Chapter 1: The Devil's Curse
In the dark of night, with clouds crackling and streetlights flickering, a pale-looking young boy was sitting on an old bench.
He was frail and skinny, bones sticking out – a proof of the harsh life that he lived until now.
Zizz-zizz-!
The buzzing sound caught his attention.
He raised his gaze, staring at the closed shop in front of him, noticing a few flies wandering around the flickering light bulb, like spectres.
Gulp!
"I guess my time has come.", he whispered to himself, his voice barely audible due to his loud heartbeat.
His thin, grime-streaked fingers clutched a piece of stinky bread, which he had picked up from a nearby dustbin. A life as a slum rat had hardened him, teaching him to survive on meager scraps.
He glanced nervously to his left, watching the street lights flicker and fade, one by one, casting eerie shadows that seemed to draw nearer.
The darkness started to approach him which sent shivers down his spine.
He quickly averted his gaze, fixing his eyes on the ground. His trembling hands betrayed the fear that gripped his very soul.
Eeeeee-!
A strange and piercing noise pierced the night. It was similar to the wailing of a siren, causing a dull ache in his head.
"Please, just go away," he whispered, his plea more desperate than his pounding heartbeat, which had just crossed a significant milestone with its rapid beats.
Flicker- Flicker-
Almost as if his wish had been heard, the streetlights stopped flickering, and the painful noise faded away. His headache seemed to decrease as well.
A wave of relief washed over him, and for a moment, he believed that he was safe.
But his relief was short-lived. The tranquil moment shattered like glass when a chilling, deep voice resonated from behind him, causing him to startle and flinch, ultimately stumble and fall down the bench in fear.
"Greetings," the voice echoed, sending shivers down his spine.
A single word was what caused him to fall, and now, stare from the ground.
A peculiar figure cloaked in darkness, holding a massive scythe in his left hand, stood in front of him.
"Ark!" he gasped.
Fear gripped his heart as he remained on the ground, transfixed by the horrifying being.
"Please..." he uttered, his voice barely a whisper, knowing all too well the identity of the person before him.
His body trembled with a potent mix of fear and resignation, as if he had faced his worst nightmare come to life.
"I don't want to die," he pleaded, his voice quivering with terror, but the cloaked figure paid no heed, advancing towards him.
A scythe rested in his hand with deadly intent.
In the thick shroud of midnight, the silence seemed almost suffocating, broken only by the heavy thumping of his frantic heartbeat, which overlapped with the echoing footsteps of Death approaching.
"You are affected by the Devil's Curse," the cold voice declared dispassionately.
"I'm afraid I have to kill you before you turn into a Devil or act as his pawn," the figure added, its intentions chillingly clear.
"No!" he cried out, desperately attempting to get up and flee from the dreadful fate that awaited him.
But, to his horror, skeletal hands emerged from the ground, as if summoned by some powerful force, gripping his legs with an iron grip, thwarting his escape.
He was rendered immobile.
"Let go of me!" Lucifer screamed again, his voice a mix of terror and defiance, but his cries seemed futile, for the surrounding was empty.
"Someone! Help me! Anyone!" His pleas echoed through the darkened streets, the most desperate cries he had ever uttered. Yet, there was no one to answer, no one to offer aid or salvation.
The scythe loomed above, ready to swing down with deadly intent. A pair of menacing red eyes glared at Lucifer from within the cloak, seconds after which it swung the scythe.
"No!" Lucifer screamed, his whole being consumed by fear as he instinctively tried to shield himself from the strike. His eyes tightly shut, he braced for the inevitable end.
However, just before the scythe could find its mark, a powerful ball of blue light erupted from nowhere, colliding with the cloaked figure and sending him hurtling backward ten meters, creating a haze of blue smoke that enveloped the attacker.
Confused and amazed, Lucifer opened his eyes to witness a young woman standing there, her wand held firmly in her left hand.
Bewildered by the sudden turn of events, he could do nothing but stare at the unexpected savior.
"What?", a deafening voice loomed as he failed to hear what the girl said, only finding her utter something.
"Get up and run!" she urgently commanded, now audible as he regained his impaired hearing.
"But my legs..." Lucifer began, trying to explain that he was still hindered by the skeletal grip on his legs.
Undeterred, the girl swiftly flicked her wand, directing some of the blue smoke towards the skeletal hands. The smoke transformed into arrows, and with precise aim, she fired them at the bony shackles, disintegrating them one by one.
"Quick," she urged, and Lucifer followed her lead, running right towards her.
"Where do you think you are going!?", a voice erupted.
Following it was a menacing red-bladed slash that followed closely behind Lucifer, an attack emerging from the smoke.
Reacting quickly, the girl pointed her wand and chanted a spell, "Thundra!"
A powerful bolt of lightning shot from the girl's wand, colliding with the menacing red blade.
The impact created a tremendous blast, it's shockwave pushing Lucifer and causing him to trip again. Thankfully, he fell close to the girl, who immediately ran towards him and grabbed his hand.
"Ready?" she asked urgently.
"Huh?" Lucifer stared at her in confusion, still disoriented from the previous events.
"Stynom," she muttered, and suddenly, both of them vanished from the area as if being sucked into a hole.
The cloaked figure remained in the deserted scene, the blue smoke dissipating as they left. Where the cloaked figure once stood, now only a skeleton remained. Its eye sockets glowed with a bright red light, and its bony hand tightly clutched the scythe, ominously silent in the wake of their escape.
"Run?"
"From me? Hahahaha." the skeleton figure said with a sinister laugh, causing a small passing cat to tremble in fear.
"Let's see how long you last," the figure taunted, fixating its gaze on the frightened cat. The cat stared back, but its fear was evident.
The skeleton figure suddenly vanished and reappeared close to the cat. The poor feline flinched and attempted to run, but skeletal hands emerged and tied it down, trapping the cat in place.
"You…"
"Why are you scared of me?" the figure questioned, squatted down in front of the terrified cat.
"Don't you see, I am hunting the evil guys?"
"Meow…", the cat merely stared.
"Poor cat, you wouldn't be knowing the situation. Let me tell you."
"The ones affected by the Devil's Curse are forced to perform heinous tasks under the Devil's influence."
"I am hunting them, ensuring they die as humans, and preventing them from tainting this beautiful world."
"You understand?"
"Meow…"
"Good.", he stared at the cat intently.
"But why?"
"But why are you afraid of me?" the figure continued, raising his voice, which echoed along with the thunder in the sky.
The cat, unable to answer, merely trembled with fear and closed its eyes.
The skeletal figure, though angry, finally released the cat from its grip which escaped seconds later, running at full speed.
"Alright, you Devil worshippers," he declared, a sense of determination in his voice. "Want to play a game with me? Let's see how long you can hide."
…
Five hundred years ago, a unique breed of individuals emerged, identifying themselves as wizards and witches, capable of wielding magic with the mere flick of a wrist.
Their arrival was an imperative response to a world endangered by the malevolent Devil, who once loomed as a dire threat to humanity's very existence.
Empowered by the magic they harnessed, humanity mustered the strength to confront and ultimately vanquish the formidable Devil. However, this triumph came at a great cost, as many brave souls were lost in the process.
Nonetheless, their essence endured, finding a new conduit in the form of the wizards and witches who carried forth their legacy.
Yet, as time flowed onward, a schism emerged within humanity. The division cleaved society into two distinct groups: the enigmatic wizards and witches who wielded magic, and the non-magical populace who lived without such extraordinary abilities.
The ones capable of magic, hid away from humans in a secret location, hiding their identity.
Over the passage of time, their population declined, their clans on the verge of extinction.
While some wizards saw this isolation and declination as a necessary choice, others felt humiliated by their inability to live normally and claim vast lands.
This jealousy, greed and hatred caused a few to succumb into dark magic, forming contracts with the Devil, which ultimately endangered the common people, leaving them afflicted by the most dangerous type of dark magic: the Devil's Curse.
The Devil's Curse bound the affected ones to obey the Devil and carry out tasks assigned by him. Failure to fulfill these tasks resulted in punishments far worse than death.
Driven by fear or a hunger for power, those who fell under the curse started calling themselves Devil Worshippers.
But this had happened a century ago and now, their numbers had grown significantly, posing a serious threat.
To counter these ominous changes, a group of wizards who stood by humanity's side summoned the guardian of the Graveyards, Myumaska, along with his entire army of Skeletons, who stood as Law Enforcers for a century.
They had the power to sense the one affected by the curse and would terminate them, the instant they found the said individual. And now, they were the Law.
…
An eerie silence enveloped the area beneath a vast, leafless banyan tree, its colossal roots extending into the ground.
However, this tranquility was abruptly shattered when two figures, Lucifer and the girl who had saved him, materialized out of nowhere, seemingly emerging from a hidden portal, initially resembling spinning tops.
Breathing heavily, Lucifer stumbled and fell to the ground, the sand sticking to his body.
He gazed at the girl, who stood with her hands on her hips, visibly annoyed and huffing.
"Thank-," he began to express his gratitude, but before he could finish, the girl pounced on him, not with affection, but with fury!
A powerful kick landed squarely on his face.
"Ouch!" Lucifer winced, holding his face.
"What was that for?" he asked, bewildered, as he rubbed the sore spot.
"What was-?"
"Are you an idiot?", she asked, visibly infuriated.
"Uh... no?" he replied uncertainly.
"Then why would you sit out in the open when you're afflicted with the curse?" she asked, storming closer with each kick and then stepping back.
"Hey, calm down! You violent girl! Stop hitting me," he pleaded.
"Violent?" She delivered another punch directly to his face, then straddled his abdomen and continued the assault.
"You deserve the beating," she said with determination.
"Ouch. Crazy lady," Lucifer muttered in pain.
"Will you calm down?" he asked, enduring about six more punches before she finally relented, standing up and tying her hair back with a rubber band.
Lucifer bit his lips, feeling a little blood, and muttered to himself, "What a crazy girl. Beating me for no reason..."
But the silence allowed her to overhear his remark.
"For no reason?" she repeated.
"You-" She seemed about to punch him again but stopped herself.
Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she inquired, "At what percent?"
"Pardon?" Confused, he simply stared at her.
"Your curse, at what percent is it?" she clarified.
"I don't understand. What do you mean?" Lucifer asked.
"I mean, how much of the curse has spread?", she explained.
"Uh, about this much?" Lucifer lifted his right hand, indicating a small gap between his thumb and index finger to show the extent of the curse's influence.
The girl was exasperated, almost face-slapping herself.
She dashed toward him, grabbing his tattered collars. "You punk, you want to play games?" she raised her voice, ready to punch him again.
However, the sound of approaching footsteps and a strange white glow around her right arm halted her aggressive action. She turned back abruptly, asking, "Who?"
There stood a tall cloaked man, wearing a long gown, with dark circles under his eyes and tired wrinkles evident on his face. He held a wand pointed at the girl, its tip glowing white.
"Calm down, Vineca. He is but a poor boy without knowledge," an old and husky voice echoed.
"S-sir Hendolff? Greetings," she said, bowing in deep respect as the man appeared.
"Aye, greetings my dear," Hendolff said, approaching Lucifer.
Hendolff then stared at Lucifer, asking, "Boy, do you really have no idea of what she is speaking of?"
"No, sir.", he replied politely.
"Sir, he's playing games. How could he lack common knowledge even if he's…"
"Poor…?"
"Idiot…?"
"Swine…?"
"Or an Orphan?" Vineca asked, pointing at Lucifer.
As if it were fill-in-the-blanks, Lucifer added, "Dog."
Vineca repeated, "Dog."
"Beggar."
"Yeah, beggar…", her voice echoed.
"My my, it could be a case of erased memories," Hendolff chuckled.
"Erased memories?" Vineca looked puzzled, trying to make sense of it all.
"Come on, boy, repeat after me…" Hendolff moved closer to Lucifer.
Lucifer hesitated but eventually nodded his head.
"The Devil within me, I call onto you, please reveal my status, my bond with you," Hendolff said, and Lucifer murmured the same sentence.
As soon as he finished speaking, a chilling voice echoed within his mind.
[H-hahahaha.]
[You called out to me finally, been ages my boy.]
"What?" Startled, Lucifer looked around, baffled by the eerie and uncanny voice, reminiscent of the cloaked figure he had seen earlier.
[Your status?]
[97 percent... that's how much the curse has progressed.]
[3 more… just 3 more boy, and you will finally have your first task. Rejoice!]
"Who are you?" Lucifer asked, feeling a sharp pain in his head, as if someone had struck him repeatedly.
[Me?]
[Hahahahaha.]
[I'm... the Devil.]
Just after he heard that, Lucifer fell to the ground, losing consciousness. The last thing he saw through his blurry vision was the kind girl who had saved him earlier, her worried face in front of him.