What Kind of Choice Would You Make?

Under the clear sky, a boy bearing devil wings looked down from above. Dark meteor fire seemed to flicker in his eyes, and a faint smile always played on his lips.

"Looking at the school from this angle is much more pleasing to the eye."

Leo muttered to himself quite contentedly.

Sobu High School, located in Chiba City, was the municipal high school with the highest deviation score in the city.

The school buildings were shaped rather peculiarly. If viewed from above, they resembled the Chinese character for "mouth," with an additional building attached slightly below, completing the school's overhead layout.

The classroom building stood along the road, with the special building opposite it. They were connected by corridors on the second floor, forming a quadrilateral. The space enclosed by these four buildings was the courtyard of Sobu High.

It was currently the afternoon, and many students in school uniforms were walking back and forth through the courtyard. Some were sitting on the lawn or benches chatting happily, while others were chasing and playing with each other. The entire scene looked very harmonious, composing a comfortable picture of daily life.

Yet, Leo himself was the most discordant embellishment in this daily scene.

"Do you believe in the existence of devils?"

This question, which he had posed not long ago to a celebrity of Sobu High, the second young lady of the Yukinoshita family, was now being answered in the most direct way possible.

Leo Eligos, a third-year student at Sobu High, was, in fact, a devil.

Once, he had been one of the most ordinary people among the masses, but after coming to this world eighteen years ago, his life began to become extraordinary.

It wasn't until he was three years old that he learned his father in this life was an exorcist and his mother was a devil. The two had met in this city of Chiba about nineteen years ago, immediately fell into a cliché romance, and began a relationship that was not blessed by anyone.

This romance was destined to be a tragedy because the two had once been enemies fighting to the death. Even though hatred later turned to love, the wounds left by the past remained with them.

Thus, as the crystallization of their love, Leo lost his parents one after another when he was three years old, as they passed away from their severe injuries, leaving him an orphan all alone.

Although he was a devil, what could a three-year-old devil do?

In any case, the Leo of fifteen years ago felt that he would very likely die on the side of the road.

Until... Leo met another devil.

"A long, long time ago, devils, angels, and fallen angels were constantly at war, causing extremely painful casualties to each other."

"It was a terrifying war that lasted for thousands of years, nearly driving all three factions to extinction."

"To this day, although the three factions still harbor hostility and hatred toward one another, and the slaughter between them has never ceased, they have all fallen to the point where they cannot survive without humans."

"The angel faction needs to borrow the power of the church established by humans to crusade against devils and fallen angels. The fallen angels have also been trying to manipulate humans to fight against angels and devils. As for the devils, they accumulate power by forming contracts with humans and demanding a price. This is the current situation."

"But even so, we have never given up on finding our former kin."

The other party told Leo that in ancient times, the devils not only had the four great satans, but also seventy-two devil families with noble titles—the legendary 72 pillars of solomon.

Each of these seventy-two families had once been the leaders of dozens of devil legions; they were the original and purest devils. However, in the war that lasted for thousands of years, many of the seventy-two families had already been wiped out.

However, descendants of some extinct noble houses have managed to survive in one way or another, scattering across the world and even living in seclusion within the human world, unknown to others. For this reason, the devil side has continuously tracked and searched for the descendants of these extinct houses, commissioning high-class devils living in the human world to protect and even cultivate them.

Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Leo happened to be a descendant of one of these extinct pure-blood devil families.

"Eligos, the fifteenth-ranked devil lineage among the 72 pillars, also known as Abigor, is an ancient devil family that held the rank of Duke and once commanded sixty devil legions."

"Your mother was one of the few bloodlines of the Eligos clan left in the human world, and the only one remaining of that family. Unfortunately, she has also passed away."

"Although you are a half-breed of a pure-blood devil and a human exorcist, you are still qualified to inherit the Eligos surname. If one day you can become a high-class devil, we will restore the status of the Eligos clan and return everything that once belonged to the family to you, including the title and the territory."

Just like that, Leo received support from the Underworld. Under the official arrangements of the devil government, he was protected by pure-blood devils living in the human world and was even provided with methods to train his power.

Knowing what kind of world he had come to, Leo worked exceptionally hard, constantly delving into his own power as a devil to improve himself. It took him a full fifteen years to finally promote to a high-class devil, and he was granted a treasure in the Underworld that could be used to recruit a peerage—evil pieces.

Because of this, Leo set his sights on a celebrity at his own school—Yukino Yukinoshita.

"What kind of choice will you make?"

Looking down at the school building from above, Leo toyed with an evil piece that was as crimson as blood, the smile on his lips growing deeper.

"I hope the result won't disappoint me."

As a half-breed devil who had only recently and with great difficulty promoted to a high-class devil, Leo was quite looking forward to his first member of his peerage.

This was not only about whether he would gain a visually appealing and capable subordinate, but it also concerned his future development.

Thinking of his own special traits that were completely different from other devils, Leo smiled slightly and put away the evil piece in his hand.

Immediately, his devil wings flapped behind him, and he flew rapidly toward another direction of the school building.

Chiba prefecture is a place surrounded by the sea on three sides, with warm winters and cool summers.

The prefecture lies in the embrace of the magnificent Pacific Ocean, possessing a vast and rich natural environment with lush greenery. Adjacent to the capital, Tokyo, it enjoys a superior geographical location and exceptionally convenient transportation, making it one of the top prefectures in the country.

Leo currently resides in a corner of the Chuo ward in Chiba city.

It is a manor that looks somewhat retro from the outside, resembling a small castle.

The manor is not particularly large, but it features a villa-like mansion. In front of the mansion is a garden planted with many flowers and vegetation. One can see many men and women dressed as servants moving about, either pruning the vegetation or maintaining the flowers and plants, giving it the air of a wealthy household.

Leo suddenly descended from the sky, landing in the garden right in front of everyone. As his toes touched the ground, he retracted his devil wings, causing the surrounding servants to turn and bow to him in unison.

Leo had no intention of greeting these servants and walked straight toward the western-style mansion, entering it.

His destination was the dining room. Although it was a bit too luxurious for one person, he had already grown accustomed to it.

Compared to eating a bento at Sobu High School or grabbing fast food at the cafeteria, Leo undoubtedly preferred the delicious meals prepared by the chefs at home; at least they wouldn't contain seasonings or ingredients he wasn't used to.

"Give me a Chinese meal, the same as the day before yesterday will do."

Leo, who had sat down in the dining room, gave the order casually. A chef who had appeared out of nowhere beside him bowed respectfully and retreated to prepare his lunch.

A young girl dressed as a maid appeared silently, pushing a tea cart. She poured tea, served him, and helped him wash his hands and face. She performed her tasks perfectly, yet she never once engaged Leo in conversation.

It couldn't be helped. Whether it was the chef, the maid, or the servants outside, everyone in this manor was not actually human. They were familiars gifted to Leo along with the manor itself.

The purpose of these familiars was to maintain the operation of the manor and handle Leo's daily needs. They had no other function, so they essentially lacked the ability to converse. They would faithfully perform their duties until they eventually vanished.

There was even a chauffeur in this manor responsible for driving Leo to and from school, though Leo usually preferred to fly back himself, so he rarely made use of the service.

Of course, such a luxurious manor and staff could not possibly have been bought with money Leo earned through his own hard work.

It wasn't that he couldn't do it, but rather that he had been striving to become a high-class devil and hadn't spent any effort on making money. Consequently, he had lived in a regular house until he became a high-class devil, at which point the devil responsible for coordinating with him presented this manor as a gift.

Speak of the devil and the devil appears. While Leo was still waiting for his lunch, a palm-sized magic circle suddenly appeared beside him.

"Good afternoon, Leo."

A figure of a young girl emerged from the magic circle, her voice cold and clear.

Seeing this, Leo revealed a smile.

"Good afternoon, Sona."

Sona Shitori, true name Sona Sitri, the next clan head of the Sitri clan, which ranked twelfth among the 72 pillars of devils, and the younger sister of the current Maou Leviathan.

Yes, the devil who had been responsible for supporting Leo all this time was a devil from the Sitri clan.

Although Sona Shitori was a young devil who had only come to the human world a few years ago, she had taken over a portion of the Sitri clan's work in the human world since her arrival, including the duty of supporting and protecting Leo, a descendant of a severed pure-blood devil family.

Not long ago, when Leo was promoted to a high-class devil, it was she who sent him to the underworld and presented this manor to him as a gift.

Therefore, the smile on Leo's face was not as playful as it had been when facing Yukino Yukinoshita, but appeared much more sincere.