The tension in the air was undeniable.

God’s armies, and the defenders of heaven, against the forces of evil and all that hell could conjure.

I stood at the front lines, with Faron at my right hand.

Before me was God and Jesus.

All four of us looked calm. If I didn’t know any better, I would have guessed that we were just here to have a normal, constructive conversation.

But I knew better.

-

Luca and I were both standing in the middle of the arena. Where it all began.

“You know once we complete this ritual, there’s no going back, right?”

I nodded. “I’m fine with that. Just tell me what needs doing, and I’ll do it.”

Luca had told me about a ritual that would unlock travel between hell and the living realm for all demons permanently, and make us powerful demons able to draw power there too.

No demon lord before me had had the balls to perform it though, fearing the consequences of casting it.

I was more than prepared to take the consequences. God’s going to die this day regardless, so what does it matter if his rules entail this or that.

I drew a circle in the middle of the air with hellfire, then a pentagon over the circle.

“-Dimension breaker-.”

The pentagon grew in size dramatically before exploding in a bright flash of green.

Luca looked to me with glee.

“God’s not going to be happy... But that’s exactly what you want, isn’t it?”

I smirked. “Indeed it is.”

I teleported, now to the living realm.

It was as seamless as teleporting to inside hell would be.

The smile I had on my face turned into a grin when I saw multiple flashes of hellfire erupt all around me. The demon’s time on this earth had arrived.

“You actually did it, huh. I’m impressed. I would not have expected this from you.”

Heltana had appeared and berated me like usual.

“Heltana. You already have your orders, just stand by for now.”

She bowed and remained standing.

I noticed a little streak of grey flame in the sky far away, flying toward where we were standing.

Ah, the rogue. Things might get interesting with him around…

“Anders. There you are.”

Faron.

“I could say the same. It’s been too long. Did you manage to improve your time abilities at all the past few days?”

He smiled at me. “I can now stop time for multiple people. Only five seconds if I’m doing it for many people though. If I’m doing it alone, I can do it almost for a full minute.”

Amazing.

“Slowing time?”

“Indefinetely, no matter if its with multiple people or not.”

“Faron! Been a while.”

“I was wondering when you’d show up, Luca.” I said, looking to my most trusted associate.

“God will probably arrive any minute now.”

And behold, on the first day, God spoke.

Let there be light.

A bright flash of light illuminated the area, blinding everyone present.

“Behold. The lord.”

The voice of Jesus was the only thing that filled the air, before my vision cleared.

God was now standing before me, with all his angels and warriors standing by.

“So, you’ve finally decided to do what no demon lord before you dared to do. Challenge me directly.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I smiled a little. I’m actually out here making history, after all.

“I applaud your bravery. But there is only one way this encounter will end, I’m afraid.”

I cracked my knuckles. “What, are you planning on chickening out on me? Don’t think your words are going to deter me. I know what I did when I performed that ritual.”

God frowned a little. “And I thought we two were on such good terms… You disappoint me, Anders.”

“ANDRAS, DAMN YOU!”

My voice cut through the air like a knife, cutting into everyone’s eardrums.

God looked completely unphased.

“It seems I need to show you your place, Demon.”

I smirked. “I could say the same thing, old bastard.”

God was about to say something, when the gray flame bolt from earlier crashed into the ground, filling the entire area with smoke.

I grabbed the opportunity and drew all my power in an instant.

Both Luca and Faron followed my lead, and we all began changing into our final forms.

As soon as my transformation was complete, I felt a little pain in my leg. An angels sword cut through the smoke like a sickle through a field, and had impacted my foot.

Pathetic.

I kicked forward, feeling my leg impact something. Whatever it was, it cracked and flew away like a missile.

I could hear the sonic boom ring throughout the air, and it cleared the smoke from the area.

Seems the war has started.

I looked around the area for my main target, when I locked eyes with the man in question.

God.

I snarled, and shot a little warning shot of hellfire at him.

He easily deflected it with one hand, as I had expected.

Faron, now in his wolf form, came from behind and was standing beside me like a guard dog.

Almost as if they were in sync, Jesus appeared beside God.

“COME ON ALREADY!”

As I was saying the words, I let out a huge stream of hellfire from my mouth, aimed at God.

The attack took him off-guard, and he hap-hazardly cast a barrier in front of him.

The barrier was fragile, so I began concentrating my beam of hellfire more and more.

Eventually the barrier broke down, and God took the beam head-on. Jesus was quick to act though and put up a proper barrier right after.

God fell to the floor, with some burn marks on his skin.

I ceased my breath attack, and puffed some air out from my nostrils.

I wasn’t done yet though, and looked to Faron.

‘Activate Timestop.’

He nodded, and as he did, the war around us came to a screeching halt.

Heltana was mid-air, in the middle of dropkicking an angel.

Luca was in the middle of biting a Angel in half, and the mysterious gray demon was throwing knives in every-which direction. As far as I could tell, he was moving through the army of angels toward the main target. God.

I smirked, noticing that a knife was mid-air aimed at God’s liver. It would probably not do much when it impacted, but it was worth noting.

Me and Faron moved quickly. We only had 4 seconds to act.

Faron went over to Jesus, cutting his limbs multiple times with his claws.

I Went over to god, and kicked him repeatedly in the stomach. I put all my strength into every kick. Once time resumed, all the kicks would culminate into once concise strike.

With that, time resumed.

Blood sprayed out of Jesus from every part of his body.

God, However, was not so lucky.

Before I could even stop to take in what happened, another sonic boom rung out into the air. God was no longer lying on the floor in front of me.

I looked toward where God should have shot off. There was a mountain there.

The next second, the mountain looked like it was impacted by a meteor. A huge crater formed in the center.

Then, the shockwave reached us. Everyone except me, Jesus and the other strong demons were knocked off their feet.

Even I had trouble remaining standing.

Then, there was silence.

Jesus fell to the floor trying to regenerate his cut-off limbs.

“Take that, you stinky old fucker.”

Suddenly the soul of Faron shook, before it fell completely silent.

I looked to where my wolf friend should have been.

Standing there was God, holding Faron, now in human form by the throat.

“Enough.”

God looked like… Well, he looked like a corpse.

Half his body was missing.

I made eye contact with Faron. He looked horrified.

Then, a crack.

It was the gray Demon. He had launched into a jump kick, and apparently broke God’s leg from the impact.

God let go of Faron and fell to the floor.

Before his body hit the floor, it disappeared.

I then felt a sharp pain in my neck.

Before I even realized, my head was lying on the floor.

What happened…

I then felt it. I was no longer connected to my body.

My head then turned into my human form due to losing connection with 80% of my power.

Luckily my dragon head was more than big enough to compress into my full human form.

Before I even had the chance to lift myself off the floor, a foot came crashing down onto my head. It was Jesus’.

That was the last thing I saw, before darkness hit me.

-

“Wake up…”

…

What?

“Anders… Wake up…”

I was confused.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't open my eyes.

“We won.”

Won? Won what?

I couldn’t move anything. It was as if my body wouldn’t react to my commands.

Then, my eyes snapped open.

I wasn’t the one to open them.

“Guys, he opened his eyes!”

I looked around. I was… in a box?

I then spotted Luca, standing outside the glass window.

“We managed to salvage… most of your head. Demon regeneration did the rest.”

I looked down.

Oh.

I was just a head.

“If our estimates are correct, you will regenerate your full body in a week’s time.”

“Meanwhile, we put your head In this crate so nothing would interrupt your regeneration process.”

I tried to speak, but nothing came out of my mouth when I did.

Right. I don’t have a throat yet.

I tried to check if I had any of the souls in my mind, but there was nothing. None of the souls seemed to be there.

“Your soul connections won’t be restored before your torso has been regenerated, I’m afraid…”

I cringed a little at his words. How come side characters always come in with answers just when it’s convenient for the main character?

“When your arms are restored, you’ll be able to absorb the power of both God and Jesus into your reserves.”

Oh cool. Even larger true form.

Speaking of, where even is the rest of my body?

I couldn’t voice my thoughts to the people outside though. Eh, i’ll form a throat in not too long, right?

Yeah. Probably.

“Hang on a moment, looks like we’ve got visitors. Stay here… Not that you have a choice in the matter.”

Luca left the room, along with another set of feet, which I was guessing to be Heltana’s.

After their footsteps left the room, it was completely silent.

-

After some time, I heard the sound of metal being moved. A pair of feet then tapped the floor, almost silently.

A face came into view in the glass window.

“Hello Andras. You don’t know me, but I’m going to save your life.”

“Your underlings are planning to betray you. Your body won’t regenerate on it’s own.”

Shit.

I guess I’m in this lady’s hands for now, either if I want to or not.

“And, it’s not like you have a say in the matter. I’m taking you hostage either if you want to or not.”

Great. I’m being headnapped.

So, how’s your day?