Sin Of The Era

The hellish bells rang loudly, shaking every corner of the realm. I, Ogon, opened my deep crimson eyes alongside every other Hell Guardian around me. We hung from the branches of the colossal corpse trees. They surrounded the Abyssal Chasm located in the middle of Pandemonium, the capital of Hell.

The Guardians beat their vast leather wings, and a violent wind swept forth, pushing away the ash that covered the capital’s sky. They scattered around the land, each seeking their duties.

I began flying, heading to fulfill my usual tasks.

“My head hurts,” I murmured to myself as my wings struggled to keep me afloat. We Guardians were not as weak as humans or other creations. As descendants of the devil race, we were powerful both physically and mentally. For one of us, an enormously painful headache could mean only one thing.

Could it be that… but why me?

My brain burned with pain, my vision blurred to the point of blindness. The question echoed again and again in my head as the reality of flying above the abyss seemed to collapse.

The environment around me darkened. A shiver crawled down my spine. Was it a delusion? I couldn’t tell. Then I saw it, a glowing crimson light in the distance. My soul bowed down before my body even could. I was called by a God.

A message?

Gods never use words with beings like us. A single silent message through the spiritual dimension is enough to make even the most monstrous Guardians quiver.

The responsibility over the sinner’s ritual… I see.

As my sight returned, the world reassembled itself around me. I felt the will of the God guiding me. We are not free after all. All we do is follow orders. I was assigned a duty that would make any Hell dweller proud. The responsibility over the Holy Sinner’s Reincarnation.

Every three centuries, the greatest sinner of the era on Earth is summoned from the pits of Hell and granted the chance to seek Heaven through a new life in another world. This time, I was the one to lead the ritual.

“I guess I should be proud,” I landed on the ash-covered ground.

Going there by myself will take a while. I must summon it.

The ritual site is one of the most ancient monuments. It’s called the Eternal Church of Chains. Located at the peak of a spire-like mountain that juts out from the Abyss itself, the church pierces the sky of Hell, always bathed in eclipsed light. The only way to get there in time was to rely on ritualistic magic and summon a Demon Dragon. Every Hell Guardian had a dragon they could summon, but only when in true need would the ritual succeed.

Demon Dragons are wild fierce creatures that live in the Abyssal Chasm. Mid to high-class Guardians are each bound to one they can call when necessary.

The summoning demanded blood and horn sacrifice. After chanting the needed scriptures, a chained portal appeared in front of me. The beast stepped through, its roar shaking the air, the stench of souls spilling from its huge mouth. Its dark eyes glimmered faintly as it bowed to me.

After getting on its back, I began my flight toward the Church.

Whenever wandering Hell, the various types of structures and buildings always attracted my gaze. Due to the Gods’ recent interest in turning Hell into a tourism place for Heaven dwellers, construction had progressed this much.

The preparations of the ritual should be progressing well. I sincerely hoped. For me, ritualistic work was the most tiresome. It required so much preparation and sacrifice. The process was both painful and too demanding. Torturing the sinners was probably the easiest job for us. It didn’t require much work, and we often heard the damned talk about their regrets and past lives. Despite not understanding what they meant and how they felt, it was interesting to guess.

Penetrating through the ash-choked air, the Dragon tore its wings.

The atmosphere was heavy and suffocating because of the Abyssal Chasm below, an endless domain of torture. We Guardians contributed to it, yet we never knew why humans were punished this way. What was “bad”? What was “good”? I had always wondered. I had never seen Heaven, nor any mortal world, so it was beyond me.

“The chosen sinner must be lucky,” I muttered as the cries from the abyss shook the back of my head. They were filled with regret, enough to distract the Dragon. These creatures fed on such feelings, making them a hassle to ride above the Chasm.

As the journey progressed, I couldn’t help but think. Why was I chosen?

The thought bothered me. I only recently became a mid-class Guardian. Only high-class Guardians are assigned for important impactful work such as this ritual. I couldn’t help but wonder in silence.

After a period of time, I almost reached my destination, close enough to see huge broken angel stone statues surrounding the cathedral built of iron and obsidian. The entire structure was bound in colossal chains that stretched across the sky. Shining with glowing light, the stained glass windows lit the peak of the mountain.

It seems they’re almost done preparing.

As a couple of minutes passed, I began slowing down, preparing to land on the ground.

After landing, the guards led my Dragon away. I reached the entrance of the Church, a huge black iron door before me, known among high-ranking Guardians as the Door of Silence.

“I am the one chosen to lead the ritual. It’s the will of the Gods,” I said to the door guard facing me. My tone indicated pride and a sense of responsibility.

“You may proceed.” The guard opened the door after chanting the corresponding prayers.

It only took one step inside for the atmosphere to fully switch. Silence took over my mind.

Is this what Heaven feels like? I thought as the cold breeze refreshed my soul.

Despite this peak being the highest in Hell and closest to Heaven, this “Heavenly” feeling could only be sensed when inside the Church.

The colossal vaulted ceiling arched high above me as my steps progressed inside the vast entrance hall. The faint light of raw silver shone from above, lighting the dark obsidian ground. Each side of the structure had a line of long glassy windows, each allowing a different color of light to lurk inside.

The countless dark stone staircases twisting everywhere past the entrance hall confused me. They spiraled into balconies and vanished into walls. There were many doors leading to other halls, each door guarded by one or two guards. I had no clue concerning the purpose of all these halls.

The will of the Gods led me to the ritual hall, located in the heart of the Church, which also happens to be on the bottom floor. As I walked past the confusing staircases and cold empty corridors, I could only sense time slowing down. Every second felt slower than usual.

Finally… that was a long one. I reached my destination, the lower floor of the Church.

The ritual hall was a vast circular room. Various stone pillars were randomly placed all around it, each pillar had a different human face drawn on it.

Could these faces be the previous sinners? I made a logical assumption. It could only be that every forgiven sinner gets their face drawn on one of the room’s pillars.

I walked the remaining distance between me and the heart of the Church, the holy chained altar.

At the very back, I saw six Hell Guardians, my colleagues, surrounding the altar. Despite each of us having different personality traits, we looked pretty much the same with slight differences.

“Is everything ready?” I approached them. I didn’t have to introduce myself as the leader of the ritual. Messenger Guardians took care of this by transporting the Gods’ orders through the spiritual dimension.

“Yes, Master. We have empowered the altar with the Chasm’s power for energy, chanted the corresponding prayers, and did everything that needed to be done,” spoke the Guardian in the front. His tone indicated both seriousness and respect.

The black symbols drawn on his arms signified that he belonged to the high ranks. The other fellow Guardians all had symbols too. Some of them were middle class and some were high. They all glared at me with disgust.

It seems that my low rank is driving them angry. It was only natural for them to feel that way. A low-rank Guardian being your leader when you absolutely top them wasn’t quite the pleasing experience for our prideful kind. That said, the Guardian in the front wasn’t that prideful, nor was I myself.

“Great, let’s light the altar and initiate the summoning,” I requested.

Every one of us used our flame mastery, burning our own skin to produce Hellfire, then pointing it to the altar as it consumed the shiny flames.

The red flames turned blue. With every passing second, the atmosphere grew suffocating.

We walked around the big blue-lit altar in a circular motion and spoke the scriptures.

“Oh Abyss swallowing the damned!”

“Oh wound scratching this realm’s heart!”

“Oh land of chains outliving flesh!”

“One soul, one creation, one damned you shall forgive.”

As we repeated the chanting, the blue flames on the altar darkened.

The ground was shaking, the glassy windows shattered. Heavy wind broke in through the shattered glass, it held the scent of melancholy.

With every step we made, the immensely loud ear-penetrating cries of filthy souls rose, coming straight out of the Chasm.

“I don’t remember this ritual being this disastrous,” my tone carried hints of worry.

The air grew suffocating, disgusting, unbearable. We spat blood, pain showed in our voices as we repeatedly chanted.

“One damned you shall forgive.”

Wind carrying the crimson charm of filth swept throughout the cracked altar which had already begun looking like a small version of the Chasm.

“Master, it’s about to happen,” the respectful Guardian told me. I beat my wings, flying right above the altar. The strong wind made it harder to hold balance.

“The will of the Gods had already spoken!” I concluded the chant.

…

The wind vanished. The silence took over again. Surprised, I gazed at the human arm crawling out of the altar.

“The sinner…” My eyes widened in shock.

The living chains tied the weak human’s arms and skull. The Guardians broke their horns and made a circle around the altar. They bowed on the cracked shaking floor and prayed.

Flying right above the chained dark-haired human, I recited the finale of the ritual.

“Let sin release you. Let grace embrace you. Freedom shall guide you. Mercy will find you. May trial be your last horizo—”

!!!!!!!!

“AAAGHHH!!! M-My head!!” As if hellfire drilled into my skull, blood spilled from my eyes.

My eyes gazed at the sinner. I could only notice an immense glare striking my soul.

“Found you,” he whispered, a joyous smile painted on his face.

I felt my horns crushing down my brain. I felt my blood boiling. I felt my pupils melting.

The pain slowly vanished. I closed my eyes, a feeling of detachment rose in my head.

As my eyes were about to open, I noticed how my overall sensation changed, as if I had transported to a new body. I felt something strong tying me down. Loud prayers echoed in the back of my mind.

I opened my eyes. I saw seven Hell Guardians. Six surrounding me, one flying right above me.

What’s going on—Wait… I realized it. I realized the shocking truth. It wasn’t any Hell Guardian that was looking down at me. It was my body. No, my previous body.

I… I have switched bodies… with him? Or…

Before I could even process what had happened, “May trial be your last horizon!” The original body of mine flying above me smiled, as it concluded the ritual.

The sin of the era was committed.