No POV:
Walking down the corridor, Vaden lifted his gaze, letting the beauty of the evening wash over him.
Sigh...
It was truly beautiful - the way the sunlight stretched across the horizon, a soft yellow hue bathing the dim corridor in gentle warmth. Nature at its finest. A pity this was merely the calm preluding an apocalypse soon to swallow the human race.
Ring... Ring...
He pulled out his phone. His sister.
He answered.
"Heyyyyyy!!! How's it going?"
"Hello, Lia."
"You never call. Don't you care about how your sister is doing? Do you even love me?" she huffed.
"You know how busy I can get-"
"Yeah yeah, you're so busy you don't have time for your sister. I get it."
"You're making me sound bad," Vaden said. The truth was he did want to spend time with her. She was all he had left.
"Anyway, how's Drex? I was planning on dropping by. Is he awake?"
"Oh, he is. He'll be leaving the room once he gets enough rest."
"That was fast. It hasn't even been twelve hours." Surprise sharpened her tone.
"Yeah. I think it has something to do with the devil he's contracted with."
"Yeah... about that. I looked into it and found something very interesting."
By now Vaden stood at the balcony of the Squad 7 barracks. "I see..."
"I managed to get my hands on the Tenebrous Manuscript since none of our other codices had what I needed. The author claimed to have encountered the Unholy Trinity - died only days after finishing it."
The Tenebrous Manuscript. An ancient codex whose author remains unknown. Its pages are worn thin, its ink smeared by time and handling, and its spine stripped bare of any cover or title - yet within those fragile leaves lies a darkness more intact than the book itself. It holds insight on the supernatural beings that plague humanity: devils, hybrids, contracts, and the silent wars fought in the shadows.
Compiled in secrecy and circulated only among the highest ranks of exorcists, the manuscript is said to have been written by a witness - someone who stood before the
Unholy Trinity and lived long enough to record what should never have been known. The author died days after its completion, leaving behind no name and no trace, only these pages as a final testament.
Despite its state - cracked parchment and fading ink - none dare to discard it. For within those frail lines are truths no other codex possessed: classifications long lost, rituals never repeated, and warnings that read like prophecies yet to unfold.
"'Claimed'? So how do we know it's true?"
Her voice shifted - playful gone, replaced by weight. "Because it listed devils we already have contracts with. The Ghost Devil, the Sword Devil, the Gun Devil, the Stone Devil - and more. Nine in total in that class."
"So what caught your eye?"
Pages rustled over the line.
"There's a devil mentioned - the Scar Devil.
And the description matches exactly what we saw on Drex that day. Yellow eyes; cyan when the mask comes on. Claws, jagged teeth, horns - the full animalistic package. We haven't heard him speak in that form yet, but everything else lines up."
"Okay..."
"And it was classified as a Beast breed. Which explains the failed healer techniques. According to the author - a creature's potential unlocks at death's door. Supposedly something Hades himself said."
"So Hades is the Scar Devil?"
"Exactly. Him and the Stone Devil are the only Beasts within the Trinity - so it makes sense our Stone Devil hybrid couldn't be healed either. But to compensate, they have insane recovery speed."
"That explains Drex walking around after nearly dying," Vaden murmured.
"Oh - and one more thing."
"What?"
More page-turning. Then her voice again.
"On the last page... one sentence. Written in a different hand."
Vaden leaned forward slightly. "And?"
"It said: 'Bind not the demon, for in chains it learns... patience and vengeance.'"
"...Interesting."
"Yup. That's all. I'm exhausted - I need a break."
"Mhm. Thanks for your help."
"You're welcome! See you later - and tell Drex that when I see him I'm giving him a huge squeeze!! Byyyyye!" Her playfulness returned as she hung up.
Hanging up the phone, she flopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Then her eyes drifted back to the manuscript on her desk which she stayed up studying...
"Patience and Vengeance huh... Shit's gotten scary". She said as she slowly drifted off to sleep
"What have I gotten myself into..." Drex muttered, his voice barely audible over the oppressive silence. He stared at the cracked, cold ground, as if it could offer him answers.
"What are you talking about?" Hades' voice sliced through the darkness, smooth but edged with menace. "We're doing the same thing devil hunters do. Except... you're my target now."
Drex looked up. Their eyes met, and a chill ran down his spine. "Except I'm a walking corpse waiting to happen," he muttered. "I'm going to die, aren't I?" He pressed his palms to his temples, imagining the violent, endless ways his life could be torn from him. "I never wanted any of this."
Hades laughed - a melodic, sinister sound that crawled under his skin.
"Who said I was going to let you die?" she whispered, stepping closer. Her eyes glimmered like black mirrors in the dim light.
"The contract binds me to keep you alive... for now. Until the terms are met."
Drex froze. "...I don't have a choice, do I?"
"Nope," she said, tilting her head in amusement. "You're mine now."
The grin she gave him made his stomach turn.
"Although..." Her tone shifted, sharp as a knife.
"Just because I keep you breathing doesn't mean you're immortal. Slip once... and you'll die. And trust me, finding another host isn't a simple task. Might not even be possible."
"Why?" Drex asked, his voice trembling despite himself.
"The contract," she said, her smile darkening.
"When you die... I take control of your body. Every inch of it. Forever."
"...Oh." Drex straightened, his voice tight with forced sarcasm. "So all I have to do is help you achieve your goal while not dying. Easy, huh?"
He looked forward - and stopped.
A new space loomed ahead. It was brighter, but wrong. Not a living brightness - a pale, sickly light that revealed twisted shapes and decayed earth. Dead trees clawed at the sky, tombstones jutted like broken teeth, and the hills looked like jagged wounds in the land.
And sitting in the center... was a figure chained in thick, black iron. Every limb, every joint, even the neck and torso were bound. The metal groaned faintly with an unholy resonance.
Its head lifted. Drex's eyes met a pair of cyan slits - unblinking, unfeeling. Eyes that seemed to peer directly into his nightmares, dredging up memories he had long buried.
A jagged line in the ground separated Drex from this horrific being. His instincts screamed - but he stepped forward anyway.
"Stop."
Hades' hand clamped onto his shoulder with a grip cold enough to burn. "You don't want to go there."
"Why? What is that?" Drex asked, voice shaking. "I didn't know there were... two of you."
"A devil born from the sum of every human's pain and suffering," Hades said, gesturing toward the chained horror. "A single devil can only hold so much. The excess became him. Nyroth. Bound because he would otherwise devour everything in sight."
"He... he looks like death made flesh," Drex whispered. "I'm supposed to live with that?"
Hades exhaled a long, bitter sigh. "Nyroth is volatile. Unstable. His name echoes trauma.
Mine means 'hell.' Humans say they've been through hell... they don't even know. I am stronger than him, but he carries the raw, writhing chaos of mankind's suffering."
"So together you're... 'traumatic hell.' And he's rebellious. Meaning... my body's in danger?"
She smiled, teeth glinting. "Oh, yes. Your body will be taken. He hungers. That's why he's chained. But chains... aren't forever."
Drex shivered violently. "Fantastic... now I live with two nightmares. In this... abomination of a place. Why does it look like this?"
"This," Hades said, voice low and almost reverent, "is your mindscape. Every devil hybrid has one. It's where we reside, where we draw our hosts... whenever we please."
"I understand that," Drex said, voice hollow.
"But why is mine... so... dead?"
Hades' Looked at him with an expression that said ' are you really going to ask that?'
Drex swallowed hard. "... miserable. Got it. No need to rub it in."
Hades' grin widened, predatory. "Now that we've met, I'll be seeing a lot of you. If you dare speak, I'll appear. Always. Right in front of you."
"Huh? Wait-wait! That's it?!"
The world exploded into white, searing light, almost painful to his eyes.
"No! Oh, come on!" Drex screamed as everything around him dissolved into nothingness.