Chapter 1: I Am The God of Hellfire, Part 1

When Sam blew out the candles on his second eighteenth birthday cake, the room burst into flames.

He staggered backward, away from the table. He knew it couldn’t have something to do with the fire when it hadn't started there, but he didn't want to be near it anyway.

"Holy shit!"

But Sam was the only one to react.

The rest of his new family, those who were present anyway, were frozen as the flames spread through the room.

He knew that magic existed in this world, unlike the world he came from, along with many other strange things. But he was new here, so he didn't understand what was happening or what he could do about it. What a way to start his second chance, becoming an orphan after his family died in a fire just three days after arriving in this world.

He didn't love any of them, how could he? But that didn't mean he'd be better off alone.

Sam managed to calm down.

Because it took him a while, but he finally realized they weren't flames. Not really. Everything was being covered by a red curtain, but nothing was burning.

"What's going on here?"

He wished he at least had this boy's memories, the memories of the eighteen years he had missed in a crappy reincarnation. Maybe the boy, who creepily was also named Sam, would know what was happening.

His body screamed at him to run without looking back, but Sam stayed where he was, watching as the flames consumed the room.

The members of his new family disappeared before the flames touched them, like dust in the wind.

The floor, walls, ceiling, everything melted in a similar way. In the blink of an eye, Sam found himself in a completely different space. A dark void that gave the feeling it would swallow him as soon as he let his guard down. Apart from him, the only thing that existed in this void was a terrible cold that chilled him to the bone.

No, not just that. There was something out there. On the other side of the velvety curtain of darkness, there was definitely 'something'.

Sam didn't want to know what that something was. He already had enough headaches, but one thing was clear: whoever had brought him here hadn't bothered to put on that show just to take a look at him and send him back to the real world.

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He just hoped that something wanted to talk, not tear him to pieces. He resisted the urge to swallow. Showing his fear wouldn't help him at all. It would be like bleeding in shark-infested waters...

Yeah, why not?

What told him that something on the other side of the darkness was the only shark in these dark waters?

The first thing he saw were its eyes.

Human eyes, except for their yellow glow.

"Sam. The time has come."

His heart raced.

He knew him. That is, the owner of this body did.

More things he should know about which he had no fucking clue. But this being didn't just do magic, it wasn't even a human being. That was more than obvious. If not for everything that had happened, with those yellow eyes...

Demonic.

It emerged from the darkness. It was a humanoid being with a completely normal appearance. Smooth, even elegant, in his narrow black suit and red tie. Really, the only thing that stood out were his yellow eyes, but that didn't stop Sam from feeling a chill. He told himself it was just from the cold of the environment. The cold of the deepest circle of hell. He didn't believe it.

"You must be wondering who I am, and it's very simple. I am Satan, the lord of hell. I am your true father."

Oh. Great.

It wasn't exactly what he had expected, but he supposed it made sense. It fit. He himself had been a businessman and done great evils for... Rather little, looking back. That had been his only regret at death's door.

"I've been eagerly awaiting your eighteenth birthday. Now that it has arrived, your powers will awaken. But, of course, that will cause danger to follow you everywhere. My son, you must destroy your false family, the Wrights. Otherwise, now that you are... different, they will discover you. And you will burn at the stake. Besides, it's a way for you to prove yourself. My position, my power, my fortune will pass into your hands. This is a succession ritual for your human and demonic inheritance. What do you say, son?"

What was he going to say? He had made it clear that he really had no other choice. He was none other than the Son of Satan, a seed of evil. It was easy to laugh at religious fanatics living in a world where all that was nothing more than a story in an old dusty book, but here they would set him on fire and with good reason. He was, basically, the damn Antichrist, wasn't he?

His life, the most precious thing in the world, was at stake.

So he would fight to survive. He would do anything not to waste his second life. It was the most natural thing for any human being. People could fill their mouths with ideals, but nobody wanted to die. Even suicides found regret after the rope bit their neck or they took the leap.

Actually, the most important thing was that it sounded like a great offer. His new family was stupidly large, but once all those noble mages were underground, he would have Satan's power. The position of the king of hell. He could go wherever he wanted, have whatever he wanted. Great power brought great freedom.

That would be a great way to redeem himself for the first life he had wasted. He didn't have to fill his head with dreams while living uselessly, he could go out and fulfill them one by one.

So, of course, when Sam turned to look at Satan, he was smiling from ear to ear.

"Sounds great to me, Dad." His eyes burned. They weren't tears, not at all, surely they glowed yellow like that man's, even if just for an instant. "When do we start?"

The Morning Star smiled back.

His second life truly began in that icy void.

A life of doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted, however he wanted!

I Am the God of Hellfire; Part 1: END