If pride is a sin, I don't mind being a sinner!

“Baphomet!” the demon lord glared at the old man with hatred in his eyes.

“Long time no see, demon lord!”

“My name is Baal!”

“That look on your face,” Baphomet grinned as he was approaching Baal, “How cute! It seems the demon lord hates his own familiar!”

“You’re no longer my familiar!”

“Hmm,” the old man murmured, “then what am I exactly to you?”

“An enemy, I guess”

“An enemy of the demon lord… An enemy of the three factions…”

Baphomet stopped for a moment to think then said. “Aha! This means I have no allies!”

He bowed his head gently before Baal, then continued. “If you wish to be my enemy, then I have to obey, hero! Before starting our war, may I *** ***”

“Eh?”

Unable to hear the last words said by Baphomet, Baal looked at the man before him with a surprised face.

“You know,” the old man said with a sad tone, “I envy you a bit! Rejecting the previous demon lord’s subconscious after defeating him…”

“Let’s not talk about the past! Why did you come here today? And why are you looking like an old man?”

“Oh? Excuse my rudeness! If I remember correctly, you used to like my younger appearance.”

Baphomet lifted his hand and snapped his fingers, revealing what seemed to be his true appearance. A 20-year-old man wearing a black butler suit that matches his long black hair.

“I heard a rumour saying that you became a teacher, so I had to check for myself.”

“Well,” Baal looked away and said, “you got the answer. I don’t see a reason for you to stay here any longer. Unless you’re here for problems. I’d gladly take you on the offer and free you from your misery!”

“You went out of your way and tried to hide my presence. I’d be foolish to cause a scene.”

Baphomet bowed again.

“Alright then, before leaving you, my dear frenemy, I found this young boy walking in the corridor when I arrived.”

He pointed at his left side, where a boy was lying on the ground, then said, “Don’t worry, he’s just unconscious. He couldn’t sustain the aura pressure and passed out.”

“I suggest you leave immediately before or else…”

Baphomet immediately bowed his head, taking a few steps backward with a smile on his face.

“If you excuse me, then!”

                                                                     *****

Sensing that Baphomet’s aura disappeared, Baal rushed toward the unconscious student.

“Oy! Wake up! Takao Goro, wake up!”

Slowly, the unconscious student started opening his eyes. He lifted his hand to cover his eyes as he felt the daylight burning them.

“Young one, what’s wrong? Why are you covering your eyes?”

Goro rubbed his eyes, then stared at the man before him for a few seconds before asking.

“You are?”

“Well, well! It seems to me you’re fine,” Baal replied. “I am your new teacher! The name is Baal!”

Goro’s expression changed as he learned the identity of the man standing before him. He stood up silently, glared at Baal, then slowly started walking away. Feeling upset to know that he couldn’t get away, he finally decided to speak some words.

“You have nothing to teach me!”

“Is this a feeling of superiority or inferiority?”

“Huh?”

Goro stopped immediately and looked back at the man, who was provoking him.

“Are you saying that based on a feeling of superiority or inferiority?” Baal repeated.

“I don’t remember asking you to repeat what you said. I am only surprised to hear you ask such a trivial question?”

“Meaning?”

“For instance, I was only stating a fact that you teachers have nothing to teach me! Weaklings can only teach the way of weakness.”

“Is that why you got expelled?”

Goro turned back and walked to face Baal.

“Let me set the record straight! It isn’t my fault if the teachers can’t keep up with me!”

“Hmm,” Baal smirked at the young man who stood pridefully before, “in short, your prevailing attitude towards me is: ‘Screw you, you stupid insect! Shut up and die! Quite the self-esteem you’ve got there for a person who passed out because of the aura pressure.”

A diabolic smile appeared on Baal’s face as he continued talking.

“Are you sure you’re that exceptional?”

“I didn’t take it that far! What do you mean?”

“Nothing... Just trying to let you know that it's very difficult for me to believe that you are not a failure. I think your pride is blinding you!”

“If pride is really a sin, then I don’t mind being a sinner!”

“Interesting!” Baal looked at Goro in the eyes then continued, “A sinner? Are you already giving up on killing the demon lord? Do you want to be my subordinate? Well, I can’t accept a weakling who can’t withstand my aura between my ranks!”

“I…”

Goro struggled to find the words to reply. The man felt defeated. He wished to have a small amount of time to think about his answer. He even grew angry at the fate that had made him go through a lot of trouble lately.

“How about you show me the skills and abilities you are talking about tomorrow?”

“Eh?”

“I said you have a chance! If you’re that skilled, show me what you’ve got tomorrow in class. I won’t bother you anymore if you can persuade me tomorrow.”

Overwhelmed by Baal’s words, the young proud student couldn’t argue anymore and simply nodded.

“You’d better be in the classroom tomorrow morning in time,” Baal said as he leaned to whisper gently in Goro’s ear, “or else…”

“Or else?”

“You wouldn’t try to enrage the demon lord now, would you? Be a good boy. I don’t want to put the aura that knocked you down to use. You know what! Let’s not talk about bad things!”

He gave the frightened student before him a wintry smile, then walked away.

“Tomorrow morning! Don’t forget, brainiac boy!”