A once dense forest is now burned to dust. After the explosion.
Shin standing in the middle. Looking at the blue sky. Under the night's warm light.
"This is... It..."
The hole forest, now reduce to ashes. The dim blue night lit up the whole area.
He looked next to him... A burned, lifeless body lies.
"What now...?" Shin sat next to his body. "Will Sen..." Shin put his hands on his face.
Tears began leaking from his eyes. "I've done everything for them... Surely they'll be fine."
Then... A hand touched his shoulder. A warm, familiar hand...
"Happy birthday, son..."
Shin slowly lifted his head... His mom and dad, standing Infront of him.
His mom holding his shoulder.
His father... Standing next to her.
"Mom... Dad..." he froze... He stood up and hugged them. "I'm not... The son you raised anymore..."
Suddenly. His mom held his face. "You don't say such a thing. You're our son."
"Let's go son." His dad said.
Shin nodded. With tears running down in his face. "I'm ready... But what about Sen...?"
"Shin. You've already done enough. Sen is already grown up into a man." His mom said with a firm, confident voice.
"Your mom's right Shin." His father gently guide him towards the light.
But Shin stopped... He hears Sen... Running towards him. He can't see them, but they can see him.
"Oh god..." Sen kneeled down into the burned, corpse of Shin. "I'm sorry... My sword caused you this... If I am good enough, it wouldn't activated to burn everything..."
"It's all my fault..." He sobs.
"Sen..." Their mom said. "You boys grew up fast... When we died almost your childhood died with us." Their Dad said.
"I know... I'm going to hell aren't I? I've killed too many demons and so as humans... Well people that do crimes." Shin looked down.
"No, Shin." their Dad said.
Suddenly an unfamiliar voice spoke. "He's right, Shin."
A figure appeared behind him. A old man, in a suit. Dressed well, and well mannered.
"It's not your time yet." he looked into the list. "A noble sacrifice... I see." The old man burned the entire list with a swift of his palm.
"But... For the sake of the balance. You'll be able to return to life by of course. Either be reborn or the hard part... As a undead warrior, who can't speak and need a gem to turn fully alive." The old man said in a well mannered tone.
"Who are you... Exactly?" Shin said.
"Me? I'm one of the four horsemen. What people feared, yet inevitable, God's first creation for life. Death." Death fixed his attire and attitude.
"I myself are simply carrying on the duty of life and death. I control death, but not gives who dies... Hmm in the new generation word... What was that? Ahh yes, I simply pull the trigger." Death said in a well mannered tone.
"Shin, your answer is clear. Continue the path." His mom said. His Dad nodded in agreement.
"Return to the world of the living, find the gem and returned to Sen as whole again. It will freak him out, surely. But that will be a great, great relief for him." his father advised.
Shin looked at Sen who is mourning his burned body.
"...I'll do it..." Shin said.
"Good. Now we had our agreement. You'll have to wait for a week. Before I put your soul into something undead. Perhaps you wanna spend it with your parents Mr Shin?" Death hand a paper.
"Sign here. And don't worry, this isn't like selling soul. This actually means lending me the soul, which sounds exactly like selling your soul but doing this won't cause any sins." Death waited for Shin to sign up his soul.
"And if you're curious. Mr Shin. You are a rare soul. You kill people, demons, well all of them are bad people. But that's still a sin. And yet the people you've saved actually balanced the sins you've committed."
Death, with a swift of a hand took another list.
"It's says here that balance souls get to chose where to go, hell or heaven." and eith another swift of the hand. The list burns.
"but of course. This is one in a million chances." with that death eagerly pushed Shin to the light, without explaining much.
"Off you go. I said much, info that I shouldn't say. Perhaps it's centuries, after centuries when a soul this fine is taken." Death said softly.
Death, gently pushed their parents as well. He is in a hurry anyway.
And then. Maybe for compassion. He appeared Infront of Sen, while he's still mourning the lost of his brother.
Sen flooded in emotions quickly picked up his heavenly sword and pointed it at death.
"WHO ARE YOU!" Sen yelled in anger and grief.
"A DEMON, ANOTHER ELDRITCH ENTITY, OR A SPIRIT?!"
Death didn't flinch. He raised his palm, and gently guide it down. Telling Sen to down the weapon.
"I'm not a threat. I'm something beyond life. Something you can understand yet don't either." Death said.
"Shin will be back." He said.
Suddenly... Sen paused. "What do you mean? Who are you? How do you know my brother?"
"What do you mean he'll be back?!"
"ARE YOU FUCKING WITH MY EMOTIONS?! I WILL... GUT YOU–"
Death with a swift of his hand. Knocked Sen out. And leave him there with a note telling.
"With seven days and seven nights. A beloved shall return. In a form of a living yet unspeakable. Understanding yet no answers. A living yet not in the land of the living."
Death looked in the sky. "That man... Really stole my job, explaining the gem to his son." death shrugged. And with that he slowly disappears as the cloud cover the sky. Disappearing with the moon light.
In the heaven. "What Gem dad?" Shin asked. "And why am I in heaven? Didn't I get to chose, as death said?"
"Oh, Shin. People here in heaven get to slack off or do helping to the other angel. As for you dad here. He is a smart man, he works and helps with the library of knowledge." his mom said.
Shin softly said. "I'm tired mom... Mentally... After you and dad died I'm constantly just... Killing... For the week I'm staying here... I'll forever remember this."
"Son, rest now." His Dad softly said.
"My dear son. Go to our home. Heaven works like just the earth but with extra steps." His mom smiled softly.
"Thanks... But I might get lost." his parents chuckled and led him towards their home... A copy of their original home when they're still young.
A smile formed on Shin's face. A genuine smile, not smugness, not false smile, not a in a moment smile... But a genuine smile that he rarely feel.
Shin entered and mesmerized the feeling. The atmosphere, the warmth.
Shin... Felt safe. For 7 years after their parents died. He trained his body, kill, and protect evil people and demons. And saved countless lives.
They've always felt safe with Shin. So as the others. They've always felt safe knowing that Shin have their backs.
But him? He always burdened, he always carry the pressure. But once for his damn life he once felt safe again... This time... He is safe.
Under the heaven. The land of the living Sen Woked up from being unconscious. Shin's lifeless body is still near him. And the note that death himself left him.
With the grief, emotions, and guilt clouding his mind. He knows one thing. He need to bring back Shin and give him a proper burial and a ceremony with it.
He took his sword. Put it in it's handle, and carried but the corpse of his brother.
In the morning a funeral is held. Sen Infront of the coffin, all quiet, eyes are empty, looking so lost.
"I've lost my one and only family left..." he stood up and touched the coffin. "I'm the one who should've go through the portal... The sword blast won't damage me... It wants to protect me... Why, Shin?"
"You did something so careless... So stupid... So dumb..." Sen sat back down.
Father Albert goes up to Sen. "Why... Don't you get some sleep son? You've been awake the whole night."
He signed. "I'm the last Azalea..."
Father Albert raised his eyebrow. "I thought your family's last name was–"
"No... We use different last names as a fake out. Azalea is our last name." Sen looked down.
"Vermis said that if we use fake names... If we got married someday... Our enemies won't know anything about our bloodline and won't know, who is who." Sen said.
"Vermis the archangel right?" Father Albert said. "I'm still surprised. I thought there's only a few archangels. Vermis wasn't written in any bible."
"Everything isn't written on the book of god... That's what Vermis stated." Sen kept his eyes on Shin's coffin.
Then Kirin and Kaide came up to Sen.
"Sen... We understood your pain... But you haven't got any rest since last night. Take some sleep. We'll stay on guard on Shin." Kaide Placed his hand on Sen.
Suddenly a bunch of people showed up.
"Oh, crap..." Yuhan spoke. "Sen... Please don't let them crawl under your skin..."
Alane come to their side. "Mister Fin... Please to have you visit this humble funeral..."
The guy stood down from his horse. Accompanied by a bunch of trained soldiers.
"Please.. don't call me mister." Fin sat next to Sen. "How... Did he die?"
Sen looked down. Even more angry and disappointed at himself. "He died saving this entire city... Or town... Or whatever... Because of my impotence."
The others looked at each other. "Why is... Did he changed or something?" Yuhan said.
"I don't know... He always jokes around and wasn't serious all the time... Which is annoying." Alane said.
But only one isn't confused nor surprised. Father Albert.
"...I thought nothing would have kill him... I was wrong." Fin signed. The sadness loomed on him.
"Remember the fall of Cabanatuan?"
"No... Don't talk about that... Please?" Sen caresses the coffin.
"I'm sorry... I just want to reminisce the memory of our last meet up... The three of us."
"It's a war... But it's the only time we three got to be together..." Fin looked at the coffin.
Sen sighed. "It's a bad memory... But indeed, the only time we three are in each other's watch."
The others looked at each other again.
"What are they talking about?" Yuhan crossed his arms.
"Is that... The war the shook the world?" Yuhan's eyes widened at what he said.
"Everybody knows about that war... But nobody knows who actually survive or who's not..." Yuhan said.
"Everyone around the entire globe... Felt and witness in their visions made only by the gruesomeness of the war." Yuhan explained.
Father Albert took a breath. "Yes, Yuhan.... That's the war."
"The world is almost back together and yet somehow not. Electricity, connection, networks, some cities are already rebuild."
"learned to adapt... That.. including the Cabanatuan city from Nueva ejica..."
"Humanity is never dead... But changed."
Father Albert looked saddened.
"The Cabanatuan as the world saw fell... It's one of the early cities that rebuilt and provide shelters for others... A million demons rushed toward that place... Nueva ejica fell."
"What was the reason demons wanted Cabanatuan to fall anyway?" Yuhan said.
Sen sighed. "I hear you all talking back there..."
"I'm kinda curious about that as well..." Kirin said.
"Yeah... We all know the war, saw it in our visions and how bloody it was... But what's the reason demons wanted them to fall?" Kaide said.
2 years ago.
Shin 20 years old, Sen 18 years old, Fin 21 years old.
"THIS IS USELESS!" Fin yelled. "Many people are dying out there! We should go out and kill as many as we can!"
"I know... But Shin is critically injured..." Sen said. "That demon... Has access to some powers. I thought ascendance..."
Fin grunted but sit down. "Demons are evolving... They want the crystal of life hidden beneath the Cabanatuan land... This war... The murders are pointless."
Then a knock on the door. "Generals. Information just got received."
Sen stood up and opened the door. "Thank you soldier... Take a rest before returning to the front line. Give us a day and we'll head back to the front line... Sooner."
The soldier saluted and left.
"Moral is low... They think because we're young we don't know much about leading." Sen sat opening the documents.
"Fuck... Estimated demons are a million." Sen closed the document.
"You're exaggerating right...?" the look on Sen's face says it. "...Maybe the year is the year we will die huh?" Fin said.
"Maybe... But I won't leave the people." Laid on his bed. "Aren't we... Supposed to be just in college if the world isn't like this? Or at least out of college? I don't know..."
Fin looked at the clock. 8:58 pm. "... Frontline is quiet at this hour... College sounds nice."
Shin grunted and slowly woke up. "Yeah... I hated school but now thinking about it. College was never bad."
Sen scoffed. "Someone's ear dropping."
"Oh, shut up. I was merely awoken by your yapping." Shin rolled his eyes.
"Ahh! There he is being sarcastic again!" Sen laughed.
"Quit being a tease." Sen said.
"What? I'm just saying what I'm seeing." Fin Laid his back on the bed.
Shin chuckled. "I'm not angry idiots. This war... Is claiming thousands of lives in it's first course. How many will die before we could even get to the middle of the siege?"
The tone immediately changed.
"How does... People like them die while people like us live? Is that because we're strong? What's the point of being strong if we cannot prevent the deaths of the innocence?"
"Are we... Lucky or cursed with strength? People around us die... Yet people around us get saved." Shin sighed.
"I know we can't save everyone... But I should have tried way more... Push pass my limit." Shin said. Disappointed loomed him
"Shin... Brother. We've trained till our body gave up on us. We will defend Cabanatuan till it fall." Sen placed his hands on Shin.
"A few hours ago... Rodriguez died... One of my commander. His wife... And his daughter who is 5 year old couldn't even recognize his body." Shin clenched his fist.
Fin's eyes narrowed. Guilt clouding the 3 of them. "We must not lose nor confidence nor our morals. We are the only generals left... I wish Vermis is here."
"He can't be here... Tensions in heaven are high... Another civil war might start again." Shin said.
Sen clapped. "You know what? Enough with the depressing conversations. Let's go take our deservely sleep. Made that word up, by the way… I don't know if it exists and I will not give a shit." Sen lay on his bed and knocked out.
Tomorrow... another day on the front lines.
While Sen was deeply asleep, Shin and Fin began talking.
"Hey, Fin. If I were to die... which I expect... do you think there's gonna be a funeral? Or am I just another body claimed by this forsaken world?" Shin said softly.
Fin sighed. "Sleep it off... you'll never die. You'll die an old man." Fin turned his face to the wall and went to sleep.
The night was quiet… until a few hours later.
The battlefront erupted as usual.
Shin, Fin, and Sen woke up and began putting on their combat uniforms.
"Nah, I'll fight," Shin muttered, pulling on his boots.
"Shin... you got launched through a building yesterday. You sure you don't have any broken bones?" Fin raised an eyebrow.
Shin scoffed. "And? As if that's deadly."
"Brother... normal people would've been dismembered going through a whole foundation. You went straight through it," Fin crossed his arms.
Sen sighed. "You two... let's just get to the front line. Shin can handle himself."
Then he glanced over at his brother.
"And Shin—do the thing."
Sen headed out the door, followed by Fin.
Shin frowned and muttered, "I'm just a weapon, huh?" Sarcasm laced his voice.
At the front line.
Soldiers fought hard to hold the line.
Explosions. Screams. Steel and flesh.
Demons and humans dropping left and right.
"USE THE PIT!" one soldier shouted, the command echoing down the line.
They pulled the ropes.
A pit trap disguised under heavy mud swung open with a snap.
Demons tried leaping over it—some made it.
Most didn't.
They were shoved forward by the wave behind them, falling right into the pit, impaled from head to toe on the spears below.
Some demons broke through, killing a few humans…
But they were cut down just as fast.
All around them was blood and smoke.
"Hell is empty."
That was the phrase passed from soldier to soldier.
A whisper.
A truth.
The line was getting pushed — slowly and brutally.
Suddenly, there was a shot louder than any gun, stronger than any gun, more chaotic than any gun.
Fin arrived first, his Colt raining fire on the demons — his Ascendance replacing the bullets in the chamber.
"Stand back, soldiers. The Generals are here," he said, shoving a bullet into the mouth of a charging demon — point blank.
From the other side of the front line, a blazing heavenly sword could be seen.
Sen was slashing his way through the horde, pushing that flank while leaving the other side to Fin.
The soldiers regained morale, confidence rushing through them as they charged forward with their Generals.
But most of them had the same thought:
"Where's the third General?"
One of the jokesters said,
"Maybe he got scared? I mean, if you think about it… General Shin just punches. The other two have devastating weapons."
He shrugged, not even trying to apologize.
One of the officers sighed.
"You haven't met him in person, have you?"
He reloaded and kept firing alongside the others, demons dropping one after another.
"General Shin… is the person you want by your six," the officer added, patting the jokester's back.
"Trust me. Your ignorance will be the downfall of you."
Suddenly, a reinforcement plane flew above them.
"That's odd… There are no parachuters left…" the officer said, squinting.
A demon lunged at them — but Fin shot it mid-air, then landed by their side.
"I heard what you were all talking about," Fin said, reloading his gun with ascendance.
"And private... today's the day you'll learn why Shin is above me."
The hatch of the plane opened.
But instead of more soldiers — it was just Shin.
"…I hate heights," Shin muttered, squinting as he stepped closer to the edge.
"Oh yeah… hundreds of meters in the sky. What the hell am I doing?"
He pulled out his binoculars.
"Let's see… Demon king leading the charge… Where are you, bitch…"
Then a portal opened — right in the center of the war zone.
Out came a young-looking demon, lounging on a royal seat, carried by massive demons.
"Azareth…" Shin gritted his teeth — not out of fear, but pure anger.
"I'll skin your forsaken body and tear you limb by limb…"
She looked absolutely stunning. Beautiful even.
Which, for a demon lord, was never a good sign.
"You know," she cooed with a wicked smirk, "for a woman like me? 'Demon King' doesn't fit... I should be called the Queen of the Realm! Hah! Fabulous~!"
Then she locked eyes on Fin.
"Heh~ there he is~ ohhh Finnnn~ I'll kill every single one of your loved ones…"
Her voice turned twistedly sweet.
"So you'll have no one left but me~!"
She then shifted her eyes to Sen.
"Ahh~ the other one," she smirked.
Sen continued slashing his way through hordes of demons — but once his eyes locked with Azareth's...
Everything changed.
He tore through the swarm like a raging inferno, fire trailing behind him like an uncontrollable flamethrower.
She became the priority.
"That's what I like!" Azareth stood from her seat and dropped her robe, revealing glowing sigils on her skin.
She raised her hand — and rained hellfire straight toward Sen.
Demons caught in the path burned instantly, turning to ash. But Sen?
He used the very corpses of the demons he'd just slain to shield himself from her flames.
Azareth laughed maniacally.
"WHERE'S THE OTHER ONE?!" Her grin widened.
"DID HE GET SCARED AND RUN?!"
All around them, demons and humans alike were dying.
The battle for Cabanatuan raged on — brutal and merciless.
Then Fin entered the fray — gunning down demons with terrifying accuracy.
Each bullet from his Colt tore limbs and shattered heads.
These were no ordinary bullets — they hit with the force of small missiles.
"Shin? He never ran." Fin reloaded.
This time, he fired a special round — a bullet that multiplied mid-air, turning into a hailstorm of destruction.
"TAKE THAT! TAKE THAT!"
It looked like he was holding a mini-gun, with every shot packing the impact of a high-caliber cannon.
Up above them...
Shin watched from the sky, standing at the edge of the plane's hatch.
"That's my cue."
Finally, she saw it — a plane up above them.
Azareth smugly claimed, "Ahh... the 'Heaven's Demon'. That's what demons call him. Now~ I get to see it for myself."
Suddenly, Sen and Fin yelled in unison,
"HIDE IN THE TRENCH, NOW!"
Every soldier ran for their lives, diving into the trenches. Without hesitation, they followed the order of their generals.
Shin, on the plane, opened his palms. Bright purple flames engulfed his hands. Then he jumped...
Azareth gulped. Cold sweat ran down her face. It wasn't much — but it was something.
"There's no way... Is he crazy?" she laughed, though cold sweat still dripped down her face.
The humans and demons all stopped fighting... just to see his madness.
One of the soldier officers looked very worried. "What the fuck..." was all he could say.
The soldier that joked about Shin? His face twisted into horror.
Nobody knew what Shin was about to do.
No one — except the pilot, Sen, Fin... and Shin himself.
In the sky... Shin swirled so fast that the flames burst even more, covering miles and miles of sky.
Far enough to be seen from cities multiple miles away from the front line.
Almost like a star... beautiful, yet deadly.
The sky burned.
Everything burned.
---
Back to the present.
"So... you were the generals during that time? No one knew who you all were... Why though? Why didn't you reveal yourselves to the world?" Yuhan asked.
Sen looked at Shin's coffin one more time.
"Peace... is much better than fame," Sen said.
---
Back in the past...
The frontline burned to ash.
Every demon was incinerated.
The soldiers hid in the trenches, barely surviving.
Sen and Fin used their ascendance to shield themselves — Sen slicing the air to break the force apart.
Azareth? She burned to a crisp... and then regenerated.
The lesser demons died. She remained.
She laughed like there was no tomorrow.
"Shin Azalea... You are a crazy man."
Her grin widened.
What emerged from the center of the blazing violet fire was Shin.
Angry.
Wounded.
Ready to kill.
"There he is... the Heaven's Demon..."
Without hesitation, Azareth charged at Shin.
And Shin did the same.
---
The flame faded after impact.
The surviving demons and humans watched in silence.
At the center of the scorched battlefield were four figures.
Three generals. One demon.
It didn't feel like a normal battle anymore.
It felt like gods were fighting.
"I'm sorry I doubted General Shin..." one soldier muttered.
"Shhh... just watch," their officer said.
"This is the fight that will decide whether Cabanatuan will fall... or rise."
---
Shin's fist and Azareth's collided — the shockwave sent them both flying.
Shin got up, but didn't move to strike again.
Instead... Sen was already charging at her.
Azareth laughed.
"So... it's a 1v3."
She shot across the battlefield.
But before she could gain footing, Fin unloaded a barrage of bullets.
Sen followed close behind, with Fin covering him.
Azareth barely dodged — then countered with a burst of hellfire that sent Sen flying in flames.
Fin kept firing to keep pressure on her.
"What the fuck is even the point of this?!" he shouted.
Azareth just grinned.
She finally had alone time with her favorite human.
"For the thrill, honey~."
Out of rage, Shin tried to land a punch — a reckless move.
Azareth caught it easily.
"Oh, Fin~ don't you get it? You're not like them..."
She pulled him close.
"And being honest? My feelings for you... are real."
But before she could do anything more —
Shin appeared behind Fin, eyes burning with murder.
He tried to grapple Azareth.
But she reacted fast and stabbed through Shin's hand.
She released Fin and turned her full attention to Shin.
"So... the Heaven's Demon, huh?"
Her smugness vanished.
Her real face surfaced — cold, angry, hateful.
The demon who made even other demons feel worthless.
"I, Azareth, tell you this... you will die."
She floated into the air.
And brought her hands together.
Then she cut her hand open, blood pouring like water from the wound.
---
Back to the present.
"…Everything went south after that," Sen said quietly.
"We lost…" Fin added. "Thousands of people died. We fought until the very end… yet it all felt wasted."
Kirin softly asked, "Where was Vermis at that time?"
Sen looked at her. "In Heaven… fighting another civil war. While we were down here, he was up there."
Everyone listened in silence. They realized—
The three of them were more traumatized than anyone else.
Yet somehow, they never lost it.
They didn't break.
They didn't lose faith.
They just… kept going.
Shin's body lay inside the coffin.
Sen mourned in silence.
Fin sat beside him—too late to fight, too late to say goodbye.
To be continued...