I sat cross-legged on the floor because the couch felt too far away. The apartment heater ticked every few minutes like it was debating whether it wanted to keep working. There was a bowl in front of me.
I leaned forward and spat into it—black thick goo. Side effects of the Darkness Devil power.
I'd spent the last nine days recovering. Slow, gross, annoying. Hybrid regen cleaned most of it, but my body still pushed out whatever it couldn't use, like trash.
I stared at the bowl. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and leaned my head against the wall. I closed my eyes. Inside, the shift happened. Not dramatic. Just sideways. The internal space was quiet. Judas appeared like he always did—no theatrics, no glowing monster vibe, just there with his hands in his pockets like he owned the place.
"You summoned me because you're bored?" he said. I opened one eye. "Don't flatter yourself." He smirked. "It must be hard not to. I'm irresistible." I snorted and said, "You got cooked in five seconds." He blinked, then grinned wider. "Ouch. Straight for the throat. Very mature." I sat up a little and asked, "What happened? Against Darkness. Five seconds. I didn't know you had this low of stamina." He snorted " you knew it was unwinnable, but you make it sound like I blinked and you died."
Then he sighed dramatically and leaned against nothing. "Fine. Story time. Picture this: massive conceptual horror beyond human understanding. Old as humanity and you're summoned to fight it. What did you expect? That I'd win." I rolled my eyes and said, "Yeah yeah I get it." He kept going. "I lasted. For about five seconds. Then he decided we were going to go to sleep" I frowned " Do you know how we got out of hell?"
He shrugged. "Luck, I suppose. Are we dead? No. Are we here? Yes. Did we get absolutely wrecked? Also yes. Let's be happy and not question why we're still alive" I considered that." He straightened up and added brightly, "But hey, look at the bright side." I replied, "There is no bright side." He shook his head. "Debatable. You survived. I survived. We only coughed up a disturbing amount of black goo. That's a win in my book."
I stared at him. He grinned. I sighed and said, "I hate having to sit and do nothing." He answered, "I hate that if we hadn't gone on this mission we could have gained more power back at home." I ran my hand, threw my hair and said, "I should be stronger." He tilted his head, not mocking, just curious. "Stronger than what?" I gestured at myself. "Then this. Drained. Slow. Spitting up sludge. If someone came right now…" I stopped.
He waited. I finished the thought anyway. "…I'd still win." Not bravado. Fact. He studied me and said, "That's the spirit, I'm sure you're never going to lose a fight again." I frowned. "That sounds sarcastic." He admitted, "It was a little sarcastic." I muttered, "You're annoying." He replied, "I'm angelic." I blinked and said, "That is the worst way to say that." He shrugged. Silence settled. The heater ticked.
Snow tapped the window. I exhaled.
"Bored."
He answered, "Congratulations"
"Don't start."
He sat down across from me, mirroring the cross-legged position. "Being bored is good."
I shook my head. "No it isn't."
He smiled slightly. "It means your brain is resting."
I opened my mouth to argue, then closed it because that part was true.
I leaned back against the wall again. "Two more days."
He asked, "Then what?"
I replied, "Then we go back."
"Home?"
I hesitated. "Yeah."
He watched me. "You don't sound excited."
I answered, "I never sound excited."
He nodded. "Mostly true."
I picked up the bowl and carried it to the sink. I rinsed it out. The black residue diluted and disappeared down the drain. I stared at the empty bowl for a second—normal, clean, nothing in it.
I set it on the counter and turned off the water.
Judas spoke. "You worry too much."
I glanced at him. "Do I?"
He answered, "Yes."
"About what?"
He smiled slightly. "Everything."
I considered that and shrugged. "Someone has to."
His expression softened just a little. His smirk fading a bit
I walked back to the floor and sat down. The apartment was quiet. Not peaceful. Just quiet.
I turned on the TV—news, ads, garbage ,isekai slop, nothing worth watching.
I turned it off
Bored.
Judas watched me. " Maybe you're sad that you couldn't see that girl you like so much. I mean I know you have a crush–"
" Shut up, we talked about this I DO NOT have a crush on her"
"Lies, i can feel your heart racing when you are next to her, i am part of you just admit it."
"Remember that time when–"
"sshh why are you trying to change subject" he placed his hand on his chin and started pondering.
"Let go get something to eat instead of arguing about something that is false."
He did look impressed "fine"
It was cold. The streets covered in snow
" Judas, what were you doing? When I was calling you."
"sleeping"
"You didn't talk with me for days"
He shrugged " you know what Hunter. Am going to sleep."
"what why?"
"You have been walking for 40min. Wake me up when you reach a restaurant."
I guess i was alone for the rest of my trip
Almost all the restaurant had refused my entrance except this one
The ramen was too hot.
I still ate it anyway.
Steam fogged my glasses for a second before I took them off and set them on the counter. The shop was nearly empty. An old man slurping quietly. A couple arguing in whispers. The TV mounted in the corner playing something loud and pointless.
Judas didn't say anything.
I twirled noodles. Chewed. Swallowed.
"Still asleep?"
No answer.
Figures. I had tried to wake him up.
Outside, the snow kept falling. Slow. Careless. Like it had nowhere to be.
I paid. The server didn't look at me for long. Just long enough. That same half-second pause people do when they're deciding something about you.
The door chimed when I stepped out.
Cold air hit immediately.
I walked down the street to a convenience store.
Store lights hummed too bright against the dark. I went inside. Bought bottled coffee. Protein bars. Random junk I didn't need. The clerk stared a little longer than the ramen guy. Not hostile. Just curious. Measuring.
I stared back until he looked away.
The plastic bag rustled in my hand as I left.
Snow crunched under my boots. The streets were quiet. Too quiet for a city this size.
"Judas," I said again.
Nothing.
Right.
He truly was a moron.
The next morning felt sharper.
Cold air burns my lungs. The sky is pale and flat.
I walked without thinking. No destination in mind. Just taking in the view.
But behind me footsteps echoed behind.
I didn't turn around.
The smell hit first.
Metal.
Rot.
Wet rope.
I stopped.
"So you're going to keep following me," I said, "or are we doing this?"
Silence.
Then something dropped from the trees above.
It hit the snow hard enough to crack the earth below.
It looked like a man stretched wrong. Skin pulled too tight over hooked bone. Fingers bent backward like curved nails. Metal protruding from its shoulders, small rusted hooks swaying like ornaments.
A Devil.
Weak.
Hungry.
Its jaw unhinged too wide.
"You reek," it rasped.
I exhaled slowly.
"Yeah. I get that a lot."
It lunged.
Fast.
Not fast enough.
I stepped to the side. Its claws tore through where my neck had been. I grabbed its wrist mid-swing and squeezed.
Bone cracked.
It shrieked.
I didn't transform.
Didn't need to.
I drove my knee into its torso. Felt something cave in. Grabbed its face and slammed it into the snow. Once. Twice.
The third time it shattered the ground.
It tried to hook into my shoulder with the metal protrusions. One almost scraped my jacket.
Annoying.
I stomped its arm until it stopped moving.
It thrashed. Screamed. Snow mixing with blood.
I crouched and grabbed its jaw.
"Relax," I said.
It snapped at me.
I tightened my grip until teeth shattered.
It stopped fighting.
Good.
I leaned closer so it could see my eyes clearly.
"You're weak," I told it. "But you'll do."
It trembled.
Devils don't like fear.
They especially don't like feeling it.
"You have two choices," I continued calmly. "I end you. Or you make a contract with me."
It laughed — broken and wet.
"Humans don't get to choose."
I tilted my head.
"You're right."
My fingers dug into its skull.
Cracks spidered outward.
It screamed again.
"I do."
Its body convulsed.
Snow melted around us from the heat of its blood.
"Contract," it gasped suddenly.
I didn't smile.
"Say it properly."
Its hooks rattled violently.
"I ll form a contract— with you."
"I ll tell you the terms," I said.
"You will become part of me and i will own everything that you owed in exchange i grant you a place in my heaven"
It hesitated.
I pressed harder.
"I accept."
There it was.
Submission.
I held its gaze for a moment longer, making sure it understood.
Then I pulled it closer.
Not gently.
I wrapped my arms around it and locked it in place. It struggled at first, instinct more than resistance. Its hooks scraped uselessly against my back.
Ten seconds passed.
Its body began to soften.
Not dissolving. Not burning.
Melting.
Like metal left too long in a furnace.
Its skin lost shape first. Then the bone beneath it warped, folding inward. The rusted hooks sank into my chest like they were being swallowed by something deeper than flesh.
It tried to scream.
The sound cut off halfway through.
Three minutes.
That's all it took.
Three minutes for it to disappear completely.
Weak.
Pathetic.
I stood there alone in the snow, breathing steady. No explosion of power. No dramatic shift.
Just quiet.
Then I felt it.
Something moving under my skin.
Not painful.
Just… sliding.
My right arm twitched. The skin along my forearm bulged slightly, like something tracing the vein from the inside.
I flexed my hand.
The movement responded.
Curious.
I focused.
There was a metallic pressure building beneath the surface — heavy, coiled.
Then it tore through.
A giant rusted hook burst from my forearm with a wet metallic sound, curved and jagged, steam rising where it met the cold air.
Snow hissed when it touched the ground.
I stared at it.
Flexed again.
The hook shifted with my wrist.
I exhaled slowly.
"…Not bad."
The hook slid back under my skin, folding in on itself like it had always belonged there.
"Primitive," Judas' voice echoed lazily. "But useful."
"So you're awake."
"I was always awake. You just weren't entertaining."
I flexed my hand. The skin along my forearm shifted slightly.
It took time to get used to it.
The first few attempts were messy. Too slow. Too shallow. Once it tore out from the wrong angle and split the skin near my thumb.
That one stung.
By the end of the hour, I could feel where it rested inside me.
Coiled.
Waiting.
By the second hour, summoning it didn't hurt.
By the third, it felt natural.
A thought.
A pulse.
Metal.
The giant rusted hook slid out cleanly from my forearm, steam rising in the cold air.
I flicked my wrist.
It shot forward and embedded into a streetlight across the road with a heavy clang.
I tightened my arm and pulled.
The pole bent toward me.
Snow fell quietly around us.
Judas hummed in approval.
"Acceptable."
I let the hook retract smoothly, no tearing this time.
Yeah.
That would do.