I finally recovered from my vicious, abusive cousin. One day I'll show Mikael who is boss. This young noble will surely get his revenge.

During my recovery I practiced the [Flint & Steel Art] every day. My devilry had gradually settled at the high-Esquire level. I felt I could give Mikael a good round after breaking through, but dared not go looking for trouble.

I could tell by my father's stance that I was skating on thin ice. Hudson clan was a united devil clan, trashing a clan member's place of business was out of line. I finally took out the book inheritance he had received from Devil Ancestor.

I looked it over and saw nothing special about it. It was ancient and tattered, I could tell several pages were missing. They seemed to be forcefully ripped out.

The book was ten and a half inches long, seven and a half inches wide, and an inch and a half thick. A black leather cover bound it. The cover was fresh, in much better condition than the tattered pages.

I flipped through the pages and noticed there was no text on them. I realized my Devil Ancestor had told me this was an inheritance item, so II probably needed to pour some qi into it to get it to work.

I poured my Devil qi but nothing seemed to happen. After no reaction, I poured in my Soul qi.

[Soul qi detected… Probable host found… Codex of Souls engaged… Compiling user status… Codex calculates a (33.33%) chance of being partially repaired in 1,000,000 years if bound to host… Purging previous users… Binding to new host…

Host: James Hudson

Race: Devil

Age: 16

Cultivation: Esquire (3/4)

Cultivation Arts: Flint & Steel Art (Tier-2)

Battle Arts: None

Minor Daos: Soul (19%), Devil(15%), Fire(11%)

Inborn Ability: Soul Eyes (Suppressed)

Auxiliary Arts: Blacksmithing (Tier-1)]

[Several users have forced access to Codex of Souls archives while Codex was inactive… Purging user's memories of Codex to protect host… 1783 user memories successfully purged…]

[Codex suggests host find Sybil if host finds Sybil it increases the chance of Codex repair by (10%) and increases hosts safety by 100%.]

[Quest issued: 'Find & tame Sybil within Wesser Forest']

[Rewards: Soul Dao Cultivation Art (Tier 3), Auxiliary Art: Soul Reading, Auxiliary Art: Contracts]

What's all this information here? Whoa, that looks like a description of me. I can see everything in my head. It wants me to do some quest, why the hell would I go to that death trap forest. How do I use this thing?

[Codex of Souls is an Auxiliary Artifact. Codex needs repair. Please complete the quest. Sybil will be helpful.]

Nah I'm not doing that, give me a Cultivation Art, you gave the Devil Ancestor one, this is unfair!

[Codex gave user Kogthoz Hudson Tier-2 access to Codex archives, then went inactive. Kogthoz Hudson could only slowly gain insights into Tier 2 Soul & Fire Dao while holding the Codex.]

[Host will gain much higher levels of access to Codex archives over time completing Codex quests. Codex is now sending host where to find Sybil… Codex resources are drained… Becoming inactive, once host locates Sybil Codex will awaken.]

The Codex sent a detailed map of the Wesser Forest into my head; it showed the general area where I could find Sybil and what to watch out for. The book had also changed in my hands, the cover turning blue and pages new. The Codex no longer looked like an artifact, it now looked like something I could buy in any common shop.

I threw the Codex to the side. This stupid book wanted him to go deep into Wesser Forest! I had no reason to pit my life against such powerful demon beasts.

All that hard training and difficult questing were for common devils! This devil here is a prodigal young noble!

~~~

While James was grumbling on his misfortune his Devil Ancestor was hard at work training Mikael. The Devil Ancestor was quite impressed with how Mikael had whipped James into shape.

He thought to foster his growth so James would have someone to keep him focused. Mikael was a Light Dao practitioner with a powerful sense of justice and clan cohesion.

"Sir, here with a batch of sinners who await sentencing. Sir," said Johnson.

Johnson was the Devil Ancestor's right-hand man and General Manager of [Mountain Shadow].

They named [Mountain Shadow] for Johnson's Dao of Darkness and the Devil Ancestor being the 'Mountain Forger'.

The Devil Ancestor was well known for his eccentric ways.

Johnson managed the day-to-day affairs of [Mountain Shadow] and only reported to the Devil Ancestor.

He had been a follower of the Devil Ancestor before the Hudson clan was founded. His loyalty was unquestionable.

The burly devil looked over the docket and then glanced over at the criminals sitting cuffed in bindings.

"Splendid job, Johnson," said Kogthoz.

The burly devil casually waved his hand and all the physical bindings came off. Kogthoz bound their cultivation, then released his Count Aura.

"You all are here because you are criminals with crimes against the Hudson Devil Estate. I have looked over the facts concerning all of your cases. The evidence and testimony against you is clear cut." said Kogthoz.

"Breaking our Clan Laws with no concern of your own flesh and blood, with many of you having far more crimes under your belt that deserve death independently."

"I Count Hudson, Lord of the Wesser Forest and Warden to the Hudson Rift, in the name of the Rez'gal Empire sentence you to die."

The criminals kowtowed and began begging for mercy.

"Please have mercy Devil Ancestor we know our wrongs." They all said in unison.

"I was falsely accused."

"The glove doesn't fit."

"I did not have sexual relations with that woman."

The burly devil waited five minutes silently as the criminals cowered in fear, begging to get sympathy.

"I brought you here because you can be of one last use to the Hudson Devil Estate, using your deaths to assist the younger generation in training." He said as he pointed to the young adult devil with a fairly long, thick, jagged blade made of ivory with a grip wrapped in smooth leather at his waist.

They were in the middle of a large arena.

"I bound your devilry, you all can only display the prowess of high-Esquire at the moment. However, you have your 'exceptional experience' to help you in this battle." said the burly devil.

He looked down on these unfilial descendants who only knew how to fish for benefits. They had chosen the wrong path betraying his clan. Not spending their lives seeking genuine power by diligently cultivating. They were of no use to his clan.

"You all will fight him to death, your life and death are no longer in your hands. If you can live over 5 minutes in this arena with him, your life will be no longer forfeit to him," said Kogthoz.

"You may even become the lowest slave, having your name stricken from the Hudson clan registry and serving the Hudson clan until your natural death."

"You will fight with your lives in this arena, I allow anything. If my great-grandson doesn't make it out fighting you pitiful bunch, he isn't fit to hold the name Hudson!"

The burly devil waved his hand again and all the sinners of the Hudson Devil Clan were on one side of the arena with Mikael on the other side. A heavy mountainous barrier separated them.

"Within those sinners are people charged with pillaging, rape, and murder. Things unfitting of a devil to do within civilized society. They didn't even blink an eye as they betrayed our Hudson clan."

"They will show no mercy just because you are a member of the younger generation. They deserve death and I have sentenced them to such so still your heart and carry out the execution Mikael. Your life is worth more than these sinners," said Kogthoz.

"Begin," said Kogthoz as he removed the barrier.

~~~

I swiftly brought my sword, Hope's Deflector, into my hand and looked at the criminals brimming with killing intent.

This should be very simple. These scum have their devilry bound only able to use devilry at the high-Esquire level.

I was already at the completion-Esquire level, looking for my chance to break through to Devil Knight. This battle would be excellent practice for me to breakthrough.

<Light Flash>

I used the first Battle Art I had understood in my new life. I called it light refraction flash. The art used a slight amount of Light qi to cover my body and blind my foes as I moved.

I became a blur with feet as light as air in the eyes of the criminals.

"Kill him so we can live," said one sinner.

<Judgment Strike>

I tumbled out of the light blur perfectly executing the assassination technique I had mastered. A thin red line appeared on that sinner's neck as blood gushed forth.

He swiftly collapsed grasping his neck attempting to cling to life as the blood spurt forth.

<Vindication Blade>

I stabbed the second sinner in the kidney, swiftly twisting the blade and removing it as his bloodied innards spilled out sullying the arena.

<Vindication Blade> was a Sword Art specifically made for killing and assassination. All the moves, when executed correctly, resulted in death.

<Light Flash>

I moved like light to the other side of the arena while dodging attacks and panting.

This will be much harder than I thought. I definitely must work harder, since becoming reincarnated as a Devil my heart has grown soft for them.

I must never let the light in my heart waver. The light I trained so diligently in my previous life even followed me to this one.

I began dodging left and right, slashing, and parrying wildly as the criminals closed in surrounded me.

~~~

The burly devil was looking at the scene with pride. His descendant could use two different killing techniques. He killed 2 people in a swarm of 15 people with no one touching him and escaping.

This Mikael could become a Battle Devil thought the Devil Ancestor.

Although they were all a tier below Mikael, it was no doubt a magnificent feat. Mikael is using Battle Arts he had created himself over the past few months. He is much more hardworking and attentive than James!

Mikael is much more diligent than James, he's straightforward and has a firm sense of belonging to the clan. His mastery of the Light Dao is amazing, with no teacher he has already come this far.

Speaking of James didn't I give him something to help him with Soul Dao… No, I think I told him to find his own path only giving him that [Flint & Steel Art] since I don't understand Soul Dao myself…

It seemed the Devil Ancestor had completely forgotten about the mysterious Codex of Souls.

What a mystical item, able to make people that had held it before completely forget about it.

Kogthoz had created the [Flint & Steel Art] from studying the Codex, however, he could remember nothing concerning the Codex even when thinking of the [Flint & Steel Art].

Mikael's path is strange. He did not embark on becoming a Healing Art user like most Light Dao practitioners.

He instead treads the path of a Light Dao Battle Devil. If he did not have such a hard-working persona and a natural gift at fighting, then I would change his direction.

Hopefully, this training will properly temper his mind for what I have planned for him and still his heart to never be kind to his enemies.

"Excellent job, now execute these criminals! Your Devil Ancestor doesn't have all day to watch you play with them!" I said.

I hoped to see Mikael perform his most powerful techniques…

~~~

I heard the advice from my Devil Ancestor and took it to heart. I would now give it my all!