Under the clear blue sky, a boy with devilish wings spread wide hovered high above, gazing down at the school below. In his dark eyes flickered an ember-like glow—black flame glinting faintly—while a faint, confident smile lingered on his lips.
"The school really does look better from up here."
Leo murmured to himself, relaxed and amused.
Sobu High had an oddly shaped campus. From above, the buildings formed a neat square enclosing a courtyard, with an additional wing jutting out from the southern side.
Below, under the afternoon sun, students in matching uniforms filled the courtyard. Some sat on the grass or benches chatting animatedly, others chased each other around in play. The scene was peaceful, vibrant—an image of ordinary daily life.
And yet, Leo was the one element that didn't belong in that tranquil picture.
"Do you believe in devils?"
The very question he'd asked the school's famed beauty—Yukinoshita Yukino—not long ago was now being answered in the most direct way possible.
Leo Eligos, third-year student at Sōbu High, was a devil.
Once, he had been perfectly ordinary, just one among countless humans. But ever since he came into this world eighteen years ago, his life had been anything but ordinary.
He learned the truth at age three: his father was an exorcist, his mother—a devil. Nineteen years ago, in the city of Chiba, the two met by fate… and, in the most cliché yet tragic way possible, fell in love—an unblessed, forbidden romance between mortal enemies.
It was doomed from the start. They had once fought on opposite sides of a holy war; love could not erase the wounds of that history. And so, when Leo was three, both his parents—each grievously injured—passed away one after another, leaving him an orphan.
Even if he carried devil's blood, what could a three-year-old half-devil possibly do? Fifteen years ago, Leo had honestly thought he would die on the streets.
Until he met another devil.
"A long, long time ago, devils, angels, and fallen angels were locked in endless war," that devil had told him. "It lasted for thousands of years, leaving all three sides on the brink of extinction. Even now, they still bear hatred for one another, but none can survive without humanity anymore. Angels rely on human churches to wage their crusades; fallen angels manipulate humans to oppose both angels and devils; and we, devils, gain power through contracts—trading human desires for our strength. That is the state of the world today."
"But even now, we haven't given up searching for our lost kin."
He explained that in ancient times, there were Four Maou—the Great Devil Kings—and Seventy-Two Pillar Houses, the noble families of devils known in legend as the Seventy-Two Demons of the Ars Goetia. Each had once commanded dozens of devil armies—pureblood nobles of the Underworld. Yet after millennia of war, many houses had fallen into ruin.
Some descendants, however, had survived—scattered across the human world, living in secret. Because of that, the Underworld had long sought these lost lineages, assigning High-Class devils living among humans to find, protect, and nurture them.
Whether fortunate or not, Leo was one such survivor— a descendant of a pureblood devil house thought long extinct.
"Eligos—fifteenth among the Seventy-Two Pillars. A ducal family once commanding sixty legions of devils."
"Your mother was one of the few remaining Eligos bloodlines in the human world, the very last, in fact. She is gone now… but you, her son, though half human, still bear the right to inherit the name 'Eligos.'"
"If you one day ascend to High-Class Devil, the Underworld will restore your house's title, rank, and territory."
And so, Leo was taken under the protection of the Underworld. With the help of pureblood devils assigned to guide him, he learned to control his power. Fully aware of the world he now belonged to, Leo devoted himself to training.
After fifteen years of relentless effort, he finally ascended—becoming a High-Class Devil, and was granted his first treasure: a set of Evil Pieces, the tools used to form a devil's peerage.
Which brought him to his next goal— Yukinoshita Yukino, the most brilliant girl at his school.
"I wonder… what kind of choice will you make?"
Gazing down from the sky, Leo toyed with a blood-red chess piece between his fingers, the smile on his face deepening.
"Let's hope you don't disappoint me."
As a newly ascended, half-blood High-Class Devil, Leo couldn't help but look forward to his first servant. It wasn't just about beauty or talent—it would decide his future in the Underworld.
Thinking of the peculiar traits that set him apart from ordinary devils, Leo chuckled, pocketed the piece, and spread his wings. A beat later, he darted off toward another wing of the campus, wings slicing the air with a whisper.
Chiba Prefecture—surrounded on three sides by the sea, mild in winter and cool in summer. Nestled against the vast Pacific, blessed with lush greenery and fertile land, conveniently close to Tokyo—it was one of Japan's most prosperous regions.
Leo's home stood in a quiet corner of Chiba City's central ward: a small manor, old-fashioned in design, like a miniature castle.
It wasn't enormous, but it had an elegant Western-style mansion and a carefully tended garden, filled with blooming flowers and trimmed hedges. Men and women in servant uniforms moved about the grounds, pruning and watering, giving the place an air of aristocratic luxury.
With a soft thump, Leo descended straight into the garden, folding his black wings as his feet touched the ground. The servants immediately turned, bowing low.
He didn't bother to return the greetings and strode straight into the mansion.
His destination was the dining hall—extravagant for one person, but he was long used to it. Compared to school lunches or cafeteria food, he vastly preferred the meals prepared by his household chef. At least there were no strange seasonings or ingredients he disliked.
"Chinese food today. Same as the day before yesterday."
Sitting down, Leo spoke casually. A chef appeared silently, bowed, and left to prepare the meal.
A maid with soft steps wheeled in a tea cart, poured his tea, washed his hands, and wiped them with a towel—efficient, quiet, almost mechanical.
That was because, in truth, none of them were human. Not the chef, not the maid, not even the gardeners outside. Every servant in the estate was a familiar, gifted to Leo along with the manor itself.
Their sole duty was to maintain the household and attend to his needs. They had no personalities, no idle chatter—only obedience, until the day they faded away.
There was even a chauffeur assigned to drive him to and from school, though Leo rarely used the car. He preferred flying.
Naturally, a manor of this scale wasn't something he'd bought himself. It wasn't that he couldn't—it was simply that he'd spent every ounce of effort on becoming a High-Class Devil, not earning money. Until his promotion, he'd lived in an ordinary house. Only after ascending was this estate gifted to him by the Underworld's administrators.
And just as he thought of them—
A glowing magic circle, the size of his palm, appeared beside his hand.
"Good afternoon, Leo."
A girl's voice, clear and cool, came from the circle as her image flickered into view.
Leo smiled warmly. "Good afternoon, Sona."
Sona Shitori—real name Sona Sitri—heir to the Sitri House, ranked twelfth among the Seventy-Two Pillars, and the younger sister of the current Maou Leviathan.
Yes— The devil who had taken responsibility for Leo all these years was none other than a member of the Sitri Clan.
Though young, Sona Sitri had been stationed in the human world for some time, managing a portion of her family's duties there. Among them was the task of overseeing and protecting the last surviving descendant of the fallen Eligos House.
It was she who had escorted Leo to the Underworld for his promotion and presented him with this manor as a gift upon his return.
For once, Leo's smile held no trace of mockery—only genuine warmth.