84 I´m in Hell

(Flashback) (This is a continuation of the previous Flashback)

A boy with white hair and red eyes was running through the woods. A sincere smile showed on his face as he watched nature.

It didn't take long for the boy to reach a family tree. The boy had a habit of going to that tree every afternoon.

"Are you there, Vala?"

"Ssssss"

A hissing sound was heard from the top of the tree. A green anaconda crawled along the trunk of the tree.

"Hehe, have you missed me?" The boy asked the snake. Anyone who saw the boy's smile would think it was the purest thing in the world.

"Ssssss"

The snake crawled on the ground and slowly climbed up the body of the child. The boy caressed the head of the snake lovingly.

The boy had discovered the snake a few months earlier. The two had quickly become friends, each for different reasons.

The snake brushed his head against the child's cheek. Vala was attracted to the child from the moment they met. In her first meeting, she had understood the words the child had spoken to her. This, together with the familiar smell that the child spread, attracted the attention of the young snake and decided to approach the child in order to learn more about him. Although it was pure curiosity at first, Vala became attached to the child after a few months of living together, and she always anticipated their encounters.

The boy joyfully smiled as he stroked the snake. He had found the snake by chance as he was heading to his favorite spot, the lake in the woods.

The lake in the forest, a place where he could take refuge without having to suffer under the gaze of others humans. The rest of humans used to mistreat him and called him garbage, monster, or demon.

Demon. Every time the child heard that word, he felt something strange inside, and then he would lose consciousness. Then he would get up with dirty hands and clothes stained with that crimson liquid that had a peculiar but pleasant taste at the same time.

The boy used to come to the lake every time this happened, but he had gone every day since he had met his first friend, Vala.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The boy and Vala were surprised. They both heard the sound of footsteps rushing in their direction.

"There are 3... 7... 15 people in total" The boy muttered as he finished identifying the people approaching.

"Hurry, that demon child has come this way!" The boy heard the voice of a middle-aged man.

Soon, the 15 people surrounded the child and the snake. The boy was surprised when he saw that the 15 were wearing the same uniform and long objects in their hands.

The 15 SWAT members pointed their guns at the child. The tallest of them all approached the boy slowly without lowering his guard. He seemed to be the leader of the group.

"The hour of your death has come, monster. Don't resist and die."

The boy curiously looked at the big man. His innocent eyes showed that he didn't know what he was talking about.

"Hey, boss. Are you sure this is the guy we're looking for?" One of the men asked the leader.

"Sure, don't you see his white hair and red eyes?"

"But... His eyes have life; what we had been informed was that he had lifeless eyes. Are we going to kill an innocent child?" Another man had doubts.

The leader seemed to doubt. It was impossible for a child like the one in front of him to be the author of the horrible deaths that had occurred over the past few years, but the photos and videos he had seen told him that this was the truth.

"Orders are orders! We cannot disobey them."

"But..."

"No buts! We all have a family to feed; we all have to do the work to get paid."

No one ever spoke again. This mission was one that paid a large sum, they only had to eliminate one child, and they could earn enough money not to have to work the rest of their lives.

"Sorry, die."

"Ssssss."

Pam!

The leader fired, but the bullet did not reach the boy. Vala put herself in the trajectory of the bullet and protected the boy from being shot.

Blood came out of a hole in the anaconda's body. She came down from the boy's body and advanced slowly towards the leader.

"Ssssss"

She jumped, opening her jaws, and bit the man's throat. No one had reacted since they were still stunned to see a snake take the bullet for the boy.

"Leader!"

"Shit!"

"Kill the snake, avenge the leader!"

Pam! Pam! Pam!

The shots went through Vala's body, leaving holes through which blood flowed.

The boy did not react to what was happening. He watched with his eyes fixed on the blood coming out of Vala's body.

Vala attacked again. She managed to kill two more men before succumbing to the wounds.

The boy slowly approached the snake. Bending over at her side, he dipped his fingers in the blood and sucked them.

"It's the same taste..."

"Vala?" The boy touched the snake.

The boy kept calling the snake, but it didn't react.

"Don't go on, that monster is already dead."

"Vala, dead?"

"Let's not bother with him anymore, kill him, and let's go!" A soldier exploded hysterically.

An "easy" mission had led three of them to death.

"Yes, kill that demon!"

The boy felt as if his thunder had fallen on him when he heard the word demon.

"Did you kill Vala?"

"Yes, we killed that damn snake!"

The remaining SWAT members did not seem to notice the child's dark voice when he asked them the question.

"Aaaaaaaarggggggghhhhhh!"

The boy's white hair turned black while his red eyes also changed to black.

"What's going on?"

When SWAT noticed the dark aura around the child it was already too late. They didn't have time to react before being slaughtered.

The child did not seem disturbed by the bodies around him. He only had attention for the dead body of the snake.

The blood was surrounding the child, along with the unrecognizable bodies of the 15 SWAT members and a 9-meter snake. The blood covered the whole body of the child and the trees around it. All this made a bloody scene that would make the most insensitive person vomit.

"I'm... in Hell"

Tears of blood fell from the child's eyes.

Before losing consciousness, the boy could briefly see the white figure of a beautiful blonde woman.

"Jason, you can't go on like this. I'm going to have to seal all your dark side so you can have a normal life."

Those were the last words the child heard before he lost consciousness.

(End of the Flashback)

Jason woke up abruptly. He quickly lifted the upper part of his body, thus sitting on the unfamiliar bed.

"Jason! It looks like you're up, I'll go tell Azazel."

Jason watched as the blonde girl left the room. He was confused until he remembered where he was and how he ended up in this place.

He had accompanied Azazel on a guided tour of Grigori. First, they had a brief encounter with Grigori's leaders and then they had gone to meet Slash Dog.

After fighting Slash Dog members, Jason had faced Vali Lucifer. His Juggernaut Drive had been more powerful than he had expected, shredding his new Rho Aias from an attack and forcing Jason to wear the armor on Susanoo, something he still couldn't control without suffering immense pain.

If Jason were to put a level of power on Vali's Juggernaut Drive, he would be no weaker than that of a Satan. Knowing that his 4-petalled Rho Aias: Fire Mode could for a Satan attack was something positive that Jason pulled out of his encounter with Vali.

Not having to rely on his most powerful Modes and Balmung to beat Vali was another positive fact, the training of recent years gave results.

"Lavinia already told me you woke up, how do you feel?" Azazel entered the room.

"My head hurts a bit. Otherwise I'm fine," Jason replied.

"I'm glad. I must say that your fight against Vali was fascinating; it's been a while since I've seen such an entertaining fight," Azazel smiled at Jason.