"He's still alive!" Dusk gasped, stumbling into the grand obsidian hall of the Demon Realm.
The remaining Demon Lords turned their cold eyes toward him.
One of the lords sneered, looking over at a female demon beside him. "Well, look at that. A child gets beaten by a mortal and comes running back to us. Hey, Mantra... isn't this your lover?"
Mantra's face darkened instantly. The other lords burst into mocking laughter, fueling her embarrassment. She gulped, her pride stung by their cruel jokes.
Dusk ran closer, his breath ragged. "Listen to me! Kael isn't dead! Goddess Nyxara is supporting him! Her soul is bound directly to his!"
The laughter died down, replaced by dark scowls. One lord stepped up to Dusk's face. "Are you making a joke out of us?"
Dusk turned desperately to Mantra. "Mantra, please! You have to believe me!"
Mantra looked down, her face shadowed in pure rage. Her voice turned heavy and trembling. "Dusk... shut your mouth."
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Dusk asked, stepping back in confusion.
"Because you are telling a pathetic lie!" Mantra shouted, dark mana flaring wildly around her body. "You couldn't even kill a single mortal, and now you claim Goddess Nyxara is helping him?! She stood with our race for centuries! She would never betray us!"
The other Demon Lords egged her on, grinning wicked smiles. "Kill him, Mantra. He's making a mockery of all demons."
"Yeah," another chimed in. "He even brought disgrace to your name."
Mantra didn't hesitate. Blinded by anger and humiliation, she gathered all her dark mana into her fist and slammed a ruthless punch straight into Dusk's stomach.
BOOM!
Dusk's eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. Blood erupted from his mouth as his organs shattered.
Mantra wiped a tear from her eye, turning her back on him. "I hate myself for ever believing a liar like you. I regret ever loving you."
As the dark world faded, Dusk let out a bitter, dying thought. 'Idiots... All of you will die by Kael Redgrave's hands...'
Dusk's soul detached from his lifeless body.
Before being dragged down to the afterlife, his spirit drifted back to Earth for a brief, terrifying second.
He found himself floating inside a hospital room. On the bed lay Kael, unconscious and bandaged.
Dusk's spiritual eyes widened in horror.
It wasn't just Nyxara standing over Kael. Four other ancient, overwhelming entities hovered in the shadows around the bed—the Void Soul, the Forgotten Divine, the Devil Lord, and the Cursed Soul.
Next to them stood a red-haired youth radiating a suffocating void aura.
Nyxara's sharp gaze snapped straight toward Dusk's floating spirit.
Before Dusk could react, total darkness swallowed his vision.
When Dusk opened his eyes again, he was standing in front of two towering, ancient black doors.
The Gates of Death.
At the center of the dark hall, the God of Death sat upon a throne of dark bone.
Dusk let out a hollow laugh. "So... in the end, I finally see the true faces of the people I cared about."
The God of Death tilted his head, his cold eyes resting on Dusk. "Were you killed by Kael, or did you learn the truth before leaving Earth?"
Dusk froze. "You... know Kael?"
"Of course," the God of Death smirked, stepping down from his throne. "He recently sent an immortal soul to my realm."
Dusk's voice trembled violently. "An... immortal?"
"Yes. Mortals are capable of terrifying things." The God of Death pointed his pale finger toward a dark corner of the hall.
Dusk turned and gasped. Standing there in heavy, black chains was Ignis—the legendary Shadow Lord.
"By the way," the God of Death asked casually, "who actually killed you?"
"Mantra," Dusk whispered, his head hanging low.
The God of Death chuckled softly. "Ah. So you finally realized she was just using you all along?"
Dusk snapped his head up. "What do you mean?!"
With a wave of his hand, the God of Death brought up a glowing spectral screen. He scanned Dusk's soul data and played a hidden memory from the past.
On the screen, a younger Mantra was talking to another demon.
"I don't care about Dusk," Mantra's recorded voice echoed clearly. "Whether he lives or dies means nothing to me. I'm only using him to secure my spot as a Demon Lord."
Dusk watched in utter shock. "Then... why didn't she leave me after she became a lord?!"
The God of Death swiped his hand, changing the scene.
Mantra was talking to a friend. "I have to stay with him. I signed a soul contract. If I don't marry him, I lose my title."
The screen dissolved into mist.
Dusk collapsed onto his knees, heavy tears dripping onto the cold stone floor. "So that's why... She didn't hesitate for a single second when she struck me..."
Deep, crushing despair filled his chest. "In the end... no one ever truly loved me."
"Who told you that?"
A gentle, divine light flickered beside the throne.
The God of Death looked at Dusk with a calm expression. "There was someone who loved you more than her own life. A divine deity."
Dusk's eyes widened. "Shina...?"
"Yes, Shina," the God of Death confirmed. "She was offered a chance to become a higher god if she married a supreme deity. But she refused them all—just for you. She is still alone. If she hears that you died, her heart will shatter."
Dusk let out a self-deprecating smile, tears streaming down his face. "I was such a fool... Back then, I told her demons and divines could never be together. I thought no one would ever accept us."
"Humans would have accepted you," the God of Death said softly. "On Earth, love isn't bound by race."
Dusk bowed his head in deep regret. "Can I please get a second chance? Can I go back?"
"No," the God of Death replied firmly, rejecting his demand. He pointed toward a heavy iron door. "Your time is up. Enter that room."
Dusk slowly stood up, his heart heavy with grief. In the end, I pushed away the only one who truly cared...
Just as Dusk took a step toward the room of judgment, the massive Gates of Death creaked open. A blinding light poured into the hall.
The gatekeepers' voices echoed across the chamber:
"Arrival of Divine Deity: Shina!"
Dusk stopped in his tracks.
Through the opening gates, a radiant figure rushed into the dark hall, her tear-stained eyes searching desperately through the shadows for him.