Gabe felt awful. he'd given into his insanity, killed people, and hadn't even gotten his vengeance on Sally. he faded from the scale and fully expected a Gruesome death. The last death he would have. But instead found himself in a green field under a green tree on a green hill. The grassy plain went on forever in all directions. And he realized almost passively in his frayed mind that all his memories were back and that none of that had been real. Immediately he regretted coming here, even to save Seygo this was a bit much. He could have survived with a bit of insanity, now he felt a hundred times more insane then he did before. Completely emotionless almost. And with a weight on his heart that he couldn’t quantify. "Dam." Was all he could say, not certain if this test was as bad as the last one or worse for messing with his heart so much. "You are impressive." A familiar old voice said, Gabe turned around to find the same old man with the Cain standing with him on the hill. And now that he thought about it, the voice from the test was also his voice just younger sounding. "You know you could have Killed that Killer on the last one, I wouldn't have held it against ya. What did you call him? Sally right." Gabe was a bit concerned by the old man's knowledge of his thoughts, he didn't remember speaking the name out loud. But maybe that was just because his mind wasn't working right. "Agahgare.... ag." Gabe tried to speak but all that came out was bumble. "It's alright young man. I know your still in there. You came in here damaged and expecting me to fix you. Well... I can. I could just leave you the way you came in!" The man pointed his Cain at Gabe with a frown. "But you entertained me! So I'll do you the favor that I'm really not allowed to do." Gabe just nodded, and then shook his head, and then nodded. His hands were shaking and his stomach was bouncing up and down inside him. He started to laugh for no reason and wondered if he was going to stay here in this marvelous green land. Part of him understood what was happening and that part was glad to know he would be fixed, the rest of him was dispassionate about it.

"Now before you go this time, I'm supposed to give ya something. A taste of the power that I hold for you if you come back. Because I'm certain by now you plan on never coming back again. But please do, because I think your the young lad I was made for. You've already passed two tests with flying colors, the next two are nothing for you now. Just know that once you pass my defenses there's a world of power you could gain. Here take this and be gone." A bolt of white light struck out from the Man's cane and hit Gabe in the eyes blinding him. His hands shot up to rub his eyes and when he opened them he was looking down at the Pearl with his hand on it. He jerked his hand off the pearl like it was hot and stepped back with a breath. His mind... it was well! The insanity was gone, the anger and hatred evaporated like water in the dessert. He could breathe again. Really breathe. He took in a lung full of Oxygen and grinned, Now he could go Save Seygo. His heart slightly regretted going back into that Pearl, but what was done was done. He'd carry those memories and horrors with him his entire life. Real or not, the emotions and choices were sincere. Gabe’s very soul felt like a mountain had been placed on it, like he was carrying more luggage then he could hold. Though he was glad that his unnatural madness was gone, his eyes streamed with rivers of tears. no being was ever meant to go through so many pains and trails. To break and be repaired so many times. His family disowning him, the ten years of dangers and strife that followed thinking the whole time that he was going to age and die before he made it, getting his soul rune and finding happiness with Seygo only to be forced away from her by circumstance, being forced out by yet another family he loved, his journey through the black Purl twice breaking his mind like a twig, being ripped apart by laughing demons and stitched back together by a hateful doctor, and not knowing if the Girl he loved was dead or alive somewhere. Countless struggles were building up, countless scars were being scripted into his heart. He cried. He cried for all of these wrongs, none of which he had ever cried about before. Even at six years old, being force by Sisfar to do the worst of things, and shoved out of the Hellvine family because of it he had not cried that day or since. He had fought and scraped and plowed through his troubles with the sternest face he could hold. Breaking in places he refused to even mention. Sometimes doing stupid little things like risking his life to sabotage his own progress, not believing life could ever be so good for him. Yet it had all gotten so much better recently. He was progressing and growing and… and… none of it changed the weight he carried from all these wrongs. Nothing changed the fact that his last name was no longer Hellvine. That he had been broken on the inside for almost two decades. Abandoned, struggling, lonely. He had nothing to latch onto. No’one to cry to. Colin, Malner, even Seygo. How could he hold onto them when he couldn’t even hold onto himself. “Enough!!!” Gabe shouted wiping away his tears violently. These thoughts and feelings were only half the story. He was thankful that he was now aware of them, aware of how he truly felt and able to have this weak moment to see it all so clearly. But he was only a step away from self pity. And he knew that his life was more than worth living. Even before he got the heavenly rune, even before he had made it to Sisfar’s treasure store and become rich, he had wanted to keep living. Even before Seygo he had loved life. Struggles came and went, scars stayed with him, and danger was always looming somewhere, but he wasn’t in darkness. He wasn’t alone in this world. He wasn’t always in pain. Little moments of accomplishment, the feeling of well deserved rest, the things he could make and do. Right now, his wisdom was clear. This weight would not always be with him, this feeling would fade as well. He could work his hardest to fix these wounds, but they were not his reason for living. Or his reason for dying. They were just drops in the ocean of life. Gabe stood up from crying on his knees and wiped his face with a cloth. He turned away from the purl that now haunted his dreams, and walked out of the treasure room. It was time to move on. To Move forward. And to do what must be Done. Find Seygo.

The first thing Gabe did after washing his body and cleaning himself up was sit on the floor of the alchemy room and meditate. He projected his soul into his soul room and found all his Soul-Beasts, including the new Three faced Titan Archdevil. The shiny rock like black skin of the beast made him look like he was made of stone, and in Gabe's soul room he was not nearly as tall as before. Gabe took a Calming breath and released his will upon his beasts. He'd kept all of them from talking for the past two Weaks, not able to cope with their remarks especially the Archdevil. "I can't believe you did that kid.... did it do what I think it did?" Sisfar said in awe his usual snub tone gone. Gabe nodded not answering, he'd told Sisfar that he had passed the seven year test the last time he touched the Pearl and was invited for more. Sisfar had said he didn't believe him, but seamed to now. "You dirty pathetic Filth!! Let me out of here you.." Gabe forced the Archdevil to shut up. He turned to the stoic and calm Star-stone. "Star-stone, I am sorry I almost got you killed. I risked your life as well as Colin's with my own, and you have only been kind and decent to me." Star-stone paused his twirling from side to side for a moment. "T.. thank you Gabriel. I forgive your foolishness and blame it more on your youth then your person. Please feel free to consult with me next time, perhaps my age will be able to give you more wisdom then you'd guess." Gabe nodded, Star-stone was much much older then anything on Primeway. Over tens of millions of years. Finally Gabe turned to The Archdevil. "Alright you piece of Scum, get one thing Straight. I'm in charge here, not you or anyone else. I have full power over whether you live or die. Full power over what you do and don't do. If you don't believe me look at that Dragon right there." Gabe gestured to one of his dragons with his head. Then cut ties with it with his mind. Boom!! It exploded in a bloody mess spooking the dragon next to it and pieces of dragon went everywhere throughout the Soul room before fading away. Not a trace left. "H...how is that possible!!" The Archdevil said as Gabe allowed his reaction to be heard. Sisfar laughed. "Kid's got a Heavenly rune on his stomach. Allows him to get rid of what's useless." Gabe might not be As rage filled as he was before but he thoroughly enjoyed seeing the fear in the Archdevil's eyes. "Now tell me your name, and why I should let you live." Gabe crossed his arms. He already planned on Keeping the nasty Demon because he was so powerful. His Cultivation would be more then that Dragon by a long ways, and Gabe had planned to get rid of the beast anyway, it had given him the one trait he wanted from it. "I am known As Afell, the bringer of Shadows and death. The champion of demons. the strongest Overload ever known to Exist. You may call me your Majesty, or Your highness....." Gabe Stopped him from speaking mid sentence. "I will call you Afell, now you will explain to me why it is that you are so powerful." Gabe said, never hearing of anything On Primeway Past the Deity pique. Afell spoke with strain as he was forced to Tell the true reason, Gabe's strength and control over him was absolute. "I have devoured an S grade Heavenly Treasure called the Soul Heal. It changed me, so that I can resist Soul corruption to an extreme rate. Allowing me to absorb Impure spirit energy into my soul core. When my soul Becomes too irregular I must devour human channeler souls to repair it. For the past hundred millennia all I have been doing is Absorbing Energy straight from the Hell's fissure into my core without processing it." Gabe almost gasped, was that what was about to happen to him? After Afell was through toying and torturing his body, his soul would have been devoured? He held back a shudder, that would never be a good memory. "Why did you wait so long in the fissure? With power like yours you could have ruled half the continent." Gabe asked moving on forcing the whole story out of the creep. "My power is strong, but my soul is weak. Absorbing Impure spirit energy has made it less then an Avatar's level. One blow to my soul and I would be crippled. My strength also doesn't last very long, the impurities in the spirit energy have absolutely ruined my stamina. I would tire quickly if I used my full power very long." The Archdevil looked increasingly angry and dismayed at Gabe's ability to control him so easily, making him give up secrets he had kept for millennia. "Why didn't your Underlings kill you then?" Sisfar broke in having greater knowledge of how demon hoards worked. "Why would they folow such a useless bastard like you if just one hit to your soul and your done for? You must have a demon in your hoard that has foresight and can see it right?" Afell roared in anger like a bull. "I am not useless!!! My Demons Follow me because I've enslaved them. They can not do otherwise." Gabe's eyes widened. "What? How can you enslave them?" Beasts could not enslave other beasts it was against the heavenly laws. They could make spirit contracts with each other and even Servant runes like Colin was given but not enslavement. Enslaving was a forced service and required you to be more powerful then the victim, or they could fight your commands. "Eating human souls has Given me their Ability to enslave. One per ever hundred powerful souls I have eaten. I can Enslave over a million of my subjects. But only need to hold power over the most powerful, they Rule the kingdom for me."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Gabe's mind was racing with facts putting things together that became obvious. The demons, they hadn't attacked him during his escape because they were still enslaved to their King. And hurting him would hurt Afell. If that was true then they were still under the bonding, Afell was still in charge. Gabe held his breath. Could it be, even after bonding to his soul those demons were still enslaved, Had he really just inherited the control over an entire Demon hoard? He already knew the answer there was no other way.... Dam he was a Lucky bastard. He let out his breath and Grinned like a silly dog. Having Afell spill anything else he found important.

"Why are we flying into the Demon Hoard!!!" Colin shouted as they Flew at high speed towards the Fissure. Malner also looked at Gabe crazily. "You'll see." Gabe said with a Smile. There was a small chance that he was wrong and they would be brutally killed by the Hoard for trespassing here, but the Risk was moot. He looked at his worried friends. "Listen, have I ever gotten us killed before? No. So just trust me. Do you really think I'm coming back here without a plan?" Malner looked at him. "Back? You've been this deep into the Demon hoard before? Is this where you..." Gabe held up a hand to stop him. "I don't want to talk about. Just wait, you'll see." They flew unhindered to the Sky above the Fissure. "Wow..." Colin whispered looking down at the moving And vicious Ant hill of demons crawling too and fro. Millions upon millions of them, from embryo realm to totem realm, all in some weird twisted version of a city. "Hahaahah!!" A powerful group of Totem Realm Demons appeared around them. Scaring Colin and Malner like a bolt. Gabe didn't wait or hesitate, he summoned Afell. The demon hovered beside him as Malner's power kept him up. The demons around them Screamed in terror, and then bowed at the waist stopping whatever they had planned in an instant. They were enslaved. "Sire! We were unaware that you weren't in the palace." One of them said he was just a level ahead of Malner in the Totem realm and was the leader of this group. Gabe controlled Afell's every word. "Escort me to my home, along with my guests, do not allow any harm to befall us." The demons nodded vigorously and flew surrounding Gabe's group all the way to the Ugly Red House of horrors that stuck up like a thorn from the stone bottom of the Fissure. When they reached the Doors they were closed, and bolted shut. Two Avatar realm Snake-eyed Fallen angels stood to ether side. They looked like Twisted Stone golems, their skin ash gray and shiny, and their eyes slit like a snakes. their wings were made of Cloudy darkness and made a trail of smog as they moved. They looked utterly shocked to see Afell return. And bowed as he landed in front of them. "Open the door and then come with me, I have words I need to discuss with you. And protect these humans at all costs." The angels hurried to do as he said, it wasn't hard to tell it was the real Afell as Slaves could feel their master and his orders would force them to act. They had no choice in the matter, and unless they were strong enough they couldn't brake free and harm him. Gabe considered the fact that even though Afell was downed to his power level the enslavement still acted as if he was a Deity realm beast. There were several inconsistencies here with how he understood enslavement to work.

As they walked into the same familiar palace decorated with the death and corpses, Colin and Malner looking around in worry and awe not even asking how it was that Gabe was doing this. Gabe kept his eyes forward swallowing down the memories that surfaced in these halls. The door to the throne room was also closed but the Two fallen angels opened it quickly. Fallen angels were an uncommon and powerful bread of Demons, almost as naturally Strong As devils. The were prized as Soul-Beasts as they Gave a Channeler a great strength boost just by being bonded. Gabe Remembered these two as being some of those that had laughed at his torture they seamed to remember him to but from the look of fear on their face they knew better than to do anything but obey. He walked into the throne room right behind Afell and found a mess, his blood was still pooled on the floor, part of his arm was decaying in the corner and the Strongest demons were all gathered together talking among themselves angered and worried. Until they were interrupted by the door opening and Afell stepping in. "Master!!" One of them shouted and they all began to bow in a wave of lowered heads. There were about a hundred of them here. "Go, Gather together all of my enslaved Demons. Every Single one and bring them here. Also do not allow any harm to come to these humans." Afell said his voice strained as he was being controlled like a puppet. Once the words were spoken Gabe’s protection was assured. It was really disturbing to be so powerful and yet be so Helpless to the tiny pathetic man Afell thought. His ego was slowly Beginning to blister. He was even forced to stay at this tiny height of just ten feet, even though Gabe had discovered that Afell’s size was changeable and could even reach the size of a giant oak tree, he kept Afell at the smallest he could stay, Afell hated to be smaller then Thirty feet. As it put him down closer to the filth around him. And meant lower life forms would be able to look him in the eye.

"Master, all of your servants will not be able to fit in this palace." One of the older and stronger demons said. Now that Gabe was paying attention he realized that all of these demons were Deity realm. He kept a Natural expression on his face but he was awed at the power Afell wielded. If not for his strength over them these demons would have Long ago ascended, but they couldn't as he was too powerful to break free from even for a Deity realm beast. "Gather them all outside, I want to speak to them. Do not miss a single one, understood." The demon's nodded all of them shocked and confused as they looked at their master and his lowered power, he was now a slave himself. Many of them took joy in seeing the cruel overload get his justice, but they still couldn't break free from his will, the heavenly laws keeping the runes drawn on them too powerful to break it hurt terribly to even think about betraying their master, and they were forced to do exactly what they were told. "Yes master, we will do as you say." One of them answered. "All will be outside and ready to hear you in six hours. Is that alright master?" Gabe really didn't want to wait around six hours here, but he could take it for what he was about to achieve was no small matter. "Yes, now go!" Afell told them. Immediately the demons flew past Gabe all in a hurry to do as they were commanded. The room was cleared in a single minute, trails of light fading behind them. All that was left were the Totem demons protecting Gabe, and the Two Fallen angels. Gabe had Afell order them to clean up his blood and gore so that he wouldn't have to look at it As he waited. Colin and Malner had a thousand questions but when they turned to ask them Gabe was sitting on the floor meditating. He didn’t want to waste six whole hours just standing around, not when Seygo was in danger somewhere.