Relax!
Yes, just relax!
Now that he knew the man before him was another devil, Diodora, who had been tense the whole time, finally let his guard down and relaxed.
He had indeed violated the unspoken rules among devils by sneaking into the territory of the Asmodeus family.
But as the heir of the Astaroth family — one of the 72 Pillars of pure-blood devils — and a blood relative of the current Beelzebub, he was confident this man would show him a little courtesy and not pursue the matter.
So what if he was descended from an old Demon King's bloodline? So what if he had close ties to the current Demon Lord Asmodeus?
As a blood relative of Satan Ajuka Beelzebub, his status wasn't far inferior to this man's!
"Oh, you're apologizing to me?"
Vitan stood calmly opposite Diodora, speaking in a composed tone.
"Yes. These recent offenses were by no means intentional. Once I return to my territory, I will certainly send you a proper gift of apology that you'll find satisfactory."
That should be the end of it. That's what Diodora believed in his heart at that moment.
He was certain that the man before him already knew everything about how he had come to the Church to deceive saintesses and lead them to corruption.
However, he didn't think the man in front of him had any right to comment on his actions.
As a devil, targeting a hostile church was the most natural thing to do.
But what did he see? He saw a smile blooming on Vitan's face.
It was a smile he was all too familiar with, one that often appeared on his own face.
A bad feeling immediately surged in his heart, a sense of crisis began to rise, and his heart started to pound violently.
Instinctively, he began to move his body—
He couldn't move! Why?
"What did you do to me!?"
Diodora roared in anger.
Losing control over one's own body was something no intelligent being could accept; anger was the natural response.
"You fool, look at yourself!"
With a sneer, Vitan motioned for him to look at his own body.
Somehow, at some unknown moment, black ribbon-like strips had wrapped around his body, etched with symbols resembling human writing.
"What is this?"
He realized he hadn't actually lost control of his body—instead, his movements had become so slow that it felt like he had lost control.
"No more shouting, huh? Seems you're not a complete piece of trash."
Although his tone wasn't particularly complimentary, Vitan still muttered an explanation to himself under Diodora's angry gaze.
"Just like you're imagining, I used sorcery to bind the time around you. You could say that every part of your body except for your head has been slowed down a thousandfold."
This was the power of something called "Numerology." In the field of time and space, Numerology was virtually omnipotent.
In fact, according to Radix's account, if one completely mastered the power of Numerology—and controlled the legendary "Extreme Magic of the Demonic Path"—then traveling between past and future would be but a thought away.
"Why are you doing this? What I've done doesn't warrant this, does it?"
Diodora was utterly confused. He couldn't even begin to understand why Vitan had suddenly acted against him.
But even now, he wasn't especially afraid.
Though he didn't understand Vitan's sudden aggression, he was confident in his identity. At most, Vitan would just capture him.
His life wasn't in danger—he was sure of that.
"You look confused. Well! I don't mind explaining."
Casually sitting on a flat stone, Vitan propped his chin with one hand.
Diodora could only watch helplessly as Vitan posed so arrogantly before him.
He desperately wanted to act—
For instance, blast apart these cursed black bindings with his magic,
Then give this arrogant bastard mocking him a not-too-lethal magical energy blast to the face.
But the sad truth was, he couldn't move at all.
"My goal is the same as yours—getting that little discarded girl from the church, Asia! And with you already playing the villain, I can easily take that little saint away, can't I?"
That was his plan.
If he truly wanted to save Asia, he could've easily just killed Diodora before the latter made his move.
That way, Asia could continue living peacefully in the church.
But the real question was—why would he let Asia stay in the church?
That sweet and adorable little saint, whole-heartedly adoring him, weeping softly in his arms—that was Asia's true place!
Diodora was stunned! Then, his rage exploded.
"You—are you using me!?"
To Diodora, this was the utmost insult.
He had never cared much about brute strength. He was self-aware enough to know he couldn't compete with those naturally gifted monsters with strong bloodlines.
But there was one thing he truly believed in—his intelligence.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have successfully schemed against the original heir of the Astarte family and climbed into the successor's position through a carefully constructed persona.
Yet Vitan using him to achieve his own goals—that crushed the one thing he was most proud of.
"So you finally realized it. Not bad."
Without any self-awareness, Vitan even gave Diodora a praising look, like a teacher approving a promising student.
"Damn you…"
That noble grace he worked so hard to maintain had long been thrown out the window. Even from over ten meters away, Diodora's teeth-grinding could be heard.
"Well, now that I've answered your questions, it's time for the final task of the day. Once I finish here, I've got to go pick up my little darling!"
Stretching his limbs, Vitan jumped down from the stone and slowly walked toward Diodora.
Diodora spat in contempt. Even though he couldn't move, he still managed to show disdain.
"Heh, so what if you've caught me? I'll never apologize."
The distance between Vitan and Diodora grew shorter and shorter.
Just as Diodora spat, Vitan stopped in his tracks, tilted his head, and sneered:
"What are you talking about? I never wanted your apology!"