As I watch the woman in front of me , I can't help but marvel at my surroundings and how nonsensical it all seems.

  There is no sun in the sky , but red light descends upon us nonetheless , bringing with it vague coldness instead of warmth.

  The fields of damnation spread as far as the eye can see.

  The dark ground is cracked in places , spurting molten rock and noxious fumes.

  I thank whatever gods may listen that I have my soul body and not my fleshy one.

  The woman in front of me looks haggard and defeated , blood pooling at her feet from various wounds .

  Hmm , is that blood though? Surely not , it must be a type of soul energy...food for thought. I should drink my own blood before trying rocks.

  Her gaze seems empty and from the glazed look in her eyes , she is probably trying to shut down her consciousness to avoid feeling the dread of our current situation.

  That won't do , not at all....

  I walk closer to her , all the while observing her wounds. The ones she had when she appeared in this place , not the ones our demon friend gifted her.

  Multiple lacerations on her arms and legs .

  Multiple bruises on her exposed belly .

  Her lack of hair , looking as if it has been burned , not shaved...Given that I was in pristine condition when I arrived , there is one likely possiblity.

  She is from another level.

  Now, the demons said level 1 is the nicest of them all , but who would believe those chucklefucks. They look like they escaped straight out of a ntr doujin . Fucking Gross.

  Point is , she is here for a reason, maybe because of her own actions, or , more disturbingly , because of mine .

  I don't think I did anything to gather attention but who knows...

  I reach the woman , look into her eyes , and slowly , careful not to scare her....pull her into a hug. I read some books on psychology but I am by no means an expert.

  I just hope human contact can help her feel safe for a bit , just enough for us to talk .

  As I felt her arms wrapping around me and holding me (tighter than I would have thought someone with her wounds can manage ), I couldn't help but regret my decision a bit.

  My back was incredibly damaged , my scapulas were almost without muscle left on them.

  My trapezoid muscle was split in many pieces , some of which still fell to the ground when I walked. I don't even care how my arms still work as long as they continue doing so. It was quite bad , and someone squeezing those was , as one would expect, extremely painful.

  At least with the demons , I could drown the pain in hatred and impotent rage. I can't do that with this girl. She's not the one to blame.

  As I watched her silently hugging me back , I gently stroked her undamaged shoulder ( the other was quite mangled).

  I would have stroked her hair but...yeah.

  "What's your name?" I asked softly.

  She seems like a nice girl. I wouldn't mind letting her live If killing her doesn't bring me any benefits.

  I don't even know how the wardens would react if we started fighting.

  Would they cheer and make bets or would they punish us?

  More things to find out . It would be quite nice to take a break from the rocks by engaging in a mock battle....a man can dream.

  ---------------------------------

  Laclair Pov:

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  The nightmare started the night my little sister disappeared .

  We were alone from a young age , our parents having abandoned us , but it didn't affect us all that much . Even when they still kept us , our life sucked .

  What would one expect from a prostitute-pimp couple.

  We grew up fast and we learned to adapt. We understood that school was our best bet to live better lives so we studied a lot.

  My sister ended up as an architect and I as a police officer. Life was good and getting better by the day.

  We both had dreams and things we wanted to achieve. My sister wanted to leave a mark on this world, making a building that would be hailed as a historical monument by future generations.

  I had simpler goals. To decrease the crime rate as much as I possibly could.

  It was hard but honest work , and I always had a knack for knowing the guilty form the inocent . I could ,( and don't laugh) , see a kind o darkness around evil people.

  It appeared sporadically and nobody else could see it but when it appeared, it was always right .

  I won't ever forget the first time I saw the fog...

  We were in a church and the priest was giving his sermon. When all of a sudden , I saw dark particles rotating slowly around the priest.

  I asked my sister if she saw any of this and she thought I was kidding.

  After a few minutes , the particles disappeared and I went home thinking maybe I needed glasses...

  A few days later , when the priest was arrested for being a child molester , I knew something was amiss.

  So, in the midst of life's twists and turns, a lightning bolt of clarity struck me—like a message from the universe itself. It was as if fate had nudged me with a cosmic elbow, leaving me with a revelation that seemed too powerful to ignore.

  With a mix of amazement and gratitude, I realized that this wasn't just a random occurrence. It was like getting a secret map to something bigger.

  Something... meaningful. And I wasn't about to let that slip through my fingers.

  Taking a deep breath, I decided that this wasn't just a random "a-ha" moment.

  Nope, it was more like a call to action, a mission to make things better. To shine a light on the shadows and make them scatter.

  I mean, who wouldn't jump at a chance like that, right? Armed with this newfound wisdom, I set out to tackle the world's problems, one step at a time. It was like stepping into superhero shoes, minus the flashy cape.

  The journey wouldn't be easy, of course. But hey, I wasn't one to back down from a challenge. Armed with this revelation, I was ready to roll up my sleeves and dive into a world that needed a little bit of cleaning up.

  So, with a heart full of purpose and a head full of determination, I set out on this quest, ready to kick some sinners to the curb and make the world a tad bit shinier.

  It might sound crazy, but sometimes, the universe hands you a mission, and you just have to go with it.

  .

  .

  And then , without any preemptive signs... my whole world came crashing down...

  Amelie went missing.

  She went in another city to work on a project and for a while , we kept in touch using face-time and messages.

  Untill one day , she stopped answering any and all of my messages and calls .

  I thought she maybe lost her phone so I didn't panic (she was a bit of an airhead sometimes). I just called a friend of hers to ask about how she was doing....and they told me she hadn't shown up to work that day...

  I felt the fear gripping my heart but I forced myself to calm down , telling myself there must be a logical explanation for her behavior.

  I got in my car and drove non-stop towards the city where my sister went.

  I reached the hotel in which I knew she was supposed to stay while working on her project.

  My knees went weak and my breath turned shallow when I didn't find her there , and the receptionist told me she was not seen by the security cameras since yesterday.

  I immediately called all her friends and colleagues, asking about any information they might have .

  I found out in the end that my sister was getting chummy with a man she met while touring the city , and they supposedly went to a club together the day before.He was a regular apparently and had many friends there.

  I stormed the club , showed them my police badge and found all the information I needed about the man my sister came here with .

  In less than half an hour , I was banging on his door . Said door opened and I saw a handsome man step outside , or he would have been handsome without the bandages on his right cheeck.

  "Mister Poisson , my name is Laclaire Noir from the central police station in Paris. You are under arrest for for kidnaping Amelie Noir , my little sister."

  It was a bluff , but the clues were hard to miss .

  Her sudden disappearance.

  His busted cheeck .

  And most importantly....the dark mist swirling around him.

  As soon as I saw his eyes widen in fear , I struck out with my hand towards his throat.

  A strong enough punch to the trachea can kill a man , but I was beyond caring.

  He went down like a sack of potatoes and I entered his room .

  The info I had on him painted him to be a solo criminal , with a new fake identity.

  Really ,Mr fish?

  Could he be any more obvious? .

  Poor name choices aside , he was quite the professional. His only fallacy was not expecting someone to find him so fast .

  There were , after all, less than 24 hours since he kidnapped Amelie.

  The fear I felt....was debilitating.

  My emotions were a tempest of anguish, anger, and heartache.

  It's the kind of fear that gnaws at my soul, threatening to consume me from the inside out. And yet, amidst the darkness, a glimmer of hope persisted — a fragile flame that prayed for my sister's safety, clinging to the belief that maybe, just maybe, this nightmare will end in a way that defies the horrors that haunted my thoughts.

  The only way I could cope with it was to repeat to myself again and again and AGAIN that Amelie was FINE .

  Maybe tied up in his bedroom, maybe unconscious in a cabinet. Maybe even in a completely different location.

  It would be traumatic for her , sure , but she would be ALIVE and with enough therapy, all of this would hopefully only amount to some nightmares in unlucky nights.

  I checked the cabinets .

  All of them were empty ...

  I checked all the rooms...

  Except the bedroom.

  Amelie must be there .

  And she MUST BE FINE.

  I refuse to even entertain thinking about a different outcome...

  With shaky steps , I neared the last door.

  With a soft creak, it opened and...

  .

  .

  .

  .

  I don't remember clearly what happened next ...

  When I came to be ,the first thing I felt was the pain in my eardrums.

  There was an unbelievably strong noise resounding from somewhere near.

  Very near .

  As if it was coming directly from....me.

  It wasn't a scream , it was wasn't a cry. It was pure , undiluted despair given physical form .

  Or at least.... that's how it sounded to me ...

  Slowly , it got more and more quiet , until it turned into painful , choked sobs.

  What is happening....Why am I crying? I was supposed to search for....Amelie....

  She's...dead , isn't she?

  I looked at my hands.

  Bloody .

  But not my blood .

  I looked around .

  And Mr fish was lying on the floor...with so many holes in him he looked more like a sieve than a human being.

  His face was disfigured

  His head was smashed to a pulp.

  ....I don't remember doing that?

  That's when I heard the sirens.

  The police was close .

  I should get up and....my sister's face flashed before my eyes.

  My beautiful little sister who was too naive for her own good ....her unrecognizable body , save for her golden hair and the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet I gifted her many years ago , when I got my first salary.

  The day I promised her I would take care of her...that I would protect her no matter what...

  The day I believed everything will go well...

  As I stared down the barrel of my gun , I thought of my sister.

  You are my world Amelie .

  I can't and won't live in a world without you...

  If there is an afterlife , I will find you...

  No gods , or demons shall stand in my way .

  Even if I have to take on the whole world by myself , even if I have to crawl along a bridge made with the corpses of my enemies.

  I will find you .

  AND I WON'T LET ANYONE HURT YOU AGAIN.

  .

  .

  I pulled the trigger.

  .

  .

  .

  And then I was in hell