The man with emerald eyes sat at the balcony area of Paulus’s Pleasure Palace. On his table was a single cup of black coffee atop a saucer as well as a gourmet meal resting on a silver platter. The cool evening breeze blew the sweet and savoury aroma towards his nostrils, making his mouth curve upwards into a satisfied smile.

With that smile on his face, Walter happily dined on his meal. Using an ornate knife and fork, he cut up a piece of his meal into a single cube before placing it in his mouth. Sweet and savoury juices leaked from the cube as his teeth bit into it, exposing his mouth to a wonderful taste.

“Mmhmmm… Just scrumptious.”

He couldn’t help murmuring to himself in fulfillment as he feasted on his meal. Its taste was nothing like the gourmet food Walter experienced in his previous life. Much to his pleasant surprise, he had once again underestimated the beauty and wonder of this ‘fantasy world.’

The addition of spices and herbs derived from strange and foreign plants unique to this world created quite the exotic taste. The gold franqs spent of this meal definitely did not go to waste. The last time he was here, he could only afford one mug of coffee. Now, he could afford to purchase a rare slow-cooked pork steak, adorned with gourmet herbs and spices.

Walter could attribute his enjoyment of this meal towards one thing and one thing alone. Business was blossoming.

He more than doubled his initial wealth in just a couple weeks. Even if he took expenses into consideration, Walter was earning roughly 23 gold franqs a week. That was nearly half his original amount of 50 gold franqs. Better yet, he didn’t even need to pay more than a few gold franqs to make any of this possible.

And he partially had the Devil to thank for that.

For a moment, he cast his gaze directly upwards towards the clear blue skies above.

I know that you’re watching me.

…

Elsewhere, within another reality which mostly consisted of molten rock and flames.

“Yes. Yes. Oh damn, yes, definitely yes.”

Within the confines of her ‘office’ Lucile sat at her desk as she went through the list of Hell’s new ‘residents.’ Skimming through their sins and transgressions she double-checked every single recently deceased mortal who passed through Hell’s gates. As the ruler of Hell it was her duty to ensure that everyone who resided in Hell, belonged in Hell.

Although, her duty may appear daunting to the average mortal, she was a nigh-omnipotent being. Such a task was less than child’s play to her. What she was doing right now was more of a formality than anything else.

Vrrrnngg.

Lucile heard an odd, almost indescribable sound while she worked. With a sigh, she spoke in an irritated manner as she turned her gaze towards the source of the odd sound.

“What did I say about opening portals in my office without my permission? You have to... knock first...”

Her voice soon trailed off as she saw the person coming through the newly opened portal. A woman who looked exactly like herself. Except unlike Lucile who had white hair and wore a white business outfit, this woman had black hair and wore a black business outfit instead. Apart from that, the two were practically identical with the same scarlet red eyes and curved white horns.

It was ‘Lucia,’ one of Lucile’s siblings and the Devil of another world.

“Hello Lucile. Long time no see.”

With a friendly smile on her face, Lucia greeted her surprised sister. The portal she opened behind her, at the same time quickly closed while she did so.

“How have you been doing late—Grrkk”

Lucia abruptly stopped speaking halfway through her sentence, her words interrupted by the blood gushing out of her throat. A single visible bloody hole pierced her neck, spraying black blood all over the floor. It didn’t take long before she collapsed while grasping at her neck and making gurgling noises as she choked on her own blood.

On the other hand, Lucile herself didn’t seem to be phased at all by her suffering and dying sister. Instead, she turned her gaze away and tried to continue on with her ‘work,’ pretending that Lucia wasn’t even there at all.

After a few short moments, the gurgling noises on the floor died out, and silence once again embraced the office. However—

“What the fuck Lucile! You fucking killed me!”

Back on two legs, Lucia shouted angrily, her injury somehow disappeared. In her hands was a small dagger dripping with blood, ‘presumably’ the same dagger which killed her. Lucile only shrugged casually as she replied.

“So? You’re gonna regenerate anyway and it’s not like I didn’t kill you before.”

“What kind of excuse is that? Here I am, trying to be nice, trying to be a good sister and you just fucking kill me.”

Her voice sounded exasperated and tired, as if she couldn’t even be bothered to display her anger. The friendly smile on Lucia’s face has long since disappeared, replaced by an irritated expression that was half a frown and half a smile.

“I thought that you might have changed after a couple thousand years but apparently not. I should have expected this too, the long queue at the gates of your Hell should have been a clear sign that you have not changed. You’re still that same Lucile that you’ve always been. The neglectful older sister.”

“I’m failing to see a point here.”

Similarly to her sister, Lucile’s voice also contained an exasperated tone.

“Why are you even here? What was the fake friendly ‘long time no see.’ about? Why do you even bother? It’s clear that we’re never going to get over our differences so why don’t you just do what you came here to do or say what you want to say. And then get out. Just make sure that you make it quick because I’m already starting to tire of looking at your face.”

Lucia remained silent for a long while when she heard what Lucile had to say. Nevertheless, she still broke that silence with a dignified but blunt voice.

“Cousin Selaphia is coming over to your Hell. She isn’t too happy about what you did. I just thought that I’d give you a heads up. Like I said, I’m trying to be a good sister.”

“Wait what?! Selaphia? Coming here? Why?”

Lucile ignored the first half of Lucia’s words and instead focused on the second half. When the latter responded to the former, she spoke in a matter of fact way.

“What do you mean why? She’s an ange–”

“No-no I know that. It’s just… why? What did I do?”

Lucile saw a glint of irritation appear in Lucia’s eyes but she seemed to have repressed much of her inlying anger and replied in a clear and concise manner.

“You transmigrated a champion from Hell.”

“And?”

“She didn’t like it.”

“So?”

“So she’s coming here now to confront you about it.”

“Now we’re back at square one!”

Lucile resisted the urge to pull out her hair as she verbally vented her frustrations. Likewise, Lucia also appeared to be similarly stressed when she shouted.

“But you’re the one who said to make it quick!”

“You know what I meant!”

VRRRNNGGG!

The sound of a portal opening loudly echoed within the office once again as the two Devil sisters bickered. However, unlike the sound made by the portal opened by Lucia, the sound made by this portal was more harsh and intrusive. Lucile glanced at her younger sister for a split-second before she turned her attention back towards this newly created portal.

The portal emanated an oppressive aura as it lay suspended above the floor. Suddenly, Lucile felt an abrupt feeling at her back, as if a heavy burden was placed on her. Then that ‘burdern’ quickly lightened, as if it was always a part of her body. In fact, it actually felt as if that burden was part of her body. As if it were one of her limbs, she could freely move that ‘burden’ around.

The presence of something or more rather someone triggered her survival instincts. Just feeling the essence of that person beyond the portal was enough to make her involuntarily transform. Granted, while she still mostly retained much of her human form, it was still a surprise for her to transform in the first place, even if it was unintentionally.

Damn… Selaphia really must not be happy for her to emit this kind of aura.

When looking at Lucia, Lucile found that her younger sister had also experienced a similar situation. A pair of two scaly reptilian wings sprouted from her back, much like Lucile. The only difference between Lucia and Lucile was that the latter’s devil wings were reddish-white in colour rather than the former’s reddish-black wings.

“LUCILE!”

The silhouette of a female figure shouted as she walked through the portal. She appeared mostly human, with a single golden halo levitating above her head and two feathery white wings sprouting out of her back. Other than that, she wore a plain white, long-sleeved gown and had long dark brown hair. The tone of her voice carried underlying venom when she spoke.

“I don’t know how your misdeeds slipped by my siblings, my father and my grandfather but know this. It did not slip by me.”

Lucile immediately felt confused upon hearing Selaphia’s words.

“What are you even talking about?”

Selaphia looked as if she was offended by what Lucile said. Both Devils could hear the anger in the angel’s voice when she spoke.

“Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“No seriously. What are you talking about.”

Still partially confused, Lucile turned towards Lucia to request for help.

“Hey, can you help me out here?”

But Lucile would only be met with disappointment.

“I think not. You told me to get out remember? That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

As soon as Lucia said those words, a portal opened behind her before it moved forward and ‘swallowed’ her, effectively teleporting her away. Despite knowing that Lucia either couldn’t hear or wasn’t listening, Lucile still attempted to call out to her sister.

“What? Come on! What happened to you wanting to be a good siste–

“ENOUGH!”

The ferocity and wrath in Selaphia's eyes were clearly visible when she interrupted the Devil. Her aura emitted shockwaves which would have blown Lucile away if it weren't for the claws of her devil wings stabbing onto the floor and thus stabilising her body. 

"Only those who are pure of heart are able to survive the transmigration process but this 'Walter Faust' is a callous, self-serving, manipulative man. He is not a good person."

When Lucile heard what the angel had to say, she remained silent for a few short seconds before–

"Aha... Ahahahahaha!"

She burst into laughter.

"You think this is funny?"

"No, I think that you're stupid. Walter is indeed pure of heart."

Lucile mockingly shook her head as she explained herself to Selaphia.

“Like those ‘pure-hearted’ champions transmigrated by ‘purely good’ angels, I was able to transmigrate Walter because his heart is pure in the same manner that my heart is pure.”

Lucile paused for a short moment to let what she said sink in. While Selaphia was left speechless, Lucile took advantage of this brief moment of silence to check up on Walter. Using her powers to conjure up an image detailing Walter's current whereabouts within her mind, she found him eating at a ‘pleasure palace,’ his face expressing satisfaction as he enjoyed his meal.

Half a dozen weeks prior, he had organised the deaths of many innocent people for the sole reason that they posed a potential threat to his plans. From the moment he confirmed their deaths to now, he didn’t feel a single hint of regret in his heart. With that in mind, Lucile broke the silence with a carefree remark.

“We are both pure evil.”