Hell's One: I Surrender (Past Arc)
Note: This chapter is set in the past and doesn't center on the current timeline of the story. Reading this chapter isn't mandatory for understanding the story, but it would enhance the overall experience. The choice is yours. ( Canon )
"Do not say, "I will repay evil"; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you. Do not say, 'I'll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you"- Proverbs 20:22
In The Middle Of A Road, In New York City, 8 Years Ago...
The crowds flee in terror from the alarming sight that unfolded right before their eyes.
"I thank you once again, Chugi," Belya'al expresses, "the 'Cawii' you spoke of before, that entity, it perished long ago."
Belya'al then sticks his index finger to Chugi's forehead.
Chugi's struggling to even keep his eyes opened.
It's over...
"Fuck you...", Chugi utters, spitting blood directly at Belya'al's face.
Belya'al then releases another beam of Dark Matter, causing complete disintegration of the upper half of Chugi's body.
Chugi has perished.
Belya'al has ended Chugi's life using the very waves of Dark Matter that Chugi had wielded for multiple years.
"Chugi" (忠義) means "loyalty" or "faithfulness," and "Yusha" (勇者) translates to "hero".
At The Warehouse...
The balloon that had been planted there exploded, leaving nothing but debris.
Both Aiden and Wyatt were left there to suffer from this act of terrorism, but they somehow survived.
Wyatt sits on the ground, surveying his surroundings.
There's nothing left.
Even the militia positioned in front of the warehouse to protect Sanders and his people had vanished.
They were nothing but holograms, designed to deactivate at the moment of the explosion.
Amidst the debris and rubble, the darkness of the night sky made the search for Aiden significantly more challenging.
Wyatt gets up.
"Aiden...Aiden...Aiden, where are you?!", Wyatt shouts out.
Wyatt then discovers an arm protruding from the debris, accompanied by a distinctive voice pleading for help from its direction.
That's Aiden...
Wyatt rushes to assist, effortlessly freeing Aiden from the rubble and debris due to his remarkable physical strength.
"Are you okay?" Wyatt asks, noticing Aiden's labored breathing. "I can tell you've got some broken ribs. Breathe slowly and steadily," he advises, concerned.
"Get your fucking hands off of me," Aiden snaps, pushing away Wyatt's hands.
"What?" Wyatt asks, baffled.
"All of this mess is because of you, and you know it. Your stubbornness just landed us in hot water, and I'm not just talking about our physical state. I mean our organization. They're likely on their way to the main establishment right now, and knowing Sanders... he's unhinged and an evil bastard," Aiden explains, his tone urgent and tense, "we've got to go there now! He'll get his hands on Zane and Emma. We simply cannot allow that to occur".
Aiden retrieves a remote-like device with an unnecessarily long antenna from his pocket.
"What's that?" Wyatt inquires.
"It's a remote for summoning a custom-built helicopter I've been tinkering with. We'll make our exit in style," Aiden remarks.
"Well, isn't that convenient," Wyatt responds, his tone laced with irony.
Back At That Road In The Middle Of The City...
Chugi's lifeless body lies motionless before Belya'al.
Strangely, this kill carried a weight unlike the others. It felt more somber, more real.
Belya'al has a history of taking lives, yet none have felt so...fascinating!
It's ironic, isn't it? Within this particular situation, the act of taking a life makes the taker feel more alive.
"I'm alive... I feel alive!" Belya'al exclaims, gazing up at the sky. "Oh, how death has filled me with life! THIS is what puts the 'human' in humanity!"
He sits on the ground, arms open wide, as if waiting for the sky itself to embrace him in a hug.
His Auranova Revelation slowly shuts down.
Suddenly, intense pain sears through him, a sharp sensation pulsating around his brain and coursing through his veins.
He becomes acutely aware of the veins in his wrists, blood trickling from them, visible and alarming.
He collapses onto the asphalt.
When his palms touch the ground, he notices the absence of the distinctive texture of the surface. His nerves seem utterly destroyed.
Agonizing pain consumes him, and he begins screaming.
Using Auranova Revelation with such pure Dark Matter was inevitably going to result in this catastrophe.
As Belya'al stands there, an intense surge of electric-like shocks shoots down his spine, each jolt ripping through his body like bolts of searing lightning.
His vision blurs and wavers, swirling into a chaotic haze, shapes melting into a disorienting blur of colors and shadows.
Gasping for breath, each inhale feels like trying to pull air through a suffocating veil, his chest heaving and struggling against an unseen weight pressing down upon it.
A violent fit of coughing erupts, convulsions wrenching his body as blood spatters, each spasm sending ripples of excruciating pain throughout his entire being. Each cough feels like his insides are tearing apart, a metallic tang of blood tainting every breath.
It's as if every nerve in his body is set ablaze, an unrelenting cacophony of agony assaulting his senses, overwhelming him with a relentless onslaught of torment and suffering.
"I will not—" Belya'al's words falter, interrupted by a series of coughs, "I will not allow myself to fall in such a dishonorable way!"
Heavy breathing is then heard behind him.
It was Captain Elias slowly walking towards him, dragging Alastor's unconscious body.
Elias' body was severely wounded, his abdomen and head bearing grievous injuries, and his left eye gouged out. Yet, somehow, he continues to walk with unwavering determination.
Elias leaves Alastor's body on the ground and positions himself right in front of Belya'al.
A tense silence envelops the scene, disrupted only by Elias's labored, heavy breathing.
At that moment, even Belya'al ceases his agonized screams.
"You're...you're Cawii, correct?", Elias asks.
"Yeah, you're here to kill me, aren't you?", Belya'al asks.
"Of coarse, I'll give your death justice. I heard that you've yearned for an honorable death", Elias says.
Even amidst Belya'al's excruciating pain, he rises slowly, his fists tightly clenched.
Despite his yearning for death to relieve him, he refuses to succumb merely out of spite.
"I may be close to death, but I refuse to perish out of your pity," Belya'al asserts.
Elias then drags Alastor's unconscious body while nonchalantly passing by Belya'al.
Belya'al's stare intensifies, becoming more piercing.
In a matter of seconds, Belya'al's body is split in half, completely annihilating him.
Belya'al has perished, or rather, it is Cawii who has perished.
Not once did Cawii care to acknowledge that rotten name as his own.
"TO HELL WITH IT ALL!" Elias roars, consumed by regret.
Synchronicity Sculpting, or Fate Manipulation, is an ability possessed by Captain Elias, allowing him to manipulate certain events and wield fate as he pleases. However, this power is solely employed in individual battles and cannot be utilized in group conflicts like those between the Devil Hunters and Neo-Geisters.
This means Elias can manipulate fate to secure an instant victory in his individual battles but cannot do so in larger group conflicts. For instance, he healed immediately when facing Alastor, ensuring his victory afterward.
Once again, he employed this ability against Belya'al, resulting in Belya'al's immediate obliteration without any action seemingly taken by Elias himself.
Within Fate's Domain...
Cawii ( Belya'al ) is transferred into Fate's Domain, a realm situated amidst the divergent paths branching off from the parallel universes within the outerverse or reality. These two paths represent distinct trajectories—one leading to Heaven, and the other descending into Hell.
The path to Hell is known as the Path Of Temptation.
The path to Heaven is known as the Path Of Divinity.
Fate's Domain exists as a realm forged from Dark Matter, a purity far surpassing anything a human can harness.
Cawii opens his eyes to behold Fate itself standing before him—a cloaked entity or, more accurately, the living embodiment of Fate.
"Welcome", Fate says.
"I'm dead, aren't I? It all just occurred so so quickly. Wished I could savor it a little better", Cawii says.
"Yes, and I assume you know where you belong. You shall go down the Path Of Temptation, right into Hell", Fate says.
Cawii takes a deep breath.
"Yeah, it's what I deserve, but my family...where are they?" Cawii asks.
"They've been waiting for you. They shall all go down that path with you, all of them except your sister, of course. She's quite the pleasant soul," Fate says.
"Yeah, that's—WHAT?!" Cawii interrupts, startled.
Cawii knew he'd be spending eternity in Hell, even alongside his family, but the realization that his deceased sister's soul is present, standing right behind him, leaves him bewildered.
His family's souls all walk to their designated paths.
Fate then removes its cloak, unveiling itself to be the Black-Masked Man.
"YOU! What are you doing here?!" Cawii demands, shock and anger lacing his words.
"Nothing. Just here to witness your despair", replies the Black-Masked Man.
The arms emerging from the Path of Temptation resemble those created by Chugi's Dark Matter vortex. They grab hold of Cawii's body, drawing him toward the Path of Temptation.
"I do not protest against the fact that I shall become one with the fires of Hell, but I refuse to be nothing but a stepping stone for your malice! You're nothing but a coward that works for the dark, and you shall never experience the right to walk into the light. I wish for your obliteration and annihilation, and I wish nothing but the worst for what's to come to you! It is better if you had a large millstone hung around your neck and drowned at the bottom of the sea! You deserve fate far worse than just Hell, beyond one's simple comprehension of pain and suffering. Die and suffer; your existence is nothing but a hinderance to humanity's existence itself!" Cawii shouts, "I ask for nothing but eternal suffering for your being, you worthless bastard! ".
The Black-Masked Man then starts clapping nonchalantly.
Right before he's dragged into the Path Of Temptation, Cawii utters, "I-I surrender..."
Cawii does nothing but cast a gaze filled with abject hopelessness towards the Black-Masked Man as he is mercilessly pulled into the Path Of Temptation, condemned to Hell for the remainder of eternity.
Hoodo, Cawii's sister, had her body cut apart back on Earth, with her limbs and other body parts sold to traders within the black market...