A swarm of flies flew past my head, the hideous buzzing of insects overwhelming my ears for a moment. The lights I had spread across the stairway soon started to brighten, revealing the expansive basement in front of me, multiple blood-stained hooks lining the room.
Spreading my light to every inch of the basement, cells appeared in my vision filled with mutilated corpses, their eyes only holding the seeds of despair. The eerie basement didn't seem to have any devils inside, only death.
The lack of living prisoners was probably one of the reasons for my easy entrance into the heart of their hideout. I thought that it was rather strange that they would just leave this unguarded.
Perhaps because devils are prideful creatures, but I wasn't so naive anymore to believe such a convenient excuse.
A small source of light was spilling through one of the doors to my left, separate from my own light sources. I put out my light and slowly approached the door, cracking it open slightly. Inside was a small break room, and a group of eight devils was all gathered around a poker table. It looked to be just the start of the game, one of the devils dealing cards to the others.
They had a platter of meat and tea next to them, picking at it leisurely without a care in the world.
"Ugh. I can't believe that those losers up top still haven't found any more food. They're so incompetent they don't even try to appeal to the people of this city, just sitting there with scowls on their faces."
"Tell me about it, brother. I'm getting tired of rations. Why can't we just hunt for food at night? I'm so hungry for more angel blood."
"Come on, you two know why. If we did such a thing, the Servants of Order would be knocking on our doorstep. I certainly don't want to gather the gaze of that Luminous bitch."
"Let them come, we'll kill 'em all!"
One of the younger devils declared his intent to kill us all, but was swiftly shot down by his comrades, multiple hands smacking the back of his head, quickly silencing the boy's foolishness.
"Shut up, idiot. You can't be that stupid, they've got some monsters in the Servants of Order."
"Those Divine Strings are truly terrifying. Julius Croft, Divine String and Third in Command of the Servants, is one of those who truly scares me."
A collective shiver broke out throughout the devils. I didn't know who Julius Croft was, but he was clearly a formidable foe. If he invited this level of fear throughout the devils.
"Have you heard that rumor about the new Servant of Order? When I first heard about it, a feeling of uneasiness spread throughout my whole body. It's just ridiculous."
"About that wingless, who supposedly has an Edict of Light and reports directly to the Primordial String and Custodian."
"Yeah, that. It's odd to think such a person could exist."
"But I thought wingless can't have an Edict."
"They can, but they are never strong. Do you remember that gigantic cross of light, a week back?"
"Oh, yes. I thought it was just someone fighting in the middle of the night, although it was odd seeing that at midnight. Wait… You don't mean."
"Oh, but I do mean that. Apparently, that massive amount of power was the wingless, Evernight. And he used that cross to defeat the Pale Moon, Lucius von Snow."
"Wha… But Lucius von Snow is the next Dominion of the Moon, how could he be defeated by some wingless?"
"What if he's actually not a wingless? The tales about Evernight are quite interesting, right?"
Their conversation was growing old; they were just telling tales about the angels in this city. I didn't really care for any other tales about the First or Divine strings; my only concern was Artoria, and that was it. I truly couldn't care less for anyone else.
Pushing open the door, I entered the room, gathering the panicked gazes from all eight devils. They all scrambled up, backing themselves against the wall and rearming.
"I appreciate all your kind words about my power but it won't change the outcome of this little band of devils." I declared.
"What… It's him, the Third String, Evernight!"
"So? He's just a Third String and some wingless mutt, he's no matter for the eigh—"
Light began to gather in my palms, raising my hands slightly. I held up the swelling ball of light, commanding it to change into a devastating ray of pure death, blasting off into the eight devils, scorning and ripping apart their bodies. After a few seconds, the light dissipated, revealing eight charred bodies, their burnt eyes glossy with confusion and shock.
"You are right, I'm not a wingless or even an angel. I'm something else."
It is only natural for lower-class devils such as these ones to fall victim to my power. Light was the antithesis of devils, their sole weakness. While I hadn't yet discovered my full power or even a clue on how to unlock my own weapon.
I was still an insurmountable foe to these devils at my feet; they couldn't respond to such a rapid attack, even if they had years to prepare.
That was just the way of this world, you either had power or you didn't. This world was survival of the fittest, and at the moment, I was the fittest. Whether that would continue as I moved further into this hideout of death, I'd just have to delve deeper and discover all its terrors.
Leaving the small break room now filled with the stench of burnt meat, I headed further into the underground hideout. The hideout had multiple layers of cells, endless corridors filled with the putrid stench of pestilence.
While I had yet to find any other devils as I searched the endless corridors, I was beginning to hear more and more sounds coming from the various doors at the end of one of the corridors.