Location: The Dimensional Gap - Border of the Underworld
Destination: The Fortress of Creuserey Asmodeus (Old Satan Faction Stronghold)
The mission was "off the books." The current Satans (Sirzechs and Serafall) couldn't be seen attacking a noble house without proof. But Runeas Gremory didn't care about politics, and Raiden was hungry.
They stood on a cliff overlooking a floating fortress hidden within a dimensional storm.
The Party:
1. Raiden: The Tank/Heavy Artillery.
2. Runeas Gremory: The Nuke/Leader.
3. Irina Shidou: The Vanguard.
Ravel Phenex (voice via earpiece): "Raiden-sama, thermal scans indicate approximately three hundred high-class devils inside. And... something with a massive energy signature in the central spire. That must be the Lucifer Fragment."
"Three hundred appetizers," Raiden checked his gloves. "And one main course."
"Remember," Runeas said, her dress fluttering in the dimensional wind. "Creuserey Asmodeus is arrogant. He believes he is the rightful king. Leave him alive long enough to realize how wrong he is. Then... you may eat him."
Irina drew her demon sword, Ascalon II (a modified blade Raiden had corrupted for her use). Her eyes were sharp.
"For Raiden-sama," Irina whispered. "I will clear the path."
They jumped.
They crashed through the magical roof of the fortress, landing in the main drill hall.
Hundreds of Old Satan soldiers froze, staring at the intruders.
"Kill them!" a commander shouted.
Irina moved first.
She didn't fight like an exorcist anymore. She fought like a whirlwind.
Slash. Slash. Stab.
She moved with blinding speed, her blade glowing with a mix of holy and demonic energy—a heresy that only she could wield thanks to Raiden's influence.
"Too slow!" Irina shouted, cutting a Devil's armor in half. "You are not worthy to stand before him!"
While Irina handled the infantry, the elite guards charged Runeas.
"Foolish children," Runeas sighed.
She didn't raise her hand to fire a blast of destruction. She simply tapped her heel on the floor.
[Ancestral Art: Shadow of the Camel]
The shadows on the floor bubbled and rose up. They took the form of massive, snarling beasts—the original demonic form of the Gremory Clan. The shadow-beasts lunged, swallowing the elite guards whole.
"Rias uses the Power of Destruction because it is flashy," Runeas critiqued, stepping over a screaming soldier. "Real Gremory magic is about control. We control the dark."
Raiden walked down the center of the room. Spells hit him—fire, ice, lightning.
He didn't dodge. He just opened his mouth slightly as he walked, inhaling the magic before it could touch his skin.
[Passive Skill: Mana Vampire]
"Weak," Raiden muttered. "Store brand magic. No flavor."
He reached the heavy blast doors guarding the inner sanctum. He didn't knock.
He punched.
BOOM.
The ten-ton steel doors flew off their hinges, flattening the guards on the other side.
Location: The Throne Room
Creuserey Asmodeus, a descendant of the original Asmodeus, sat on a throne. Hovering next to him was a crystal containing a swirling, purple-black fire. The Lucifer Fragment.
"Runeas Gremory!" Creuserey snarled. "The traitorous ancestor! And the Human Glutton! You dare enter my domain?"
"Your domain?" Raiden laughed. It was a deep, mocking sound. "I see a squatting hobo in a fancy chair."
"INSOLENCE!"
Creuserey grabbed the crystal.
"I will show you the power of the True Satan!"
He jammed the crystal into his chest.
[Transformation]
Creuserey's body expanded. Horns sprouted from his head. His aura skyrocketed, shaking the fortress. He was channeling a fraction of the original Lucifer's power.
"I AM GOD!" Creuserey roared, firing a beam of condensed satanic energy at Raiden.
Runeas stepped forward to block it, but Raiden put a hand out.
"No. This one is mine."
Raiden dropped his trench coat.
Underneath, his black shirt strained against his muscles. His tattoos—the markings of the Gluttony Skill—began to glow bright purple.
The beam hit Raiden.
It didn't absorb instantly. It was too dense. It pushed Raiden back, his boots carving trenches into the stone floor.
"You can't eat this!" Creuserey laughed. "This is the Pride of the Morning Star! It is too big for a human vessel!"
Raiden grinned, his teeth looking sharper than usual.
"Too big?"
Raiden's jaw unhinged slightly, his aura forming the spectral image of a giant, gaping maw behind him.
[King of Gluttony: Limit Break]
[Technique: Star Eater]
Raiden didn't just inhale. He bit the beam.
CRUNCH.
He physically bit into the energy stream, shattering the flow. He grabbed the energy with his bare hands and shoved it into his mouth.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
"Delicious," Raiden roared, his eyes turning blood red. "It tastes like ARROGANCE!"
He charged through the fading beam. Creuserey panicked, trying to cast another spell, but Raiden was already there.
Raiden slammed Creuserey into the throne. He plunged his hand into Creuserey's chest.
"Give me the main course."
He ripped the crystal out of Creuserey's heart.
Creuserey coughed blood, reverting to his normal form. "You... you monster..."
"You are nothing," Raiden whispered. "Just the plate."
Raiden tossed Creuserey aside (where Runeas promptly incinerated him with a wave of her hand).
Raiden looked at the crystal. The Lucifer Fragment. It pulsed with the power of the strongest Devil in history.
"Bon appétit," Raiden said.
And he swallowed it whole.
Raiden fell to his knees.
His body convulsed.
The power of Lucifer was trying to take over. Pride was fighting Gluttony.
Inside Raiden's Mind:
"Kneel," a voice commanded. "I am Lucifer."
"I don't kneel to food," Raiden's mental avatar shouted back. "DIGEST!"
[System Alert]
[Critical Energy Overload]
[Gluttony is consuming the Pride Factor]
[Synthesis Complete]
[New Title Acquired: The Demon Lord of Gluttony]
[New Ability: Wings of the Morning Star (Corrupted)]
In the real world, Raiden screamed as his back tore open.
Twelve wings erupted from his back.
But they weren't feather wings. And they weren't bat wings.
They were wings made of Black Light. They looked like shards of the void itself, edged in purple fire.
Raiden stood up. The pressure in the room was suffocating. Even Runeas felt a chill run down her spine.
"Raiden?" Runeas stepped closer cautiously.
Raiden turned. His face was calm.
"I'm fine. Just a bit of heartburn."
He flexed the wings.
"Lucifer had good stamina. I feel like I could eat a planet."
As they prepared to leave the ruins of the fortress, the space in front of them warped.
It wasn't a magic circle. It was a tear in reality.
A small girl in a gothic dress stepped out.
Ophis.
Irina immediately raised her sword, shaking. Her instincts screamed DEATH.
"Raiden-sama... that thing... it's not a Devil."
"Stand down, Irina," Raiden ordered.
Ophis floated toward Raiden. She sniffed him.
"You smell like Vali," Ophis said in her monotone voice. "But you also smell like Lucifer. And... emptiness."
"Hello, Ophis," Raiden said casually. "Are you here to fight?"
"Fighting is tiring," Ophis replied. "I want Silence. I want to return to the Dimensional Gap. But the Great Red is there. He is noisy."
She looked at Raiden's stomach.
"You eat things. Can you eat the noise?"
Raiden smirked.
"If you pay me."
Ophis tilted her head. "Payment?"
She reached into the air and pulled out a small, writhing purple snake.
"Power. Take it."
She offered the snake to Raiden.
This was a snake capable of powering a God-class being. It was a piece of Infinity.
Raiden took it.
"An appetizer from a Dragon God. Don't mind if I do."
Slurp.
He ate the snake.
[System Alert: Infinite Energy Detected]
[Capacity Increased by 200%]
Ophis nodded, satisfied.
"Get stronger, Eater. Then, kill Great Red for me."
She vanished into the rift.
Runeas let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"You just made a deal with the Ouroboros Dragon. You are insane."
"I'm hungry," Raiden corrected. "Let's go home. Ravel said she's making lasagna."
Location: Kyoto
Time: The Next Day
A young man with glasses and a spear sat on a bridge, looking at the news of the "mysterious explosion" at the Old Satan fortress.
Cao Cao, leader of the Hero Faction. Wielder of the True Longinus.
"So," Cao Cao smiled. "The Devils have a new monster. Someone who eats Longinus abilities and Satan souls."
He stood up, tapping his spear on the ground.
"We need to test him. Send the Vanguard. Let's see if the Glutton can digest a Hero."