The Expanse was the closest thing Abraxis had to feeling at home, and navigating through it felt intuitive, familiar. He didn’t know what guided him through for certain, but he didn’t need to know. It worked and worked well, and that’s all that mattered.

Regardless of the method he used to traverse the Expanse, he always admired the awe-inspiring darkness. The shadows there were deeper, fuller, simply more than what he could control in either Hell or the mortal realm. They almost greeted him as he passed, guiding towards what he searched for.

Nothing about the Expanse made rational sense, and he’d learned that a long time ago. Trying to determine if the Expanse was some kind of sub-realm, some interconnected world that filled the space of the other worlds and could somehow be understood, was an exercise in futility.

All he could determine at the end of the day was it worked to get him where he needed to go, cost him nothing, and could be used every so often—but not too much. What that meant, he never tried to determine. Crossing worlds often didn’t fit within the bounds of his plans, since most of his precarious preparations required attention.

But that might be the spirit of perfection talking. Who knew? It worked, and he appreciated that it worked. It didn’t bother him at all that he didn’t know how, not one bit.

As he traversed the Expanse, he searched. The entire area consisted of a bunch of doors that connected over to the Trenches, though not according to any method that made sense. For example, the door to the basement he’d come out of was close by to another door that would take him to the other side of the Trenches entirely, spitting him out near a smelly tannery.

There were others he’d designated as “have mercy on yourself, and do not enter” places. None of them provided much value, as there were other doors that let him out in places that would be far more useful. Whether due to what those places actually stored or their tactical advantage in relation to wherever he needed to be in any given moment, there were better alternatives.

As he searched, he watched the violet stormclouds ahead spark across the sky in their strange semi-realness. He could feel some kind of substance from them, but he’d passed through many before. They didn’t affect him in any way, almost as if he were too tangible to truly interact with anything not anchored in one of the worlds.

The mystery of the Expanse would, for now, remain a mystery. He found the door he needed, checked his watch, and grinned, showing his teeth. The day had borne fruit, more than he’d expected but less than he’d deserved.

His hands wrapped around the semi-substance of a door he recognized, one he’d found through painstaking efforts that was the crux to his plan. Before he slipped inside, he made sure to transform back to his human appearance, noting how his human flesh sack had grown by several inches and felt far more compact. Less like a prison and more like a similar-but-different version of himself.

He opened the door, took in a deep breath, and then threw himself through, slipping out of the Expanse and back into the mortal realm. Shifting through the strange space of the Expanse just felt right, like being sucked into the mortal realm and pushed out of the Expanse at the same time, something heady and oddly comfortable. He’d taken testimonies from Lilith often about how she felt disturbed and Lucifer had felt perfectly fine.

A lie, clearly, as his body had reacted with extreme aggression in a way Abraxis had never again seen. So whatever their experience was with the Expanse and passing through it, they didn’t like how it made them feel. Just another proof that he was a superior being to them, something he often flaunted over Lucifer.

Reminder to self, invite Lucifer to the mortal world again. Once finished, rejoice in his discomfort as he scrambles to find an excuse. Abraxis nodded to himself, grinning in his human form, and checked his nasty Trencher outfit.

Nasty was a little harsh, seeing as it was perfectly tailored, but it was simple and made of material that scratched against his skin in a way he found annoying. Many times, he’d thought to find the tailor and have them strung up for offering him such a paltry product, but then he remembered he’d barely paid a thing for it.

So the tailor got to live another day and slipped back into the recesses of his mind. Focusing, he turned. He’d stepped out of an abandoned warehouse, burnt down during the Anti-Demon Movement two decades ago, and crossed his arms while tapping his foot impatiently and checking his watch.

“Any second now,” Abraxis muttered, hearing the click click click and ragged breath of someone in too-expensive shoes running down the cobbled streets. Turning towards the quickly approaching Dax carrying the Amulet of Despair, Abraxis grinned as the young boy’s face flushed with determination and eyes quivering with fear. “What do we have here?”

“How is he—no, it doesn’t matter. This is all within the confines of the plan,” Dax muttered to himself, Abraxis’ hearing barely able to pick up the words. “Gotta act normal and lead him towards—” It appeared Dax realized Abraxis could hear him and immediately clamped his mouth shut. He stopped some distance away, just outside the range of Abraxis’ Talent. “You can’t have it.”

Those were the only words Dax said before darting to the side, away from the road and through the middle of the burnt down remnants of the outer Trench’s ranges. Too much farther and they’d be in Wasteland territory. Not too big a worry, and Abraxis even preferred that. He’d be able to do his dirty business in quiet, take what was rightfully his, gloat about his greatness, and then make a getaway with none the wiser.

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Well, that was after he massacred the mercenaries who’d yet to catch Dax. They barely kept pace. Before the boy got too far away, Abraxis followed behind with a measured gait, keeping his pace to the limitations of his form—plus about twenty percent.

As he ran after Dax, beginning the true hunt, he wiped away the trail. He wouldn’t have his happy fun-time ruined by those unworthy of his attention. No, he’d reward Dax properly for taking the bait and retrieving Abraxis’ Amulet for Big Boss. Once he made the drop, handed over the Amulet, and got his reward, Abraxis would grasp the roots he’d anchored deep into the Trenches and rip them up for harvesting.

Patience, Abraxis. In due time. Enjoy this while it lasts. As happy as can be, he followed the boy. The inevitable demise he’d bring crashing down on his prey could wait ten minutes, hours, days! The longer this went on, the sweeter the reaping would be, the sowing of such beautiful hope and despair. And I’ll be sure to use the Amulet at least once before handing it over. I’m sure Big Boss won’t mind.

Something nagged at him while he stalked his prey, something subtle and insidious. A creeping energy seeping into his being and gently caressing against his mind and Nexus, promising him sweet nothings if he just let his guard down. It was a paltry thing, but by being such a meager presence, it almost slipped through his conscious barrier.

Abraxis stopped, raised a hand, and grasped at every shadow he could call upon to raise all Hell. The intensity was sharp, extreme in such a degree and brief enough that the illusion he’d apparently walked into crumbled around him.

And there, staring back at him, that lowly Max. “Long time no see. I’m assuming this is your doing, so don’t be too surprised when you die.” Dax stared back at him with a smug horror that didn’t want to decide on whether to be hopeful or whether the boy needed to change his underwear. “I’ll get to you in a second.” The two Ax-boys looked between each other, and Dax, apparently having the bigger gonads of the two, gestured Max forward. Hmm, he has potential. Volunteer your partner as tribute! Good plan.

But then Abraxis groaned. Max began arguing with Dax. To him, they both looked like rats, and his temper was rising. They’d almost got him. The feelings passed, and he looked at things objectively. The connection to whatever had nearly entered his Nexus and mind with the guise of being just that pathetic still remained.

Oh, this should be interesting. Abraxis tilted his head as he turned his focus inward while they argued. He was stuck in a cursed magic circle he didn’t necessarily feel the need to break out of quite yet. Instead, he tickled the odd smoke with his own conscious tendrils.

“You should be the one to—” Max turned to look at Abraxis, eyes wide with horror. He gaped, letting Abraxis know what the smoke led back to. “Fine!” Max didn’t have time to screw around, and he and Abraxis knew now that this would only end one way. “If you want something done right, I suppose one must do it themselves.”

“Poetic,” Dax spat, gripping the Amulet of Despair in his right hand while holding onto a disgusting talisman with the left. Abraxis could feel the anti-demon magic from where he was, and the damned thing had to cut through the cursed circle to do that. “You better not screw this up. We’re both dead if you do.”

Too bad it’s already too late. Abraxis stretched his arms over his head and leaned to the side, taking a stance. “Get ready to run, Daxxy. I’ll be coming for that amulet in just a second.” Abraxis waged a war on three fronts, completely overpowering Max’s pitiful attempts at resisting his counterattack as Abraxis whittled away at the weakened cursed circle. “I’d say you’ve got maybe ten seconds to count your blessings before you become a snack. I’ve had a long night, so I’m quite famished at the moment.”

Seeing the truth in Abraxis’ eyes, tears ran down Dax’s face as he gripped the Amulet of Despair. “Damn you, you pathetic excuse of a demon! You’re a curse to existence!”

He knows I’m a demon? Things clicked in place. The anti-demon artifacts weren’t for Max, they were for Abraxis. Teaming up with Max, who specialized in curse magic, and the things he’d said earlier. What’s going on here?

Even if he wanted to know, he didn’t have time at that moment to find out. Fighting against Max must’ve been similar to how Yugmuswa felt fighting against Abraxis. Nothing Max did worked, and he refused to get into melee range to truly bring his envyfire to bear. Rather, he panicked and tried to make his escape, hoping distance would put out the smoke-like connection he’d created to Abraxis.

It didn’t. In fact, he only took two steps before Abraxis’ counterattack crossed the smoky path into Max’s existence, his tendrils stabbing into mind and Nexus without meeting any resistance at all. Nullify defenses, subdue will and existence, convert Max’s being to Abraxis’, and absorb it all as his.

But at the same time as the energy flowed into Abraxis, he snapped forward. Max’s death meant there wasn’t a second presence the anti-demon talisman warded against and poured more power into the cursed magic circle, destabilizing it, and freeing Abraxis. Nullify easily took care of the talisman, slapping away that discriminatory energy.

“This is the end!” Abraxis growled, snapping through the distance faster than Dax could react. His hand wrapped around the boy’s neck and crushed. A partial transformation occurred, and Abraxis’ left hand reverted to employ enough power. As the light of light left Dax’s eyes, Abraxis grabbed and yanked the Amulet of Despair free from around the boy’s neck. “Can’t wait to play with this as you have, but thanks for getting it for me.”

Abraxis watched the pure terror fade in the boy’s eyes, but Abraxis wasn’t done yet. He reached his prideful Sin inside Dax’s already broken mind and body and wrenched all the available energy out. Whatever humans had, it wasn’t Miasma, Sin, or the disgusting Blight. It was far different, making Abraxis wonder whether that energy might be what Albagoroth and Uncle had been trying to show him.

No, it doesn’t feel right, he concluded. The human's energy felt more free, less defined. It simply existed without shape, form, function, purpose, or anything to anchor it to anything in reality—which had a few odd implications. What those were, Abraxis couldn’t tell, nor did he have the patience to find out at that very moment.

Not when he finally gained the Amulet of Despair.