Larry chuckled as he saw the expression on Arthur's face and was about to speak up. However-
****BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!
He was interrupted by a large explosion, one that was not caused by the black flames slowly burning the planet they were on.
"Hmm...."
Narrowing his eyes, he gazed in the direction of the explosion as he tried to figure out the cause.
"What was that?"
By the time Arthur asked the question, Larry had already figured out the cause of the explosion. He placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder and warped the both of them over to the site.
Waving his hands, the flames in the area died down and the sight of a large four hundred meters wide crater with a being in the center could be seen.
Larry snapped his fingers and the being who was in the middle of this crater appeared in front of Arthur.
"Huh? A devil?"
He had two pairs of bloody and tattered devil wings sticking out of his back. Arthur then held up his head and studied the face of this brown-haired devil.
While Arthur was holding his head, the unknown devil's eyes opened to reveal a set of red pupils that glowed dangerously.
Arthur trembled involuntarily due to fear but Larry grabbed the unknown devil's head and spoke to him.
"Know your place, brat."
Turning to Arthur, he asked if Arthur wanted to know who he was and the boy agreed. Larry nodded in affirmation as his eyes flashed purple for a moment.
[Authority of Knowledge: Information Database]
The essence of the law of knowledge swirled around the two of them. Larry rose his other hand and protected Arthur from the pressure of the law's energy while he scanned his information database for the devil's name and face.
"Found him."
He let go of the devil's head and he dropped to the ground before turning to Arthur and speaking.
"Name is Lewis. He's quite special.
He was a knight of Marquis Subtem, however, some incident occurred and he earned the Marquis' ire. Now he's being chased by the Marquis who wants his head.
What's more, he is a descendant of a powerful ancient giant."
As soon as Larry finished speaking, he looked up at the sky and frowned.
"And here comes Marquis Subtem himself."
The brown-haired devil, Lewis, struggled to get to his feet but failed. He was riddled with wounds and the bones in one of his legs were all shattered.
"Bout 3 minutes till he's here."
Larry was a powerful drifter, most likely the most powerful drifter in all of Hell. His senses were on a different level and this allowed him to sense the Marquis who was crossing the void of space from an entire light-year away.
"I have a suggestion."
"What is it?"
"Take him in, he'd be useful in the future."
Arthur rose an eyebrow at Larry's sudden suggestion, he did not understand how Lewis would be useful to him, even more, when he was on a Marquis' hit list.
"You should start building your own force yourself, your Uncle has told you this before, right? Despite how this guy looks, he's actually a deity.
If you make him your subordinate, it would do you well in the long run."
Arthur went silent as he tried to weigh the pros and cons of taking Lewis in. He remembered Creusery's words about him forming his own band of subordinates that took orders from him alone and made his decision.
"Okay then."
Larry smiled and flicked his fingers, a parchment and pen appeared in between Lewis and Arthur.
"It's a soul contract, something to keep him bound."
Turning to Lewis who was glaring at him with bloodshot eyes, he continued.
"This prince over here is capable of saving your ass from the Marquis, all you have to do is sign that soul contract, with your blood of course."
Arthur gazed at Larry while thinking the latter was even more devil-like than him who was the son of a devil before turning to Lewis on the ground and grabbing the contract in the air.
He skimmed through it and signed it with his blood before placing the parchment on the floor in front of Lewis.
"How much longer, Larry?"
"Less than a minute."
Hearing that the Marquis who was after his life for a reason he did not know was so close by, Lewis decided to sign the contract.
Not because he knew who Arthur was, but because of the fact that Larry, someone he sensed to be far more powerful than the Marquis, was glaring at him with glowing purple eyes.
The moment he signed the contract, the parchment burst into flames as he felt something constrict his soul for a second.
"Guh!"
He grunted in pain as he rose his head to speak but he suddenly sensed the source of an enormous amount of energy entering the planet's atmosphere.
**BOOOOMMM!!!!
A streak of light shot towards the ground. Upon collision with the ground, there was a loud explosion that shook the entire planet.
Larry waved his hands and a tall elderly-looking man with dull grey hair appeared in front of him and Arthur.
"Hmmm?!"
The man was on guard and roused his energy the moment he appeared but upon seeing Arthur, he dropped his guard and bowed.
"Greetings, Your Highness."
"Marquis Subtem."
Arthur addressed the familiar old devil in front of him by his title before gazing at Lewis on the floor and then back to the Marquis.
"It has come to my notice that you are after the life of my property."
"Huh?"
The Marquis' expression became one of surprise, as he never expected Arthur to say that at all. Looking at Lewis who was on the floor beside him and Larry who was grinning mischievously, the Marquis arrived at a conclusion in his mind.
'Did that drifter make the prince do something?'
Arthur ignored the Marquis' skeptical gaze and continued speaking.
"Since you were ignorant of this fact, I would let it go this once. However, should you target my property once more, I would not stay put."
"But, your high-."
"Since when did Marquises have the right to object to the words of royalty? Even when I gave you the benefit of doubt, you still dare to refute my words?"
The young prince narrowed his gaze as he stared at the elderly devil who was struggling to hold back his annoyance.
"Lewis here; is my property. I cannot have you killing my property.
Case closed."
Marquis Subtem was about to suggest a compromise when he suddenly felt a crushing pressure bear down on his body.
"I delayed the destruction as I was still close by, only to come back and encounter this funny scene."
The marquis felt a hand tap his shoulder and he didn't need to turn around to know who it was, he offered his greetings immediately.
"Greetings to the Crown Prince."
Creusery disregarded the Marquis' greetings and continued with his earlier words.
"I believe my nephew said that devil was his property.
Sure, the Marquis has a lot of authority but I don't think that authority allows you to attack a royal's property now, does it?"
"No, Your Highness."
"Good. You should go home and deal with your granddaughter instead of trying to kill the guy who didn't even know she fell for him."
Creusery tapped the Marquis' shoulder once more and the light of teleportation covered him, warping him out of the area.
Turning to Arthur and Lewis, he shrugged his shoulders and warped all three of them back to his spacecraft that was waiting a few hundred miles above the planet's atmosphere.
"You said he's your property, from now on, he's your responsibility."
With those words, Creusery walked out, leaving Arthur and Lewis in silence. The young prince then turned to Lewis and began thinking about how he would make the latter useful to him.
As he was lost in his thoughts, his mind couldn't help wandering back to the events that occurred a few months earlier.
◇ ◇ ◇
After Creusery began taking Arthur around the various planets, realms, and galaxies he explored, Arthur learned about the dark side of reality.
It was also then that the young Arthur realized that a great deal of the noble's children who were 'friends' with him were only in it for the benefits they would get.
They were all sent by their parents to make friends with the new prince while they remained none the wiser about the things going on behind the scenes.
A few of them were already enlightened by their parents on the real reason they wanted their children to befriend Arthur, but the majority of them remained ignorant.
This discovery saddened Arthur, despite all Creusery had made him experience, even if he matured faster than his peers, he was still just a seven-year-old boy at the time.
The reality that the majority of his friends were not true friends impacted him more than he had expected. However, when he settled down to think about it, he understood the reasons for the nobles' actions.
He was the son of the Devilian princess who held the title; Arch Devil of Destruction. In the event that they earned his mother's ire, a friendship between him and their children may result in his mother sparing them from certain doom.
There were many people who would stop at nothing to be on his good side.
Not long after, he realized that his mother knew of this and was worried that he would be used for the benefit of the nobles, but she took no action.
The devils adopted a 'Hands off' policy when dealing with the younger generation, Excessive interference was not allowed.
"We devils are essentially selfish creatures, we are apparently ruthless, with strong impulses to compete against each other for resources, and to accumulate power and possessions.
If we are kind to one another, it's usually because we have ulterior motives, just like most of the nobles are with each other.
If we are good, then it's only because we managed to transcend our innate selfishness and brutality. There's always a reason behind someone's kindness.
It's up to Arthur to figure out this reason and decide if he should cut that person off or not. If he ends up being used by them, it would be his fault and will serve as a lesson for him in the future.
He is quite mature for his age so he should be able to find out who is true or useful to him and who is not.
You should, shouldn't you?"
He overheard his grandfather, Devil King Diablo, saying those words to his mother once.
He also felt like the last question was meant for him and not his mother. After all, there was no way that his grandfather would have not realized he was hiding behind the door that day.
The fact that his mother did not notice him, was probably due to him too.
Pondering on his grandfather's words, he realized the devil king was right.
Although devils matured quickly, Arthur was an anomaly that matured way faster than his peers. He was also far more capable than them in other areas too.
He made the decision to cut off those who were not useful to him, however, he warned himself not to get overconfident.
Even if he could outsmart his peers, there was no way that the old noble devils who had lived at least more than a hundred of his lifetimes would not see through him easily.
Nevertheless, it was both a reason for caution and a source of motivation for him. He vowed to himself, that he would not be used by anyone, that he would become strong enough that no one would see him as someone they could easily deceive.
He would not be used by any of the Devilian nobles, no matter the rank. Whether it was one of the Four Grand Dukes or any of the Six Dukes.
The frightening talent he had, he vowed to use it to make himself stronger, smarter, and wiser. After all, the ones with power stood atop everyone else.
Weakness, could effectively be considered a sin.
That day, Arthur had just turned eight years old when he made the vow to be stronger than everyone in every way.
It became his creed, one he would stick to for the rest of his life.