"Do you even know what your family did to me?!".
The monster's roar shattered the silence, the very air trembling with his fury. Shadows rippled around him like extensions of his rage, writhing violently as if alive.
Sol's emerald eyes widened, trembling as he stared into the face of madness four glowing eyes filled with nothing but wrath and pain. The monster loomed over him, a dark force of nature.
He was going to die. He knew it.
But before death came, he at least would know why.
"Do you know the name Artemious Wintalfeld?" the demon hissed, voice cracking under the weight of hatred. One of his eyes twitched erratically, like a nerve was about to snap.
Sol's breathing faltered. "Yes he's my grandfather." The image of the proud old man filled his mind wise, stern, but just. Right now, he was probably back at the mansion, watching in horror as the family's life orbs shattered one by one.
The demon's expression twisted into something vile. "Your grandfather. Perfect. I never expected to be this lucky."
He laughed a terrible, unhinged sound that shook the earth beneath them and echoed off the trees like a death knell.
"An eye for an eye," the creature spat, breath steaming in the freezing night. "Your dear grandfather killed my wife!".
His voice cracked into a snarl as he stepped forward, shadows clutching at the snow.
"It was twenty years ago. We lived on the outskirts of Devil Mountain. A small cave. It wasn't much, but it was home. Just outside one of your territory pathetic towns."
He paused, his hands trembling, claws twitching.
"I left to hunt just to bring her some food. But when I came back, I saw him. The green-eyed devil. Your grandfather. Standing over her mangled body scorched, broken, lifeless.
His breath hitched. His four eyes blazed.
"He didn't even kill me. He let me go. Like it was beneath him to kill me." Then he grinned again.
"But look where we are now. Isn't this what your people call karma, young Wintalfeld?".
But Sol bloodied, with only one good eye glared back with all the strength he had left.
"Don't make me laugh." His voice was hoarse, trembling with rage.
"The people you hunted were the very villagers you claimed to live beside. My grandfather told me about this event once"
Sol's fists clenched.
"You were the monster. You fed on those people. Their children. Their families."
The demon's grin faltered.
"This is the land of Wintalfeld. And we don't spare monsters who prey on our people. We kill them. Coldly. Without mercy."
For a heartbeat, there was silence.
Then came a deep, rumbling chuckle.
"Yes," the demon admitted, licking his lips.
"I ate them. Their meat was exquisite. Tender. Sweet. I salivate just remembering the taste." His jaw slackened as drool dripped from his fangs. His eyes burned with unholy hunger.
Sol stared in disgust. "He's enjoying it, this monster is reliving it."
"But you, you're different. I wouldn't eat you. Not that I haven't been tempted". The demon sniffed.
"Your blood smells strange. Too tainted with that something Not tasty. But fascinating."
The creature straightened, licking his teeth with anticipation.
"Now, enough reminiscing… Let's begin."
The demon's four eyes glowed with unfiltered rage. "This is for my wife. Your grandfather burned her alive, didn't he?"
His voice cracked, wild with grief and hatred.
"Now I'll return the favor, Wintalfeld! I'll burn you down to your bones".
With a guttural snarl, the demon thrust both clawed hands forward. A spiraling mass of hellfire exploded from his palms not red, but deep violet, as if corrupted by pure hatred. It roared into existence, a blaze so intense the snow beneath them instantly turned to steam, the surrounding trees groaning as their bark blackened and peeled.
The fire engulfed Sol completely.
He screamed.
The pain was beyond anything he had ever known. His skin blistered instantly. Flesh began to crack and curl. His robes once the sigil-bearing clothes of a noble house disintegrated in the inferno. His entire body was burning. He was being roasted alive.
The heat clawed into him, dug beneath his skin, seeking to consume not just his body, but his soul.
The monster laughed a raw, guttural sound.
"Feel it! FEEL IT! This is what she felt as your grandfather stood over her corpse!".
The demon poured more mana into the flames, feeding them, letting them grow into a blazing pillar that turned night into day.
Sol convulsed within the inferno. His screams weakened into hoarse gasps. His vision blurred his left eye already gone, his right barely open. Blood boiled beneath his skin. He felt everything melting.
"This is it…" he thought.
"This is really it…"
Darkness crept into the corners of his vision. His consciousness began to fade, like a candle snuffed in a storm.