Third Person PoV
Cain could be seen getting ready for an important occasion. It was the inauguration of a new hospital created by the Sitri clan. Serafall had invited him to do the honours.
So he was getting ready. Rayla and Zeaira were busy with their works and he couldn't reveal his mom to the underworld just yet, so he was going with Grayfia.
After getting dressed up, Cain met up with Grayfia in the hall and teleported near the hospital, away from any eyes.
Sensing his demonic signature Serafall quickly reached near him and took him to the gate. There he quickly cut the ribbon and said a few words for the common devils and then came to the main topic.
Serafall had asked him to be present here not for the inauguration, but for something else. And he came here today so currently he was following Serafall towards a distant room of the hospital.
He asked "What is the reason, Sera? You seem kinda nervous."
The reply came in a manner which was different from Serafall's usual way of talking
"Yes I am. I hope you dont get too surprised with the thing I am about to show you, it's on the same level as Lady Lilith being alive."
Hearing that both Grayfia and Cain were interested in the show that Serafall was about to put up. Just as the trio entered the building, Cain saw a young girl about about sixteen years old lying down on the bed.
She had purple hair, which was messy and slept with a serene expression of peace on her face. She gave off a whimsical aura even when asleep and it contained a hint of draconic essence in it.
This made Cain consider her heritage with great interest afterall, she was hidden by Serafall, high noble like dresses, and a hint of draconic aura.
Cain stood and waited for Serafall to explain the girl's origin and her backstory. Seeing that Grayfia motioned to Serafall to start, as Serafall was clueless that Cain wanted her to start.
Seeing Grayfia's gesture Serafall started
"This girls name is Ingvild Leviathan."
Hearing that Cain sighed and said "Yeah this is going to hurt my brain so much!"
(Grayfia that roster for my peerage, we have a bishop left right?)
(Yes my Lord.)
(I think we found that, please write it down when you go back.)
Serafall ignored Cain's sulkiness and continued
"She was found in the basement of the Leviathan clan, my guess is that she is the granddaughter of Tsufaame."
"And why was Lord Cain not informed of such a matter immediately?"
This time Grayfia spoke up to Serafall. Serafall replied
"I thought that she had some disease so I tried to get her healthy and then talk to Cain about it but it turns out she has sleeping disease, and it has no cure but just a few months ago i found out that she has a sacred gear, a strong one, so I thought that maybe Cain can do something."
Grayfia looked like she was about to verbally abuse Serafall for this blunder but Cain interjected
(Fia, calm down. I know you two have a rivalry but not now.)
(Yes my lord.)
"Alright let's see what I can do! But Sera remember to tell me such thing immediately you know how bad things can get if the GKF knew of her or worse the runaway satan faction members knew about this."
"Sorry, Cain."
Even Cain was stumped at this as he had no knowledge that such a disease existed prior to his reincarnation. So he tried to use his near perfect mana control to check her situation and found out the cause of the problem.
"This isn't the sleeping disease, it's her devil heritage and sacred gear not cooperating with each other."
"What do you mean?" Even Serafall someone who is good at healing wasn't able to tell this. So she was interested.
"Well you see, most of the time a devil bloodline dominates the human bloodline, just like my brother. Even if he had Lilith's blood in him he was still pure blooded Lucifer. But I am not, now atleast."
"What?"
"Anyways, so in rare cases like her where the devil bloodline isn't able to dominate and she becomes a hybrid, on top of it she is a sacred gear user. So they oppose each other. Sacred gear uses energy to awaken. It is a strong one so it must have absorbed all of her energy."
"So that is why she is not waking up?"
"That is just half the problem, now that the devil side of her isn't providing energy and the premature awakening of her sacred gear used up her human powers, she is in coma. Most gears at this level awaken at a later stage slowly, or if it is sentinent then It can use the devil side powers."
"How can a sentient sacred gear use the devil side powers?" Serafall asked
"Simple, the devil power just opposes the holy power which has its trace in the scared gear but it has no sentience so it can be controlled. But as this girl doesn't have a sentient scared gear, a strong devil bloodline, premature awakening taking away her human powers and someother factors lead to this situation."
"So can you cure her or not?" Serafall asked excitedly. As if Cain knew this much he must have a way. What she didn't knew was that he had so much knowledge due to Ajuka.
Cain and Ajuka talked a lot about souls and naturally they talked about sacred gears due to their connection with soul, hence Cain was able to think this much.
"Let's see if I can or not!"
Saying so Cain put his hand on the girls stomach and started pushing his energy inside her sacred gear in order to awaken it completely. Also he connected her sacred gear to her devil side, so as to not have any problems in the future.
But the sacred gear only complety awakened after taking a satan's equivalent of demonic energy. Shocking Cain, he was able to do this because of his precise control, knowledge of souls thanks to Ajuka and his scythe and not to mention his large demonic energy reserves.
After that he stood aside and waited for the sleeping beauty to wake up as he had done what he could.
...
Ingvild Leviathan slowly opened her eyes, the sterile scent of the hospital reaching her senses. The world around her was unfamiliar, and confusion clouded her expression. She tried to move, but her body felt heavy, as if it hadn't moved in ages.
Cain Livan Lucifer stood by her bedside, an amused glint in his eyes. "Well, well, Ingvild! Looks like you've finally decided to rejoin the living."
Ingvild blinked, her gaze shifting from Cain to the room. "Where... am I?" Her voice was hoarse, unaccustomed to speaking.
Serafall although, not related to Ingvild but sharing the same last name, entered the conversation with a bright smile.
"Ah, Ingvild-chan, Welcome back!"
She approached with enthusiasm, seemingly unaffected by the gravity of the situation.
Ingvild's confusion deepened as she studied Serafall. "Who... who are you?"
Serafall's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly recovered. "Oh, don't you worry about that. We'll get you up to date." She exchanged a glance with Cain.
Cain, still amused, leaned against the wall. "You've been in a coma for decades, Ingvild. Things have changed, and you've got some catching up to do."
Ingvild struggled to absorb the information, her mind a haze of uncertainty. "Decades? But... how?"
Grayfia, maintaining her usual stoic expression, said to Ingvild.
"You contracted a rare magical disease that put you in a deep slumber. Lord Cain here," she gestured to Cain, "decided to wake you up."
Ingvild's eyes darted between them, the reality sinking in slowly. "Cain? Grayfia? Serafall? I don't... I don't know any of you."
Serafall chuckled nervously. "Well, that's to be expected. But we're here to help you, Ingvild, right Cain-kun?"
Cain smirked. "Consider it a wake-up call to the new devil society."
After that fiasco the three of them helped Ingvild get accustomed to the basic things of the underworld.
But just as Serafall was about to take Ingvild back to her house to help her Cain asked Ingvild a question.
"Ingvild would you like to join my peerage."
Hearing that Serafall spoke up "Cain! She just woke up from a long slumber. She doesn't even understand what's a peerage."
"Then let her decide for herself. Let her go on a journey in the underworld. Alone, only someone to make sure she isn't hurt, lost and deceived. She needs to live it herself to understand it. After that when she has seen for herself she can make a decision."
Grayfia also supported Cain in his talk
"Indeed she has lost a lot of time, so let her spend it peacefully. We can have this talk when she is more mature"
Serafall seeing that looked towards Ingvild and promoted her to speak her mind.
"I don't what you talked about but I think it was meant to be a good thing for me. So I am thankful to you, Cain."
Saying so Ingvild showed a beautiful smile, captivating everyone present there with her innocent thought.
Serafall sighed seeing this and said "Fine! I will make sure you aren't in trouble. But remember to ask us for help if you are in trouble."
Cain also added "Also remember that your name is for now only Ingvild, no Leviathan. We do not want a political shitstrom now."
After that Serafall took Ingvild to get her upto date and send her on a journey of self discovery. Cain sent Grayfia to inform Ajuka and Falbium about it. And he would inform Zeaira, Rayla and his mother about it.
...
A few weeks have passed since Cain healed Ingvild and now he is going on a journey to the north, to find the queen candidate he has in his mind for his peerage.
"Are you sure Cain? She may be stronger than you anticipate. Afterall she is in the top 10 ranking."
"Yeah so am I, you and Ajuka. Calm down I will be fine."
"I am not worried for you losing but banging that witch before you even come back with her!"
"Oh! don't worry, I will try my best to not do such a thing."
Saying so to Zeaira, Cain went to Europe.
...
Cain PoV
I had teleported directly to Scotland and from there went near the Isle of Skyle. The events of the Ulster cycle are said to happen in the first century but the castle of Dunscaith was built in 1181, which contradicts, as this is the castle protected by the warrior maiden Scáthach.
"There must have been a reconstruction in between or a god must have interfered. Most probably Norse."
Thinking such, I went inside the castle which was although on a very beautiful place the attck of time on it left it in a very ruined state. And due to the natural barrier here, it isn't possible for humans to repair it.
I went near the castle gate and stood there for a while thinking on how get her to agree to join my peerage.
"Its almost guaranteed for me to fight her and I am all for it, been a while since I had a good fight."
But the question still remains, her wish is to die by a warriors hand. How do I get her to change that and make her join my peerage.
Oh! I also need to kill her as she is a divine spirit due the rules that Ajuka told me. Suddenly a idea came to my mind making me grin like the devil I was.
"I will fulfill her request, while also making sure she will join my peerage, after all a devil especially a Lucifer is gotta deceive people, right?"
Saying so I opened the door of the castle and entered. As I stepped through the gate of the Castle of Dunscaith, the air around me transformed into an eerie wind.
The Land of Shadows revealed itself—an otherworldly realm cloaked darkness. Eerie whispers lingered, carried by winds that moved with the shadows themselves.
Wandering through landscape, I encountered the remnants of the once living, now twisted into dark forms.
They attacked me but they were weak, a single swing from my scythe destroyed them and they returned into the shadows. This continued for a while till I reached a different place.
In the middle of the death land, a huge castle loomed on the horizon. The structure exuded an deathly presence, its stone walls weathered by time, telling tales of a history lost in the shadows.
A shiver of excitement crawled down my spine as I approached, feeling the presence of the person I came here for.
Approaching the entrance, a figure materialized, a silhouette against the big gate of the castle. It was her, the Witch of Dunscaith, Scathach. Her presence radiated a powerful aura, and as I drew near, her piercing red eyes met mine.
Her purple hair cascaded like a waterfall, reaching her waist with an otherworldly glow. The tight bodysuit she wore accentuated the curves of her form, and a mysterious mask concealed the lower half of her face. In her hand, a crimson spear gleamed with an otherworldly energy.(Image)
"Welcome, Devil," she spoke, her voice cutting through the spectral silence. "To traverse the Land of Shadows is no small feat. What brings you to my domain?" The words carried a mixture of curiosity and authority.
I gripped my scythe ready to start a duel with the famed Godslayer, in order to win her to my side. And I spoke with authority.
AN:- And a cliffhanger!!! Enjoy. I will publish an interlude this week, So gimme the stones!!