Illusion

Time was ticking, the days running by — A year of laughter, sadness, so much more. Every day, the voice followed Devina like prophecy... no, more like a haunted ghost of the self.

Since the birthday had passed by, the psychic had awakened. Devina had to learn from Lucius in combat and assassin skills; she had to pull every thick book to study magic and often got homeschooled by a hired private teacher who knew about spiritual matters, teaching herbs and basic techniques like protection, meditation, etc.

One night, Devina was wide awake when the voice told her...

"RUN"

Devina felt anxiety take control of her mind, and she came out of the room to see the hellhounds standing, a slight snarl as a warning. In her eyes, it's shocking to see hellhounds, looking like Dobermans with red eyes, sharp teeth, and collars with the duplicate keys that Devina wears everyday that Lucius gave.

The flash of vision came to her like a flashback: there were tons of soldiers invading this kingdom, eliminating and destroying everything. She could see blood, fire, the scream echoed in her head, and the river of blood where she stood, as if it were all because of her. She could see the death of her parents, watching Sunako nearly getting killed, and Akumu being beaten for protecting his twin.

When the vision ended, she almost had a panic attack and rushed to the hall. She took a grimoire with her while rushing into the room, "Mommy!! Daddy...! Brothers...! Wake up, we need to go!" She banged the doors restlessly, thinking something bad had happened.

Luckily, everyone is awake to answer her, since they just woke up.

"Dear... why at this hour?" Reina spoke, looking concerned, as she cupped a hand over her cheek. The twins noticed how pale Devina was.

"We need to go...!!" Devina quickly gestured them to follow her — Lucius understood the assignment... he sighed, "Let's follow her, ok?"

So they did, and suddenly the sound of howling and cawing of the war and announcement of death came. Everyone realized Devina was trying to tell them to leave, but the problem was... they were a bit too slow to respond...

They started to run out and found the sky turning into red-orange, it was too late...

Way too late. All the soldiers from both sides were fighting, clashing their swords/blades — just like Devina foreseen it...! She wanted to take a guide, but the parents put three children behind her for now, and it went smoothly. Still, a bumpy road began when others saw Lucius and Reina — their first target was Reina, and they killed her like it was nothing through the silver steel that works as a silver bullet, combining with holiness magic.

It hurts Lucius to know he failed to protect his wife because he was in the middle of fighting off others who tried to breach the guard. Sunako cried out for a mother who died through the heart... Lucius shouted, "KIDS! GO!! DEVINA, TAKE THEM AWAY!"

"DAD...!" Sunako burst into tears, and Devina was overwhelmed with sorrow and grief. She had no choice but to obey, "I want to help...!"

"No... My beloved Devina... you've fulfilled my dreams, and I know gods will be with you... We will meet again... I love..." Lucius gave Devina a last smile, a bittersweet smile, before he was eliminated. The body fell on the floor, "you." The tears shed, and the voice faded. Devina felt her heart so heavy as she attempted to run to him, but was dragged away by Akumu.

Akumu forced himself to hold back tears as he watched everything burn: his home, his family, his people, nature, and animals... Sunako was crying while clinging to Devina. Devina, too, was grieving, but then luckily, since she saw a vision, she pushed Sunako away to change the "fate" by getting a single scratch on the heart area, thinking she was a vampire, but it wasn't this deep. That was a moment when others took advantage to try to kill the twins, and Akumu managed to kill the one who wanted to kill Sunako, and Devina murdered the same person who gave her a scratch... because the spot where the heart is... is bleeding... it burns...

Devina didn't have time to cry; she watched the corpses on the ground with black tears and red eyes. The trembling hand touched fresh blood to smear over the grimoire, and the grimoire began to unlock as it glowed.

The voice spoke, "Where will you want to start next?"

"... Find the way to be a demon lord... and kill EVERY MAN...!"

As soon as she said... the echo of thunder could be heard... the trail turned into a little river of blood shed next to her.

Akumu was shocked to hear Devina's wrath and the sound of heavy breath, "No... I can't..." Devina picked the sword and proceeded to stab the dead one over and over and over again until Akumu and SUNAKO managed to hold her shoulder to calm her down.

"... let's go before we are spotted again..." Akumu sadly grabbed her hand to release the sword, and they had to help Sunako escape. Before their disappearance, Devina saw a white haired, beautiful man looking at Devina and nodded in approval to say 'go ahead...' indirectly while carrying Lucius away.

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A few days after their escape, Devina had to search for food and look after her brothers, and the strangers found them so dirty and very hungry. Thanks to Devina's help in healing Sunako and Akumu, the stranger felt sympathy and offered them a home where no one had been, and they agreed to take it without fully trusting anyone.

Unfortunately, Devina is the one who couldn't process the emotions properly, nor did she have time alone to cry, all because they were well known as heirs of Nyx, paparazzi never stop bothering them, Devina took full responsibility, Sunako luckily lost the memories due to trauma, and Akumu was mature enough to process. It took them time to learn to be independent with a bit of help from others.

To her misfortune, Devina died a few years later due to the new master, who hated her, and the master's followers bullied her endlessly after she was qualified to be there because of her biological mother, who used to be a student there.

Everything changed... yes, she has become a demon lord... her popularity has grown so fast... the more the memories have been dug up across every timeline. The more she connects the dots, her death always brings Sunako closer and closer to being the death next to her, the same way they saw how Lucius died next to Reina.

Someone had the guts to infer the death and pull out of it, and that's where Devina ended up as a top-tier demon lord and the fox demon with endless powers they downloaded from the unknown. Sunako, on the other hand, became a pure-blooded dhampire...

She remembers every century, the same repetitive story... the same place where she woke up to be reborn as a demon at age 14...

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The end of the memorial season...

Currently in age 20s…

"My lord...! Get ready, you've been invited to a ball that the crowned Prince of hell wants you to attend." A servant of a demon entered and bowed—Anzel, who had long blonde hair loose and eyes that were blue and red.

The tail tapped the floor, and the pointy fox ears twitched, "Now...? Can't he just wait?" Anzel groaned.

Tai-Hua giggled, his green eyes were eyeing Anzel, "My love... You know that Prince seems to be interested in you too, like every one of us does." Tai Hua flipped the black hair and walked to the closet to pick a perfect outfit.

Anzel had no idea how the hell they ever dated Tai-hua, and thanks to the timeline that changed a lot of times to make Tai-Hua become a servant, a yearning demon that will love Anzel... no matter if they're married or not. Two men already have Tai-hua and still express their devotion to Anzel.

"Let's see..."

Anzel stood up from meditation on the floor and sighed, "lemme do it."

"Toooo late, darling\~!" Tai-hua picked the dungeon and dragon wizard outfit in red, black, and white. He also pulled thigh boot heels to make Anzel look so cunty. "Put it on, master\~!"

"Are you trying to make me look attractive so I can start dating again?" Anzel rolled his eyes and snatched the clothes to look at them, looking in the mirror. The body isn't female anymore... but the face shows an androgynous look, while the lower body looks feminine. Anzel knew they were TRULY a shapeshifter, able to change their gender, appearance, and height as they want.

"Hnnn... fine... get out before you about to get horny over me again." The tone was slightly commanding, and Tai-hua bowed in obedience, walked away, and closed the door gently.

The demon sighed and rubbed its head, "So... somebody did change the timeline without respecting the fates' choice and cheated on Death, huh?" Anzel began to take off to expose his toned upper body, which had an X stitch on the heart area, and the huge scars on the back from torture during the mortality arc.

Deep down, he felt something was missing, and that was when he realized... they were truly... There in each century, and the voice he had been hearing is the authentic self inside Anzel. The stitch... came from the one he encountered in the past, who loved to experiment as a sadistic mad scientist who was genuinely interested in this one.

"Ready?!" Tai-hua shouted across the door, "Shut the fuck up, darling!" Anzel said, in a playful tone to avoid making his own mood worse, to rush to change clothes and do his hair in a ponytail. The demon mark on his forehead is glowing, matching the red eye. Heels could be heard as he walked, and he opened the door to find Tai-hua batting her eyelashes at a master.

"You look handsome as always."

"Tai-hua, let me remind you, remember the reason I decided to end our relationship for our good. For you to move on from me, and I will... do my duty, especially since you just fell from being a harmony angel into a vengeful demon after the centuries that happened the same... I'm a master and the lord, you're my trustworthy servant and friend, do you understand?"

Tai-hua nodded, "I know, I know... can't help it, don't mind it as it's who I am to make our master and servant more interesting, come on!" He tugged Anzel, and they both vanished into the thin air and reappeared in the massive castle where the royals, especially higher demons, attend, and the lords, too — those who are invited will be required to participate in.

The demon's place is usually far from the original world where yokai, witches/wizards, humans, and so on live. Those who are lucky enough to attend are only supernatural beings, such as vampires, fallen angels, and some animal spirits that can transform into "humans."

Therefore, when the guards at the door saw Anzel and Tai-hua, they bowed and opened the doors for them. Shimazu, who happened to be waiting for his one-sided crush, who was also his best friend, was a second-in-command under Anzel's control—a dragon demon, the beautiful being, in Anzel's opinion.

He looks so feminine in a male body, which made Anzel think of a siren, and his style is exquisite, always making him seem like a fox demon. Well, Shimazu is dating Tai-Hua and another man in the Tengu category.

"Anzel, as I have been waiting for you." He bowed as the silky black long hair slipped over his shoulder like a prince.

"Ahh, Shimazu\~\~ How much I've missed my beloved dragon." Anzel nodded and bowed, which made Shimazu flustered. Tai-hua pouted in a sulky expression and grabbed Anzel's arm, hoping to get praise or anything.

"I've been seeing you every day, but you are doing wonderful so far." Anzel understood and let his two friends cling to him as a trio that everyone knows is the calamity team, destructive in its own way.

Tai-hua seemed happy at the end, and Anzel kindly guided his servant to stand next to Shimazu with a small smile before letting him walk forward to the ballroom. The two escorted Anzel there, so those who weren't higher had to bow to Anzel.

The corner of the eyes seemed to signal the brain that there's a red string that no one can see. Oddly, the string is vivid enough, and when he tried to follow the string - due to the popularity... it didn't let him because he needed to speak to others too, and took him some time to get it to himself and finally when he had no one needed to talk — quickly snuck to find the one he just saw through the string.

Women constantly squealing and fanning themselves — men always express desires when earning Anzel's gaze, and he didn't care. Anzel kept the smile and a formal bow every time they said hello, and finally, somebody bumped into Anzel and nearly tripped. Anzel quickly caught a nonbinary person, golden-caramel-skinned and with long white hair that covered their eyes. Half-stitch on the face, horizontal, and taller than Anzel.

"S-sorry..."

Everyone was in a state of shock that no one ever bumped into a demon lord whom they respected so much. Anzel froze in realization that this is the same fallen angel he had seen before, a sadistic mad scientist... more importantly, it's a fallen angel that needs to be fixed.

Anzel smiled and helped a clumsy fallen angel to stand up, "My, my, it's ok, dear\~ May I ask for your name?"

"Disverna Rana..."

"Anzel... known as Devina. The pleasure is mine, Verna." Anzel fully kneeled like a prince to bow, "Care to be my guest to dance?" A handout toward Disverna, hoping he would've said yes.

To everyone's surprise, a well-known demon isn't petty enough like they thought he would be.

"...Yes. I shall."

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