The Beginning Of An End

Chapter 19

The brief triumph shattered as a sharp pain tore through my gut. The wound was still open, pierced twice in less than ten minutes. I pressed a hand over it and stumbled down the stairs, grunting as fire spread behind us. My legs were already giving out.

Belial halted and looked down at me while Loki paused mid‑flight. Belial rushed back, grabbing my arm to pull me up, but a brutal grip suddenly clamped around my ankles. I lost balance and crashed onto the steps. The Devil.

Through the chaos, I caught sight of the raven diving toward us. Before it could reach me, Paimon charged up the stairs and snatched it mid‑flight, slamming it viciously against the wall. Belial reacted instantly. He lunged at Paimon, kicking him down, then seized Loki and sprinted out of the inferno, leaving me alone with the Devil.

I hit the floor hard as the Devil's fist slammed into my face. I tried to shove him off, but the blood loss dulled my strength, pain spreading through every limb. He grabbed my hair and smashed the back of my head against the stair's edge.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

The world fractured with each strike until everything collapsed into silence and darkness.

***

I began opening my eyes, slowly taking in my surroundings. It looked like the basement of a basement. There were no sounds, only darkness and stone. For a moment, I thought I was trapped in the void, if not for the solid floor beneath me. As I sat up, my vision adjusted enough to confirm what I already suspected. I was in a prison. Again. From the energies around me, I could tell I was still in Hell, only buried in its deepest parts. Why hadn't the Devil killed me when he had the chance?

Nothing hurt anymore, which meant I had been lying there for days. I pushed myself to my feet and noticed something clasped around my neck. A chain. Disturbingly similar to the one Lucifer wore in the cage. The silence was deafening and, needless to say, deeply unsettling.

Oh, look who woke up.

The voice was unmistakable. The Devil. It echoed through the chamber despite existing only inside my head. The moment I heard him, rage sprung out of nowhere.

Soon, I heard footsteps approaching the prison. The sound grew louder until he stood before the bars, staring directly at me, his presence imposing. It made the air grow colder.

"Do you always have to have such a dramatic entrance?" I asked as I looked straight at him. He simply looked at me and smirked,

"Of course I do." He replied as he approached the bars. "I think it's incredibly hilarious how you think you have one up on me at all times." He began cackling and I furrowed my brows as I was looking at him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked because his tone didn't imply that he was joking. And considering the last memory I had was Loki's raven body smashed into the wall, I didn't feel too good about his implications.

"You think turning everyone against me will somehow work out flawlessly?" he asked, tilting his head slightly as he frowned. "You think you can play tricks with me?" He began to laugh, a sound that sent a chill down my spine. I genuinely didn't like where this was going. His laughter grew more unhinged, and I could see the madness creeping into his eyes.

"Well... good luck thinking that." He snickered, then, with a theatrical flourish, pulled what looked like a rope from behind the wall. Another figure was dragged into the dim light. Belial.

He looked disheveled and battered, yet his eyes still burned with defiance.

My mouth fell open as I took in the sight. A rope was cinched tightly around his neck, blood dripping from a gash in his head. His clothes hung in torn strips, his body swaying as he struggled to remain upright. A cloth was stuffed into his mouth, secured by a leather strap wrapped cruelly around his head, silencing him completely.