Prologue

"If that child had lives you would be dead."

Prologue
Two men are running down a road, carrying a cart, while it's raining. Inside are two people who are hugging each other in fear. One of them has pink hair, eyes, and clothing while the other one is a young kid with dark purple hair and small wings on the side of his head. The child is crying as he grips the other person's clothing. They are approaching the exit when they are attacked by a lady holding a spear with a skull at the end of it. She cuts the head off of the two men holding the cart and then burns the cart down. The lady refers to them as prisoners #465 and #466. The pink-haired man calls himself the Fourth Court Lady. She then promptly destroys his clothing and says "I don't remember a fourth court lady with a chest like that". The kid yells "Lucius" as the lady holds a spear to his neck. Lucius grabs the blade and then says "It's alright Cyan". He jumps over the spear and then kicks at the lady. He sends a wave of fire and jumps up. Once he's in the air he summons a sword out of the fire. His attacker backs up back into the group of ladies and exclaims "Impossible, he has magic? And his level is higher than mine?!". Lucius then threatens them by saying "I will tear your ragged soul to shreds!". Then someone responds by saying "That's right, I will shred your souls." A purple lightning bolt then strikes the ground. The ladies then bow and say "All hail our imperial deity, the Taoist of Hades, Emperor Hayate Shizuki." Hayate then lands on the ground and mentions that the Empress had only left the Forbidden Palace two days prior. He calls the guards useless and asks why the empress bothers feeding them. Lucius calls the emperor by the name Hayate. The lady, who has been referred to as Major, yells at Lucius and tells him to address the Emperor by his title. She calls Hayate "the Emperor of Phantom Paradise, her royal majesty's favorite consort." Lucius is shocked and then yells at the Emperor and says "We vowed to fight our way into heaven, together! And instead, you let this godforsaken place corrupt you?!" Hayate doesn't respond and instead closes his eyes. He then lifts his hand and takes all the weapons from everyone in the vicinity, including the women who worked for the Empress. He sends all the weapons that he collected towards Lucius, who then chops up the incoming weapons. Lucius says to Hayate "I don't know why you've become this but Hayate, I will save you from your sins." and then sends a wave of fire at Hayate. He blocks the attack by summoning his own weapon and then changing it into a black and white Yin Yang sword. Hayate then attacks Lucius by flying at him at telling him "Here is your reward for your faith injustice," and then stabs at Lucius, but instead of stabbing Lucius he hits Cyan. Hayate proceeds to stab Lucius and then sentences him to eternal suffering. Lucius then wakes up chained up in a cell littered with bones. The Emperor is standing at the entrance and a servant with a black eye patch holding a tray. The servant refers to Lucius as prisoner #466 and tells him to stop starving himself. Lucius refuses to eat and tells Hayate that "Trusting you was the biggest mistake I ever-" but gets interrupted as Hayate chokes him. The Emperor says that he is surprised that Lucius has enough energy to reject him. Hayate tells Lucius that "Your dignity, your personhood, your god. Everything has been taken from you." Hayate then continues to tell Lucius that he isn't the only one who cherishes him. Lucius tears up as he remembers his history with Hayate before he became the Emperor. Hayate is leaving the room when he then yells at the Emperor "Cyan didn't have to die". Emperor freezes and then responds by saying "If that child had lived, you would be dead". Once outside the prison, he says "Phantom Paradise is ruthless and unrelenting. I can only save that which is most precious to me."

The emperor is standing watching the concubines train while his servant stands next to him. The servant is holding some tea and then tells the Emperor to go to sleeping, saying that "Dawn is approaching." The Emperor responds by saying that he wants to continue watching because "After all, I was one of them, once. When I first entered Phantom Paradise." He looks at the hair loom that Lucius was wearing earlier in the episode and then lifts it up to his nose.