The Elevator whizzed upwards for a minute or so, allowing Arthur to get so comfortable as to sit down. However, this relative calm only lasted for a minute at most, before he suddenly and without warning slammed into the roof of the Elevator as it stopped dead in its tracks. A little “ding” rang throughout the Elevator and the metal doors slip open. Right above the doors, as Arthur now could see(it was right in his face) there was a little meter showing where exactly they were. The little arrow pointed at a -5. Just as Arthur noticed this, a pair of suit-wearing gentlemen strided inside. They were almost entirely identical, one having two large horns on the right side of his head, the other on his left. Hm. Almost like a matching pair, Arthur thought before unceremoniously slamming back down on the floor once the Elevator closed and continued ascending.

The two first-floor looking demons were not surprised in the least, neither by Arthurs fall nor the sudden acceleration of the Elevator. Instead, they shrugged and both simultaneously laughed a robotic “ha-ha-ha,” at Arthur. Arthur, in response to this, attempted to show that he, too, could be strong and stand in the Elevator, but he barely got to a sitting position before he slammed back down.

Somehow, compared to even the weakest of demons, Arthur was weak. The most accurate and flattering comparison would be to call Arthur a “human with horns”, which, considering where Arthur has spent all of his life, would be semi-flattering.

A few minutes go by, and Arthur has unwillingly accepted the fact that he, a demon from the 8th circle of hell, was weaker than a demon from the 1st circle. The pair of business-looking demons stood idly by during this, casually chatting about things that Arthur simply couldn't’t comprehend. What’s a “stock”?... The Elevator ground to a sudden halt once more, sending Arthur flying through the air. The meter said -1. “Ding”. The two demons left to continue whatever business they had, allowing Arthur to catch a single glimpse of the ever-hate first floor. It looked very luxurious. That’s all he could think. Then it was gone in a flash, he was back on the floor, and the Elevator continued towards Earth.

After less than a minute, the Elevator stopped at last, the meter pointed at 0, the bell went “ding” and the metal doors slid open. After several minutes of either being stuck to the ground or the roof, suddenly standing up was a momentous feat that he could only barely do. Huffing and puffing and trembling, Arthur stepped out of the Elevator, clinging to the sides like a drowning man to his saviour.

It was dazzling. From the roof hung large, glittering and glowing thing he couldn’t identify(a chandelier), the ground was made entirely of some fancy sort of mineral formed into squares(marble), on the walls hung various things he certainly had no idea what they were(paintings, murals and luxurious fabrics). The whole room must have been atleast twice the size and height as the barn that had previously been his home. The place was filled with people and creatures of various sizes and shapes, some looking like humanoid birds, other like succubi with birds wings, some babies(without horns and things like that) flying with white birds wings and carrying what Arthur could only assume to be instruments of some sort. There were also people without horns or the like wearing strange, big fancy attire(catholic priests and nuns). On his left, almost right beside the Elevator, there was a little table also made of the strange mineral, with glittering details(gold) and ebony coverings. By this extremely fancy desk, a fair long-haired beauty wearing a two-piece gray suit was sitting, looking very concerned. “Can I help you,” she said with a sweet voice, “sir?”

Arthur looked at her with big, staring eyes. She must be a succubus as well, he thought conclusively. “Yeah, uh,” he stuttered, “I’m the new hunter. Like human hunter? Do you know where I’m supposed to go? Or do?” Her first reaction was to widen her eyes in surprise and fear, but then suspicion set in. “Do you have any proof of this claim?” she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Arthur fumbled a bit before quickly fishing the letter and seal from his pouch. She quickly read it, every now and then casting a strange glance his way before finally handing it back with a sigh. “Well, if you could ride the Elevator at all, it must be the real deal. Anyhow, your uniform and pin await over there, right by the restrooms,” she said, pointing towards a large table connected to wall besides, well, whatever a “restroom” is.

Despite not knowing what those rooms beside where he was going was, he casually walked over to the table. A large, strong man(without any horns or the like - how peculiar) welcomed him with a big smile. “You’re a demon, I assume?” he said with a mighty voice. Arthur just had to nod with a little respectful smile. “Right, what’s your rank?” he asked as he started to go through the innumerable rows of clothes behind him. Around half were black or red and the other was either white, blue, yellow, or any other super-happy colour. “I’m not sure, the letter I got just said I was a hunter,” Arthur said lackadaisical. The large man twiched, turned around, and gave Arthur a weary smile. He quickly made his way to the very end of the rows of clothes, finally taking out a grey three-piece wool suit with a herringbone pattern, a white shirt, a matching bowler hat, a pair of black leather oxfords, and a little black pin with an odd shape, much like a little five-pointed star.

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“Wh-, whoa…” Arthur gasped a little. He had only seen clothes like this on the fanciest devils he’d seen like a couple minutes ago in Babylon. “Are-, are these for me?...” Arthur said, barely being able to touch the suit the man was holding out to him. “Of course they are! Now, just you go ahead and try putting them on in the restroom right here, I’ll hold onto your valuables in the meantime. Arthur looked at his little pouch containing all he owned and back at the robust man. With demons as big and strong as this, trust was a given. Arthur was sure that if he didn’t give them willingly, he’d be lucky to get away with a pair of broken hands. “A-, alright…” Arthur said, handing over the pouch dejectedly. In return, he took the suit, and cautiously entered the restrooms.

They were big and luxurious. At this point, Arthur didn’t even know how to process all this fanciness. He assumed that the white porcelling chair-like thing was just that, a chair, and so went and sat down on it. He looked over the suit on his lap. Was he even allowed to wear something like this?... Well, the buff man said it was his, so…

Arthur threw off any and all clothing, soon standing entirely in the nude. First up, pants. They were extremely pleasant and fit very well. Considering how everybody else wearing a suit had looked, he guessed second would be the white shirt? And then, the vest, the jacket, and shoes, and all that…

After a little while, he couldn’t help but admit he looked positively sharp, ready to go out and hunt some humans! He put the little strange star-shaped pin in the hole on the jackets collar, and felt like he could do just about anything. With a prideful geit, he cat-walked out of the restroom and out to dazzle the big man who had given him the uniform. The big man in question did a little whistle to confirm Arthurs hopes, making him very, very happy. This must have been one of the happiest points of his life, comparable to that one time he had found a really fat human that looked like a hairless boar in the wilderness and got to eat almost a third all by himself.

“Oh, right, before you head out into the world to, well… do your work, there’s some things you’d better know in advance,” the big man said, first pointing to the little pin, “that right there is a Voider. If you tap it once, any demonic traits you may have become “voided”. Basically, the temporarily disappear. You can’t touch them or see them, but if you tap it again, it becomes visible again. If you tap it twice, the entirety of you, clothes included, gets voided. I can personally recommend almost always being entirely voided, especially now in the beginning. You won’t die or anything, you just become invisible and the such, like a ghost. Don’t ask how it works, it has to do with exposing the soul and storing the body in Limbo or something. Tap it twice again and you become un-voided. Right, and if you need help, just tap it trice quickly, then thrice slowly and thrice quickly. Bibibi, beep beep beep, bibibi. You got it?” he asked after a helluva long time.

“Uh, yes,” Arthur said, itching to press it just a couple of times. “Right. Also, in the back of your blazer, theres a pair of pockets that hide your wings, and if you just curl your tail close to your body it should be hidden as well. As for your horns, your hat already hides them quite well. Your fangs and claws can’t really be hidden, but… be carefull out there, alright? You seem like a pretty good guy, so… once you get out there in the big world, don’t come here and kill me, alright?” he said, cocking his brow in uncertainty. Arthur looked extremely confused. “Why would I kill you, aren’t you a demon as well?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Well, sorry to break the news, but I’m very much human,” he said with a weary smile. Arthur could barely hold his laughter. “I’ve seen my fair share of humans, and none have ever looked like you do. You look more demonic than human!” Arthur exclaimed with a big smile. The big man couldn’t help but ask: “Which circle are you from, anyhow?...” to which Arthur blankly replied “The 8th.” The big man couldn’t help but be surprised. He had seen many demons and angels in his days, and as far as he knew, the deeper a demon or angel lived, the more of a presence they had in the bible, so to see such an ordinary demon from such a deep part of hell… aha! It suddenly hit him. Scammers. That’s who go to the 8th circle.

“Oh, right,” Arthur said, interrupting his thoughts, “what’s your name? I’m Arthur!” The big man stared blankly, before replaying “I’m Fred.” Arthur grinned and held out his hand. Fred looked at it suspiciously. “What, don’t you shake hands up here?” Arthur asked genuinely. “Oh, no, of course,” Fred finally said, gripping Arthur’s hand and shaking it vigorously and strongly. “Ow! Hey, don’t press that hard, I’m not that strong!” Arthur said half-jokingly, soothingly massaging his right hand. Fred made a strange grimace, combining cautiousness, confusion and worry all into one. Finally, he scratched his neck, and said “Sorry, since you were from the 8th circle, I sort of-,” “Assumed I was fooling you? I wouldn’t do that to you, Fred! We’re both demons here! I’ll be coming back if I ever need your help, that alright?” Arthur interrupted with a knowing smile. Fred knit his brows but couldn’t help but laugh. “Heh, I guess so, Arthur. Come back any time. Oh, right, just press the Voider four times quick, three times slow, two times quick, one slow, another slow and then two quick, and it’ll connect right to me, alright?” “Oh! Nice! Alright, I’ll see you around!” Arthur finally said, waving goodbye as he bounced towards the double doors from which he had seen people come and go.

He tapped the Voider once and felt how something on his head, back and ass disappeared. His claws were trimmed down and he couldn’t feel his fangs anymore. Had he had a mirror, he would have seen his red, slitted eyes turn a sky-blue, entrancing hue. He really looked quite charming, especially with that youthful vigour he had about him.

He pushed the heavy doors open, and was immediately stunned. The whole sky was a bright blue, and in the middle of it, a bright light, much alike the brightness of Babylons Tower at night, only a thousand times amplified, shining so bright his eyes got teary. And everywhere he could see, there we humongous, ginormous steel boxes with innumerable little square holes in them, some reflecting the light of the star above like glass mirrors, others being almost see-through. Stretching right before his eyes, a long, grey carpet of rock was laid out, connecting all the steel boxes together. And on these grey carpets, hundreds and hundreds of horn-less and tail-less demons crowded together, all heading somewhere Arthur couldn’t even imagine.

Arthur saw a great, big city.