The ruins of hell.
In that mythical place where the Red King and the Black King had once fought a bloody battle, two demons gathered: one black, one ash-gray.
"Kuhuhuhu... How surprising. I never imagined anyone would notice the [Contract] I made with that one... but as expected of our eighth sibling."
"...It was only half a hypothesis... so it was true."
At the very moment a slime was born in the Sealed Cave, those two demons met in hell for a quiet conference so subtle that no one else noticed it.
Over the past three hundred years, they had met a few times, but it was rare for the two of them to meet alone like this.
"...I thought it was strange from the beginning. Why someone like you, who has no interest in 'growth,' was the one guarding the [Underworld Gate] most zealously and volunteering to hold back the [Phantoms]."
[Primordial Demons] [Noir].
Among demons, he was the greatest eccentric of them all, a being full of contradictions who had always walked a path stranger than anyone else.
And Adelio, the demon whom [Noir] called one of their own siblings, had long harbored doubts about him.
"Once I started wondering whether you were watching the middle world through that orb in order to find this slime's 'soul,' the pieces slowly began to fall into place."
Adelio pointed to the blue orb in [Noir]'s hand and the red orb in his own.
Inside the blue orb, scenes commonly found in the middle world were flashing past at tremendous speed.
Inside the red orb, the slime was shown in vivid detail as it spoke with the [Storm Dragon].
"For someone like you, who hates devoting yourself to any one thing, to go so far as to oppose the [Phantoms] while blocking them yourself... that had to be the result of someone else's interference. And as far as I know, there is only one being capable of interfering with you to that extent."
Even [Rouge], [Noir]'s brother—Guy Crimson himself—could not interfere deeply in [Noir]'s affairs.
For he possessed not only strength enough to trouble even the [Catastrophe]s, but an overwhelming intellect as well.
Then who could it be?
The answer was simpler than expected.
"[Holy Emperor Dragon] Veldanava."
The first life-form, the one closest to true omniscience and omnipotence.
The only one who could make even Guy kneel was the [Creator God].
'And the reason [Noir] swore absolute loyalty to that slime...'
There was no way the second highest among the [Primordial Demons] would become the subordinate of a slime who was, at most, merely the leader of a rising power for no reason at all. It had to be because he sensed an extraordinarily deep connection to Veldanava.
"Lord [Noir]. No... Noir. Weren't you aware from the beginning? That Veldanava could not possibly have died such an empty death."
The ash-gray demon believed in his own hypothesis.
There were too many hidden questions behind why [Noir] had suddenly entered that slime's service.
And most of them were tied to fate, souls, and Veldanava.
"...Kuhuhu... kuhuhuhuhu."
[Noir], who had been quietly studying Adelio as if weighing his insight, finally burst into laughter.
It was the kind of laugh that sounded almost like an answer—or praise.
"Adelio. Is what you want to hear that I am searching for that one's soul, and that this slime is that one's [Regression]?"
[Noir] did not give him the answer so easily.
That was simply his nature, and exactly the sort of thing that suited him.
"It is a very good hypothesis... but to give you the conclusion first, that hypothesis is wrong."
"...?!"
Then his ominously gleaming golden eyes turned toward the slime visible beyond the red orb.
"That person does not possess that one's soul. Something else, perhaps, but not that."
"...Something else?"
At Adelio's question, [Noir], wearing a smile much like Guy's, slowly shook his head.
"Unfortunately, that is not an answer I can give you. It is something that only gains value once you hear it directly from the one concerned."
"..."
It was such a deflating answer it bordered on absurd.
But Adelio did not voice that thought aloud.
He already knew that once [Noir] decided not to answer, nothing anyone did would change his mind—
"Kuhuhuhuhu... Though calling it compensation may be a bit much, I rather liked your hypothesis, and it would be a waste to send you away with nothing. So I'll give you one especially useful hint."
—and because he also knew that the hints [Noir] gave were often extremely useful.
"Adelio, among all the special abilities you possess, what do you think is the most special of all?"
The question had nothing to do with what they had been discussing, but Adelio paid that no mind and prepared to answer.
This was usually how [Noir]'s hints began.
"...That would be..."
"Kuhuhu, you're probably thinking of a [Skill], [Arts], or perhaps willpower, aren't you?"
"..."
Adelio nodded with an expression that plainly said he had been struck right at the heart of it.
To that fellow sibling, [Noir] gave his answer with unusual ease this time.
"Of course, those abilities are special and exceptional. But in my opinion, that isn't quite it."
Then [Noir] raised a finger and pointed to five empty spaces one after another before finally pointing at Adelio himself.
"The most special ability you possess is the kind of soul that makes others become obsessed with you—[No Attribute]."
The spaces [Noir] had indicated were the territories ruled by the other five [Primordial Demons], excluding his own domain and Guy's.
"The power to effortlessly draw in mighty beings worthy of the name 'strongest'—that, without question, is your most extraordinary ability."
Having said that, the black king continued inwardly.
If that slime had not existed,
if he had been born with the makings of a [Demon Lord] rather than a [Hero],
then he too, like the others, would have followed the arrangement laid down by the [Creator God] before him.
And that, too, would be because of the one special ability possessed by the demon Adelio alone.
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