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Chapter 13: Infernal Hunters
The air cracked with thunder.
Kael stood on the edge of a ruined clock tower, the city of Blackthorn a skeleton below him. His crimson wings fluttered against the gale, leaving a trail of embers in the wind. He'd spent the night alone, sitting beneath the storm, trying to drown the sound of his mother's voice echoing in his mind.
> "You can destroy what he built… or become what he wanted."
Lightning split the sky.
He looked down at his hands — trembling, scorched, still stained with soot from the fires he'd caused. His reflection glinted faintly in the broken metal of his scythe.
"I don't even know what I am anymore," he muttered.
Then, the wind changed.
It went silent.
Kael froze. The air around him thickened, pressing down like invisible hands. His mark began to burn, the lines across his neck glowing black-red.
He wasn't alone.
Something was hunting him.
He turned sharply— just as a blade of shadow sliced past his cheek, grazing skin and drawing a drop of blood. The wound hissed, smoking faintly. His eyes widened. That blade had demonsteel— forged from the bones of fallen archdemons.
"Show yourself," Kael growled.
A voice answered from the darkness below.
> "We finally found you, son of Lucien."
Three figures emerged from the mist at the base of the tower. They were dressed in crimson armor that shimmered like liquid flame, each wearing a mask shaped like a screaming skull. Their eyes glowed an eerie white beneath it. And behind them, shadowy shapes crawled—chains slithering like snakes.
The Infernal Hunters.
The first one spoke, his voice sharp as broken glass.
> "Orders from the Abyss. Bring the Punisher back alive."
"Alive?" said the second, a woman's voice, smooth but cruel. "I thought the Devil said 'intact'."
The third chuckled, his laugh wet and guttural. "Same thing. As long as he bleeds first."
Kael's wings flared open, scattering sparks. "You can try."
And then they attacked.
The woman moved first—vanishing in a blur of red mist. Kael barely ducked as her chain scythed through the air, wrapping around the tower's iron frame. She swung upward, her boot slamming into Kael's jaw, knocking him off balance.
Before he could recover, the second hunter thrust his spear from below, aiming for Kael's heart. Kael twisted midair, the weapon grazing his ribs. He countered, his scythe flashing with flame, carving a fiery arc through the rain. The blade met metal, clashing with a shower of sparks.
The third hunter appeared behind him, a hulking beast of a man with claws like blades. He swung wide. Kael crossed his scythe and arm to block, but the force sent him crashing through a wall of the clock tower, stone exploding outward.
Kael rolled to his feet inside the shattered ruins. The mark on his neck pulsed faster — the Devil's curse feeding on his rage. He clenched his jaw, forcing himself to breathe.
"Don't lose control…" he whispered. "Not again."
But they were already on him.
Chains ripped through the air. Kael slashed them apart, sparks lighting up the dark. He spun, his wings slicing through the mist like blades, cutting deep into one of the hunters' armor. The creature howled, collapsing in a spray of black ichor.
The woman snarled, vanishing and reappearing behind him. "You fight like him."
"Good," Kael hissed. "That means you'll die like him."
He ignited his wings.
Flames roared to life, crimson turning to white-hot gold. The heat scorched the tower walls, melting the rain as it fell. The hunters staggered back, their masks cracking from the sheer energy radiating off him.
Kael charged. His scythe cut through the air, tearing through the second hunter's chest. The blow split armor and bone alike. He didn't stop — he swung again, cleaving through the third, sending his demonic blood splattering across the walls.
Only the woman remained, panting, her mask shattered halfway. Beneath it, she wasn't monstrous — she was young, eyes glowing faintly blue.
"You don't understand," she said, her voice trembling now. "If we fail to bring you in, Lucien will—"
Kael stepped forward, the tip of his scythe pressing to her throat. "Lucien isn't my father."
She shook her head slowly. "He's already watching you."
Kael froze.
The mark on his neck seared with heat so intense he screamed, dropping his weapon. The world blurred. His vision flickered red, and suddenly — he wasn't in the tower anymore.
He was standing in a vast crimson void, the ground molten, the sky black as sin. Chains coiled endlessly from the darkness, and at the center of it all stood a figure — tall, broad, and cloaked in living fire.
Lucien.
"Hello, my son," the demon said with a smile that made the air tremble. "I see the hunters found you. Pity they're not as strong as you are."
Kael's hands shook. "You sent them."
"I sent them to test you," Lucien said. "And you passed. You have my power. My fire. You can end this world if you want. You just need to stop fighting who you are."
"I'm nothing like you."
Lucien stepped closer. His burning eyes pierced through Kael's soul. "You will be. You think you're killing for justice? You think those you burn are sinners? You're just doing what I trained you to do. Punish. Destroy. Become fear itself."
Kael gritted his teeth, veins glowing under his skin. "You're wrong."
Lucien smirked. "Then prove it."
The void collapsed.
Kael gasped awake, back in the tower. The woman's body lay before him, lifeless. His hands were covered in blood — her blood.
"No…" he whispered. "No, I didn't—"
The scythe lay nearby, its blade pulsing with faint demonic light.
And on the wall behind him, burned into the stone by unseen fire, were words written in ancient runes.
"The Punisher has chosen."
Kael fell to his knees, breathing hard. Rain poured through the broken roof, washing the blood off his face.
He looked out over the ruined city, his eyes burning like twin suns.
Lucien's voice whispered faintly through the thunder:
> "One day, you'll stop denying it. You'll call to me."
Kael clenched his fist, his knuckles white.
"Never."
His wings flared again, this time not crimson — but black with red fire crawling across them. He shot into the storm, lightning chasing his path, the city below shuddering from the force of his flight.
Far below, the last surviving Infernal Hunter crawled to her feet, whispering into her comm rune, blood dripping from her lips.
> "Target confirmed… Kael Riven has awakened the Second Seal."
The Devil's realm answered in silence.
And then, a single voice replied:
> "Send the Angels next."
TO BE CONTINUED