Deep down, I knew that trying to be too happy would only invite the worst. It was just the natural order of things. But what good could come of staying miserable to avoid the drops of the rollercoaster? I’d ride it as high as it could get. Higher, even if it made the drop worse. It was exhilarating.

Despite my continuing buzz this morning, I somehow managed to be the last person down in the basement. Although two of them could teleport, so it wasn’t really a fair race.

“Thought I’d see you off.” Pearl gave me a smile, dressed now in her battle leathers. “Didn’t want to miss another potentially rousing speech.”

My mind stumbled over perhaps mishearing one of those words, so I just tipped my hat in response. Seeing them all gathered here again… made me wish we had a better headquarters for our work than a basement. It was definitely the best place for it, given the nature of the job. Maybe it just needed a little sprucing up.

[I have something for you, Eric.]

The slightly taller Wight walked over to me, his arms crossed.

[It is not any greater power than you currently possess, but something I have crafted as a gift.]

“Oh.” I was somewhat taken aback, and as his hand extended, I expected there to be one of his drawings, but it was empty.

[Draw your revolver and reload.]

All eyes on me, I did as he asked, pulling the gun from the holster and spinning it away from my hand using our energy, just as usual.

As I felt the power pulse through into the cylinder to reload the chambers, five short tendrils burst out, trails of black smoke fading behind them as they dropped to the stone floor with a metallic clink.

“You gave me faux bullet casings I can eject?”

[The audio was the difficult part.]

I stepped forward and brought him in for a hug. Power wasn’t everything. Sometimes I needed someone to back me up and make me look cool. Hells knew I needed it. Dropping spent casings of demonic energy every time we reloaded was a missing hole in my life, now filled.

“Thanks, Wight.”

[You are welcome. Together we rise.]

I pat him on the feathered back and stepped away, a wide grin on my face. He looked more relaxed now, contented with how things stood.

Rodney cleared his throat and stepped over to us. “Next up, my lord. Your new demon killing, uh, gun.”

“Didn’t know where you were going with that, huh?” I raised an eyebrow at him as he passed over the shotgun.

“Nope.” He shook his head and took a couple of steps back.

Pearl narrowed her eyes. “No trying it out in the house.” She came over to me. “I have no present because I didn’t know this was going to be a thing, but…”

She pulled me in, and we kissed. Something a bit longer and in-depth that I had expected while amongst company. The discomfort of my companions aside, it was a worthy gift. As she moved away, her eyes lingered on me. “Happy birthday, Eric Redd.”

My smile caused my facial muscles to ache, and my eyes narrowed to the Blank. “You pulled up my details from the Org records, didn’t you? You jerk.”

Rodney gave a brief bow.

“What a way to start a new year of my life.” I was calm inside. Comforted by those around me. Dare I even say… happy? The happiest I’d been in a good three years?

Pearl crossed her arms. “Well, I’ll leave you boys to it. I’ll be back before dinner.”

With little else to add, she vanished in a flash of pink.

[How does it feel to be an even older human?]

I shrugged at his question at first. Compared to yesterday, I was no different, physically or mentally. Most people I used to knew baulked at their birthdays coming around, but for some reason I always loved mine. Maybe something from my childhood. All I knew was that my mood was unbreakable today. Eventually, I came up with an answer for him.

“Every day I draw breath is a victory over death and takes me a step closer to my destiny.”

He nodded, tilting his head slightly as if he was working his mind over that statement.

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[Would you like to know which death you shall have victory over today?]

“Go for it. What are our two options?”

[Both are Mids level. The first is a sorcerer who leads a coven of demonic magic users. The second is a brute, Champion of the Wrath Pits.]

I didn’t like all the proper nouns associated with the second one, so I decided to keep him in second place. “I’ve always wanted to see a magic show, so that one first.” It made me think of our very brief associate, Max, and I hoped his portal took him some place where he had an easier life.

[It’s not that sort of magic, but certainly, Eric.]

He nodded towards Rodney, and the pair got to starting the portal preparations. It gave me a little time to look over the shotgun. A rather plain weapon on the surface, the engravings gave it a new life that made it look fit for purpose, even if it ended up not working.

The Blank caught me giving it an eye over. “Seeing as you basically have infinite ammo, it only loads one ‘shell’ at a time.”

Despite the clear warning from Pearl, I pooled my energy into it. There was some similar feeling to it, just like the revolver cylinder. Just a different shape and amount of energy was required. The engravings lit up a bright red as it became active, then dulled as I withdrew my power. I was already tempting fate by going to the Hells in a good mood on my birthday - accidentally blowing a hole in the basement would just be a terrible start.

“Ten names on the list, right?” I raised an eyebrow back at Rodney.

“Yeah, five hunters, five demons.”

With my positive outlook, it felt as though this would be the perfect place for a movie montage of Wight and I appearing and scouring away each in turn. Things had to be slower, more visceral, unfortunately.

“Hey, Wight. You think my next boon could be to see through walls? Using a True Cannon through a building rather than having to do the legwork sounds useful.”

[It is unlikely. You wanted something defensive, still?]

I nodded slowly. It seemed the most boring option, but if I was going to land myself in the Mids anytime soon, I would need something to protect me from… demon guns, probably.

“It’s been relatively easy to power through the Lowers, winning out with excessive violence. But we’ll need to be smarter, more conservative with my well-being in the Mids.”

The portal spooled up, painting the basement in a deep red hue. Swirling lights briefly distracted me before I focused on the waiting Blank.

“You’ll be dropping someplace that looks like woodland. Just creepier.” He rolled his eyes. “Boofu the Unwise, had a handful of acolytes. Place in also inhabited by Imps.”

I groaned. Aside from once in my first year, I had avoided Imps like the plague. A terrible mix of bats and toddlers. They had the temperament of both and moved around in swarms. Not strong on their own, but in a group, they could tear the unprepared down in a flurry of jabs from pointed weapons.

“Target is probably underground, too.” He shrugged apologetically and went back to his screens.

A lot of information from just Wight’s ritual. He must have really put some effort in. While not the best birthday party I could wish for, I was eager to snuff their candles out and return to accolades. And then do it again with the brutish demon.

[I am ready, Eric.]

With a brief wave to Rodney, we were in. Stepped through into a forest of dark black skeletal trees. The ground was a deep red, some odd approximation of dirt despite the majority of the Lowers being dried out stone.

“Scenic,” I grumbled.

//Audio and visual clear.

I gave the empty air a thumbs up, and Wight began to pool Hell beside me. Once formed, he took his knife from my belt and stowed it away.

“Here.” I passed him over the shotgun.

[For me?]

“Partners. Till death do us part.” I grinned.

He racked the shotgun pump, a faux demonic shell ejecting out on the ground. The sound was impeccable. I almost shivered.

[Let us locate the target, the partner.]

I spun my revolver from its holster and into my hand, empty casings dropping out as I loaded it with my own mixed power. The fact that the cylinder didn’t need to pop out for the action did break the illusion slightly, but I didn’t allow it to dampen my mood.

//You want to head due east, which is uh… to your right, Eric.

Maybe we could do with a compass. It hadn’t really come up before, with most teleport locations being pretty much adjacent to the scene we intended to ruin with our presence. These woods, however… I turned to my right and pulled a face. The dotting of trees seemed to go on for quite a while. As much as I could do with a bit of cardio, I hadn’t signed up for hiking on my birthday.

The smaller Wight would have looked too odd holding the longer gun, but now reaching some adolescent-adjacent stage of his growth, it looked almost natural. Like I was taking my wayward son out for his first hunting trip. Almost had a ring of truth to it.

We started off as directed. It was quiet enough, which wasn’t necessarily alarming. It wasn’t like there would be wild animals and insects living amongst what could easily be the oddly shaped hands of some underground beast. Or the stubble of a giant we walked upon. Not learning from prior mistakes, I probably shouldn’t be inviting further mania on myself.

This would be simple. Located the coven, put some overpowered shots through everything breathing, and then return home as victors.

“Hey, Rods?”

//Eric?

“If you or Passage get a whiff of one of the Hunters on the list, they take immediate priority, okay?”

//Confirmed.

A bit of a risk to speak that into the nether, but I had checked, and the Org didn’t have their eyes on me. While the demons lived in Hell and we could pick them off as soon as we had information on them, Hunters would only be briefly where I could put my sights over them.

I wasn’t too sure on whether I should be murdering them. The betrayers had been asking for it. Enemies of the mortal plane as soon as they had started to conspire with demons. The ones on Frank’s list, though? I had no guide as to their moral standing, or even why he wanted them dead. Did it cause me to hesitate?

The answer was no, and I hated it. More fool me for taking a Higher demon at his word, but he seemed to want the Heavens back, in earnest. Even if his reasoning was selfish and driven by his own desire for violence, putting the mortal plane back into a safe balance suited my destiny.

If that meant breaking a few eggs to tip the scale in my favor, then… I’d do it. Probably worse if meant my victory, my purpose, was successful at the end.

Did that make me no better than the demons?

Oh, I was part one by now; I was sure of it. The wings were a clear signal that I was beyond just being a confused human. Divinity and demonic power radiated through me, changing me to what I needed to be.

Would it eventually be my undoing?

I never counted my chickens, under any circumstance.