After Daniel's consciousness went dark, he was abruptly jolted awake by a loud whipping sound and the miserable shriek of another person;
"On your feet, maggot!"
A voice so deep, its bass reverberated through the ground bellowed beside Daniel, almost deafening his hearing and exploding his head.
It was almost as if he was standing in front of the horn a cruise liner only to have it honk when he least expected it to.
His eyes snapped open as a ringing sound assaulted his senses, blurring his visions for a few moments all at once.
However, just as his vision cleared, Daniel's eyes widened in shock and almost popped out of their sockets.
"Ahh!"
He almost jumped out of his skin, before falling back on his butt in an effort to crawl away from the sight in front of him.
Standing in front of him, and looking at him with purple flaming sinister eyes, was a demon soul with a six inch curled horn jutting out of its forehead.
Daniel whimpered frightfully as looked around and watched a scene straight out of horror movies unfolded before his very eyes.
He noticed that there were others around, but there seemed to be something somewhat wrong with all of them; they all seem... transparent to some extent.
Some of them were white, some were black, some were red and so on, but they were all floating and human size.
'Are these souls?'
Daniel thought to himself as a swift gust of heat suddenly buffeted his face, and less than a second later, he saw a flaming whip magnify on approach from the corner of his eye.
Whap-Pa!
One lash... Just one lash, and Daniel could have sworn that the brightness of his soul dimmed by half.
"Argh!"
Daniel who had been trained to endure pain felt his body shudder like a blanket in strong wind; his body twitched like a worm dipped in a bowl of salt.
Instantly, he shot a venomous gaze towards the demon.
However, the moment their eyes met, and upon gazing into the demon's eyes, Daniel swiftly scampered to his feet.
He didn't know why, but his instincts kept telling him that the ten-meter-tall demon was going to give him another stripe if he was a second slower.
Looking ahead, Daniel saw a long queue of souls that a few other similar demons were herding into a distance far beyond his senses could detect.
Just like sheep returning to its herd, Daniel swiftly joined the line and began to follow the long queue of souls to wherever it was they were heading to.
Striding in thought, Daniel began to try to make some sense of what had happened to him.
He would hear occasional whiplashes and some miserable shrieks, and on other occasions, some didn't even make any sounds which meant only one thing; they were dead!
Daniel on the other hand simply adhered to instructions and automated his movement in a straight file as he thought on.
'Is this hell? Nope, that's not right... If this is hell; then in addition to these demons and innumerable souls, there will be constant torture, wailing, and immense heat radiating from raging flames billowing in every direction?'
Just like that, Daniel kept walking, lost in thought, as days overlapped days, and weeks flowed into weeks.
Daniel began to gradually make sense of what had happened to him. He had indeed died, but his soul had descended into a place that is neither hell, and definitely not heaven.
Months repeated their cycle and before long it had been years since Daniel had been in what he came to finally realize to be; The Netherworld.
He didn't know how long had passed, but there was a part of him that was saying years had passed, and there was also another newborn instinct that was telling him he had barely been here for a day.
Daniel was still thinking about this time lag when he heard a deep voice boom across this massive place which was so large that it had no end in sight.
"Daniel?"
"Who amongst all of you is Daniel?"
This demon; which was about twice the size of the demon herding Daniel's group, asked in a voice that boomed even deeper, causing countless souls stare at him with slacked jaws.
The demon was floating on a patch of black cloud, and when the other demons saw him, they stopped whatever it was that they were doing, and went down on one knee with a slight bow.
Daniel looked up to the massive demon, and surprisingly, the latter was also staring back down at him
"Daniel?"
The massive demon asked to reassure its predetermined confirmation. Then after seeing Daniel nod, it waved its hand and Daniel appeared before him in the blink of an eye.
Daniel had never felt so helpless in his life; he was curious about everything and yet dumbstruck at the same time.
The demon didn't even allow Daniel reel from his shock as he suddenly faced a certain direction and instantly zoomed towards his destination with blinding speed.
The rest of the souls all looked on with shock plastered on their faces; unfortunately, the demons swiftly notice their lack of movement; but a single whip and a miserable shriek later, they all resumed their endless walk.
Daniel stood there, quiet and slightly petrified as the black patch of cloud rose higher and higher into the skies within this dimension.
It was only now and from this vantage point that he realized that the line of souls were truly endless; and not only that, he also caught sight of a massive torrential yellow river in the distance.
However, just a few minutes later, Daniel finally saw the first sign of a settlement; a massive golden mansion hanging way too high up in the sky.
It started out with the size of an ordinary egg, but the more they approach with blistering speed, the more it enlarged and expanded, and a few more minutes later, it reached about three stories in height and Daniel finally see its full glory.
It was massive, sturdy, grand and ancient, with a deep sense of vintage and scholarly aura radiating off it.
It gave off no sense of pressure or aura of power.
Everywhere was silent, calm and peaceful; and right atop its massive gates, was a plaque that read; Palace of The First Order.
Upon arriving at the gate and stretched its palm towards and a small token in his grasp lit up, causing the gates to glow slightly before swinging open.
Jia!!!
Despite having seen the palace from the outside, it wasn't until Daniel had entered and stood at such proximity, that he was able to finally appreciate the mansion.
It was almost as if someone had stacked three mansions together into one super-mansion.
Daniel knew that, this must be the building where the strongest or the most respected figure of the netherworld resided, and he wasn't wrong.
However, as they entered, he didn't see the grand ballroom or reception walkway, or even a throne room; instead, all he could see were several souls doing administrative works; moving and sorting several mountainous piles of papers, scrolls, and books all over the place.
Just like before, the massive demon didn't allow take in the sight or make sense out of it before whisking him away, maneuvering both of them through the cluster of souls before arriving in front of an opened double door.
This new area was just like the previous one; like an admin office with several souls moving about. However, this time, the demon went to the door, grabbed the handles, and shut it.
Then after waiting for a few breaths, the demon turned the key several times before pushing the door open once again, and for the umpteenth time, Daniel got the shock of his life.
The previous view of souls fleeting all over the place had mysteriously vanished, and in its place was now some sort of library.
Whilst trying to wrap his head around the mystical scenario, the demon walked across the library with Daniel in tow; walking in reality but totally enamored and engrossed in the sight all around him.
Rows of shelves towered straight into the heavens all over the place; to say this place housed billions of books might be a severe understatement.
They were literally walking through a maze of bookshelves; weaving right at some point and left at other times, and there were numerous times Daniel could have sworn they arrived at a place they had once passed through.
After what felt like fleeting hours, Daniela and the demon finally arrived at a quiet study located right at the eye of the mazy library.
It was more like a small circular open space at the core of the library. There were only white floors, a reclined reading chair, a tea table with an open game of domain, and clusters of curved brown shelves, stacked with books wrapped in all sorts of materials; from silk to animal hide and even fur.
Reclined on the chair was a green robed, middle-aged man currently flipping through a book colored green and grey in equal halves.
"Your highness!"
The demon greeted with a curt bow; a knee to the ground a fist to the heart and a face pointed to the ground
"Thanks Valpak, I will take it from here." The middle-aged man waved his hand dismissively with his face still buried in his book.
Daniel looked towards one of the bookshelves and saw all of them carrying the same tag; 'Office of The First Order Supreme Judge', and instantly it dawned on him that the person he was currently standing in the presence of, might as well be the person in charge of everything within this realm.
'But why will the First Order Supreme Judge want to see me?'