The sky burned a deep, bleeding crimson, as if the heavens themselves had been wounded and never healed. Jagged mountains of black rock stabbed upward like broken bones, their peaks glowing with rivers of molten lava that snaked through the valleys like living veins of fire. The air shimmered with unbearable heat, thick with the scent of sulfur and scorched stone. Yet in this hellish realm — Sector Second Hell — life had found a fragile rhythm.
Demons moved with purpose instead of rage.
In open-air blacksmith pits, muscular demons hammered glowing anvils, sparks flying like dying stars. Their laughter boomed between strikes — not cruel, but honest, the sound of beings who had finally chosen creation over destruction. Nearby, on cracked playgrounds of blackened rock, young demons with tiny horns and playful tails chased each other, their giggles echoing across the lava-lit fields. Further away, through the open windows of a modest demonic school, small children sat in neat rows, learning from glowing crystal slates. Their teacher's voice carried on the hot wind: "Remember your past mistakes… learn from them… become better than the kings who came before."
This was no longer a place of endless torment.
This was a place trying to heal.
High above it all, on the roof of a tall obsidian tower, stood the guardian who had made this peace possible.
**Diablo.**
His sharp neon-crimson eyes scanned the horizon with quiet pride. A perfectly tailored black coat hugged his powerful frame, white gloves gleaming against the red sky. His black hair fluttered gently in the scorching wind. Behind him, four massive demon wings — each one larger than most buildings — folded slowly, their edges flickering with faint crimson energy. He looked every bit the guardian he had fought to become.
Diablo adjusted his tie with slow, deliberate fingers, his expression calm yet heavy with the weight of responsibility.
"Again…" he murmured, voice low and resonant, carrying the exhaustion of centuries. "The Sector Second Hell is finally free from the rule of the past demon king. Everything has settled. No more chaos. No more fake judgment."
He closed his eyes for a long moment, letting the distant laughter of children and the rhythmic clang of blacksmith hammers wash over him like a balm. For the first time in centuries, this part of hell felt… alive. Peaceful. Worth protecting.
The whole underworld had been divided into three great sectors long ago. Sector One remained raw and untamed, a place of raw survival. Sector Three stayed shrouded in mystery, hidden even from most demons. But Sector Two — *his* sector — had become a realm of second chances. A place where demons could learn, grow, and choose a different path.
Yet somewhere far beyond these borders lay another small, hidden realm known as **Flamous Hell**. Once home to thousands of demons who sought their own freedom, it had been conquered and claimed by outsiders who had no right to be there.
Diablo's neon-crimson eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease crossing his usually stoic face.
"Why did those outsiders even come here… and stay?" he whispered into the hot wind. "They have taken that entire realm."
---
Deep within the captured Flamous Hell, the atmosphere was completely different — darker, heavier, filled with the cold fury of a being who refused to stay dead.
Even after death, the Space Emperor still reigned supreme.
Dano sat on a massive demonic throne carved from jagged black spikes and molten rock that pulsed like a living heart. His orange-and-black striped fur gleamed under the hellish red light. His long tail flicked lazily behind him, but his red eyes were hollow, dangerous, and burning with cold, calculated rage. The entire realm around him was now covered by his alien army — thousands of armored soldiers standing in perfect, terrifying formation, their weapons humming with dark energy.
Dano suddenly rose to his full, imposing height.
The entire realm shook violently. Spikes erupted from the sky like falling meteors and crashed into the ground, sending shockwaves that cracked the earth for miles.
"THAT'S ENOUGH NOW!" he roared, voice echoing like thunder across the hellscape.
His power alone made the ground tremble and the lava rivers ripple in fear.
"Everyone — come instantly!"
From the shadows and portals, Quan and Aika appeared at once, dropping to their knees at the foot of the throne along with the rest of the elite force. Heads bowed low in instant, fearful submission.
Dano's teeth were gritted so hard that veins bulged across his powerful arms. His fists clenched until the knuckles turned bone-white.
"The death I suffered at the hands of a common Inferno Clan member… Uren…" he growled, each word dripping with pure, venomous hatred. "It was the most disrespectful thing that has ever happened to me. I am the Space Emperor. Not some toy that everyone can kick around for fun."
He slowly lowered himself back onto the throne, resting his jaw on one massive palm, eyes glowing with dangerous, unquenchable light.
"Well… capturing this hell realm was still a big achievement. It's far bigger and stronger than Sector Two ever was."
Aika hesitated, her voice soft and careful, almost trembling.
"My Lord… what should we do now?"
Dano's smirk returned — cold, calculating, and terrifyingly confident.
"We are having a real deal first."
He stood once more, rolling his broad shoulders and cracking his neck with a loud, echoing pop that sounded like breaking bones.
"Training in hell was absolute, I think."
Quan raised his head slightly, his emerald eyes steady but cautious, voice low.
"But with whom are we dealing now?"
Dano raised a single eyebrow, as if the question itself was beneath him.
"Is that even a question? It's the Guardian of Sector Two Hell… Diablo himself."
Quan's expression remained cold and unreadable, but his next words carried quiet warning.
"Lord… even if you don't believe it, the truth is Diablo is never going to work under us."
Dano's smirk widened into something truly monstrous.
"Well yeah…"
His aura suddenly exploded outward in a burning red wave, crackling energy lighting up the entire palace like a storm of blood-red lightning.
"I will *make* him."
The entire team stiffened in pure terror. Quan lowered his head instantly, eyes wide with shock. Aika glanced at Quan one last time — unhappiness and quiet pain clear in her eyes — but she too lowered her face in forced submission.
Dano raised his hand high, eyes glowing brighter than the lava rivers below.
"So now… let's get ready for Sector Two."
In a blinding flash of crimson light, the entire force vanished.
---
The sky above Sector Second Hell tore open like shattered glass.
A massive portal ripped through the red heavens, and Dano's army poured out — thousands of armored soldiers floating in perfect, ominous formation. Aika hovered with her ancient staff already glowing with lethal light. Quan's black aura spread like living shadows, hungry and ready. And in the center of it all floated Dano — arms folded across his powerful chest, fur reflecting the hellish light, red eyes locked directly on Diablo with predatory focus.
The peaceful demon public below erupted into screams of pure panic, running in every direction, parents shielding children, blacksmiths dropping their hammers.
"Who are they?!"
"They look so evil!"
"Help us! Guardian Diablo — save us!"
Diablo's neon-crimson eyes widened in raw terror as he stared at the overwhelming force filling his sky.
"They are… so many!"
Aika floated forward, staff raised and crackling. Quan's shadows writhed around him like serpents ready to strike. Dano remained perfectly still in the middle, arms still folded, a lazy yet terrifying smile curling his lips.
Diablo recognized the leader instantly.
"It's you… Space Emperor. The one who captured our Flamous Hell?"
Dano's smile widened, slow and mocking.
"'Yours'? Haha… it was never meant to be yours."
Diablo gritted his teeth, wings flaring slightly in instinctive defense as he took one cautious step back on the roof.
Dano leaned forward slightly in the air, his voice carrying across the entire sector like a death sentence wrapped in silk.
"Well… I am here for an offer. So it's better we talk first instead of laying hands."
Diablo's voice came out low, guarded, and filled with barely contained anger.
"What is it?"
Dano's red eyes gleamed with cruel amusement.
"Work for me."
The words echoed through Diablo's ears like a hammer striking an anvil — loud, heavy, final.
Diablo's neon-crimson eyes shook violently. The past slammed into him like a tidal wave of fire and blood.
He remembered being younger — serving the ruthless Demon King Argon as nothing more than a disposable slave. Forced to slay thousands of innocents he never wanted to harm. Always obeying orders he hated. Always suffering in silence. Never free. The taste of being someone's tool still burned like acid in his soul, a scar that had never healed.
Back in the present, the people below cried out desperately.
"Diablo-sama! Please don't agree! You are our guardian! Our lives depend on you!"
A little demon child looked up at him with wide, tear-filled eyes, voice trembling.
"Guardian uncle… are you really going to… leave us?"
Diablo's mind raced, heart pounding with the weight of every life looking up at him.
*If I reject… the hell won't smile peacefully anymore. Everyone has trust in me. Sector One, Two, Three… all of them. The children learning in school, the families laughing, the blacksmiths building instead of destroying… they are like the family I never had.*
Tears of frustration and helplessness burned at the corners of his eyes, but he forced them back.
He lowered his head slowly, wings drooping.
"I can do anything to protect the hell," he whispered, voice breaking with quiet pain. "It's not just a duty… they are like the family I never had."
Diablo finally nodded quietly and floated up to join Dano's side, his massive wings casting a long shadow over his own people.
His own demons watched in disbelief and heartbreak, some openly crying, others staring in stunned silence.
Diablo's head remained lowered, completely helpless.
Dano's smile was victorious and cold.
"One teammate acquired. Now let's go and look for another one."
He glanced sideways at Quan and Aika, his voice turning icy.
"And also…"
Quan tensed visibly.
"Yes?"
Dano's tone became pure menace.
"As you both serve me… you both have potential inside you. So if I ever get troubled or weakened… I will absorb you."
Aika said nothing — she simply stared at him, eyes filled with quiet unhappiness and unspoken sorrow. Quan's throat went completely dry, but he forced out the only word he could.
"Fine."
Diablo whispered under his breath, voice thick with disgust and pity.
"How cruel you are…"
Dano raised his hand high into the burning sky. His eyes glowed with terrifying, unstoppable power.
"I am coming, Ares… Prince of all Infernos. The mythical Inferno. I know exactly which planet you live on. I know who your favorite persons are. You will see the type of genocide again that happened on Planet Sin long ago… but now it will be far crueler. History will repeat itself… just so you can feel the pain."
The sky above Sector Second Hell burned brighter than ever before, red turning to blood.
And somewhere far away on Earth, Astra — now a powerful adult — had no idea that the nightmare from his past was preparing to return.
Bigger.
Stronger.
Far more merciless than before.
The invasion of Earth… had just begun.