Chapter 2: Forbidden Knowledge

[Akemi Leviathan POV]

A bright blue light shone on my wrist today.

"So... Today is his return."

I, Akemi Leviathan was ordered a long time ago by the King and Queen of Hell to wait for the return of our Prince here at Mt. Levi.

Today was finally the day that Akemi has been waiting for a long time in her entire lifetime. Long ago the King and Queen tasked Akemi for this mission to wait for the Prince's return.

The King and Queen put a temple here at Mt. Levi, so that when the seal that they put on Prince Haruki has finally been lifted, he would be transported in the temple they put here at Mt. Levi.

Akemi was currently preparing dinner and making her home tidier for the Prince to stay at for today.

After finishing, Akemi immediately went to where the temple where Haruki Hotaru, the Prince of Hell is residing as of right now.

"Now that everything's done, let's go there."

"Finally, I'm here." When Akemi got there she saw the prince who was to be there gone, but How? Akemi was confused about why Haruki has disappeared without a trace.

She knew that without the guidance of an Archduke he can't escape, because of the barrier she set up to trap him here and to put him to deep sleep here at the temple.

"He can't wake up on his own, so that means... Someone woke him up and took him, but who could-

No, now's not the time to think, I better find him quickly, but where would they go? Let me think... Tastraria and Mhaciah are the closest, so let's go to Tastraria, and I can ask Sir Gusion to inspect Mhaciah."

But what do I say to convince him to help me find the Prince? Do I tell him about his return? No, he would tell on me to the King and Queen that I lost the Prince, which I don't want to happen

Akemi couldn't trust anyone, due to the fear of the King and Queen being disappointed in her if they found out

"So... wait- is Ifrit available? Today is not his time to train the recruits, so I guess I can convince that guy to help me.

Akemi has decided on a potential helper that could help her find where the Prince was. "Thought Owl, Target: Ifrit. Hey Ifrit, this is Akemi, can you come to Mt. Levi, I have something urgent to speak with you."

Akemi hurriedly returns home to meet Ifrit, and there he was just standing; waiting for Akemi to return.

"There you are Akemi, so what did you want to talk about?"

Akemi began to tell Ifrit everything, even about the disappearance of the Prince. She knows that she'll get in trouble if the Prince is gone, but nows is not the time for her to think that.

"So what you're telling me is the Prince has been kidnapped?"

"Yes." Akemi answered.

"Then this is serious, why just tell me about this and not include the others, if we increase our numbers; chances of finding him would increase."

My, my, I didn't think that this old guy would've thought of that, I thought that every bit of his brain cells is already polluted.

"I thought of that, but it's best if only the two of us would track him, I don't want to cause an uproar at the country."

"I guess that makes sense... But why ask me instead of the others?"

"If you help me find the Prince, you can train him." One of Ifrit's wishes is known by Akemi, and that's to be Haruki's teacher, she used this information to bait Ifrit to help her.

Ifrit became excited upon hearing what Akemi said "Really! Then what are you doing just standing there, let's go find him!"

***

[Haruki Mimasaka POV]

I and this guy are finally in the city, we exchanged words a bit when we're at the hill, for the most part, he's actually a nice guy.

"You see Haruki, even if we devils were opposed and discriminated against by everyone we still didn't give up."

Wow okay, this guy is now gonna tell a full story, isn't he? Well, there's nothing I can do other than listen to what he's gonna say.

"A long time ago, one of the angels thought of something that's against the rule he was supposed to follow, and the angel is–"

"Lucifer isn't? you can stop talking about him, everyone knew what he has done in the Bible, so telling his story would just be useless." After all, the first-ever demon Lucifer is famous around Earth.

Everyone knows of him as the true devil, no one in the world wouldn't know of his name, because everyone is afraid of his wrath.

The person with me started to laugh loudly, it seems like my answer was wrong for him. "I guess that's what every human know right? But have you ever thought of the reason he actually rebelled?" This guy gave me a mischievous smile when he asked me that.

It's common sense, right? Why Lucifer betrayed God? People know why he became the very first demon. "He rebelled because he wants to be as powerful as God right? Or more powerful than God." That's far as I know why he became a demon, due to his greed for power, Lucifer rebelled against God, so that he can become someone as powerful as God.

"That's what everyone knows, but his real reason is that he wants freedom, no the angels who followed him wanted freedom. When the angels were tasked to be the watcher of humans, all of them were amazed and were in awe when they interacted with them. Some fell in love with the humans and made a family with them, and some taught magics to humans." He was calmly saying that to me.

I don't know who he even is, but if he's a devil that means that he's just protecting the entire race of demons by saying that right?

For now, let's play his game for a bit. "Which is why God got angry when he heard about that, so that's why he cast them away." So the devils just want freedom... And fought for it but still lost. "But... When those angels changed their identity, they kept their vanity as former angels, and the sadness they felt when God cast them away, so that's why they cast away most of their goodness and pretended to be evil."

Nope, it's not a story at all, but more like a forbidden knowledge that any human is not supposed to learn.

But... I understand what the devils felt when God denied their desire for freedom because being under the rule of someone forever is painful.

So is God the real devil? Or is there something else more than that? Because if a powerful and loving God is giving humans their safety and home, why can't he do the same thing with the devils? There's more of this story about the devils and the angels that meet the eye...

"Nope, not only the Gods are evil, but everyone is also evil because there's no such thing as a good being; in the end everyone is evil." I hope this guy can stop reading my mind, it's getting kinda creepy.

"*Cough* also I forgot, what's your name, you seem to know my name, so what's yours?" What he is saying is already getting out of hand, so good thing that I broke it by asking him his name.

"Hmmm... I go by many names, but you can call me El."

"El, what a unique name; right, my full name is Haruki Mimasaka it's a pleasure to meet you El."

***

"Ifrit, I finally located them here at Tastraria, I'm now gonna begin to put a barrier to trap the both of them." On top of the buildings was Akemi Leviathan spying on Haruki and El above. "It looks like the kidnapper has no intent to kill Haruki at all."

"Copy that Akemi, I have placed the sealed crystal at every corner, so you can now start."

"Curse of the Spectres, Blizzard Vicinity, Target: Crystals."

"*Sigh* Akemi it's now done, now we wait.

***

I and El were just talking until we notice that the entire town is empty.

Not a single sound can be heard from our surroundings, even the animals disappeared.

It's like everyone just spirited away.

"What happened? Also, why is the city covered in thick fogs, and started to get cold all of a sudden?" It made me confuse why the town was like a ghost town. The feeling of seeing the town empty is making me feel chill down my spine.

"So they're earlier than I anticipated." El mumbled to himself.

"They? who's coming?" Did someone trap us? Cast a spell on us? But why? Don't tell me that El is a criminal?!

"Don't worry Haruki, I'm not a criminal, until today that is." El calmly said to me with a smile.

"Huh, I see... Wait what did you do!?" And how can he even say that calmly when we're in big trouble?

"You were supposed to be taken by the Archdukes Haruki, but instead I got you first."

So this guy did do something, but most important of all, did he say he stole me from the Archdukes of Hell?! Really? Is this guy f*cking insane?!

"Let's hide before they start, I know someone who can help us."

"No! Just return me!" I stubbornly said to him. "It's more easier than running!" After all, we're running from these so-called Archdukes, and by the name of it, Archdukes mean that they are the devils who govern Hell.

"Come on Haruki, that's not fun, so come here."

El mysteriously had a rope with him and now he tied me to his back.

Looking at my situation right now, I couldn't do a thing but laugh. "Haha! I don't know if I'm gonna be sane after this."