[A day later]

Sir Eonard, wearing brown clothes, stood beside four graves. He kept blankly staring at the ground as the cold evening breeze was blowing past him. His white hair was bathed in the red sunlight, while his blue eyes were lowered in sadness and grief. Behind him, he could hear the chattering and clanking of metallic boots.

"[SIGH]…" Sir Eonard exhaled softly and lowered himself towards the graves in front. The three graves on the right had a bouquet of flowers already placed on them, and he placed the bouquet in his hand on the last one. His eyes drifted towards the silver-hilted sword embedded in the ground beside the grave. "I’m sorry, my lord… I’m not worthy to be a knight," Sir Eonard whispered, then stood up.

Before he walked away, he momentarily stopped and looked at the grave on the far right. "I know you were no demon, Young Master… the real hellspawns have now stepped into this land," Sir Eonard said as he turned to see another convoy of green knights moving away while holding a green flag with a golden spear drawn on it. He walked in the opposite direction of the knights’ movements, right as he covered his face with a piece of ragged cloth.

Time went by at its steady pace; not a single other person looked at the graves even once. They hastily went about their days while avoiding even looking in their general direction. As the sun disappeared on the horizon, the moon emerged as the focal point in the sky among the countless stars. It was quiet, with only the faint sounds of utensils emanating from the houses in the distance. At that moment, the temperature around the graves dropped tremendously. The cold air began to gather right beside the leftmost grave, forming into a humanoid figure. "Hmm…" the dark figure said as it placed its hand under its chin and stared at the grave.

In the next instance, another dark mass of energy, much weaker than the previous one, began radiating out of the grave. “So you have possessed this body,” the dark mass said, while pointing its hand towards the grave, causing it to shatter into pieces within seconds. Arion’s dead body began floating out of the grave, in front of the dark figure. “Pardon me for intruding… But I’d like to meet you in person…” The dark figure moved his other hand, causing the faint dark energy in Arion’s body to be ripped out to the side. “SCREE!” A sharp screech emerged from the faint dark energy as it began stretching towards Arion’s body. "A lesser demon… Now, sir, I’ll be sending you to the depths of hell," the dark figure said as the ground deformed, with a circle of blood forming above it. The circle turned into a portal, followed by a set of tentacles made of blood snatching the faint dark mass of energy inside.

It moved its hand, making the portal disappear and the grave reform. "Now… shall we have a word…" It said as he placed Arion’s body on the ground. The dark figure deformed into a dark mass of energy and began entering Arion’s body from the wound on his left chest. Arion’s body began to jump uncontrollably as the unstoppable dark mass of energy rushed into him.

—

"AARGH!" Arion grabbed his chest and screamed in pure agony. While breathing heavily, he slowly opened his eyes. He realized that he was devoid of any sensation, whether it be touch or smell, while the only thing he saw around him was an endless white area. Arion moved his limbs, touching nothing, which led to the conclusion that he was floating without any control of the trajectory. He kept turning his head in all directions, but he couldn’t decipher any sense of orientation, and it appeared the same no matter where he looked.

"You have quite an unpleasant scream," a strange voice emerged from his back. Arion quickly turned back and found a pure blank snake staring at him, while raising one fourth of its body from the ground. "WHAT?" Arion exclaimed in shock, while trying to jump back. To Arion's utter disbelief, the voice was coming from the snake. "What…where…How..." Arion spoke with pure confusion engulfing his head.

"For what, whatever I appear as, it is the creation of your mind. For where, this is the place that leads souls to heaven or hell. You can call it ‘the place between’. For how, you're here because you’re dead," the snake replied in a calm voice. "I...I know,... I'm dead.." Arion said while gritting his teeth with rage. The snake's head tilted a little towards the left, "Tell me, human, why are you so angry?" The snake asked in a curious tone.

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"My family was murdered by that bastard priest. My mother,.. she died in my arms. I could do nothing. They died because of me. I don’t know why. What did I do? Why did they have to die?" Arion's voice further broke down as tears began flowing from his eyes, falling on his clenched fists beneath his face. "Why such rage now?" the snake repeated the question. "Why? Because I want to rip that bastard’s head off his body! Burn everything he stands for to ashes and crush everyone he cares for to dust!" Arion exclaimed, his fists shaking with rage. "Interesting… I was right… I found something special." The snake slithered closer to Arion, almost lifting its entire body up, and stared right into Arion's eyes.

"Souls aren’t able to bear such grudge in this realm, but your rage has attached itself to your very being. You lust for revenge, yearn for a chance to color your hands with your enemies’ blood, your thoughts seem more demonic than human." the snake spoke, getting closer to Arion. Arion's eyebrows furrowed; "Am I a demon?" Arion asked, his eyes gazing doubtfully at the snake. "No, but a lesser demon had attached itself to your soul," the snake answered, slithering a little away from Arion. "Your mother might’ve birthed you with the aid of a demon or..."

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!” Arion shouted while glaring at the snake. He kept attempting to move towards it but failed no matter how many times he flung his limbs around. “First, lower your voice human…” As the voice emerged once again from the snake, a chill ran down Arion’s spine. “Second, that was indeed disrespectful of me…” The snake’s voice suddenly became calm again as he spoke. “Then you might have been cursed by someone… But the lesser demon didn’t immediately get control of your body because of some artifact you had.” The snake said after a brief pause. Arion’s mind immediately took him back to the moment his mother had tied a locket around his neck. Before he could say anything, “I can’t stay here much longer… once the gods find out I’ve contacted a soul… they will erase you from existence,” the snake said as it looked up. Curious, Arion looked up as well and saw six different colored lights slowly tearing their way in the dimension.

“It seems you were destined for heaven,” the snake said while almost chuckling. Arion’s brows furrowed as pure rage coursed through his veins. “Those bastards…” He whispered with his teeth pressed against each other. “Oh? You have quite the hatred for the gods… Say, human… What if you had a chance…” The words the snake spoke forced Arion’s complete attention towards it. “Chance?” Arion asked while raising his brows. “Why stop at the priest? Your real enemies are those six gods that are lusting to devour your soul,” the snake said in a calm tone while staring at Arion. “What do you mean?” Arion could feel his heartbeat getting faster as every cell in his body eagerly awaited the snake’s response.

“You need power… and I require a vessel. My goal is to eliminate the god’s avatar destined to be born in a few years, and yours is to take revenge against the gods.” The snake once again slithered closer to Arion. “What are you willing to sacrifice for your revenge, human?” Arion’s eyes widened as he saw the snake’s mouth stretch wide open, with hundreds of teeth composing his smile. “…Whatever it takes…” Arion answered with a determined expression. “Fine… I will give you strength… in return, I’ll take a part of your body,” the snake replied as its mouth deformed even further, to the point it didn’t even look like a snake. “I agree-…” Just as Arion opened his mouth to speak, the snake rushed inside, stretching his throat as it rapidly entered his body.

“For now… I shall take your eyes…” The snake’s words echoed in Arion’s head as he opened his eyes under the night sky. His eyes now bore a sharp scarlet glow, with a slight red hue appearing in his vision for a brief moment. Arion stood up, feeling a strange presence inside his own body. He looked around and found the place covered in pure darkness, the only bright spots being the houses and street lamps. Arion walked in front of the three other graves and lowered his head. “Mother, father, Brother, I don’t know the path I’m about to walk… But I’ll make sure every footmark I leave behind is made by your murderers' blood,” Arion said as a single tear fell from his left eye.

[END OF CHAPTER: 5]