Fifteen years ago, Aziel and David shared a tight relationship with their parents.
At this time, Aziel was twenty and already the signed elite of Avalon. Meanwhile, his twin David worked with their parents in studying the flow and beyond.
Their parents were world-renowned explorers and researchers. Famous for the countless books they had published. Their books covered many different topics.
The most dominant being books that covered the flow and provided evidence for the existence of devils.
They were currently working on a new book, a book that would contain everything regarding the devils.
Aziel and David were discussing the creation of a new book with their parents, on the inhabited planet where Raijah and the other trained,
Their father's name was Isaac and, their mother's name was Rosa.
Isaac looked like an older version of David and Aziel. He had clear pearly skin and wore his long black hair in a bun.
His wife Rosa had short black hair which nearly reached her shoulders. Her skin was even clearer than that of her husband and sons'.
Like their sons, they both wore white hakama.
They stood in the middle of the library, which had bookshelves that held a copy of every book they had written.
Isaac spoke to the group, "I've talked to Hashira and, he'll be here soon. He agreed to guard the library while we're gone for research. I don't want our rival researchers to find where we keep our files and documents of our explorations."
"This will be our most revolutionary project yet," Isaac announced to the others.
"It will also be the most dangerous," his wife Rosa added.
"Well then, what is it?" Aziel and David asked in sync.
"We're going to hell," Isaac answered.
"What?" Aziel and David screeched, "why?"
"We are in the progress of writing a book that provides further information on the devils and hell. To get enough information for that, we need to visit hell," Isaac said.
"But," Aziel argued, "we've already published books that confirmed the existence of hell. Isn't that enough?"
"You're right," Rosa said, "we are almost certain hell exists but, we need information on the devils themselves."
"But," Isaac began, "If you guys don't want t-"
"I'll go," David interrupted, "as long as you guys are there, with your strength, we should all be fine."
Everyone turned to Aziel as they awaited his decision.
"Are you guys sure about this?" Aziel questioned, "we have no idea how strong devils are. Aren't we getting too hasty?"
"Also, we can't even physically exist in hell, being as it exists beyond us."
"You don't have to worry about that," Rosa announced, "your father and I have devised a plan."
Aziel's and David's intrigued look urged Rosa to explain.
"Well, as you two know, your father's ririsu ability "Sever" allows him to cut the ties between two things. Whether it be physical or spiritual."
"And my ability "Attach" allows me to join things together. Whether they're physical or spiritual."
"So, how will this get us to hell?" Aziel asked.
"I'll sever the ties between our physical bodies and our spirits," Isaac explained, "even though hell transcends us and, we can't exist there, none of that would matter because we'll be going spiritually."
"Using attach, your mother can attach our prana to our spirits. So we will be able to use our abilities even while we are spirits."
"When we become spirits, I will then sever our connection with the flow, which would cause us to appear outside of it. Then from there, we should be able to make it to hell."
"After our exploration, your mother can simply use "attach" to reattach our spirits with our physical bodies. She will then reattach us to the flow and, we will appear back within it."
"You guys seem to have everything planned out," Hashira said as he walked into the room.
He wore a red gi, signifying that he had just left a dojo.
He shook Isaac's hand before joining them in the circle.
"So," everyone asked in sync, "will you be going, Aziel?"
"S-sure," Aziel said.
Everyone's face lit up as Isaac let out a loud laugh before saying, "I'm glad that we will be working on our biggest project as a family."
With a smile, Rosa said, "everyone ready?"
Everyone nodded their head, causing Rosa to prepare to use her ability.
She lifted his hand towards Aziel and David and began to manipulate her ririsu prana.
"Ririsu Prana: Attach!"
"Your prana will now be attached to your spirit."
She then turned towards her husband and stretched her arm out.
"Ririsu Prana: Attach!"
"Both of our signature and ririsu prana will now be attached to our spirits."
"Now," Isaac said, "it's my turn."
Before using his attack, he turned towards Hashira.
"Thank you," Isaac said.
"No problem," Hashira replied, "you better come back in one piece. I don't want to have stayed here for no reason.
Isaac nodded his head before lifting his hand.
"Ririsu Prana: Sever!"
"The ties between our physical and spiritual selves will now be severed!"
As Isaac said this, everyone in the family felt their bodies shudder.
A loud thud followed and, as they all looked down, they saw their bodies lying lifeless on the floor.
Aziel and the others were now floating spirits, separated from their physical bodies.
They were transparent and had a green color.
Hashira looked around, realizing that he could no longer see the others.
"It worked!" David exclaimed.
"Now," Isaac said, "David, teleport us into outer space."
In an instant, the floating spirits appeared in space.
"No matter how many times I come here," Aziel said as he looked around, "I can't help but notice how vast our world is."
Countless stars and planets were lighting up the space that surrounded them. Asteroids clumped together, floated around in the distance.
"Time to get out of the flow," Isaac said.
"Ririsu Prana: Sever!"
"The ties between you all and the flow will now be severed."
As Isaac said this, everyone around him disappeared.
He took a deep breath and pointed his finger towards himself.
"Ririsu Prana: Sever!"
"The ties between myself and the flow will now be severed."
Isaac appeared, surrounded by his floating family of spirits.
"We made it!" he announced proudly.
"Now, where is hell?"
In an unknown location, a man wearing an entirely black outfit sat on a black throne. His face was concealed by his dark clothing.
Leaning against his throne was a long black sword.
Beside him were two beings, with horns sticking out of their heads. They each had a tattoo on their forehead but, they blended in with the dark room.
"Someone has exited the flow," the man on the throne said.
His voice was deep and clear.
"How interesting."
"Could it b-"
"No, these beings may be spirits but, I do not sense that power coming from them."
"It seems as though their goal is to enter hell but, they seem to be unaware that they cannot enter without my permission."
One of the beings beside the man began to speak.
"Kin-"
"Stop," the man said, "I'll let them into the first layer and, I will go and meet them there."
"But," one of the beings said, "isn't it too dangerous for you to go down to the first layer? The whole reason you created this layer was so your power wouldn't destroy the first layer."
"It'll be fine," the man said as he stood up, "I'll make sure not to use too much power."
"You won't be taking your weapon?" one of the beings asked, looking at the dark blade leaning against the throne.
"I don't need it for such fodder," the man replied
He snapped his fingers and looked back at the beings beside his throne.
"You two and the rest of the archdevils stay here."
"I'd like to see this for myself."
"After all, there's rarely any visitors in hell."
As the man snapped his fingers, Isaac and the others appeared in a new location.
They looked around at the location.
The floor and skies looked as if it was made of fire itself. There were huge buildings and constructions, larger than anything they had seen on their explorations.
"Woah," the entire family said in awe.
"This is probably hell!" Isaac exclaimed, "remember everything you are seeing! We'll start writing as soon as we get home!"
As the family appeared, all around them, creatures with horns in their heads began to stare in their direction.
This caused the family to stop in their tracks.
"Can they all see us?" Isaac asked the others nervously.
"I'm not sure," Rosa replied, "would they not have done something if they could see us?"
One of the people with horns whispered, "do you feel that?"
The location began to rumble and, the family looked around, confused.
"It's him!" another shouted, "clear the way!"
The creatures with horns scrambled away, leaving the spirits alone.
They watched from afar as the confused spirits continued to look around the rumbling world.
In an instant, a tall figure in a cape and all black appeared before them.
A dark aura surrounded him, and as he appeared, the spirits began to feel something.
"What's going on?" Aziel asked as he felt an extreme heat.
The others looked down and noticed that their spirits were melting.
"What is this!" Isaac shouted, "is his aura alone, melting our spirits away?"
The tall man said nothing as he stared down at the spirits, his face still concealed by his dark clothing.
"That's him," one of the spectators whispered to the others, "the man that governs hell."
"The man with many nicknames," another added.
"I hate formalities," the dark man said, "but It would be rude not to show my face to someone I've just met."
He pulled the mask on his head off as he muttered, "stupid formal clothing."
The spirits silently shook with fear as the man's mere aura was destroying them.
The man was dark-skinned and on the top right of his forehead was a faded tattoo.
At its center, the tattoo had a skull with eight arrows pointing outwards in different directions and, outside the skull, a circle bisected the arrows.
The man stared down at the spirits who were shivering with fear.
"Now," he said, "let's make this quick. Before my power destroys his layer."
"Why are you in hell?"
"That's definitely him," a spectator muttered, "the king of hell."
"There are many rumors about him," another said.
"It is rumored that his power rivals the gods in heaven. So, some say he's an angel born in hell."
"Others call him the angel from hell."
"But there is one name that is without a doubt his."
"That name is..."
"Kaizen."