Prologue: Devil Seir I

This city has always been and always will be incomprehensible when out of sight. In every dark corner below the lamplight, there will be something lurking out of the corner of one's eye. Many times it is only our fear, a fear we must all be comfortable with as we go on with our lives, but sometimes, on those very unfortunate days, the horrors are unquestionably real. This is the truth about the run-down streets on the outskirts of the grand city.

"I can't run any longer, please brother." As their small group hurried through the alley, a girl came to a halt. The man leading the charge stopped. He was a young man of brown skin wearing simple trousers and a brown letter coat. His black hat was dirty with dust and his tired eyes were just slightly hidden by it. Of course, she can't keep going. She has barely eaten in days. That was all the man thought as he berated himself for his carelessness.

The young girl was in a green overcoat and had her curly hair covering most of her face. She was still young, but some of her teeth were missing and her arms were as thin as they could be.

She was sobbing as her brother grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Our best bet will be to hide somewhere, but there is no way that thing is going to let go of its prey that easily, Abram, we both know you are the only one that can do something here." Another man was looking back at the darkness. He was a tall, scrawny man with short hair and a vacant expression. He wore a black coat that was far too small for his stature. His face was one of terror as he kept looking back while pushing her to run faster. He spoke to the young man holding his sister, his eyes staring at the darkness behind them.

"Nicholas... you are right, but I think it is best if you two hide. I will distract it long enough for you both to make a run for it. " Abram pushed his sister toward Nicholas. He looked back at her as he gritted his teeth.

"You know your brother can't die just like that, Aisha. " Nicholas grabbed her by the hand and forced her forward through the alley as her legs began to ache.

Abram came out into the alley looking back at the night for that sound that was coming closer and closer with every beat of his trepidations hearth. Whatever that was, it had slowed down, probably sensing that its prey had ceased to run.

This was another deserted street, over the side of an already defunct factory, with only the flies in the nearby junkyard for company. A sound that always persisted no matter where in this town you went to.

It began to be illuminated by the lamplight, a white figure, humanoid in shape but twisted and unnatural at every angle. The naked human-like with long limbs seemed to struggle to stay steady, but the beast walked.

Its head was a long dog-like maw. It seemed to have no eyes and a long slimy tongue fell as it opened from its center. The figure suddenly speeded up, its white claws scratching aimlessly around it, as it furiously reached towards the young man.

"I have it with you! .. if you wanted to be cursed, you should at least have died and left us all alone! "

Abram pulled out a knife. It was not the kind of switchblade one would see often among most denizens of the city, but compared to those claws, even with its size and sharpness, it felt quite small. The beast's claw almost reached him, but after leaving a trail of smoke, it lost track of him in a fog that appeared out of nowhere. Abram managed to get behind the beast and stabbed it in the back to make it howl.

Abram ran away as soon as the knife tasted blood. The beast rampaged, throwing a trashcan onto the floor, and ran forward hunting him. He had managed to lead the creature in the opposite direction of the other two, and though his heart was speeding up in fear and terror, he couldn't help but shed tears of joy, knowing that his sister and Nichola were safe.

He had no hope of feeling relief as the beast had already breached all the distance between them and opened its mouth so wide, his whole face was nothing but its teeth.

Abraham stopped and stabbed it in the chest with an angry scream. His claws slashed through his shoulder, making him bleed, but the beast lost sight of him again, in the dense smoke that had surrounded them both.

The creature screamed as it was stabbed in the leg and fell. Due to its uneven weight, it was already barely standing on its thin legs.

Abram was running again, already out of breath as the creature began to stand up again. As he did, a gunshot was heard. He heard it but refused to stop running. Such a sound was as common in the streets as the sound of rats crawling about.

The monster fell to the ground as something crashed on top of it and another gunshot rang out.

"Well, well, escaping a demon thrall like that isn't just something anyone can do." A woman kicked the beast that was beginning to turn to ash. Abram never saw the woman wearing a black suit, looking into the darkness where the young man had disappeared.

"Arghh, this smoke is quite something; it makes me want to puke."The woman spoke again, her voice with a deeper tone.

"No doubt about it, this smoke sure means he is the man we are looking for. That makes me kind of sad. " Her voice changed again to a more girly tone, with a hint of sadness to it.

"Let's wait a little longer. He is not the only one around that smells of brimstone. " Hahaha, we might be able to kill two birds with one stone. " The woman walked away as a green flame engulfed the remnants of that beast.

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Credit cover goes to the talented @meha-k