Kiyoshi received a message from one of his clubs. The unknown person left a letter asking him to deliver it to the most important person. The most curious thing was the Ouroboros symbol on the envelope seal. Having received the letter in his hands, the phoenix confirmed his conclusions. An insignificant question: "Did you like my gift?" proved the identity of the sender. The message stated the place and time of the meeting.
Having a whole day, the blond first of all told about the invitation.
— It's a trap! — Yasaka declared, as soon as she saw the contents of the letter.
— Perhaps, — the phoenix agreed. — The meeting will take place in his castle, and for that I will have to teleport with someone — it sounds like a trap.
— Then...
— But he also has no reason to harm me, — he interrupted Yasaka. — After all, I will be useful to Rizevim as an ally, not an enemy. Besides, — Zankoku smiled predatorily, — I am not so easy to defeat now, especially for a demon.
— Don't be arrogant, child, — the goddess said. — Don't belittle others, or you might bitterly regret it.
— I beg your pardon, Amaterasu-sama, — the boy bowed to her. — I have become too proud.
— It's okay. You are young and gaining such a level of power is admirable, but you must not let your guard down.
— Thank you for your advice, mistress, — Kiyoshi said respectfully. — However, I still believe that I can avoid the worst when confronting Rizevim.
— Your confidence is not unfounded. I also think that the demon wants to use you, not kill you, — Amaterasu said and added, — at least for now.
— Are you sure of that? — the fox asked doubtfully.
— Yes. Let him meet the descendant of Lucifer.
After confirming his actions, the phoenix headed home. He decided to spend the time before the meeting with his beloved family.
The next day, the blond was waiting in the same club where they left him a message. At the appointed hour, a young man with silver hair entered the room.
— Good afternoon, Zankoku-san, — the guest introduced himself, ignoring the looks of those around him. —I came to accompany you to the meeting.
— Okay, — the phoenix stood up from the bar and approached him. — Let's go.
The man only smiled in response and a transfer circle appeared under them. The next moment, both appeared in a spacious room.
— Please follow me.
Following the guide, Kiyoshi confirmed his guess by looking at the purple sky of the Underworld. He was now somewhere on the outskirts of the underworld, because the devils do not know the location of Rizevim's castle.
— My master is already waiting for you, — the man said at the entrance to the room before opening the door. — Please come in.
Entering the room, the phoenix found Lucifer's son sitting at the head of the table. In addition to the owner of the house, there were several people in the spacious room. Three men sat to the right of Rizevim. Two of them were familiar to Kiyoshi, and judging by the aura they were giving off, he assumed that the latter was also a dragon.
— I welcome you to my home, Kiyoshi Zankoku, — the descendant of Lucifer addressed the guest kindly. — Sit down. Euclid will serve us drinks now.
The silver-haired demon who brought the phoenix here bowed and left the room.
— I hope you won't mind a little company, — Rizevim pointed at the three. — You are already acquainted with Crom Cruach, and this is the "Dragon of Primordial Darkness" Apophis and the "Dragon of a Thousand Spells" Aži Dahāk, — after introducing them, the demon watched the blond's reaction, but he only cast a fleeting glance at the dragons. He nodded to Crom Cruach and sat down at the table.
Aži Dahāk mentally praised his liberator for concealing their acquaintance. As he had already found out, Rizevim was not someone who could be trusted. The dragon was waiting with interest to see what today's meeting would lead to. If necessary, he was ready to fulfill his part of the agreement and attack the demon.
— Thank you for the invitation, as well as your gift, — the blond nodded his head in gratitude. At that moment, Euclid returned to the room pushing a cart. Having set out the glasses and poured wine into them, he stood behind the owner of the house. — I don't like to beat around the bush, so I want to know the reason for your actions, Rizevim Livan Lucifer.
—Ha-ha-ha,— the demon laughed cheerfully, despite his opponent's seriousness. — The youth these days are so impatient, but I like this approach, — Rizevim became more serious, but the smile did not leave his face. — You know, when it became known about the Phenex bastard after the Rating Game with Sirzechs' sister, I became interested in you. The information I received pleasantly surprised me, — the man closed his eyes, enjoying the taste of the drink. — Even though you are only half a demon, you behave like a true representative of our species. Not like the current generation, — he grimaced in disgust. — They have become too humanized. Demons are obliged to be evil, vicious, cruel, corrupted, blasphemous, terrible, nightmarish, bloodthirsty, malicious creatures. We should indulge our desires and vices, and not pretend to be kind and fair. To achieve your goals, you must step over the heads of others without caring about others, — the demon said with a drop of respect, hinting at Zankoku's actions. — Agree?
— Yes. You can do a lot for that, — the young man did not deny his words, — but what are your goals? You lead the "Chaos Brigade", but power over demons is of no concern to you. You are one of the strongest demons and have political weight, but you hardly appear in public. What do you wish for, Rizevim?
— I want to plunge the world into Chaos! — the demon said with a gleam in his eyes. — This world has become too boring for me, but when I learned from Euclid about the existence of other worlds, life sparkled with new colors, — Rizevim's expression became mad. — With the help of the Grail, I was able to resurrect the evil dragons, as well as find the place where Trihexa is sealed. With the help of the Apocalypse Beast and the army of evil dragons, I will go to war against another world and conquer it!
— I still don't understand what this has to do with me? — The phoenix understood that they were clearly not telling him the whole story, but decided not to voice his doubts. — I have no desire to leave my family for the sake of war in another world.
— Ha! I have other plans for you, — the man said openly. — My goals overlap with yours, so it will be beneficial for us to cooperate with each other.
— If you're telling the truth, then I'm not against an alliance. I just need to know the details.
— I'm planning to invade Heaven for some things, and I'll also have to face demons, — Rizevim enjoyed his guest's surprise until the blond got his emotions under control. — My people managed to find out some rumors about a large-scale event. Haha! And I want to take advantage of this turmoil for my plans. In that case, everyone will think that what happened was my plan and there will be no problems for you. So what?
Kiyoshi did not answer right away. He needed time to think about what he had heard. They did not disturb him, giving him the opportunity to weigh everything.
— I agree, but I have a couple of minor conditions.
— Speak.
— There is no need to advertise our relationship ahead of time. Let them find out about it when it is too late, — Rizevim repeated the predatory grin of the phoenix and nodded. — And I want to warn you that I am going to kill your "heroes".
— No problem. This bunch of kids with sacred gears are useless to me anyway, — he easily waved away their lives. — As for hiding our contract, that is also part of my plans. Your help will only be needed during the battle in Hell.
— Great! Then we have a deal.
— I'm glad you agreed, — the demon said with undisguised satisfaction. — Euclid will contact you if anything happens. He will also escort you back.
— Yes, Rizevim-sama, — he bowed to the son of Lucifer. Then he turned to Zankaku, — I will accompany you, follow me.
As Kiyoshi moved along the corridor, he couldn't shake the feeling that the demon in front of him reminded him of someone.
— Euclid, — the phoenix addressed him, — are you by any chance related to Sirzechs' "Queen"?
Zankoku decided to ask, but he didn't expect that he would be right. Euclid stopped abruptly. His fists shook slightly, and his teeth clenched to the point of grinding.
— Don't mention that worthless person's name to me, — the demon whispered angrily. — Please.
— Okay and forgive me. — The man took a few breaths to get his emotions under control.
— Sorry for this breakdown, but even the mention of this bastard makes me angry, — although his voice expressed anger and contempt, a friendly smile remained on Euclid's face. — Yes, you are right. I am the younger brother of Grayfia Lucifuge.
— I see, — was the only thing the phoenix could say.
They returned to the room where they appeared in this castle. Euclid created a magic circle and the couple disappeared from the underworld.
— And what do you mean by that? — Kiyoshi asked when they found themselves in an unknown place. — Do you want to get rid of me?
— No. Don't rush to conclusions, — Euclid shook his head and created a barrier of silence around him. — I want to talk to you and come to an agreement.
— Interesting, — Zankoku looked at the demon, not finding any sources of danger. He was still on guard, but was ready to listen to Rizevim's confidant. — What do you want to tell me, if it requires going into such a wilderness?
— First, I want to tell you that I am not your enemy, — seeing the interested look, the man continued, — I know about your relationship with Ophis. Rizevim was able to find out about your resurrection thanks to me observing you. No one else knows about this, but if something happens to me...
— Continue, — the phoenix tensed up, but did not do anything.
— I want to cooperate with you.
— For what purpose?
— To kill Rizevim and save my sister, — Euclid said seriously, looking straight into Kiyoshi's eyes.
— Don't you serve Rizevim? — the blond asked in surprise. — Why would you kill him?
— I cooperated with him to use him, but that madman's plans are getting out of control. He already tried to send a declaration of war to ExE and the coordinates of our world, but I managed to disrupt the communication channel, — Lucifuge said with difficulty. — It took a lot of strength to do it without being noticed.
— My sympathies?
— Forget it, — the demon waved his hand. — I know that you don't intend to cooperate with Rizevim for long, just like he does. Ouroboros is no longer as naive as she wants to appear and is clearly planning something. So I want to cooperate with you.
— You mentioned saving your sister, what does that mean?
— During the civil war, we fought on the side of the heirs of the original Maou, but we lost. I was injured during the battle with Sirzechs and hid for a long time to heal my wounds. While I was incapacitated, our faction lost, and Grayfia did not want our line to disappear, since she believed me to be dead, so she surrendered without a fight. However, the new Lords could not allow a powerful demon to roam freely and offered to enter into a magical contract to serve one of them, — the retelling of the story once again caused anger in Euclid's soul. — Our line was originally servants of Lucifer, so my sister chose the strongest of them, becoming a servant of the Gremory house, and later the "Queen" of the red-haired bastard.
— The story is certainly interesting, but what do you want from me?
— The magical contract will not disappear as long as at least one member of the Gremory family remains alive, — he answered firmly. — The only obstacle for me is Sirzechs. As much as I don't want to admit it, he is too strong for me.
— And I, just about to fight against this guy, — Zankoku finished for him. — Well, it's a good chance for you, but I don't see any benefit in it for myself. You can try to blackmail me, — the phoenix said with a grin, — but it won't do me any harm. On the contrary, it will only be bad for you.
— I...
— Wait, I'm not rejecting your idea, — the blond raised his palms in a conciliatory manner, — I just need time to think over all the information I've received today. Let's talk about our little conspiracy another time. Okay?
— Okay. We still have time, — the demon nodded, removing the barriers. — Then see you next time, Kiyoshi Zankoku.
— Yeah, see you, — the phoenix teleported to his home.
***
After spending an hour retelling the story for Yasaka and Amaterasu, Kiyoshi tiredly trudged home. Entering the living room, he found a lazy dragon sprawled on the couch.
— So how did it go? — Ophis asked, tucking her legs under him, allowing him to sit up.
— Not as bad as it could have been, — the boy raised an eyebrow as the brazen girl placed her legs on his lap.
— Give me details, — she lightly slapped him when the boy tried to tickle her. — What did that idiot want from you?
— Nothing much, basically, just help in the fight against demons, — Zankoku shrugged. — I'm more concerned about his goals. That idiot wants to unseal Trihexa.
— Seriously? — Ouroboros was surprised. — 666 can't be controlled, and that thing isn't weaker than me or the red one.
— He doesn't care about such trifles. Rizevim is going to fight another world, — the boy stated casually. — Using the Beast of the Apocalypse and a bunch of evil dragons, he's going to take over another world. Surely, having previously gone through all the mythologies of our world.
— Don't doubt it, — the girl grinned, — it's in his style. Lucifer's miscarriage only craves war and chaos.
— Then you should be glad that among his confidants there is a traitor, — the phoenix told about his conversation with Euclid.
— Even so. Funny! Ha-ha! — she laughed for a while, but stopped abruptly. — Listen, I have an interesting idea! You will be able to do some good to the crows and bats, without involving your faction.