The air was thick with the scent of blood and burning sulfur. The ground beneath him trembled, pulsing like the heartbeat of a sleeping god.

  “How could this have happened” Dev thought

  Dev staggered forward, his body a ruin of torn flesh and shattered bone.

  Then he saw it.

  The Tree.

  It stood alone amidst the carnage—towering, ancient. Its gnarled roots twisted into the irradiated earth. Its bark, dark as night, was streaked with veins of golden light that pulsed faintly, as if the Tree itself was still alive—still breathing. Its branches stretched toward the heavens, and from them hung leaves like emerald fire, whispering in a language older than Babel.

  This war had raged for years. We were backed into a corner ever since Humanity failed to hold back the gates

  Ever since they died

  The Hellspawns took most of Africa first—easy pickings. Scattered villages that didn’t have a pot to piss in and waring dictators that already did most of the work for them. They came by the thousands, ransacking, destroying, devouring.

  These Demons were different from regular monsters they weren’t mindless beasts they were smart. They knew how to infiltrate. How to sow chaos. How to wage war.

  By the time they swept through the Middle East, humanity was too busy squabbling over power and greed to act. Governments sent Hunters into combat zones they weren’t equipped for. The Hunters went on strike, longing for the old days—when they were paid fortunes instead of being treated like disposable weapons.

  When the demons conquered most of Asia and started encroaching on Europe, humanity panicked. They went scorched earth, nuking entire regions.

  Other than the initial blast sites the radiation meant nothing to these things.

  "It reminds us of home," they had laughed.

  It bought us time. But not enough.

  Europe was lost. Those who could fled to the Americas. Those who couldn’t? Either the radiation got them or the demons ripped them apart.

  South America was infiltrated by demon worshippers that slowly co-opted government positions and infrastructure boxing in the rest of humanity

  That left us with three final strongholds—Canada, the United States, and Australia.

  The Aussies fucked off and fully isolated themselves from the rest of the world basically becoming North Korea.

  No one knows if they’re dead or alive. Taken by demons or not

  The rest us have been fighting.

  Every. Single. Day.

  An intelligence report from cultist country came in one day about something the demons were searching for, Something had the demons excited. A gate near the Euphrates and Tigris. Whatever it was, the Hellions were practically celebrating over it.

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  That could only mean one thing.

  It was bad news for us.

  So High Command launched Operation Eden.

  The mission was simple in theory—retrieve whatever the demons wanted. If we couldn't take it, we’d destroy it. Anything to shift the tide.

  But the demons had been waiting. That was to be expected in enemy territory

  But who was waiting was not

  "the mission report stated there was only supposed to be low to mid ranking demons there was even satelliete images to boot"

  “We expected one of the Seventy-Two at helm as a worst case scenario we were prepped for Baal for Gods sake”

  Spears of shadow and rot had torn through his flesh. Clawed hands had ripped his comrades apart, their screams already fading into memory. And now, Dev stood alone, his lifeblood spilling onto the cursed ground.

  "So why the FUCK was a Fallen one waiting for us with an army of high ranking demons"

  "Was this was always meant to be a trap!"

  He fell to his knees, vision swimming. With the last of his strength, he lifted a trembling, blood-slicked hand and pressed it against the Tree. The bark was warm to the touch, as if trying to sooth his agony.

  A shadow moved through the carnage.

  Beelzebub, Prince of Gluttony, stepped through the bodies of his dead legions through the bodies of Dev’s squad, his hollow gaze locking onto Dev.

  And Dev, battered and broken, lifted his head to meet the demon’s stare.

  "My, my, my," Beelzebub mused as he looked around, his voice thick like spoiled honey, dripping with mockery.

  "I didn’t think you humans had anyone of this caliber left—not after the first three who fought my king. Phwooo, now those guys... they were scary. Almost ended the Lightbringer before he even touched mortal soil."

  “How does it feel to be so close to a goal but fail at the last second seems to be a pattern with you humans” The Prince buzzed “I believe your ilk calls it ‘choking’ “

  Dev spat blood at the demon’s feet. Trying to rouse his mana, to summon his lightning. “Fuck. You. Fly Face”

  Beelzebub chuckled. “You're right. We should talk about you. God be damned, you really were cutting down my legion like a raging storm. Your body broke every time you moved, but you didn’t stop. Kept cutting, punching, cutting, punching—brrr.”

  "Literal chills," The Prince shivered, joyfully. "You humans have such wonderful expressions. Definitely stealing some—when you’re all dead."

  Dev’s breath came ragged now. His body was shutting down, the cold creeping in. “Get to the point what do you want”

  Beelzebub tilted his head, considering me. Then, his smirk widened.

  "But why let something so useful go to waste?"

  He crouched before me, his black talons clicking against the blood-soaked ground.

  “I can fix you up,” he said, voice smooth, coaxing. “Give you strength. You have so much potential, Dev. Even in a world that was mana-starved little over two decades ago, you managed to take out half a legion of high-ranked demons. Ha! Imagine what you could do with true guidance.”

  I forced my eyes to stay open, my breath ragged.

  "Think of the things you could accomplish," Beelzebub continued. "The power you could have the armies you could lead"

  He grinned, showing teeth too sharp, too jagged.

  "The wrath you oh so could unleash."

  A hand extended toward me, wreathed in swirling demonic energy, crackling with something deeper than magic something that taps into the rules of causality—Karma.

  "The Contract is set, Dev." His voice was silk and shadow. "All you have to do is take my hand and this will all just be an old nightmare"

  The air felt heavy. The Tree behind me pulsed.

  "Do we have a deal?"

  I stared at his outstretched hand.

  Then, slowly, I raised my own.

  Beelzebub’s grin widened, his eyes glinting with satisfaction as my hand inched closer.

  Closer.

  “This will be the beginning of a wonde—"

  I slowly extended a certain finger.

  “Go to Hell.”

  Beelzebub blinked. For the first time, his smile faltered.

  Then, his expression twisted with rage.

  "You hairless ape dare—"

  Dev let out a strained laugh as darkness crept at the edges of his vision. He had passed the point of hearing Beelzebub rage—of hearing anything at all. But before it consumed him entirely, he whispered a final wish in his mind.

  "If only… I could go back. Fix it. Stop this from ever happening. Stop them from ever dying"

  The Tree pulsed. A voice, ancient and warm like a mother’s touch, echoed in his mind.

  " For your sacrifice, my child …"

  It felt as if the world itself was speaking to him

  “Anything”

  Then a blinding flash. A searing, white-hot pain as something—no, everything—pierced his soul, mixing, fusing, and becoming one.

  Dev died

  Then—silence.