History[]
A young William with Kevin.
William is the only son of the late Thomas Twining and his wife. When he was very young, he asked his parents to bring him out to see the Royal Ascot. On their way there, their carriage crashed, and while William miraculously survived, both of his parents died. The family butler Kevin was his main source of comfort throughout the situation and afterwards. During the funeral, he could only stand to look at his parent's coffins once before he looked away, though he cried to Kevin after the ceremony ended.
His uncle Barton was his only ally in fighting for his family's belongings, and they won the case. His uncle took care of him and the family's state as well, until his business eventually failed and he went bankrupt, after which he dissaperared, leaving William unable to pay for his school's fees.
It's later revealed that his uncle was the one behind the murder of his parents, as he was obsessed with Solomon and wanted to become his vessel by killing his brother and nephew.
Plot[]
Manga[]
William wakes up from a dream from the past of Solomon and Dantalion making a contract as he attends church service after which he checks the grade rankings posted on a bulletin where he finds that he is, as usual, top of the class. Isaac Morton, a friend of William's, walks up to congratulate him but comments on how he fell asleep during the service. William promptly waves off, asking what the point of praying to an unseen God is. Isaac, an occultist, vehemently begins to defend the existence of God as well as a host of other mythical creatures before asking his friend if things are okay. William quickly turns to leave, saying he'll sort everything out during the holidays. Apparently, the school fees for next term hasn't been paid by his Uncle Barton who is in charge of his assets.
He returns to his mansion to find it deserted save Kevin Cecil, his butler, who tells him that his uncle's business had failed and has gone bankrupt. As a result, everything in the mansion was taken away by debt collectors while Barton went missing. Wiliam realizes all the servants were also fired seeing as he cannot pay them anymore and turns to Kevin, beginning to say that he should also leave but Kevin insists on staying by his side.
Desperate, William begins to search the house for anything of value to pay for his tuition before finally turning to Kevin to ask if his father mentioned anything about a secret door. Kevin guides William to the basement where the only door without a key is located. William breaks down the door but falls and scrapes his hand. The drops of blood from the wound lands on the floor where a magic circle activates and inadvertently summoning Dantalion. He is tied up and taken back upstairs where he explains that King Solomon, who sealed seventy-two demons and made them into his Pillars, was William's ancestor and thus was given the right to choose the Demon World's ruler. Dantalion urges William to choose him as the ruler at the end of his explanation but William doesn't believe him and has the police drag him away.
After dealing with Dantalion, William and Kevin return to the cellar where William attempts to figure out the magic circle's trick by which Dantalion appeared. While inquiring Kevin on the whereabouts of his late father's ring, shadows creep behind William and drag him into the circle, winding up in an unfamiliar hallway where Dantelion's butler, Baphomet, greets him. William wonders why there's a costume party in his basement and proceeds to examine the demon servants. William is sat at the table and served cake and tea while he wonders why his basement is connected to Dantalion's house before asking Baphomet to tell Dantalion not to come to his house again. Baphomet begins to tell William about the political workings in Hell; how Lucifer, the reigning king, must sleep for a few hundred years in order to live longer and how an interim ruler must rule in his place in the duration of his rest. Still, William doesn't believe Baphomet and asks to be taken home, scoffing at the thought of demons in an age of electricity when the house suddenly blows up to reveal Gilles de Rais, who had come to challenge Dantalion in order to raise his rank.
Gilles de Rais notices William and wonders what a human was doing there before attempting to kidnap him but he's stopped by Dantalion who blows him away and restores the house to its former glory. William remains in denial but Gille de Rais is still not finished having realized that the young noble was the one to choose the next ruler and intends to take him to Balberith. Dantalion and Gille de Rais clash but when Dantalion starts getting serious, Baphomet comments on how space will become distorted, rendering it impossible for William to go home. Wanting to return, William calls to Dantalion to stop and miraculously, his powers dissolve and Gille de Rais leaves to report the incident to his master.
Later, William is returned home but he still refuses to believe in demons, proclaiming himself a realist. As a way of convincing William that demons are real, Dantalion takes him and they teleport to a faraway location where he starts explaining about Nephilim before taking him back. William dreadfully returns to school only to find that his tuition has already been paid. Later on in class, he reflects that the place Dantalion had taken him looked like Jerusalem before the teacher enters and introduces a new transfer student, Dantalion Hubert.
William confronts Dantalion about his presence in his school and finds out that it was him who had paid his school fees, telling William that if he chooses him, he would cancel the debt but William refuses to be indebted to a demon. Dantalion informs him that he'll stay with William until he chooses him since it's unknown when other demons who are aware of William will come into contact and William leaves adamant that he will never accept Dantalion.