Requiem of the Pathways

Near the remnants of a once-holy statue now corroded beyond recognition, a towering devil stood—close to two meters tall—its form a ghastly distortion of the sacred effigy it mocked. Pallid flesh clung too tightly to the sinews beneath, as though flayed and stretched by some cruel sculptor's hand. Whenever the creature's spidery arms reached heavenward, you could almost hear the muscles strain like ropes about to snap under the tug of unseen, ancient malice.

A crooked grin twisted its goat-like face, and its dark, cunning gaze skimmed over the exorcists, warning them of the cruelty lurking behind those stained, splintered fangs that glinted in the moonlight. Adam's grip tightened on his sword, knuckles white.

"Form up," he commanded in a voice that wavered beneath a practiced veneer of authority.

Shinji barely reacted, his eyes flicking instead toward the trainees—toward Leo, whose hand hovered near his blade.

"Well," Leo said with forced nonchalance, "this escalated quickly."

The devil slithered a step forward, and in that moment, Adam's stomach lurched with dread. Leo noticed the sigil on the floor and realized the goat-shaped head of the devil matched the monstrous emblem.

"Could it be a Stray?" Adam asked, narrowing his eyes.

"No," Leo managed through a tight throat, "it's a contracted devil."

A chill haze clung to each word as the devil's mouth curled open in a mocking leer.

"Could you be a dead man?" it purred, voice dripping with malevolence.

In a heartbeat, the creature slashed at Shinji with knife-like nails. Shinji dove aside at the final instant, but the sheer force cleaved a supporting pillar in two. The collapsing debris crashed down, separating Shinji from the others. His panic sharpened into furious realization.

"You weren't supposed to attack me!" Shinji snarled, then his expression twisted with mania. "I see how it is… After I send you back to the pit, I'll murder that blasted old geezer in front of every single trainee—show them exactly who not to follow!"

Across the rubble, the devil's wicked grin only broadened.

"I can't wait to work with you in Hell."

Shinji roared in outrage, brandishing his glowing sword as he lunged, the air trembling with the pitch of his fury.

Meanwhile, Samuel and Daniel arrived at the scene, breathless. A yawning chasm of collapsed stone cut them off from where Shinji and the devil clashed. They found Adam and Leo arguing heatedly before the blocked passage.

"What in the Lord's name is happening?" Samuel demanded.

"The church lied," Leo said with a dismissive flick of his hand.

Adam whirled on him. "They did not lie. This is an exorcism trial—part of our test."

Leo's eyes slid over to a gruesome sight nearby: the corpse of a fellow trainee, twisted unnaturally. "So... God approves of a test that slaughters His followers? That's madness."

Adam's jaw flexed, but he said nothing, staring at the rubble that stood between them and the devil's shrieks beyond.

"We should flee," Leo continued. "No devil is worth quadruple our pay. Not even close."

In the eerie silence that followed, Samuel and Daniel exchanged glances. This was their calling. They might have doubted the church's methods, but to turn away—abandon their sacred duty? They couldn't.

Wordlessly, Samuel and Daniel stepped forward, standing beside Adam. Leo cursed under his breath. Adam turned, his voice trembling but resolute:

"We'll hold it off."

Fear coiled around his words, but there was also resolve. Leo exhaled slowly and joined them. He forced a half-smile.

"Who else will treat me to a late-night snack if you all die here?"

Before anyone could answer, something thudded wetly at their feet—a freshly severed head. Shinji's. His eyes had been gouged out, his jaw dislocated. A whisper of horror rippled through them, and Daniel lifted his gaze, seeing the devil beyond the rubble. It licked its talons, lingering over the fresh kill.

A shiver tore through the air. A magic circle began to form at the devil's outstretched hand, flames flickering at its edges.

"Watch out!" Adam yelled.

They scattered as roaring fire churned across the stone, splintering columns and igniting broken beams. The devil dropped from above, its hooves crushing the rubble near Samuel.

It smiled, dark and triumphant.

Samuel froze, sword slack in his trembling grip. The devil's amusement was like a physical weight in the room. Adam saw the realization spark behind those terrible eyes—a decision to kill the petrified exorcist.

A burning magic circle gathered at the devil's palm. In the same instant, Daniel hurled himself at Samuel, knocking him aside just as the fireball burned a molten hole in the stone.

The devil laughed, a sound like rusted metal scraping on bone.

"Weak. Pathetic. You humans can't even defend your own souls."

Adam's teeth ground together. "Surround it!"

He and Daniel moved without hesitation. The trainees fanned out, though doubt crept in their eyes. The devil sensed their fear and sneered, its thick tail snapping out like a living whip. With a sickening crack, it smashed into Samuel's side, slinging him across the chamber. His scream echoed before abruptly cutting off.

Daniel roared and charged, blade arcing overhead. But the devil leapt impossibly high, twisting midair to evade. Four new magic circles glowed in the swirling dust, each aimed at one of them.

"Get down!" Adam bellowed.

Explosions tore through the chamber, the biting heat rattling walls already precarious. Smoke engulfed them. Coughing, blinded, Samuel realized he'd become separated. Adam glimpsed him from the corner of his eye—trembling again.

Leo's voice rasped through the fumes, "He'll get himself killed!"

But before they could react, a luminous arm cut through the haze, aimed straight at Samuel. Adam didn't hesitate. He broke into a sprint, hurling himself in front of the strike. The devil's claws ripped into Adam's side, hot agony coursing through him. Blood gushed, thick and searing.

The devil giggled, stepping back to admire its wound on Adam as the smoke thinned. Samuel stared in dawning horror, panting on the floor next to Adam.

"Get up," Adam gasped. "If… if you don't fight, you're dead."

Pain twisted his features, but he thrust out a shaking hand to Samuel. The younger exorcist clenched his jaw, eyes brimming with guilt. He accepted the hand, hauling himself upright.

The devil came at them again. This time, Adam met its slash with a parry, steel biting into demonic flesh. As the monster reeled, a savage tail strike flung Adam across the room. Black, viscous blood oozed from the wound in the devil's side.

"Nice hit," Leo hissed under his breath. "But we've only made it angrier."

The devil's eyes flickered with raw rage. It planted its claws into the stone floor and, with a guttural snarl, tore great chunks from it. Debris and dust rained down, forcing the group to shield themselves.

A whip-like tail lashed out through the chaos. Samuel, disoriented, didn't see it in time. It carved through him from the waist to the opposite shoulder, rending flesh and bone in one sweep. His top half toppled, his features stunned in death.

"No!" Daniel's shout reverberated like an echo of heartbreak.

Leo cursed, voice thin. "Damn it!"

The devil licked the blood off its claws, stepping over Samuel's remains. Its single good arm flexed, the other limp from an earlier wound.

"Fragile creatures," it taunted. "A few incantations, a few strokes of the claw, and you all scatter like frightened livestock."

Adam's heart thundered. He lunged without warning, blade slashing at the devil's thigh. It roared in pain, lashing about with its tail, but Adam darted aside. The devil turned—leaving its back vulnerable.

"Leo, now!" Adam commanded.

Leo sprang, sword glinting. His slash bit into the devil's shoulder. The beast staggered, shrieking with fury. Daniel rushed in, aiming for the neck, but the devil unfurled its membranous wings, flapping back out of harm's path.

From the edge of vision, Adam saw new magic circles conjure more flames, lined up in deadly formation.

"Get behind something!" he yelled, grabbing Leo and diving behind a broken section of wall.

Heat blasted across the chamber, and the flare blinded them. When Adam looked up, Daniel was on the ground, charred and still. The devil panted, flames dancing in its gaze.

"You fought better than I expected," it rasped, "but you shall be my food all the same."

Adam and Leo shared a glance—exhausted, battered, and half-broken. Blood slid down Leo's forehead, streaking his vision red. The devil brushed aside the crumbling rubble they hid behind.

"It's been fun," it crooned, stepping closer.

Quicker than thought, it struck Adam in the chest. He hurtled backward, landing in a heap. His vision blurred, the edges closing in. Leo staggered to his feet, only to be knocked flying by a whip-like tail. He coughed, spitting blood.

The devil leaned in, nails tearing into Leo's ribcage as it whispered:

"I expected more screams."

It flung him aside. Leo's limp body skidded across the floor, leaving Adam alone, body pulsing with agony.

"You're the last one," the devil murmured, raising its palm to conjure a final conflagration. "Have you any final prayer?"

Adam couldn't speak. His sword lay just beyond his outstretched fingers, but his body refused to move. The devil sneered, conjuring heat so intense the air shimmered.

"Farewell."

Then, at the pinnacle of that infernal glow, a figure lunged from behind the beast—Daniel, half-burned but ablaze with determination. He drove his blade straight into the devil's heart. The devil's eyes widened in disbelief; tar-like blood gushed over the sword's steel.

"Y—you're not dead… that should've killed any normal man," it hissed, voice cracking with despair.

The devil's form began to dissolve into black flecks of ash, flailing as it faded to nothing. The sword clattered to the ground, echoing in the sudden silence.

Daniel sank to his knees beside Adam's broken form, laughing weakly between ragged breaths. "Sorry for being late… I suppose I'm… too stubborn to leave this world."

Adam managed the barest smile, every bit of strength draining from him. And in the hush that followed, the ruins seemed to whisper with an otherworldly resonance—broken pillars casting twisted shadows like ephemeral wraiths.

Then darkness fell.

"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." —1 Peter 5:8

++++

Almost end of ARC 0, then we get to the actual start of the story T_T