DSB 1

Heaven and earth, I alone am supreme. That phrase refer to one being alone.

The Demon God’s firstborn and the hero who led the demons to victory in the war between the Celestial and Demon realms.

He soared through the sky, standing aloof against the blue heavens so different from the Demon Realm. At his feet lay angels with their wings torn and feathers plucked, bleeding profusely.

He looked down at the sprawled angels with a merciless expression.

“Ugh, you bastard! Lebel!”

“My ears work just fine. Michael.”

“How dare you, how dare a mere demon defile the heavens!”

His crimson eyes, as vivid and transparent as the blood spilled by the angels, fixed upon Michael, who knelt before him. Michael, known as the shield of the Celestial God and the knight of the divine, had been defeated by Lebel once again.

The grand spear he so prided himself on lay broken, and his shield had long since been flung far away, vanishing from sight.

Lebel neither mocked the wailing Michael nor felt any joy in the victory of war. This sequence had played out dozens, even hundreds of times.

“Next time, next time I will definitely win!”

Michael screamed in fury. To Lebel, it was fascinating how he approached these ritualistic, almost playful wars with such unyielding sincerity every single time.

In the first war, he had been thrilled by the Demon God’s assistance. Battling the strong brought him pleasure. But that was no longer the case.

The angels surrounding Michael silently accepted their defeat. They no longer showed any signs of resistance. They simply sighed and acknowledged the loss without protest.

But Michael was different.

Who was it that had ever called that angel stoic and cool-headed?

The Michael Lebel knew was always a creature smoldering like a hot volcano, picking fights for no reason at all. And the more years passed, the more it became so.

“Why are you so earnest about mere games played by the gods?”

“Ha, you turn the heavens into this state and have the gall to call it a mere game without sincerity?!”

Lebel indifferently scanned his surroundings. Many angels had died, but they would soon revive under the breath of the Celestial God, that was the nature of angels.

Numerous buildings had been destroyed, but they would rebuild them quickly, just as they always had.

If anything, every time he visited for these “excursions,” the place grew even more splendid.

Lebel inwardly wanted to point out that it was thanks to him that their architecture was becoming more ornate and beautiful with each visit, but he had already provoked Michael’s wrath with that very remark in the past.

“The children will revive with the Celestial Cod’s breath, and the buildings can simply be rebuilt. Ah, yes, that one turned out well. I spared it because it would have been a shame to shatter it.”

“Are you mocking me right now?!”

“…It was a compliment.”

He had only admired the celestial city teeming with lavish, pretty palaces, so unlike the Demon Realm.

Lebel could not comprehend Michael’s rage. Reading that impassive expression, Michael swallowed his indignation.

The Demon God who created the demons and the Celestial God who created the angels.

The two gods, holding opposing ideologies, argued endlessly. The sparks from their conflicts inevitably affected their children, and since the gods’ battles could shatter the world, they often settled their differences through their offspring.

Sometimes it took the form of wars resolved by force, other times debates to persuade and decide by vote.

When it came to settling matters through discussion and tallying votes, the odds were even, but when it boiled down to brute force and combat, one side always held the advantage.

It was all because of Lebel’s existence.

The mere mention of the name Lebel could send angels into fits of hysteria, and parents even used it to scare mischievous young angels into behaving.

“I will kill you one day, without fail.”

“Aren’t you tired of saying that?”

Lebel was the first being born into this world aside from the gods themselves.

Though called the Demon Gord’s firstborn, he was essentially the first lifeform the gods had ever created, with his essence rooted in demonkind.

Born of both gods’ affections, his measure of strength was unparalleled.

Even Michael, who stood apart from other angels in prowess, could not match him.

The triumphant fanfare signaling the war’s end resounded.

Today, too, Lebel had emerged victorious. His crimson eyes half-closed in evident boredom.

***

The room was so quiet that not even the faintest breath could be heard.

Thick curtains shrouded the windows, leaving the interior devoid of light, yet the room sparkled like a starlit night sky, adorned throughout with exquisite works of art.

The room’s master adored anything that glittered, especially things that were ornate, pretty, and shimmering.

Collecting such items had been his sole hobby, perhaps the only thing he truly enjoyed, but now even those lay ignored, gathering dust upon them.

And the master of this room, having lost all interest in everything, spent his days sleeping without fail.

The fact that he lay rigidly atop the grand bed served as proof.

He made no sound, like a corpse, but the vast demonic energy enveloping him proclaimed that he lived.

“Lebel, my lord, please wake up!”

The one who shattered the room’s profound silence was Karon, a demon who appeared with his ears perked eagerly.

As the servant and aide who respected this room’s master, Lebel, more than anyone else, he approached with his tail wagging.

But Lebel did not so much as bat an eyelid.

The tail that had been sweeping the floor in excitement drooped limply. Waking his master each day was Karon’s unwavering goal, but it seemed he had no intention of rising today either.

Yet he could not give up on this particular day.

“It’s been over three years now!”

Karon bellowed heartily, but the room remained hushed. But Karon caught it.

The faint tsk of a tongue clicking in annoyance.

What a perceptive one he was. He must have heard Karon’s footsteps from afar, not to mention the door opening, everything.

“Look here! The weather is wonderful today!”

He threw the curtains wide open, revealing a landscape of ashen night skies with a massive crimson moon hanging. The red moon emanated a bloody glow, as if it were the sun itself.

This was the Demon Realm, the domain of the demons.

It differed from the heavens in every way. Unlike the sparkling whites and golds of the Celestial Realm, this place gleamed black, and that crimson moon pierced the darkness.

“Please stop sleeping all the time and get up. Come play with me! Yes? Ye~es?!”

Karon wagged the tail attached to his rear while shaking and prodding Lebel insistently to rouse him, but Lebel waved him off dismissively, as if it were all too bothersome.

At least there was a reaction. Karon lifted his head in delight, only to whine and tear up as Lebel’s hand descended once more.

Lebel, the ancient demon who had existed even before Karon’s birth and the first demon beloved by the Demon God, was a magnificent and mighty figure who led wars to victory.

Karon had come to revere him upon witnessing his back in battle. And after countless fights, he had earned the position at his side.

It had been over three hundred years since he began serving as his aide.

Karon still revered him, but Lebel had changed. No matter how hard Karon tried to halt the way Lebel lost his vitality with each passing day, his efforts proved futile.

In the end, this was the state he remained in. Spending his days in listless tedium.

There were even demons who had grown disappointed in him and left.

Yet the fact that he remained a noble and powerful demon had not changed.

Karon’s eyes glazed over in rapture at the terrifying demonic energy emanating from Lebel.

Even in sleep, he was so beautiful, elegant, and magnificent!

“Lebel, my lord, I cannot back down today. I have my secret weapon, you see.”

Karon pulled a black letter from his bosom.

“A letter from the Demon God has arrived!”

It was in that instant. Lebel’s eyelids fluttered open languidly. Crimson eyes, as vivid as the moon in the sky, emerged.

Lebel let out a deep sigh.

“Why did he send it?”

“Why else? He heard that you sleep all day, every day, and grew worried.”

“…There are other demons who live like I do.”

“You must mean Lord Astaroth. But he is different from you, my lord! He puts in so much effort just to live a life of comfortable, quiet sloth!”

Lebel glanced at Karon, wondering what the difference was.

“Last time, he wasn’t satisfied with his pillow, so he personally plucked feathers one by one from harpies until he found the perfect ones. In the end, he crafted the fluffiest pillow in the Demon Realm from that harpy’s feathers.”

“…I am particular about my sleeping arrangements too.”

“But average is still average! And the problem with you, my lord, is that you do not move at all! Ah, or how about we go view some shiny things again! This time, Lord Belial is holding an auction at his estate…”

“Bothersome. The warehouse is already overflowing.”

“Hng….”

Karon kept whining endlessly until, at last, Lebel raked a hand through his hair and sat up.

His black locks were so dark they would blend seamlessly into the night sky.

The hand he extended indifferently was pale and slender, belying the fact that it had led countless wars to victory.

Karon handed the letter from the Demon God to that hand. Lebel read it with detached disinterest. The contents were simple. Just nagging.

Lebel tossed the letter aside, deeming it unworthy of further perusal. As Karon stared in surprise at the falling paper, it began to glow.

[Lebel! How dare you treat a letter from me so carelessly?!]

“Ah! D-Demon God!”

[You had no intention of coming to see me, did you?]

“You have to want to see someone to go.”

[Ha, my worry over you knows no bounds. How did it come to this? The you from before…]

The Demon God rambled on, but Lebel tuned him out.

After the gods had agreed among themselves to stop pitting their children against one another, the stage for Lebel’s exploits vanished.

The Demon Realm turned just fine without him. So what was the problem?

[So I have decided on a drastic measure! I am sending you to the human world.]