Lore behind the underworld: The underworld has 9 echelons and thanks to Dante, they’ve been known to be the 9 circles of hell. The circle of treachery is where the devil and his family reside and it is the biggest and deepest circle. The upper circles, also known as the circles of fraud, violence, heresy, anger, greed, gluttony, lust, and limbo, are led by powerful monsters (along with their families) who represent the devil.

The circle that is closest to the human world is the circle of limbo. It also serves as the bridge between the underworld and the mortal world.

Character Introduction:

Dragalia was born out of the union between the devil and a monster that was half-demon and half-human. When she turned 5, she was known among her tutors as a child with immense wisdom so she was crowned as the overseer of treachery at that age. Throughout her time as overseer, there was not a single monster that spoke ill of her and everyone respected her (except for her brother, Dragaux, and his followers). When she turned 13, her mother was mysteriously attacked by a powerful monster.

After her mother died, she was forcefully banished from her position as the overseer of treachery. She had no choice but to live under the cruel reign of her half-brother. He locked her up in his dungeon and was treated like a zoo animal by him and his supporters. All of her followers were either executed or exiled to the upper circles of hell. Her father no longer spoiled her like he used to and never visited her in the dungeon cell even once.

One day, she overheard that her brother planned on selling her to a powerful monster in order to help strengthen their connections. She had to marry the monster’s youngest son. At first, things did not seem so bad but the monster she was supposed to marry yearned to control her and to make her submissive to him. As one of the children of the devil, she did not allow this to occur. She had the last bit of her dignity to maintain but how could she even escape if she didn’t have the key to her enchanted chains? Luckily, the castle stewardess managed to deceive Dragaux into giving her the key so she managed to free Dragalia from her restraints.

“Run as fast as you can, be as sneaky as you can.” were the words she said. Dragalia was all on her own when it came to fleeing from the circle of treachery. Once she managed to make it to the circle of fraud, her exiled supporters helped her traverse through the upper circles and was able to flee to the mortal world via the circle of limbo.

It was the 16th century and she found herself stuck in the supposed land of the rising sun. She managed to conceal her monstrous traits and appeared like a regular human. A lot of people pointed out her red hair and green eyes, asking if she was one of the Hoshinomiyas. She did not know who they were but in order to fit in, she lied and said that she was a distant member of that family. The Hoshinomiya family were known for their red hair and green eyes.

After a few days, she started to feel hungry and learned about the concept of money. She had to get a job just so she could buy food. Due to her lacking any type of education, she resorted to joining a guild of thieves. The guild would assign her to steal things from Japanese families for a sum of money and as time went on, she became well-respected within the guild. She was known for being rather intelligent so she was nicknamed by her co-workers as “Kei”. Though, even with her conniving nature, she was really nice and treated her co-workers with care.

Despite being known as a rather clever thief, Kei was emotionally and socially unintelligent. She had a couple of friends whom she trusted over the years but was ultimately betrayed in the end.

“Heh, not so intelligent now, are you?” was the common phrase said whenever they mocked her. Despite all those betrayals, she manages to continue doing her job and continuously having a smile on her face.

In the 20th century, Kei grew tired of stealing things from other people. Even though she was a monster, she had a rather compassionate heart. After realizing that she could have a job that didn’t require her to do anything illegal, she left the guild and proceeded to work at multiple jobs in order to return everything she has stolen in the last 400-500 years. As the 20th century reached its end and a new century began, she grew exhausted and decided to settle on the streets for a good while.

The Saito family was one of the richest families in the olden days but they had a rather dark secret. No one knew that they were a family of vampires. It all started at around the 15th century when the family head was known as the overseer of the circle of lust. Her rapid pursuit of power and beauty has led her to despise the weaklings of her family. The person she hated the most was her cousin, Umeko.

Umeko was a kind and gentle vampire who didn’t dare to lay a finger on any innocent soul. She believed that the respect of her fellow monsters can make someone so powerful. She hated brute force and violence. When she gave birth to a rather gentle and mild baby girl, she named it Nagisa. The child was rather loved throughout the entire circle of lust. Her smile and her kindness touched the hearts of every monster she met, just like her mother.

As Nagisa grew up, she grew to hate the concept of sucking blood from humans. Due to it being a rather vital component of her diet, she resorted to consuming artificial blood. The overseer was furious at how weak her cousin’s daughter was so she personally visited her cousin’s residence and proceeded to curse her family. Umeko’s part of the family were stripped of their wings, including Nagisa.

Unbeknownst to the overseer, Nagisa was actually a powerful vampire. She had the ability to control the flames of the underworld themselves. She would always use her ability for the benefit of the inhabitants of the circle of lust, rather than using it to wreak havoc. This caused the overseer (her aunt) to constantly compare Nagisa to her cousin, Homare, who apparently had more bloodlust, strength, and desire for power.

After a while, the overseer sent guards to constantly beat up Umeko and her family and without their wings, they couldn’t escape the guards’ bouts of violence. With the help of the inhabitants of the circle of lust, Umeko fled to the mortal world with her family through the circle of limbo. As she set foot in what seemed to be 15th century Japan, she was asked if she was part of the fallen Saito family. In order to fit in, she said that she was from a distant branch of the Saito family. Members of that family were known to have white hair and red eyes.

In the 16th century, Nagisa took over the Saito family as its head. Her kindness managed to make the Saito family both rich and powerful. There was a reason why she was dubbed as the merciful mistress. She has made quite a lot of friends but their lifespans were mostly cut short. As a supernatural being, she had no choice but to watch helplessly as her friends died one at a time.

One night, a scheming thief managed to steal the family’s most prized artifact, causing them to lose their riches. Nagisa resorted to working a humble job. She didn’t need much to be content and her parents even worked humble jobs themselves.

At the end of the 20th century, the “thief” anonymously sent her the stolen artifact along with some extra money as an apology. Nagisa used the extra money to buy her family an apartment in Akihabara.

Due to her not using her ability for so long, she has forgotten about her power and now she constantly believes that she is a weakling with no worth whatsoever.

It is now the 21st century and many monsters run amok in the world of mortals, albeit more discreet than before. Japan is home to its fair share of monsters and the daughter of the devil is part of its population. As much as a fancy title it sounds, she is now sitting on the streets of Tokyo, figuring out how she can get her hands on her next meal.

Whenever people would pass by her on the streets, she could hear them murmur “Ah, she seems young. Too bad she has to live on the streets.”. She would always lean back and take in everything, as the smoke coming from the drug addicts’ turf penetrates her nose.

Though, tonight is rather different. An advertisement of an idol group plays on the screen at the main square. She looks up and finally realizes how she could make a quick buck for a quick meal. She fixed herself up as best as she could and ran towards a pretty crowded area. She starts singing, her voice capturing people as they stop and listen to her brilliant voice. Singing was not something she liked doing but she did it for quick money. She managed to make around 5,000 yen that evening.

As time went on, she would continue singing but the money she would earn would grow smaller and smaller. This was not a stable career for her so she headed back to the slum where she used to settle. She thought that she was going to have to think about where she could get her next meal from until a kind stranger approaches her.

“Hey, do I know you?” The stranger asked. The young girl shook her head and exhaled a bit. The stranger, believing that her memory never serves her wrong, told her that the girl looked like the street performer that would perform almost every single night. The girl perked her ears up and nodded.

“So, what is your name?” The stranger asked, as she reached her hand out to the girl.

“Hoshinomiya Kei.” The girl replied as she shook the stranger’s hand. The girl, Kei, stood up and looked the stranger in the eye and asked: “What is your name then?”

“Oh, my name’s Saito Nagisa. I have come here to ask you something.” The stranger said.

Kei looked at her with an intrigued look on her face. Nagisa smiled and continued speaking:

“I have seen you sing and you have potential. Would you like to be recommended to the company I work at? My boss is trying to find some new employees or even new talent. I think you fit the bill.”

Kei looked down and nodded, this all sounded like a scam but she really was desperate for a consistent source of food.

“Alright great…uh, you don’t have a place to live at, do you?” Nagisa asked. Kei shook her head and said: “I promise to freshen myself up as best as I can.”

Nagisa clicked her tongue and shook her head. “That won’t do, I guess I can take you in as my housemate. After all, it has gotten a bit lonely at my place.” Kei was stunned and didn’t know how to react. The next thing she knew was that she was being dragged by Nagisa. They arrived at an empty apartment after a few minutes. Kei stood rather still at the entrance, still thinking about what just happened. Nagisa noticed this and turned back, looking at Kei.

“Er…Hoshinomiya-san? Are you not coming in?” She asked.

“Ah…Saito-san..heh…sorry about that.” Kei said as she stepped inside and sat down on the floor. “I think I’ll just lie down here.”

“Not on the floor you won’t, on the couch you go.”

Kei sighed and proceeded to lie down on the couch. She felt comfortable, the only bedding she knew was the cardboard on the streets and the floors of the thieves’ guild.

“Well Hoshinomiya-san, I’ll be heading to my room now. The bathroom’s just over there. Good night, looking forward to working with you tomorrow.” Nagisa said, as she entered her room.

Kei stood up and walked toward the bathroom. She looked at the mirror and a pair of horns, wings, and a tail sprouted from her body. “Phew, looks like cleaning my demonic features discreetly will be easier.” She said, as she started scrubbing her body using a bar of soap.

In the other room, Nagisa was also cleaning her rather monstrous features. “Why on earth did I bring a human to my place? I know it’s for the company but if she discovers I'm a vampire, I’m hoping she doesn’t report my identity to the authorities.”

After cleaning themselves, the two girls conceal their monstrous forms after stepping out of their respective bathrooms. They proceeded to sleep and then morning rolled around.