"Okay…" Azael muttered as he wiped the slime off his clothes. It didn't help. The goo just smeared around. Trying not to breathe through his nose, he lifted a hand.
"Window."
A thin shhhk of sound cut the air, and a black screen unfolded in front of him like a floating piece of glass.
[ Azael Caelum ]
[ Rank: Abyssal ]
[ Soul Energy: 1,000 / 50,000 ]
[ Invocation: Fire of Wrath, Eye of the Blizzard ]
[ Achievement: Satan and Man ]
[ Contract: Floor Sovereign – Satan ]
[ Personality: Perseverance ]
[ Sins Fragments Collected: 1 / 66 ]
Azael couldn't help grinning. "My soul energy cap… it increased."
"Of course it did," Satan said. His voice echoed lazily from somewhere above Azael's head. "You ascended. The higher your rank, the higher your limit. And you're sitting at Abyssal now the second highest."
Azael's eyes widened. "Second highest?! Wait what ranks even are there?"
Satan hummed, as if deciding where to start.
"Alright, listen carefully. Humans begin as Sinners, they're weak, confused and useless."
"That's rude," Azael muttered.
"But true," Satan continued. "After Sinner comes Condemned. Those guys prove themselves by hunting down plenty of hellhounds. Then, after Condemned, you get Tormentor. Same requirement, but instead of puppies they go after hellborn."
Azael made a face. "That doesn't sound better."
"Oh, it's not," Satan chuckled.
"Then," he went on, "once someone's strong enough to crush multiple hellborn, they can climb to Wraithlord. To reach that, they have to slay archfiends."
"And after Wraithlord?"
"Hellbringer," Satan said, speaking with almost casual pride. "They become that by taking down Ars Goetia."
Satan continued, "After Hellbringer comes Abyssal your current rank. And abyssal? It can't be earned through killing. Only through forming a contract with an Ars Goetia… or someone higher. Like me."
Azael swallowed. "And the strongest rank?"
"Floor Sovereign," Satan said simply. "The rulers of each floor." Azael's brows shot up. "Humans can reach that too?!"
"Yes," Satan said. "If they defeat a Floor Sovereign and choose to remain on the floor instead of climbing upward." Azael frowned. "Why would anyone stay?"
Satan snorted. "Autistic decision, honestly." Azael didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned. "Okay… what about monsters? They have ranks too, right?"
"Yes," Satan replied. "But their evolution works differently." He paused, letting Azael settle into the explanation naturally.
"Lowest are Imps brainless things. They'll never evolve they barely think. All instinct, no mind."
Azael nodded slowly. That lined up with what he'd seen. "The maggots… the vampire fish… yeah, they didn't seem very unconscious."
"Exactly. Above imps, you have Hellhounds. I assume you've already met a few?" Azael tensed at the word. He still remembered the ice bear. "Yeah. Unfortunately....."
Satan chuckled. "Most beginners get their first Invocation from them. Hellhounds adapt perfectly to the brutal weather of the hell floors, for example like back in satan treachery the harsh snowstorm and here everything is just water. So when a human takes their Invocation, they gain the same adaptation. Your 'Eye of the Blizzard,' for example? Classic hellhound trait in the treachery."
Azael nodded slowly.
"Next rank," Satan continued, "is Hellborn. Stronger hellhounds eventually evolve into hellborn. Usually nothing special just tougher."
Satan paused for a moment.
"This whale? Definitely a hellborn."
"Why?" Azael asked.
"Because the rank after hellborn is Archfiend which you've met. Archfiends only evolve when they settle somewhere long enough to make it their domain. They gain sentience that way. They're territorial creatures."
Azael stiffened as realization hit. that giant ice cave azael entered was definitely the mama bear domain. "That's… terrifying," he whispered.
"It should be," Satan said simply. "Anyway, after Archfiend comes Ars Goetia. But no monster can evolve into one — they're constructed, not born. Floor Sovereigns like me, make them."
"Soo… you're like their boss?"
"I'm everyone's boss," Satan said smugly. Azael rolled his eyes.
"And the final rank," Satan finished, "is again Floor Sovereign. No monster can reach that. They're created by angels."
Azael blinked.
"…angels?"
"Yup. Your lovely upstairs neighbors. Seraphim usually make them. Except for floors 66 through 60." Satan paused. "Those floor sovereign are made from God directly."
Azael's whole body froze. The cold inside him had nothing to do with the whale's stomach.
"God…?"
The word tasted too big for his mouth.
Azael swallowed and whispered the question he'd been holding for too long:
"…Satan… who is God?"
There was no answer from Satan.
Just wet breathing echoes… the slow drip of slime down the whale's fleshy walls… and Azael's own heartbeat punching against his ribs.
Maybe I shouldn't have asked that, he thought. Maybe that was too far.....
The silence stretched uncomfortable, heavy until Satan finally let out a low hum. Not annoyed. Not mocking. More like he was actually thinking.
"Now that you mention it, kid… I have no idea who God is." His tone was strangely honest. "You humans have your beliefs, sure. But in all the time I've existed? No one, not even angel nor sovereign, has ever actually seen Him."
That answer did not satisfy Azael at all.
"In my memories… my people worship a god named Pariah." His voice tightened. "Do you know anything about that? Anything at all?"
Satan let out an exaggerated "hmmmm," long enough that Azael felt his stomach twist. Finally, satan said something. "I'm gonna tell you the truth, kid. But you better be prepared for it."
Azael tensed. His thoughts raced.
So Satan does know. Who is Pariah? Why did my people worship it? Does it have something to do with my eyes?
"—nah, I'm just joking. I've never heard of Pariah in my life."
Azael's jaw dropped right as Satan burst into loud, unrestrained laughter. The walls of the whale literally vibrated with it.
"I'm being serious!" Azael snapped, cheeks burning with irritation. He wished, not for the first time that he could punch Satan in the face.
"Alright, alright seriously this time." Satan's laughter died down into a few lingering chuckles. "There are countless depictions of what a god is. Plenty of humans don't believe in anything at all. But I can tell you one thing for certain whoever God is, He exists. He created me and the other six."
Azael's head lifted. "…Other six?"
"Mm." Satan's tone grew lower, more grounded. "Floors 66 to 60 are special. Anyone who reaches them is never meant to return. So God created the Seven Deadly Sins, Sovereigns specifically made to rule those floors."
Satan paused, almost proudly.
"I represent Wrath. The Leviathan you'll eventually meet? she represents Envy. All seven of us are absurdly powerful. You should count yourself lucky I picked you as my vessel."
Azael hesitated before asking, softly, "Why did you pick me?"
For a moment, Satan didn't speak. The air inside the whale felt still—quiet in a way it hadn't been since Azael arrived. When he did answer, his voice had lost its edge.
"Well… I saw your determination."
Azael blinked.
"That fight with the two bears back there? That was something I don't see often." Satan sounded almost reflective. "Most souls who fall into my floor are rotten to their core. Even without their past memories, you can tell they were terrible people. But you—"
Satan huffed a breath, almost like he didn't want to admit this part.
"You surprised me, kid."
Azael felt warmth creep into his chest, unexpected and fragile.
"And," Satan added, immediately ruining the tenderness, "you did break the seal trapping me, so it's only fair I acknowledge that."
Despite himself, Azael let out a small laugh.
He was talking to a literal Satan, sarcastic, annoying, and prideful yet somehow… there was a strange comfort in his voice.
A strange, unexpected sense of being seen.
"You know, Satan… you're not as bad as people say," Azael chuckled.
Azael expected satan to join in on the jokes, instead he didn't respond.
Before Azael could joke further, a deep tremor rippled through the ground beneath him. The whale's insides heaved like a living earthquake. Azael slipped on the damp, slimy surface, sliding backward as the window vanished into the moving walls.
"What why is it shaking?!"
He dug his nails into the soft flesh-like surface to hold on. The chamber pulsed around him, like the creature's body was reacting to something.
Then came a low, vibrating rumble from the whale. The walls skin split open with a sudden tear, revealing a dark opening. A blast of cold seawater surged through it, splashing into the chamber and soaking Azael instantly.
"What do I do, Satan?!" he shouted as the water quickly rose.
"I don't know, kid. You think I get a manual every time someone enters a random monster?" Satan replied dryly.
The water was rising too fast. Azael floated as it lifted him upward. He bumped into drifting pieces of softened tissue and debris, harmless but unpleasant, brushing against his arms and face, while the slime from the floor got into his mouth and eye.
The water level climbed higher until his shoulders touched the ceiling.
"IM GONNA GET CRUSHED!" Azael yelled, pushing his palms against the slick surface above him.
"Kid," Satan said flatly, "you cannot be this clueless."
"Huh?!"
"You. Have. One of the Seven Deadly Sins invocations. Mine, specifically. Maybe try using it before panicking?"
Azael blinked.
"Oh right!"
The ceiling pressed harder. There was no space left. He took a deep breath.
"This is really going to hurt…"
Fire of Wrath!
[ 5% Fire of Wrath activated: 150 soul energy consumed ]
[ Duration: 0:00:05 ]
A burst of black fire erupted from his palm. The ceiling disintegrate immediately, burning through the tough skin-like layer and creating an opening. Water shot upward through the hole like a geyser, launching Azael out of the chamber.
At the same time, the whale burst out of the ocean, breaching with a massive splash.
Azael flew through the air, screaming partly from the height, mostly from the burning pain in his hand.
"AAAAAAAHHH!"
His hand jerked downward.
The black flame shot out again.
It struck the whale, and in a single flash, the creature dissolved into drifting gray dust and a fading mist of water, blood sprayed everywhere into the water staning it. The fire vanished as fast as it appeared, leaving nothing behind but calm ocean waves.
Azael splashed back into the water, coughing, stunned.
A familiar chime echoed in his mind.
[ CONGRATULATIONS]
[ You have defeated a Hellborn creature: "Rotting Whale."]
[ Reward: +300 Soul Energy]
[ Invocation Obtained: Breath of the Ocean]
[ Reclamation completed. The Hellborn "rotting whale" has dropped an item into your Inventory.]