Chapter One: Ashes That Don't Fade
Fire had a sound.
Vael Thorne never knew that until the night everything burned.
It wasn't just the crackling of wood or the roar of flames devouring rooftops. It was louder—hungrier. Like something alive, something feeding. The air trembled with it, thick with smoke and the metallic scent of blood.
Screams cut through the night.
Not one. Not a few.
Hundreds.
Vael dropped to his knees in the dirt, his hands trembling as ash drifted down like black snow. His ears rang, but he could still hear them—the cries for help, the desperate pleas, the choking sobs.
"Help—! Someone—please!"
A shadow lunged past him.
A beast.
Its form was twisted, fur matted with dark veins pulsing beneath its skin. Its jaws snapped shut around a man's torso with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed across the ground.
Vael flinched, his body refusing to move.
"No… no…"
His voice came out broken, barely a whisper.
He tried to stand.
His legs didn't respond.
They shook violently, like they didn't belong to him anymore.
Another scream.
This one closer.
Vael turned his head slowly.
A child.
A little girl, no older than eight, stumbled backward, tears streaming down her soot-streaked face. Behind her, a demon dragged its spear along the ground, sparks flying as metal scraped stone.
It was humanoid—but wrong.
Its skin was dark, cracked like burnt earth. A single horn jutted from its forehead, small and jagged. Its eyes glowed with a dull, lifeless red.
A lesser demon.
The weakest of their kind.
And yet…
Vael couldn't move.
"Please…" the girl cried, reaching out blindly. "Someone… anyone…"
Vael's fingers dug into the dirt.
Move.
MOVE!
His body didn't listen.
The demon raised its spear.
Vael's breath hitched.
"No—!"
The spear came down.
Silence.
For a moment, everything stopped.
The fire. The screams. The world.
Then it all rushed back at once.
Vael's vision blurred as tears spilled over.
"Why…?" his voice cracked. "Why can't I…?"
His chest tightened, suffocating.
"DO SOMETHING!"
But he didn't.
He couldn't.
Light suddenly tore through the darkness.
A flash—bright, blinding.
Steel clashed.
A figure dropped from above, blade glowing with radiant energy as it sliced cleanly through the demon's body.
Holy knights.
More descended behind him, their presence cutting through the chaos like a blade.
"Form up!" one shouted. "Purge the area!"
They moved with precision—fast, powerful, unstoppable.
A beast lunged—
A knight cleaved it in half.
Another demon charged—
An arrow pierced its skull before it took three steps.
Vael watched, frozen.
Their strength… it was overwhelming.
Effortless.
Beautiful.
And so far beyond him it might as well have been another world.
"If I had power…" he whispered, voice trembling.
A massive roar shook the ground.
Something huge crashed through a burning house, sending debris flying. A monstrous beast—towering, grotesque—emerged, its eyes glowing with corrupted energy.
A knight rushed forward—
Too slow.
The beast's claw came down.
The impact shook the earth.
When the dust cleared… the knight was gone.
Crushed.
Vael's breath caught.
Even they… could die.
"I'm… useless…"
The words slipped out before he could stop them.
And then—
Darkness.
Vael jolted upright.
His chest heaved as he sucked in air, like he'd been drowning. Sweat clung to his skin, his shirt damp and sticking to his back.
"…again…"
His voice was hoarse.
The room was small. Bare. Quiet.
Too quiet.
No screams. No fire.
Just silence.
Vael pressed a hand to his face, wiping away the tears he hadn't realized were still there.
"Same dream…" he muttered. "Every time…"
His fingers curled into a fist.
"Same… me."
Weak.
Frozen.
Useless.
A sharp knock shattered the silence.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
"VAEELLL!!"
He flinched.
"If you're still sleeping, I swear I'll break this door!"
Vael exhaled slowly, dragging himself to his feet.
"I'm up," he called, voice flat.
Another knock.
"Then move your ass!"
Vael opened the door.
Standing there was Ryn Kaelis—messy dark hair, sharp eyes, and an expression permanently stuck somewhere between annoyed and amused.
"Finally," Ryn said, crossing his arms. "What, you planning to sleep through your entire miserable life?"
"…Thought about it."
Ryn snorted.
"Yeah? Try it after we get paid."
Vael leaned against the doorframe, rubbing the back of his neck.
Ryn's expression shifted slightly as he looked closer.
"…You had it again, didn't you?"
Vael didn't answer.
Silence hung between them.
"…It doesn't matter," Vael said finally.
Ryn sighed, softer now.
"Yeah. It does."
A pause.
Then, just as quickly, Ryn straightened, clapping his hands.
"Anyway! Get dressed. We're already late. The knights won't wait for nobodies like us."
Vael grabbed his worn coat.
"Which squad?"
"Third division," Ryn replied. "Low-rank patrol. Demons spotted near the outskirts."
Vael slipped on his boots.
"So… we're bait again."
Ryn grinned.
"Correction—we're underpaid, unarmed, highly expendable assistants."
"…That's worse."
"Hey," Ryn said, shrugging. "We get to pick up demon horns. That's money."
"If we don't die first."
"Details."
The city outskirts were quieter than usual.
Too quiet.
Vael and Ryn approached the gathering point, where a squad of holy knights waited.
Five of them.
Vael's eyes sharpened as he took them in.
Three men, each carrying swords—posture steady, movements controlled. Experienced.
One woman stood slightly apart, a bow resting casually in her hand, her gaze scanning the surroundings with calm focus.
The last—a woman with a spear—leaned against her mount, expression unreadable.
And at the center…
The captain.
Vael felt it immediately.
Pressure.
Not physical—but something deeper. A presence that made the air feel heavier.
A rank, Vael thought.
At least A-rank.
The others?
C… maybe B.
Still far beyond him.
"All of you," the captain said, voice firm, "stay behind us. Do not engage. Do not interfere."
Ryn gave a mock salute.
"Yes sir, mighty protector of humanity."
Vael elbowed him.
"You'll get us killed."
"Only if I get caught," Ryn whispered.
The knights mounted their horses.
"Move out."
The forest thinned as they approached the outskirts.
The air shifted.
Vael felt it.
That same uneasy tension.
Then—
A rustle.
A low growl.
Figures emerged from the shadows.
Demons.
Small. Twisted. One horn each they were Lesser emons.
Vael's mind recalled the classifications: Lesser Demon, Low Demon, Mid Demon, High Demon, Arch Demon, Demon general, Demon Kings, and then Demon Lord rare and catastrophic
These… were at the very bottom, mindless, weak, but still deadly to someone like him.
"Formation," the captain said calmly.
The fight ended before it truly began.
One knight stepped forward—his blade flashed.
A demon split in two.
Another lunged—
An arrow pierced its eye mid-leap.
The spear user moved next—one thrust, clean and precise.
Another demon dropped.
Vael watched, silent.
Efficient.
Controlled.
Perfect.
Within seconds… it was over.
The captain sheathed his sword with a faint scoff.
"…This was a waste of time."
One of the others laughed.
"Too easy."
"Barely a warm-up."
Ryn nudged Vael.
"See? Easy job."
Vael didn't respond.
He was still watching the knights.
That kind of power…
"…So that's what it looks like," he murmured.
The squad moved ahead.
"Clean up," one knight called without looking back.
Vael and Ryn stepped forward.
The bodies were still warm.
Ryn crouched, snapping off a horn.
"Careful," he said. "That one's still twitching."
"I see it."
Vael knelt beside another, gripping the horn tightly before pulling it free.
A faint tremor ran through the corpse.
Then—
Stillness.
The forest fell quiet.
Too quiet.
Vael froze.
"…Ryn."
"Yeah," Ryn said slowly. "I feel it too."
The wind stopped.
No movement.
No sound.
Then—
Clop.
Vael's head snapped up.
Clop… Clop…
Heavy.
Slow.
Deliberate.
From the fog ahead…
Something emerged.
A horse.
No—
Something wearing the shape of one.
Dark. Twisted. Smoke curling from its nostrils.
And on its back—
A figure.
Tall.
Armored.
Its spear dragged along the ground, carving a line through the dirt as it moved.
Its presence crushed the air.
Vael's chest tightened.
This wasn't a lesser demon.
Not even close.
Ryn's voice dropped to a whisper.
"…That's not low-rank…"
Vael didn't answer.
He couldn't.
The figure stopped.
Slowly…
It turned its head.
And looked directly at them.
Vael's blood ran cold.
"…No…"
The grip on his hands tightened.
His body refused to move.
Again.
That same feeling.
That same fear.
Ryn grabbed his arm.
"…Run."