As I opened my eyes.
Confusion clouded my mind as I woke up in a strange place.
'Was I kidnapped? Where am I?'
'Ok… No point in panicking Dean, try to remember where was my last location and what was I doing?'
'YEAH! I was playing the game I bought… 'Nether Saga' and suddenly I... am here. What happened?'
With a sense of bewilderment, I surveyed my surroundings, trying to make sense of my situation. As my gaze fell on colorful toys and rows of cribs, a realization dawned upon me… I was in a nursery.
Still surprised I caught a glimpse of my tiny hands and chubby cheeks in a nearby mirror that hit me… I was a baby.
Shock and disbelief washed over me as I grappled with this newfound knowledge.
'How could I be a baby?'
As I was contemplating, a man with horns entered the room, followed by his butler adorned with similar features, a chill ran down my spine. Their presence sparked a primal fear within me, a recognition that transcended words… Demons.
The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I glanced once more into the mirror, my heart racing with trepidation. There, on the sides of my head, were tiny horns protruding from my baby's soft skin. Panic threatened to consume me as I struggled to comprehend the enormity of my situation. I was a demon.
"Welcome, young one," the man said as his crimson eyes gleamed with an otherworldly intensity.
His voice woke me from my stupor.
He said again, "Is the trial for the third one complete, Walter"
The butler whose name was Walter answered, "Yes my lord, we can start right away."
'The man' pointed his finger at me and I started levitating.
'Is this magic? It is magic!! Woohoo! I am flying!'
"hehehehe" Unknowingly I started laughing… I don't know why I laughed but I did laugh, maybe because of all the stress I built up in a short amount of time. My brain was unconsciously trying to release some of my stress. Maybe the whole situation of me enjoying magic seems to be a trick played by my human… 'cough' demonic brain.
While I was laughing and contemplating things, the man muttered something and we were in a different location.
'Wooaaahh! Teleportion too!'
This time I was really surprised.
It was teleportation you know… Teleportation.
Anyway,
My surprise was shot live because what I saw gave me fear that shook my bones.
I was in a cathedral.
In the cathedral, there stood 7 demonic statues.
The statues were placed in such a way that it created a triangle. And at the center of those 7 statues, there were flames.
A pool of flames
Flames threatened to destroy everything around it.
"Now is the time," the man said.
His words sent shivers down my spine, mingling with the fear and uncertainty that already gripped me. I looked to the butler, hoping for some semblance of reassurance, but his stoic expression offered no comfort.
I understood what they were going to do with me…
Before I could even let out a cry, the man casually threw me into the fire.
As the flames of the unholy fire enveloped me, searing through my infant form with an intensity that defied comprehension, I was consumed by unimaginable agony. Every fiber of my being screamed in protest, every nerve ablaze with torment. I writhed and convulsed; my cries drowned out by the crackling roar of the inferno. But amidst the chaos of pain and despair, a flicker of something else began to stir within me. A memory, distant and fragmented, began to coalesce in the recesses of my mind.
I was incarnated into the very game I was going to play 'Nether Sage'. But this was no ordinary game; it was a world teeming with magic, monsters, and now, demons like myself.
I was born into the illustrious Bael family, a lineage of demons renowned for their strength and cunning. My father, Victor Bael, patriarch of our house, a formidable figure whose influence extended far and wide.
And the fire into which I was cast – the seventh sin fire, the unholy fire – it was not a punishment, but a ritual of my family.
As the flames continued to ravage my tiny form, I clung desperately to those memories and wished that every knowledge I gained was true. And then, as suddenly as it had begun, the pain began to fade away, replaced by a strange sensation of warmth and exhilaration. I looked down at my hands, expecting to see charred flesh and blistered skin, but instead found them unscathed, bathed in an ethereal glow. The fire that once brought me agony now coursed through me like a lifeline, fueling my every cell with its otherworldly energy.
The purpose of the fire – was to temper me, to make my endurance high, that one could not cut through my skin, one cannot penetrate through my inside and most importantly I was gaining poison immunity.
And so, with a sense of determination that bordered on defiance, I reached out and embraced the flames, allowing them to consume me entirely. As I did, I felt a surge of power, unlike anything I had ever known. It was as if every fiber of my being had been ignited with a primal force, a force that yearned to be unleashed upon the world.
Amidst that, something popped in front of my retina…