Hell's Release

"Sword Cluster Strike III," wind blew through my light brown hair caused by a small amount of divine pressure released from the spell.

A flurry of precise jabs pierced through the skull of the Belphegor II class demon which fell to the ground with a thud. A trail of slimy demon blood whisked around the air as my blade withdrew into the sheathe.

My dazed eyes looked around as a chaotic world-ending scene unfolded before me.

The sky had turned a deep navy purple and the once bright clouds were now painted blood red. Around me stood the result of the gap between our world and the Divine Abyss.

Swarms of Demons flew in and out through countless oval portals connected to a different reality that had only been recently proven real.

In other words…

Hell's Gate has been released. 1000 years ago, a similar event occurred. Most of the Demon race was successfully wiped out, but some remained in stronghold dungeons. An agency was formed and warriors to this day were tasked with wiping out the remaining demons. I am in that agency, so I was trained to learn and deal with all these demons.

Despite that... I've never seen this many crawling around in the open fields.

Oh man, and 30 minutes ago I was wondering whether or not the stove was left on at home, completely unaware of this situation.

I stood atop a tall mountain peak, staring at the mess below me.

That was when my lucky eyesight spotted… her.

I slid down from my position and made my way to her unconscious body on the grass. My ears checked and listened for a heartbeat.

"Hey! Damn… I turn around for a few seconds and I find you like this!"

My face tensed up, roughly gritting my teeth. She looked to be alright, just unconscious.

Just… You better be alright.

The snort behind me reminded me that this was no place to be getting emotional.

I lunged up into the air, avoiding a sweep from the colossal sized Leviathan Class Demon. These types of demons were stronger, but nothing that posed a serious threat to me.

Blue sparks fell off my blade as it made contact with the rough leathery hide of the demon. It flinched but quickly regained focus of me.

A huge red arm swung at me. I avoided the attack by leaping into the air. The tip of my blade managed to sneak in a lucky jab to the heart.

The towering beast collapsed to the ground with a deep roar. It roughly stood over the size of 15 grown men, and its width was no better as the big thing took up the space of a big house.

My sword thrust itself deeper into the heart, ending the demon's life in just a quick moment. As soon as the thing was finished, I went back to her. I grabbed her waist and hoisted her up to my shoulder.

I have to take her somewhere safe, But…

It felt like every corner had a demonic surprise for me.

I stayed put and thought for a hard minute. Out of all the areas nearby, which would have the best security? Somewhere I couldn't even imagine falling, even in a situation like this.

Ah, but of course. Where else but the Capital?

Just as I was about to head there, I was stopped by a powerful air current heading my way. A small speck in the far distance had appeared, seemingly in the sky as it flew in my direction.

I dropped the girl.

What the hell… Is that?

I blinked. In the short span of that blink, something with divine energy so violently stressful managed to teleport in front of me.

A… No way…

A Lucifer Class Demon!? The strongest type of all Demons was standing right in front of me.

The Lucifer Demon flew on its scaly red wings with streaks of hellfire covering its body. Its scaly head was of a reptile lizard, and it had bent arms and legs with claws instead of fingers.

Its intimidatingly powerful red eyes glanced at the girl on my shoulder. That was… its target.

It flew straight towards me an at incomprehensible speed.

My timing was lucky. I just barely managed to raise my sword up to block the attack. My speed wasn't fast enough to deal with it. I knew my limits. My best option was to retreat.

My hand shot out to grab the unconscious girl on the ground, but my intuition sensed something dangerous shooting out. My hand pulled out in time to barely avoid a sharp grab from… another Lucifer demon?!

Before I realized it, a hoard of Lucifer demons surrounded me in a tight circle. I was trained to stay calm and not panic in situations like this, but...

I need some kind of miracle to save me if I want to keep my life.

A claw from behind aimed to grab my head and cut it off with a quick swipe. My head tucked, my body turned around and swung my sword at the claw as it just barely avoided my head.

Not a single mark was left on it. In fact, it only seemed angry.

I attacked again and leaped forward. With the way my sword was now, I couldn't even scratch it.

Focus… I shifted 20% of my divine energy into my blade. The claw aimed at my legs. I jumped high enough to reach eye level and slashed it with a downward strike.

It fell back with a streak of blood.

The restless hoard noticed this. I quickly became their target.

Dodge. Evade. Multiple hits aimed at me missed because I managed to switch back my energy into my body.

Slash. Cut. Stab. Dodge. Miss. Block.

This pattern repeated for a few moments as I took down multiple demons, surpassing my expectation. Offensive to defensive, the more I managed to cut down the more of a target I became.

Eventually I was piled up on.

Huh? I was grabbed.

No problem, I'll just- wait, I'm out of Celestial energy?

A sharp talon tried to poke me. I swayed to the right.

A bunch more demons came closer and formed a circle around me and the demon that grabbed me. Their screeches pained my ear. It felt like they told the demon holding me to kill me.

The only way I can get out of this… I focused my divine energy once again, just as I had done before.

But it seemed like a weakness of mine was exploited.

I tried to dodge but… this time it caught me.

A sharp, jolting pain ran up my eye.

Huah… why can't I see? Wh-what's wrong!?

AH! Dammit… Did it get me?

Shit… I let my energy levels go to high up.

I'll have to… fuck, this is my only option!

Divine Explosion III.

I watched as my vision turned into an exploding white ball of blinding light.

I listened as the screeches faded away and the earth trembled with the thuds of the surrounding demons collapsing to the ground.

Hah… AH!

…

A couple of minutes passed. My vision felt back to normal. I laid on the comfy, cool grass. Countless of fresh demon bodies laid dead on the ground.

I… won?

No, I didn't. That's right.

Lucifer Class Demons have two lives. And they can regenerate.

Slowly, one by one, the demon bodies rose up from the ground. Their eyes glimmered deep red, the shade of human blood as they turned to face me.

Missing a finger, deep gashes and bloodied cuts all throughout my body, I stood up and held my sword with my left hand.

Now the real battle begins…

Just as I was about to fight again, a fast blur passed by me. It leaped from demon head to demon head. Soon enough, the demons fell one by one again with heavy thuds. Every single one of them had been cleared out in a matter of seconds.

My body was too weak to be standing, I collapsed to the ground. My eyes were beginning to close themselves.

Someone saved me. A miracle.

Just as I was about to become unconscious, my eyes managed to catch sight of the moving blur.

A girl with short black hair, pale skin and red Demon eyes that instilled fear into me.

Whether she meant it or not, she saved me.

Ah… I'm too weak to be awake now.

My eyes shut themselves and did not open.

Light's out.