EPILOGUE 1: SHADOWS
"Shit Shit Shit Shit! Argh!!! Who is that bastard?"
Not far away from Kuoh town, in what looked like the ruins of a mansion, a handsome golden-haired, golden-eyed man [1] clad in what appeared to be rather expensive clothing could be seen repeatedly kicking at a crumbling wall while spewing curses out of his mouth nonstop.
His face was distorted with a mixture of rage and hatred and his eyes looked like they wished to destroy everything that had the misfortune to come before his sight.
"Diodora, calm yourself. Hitting an unresponsive wall won't change your situation. Anyways, you already have enough of those so-called holy maidens in your peerage, right?”
The man, Diodora, threw a venomous look at the old man that interrupted his tantrum-esque actions. It was a tall old man wearing a red jacket with yellow-padded shoulders.
The man had a fantastical set of pointy ears, white hair with a matching beard complimenting his visage as well as a set of deep purple eyes. No one looking at him would or could confuse him for a normal run-of-the-mill human.
“Don’t provoke me, Zolgear! Asia is different from those broken toys. She would have been the jewel of my collection. My plan was perfect! But—Argh! That filthy dragon boy ruined everything!”
Zolgear looked at the raging Diodora with disdain unrestrainedly oozing out of his purple-hued eyes.
In the circle of nobles in the underworld, as Diodara Astaroth was from the same family as Ajuka and was also the current heir of the Astaroth family, he always acted like the perfect gentleman. But in reality, the man was simply a sick pervert that enjoyed nothing in this world more than to defile nuns and holy maidens.
He would always find a way to make them excommunicate from their respective churches, and when they were floundering in the pit of despair, he would appear like a knight in shining armor and ensnare them in his clutches.
In the end, he would take everything they had and convert them into devils in his peerage. Thanks to that, unknown to most even in the circles of the underworld, his entire peerage was composed of such girls.
‘Such a waste of time.’
Scoffing inwardly at the foolishness of the youths of the next generation, Zolgear shifted his gaze to look at his companion. She was a much more pleasing company since she was his servant, daughter, and creation.
“Zest, were you able to locate that infuriating cat? It’s of utmost importance that we crush her now while Vali and the rest of his team are too busy to protect her from harm.”
Zest was a tall tan-skinned young woman with silver white-hair, a slim yet shapely figure and gold-green eyes adorning her charming face.
Aside from her impressive womanly curves, her most distinctive features were the rabbit tail and rabbit-ear-shaped horns she wielded in her body.
Zolgear had created her after compiling all of his tastes in women such as having a well-shaped and sturdy figure and the beastly features among other things. So for him, she was the perfect woman. One he was not willing to defile in any possible way.
The reason why they had left the comfort of his laboratory and followed the crazy Diodora was that Zolgear wished to hunt down a rather complicated target.
An artificially created Ultimate class devil.
While it was true that Kuroka as a Nekoshou already had incredible potential, those researches, and the myriad of experiments conducted on her throughout her creation into an ultimate devil, still had great importance to him as obtaining them would allow one to create an army of Ultimate class devils or at least of High class with the potential to reach thresholds that were only reserved for those at the very peak of this universe.
Sadly, until now Kuroka had been too slippery for them to get a grasp on her and Zolgear never had any chance to act.
That was the case until now, that is.
At the end of the day, Kuroka was nothing more than a fugitive and a killer in the eyes of the others. He just had to use it to his advantage.
“Well, stop raging, and let’s move on. It isn’t like it’s too late for you.”
It had been very surprising to find out that Jin Toujo's child was in the town. Even more so to witness that he was the wielder of the Boosted Gear, one of the thirteen Longinus — the greatest set of sacred gears in existence. But it would change nothing for the matter at hand. In fact, for Zolgear this was news of great intrigue.
If he could get some samples of the boy, this trip would be truly worth it. He knew that Kokabiel was preparing something big so this would be the perfect moment to act. Who would Jin accuse if his son vanished during the attack of a Fallen Angels’ Cadre?
Be it the Devils or the Fallen Angels, Zolgear didn’t care for either outcome. Either way, it would be extremely advantageous for his faction.
After all, the more chaos there was, the happier their leader would be.
“Zest, I want you to get in contact with the Gremory faction and see how it is going. Use the fact that you are hunting a stray and ask for cooperation.”
“Understood.”
Zest nodded expressionlessly. She didn’t ask why he was making her do the deed. Her job had never been to think. But only to act as she was ordered to.
Nothing more, nothing less.
———
[Underworld]
“Hm~Hm~Hm~!!”
“You seem pretty chipper today. What gives?”
“Heheh~! Silly you. I am going to meet Sona-chan after such a long time. How could I not be happy!?”
“Hahaha.”
In an office room, unusually sparsely decorated, three people were present as they discussed important matters.
The first of the three, as well as the only man here, was a tall and very handsome crimson-haired man who looked like he was in his early twenties at first glance. The man had a gentle smile as he listened to his friend hum in happiness.
He looked like a harmless gentleman to those who had no idea about his identity. But those that were aware of his true existence and the status he held would and could not mistake him for being someone harmless.
After all, he was Sirzechs Lucifer — the current leader of the Devils, but his laurels didn't end just there.
One of the four Maou of the underworld as well as one of the top 10 strongest beings recognized in the world; known widely under the title of Crimson-Haired Prince of Destruction.
A rather pompous title that Sirzechs had never taken a liking to after all this time.
“Why are you laughing? Don’t you think it’s awful? Since she left home, aside from the periodical letter necessary for informing about her circumstances, she had never sent a letter home. I was feeling rather lonely. I miss her a lot”
The one speaking with him was a beautiful girl, appearing to be in her late teens with black hair, tied into twin tails and blue eyes.
She had a child-like body. Although her breasts were, relatively speaking, on the larger side. She was clad in an attire that could be called a pink magical girl costume which did little to hide her curvy body.
Despite being a fan of cosplay, the woman was no slouch herself since she was also one of the four Maou of the underworld and was officially recognized as the strongest woman in the underworld circles.
She was Serafall Leviathan.
“Would you like some more tea?”
The ongoing discussion was interrupted by the third and last person present in the room that was standing behind Sirzechs until now.
She was a beautiful young woman appearing to be in her early twenties with back-length silver hair that featured a long braid on each side with small blue bows at the ends. Her beautiful red eyes shone like precious jewels giving her a sense of mysterious aura.
At first glance, one would take the woman for a maid. After all, she acted and was clothed like one.
But this would once again be a misconception, for she was Grayfia Lucifuge.
The Queen of Sirzechs' peerage as well as one of the strongest beings in the underworld of the devils. Incidentally, she was also the wife of Sirzechs, making them a power couple to be reckoned with.
In such a room filled with people with atypical personality traits despite the influence they wielded, the atmosphere was, quite surprisingly, warm and pleasant.
Sadly, good things never lasted long and it was necessary to speak of the important matter.
“Do not forget Serafall. Once you visit earth, be sure to make your presence unknown. We need to catch Kokabiel the hand in the sac. I have already contacted Azazel privately and he is open to discussion about the matter relating to that accursed Fallen.”
Serafall shrugged, “Stop being such a worrywart. I know this isn’t why you called me. Don’t worry, I will take care of your sisters. As for that cousin of yours that abruptly popped out of nowhere…”
Even the usually easy-going Serafall grimaced when she was reminded of 'him'. Serafall had never been proud of her title as the strongest woman in the Underworld.
Even without mentioning Grayfia or Roygun Belphegor, Sapphire was a wall she had never been able to surpass in the past.
As she was now, she was powerful enough to raze a country to the ground several times over but she was not sure if it was still enough to contend against that monster of a woman.
Even so, she wasn’t upset because she knew that Sapphire had left the underworld for a very specific reason.
“Heh. I really wonder who this Basara is. It will be interesting...very interesting, indeed.”
This promised to be a very entertaining outing. She hoped her first meeting with him would go well.
Only time would tell how the gears of fate and destiny turn for all of them.
–
[1]: In the official LN Diodora's hair is blonde. I don’t know why they made his hair blue in the anime.
(AN: So thus ends Vol 1 of Lustful Paradise. I hope you really liked it. Give me your opinion about vol 1 in general if possible and about the crossover in particular. It would be really useful.)