The Devil's Smile
The silhouette didn't move.
It just stood there—tall, curvy, feminine in shape, but cloaked in shadow like the forest itself had sculpted her from night. The doll still dangled from her hand, its head twisted backward, its stitched smile wide and knowing.
Jian hadn't noticed yet. He was still pacing behind me, muttering curses under his breath.
I didn't blink.
The figure tilted her head.
"You're getting warmer, Shigen," she said again, voice like silk dragged across broken glass.
I flared my Yen instinctively. Flames licked up my arms, casting flickering light across the trees. The shadows recoiled—but she didn't.
"Jian," I said, low and sharp.
He turned. "What now—?"
Then he saw her.
His hand went to his blade. "Is that… the same one?"
"No," I said. "She's worse."
The figure stepped forward. Her features were still hidden, but the air around her shimmered with heat. Not mine. Hers. Blood dripped from her fingertips, sizzling as it hit the forest floor.
"You're not ready for me yet," she whispered. "But you're close. I can smell it."
I took a step forward. "You've got a name?"
She giggled. "I've had many. But you'll know me soon enough."
Then she vanished.
No flash. No smoke. Just gone. Like she'd never been there.
Jian exhaled, his blade still drawn. "What the hell was that?"
I didn't answer. I was staring at the ground where she'd stood.
A single word was burned into the dirt, scorched in a language I hadn't seen in years.
"Keziah."
My blood ran cold.
That name hadn't been spoken since the war.
---
(The Name)
Back at camp, Jian was still fuming.
"You could've told me you suspected something," he snapped, tossing a log into the fire. "Instead of playing lone wolf and nearly giving me a heart attack."
"I did tell you," I said, chewing on dried meat. "I said she blinked too slow."
"That's not a reason, Shigen!"
"It is if you've seen what I've seen."
He glared at me. "You're impossible."
I shrugged. "And you're still alive."
He didn't respond. Just stared into the fire.
After a long silence, he asked, "That name… Keziah. Who is she?"
I didn't look at him.
Instead, I stared into the flames, watching them dance like memories I'd buried deep.
"She's the one who taught the Devil how to lie."
The Awakening Flame
The fire crackled low as dawn crept over the treetops. Jian was curled up near the embers, snoring softly, his blade resting across his chest. I sat with my back against a tree, eyes half-lidded, but sleep never came easy. Not after what I saw last night.
Keziah.
The name alone was enough to sour the air. She was the architect of the first betrayal—the demon who taught the Devil how to lie. Without her, the seal might never have broken. Without her, the war might never have started.
And now she was back.
I didn't know how. I didn't know why. But I knew one thing:
It was bad. Very bad.
---
The Ambush
The first growl came with the wind.
Low. Guttural. Hungry.
I was on my feet in an instant, flames flickering to life in my palms. Jian stirred, blinking sleep from his eyes.
Then the forest screamed.
Trees snapped like twigs. The ground trembled. Shadows surged from the underbrush—hulking, twisted forms with too many limbs and too few eyes. Their skin was armored in bone, their mouths a mess of fangs and dripping venom.
Calamity-class demons.
At least six of them.
I cursed under my breath. "Jian, run."
"What? No—"
"Run."
I didn't wait for his answer.
The first demon lunged, a mass of muscle and bone. I ducked low, flames bursting from my fists as I drove an uppercut into its gut. The impact sent it flying, but another was already on me, claws slashing.
I twisted, barely dodging, the edge of its talon grazing my cheek. Blood trickled down, sizzling against my heated skin.
I spun, flames coiling around my leg, and delivered a blazing roundhouse kick that shattered the demon's jaw. It shrieked, stumbling back—but another took its place.
They were relentless.
I fought like a man possessed. Fire roared from my arms, my legs, my breath. I burned through one, then two, then three—but they kept coming. My body screamed. My vision blurred. My knees buckled.
Still, I stood.
I grinned through bloodied teeth. "You bastards don't know when to quit, huh?"
I turned to call for Jian. "Hey! Stop playing dead and help me out, will y—"
I froze.
Jian wasn't playing.
His body lay crumpled, torn open like paper. Limbs twisted. Eyes wide. Lifeless.
A demon crouched over him, feasting.
Something inside me snapped.
---
The Transformation
The world went silent.
Then came the heat.
Not the red-orange of my usual flames—but something deeper. Hotter. Blue.
My skin shimmered, glowing like molten gold. My muscles stretched, lean and sculpted, every fiber humming with power. My hair turned white as moonlight, flowing like silk in the rising heat. My eyes—once amber—now burned a deep, luminous crimson.
The demons paused.
They felt it too.
I stepped forward, each movement fluid, graceful, lethal. The ground beneath my feet scorched with every step.
"You shouldn't have touched him," I said, my voice low, resonant—like thunder wrapped in velvet.
The demon snarled and lunged.
I didn't move.
I disappeared.
In a blink, I was behind it. My hand pierced through its chest, blue fire erupting from its mouth and eyes before it crumbled to ash.
The others charged.
I welcomed them.
One leapt—my palm met its face, and it exploded in a burst of sapphire flame.
Another swung a bone-blade—my arm caught it mid-air, and I twisted, snapping the limb like a twig before incinerating the beast with a wave of my hand.
They tried to flee.
I didn't let them.
I moved like a storm, a blur of fire and fury. Every strike was precise. Every motion, poetry. The forest lit up in a blaze of blue, the trees glowing with reflected heat.
And then… silence.
Ash fell like snow.
I stood in the center of the clearing, chest heaving, flames still dancing around me.
Then the world tilted.
My knees gave out.
The flames flickered.
And I collapsed.
---
(Her Return)
Darkness closed in.
But just before it swallowed me whole, I saw her.
A silhouette.
Curves like smoke. Hair like ink. Eyes like sin.
Keziah.
She stood over my broken body, lips curled into a devilish smile.
"Well," she purred, crouching beside me. "Looks like my little ember finally caught fire."
She reached out, brushing a clawed finger across my cheek.
"Let's see how brightly you burn… when I light the match."
[End of Chapter 3]