Children of the Abyss

In the beginning, two powerful beings fought for power over the world: the God of Heavens and the God of the Abyss.

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- Idiot... - Akari mumbled while pouting.

With a forced smile, Tadomeki anxiously awaited her response. Even now the only thing he could do was to fake his facial expression. In light of all the previous events, he could not muster up any joy within himself.

- You know I'll help you in any way I can, so just sit down... You're only making me feel worse - Akari responded, avoiding eye contact.

Tadomeki came back to his chair.

- Why is he trying to kill us? I mean; trying to kill me and kidnap you.

This question bothered him the most. Why let her free and then try to take her back? Akari seemed lost in thought as she considered her response.

- One thing I know is that he wants to kill everyone who knew me. The first time you died, his servant said that he killed the witnesses. I suppose he was referring to Tsumigi and Ren... - she looked down with sadness but continued to speak - That one time when you didn't marry me, I assume I got taken back to hell. You were killed, even though you had no connection to me. This tells us that he wants to erase every trace of my past life. Unfortunately, I have no memories beyond the point of your death, so we won't know why he's doing all of this.

The unknown motives of the main antagonists made Tadomeki quite nervous, but then, a glimmer of hope appeared.

- Wait... If you are a demon... Does it mean that I can tell everything that happened to Akari and ask her to help me in the next life?

- No. You unfortunately can't. By transferring her powers, Akari practically disposed herself of her memories of the past. Remember what I said? I'm the embodiment of her memories and power. Father made us this way if one sibling took power from another. Our memories get replaced with fake ones and we are left behind, but I didn't want to forget what he did. That's the reason why I retained some of my power.

- But you should have them back, right?

- It doesn't work like that... If you lose them in one timeline, you're not going to have them in the next one. That would create a paradox, since one power would exist in two people.

He couldn't help but think that she's still not telling him the whole truth, but it must have been his imagination. "Why wouldn't I believe her? After all she's..."

- I-I get it. Well, mostly... Now, tell me why I got trapped in a death loop?

Akari looked at him, surprised once again by his quick acceptance of the situation.

- Well, after you died, a demon took an interest in you. I don't know which one, but it must be really powerful, if it was able to cast such a strong curse on you. It might be one of the Seven Princes of Hell or... - she hesitated for a second - No, I'm just overthinking it all. Don't worry about that. All you need to know is that someone powerful put a spell on you.

- Just great... How can I break the curse? It wouldn't be nice to save you, live happily ever after, die of old age and then come back to repeat everything once again... - he sighed.

- Either you kill him, which is unlikely for you, or you make him dispel his spell.

Tadomeki wasn't sure what were this demon's intentions, but now he had a goal. "Break the curse and save Akari from demons. Sounds incredibly easy for her doesn't it...". He still had so many questions, but he knew the time was running fast.

- How much time do we have left before I wake up? 

- Around fifteen to twenty minutes. Do you have any more questions or can we move on?

- What are demons? We talk about them so much, but I just found out about them a few minutes ago! Where do they come from?

Akari gazed at him with a puzzled expression.

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In the beginning, two powerful beings fought for power over the world: God of Heavens - Izanagi and God of the Abyss - Satan. They used their children to fight their wars for them, because they were too powerful. If they fought head to head, they would probably destroy the whole world in a matter of seconds. The Children of the Heavens were called Angels, while Children of the Abyss were called Demons. Emperors gave them powers unique to each one of them, called attributes. You could say that both sides were equally matched, but after decades of fighting, one rose above the other. God of Heavens won the battle and took rule over the entire world. He created humans in his image, and you probably know the rest of the story. He admired Satan's strength, so he decided to give him rule over Hell, the place intended to confine sinners among humans. God of the Abyss was in charge of making them suffer for defying Izanagi's will, but he couldn't bear the feeling of working for someone else. He left this job to The Fallen Angel Lucifer, who is still currently in charge of Hell. Satan still lives somewhere in there, but nobody knows where or what he's plotting. Even so, since the Izanagi's victory, Heaven and Hell coexist in harmony.

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- Wow, that was a long story... So, are you actually thousands of years old? 

Tadomeki barely dodged Akari's slap.

- I-I'm not!!! I'm the same age as you are! - she shouted, blushing furiously - Every time a person dies, they either go to Heaven or Hell based on their life. But when a human with the blood of the primordial child of God dies, they are reincarnated as a demon or an angel. My case is different... I was created artificially by my father. That's why I'm as old as you. You're lucky you dodged it you idiot!

- Come on, I'm sorry... You can't blame me for being confused... 

She reluctantly accepted his apology.

- So, tell me, since I became a demon, did I acquire some superpowers?

Akari looked at him and pouted.

- Hmph! 

- Come on, it's important! - Tadomeki asked pleadingly.

- When a demon or an angel is born, they each receive their own attribute. Think of it as their own unique technique. Another thing a demon receives is its own Asylum. We are in yours right now. 

Tadomeki looked over the white void in which they were sitting.

- You told me that when I appeared here, but could you remind me what it is? 

- It's a place that exists in the mind of a demon. They can enter it only when they're in a state of unconsciousness. Usually, we use it for training or resting. Every Asylum needs a Caretaker. It's a demon that helps shape this space, but to become a one, you must share a piece of your power with someone. That's why nobody takes this job voluntarily. Stronger ones found a way to manage theirs by themselves, while the weaker need to rely on a special group of demons that exist only to be Caretakers. They play an important role in preserving their owner's mental health and designing the entire space.

- So, you're telling me I need to find a Caretaker for my Asylum? This place looks terrible, there's almost nothing here, so I guess I don't have one, right? - He asked, while Akari grew angrier with every word he spoke. This time he didn't dodge her kick.

- Honestly, it's the second time today you made me angry! I'M your Caretaker!

She aggressively snapped her fingers and suddenly everything around them started to change. The flooring turned into beautiful wood panels, while white walls and furnishings appeared. After a few seconds they were already in an exact replica of their old house.

- Now does it suit your tastes more Mr. Prince?!

- I'm sorry... - Tadomeki said with remorse kneeling down. He has never seen her this angry. It was almost like she was a different person.

- Hmph. Apology accepted. Now, we were talking about your powers. Like I told you every demon has an attribute. Now, I'm not sure if you got an entirely new attribute or did you inherit mine...

- Maybe I got both?

- Don't get too cocky. No demon can possess two at once. Anyway, if you acquired mine, I'll tell you more about it when we meet again. For now, you need to practice entering your Asylum whenever you want. For some reason it's really hard for you. I tried to reach you for a long time, but you weren't able to get here just until now. 

Another benefit of being a demon is having regenerative powers and being able to generate divine energy. Like I mentioned earlier, your ability to regenerate is quite weak, to be honest, just slightly quicker than that of humans. Your generation of divine energy isn't very strong either...

- What is divine energy Sensei? - Tadomeki asked, raising his hand in the air.

- Think about a mana bar in an RPG. Demons use it to enhance their physical strength, weapons, or attributes. Yours is similar to that of a level one wizard, but you recover it at a very slow pace. In a real fight against a demon your energy would last for only one minute at best. You can't improve it, no matter how hard you try.

- Oh... So basically, I'm really weak…

Tadomeki never had much luck to begin with. Even now, with his newfound powers, he still couldn't fully utilize them, and they were only slightly better than those of a regular person.

- Don't worry! If you learn how to use an attribute, you'll get stronger. And I told you I have a plan, right? - Akari smiled and pulled out a black face mask with a cartoonish style smile on it.

- Is that your plan? What is it?

- That, my dear Tadomeki, is a really powerful item. With it, you can transfer your divine energy into this item to store it for later use. In twelve years, you'll have to fight demons to save us. Therefore, you have exactly twelve years to store power inside this mask. At your level it should be enough to defeat them. Once you defend me until the end of the festival, we'll win. Then, we can find who put this death loop curse and I... I mean we'll live happily ever after - Akari said, sending him a warm smile - Now it's only up to you to decide…

- Hmm? Decide what?

- Decide if you can do this for me, of course... I won't put any pressure on you after everything I did… I don't have the right to do that. So… Will you save me?

Tadomeki approached Akari and looked straight into her eyes with a serious expression.

- Eh? - she blushed but didn't avoid his gaze. He then kissed her and said with a smile:

- I promise I'll save you. See you soon Darling!

He then disappeared from her eyes. Pitch dark void surrounded him again. "Good timing... It would be awkward to stand there doing nothing till the time runs out." Now feeling at ease, he let go of his life in the previous timeline and waited to wake up in a new one. Finally, he wasn't alone.

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As the sunrays started shining on his face, he slowly began to open his eyes.