Pain.
That was Kael's first sensation. Not the dull kind that numbs you. This was fire—raw, scorching agony that licked every nerve in his body like he'd been bathed in lava.
He gasped for breath. The air itself burned.
Then he remembered.
The bridge. The shot. The voice.
And now—this hell.
Kael opened his eyes to a crimson sky, darker than blood, and a circle of towering beings watching him like he was prey. Their eyes glowed, some with flames, others with cold malice. Horns. Wings. Claws.
Demons.
He tried to move, but his limbs were bound by chains of glowing runes. His body was different—taller, more muscular, yet unnaturally light. He looked down.
His skin was tinted charcoal-black, faintly cracked like dried lava. Etched across his chest was a sigil—pulsing, alive. It burned like a brand seared into his soul.
"Still alive?" a smooth, taunting voice rang out.
He looked up.
She stood above the crowd, regal and terrifying—her violet eyes glowing, her armor as dark as midnight, and her wings arched like a blade ready to strike.
The same woman from before.
"I am Duchess Virelia," she said, stepping forward, her heels clicking on the obsidian stone. "You swore yourself to me in the void, and so here you are—reborn as my servant."
Kael gritted his teeth. "What… did you do to me?"
She smirked. "I made you useful."
With a wave of her hand, the runic chains vanished. Kael collapsed, breathing hard. The other demons hissed, some in jealousy, others in amusement.
"You are not like the others," she continued. "Your soul is laced with something ancient… untapped wrath, perhaps. I saw potential."
She crouched before him and placed a hand on his branded chest.
"That mark," she said, voice low, "binds you to me. Disobey, and it will consume you. Serve me well, and I will elevate you beyond what any servant has ever dreamed."
Kael glared at her, but something inside him stirred. A voice. A hunger.
Power.
He clenched his fists.
"If this is the path fate gave me…" he said through gritted teeth, "then I'll climb it—until I'm above every last one of you."
The demons around him laughed, but Virelia simply smiled—interested.
"I look forward to it," she said.
She turned to her guards. "Take him to the Obsidian Barracks. Begin his training. And let the others know…"
Her voice turned sharp as a blade.
"…My new servant is not to be touched. If anyone lays a finger on him—"
She paused, then smiled again.
"—I'll tear their hearts out and feed them to my hounds."
Kael watched her walk away, the heat from her aura lingering in the air.
His journey in the demon realm had just begun.
And the fires of Hell were watching.