The wind howled through the alleyways of Greywick like a mourning spirit, echoing the pain of a soul that had tasted too much betrayal. Elias Black walked with his hoodie up, drenched in rain, eyes low but burning. The city lights reflected in the puddles at his feet, distorting every glimr into sothing sinister.
Behind those eyes, sothing stirred.
Ever since he had accepted the Devil’s pact, Elias had seen through new eyes. Not just taphorically. When he stared at a person too long, he saw flickers of their sins—violence, envy, lust. The Devil’s System fed him their cris like a hunger that could never be fully sated. It whispered their misdeeds and asked: Shall we collect this soul?
He hadn’t said yes.
Not yet.
But the clock was ticking.
He had three days left to collect his first soul, or he would forfeit his own all over again.
---
Earlier that day, Elias had returned to the ruins of the old cathedral on Hallow Street. That was where he had been reborn, where the contract had been signed in his own blood, under the eye of a devil cloaked in shadow.
The mont he stepped into the shattered nave, the temperature dropped.
"You’re late," the voice coiled around the corners of the room.
Elias turned slowly. The Devil—or whatever it was—stood in the shattered pulpit, barefoot and wearing the face of a man Elias had once trusted. His forr ntor, Professor Caldin. But that was just a mask. Its true form flickered like a fire trapped in skin.
"I’m not ready to kill."
"You don’t have to kill. You only need to collect," the Devil hissed, stepping down, his boots silent on the wet floor. "One soul. One whose weight tips fate."
Elias clenched his fists. His mind flashed to the people who had betrayed him. The ones who let him burn in that fire. The ones who laughed when his life was destroyed.
"There are plenty deserving," the Devil added with a sly smile. "I have one in mind."
---
Her na was Valerie Grant.
CEO of a crooked biotech firm called NEXRA. Elias had worked there during his internship. She had used his research, faked his data, then frad him when the experints failed. Her lies had left him blacklisted, disgraced, and abandoned.
"She lives in a mansion uptown. Protected. Feared. But her soul... stinks of rot," the Devil whispered.
Elias didn’t speak. He only turned and walked out.
---
Night fell again. The rain had stopped, but the clouds still lood like demons watching the earth. Elias stood on the rooftop across from Valerie’s estate, staring through binoculars.
She laughed with guests at a candlelit dinner.
It sickened him.
"Do it," the Devil whispered beside him. "You won’t need to fight her. Her ti is up. Simply mark her, and I will do the rest."
Elias hesitated. That hesitation cost him.
The rooftop door behind him creaked.
He spun.
A man in black stepped forward. Eyes red as blood, fangs peeking from his lips.
"You’re not the only one hunting tonight," the vampire said.
Elias barely dodged the first strike. The vampire was fast—inhumanly so—but Elias’s body reacted with a power he didn’t yet understand. He countered with a flash of shadowy energy from his palm, a pulse that knocked the vampire backward.
"Who sent you?" Elias growled.
The vampire hissed, wiping blood from his lip. "You carry the Devil’s scent. You’re marked. That makes you prey."
He leapt again.
This ti Elias didn’t dodge. He caught the attacker midair, channeled the System, and whispered, "Collect."
Chains of fire erupted from his hands.
The vampire scread as the infernal links wrapped around his body, dragging him into a hole of lightless fla. The air reeked of sulfur. Then silence.
The rooftop was empty again.
Elias dropped to one knee, panting.
"That... was a soul taken," the Devil said, appearing beside him with pride in his eyes. "But not the one I sent you for. Still... impressive."
Elias clenched his jaw. "No one sent him. That was a warning. Sothing else is coming."
The Devil only smiled. "Of course it is. You think you’re the only player on the board?"
---
Back in his apartnt, Elias stared at the mark on his palm. A dark sigil that glowed faintly with red runes. It pulsed now, as if breathing. He flexed his fingers, feeling the shadows obey.
He hadn’t just collected a soul.
He had fed the System.
He had grown.
But so had the darkness.
Down in the alley below, a girl watched from the shadows. Pale skin, black eyes, long coat fluttering in the wind.
Another vampire.
She licked her lips.
"So... the Devil’s Reborn has finally awakened. This will be fun."
---
Far from Greywick, in the ruins of a blood-soaked temple, Steve—a vampire of old blood and forbidden hunger—erged from a coffin lined with iron.
"He bears the mark," Steve whispered. "And the Devil plays his ga again."
He grinned, eyes glowing. "Then let join the ga."
And sowhere, Elias shivered in his sleep, already dreaming of the fire and blood to co.
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