Lucas was your average high school student. he had straight B's some nice friends who he spent his free time hanging out with. he lived his life like any other would, until the day that it ended.

he was late because he overslept so he was running through the halls trying to get to class on time. he had spent too much time watching television so now he was tired and late for class.

"come on its just down the hall." Lucas thought "just have to run a little faster."

it was at this point another reality broke through the veil that separates all instances possible. it let out a giant monster; it was large easily bigger than any person and it had three arms. Lucas had no time to notice anything else as he was thrown into a brick wall. more accurately through a brick wall. he coughed up blood and looked to see this monster make a devilish smile as he watched Lucas's soul leave his body.

"Where am I." Lucas thought to himself. he was in some kind of room that didn't have much light.

"Is anyone there," he shouted into the darkness. he heard a small sound that sort of resonated with him. he tried to follow the sound but he couldn't reach it. it was always out of reach, seeming to taunt him.

"come back" he shouted in the void, he did not want to be alone here. then the sound stopped moving and a light started to pour out of the area where he thought it was coming from. looking into the light he remembered everything that had happened to get him into this void. he remembered that he had died.

"you are safe now young one." said the voice of the angel in the light.

"set down your burdens and come to us here in paradise."

the voice sounded so welcoming and warm he wanted to go there but he was suddenly anchored to the floor by a great weight on his soul. he could not ascend to meet them. he looked down and saw what kept him there. to put it simply it was everything, everything he had ever done every person he had ever met. he got rid of them one by one so he could ascend then he saw that smile and remembered what sent him here. he knew inherently that that thing would kill all others that got into its way.

"I cannot die yet, I need to save them," he thought this and looked for a way out.

"I need to save them." he was beginning to become frantic now looking for a way out.

"I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them. I need to save them." he was going mad smashing everything in this realm in his chaotic search for a way out. with his shouts, the void suddenly shattered; taking him back to where he died. he no longer had a body to inhabit he was just a spirit; this in mind he took off to save his classmate. he saw the monster break into a classroom. he tried to stop the monster's weapon that sort of looked like a club but it was different in some way that he could not explain. he was directly in the way but it just passed through him and he felt the blood fly through where he was located. he tried everything that he could to stop the monster, he tried moving things but he was unable to touch anything, he tried to possess things but he's not sure that that is even possible much less actually doing it. in the end he was alone again in a sea of red unable to save even a single soul. the faculty tried to evacuate the students but very few actually got outside. the creature didn't even flinch when to police started to shoot it. the thing did not stop until someone shot it with an RPG.

Lucas had to watch as every single one of them die. he could not block out there screams that permeated his very soul. as he cowered in the corner of the ruined building he new that these screams would be with him for all of eternity. knowing this he looks up to the heavens and shouts

"WHY!"

god: "well you are the one that decided to escape the afterlife without any knowledge of what you would become."

Lucas: "who are you."

god: "well I guess that you could call me god."

Lucas: "what was that creature."

god: "not even I know. it came here from another dimension beyond my domain."

Lucas: "how can I stop this from happening again."

god: "glad you asked; there is a power that goes beyond the rules of the material realm and can do whatever can be imagined with enough power. this power known as magic is what can be used to overcome and defend against other universes."

Lucas: "what?"

god: "long story involving communication with some higher dimensional being that records stories. but basically, spiritual power can only be used in the spirit realm at the current moment. filtering that power into the material plan requires the existence of something connected to both realms."

Lucas: "where the hell am i supposed to find something like that."

god: "well there is always hell."

Lucas: "you have to be kidding me. you are saying you want me to make my way to hell to find this thing."

god: "yes that is exactly what I want you to do."

Lucas: "uuuuuuggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhh, where exactly do I go to get to hell."

god: "well the spiritual reality is superimposed onto the universe so the answer to that question is down. it exists within all the magma which causes the realm to take on the qualities of fire and brimstone. specifically, the thing you are looking for is located at the center of hell so it might take some time to get to. not to mention all the demons in the way."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Lucas: "might you tell me why exactly you are not going to get it yourself."

god: "well the nature of hell is directly opposed to my existence and thus cannot exist in the same space simultaneously. due to this, I cannot get anything out of that realm."

Lucas: "I have to fight through untold hoards of demons to get to the center and find whatever you are talking about. you do realize that I am a normal high schooler with no training in the martial arts or any other method of protecting myself."

god: "that is why I will give you this. it is a powerful relic that will turn into a weapon based on your soul and mind."

he handed Lucas a shiny stone that was engraved with several markings of unknown symbols. Lucas touched it and it immediately turned into a plasma rifle. he really did play videogames too much.

Lucas: "thank you."

god: "I will show you to the gates of hell now, they entered a clearing that held a massive archway in its center. it had many symbols engraved into it that Lucas could not understand; as well as faces that seemed to be screaming the pain of the dammed. beyond the archway, there was a sea. this sea seemed to be made of endlessly tortured souls that lost all sense of self long ago. they walked up to a tall thin man, made of nothing but bone and skin.

"payment please." the old man said to these visitors in a melancholy voice. god grabbed to coins and handed them to the old man. then Lucas got into a boat and floated across the sea.

his boat crashed against the shore on the other side of the sea and he exited. what he saw in front of him was a city of sorts. it was pretty much nothing but slums and a small market that held withered fruit and weapons. he had no real knowledge of this real but he knew he had to learn everything that he could.

Lucas went to ask some people questions but they always refused him answers; they were not fond of new souls. he was on the side of the street as he tried to determine how he was to get money as a young girl came up to him.

"do you need any help mister." said the young girl

"I am new to this real and have no way of knowing what to do," Lucas responded. the girl giggled at him and said

"silly all you have to do to live in this realm is to do service to the higher demons. with that weapon, you could become a bounty hunter in no time. rather an odd piece of equipment to be carrying around. where did you get it"

thinking logically he thought that saying that it was a gift received from god to acquire an ancient artifact located at the center of hell would not be the best idea.

"that is none of your business." Lucas said

"fine then," the girl said back

"you can get yourself registered; the hunters guild over there."

she pointed at a building directly across the street with the name hunters guild written in English. Lucas was pretty sure that this might be the only building in this city to use English. they walked across the street into the building. inside the building there appeared to be a reception area across from a bulletin board that had bounties on it and in the corner of the room there was a bar where several patrons drank an unsavory liquid. on the bulletin board there was a lot of dead or alive nonsense and some of them even just said dead. he got several unpleasant stares from the patron at the bar as he talked to the receptionist to get registered for the guild. he had thought about this decision if he was registered to the hunters guild he could go to very dangerous places without people asking questions. he predicted that he would be traveling to dangerous places constantly. after he was done registering he was given a rank 100 plate. this signified that he was the newest of the new and had done nothing to get recognition. the plates went down all the way to 1 after that they would be ranked up to demon hunter. he looked at the board and saw that there were plenty of people that were wanted dead by a lot of people he chose one at random and then he was bound to the request. since everything in the hell is made from souls and bad people many have found ways to make sure that people would be accountable. the contract directly connects to the soul and forces the existing parties to uphold their end of the bargain. Lucas noted that he suddenly felt that he needed to kill the demon that the document noted. then a guy from the bar started laughing

"you just killed yourself boy," he said as he continued to laugh.

"there ain't no one before with the power to kill that demon."

Lucas himself noticed his mistake as he further read the contract that he grabbed. the demon lived in a cave near the town and would kill many of them from time to time this made it very powerful as it absorbed the souls of all the people that had been killed by it.

the contract still forced him to this dangerous creature and he had to listen he was bound to this fight surely and had no way to escape. he found himself staring into the cave and entering with the little girl who decided to try to help him. they saw the demon sleeping on a chest that contained many soulcrest the currency of hell. then the fight began.

END CHAPTER