.

"I'm sure glad no one chickened out before our first fight together as a group."

"Stop blabbering. So who's first?"

Yotaka seemed a little irritated. No one there knew why, but it was because, for a few days now, she had completely lost track of Lizel. Just when she thought she had been close to getting what she wanted, it slipped away from her.

The only reason why she'd come here was because Iratsume insisted she take her mind off her search for Lizel for a little bit. Though it's questionable if it's really helping anything.

"I figured we should take on Emperor first."

Everyone turned to look at Lost, clearly thinking there was something wrong with his head. The only exception was Hisoka, who disappeared behind Rinne out of fear.

The first one to recover was Justice's Candidate and the younger Sannou twin, Seigi.

"May I ask for your reasoning? No matter how I think about it, it just doesn't seem like a good idea."

"It's quite simple actually: the first is that Emperor tends to follow a routine, so we can basically pick when and where to fight. The second is that we have lots of data on him, so we're not going in blind. Last thing, if worst comes to worst, Rinne's ability basically ensures we're making it out alive."

Lost's reasoning seemed sound enough. Emperor was certainly the easiest Triumph Candidate to locate, and the fact that he had participated in the previous Devil King War meant they could study his fighting style and prepare plans and countermeasures.

As for Rinne's power, everyone already knew about it. Marios wasn't the only one to interpret Lost's recruitment as an attack, many here had already seen Rinne's power in action for themselves, and those that hadn't had already learned about it. So long as they had her, the chance of death or any permanent damage was basically 0.

But something still wasn't sitting quite right with Seigi. She never really liked this group, and only really agreed to join because defeating the Triumph would be a big step forward in the objective of winning the Devil King War, though she's really starting to have second thoughts.

However, the older twin, Rikimaru, didn't think that far and only seemed to see the chance of fighting someone strong.

"Ooh, Rikimaru-chan likes it. We're i-"

"N-nee-sama, let's talk in private for a second."

Seigi pulled Rikimaru to somewhere before she had the chance to agree to Lost's crazy proposal without even taking a second to think.

But Seigi wasn't the only one dissatisfied with Lost's choice. Rather, that feeling was present in mostly everyone's mind.

"Well I think you're just plain crazy. I'm sitting out of this one."

"I must agree. A fight against Emperor is hardly advised, even in the best of circumstances."

Summers and Balance voiced their disapproval. But not everyone was against it.

"I agree with mas- I mean Lost's idea. If our objective is to fight the Triumph, then it's best to tackle one of the strongest while we're at our strongest."

Being influenced by Psyconnect, of course Marios would never disagree with Lost. But still, Lost had already told Marios about his choice, as well as his true reasoning, so that they could convince everyone together.

But Rinne wasn't privy to that, much less Hisoka. So they were taken by surprise with this sudden choice.

"I-I can't fight, s-so don't expect me to be of any use."

"Lost already knows that, Hisoka-chan. As she said, we're not fighters, so I don't think it's our place to agree or disagree with anything. But we'll still offer our help."

Rinne said, her usual fake smile still on her face. She may not know what Lost was planning, but she felt she owed him enough to at least give him the benefit of the doubt.

Unfortunately, even that wasn't enough to convince the others.

"Well, you can do whatever you want, but I'm not joining a clearly suicidal mission."

Yotaka voiced her displeasure. Luckily, this was one of the points Lost was ready to argue against.

"Come on, everyone here knows Rinne's power, right? No matter what, we're basically guaranteed to come out of the battle unscathed."

"Oh yeah, we should absolutely just let our lives rest in the hands of someone we barely know, but that you trust."

Lost was starting to get mad at Yotaka's irony. But, before he had the chance to say or do anything, Seigi and Rikimaru came back.

"We talked for a bit and have decided that we won't join this fight."

"Bummer…"

Despite Rikimaru clearly wanting to fight, this made it 5 votes against, and 4 in favor. Lost was clearly on the losing side.

And honestly, he wasn't feeling like arguing anymore. That's why he had his Psyconnect ready. Just a little more, and everyone here would become his slaves.

It was as if there was someone whispering "do it, do it" inside his head. Lost really was about to make everyone there become his slaves, but he stopped himself at the last second. He didn't let it show, but Lost was surprised with himself.

It's all so mixed up in Lost's head he sometimes has trouble figuring out what are his own thoughts and what are others'. He was luckily able to regain himself this time, but at this rate it's only a matter of time before he stops being himself.

"Fine then, suit yourselves. But don't come crying back when you realize I was right all along."

Seigi, Rikimaru, Balance, Summers and Yotaka left. Lucky for them, since Lost was about to become unable to hold back.

"What shall we do, master Lost?"

"It's fine. At least I'll be able to achieve my real objective without having to worry about hiding myself from them."

That's right, Lost's true objective and reason why he picked Emperor as his target was because he wanted to eat him and gain his power. His true objective in forming Death's Group was to get some cannon fodder for when he fought one of the Triumph. That objective was mostly a failure, but it can't be helped.

As for how he chose Marchosias, it was quite simple. Empress and Priestess are Arcanas known for only choosing female Candidates, so Lost's not willing to see if their power is something only women can use. Magician's power was useless to him and he wasn't looking forward to fighting Amon again, so Fool was out as well. And, between Emperor and Hierophant, it was clear which was the best choice.

So Lost began his preparations to fight Marchosias. Coincidentally, that fight would take place on the same night as Yuuto traveled out.


Marchosias was returning home after spending some time in the bar he usually went to. Despite it being late and him walking on a deserted road, Marchosias felt no fear. He knew that very few people in this world could currently pose a challenge to him.

Yet, he felt murderous intent clearly directed at him. If it was just that then it would be understandable, he was a Devil King Candidate in the Devil King War. Maybe a Card or some foolish Candidate wanted to get rid of him.

But something was strange. It was like there was something inside Marchosias telling him to take this one seriously.

"I already know you're there, so come out already."

A second after Marchosias voiced out, someone showed up.

First there was 1, then 2, then 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 100. By then, Marchosias gave up on counting, but all of them were knights, or at least were dressed as such.

From the strength he felt from them, Marchosias could tell they weren't the main threat he was feeling. But who are they anyway? It's too many to be Cards, and even if they were, Marchosias thought he'd hear about a group dressed up all as knights even if he hasn't looked into the other Candidates.

Without even saying anything, the knights started attacking Marchosias. Of course, none of them could even make him break a sweat, and Marchosias wasn't fond of tormenting the weak.

So he grabbed one of them by the head and then smashed it against the ground. His intent was to make the other knights afraid and send a message of whatever awaited anyone who wanted to fight him.

But there was something strange about the knight whose head Marchosias had just smashed. How to put it? The knight didn't feel alive, and when his head was smashed in, Marchosias' hand was covered in some kind of black liquid.

Even though it was dark, Marchosias still felt it was a bit too dark to be blood, especially fresh. But what caught his attention the most was that the knights didn't seem to actually be alive.

"You're not devils… or homunculus or humans for that matter."

Maybe they were created by some Candidate's ability or something. Marchosias felt that might be the case, though he couldn't remember which Candidate that could be, nor really cared to try.

It might have been a bit childish of him, but Marchosias felt mad at the thought that someone was testing him. One of these kids thinks they have the right to test him? He couldn't let that stand.

"Fine then. Come, I'll take you all on at once."

Marchosias used his Characteristic Magic, Emperor's Command, to force all the models to attack him at once. Of course, that was not Marios' plan, but, by the time Marchosias used his spell, the models were no longer under Marios' control.

As the name implies, Emperor's Command forces something or someone to obey Marchosias' order. It can be resisted with sufficient power, but currently the only person who could realistically manage that would be Barbatos, or so Marchosias believed anyway.

With that single command, the knight models all left Marios' control and started attacking Marchosias with all the planning of a berserker. And Marchosias simply smashed them all 1 by 1, getting covered in black liquid in the process.


"M-master Lost, h-he took them! I lost control of my models! Aaaah, it's the best!"

"I guess I should be happy for you? I have to be honest, I don't really get your fetish. If someone wants to take something from me, I'll just keep what I have safe (take whatever I want) from them."

2 different voices came out of Lost's mouth at once. Marios had already heard enough to learn to ignore it, but it was the first time Rinne was seeing this.

"Lost, are you…?"

"It was just a sore throat, don't worry about it. In any case, I think it's about time we send out the big guns. I'll be heading out soon as well."

Lost simply ignored Rinne's worries. Despite something inside her telling her to insist on the subject, she just let it go.

As for Hisoka, she was simply silently watching. The reason why this place was so empty was because she had used her Characteristic Magic to drive everyone away. It seemed Lost planned to fight, regardless of who would be injured in the process, that's why Hisoka sent everyone away.

It was strange. Both Rinne and Hisoka got to meet Lost under similar circumstances, with only some amount of time in between. Yet, it seemed like they knew 2 completely different people. Rinne felt gratitude towards Lost and wanted to help him, but Hisoka only felt fear despite him having saved her before.

As for which one of them was right, that would become clear soon enough.


Marchosias had nearly finished off all the knights. By now, most of his body was covered in the black liquid, though he didn't care much for it.

"Finally decided to show up, huh."

2 people came out from the shadows. One was a young boy whose head was covered by his hood, but you could still see a bit of his red hair. The other was a girl with wings on her back, Marchosias instantly recognized her as an angel.

Like many others, Marchosias considered angels to be the stuff of legends, so he was quite confused at first. But then he remembered that whatever ability could create these knights could probably also create something that looked like an angel, so Marchosias' beliefs weren't broken just yet.

"Let's go, Angie. You know the goal, right?"

"I know. And just to be clear, I still don't like you."

Both Angie and Lost attacked Marchosias at the same time. He simply crossed his arms to defend. The blow was so strong and fast that the only sound was of the sonic boom.

Yet, Marchosias wasn't impressed.

"Is that all? My turn to show a real punch."

After having to wait so much, for this to be all… Marchosias was mad. But even so, punching such a young girl wasn't something he'd do, so Lost would simply have to take it for the both of them.

Even Lost couldn't just take this without any worries. So he figured it was about time to break out a little something he'd gotten after the Unveiling, but hadn't actually used yet.

"Keep Out!"

Apite's former Ace, Haida's Bloodline Magic, Keep Out. A barrier magic so powerful it cuts off space itself. That's what was protecting Lost from Marchosias' punch.

But even with such powerful magic, it still felt like Lost was trying to defend himself with a paper shield. And, to prove that point…

"Huh, so you actually have something interesting. Is that a Bloodline Magic? Not that I care to know which family you're from. Break."

With that single word, Emperor's Command proved itself more powerful. Keep Out was broken and Marchosias punched straight through Lost's chest.

He didn't even give him time to scream in pain. Marchosias pulled out his hand and let Lost's lifeless body fall to the ground.

"If you want to give up, now's the time."

"I want to! But Angie's master is still telling her to fight, so I have to."

Marchosias didn't care for what reason his opponents were fighting. The best he could do for them was give them an honorable death.

So Angie created many light spots around Marchosias, and all of them started shooting light at Marchosias, not that it posed any problem at all. Marchosias was much faster.

Of course, that wasn't all. Angie also made weapons of light and tried to attack Marchosias directly. There was no way he could know that, but she was much stronger than she had been previously.

But even then, it wasn't enough. For the man who had trained for 20 years in order to fight and defeat the Devil King, this all was just child's play.

Still, Marchosias didn't feel good about hitting such a young girl, but he felt it couldn't be helped. He imagined she would prefer an honorable death over living out of pity, though he was completely wrong about that.

"Kill her with a single attack with all you have."

Marchosias used his Emperor's Command on himself. Even if his subconscious wanted to hold back, his Characteristic Magic didn't allow it. He'd give this one attack his all.

"Gaaaah, aaaaaa!"

And he hit her, right on the stomach. Or that might have been what it looked like.

A second before Marchosias hit Angie, she simply busted open like a balloon. Of course, Marchosias was confused, but he didn't have time to think about it.

It's ironic that Lost would use a strategy of hiding an "explosive" inside someone, but it couldn't be helped. As far as he could see it, it was the most assured way to reach his objective.

Once Angie burst from the inside out, Marchosias was completely covered in the black liquid. That was Lost's objective.

"Time to eat~"

Lost's voice came out from seemingly nowhere, so it made Marchosias confused. Then, he started feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time: pain.

Yes, it was the pain of being eaten alive. Marchosias had no way to know what was actually happening to him, but his instincts told him it had something to do with the black liquid, so there was only one thing for him to do.

"Get off me!"

Once again, he used Emperor's Command. As if being repelled by some invisible force, all the black liquid flew off from Marchosias' body. He almost thought he heard someone say that, if he had waited a second more, he'd have been eaten whole.

All the black liquid started moving on its own, converging at a single point. From there, a young boy's body formed. Lost.

"Damn it, so close. But at least I got a powerup."

Marchosias looked at where he remembered leaving Lost's body, there was nothing there. In fact, Lost seemed perfectly fine, like he hadn't just had his chest pierced through.

Marchosias felt his body stinging all over. The damage wasn't much, but he had clearly been "eaten" in parts. Some parts of his body were even with exposed flesh and muscle.

"What are you?"

"Don't you remember from the Unveiling? I'm Death."

Lost attacked Marchosias, and Marchosias defended like he had before. After that, it was Marchosias' turn to attack, and Lost defended with Keep Out like before.

But there was something different this time. Lost had gotten considerably stronger. Marchosias was still much stronger, but this presented a clear danger.

"I'll have to take you seriously."

Marchosias stopped holding back and let out all his power. His mana was powerful enough to leave cracks on the ground, even though he wasn't even using it. A cold sweat ran through Lost's back.

"Oi oi, I thought now was the time I defeated you because you held back at the start. If you had that much power hidden, it's like I didn't even get stronger."

Marchosias didn't pay any mind to Lost. He knew to not underestimate him now, so he'd finish this with a single attack.

"This punch will shatter your atoms and all the ties between them. Even you won't come back from this."

This wasn't an analysis or a theory, it was Emperor's Command. Lost might not know the specifics of the ability, but he knew it would be bad to let himself get hit.

But how to avoid this punch? Marchosias was much faster, so there was no way to dodge. Keep Out wouldn't be worth a damn. How else could Lost escape? It shouldn't even take a second, or even a millionth of one, for Marchosias' punch to land, yet it felt like an eternity.

When that time did arrive, Marchosias only punched the air. Had Lost dodged him? No, Marchosias was also healed.

It was as if time had been reversed.

"What the hell just happened?"

Marchosias was confused, but he knew 1 thing for sure, something big was happening. Despite hating the idea, he knew he had to report this to Barbatos.


Unlike Marchosias, Lost wasn't confused when he suddenly disappeared. That's why he immediately made his way back to where Rinne was.

But, rather than being thankful for the save, what Lost felt was pure rage over having his plans ruined.

"Lost, I-"

"Shut up, bitch!"

Lost slapped Rinne so hard she not only fell to the ground, but a few teeth came flying out, and her jaw was dislocated. None of that was a problem for Rinne's Bloodline Magic, Regeneration, but the pain was still very present.

But Lost wasn't done. He kept kicking Rinne while she was down. He wasn't holding back, so she got at least a few broken bones, but he knew she'd be healed right back up.

"Fucking bitch has 1 good point and doesn't even know how to use it right. If you had reversed my time and made me dodge, I'd have eaten that fucker by now. You can't even think of such a simple thing?! Are you dumber than Miyabi?!"

Lost had no idea who Miyabi was, but someone inside him did. And Lost's body was changing to look more like that person's by the second.

While Lost kept kicking Rinne, Hisoka tried to tackle him away from her. But of course, she was too weak to make him budge any. But Lost did take notice of her.

"S-stop hitting Rin-chan."

Hisoka was trembling so much it was a wonder how she was still standing on her feet. But at least she got Lost to stop hitting Rinne.

But now Lost's attention was focused on her.

"Wait… aren't you that little bitch from the Unveiling? That was the first time Lovers got in my way… what luck! At least I'll be able to relieve some stress."

Lost's hand extended towards Hisoka, but stopped just before grabbing her. His face changed, and his voice as well.

"We're not getting back at Lovers by raping this bitch, it has to be one of his girls. Shut up, don't get in my way. We have to focus on getting stronger. I have to finish my job. More power. Save them. Help me. Aaaaaaaaa!"

Lost suddenly started having a conversation all on his own, but never with the same voice or face. Then he started screaming in pain.

Hisoka didn't know what was going on, but she took this chance to help Rinne up. By now, she was basically fully healed.

But she didn't try to escape. Rather, Rinne kept her gaze fixed on Lost.

"Lost…"

Rinne seemed to know what was happening better than Hisoka, that's why she wanted to see it to the end.

But Lost walked away from her and closer to Marios. He extended his palm to them, as if to tell them to stay where they were.

"Go, somewhere I don't know. Never show up in front of me again. I… don't want to do something bad to either of you."

Both Rinne and Hisoka were surprised. Was that… the real Lost? Or what was left of him at least.

Hisoka was the first to recover, she tried pulling Rinne along. It took a little for her to move, but they both left, disappearing to the unknown as Lost had told them.

Marios was still there, but Lost didn't care to not harm him. Besides, he'd need someone's help going forward.

"Marios, change of plans. I have something very important to do now."

"What is it, master Lost?"

"I have to get my head under control."