Am I... am I going to die?
The thought echoed in my fading consciousness. I, Matsui Yamado, lay in a pool of my own blood. My fingers were gone. My stomach had been pierced, and I was rapidly losing strength. A figure stood before me—a boy, no, a devil in the skin of a boy, holding a blood-soaked knife and smiling as if this were all some divine comedy.
"No... no, please... forgive me," I begged, though I knew deep down there would be no forgiveness tonight.
They say that in your final moments, your entire life flashes before your eyes. It was happening to me now, like a flood of memories crashing through the dam of pain. Where did it all begin? How did I turn into this monster? I only ever wanted to...
My parents' faces appeared before me, warm and gentle. I was five years old again, giggling as they played with me in the park. Their love was unquestionable then, a beacon of warmth in the world.
But it didn't last.
Two years later, everything unraveled. I was seven. My father was driving the car while I sat quietly in the back seat. My parents were arguing. I had told my mother something I had seen: my father speaking with a younger woman in secret. I didn't understand what it meant at the time. I only spoke what I saw.
But that single truth unraveled our lives.
My mother erupted in fury. My father, caught off guard, tried to defend himself. There was no solid proof, but the tension was palpable. The rain fell hard, making the road barely visible. Their voices rose over the sound of thunder and windshield wipers.
And then it happened.
The tires skidded. The car crashed through the guardrail and plummeted down a cliffside.
Miraculously, I survived. My small frame had been spared serious injury. But everything else... was blood and broken metal.
My parents were gone.
I crawled from the wreckage, dazed and sobbing. I stumbled into the dark woods, not knowing where I was going. I ran until my legs gave out. I tripped over something and fell face-first into the mud.
"Why...? Why did this happen?! Someone... someone help me!"
Then, from the abyss of darkness, a voice answered.
It was deep and ancient, filled with loathing and rage. I looked up and froze in terror.
A creature stood before me, twenty feet tall, its skin crimson like raw flesh. Enormous horns twisted from its skull, and its wings spread wide, like the cloak of death. Its tail slithered behind it like a serpent.
A demon.
Its eyes burned with malice, as though happiness had never touched its existence.
"Please... don't kill me," I whispered.
The demon's form shimmered. In an instant, it took on a humanoid shape—tall, black wings folded behind its back. Though it looked more human, the air around it was no less chilling.
"I have come to save you," it said.
"W-Who are you?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"I am a demon," it said simply. "A fallen angel. I came from the spiritual world to offer you salvation."
"Salvation...?" I couldn't comprehend.
"Bring them back. Please... bring back my parents," I cried, broken.
"I cannot," it replied. "That power is beyond me."
"Then... it's over?"
"Not yet," it said. "You're too young now. But I will return when you're ready."
And with that, it vanished.
I collapsed, unconscious. When I woke, I was in a hospital bed. The doctors told me what I already knew: my parents were dead. I was sent to live with my uncle and aunt. They were decent people, but the love I once knew was gone.
It took a year to gather the pieces of myself again.
Years passed. I turned sixteen. The demon never returned. Perhaps it was a dream, a hallucination brought on by trauma. I even tried to tell my uncle once, but he dismissed it with worried eyes and a heavy sigh.
By high school, I had built a normal life. I had two close friends: Sanada and Genzo. We'd known each other for years. They were there for me after my parents died. I considered them my brothers. We laughed, played, lived like any carefree boys would.
But even that, like everything else in my life, crumbled.
Sanada was charming and popular. Genzo and I were more reserved. Unbeknownst to me, Sanada had a crush on a girl—a beautiful, popular student named Reina. She, for reasons I still don't fully understand, confessed to me. Surprised and flattered, I accepted. Had I known about Sanada's feelings, I would have declined. But I didn't know.
When Sanada found out, he snapped. He told me I had betrayed him. No explanation could calm him. Overnight, our bond shattered.
He started spreading rumors—twisting the truth about my past, saying I had lied about my father's affair and was responsible for my parents' deaths. Other students joined in. The bullying escalated. Genzo, terrified of becoming the next target, distanced himself.
Even Reina left me.
They tormented me daily. They threw my books in the trash, spat on my food, dumped buckets of cold water on me. Every day felt like drowning.
Then one day, it got worse.
Sanada remembered my phone password. He had seen me enter it months ago. He shared it.
Three girls—bullies, all of them—hatched a plan. One distracted me with fake flirtation. The others stole my phone. They took explicit photos of one of the girls and made it seem like I had taken them without her knowledge.
The school believed their story.
I was suspended.
Even when my suspension was over, it was too late. My reputation was ruined. I never returned.
I stayed home, hollowed out by despair. The betrayal cut deeper than the lies. Sanada. Genzo. Reina. My friends. My world.
I hated them.
I wanted them to suffer.
And then, it happened.
A fire broke out at the school. A tragedy that claimed more than 200 lives. Teachers. Students.
But not just anyone. Every single person who had tormented me was among the dead. Sanada. Reina. Genzo. The girls. Even the principal who refused to listen.
Most of the others who survived had no connection to me. Coincidence? No.
The demon returned.
When I saw him again, I fell to my knees.
"Was it you?" I asked.
He smiled. "Yes. I burned them. For you."
I wept.
But not in sorrow. In gratitude.
He was not a demon. He was my god.
He told me, "You must now repay me. You have 23 years. After that, you must choose seven people. You must ruin their lives, as yours was ruined. Destroy their bonds. Break them. Make them suffer. Then, three years later... you must kill them. The method is yours to decide."
I agreed without hesitation. I owed him everything.
And I carried it out.
But now... here I am.
Bleeding. Broken. My seventh victim stands above me, grinning like the devil I once served. I had chosen the wrong person.
If I had chosen someone else...
Perhaps I would have fulfilled my god's wish.
My vision fades. My limbs are numb.
And then... I see him.
Zedzy.
My god.
"I'm sorry," I whisper.
He gazes at me with cold disappointment. "You have failed me."
Tears fall from my eyes.
"Who... who are you really?" I ask. "Were you ever real? Or did I create you to justify everything I did? Was it me who set the fire? Am I the only monster here?"
Zedzy tilts his head. "Yes. I am real. I am a demon. My name is Zedzy."
And then he disappears.
I smiled. Broken. Unsatisfied.
Stab after stab pierces my flesh.
"This is the end..."
"It's over..."
And with that final thought, my soul leaves my body.
I died.