— — — — — —
Staring at the young Deva man in front of him, Shahryar's eyes bulged.
"Cain?!"
"That's me!"
The young man nodded cheerfully. "Looks like becoming the youngest magister really did make me famous."
He rubbed his nose, grinning. "You here for an autograph? Did you bring pen and paper?"
Then he tilted his head, puzzled. "By the way… what's this 'Familiar' you mentioned? And the Four Primogenitors? Holy Ground Treaty Organization? I've never seen any new groups with those names on the quantum network."
"Cain…"
Shahryar stumbled back several steps as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Didn't you die seven thousand years ago? How are you still alive?"
The young man's eyes widened. His face flushed with indignation.
"Seven thousand years? Who are you calling ancient? I'm eighteen! Just eighteen! The youngest magister—youngest among all magisters, got it?"
He frowned. "You sure you've got the right person?"
"Eighteen… impossible. When you were eighteen… that was more than seven hundred years before I was even born…"
Shahryar went pale.
"I tried to cross into another realm… and ended up traveling through time?"
"At this point in history, there aren't even Primogenitors yet. Familiars don't exist. This… this can't be real…"
Then suddenly, his breathing steadied. "No. No—this might actually be good."
He looked up, eyes blazing.
"I've returned to over nine thousand years in the past. The Deva has only just begun exploring the solar system. The beastmen, elves, and humans haven't united yet. The dragons may be hostile, but they haven't committed to war."
"And I—Shahryar Ren!—have brought technology from nine thousand years in the future!"
"Divine weapons. The Cleansing formula. Familiar engineering. None of it exists in this era!"
"I can rebuild the Itogami Island altar from scratch. Use Cleansing to modify myself. Become the First Primogenitor. Tame Familiars!"
"I'll be the first Deva member to conquer sunlight! I'll become the new Primogenitor of the Demon Race! The ruler of the world!"
The more he spoke, the brighter his eyes burned.
Who cared about some sealed weapons now?
He would become King of the Devas.
The human coalition, the Four Primogenitors, Cain the so-called Primogenitor of the Demon Race—all of them would kneel before him.
"Hahahaha! Wonderful! This is perfect! I've returned to the Deva era—no, I've returned to my era!"
He thrust out a hand and clenched his fist, blood boiling with excitement.
"I am the king of a new age!"
'…Is he insane?'
Cain stared blankly at him.
'I study magical formulae, not mental health…'
A soft chuckle drifted through the ruins.
"Quite the entertaining little farce."
Shahryar spun around.
On a crumbled section of wall stood two figures.
A handsome black-haired man in a tailored black suit, and a golden-haired girl in a white dress, skin glowing like wheat under sunlight.
Shahryar recognized the man instantly.
The human who had become the Fourth Primogenitor. The one named Ryo Yagami.
And in that instant, memory snapped into place.
Before crossing time—he'd been grabbed.
By a hand.
"It was you! You brought me here!" Shahryar pointed at Ryo—
—and the violent surge of his emotions had pushed his body past its limit. His heart couldn't take it.
"How can this be? I'm a king! The king of the Deva! How could I die here?!"
He clutched his chest and dropped to his knees.
"My heart—my heart! How dare you defy me?! Defy your king—!"
The next moment, Shahryar collapsed with a dull thud.
"Looks like you weren't a king after all," Ryo said mildly.
Earlier, he had already detonated Shahryar's heart using The Emotion Authority. For someone who only approximated a vampire, such an injury was fatal.
Shahryar Ren died without ceremony. Even at the end, he'd been thinking about his imaginary throne.
He had been one step away from rewriting destiny—only to fall at the opening scene of someone else's story.
"..."
Cain blinked, unable to see Ryo or Algol at all.
"Hey… you okay?"
"I just talked to you for a minute. Why'd you drop dead?"
He stepped back nervously. "You're not trying to scam me, right? I don't have any money!"
"So that's the so-called Primogenitor of the Demon Race?" Algol asked, expression strange.
Algol glanced at Cain, then made a face. "Average looks. Life level nowhere near six digits. Energy reserves so thin they're barely visible. And this is the one who becomes the Primogenitor of the Demon Race?"
"Maybe he's just really smart," Ryo shrugged.
Algol frowned thoughtfully. "Then let's open him up and take a look."
She stepped forward, rising gently into the air.
Dong—
A bell tolled.
Behind her appeared a pitch-black, single-horned serpent biting its own tail, endlessly looping in a perfect cycle.
A terrifying suction force burst outward.
Before Cain could react, countless glowing motes of light were pulled from his body and drawn into the serpent's revolving center.
His eyes went blank.
Two seconds later, he looked around, confused.
"Where am I? Who am I?"
His gaze passed straight through Ryo and Algol.
"I… What was I supposed to do?"
The Deva boy—now nameless—scratched his head and wandered toward the distant city.
"How is it?" Ryo asked, casually granting the boy a blessing to ensure he would live safely to old age.
Algol lowered herself to the ground.
"Gifted in magical formulae, yes. A genius of his era, absolutely. But that's the ceiling. In Little Garden, he'd be nothing special."
She turned to Ryo. "I'll walk this era under the name Cain. Will you stay with me? Or return to the original parallel world?"
Ryo sighed.
"I'll head back."
"When the appointed time comes, I'll observe this world and pull this universe into Little Garden's field of observation."
Algol nodded. "In that case… see you in Little Garden."
"See you there," Ryo said with a smile. "I'll be waiting for you in Arcadia."
She shot him a sideways glance, "Have that little Hōgyoku of yours ready. I've accumulated a few new beauty-related issues."
"That's nothing."
Ryo's figure gradually grew transparent.
"Nothing?" Algol muttered. "There's no such thing as a small matter when it comes to beauty."
She watched as he vanished completely.
Then she lifted her head and gazed at the blue sky, a faint smile curling her lips.
"Well then."
"Time to build a world ruled solely by demons."
"A world where the more beautiful you are, the stronger you become."
One of Little Garden's three problem children—the Demon Star Algol—had returned.
.
.
.