The One Named Astaroth

“Finally awake?”

These are the first words that Daemon heard along with a painful ringing that ruptures his ears. A nausea quickly ran up his skull. Literally. The pain went up to his brain resembling the puncturing of a thousand needles – more than enough pain to make him scream.

“AHHHHHHH!”

This is so unbearable that Daemon began to lose consciousness. But right before he’s swallowed by darkness, the sharp pain went away. All of these to be exact as he’s left in a half-conscious state.

“Sorry about that, I forgot to turn off the pain receptors. You’re not supposed to feel alright in hell after all.” Daemon heard this loud and clear. Though in a half-conscious state, he can somehow hear the words being said to him clearly.

It took him a while to regain full consciousness. Around ten minutes in human time. Within this period, he’s just left on the ground without anyone caring for him. A state he’s been used to all his life and one that he despises. That’s why he got to his feet right away, making him meet the person he’s talking to face to face.

“Alright, seems you’re just about good to go now.:”

Daemon found himself inside a white room. Purely of this color and without anything else. No windows no door, no decorations. The only thing inside are two chairs. One being offered to him while the other is where the man talking to him is sitting.

“My name’s Astaroth by the way.” The man named Astaroth said even before Daemon could get to his seat. “We don’t have much time before the bastards up there detects all of this so I gotta get straight to the point.”

Daemon clearly doesn’t have any idea what’s going on. But the person in front of him is definitely someone outside his league. “Beautiful” won’t even be enough to encapsulate just how jaw dropping this man’s appearance is. He has a sharp chiseled chin and eyes of crystal ocean blue. The gaze from these makes Daemon think that Astaroth can see right trough his soul.

The man’s hair is cleanly cut without any excess falling off. Black, wavy, and lustrous under the soft light of the white room. As for his clothes, he wears a pure white blazer which shares the same color of his finely woven pants – these being contrasted by the black button-down collared shirt underneath that matches the color of Astaroth’s leather shoes.

“You’re dead.”

“W-What?”

The statement made by Astaroth came so suddenly that there’s nothing Daemon could do to prepare for it. In fact, nobody can prepare for a declaration as heavy as this. Nor can it be taken seriously.

“You were killed by the same group that’s beating you up every day. I know it’s a lot to process but I can show you what happened.” Astaroth snapped his fingers and, right in front of Daemon, a screen showed up.

Here he saw everything that the finely-suited man is talking about. Daemon is there on that video. Getting pummeled by Grant, Haze, and Gerald – the three thugs that does most of the dirty work for the guys pulling the strings.

It’s the usual setting. As soon as the last period’s finished, the three bastards tell him to go with them to the rooftop. Here, Daemon gets his daily dose of punches. Another thing that Daemon’s learned to get used to. Like a film that keeps repeating over and over again.

Daemon’s already coughing out blood and his face is discolored from all the beating; another thing that’s a common occurrence. But that doesn’t stop the next punch that reached his face. And while all of this is normal, what happened next isn’t.

Daemon fell.

His version that he watches from the screen got cornered by the three so badly that he reached the edge of the rooftop. And from there, he lost his balance – killing him instantly. Then the screen disappeared.

“I know that all of this is confusing to you but frankly I don’t care.” Astaroth said right away.

It’s true – all of this is confusing to Daemon because this just doesn’t happen in real life. He doesn’t simply wake up in a weird white cube with a man who looks like he can be the CEO of all CEO’s. And he definitely shouldn’t be calm about all of this.

What he doesn’t know is that Astaroth casted a spell on him. The same one that allowed Daemon to not experience any negative effects while within the depths of hell. This cleared his mind and left it in a completely calm state that cannot be negated. That’s why Daemon is still fine even with all of this. He can think straight and, with this same clarity of mind that he has, he asked the most reasonable question.

Daemon’s eyes slowly gazed at his company. “What are you?”

Astaroth grinned. “I’m your salvation.”

The man snapped his fingers creating another game like window that floated in front of Daemon. On top of it in bold letters are words that read:

“Demonic Cultivation System?”

“I’m going to resurrect you Daemon. I’m giving you a second shot in life.” Astaroth said. “But that is only if you take up this power that I’m granting you.”

Daemon knows that all of this is actually happening. The pain he felt at the start of it all is too sharp and real for him to think that this is merely a dream. And the video he watched of him dying is starting to come back to him as a real event. The last event of his life before it ended – all the more reason for him to believe that all of this is real…and a twisted smile formed on his lips

“I’ll do it.” The words came out of Daemon’s lips almost instantly. There isn’t even a second of hesitation.

“HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Astaroth bellowed in laughter, suddenly getting out of character because of how thunderous and underwordly this sounds.

“You accept it? You don’t even know what you’re getting yourself into and yet you’re telling me that you accept it?”

“I don’t care.” Daemon said. “All my life I’ve only tasted misfortune. Ever since our house burned down and my parents died, my life has been nothing but a living hell.” Daemon said. “If you’re giving me power to escape this miserable existence of mine, then I don’t care what I have to sacrifice. I’m accepting it.

”This made Astaroth laugh again. More thunderous than before – making the earth tremor in the process. Meanwhile, Daemon simply stood there with a straight face. Staring at the man who simply continued laughing to his heart’s content.

“Alright then. I’ll give you what you want but, there’s a trial that you have you to overcome first.”

“Trial?”

“Think of it like a key that you need to unlock the power.” Astaroth said.

“Alright. I guess that’s only fair.” Daemon said. “What do I have to do?”

As soon as the words escaped Daemon’s lips, the man in front of him seemed to change shape. Astaroth’s expression darkened and a malevolent energy spread around the man – so powerful that even the spell placed on Daemon’s mind lost a bit of its effect. Making the hair on the human’s skin rise as the command is finally given.

“I need you to kill.”