1 The Devil Is Awake

Thunder roared through the dark sky, arcs of lightning danced beautifully across the sky and everyone was running for their safety. No one wanted to be caught up in the harsh rain that was about to pour and so they had to find somewhere safe to enter and take shelter. Among this crowd of persons was a young boy in school uniform. His hair was disheveled and most of his uniform was torn, there was a clot of blood by the side of his lips and his deep blue-sea eyes were weak — it was as if there was no life in them.

While others ran around the whole place in search of shelter, this boy was dragging his left foot as he slowly headed to his destination. Even with the loud thundering sounds and flashlights coming from the lightning, he walked slowly, not minding any of those things. There was a bridge ahead of him with a large body of water under it and he was heading towards it, as he slowly climbed the old bridge, he got to the center and halted.

"Argh!" He grunted and fell on his right knee. The pain in his left leg was eating through him and making it difficult for him to continue his journey. "Please, get up! We must get home before the heavy rain," he pleaded to his left leg and tried to stand up but he soon fell back to the ground even without standing up. "Damn it!" He grunted in sheer anger and frustration.

Nothing seemed to be walking for him, even when he tried getting up with the support of the bridge stand. He gazed at the cut on the lower part of his left leg that was still bleeding too much because it was a deep one, this was the only thing hindering him from continuing his journey.

While he was there, the sky darkened more and the road soon became empty as everyone had successfully returned to their houses — As it is, he was the only one still outside and under the dark sky. All of a sudden, a large thunder soared through the sky, the sound was so loud and deafening that the boy had to cover his ears immediately. And followed after the thunder was a violent lightning arc that shut out from within the depths of the sky and made its way down to the ground, just at the spot where the boy was sitting. As if under control, the lightning arc descended upon the boy, engulfing him in strange dark red flames.

"Argh!" The boy yelled as the fierce flames burned his entire body — this strange phenomenon lasted for a long while and after that, the flames disappeared. What was surprising about it was the fact that the boy was alive and intact, he was supposed to have turned into a pile of ashes but nothing like that happened.

"After a long deep sleep, I finally awoke in the body of a weak human," the boy muttered in a deep voice. He studied his body and noticed that he was covered in bruises, with the one on the leg being the most serious one. "Who dared to do this to my new body?" He grunted and closed his eyes for a moment. Soon after, he opened his eyes again with a sigh escaping his lips. "So, he is an orphan living alone at the end of this river. His life must have been a hectic one, sorry lad for taking your life abruptly but I assure you that I'll remember the faces of all those who wronged and hurt you. I must pay them back, one after the other." After talking, he glanced at his leg and suddenly, the cut there began to close up until it became completely healed. The same was done to other parts of his body with injuries.

"Because I have slept for so long, my powers are almost gone. I can't believe healing a few injuries could drain so much energy," he grumbled and stood up. As he made to take the first step, he stumbled and almost fell but thanks to the bridge-stand he was holding, he was able to support and stop himself from falling. "This is going to be more difficult than I thought," he mumbled and began to walk slowly. His steps were like that of a baby who is just learning how to walk, he staggered as he walked and if he is about to fall, he'll quickly grab the rail of the bridge and support himself.

Luckily, his destination wasn't far away and after struggling, he arrived at an old-looking house just a mile away from the river. Arriving at the house with difficulty, he pushed open the old and tattered door and went in. The first he did was take a rest and after that, he went through the house and the things in the room.

"Arthur West? What a grand name for the owner of this body," he said as he went through the things in the room. After making sure to go through everything, he was finally able to rest.

While sitting on the old couch, his mind wandered to many things and as he remembered most of them, his face turned dark. "How can the king of hell be killed? But those treacherous demons succeeded after colluding with the immortals. No, they didn't actually succeed in killing me, they were only able to put me to eternal slumber which lasted for so many long years. Unfortunately, I have lost all my powers and will have to start from scratch. Who knows what happened to my followers after I was put into an eternal slumber... They might have all been killed!" Thinking about the possibility of that happening his face turned darker and he slammed his fist on the ground in anger, and thereafter, a hole was formed on the spot. He looked at the mess he had created and a look of disappointment appeared on his face. "If it were before, this whole place would have shattered as a result of my power but look at what just happened, I merely managed to create a hole in the ground," he mumbled in disappointment.