Remnya

Hell consumed everything Remnya had once loved while tears slowly evaporated from her eyes. Her sister's lifeless body and baby had vanished into her flames, becoming a painful memory.

A memory of her failure.

Because of her weakness, an innocent soul would never get to see the light of the world. But neither would Remnya. She looked at the reddened sky and gripped her sister's gold pendant in her trembling fist.

Distorted silhouettes emerged from the flames, with their eyes glowing like torches.

Death had finally come for her.

Remnya staggered toward them as her legs threatened to give up, searching for the demon who had destroyed her dreams. However, his rotten presence was gone. Only mere beasts remained, claiming her life.

Even though her body was at its limit, she had enough hell in her veins to turn them all into ashes. "Come on, you fucking cowards!" Remnya roared throughout the night, blood running down her forehead, mixing with dried tears. "I'll burn you all until my last breath!"

Scornful laughter resounded in the distance, and three shadows charged at her.

Punches and kicks punished her body, bringing Remnya to her knees. Yet her fire attacked them like vicious snakes with open jaws. She no longer cared about defense or whether her whole body was destroyed. Her only mission was to eradicate their existence.

Some shrieked like horrified hyenas as they melted away, a sound she had always hated. But at that moment, their terror eased her vindictive soul. The more disgusting Hunters she took with her, the better.

Remnya lost count of how many burned to death; her mind vanished into a silent pandemonium where all she could see was crimson. The smell of burning flesh became natural, and the horrified screams of dying monsters were soothing.

Her world crumbled into an abyss, descending to the depths of hell. The only home a demon with horns deserved.

Remnya descended into the inferno that was her new reality.

The voices in her head joined the chaos of her mind, and the same events replayed incessantly in her brain; that cursed demon's hand penetrating her sister's abdomen and her warm blood flowing between her fingers.

Endless torture.

The torture she deserved for having failed.

The torture she deserved for having broken her promises.

The torture she deserved for being a Nephilim.

How she wished she could die.

Yet, for some damn reason, her soul refused to leave her damned body.

Let me go . . .

I just want to go!

I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE ANYMORE!

. . .

. . .

. . .

Remnya woke up.

Her body lay on the ground, covered in cold sweets, surrounded by darkness and silence.

The stars reflected on her pupils, and a gentle breeze cooled her skin, dragging the ashes away.

Remnya remained motionless, contemplating the sounds of the night. She glimpsed her surroundings and discerned several burnt corpses hissing and smoking around her.

However, many of them lay mutilated with no trace of burns. Remnya lingered over the scene, realizing someone else had joined the massacre.

. . .

His presence interrupted the quietness of death.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice dry and lifeless.

Debrin Kavram was sitting on a pile of corpses, his sunset eyes glowing as they stared at her misery. "Stopping you from doing something stupid," he said.

His words made her blood boil. Remnya slammed her elbows on the ground to lift her torso and glared at him. "Fuck you!" she shouted and began coughing, her throat full of ashes and blood.

"You have every right to hate me." Debrin folded his arms, undisturbed by her reaction. "But you must know that as soon as the news reached my ears, I left everything behind and returned."

"You weren't here when we needed you the most!" Remnya screamed her words like poisonous knives while acute pain spread through her head from her broken jaw. "You're no leader! You're just another piece of shit who abandoned his people!"

Debrin looked at her for a moment, and his lips twitched. "I might be an awful leader. I probably never deserved any of you by my side. I might be a piece of shit, as you call me. But I never abandoned you."

Remnya gritted her teeth, observing how The Hunters' blood washed the scorched soil. "What about the people at the camp? What about Vladimore's army? They all died waiting for you!"

Debrin's expression changed as he stood up, crushing a burnt hand with his boot. "I tasked Merle with protecting the camp during my absence." Remnya witnessed a hint of anger in his emotionless face. "He had multiple ways to foresee this ambush and prepare accordingly, yet for some reason, he let it happen."

"So, is all this his fault now?" Remnya chuckled bitterly and slammed her fist on the ground. "Haven't you considered he might be dead too?"

"Impossible." He shook his head. "I surveyed the whole place, and no Vetzlayer was present in this attack."

"What the hell is that?" Remnya furrowed her eyebrows.

"Azmon's Elite Warriors. They aren't deployed unless necessary." He glanced over the remnants of The Hunters. "For ambushes like this, they send Executioners, who are lower in the hierarchy and solely trained to torture and kill. I know they commanded this attack, and Merle was fully prepared to face such a threat."

"What if he was outnumbered?"

"No," he said firmly. "The main reason I trusted Merle with protecting the camp was that I knew he could handle those masked deviants alone."

"Masked?"

"You'll recognize them by their skull masks and the number on their foreheads. They also execute traitors and hunt deserters."

"Skull masks . . . " Remnya murmured, the veins in her forehead bulging with hatred as she remembered that demon.

"I know how you feel, Remnya," Debrin said, kneeling beside her, and lowered his head before her furious gaze. "I could say I'm sorry I failed you, but that will do nothing for you."

Even though Remnya wanted to spit on his face, his words felt honest. She looked away and spoke with disdain. "You're right. Your apologies mean nothing to me."

Debrin grabbed a backpack he carried around his shoulder and drew a small flask from it. "At least allow me to heal your body."

"I don't need it." She scowled and tried to stand, but her arms and legs were broken. Yet she ignored the pain, and driven by pure hatred, she stood up, gritting her teeth while her broken bones cracked.

"You'll die if your wounds aren't treated immediately." He stared at the damage in the rest of her body; a deep hole in her stomach reached her entrails and a deep cut across her face blinded her left eye.

"I don't care about dying!" She glared at him, holding her abdomen, trying to stop her insides from coming out.

"What about Zeo?"

Remnya swallowed and clenched her fists. Her sister and Zaoly were gone, yet she had one more mission left before leaving that cursed world. "I've not forgotten about him," she admitted as she lost balance.

Debrin caught her before she hit the ground. "If you still plan to rescue your friend, you must recover as soon as possible."

Remnya pushed him away and took a moment to chew his words. As much as she wished to avenge her sister and save his friend, her body was useless. "I'll save Zeo," she said firmly, staring Debrin deep into the eyes. "And then I'll kill the fucking demon who took Brisa from me." Her fury burst through her eyes, turning into bloody tears that rolled down her bruised cheeks.

Debrin held his gaze on hers and nodded. "If that's what you want, let me help you."

"This is my mission. Not yours." She bit her lower lip while flames covered her face, destroying her tears. "All I need right now is to recover my strength."

"I do not plan to interfere with your mission. All I want is to give you a chance to make it a reality." Debrin summoned his vectors; four spectral arms glowed in an intense orange light. "So, can you please sit down? I'll close your wounds before you lose more blood."

Remnya exhaled with resignation and allowed herself to fall. Her back slammed on the ground, and she held back the desire to scream.

She gritted her teeth and looked at the stars while Debrin began to treat her wounds.

"Why do you claim this was Merle's fault?" she asked, trying to get distracted from the pain.

"Because Merle allowed this to happen."

"Why would he do that?"

"That's beyond my understanding, but ordering a convoy with all our people to drive through enemy territory is not a rookie mistake."

Remnya swallowed as his words penetrated her brain. "He's your friend, isn't he? How can you not know?"

Debrin finished healing her stomach before speaking again. "The war is cruel, Remnya. People who go through excruciating pain and irreparable trauma change. Many times for the worse. Merle is no exception to that rule. No matter how much he tries to hide it."

"If what you say is true." She clenched her fist, feeling her blood boiling in her veins. "He's responsible for Brisa's death too."

Debrin's vectors tugged her skin as they closed the last wound on her face, and a warm sensation seemed to ease the pain. He finally spoke. "I truly meant to protect my people." He tightened his lips. "That's why I always fought my battles alone, but eventually, I had to sacrifice important friends too. All in hopes of saving as many lives as possible.

"When I left that morning, I didn't go to Lacacia. I headed to The Hunters' Headquarters and destroyed 90% of their armies, forcing them to halt their operations for weeks. That gave me enough time to prepare my next move." He leaned his cold hand on her forehead and rubbed a stinky ointment on her skin. "Thanks to my people's sacrifice, I finally could figure out Azmon's weakness. The key to ending this war."

Remnya processed his speech slowly, unable to decipher his true intentions. Yet, if there was a method to end those monsters, she wanted it to succeed. "What's his weakness then?"

"Azmon Infernoz had a daughter. Lilith." Debrin locked his pupils on hers. "She died six years ago, but that daughter had a son. And the reason I returned to Crysalton was to find out the location of that child."

"Does Azmon even care about his grandson?"

"He definitely does." Debrin narrowed his eyes. "He's done everything in his power to hide his existence from us."

"So you're gonna use his grandson as bait," Remnya guessed, expressionless.

Debrin didn't give her an answer and continued. "Azmon thought he had managed to erase every bit of information regarding his family. However, he forgot an important piece of this puzzle. A piece I found in the Lovecraft Mansion."

Remnya widened her eyes. "Did Magenta know about this?"

"Doubtful, but the Lovecraft Mansion had once belonged to Azmon, and Lilith met Magenta there. You could say they became friends and shared some secrets. Ironically, Magenta kept an important piece of information hidden in the underground passages of the mansion. Information that could end the legacy of the man she hated the most."

Remnya assimilated his words in silence and then spoke. "If that's true, she might finally rest in peace . . . "

Debrin sighed. "Remnya. We have both lost important people in this conflict, but for the first time, there's hope for millions of innocent lives."

She twisted her lips and nodded. "Eradicating The Hunters from Earth will certainly help fix this disgusting world."

Debrin stood, and his vectors vanished. "Please remain still while the Netomics take effect."

"Netomics?" Her jaw dropped.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "Guess you didn't notice when I injected them in your body."

"Why the hell did you do that?" She scowled.

"Because they will help you regenerate your body." He folded his arms. "Besides, these are Class B Netomics. There won't be undesirable side effects on you."

"Who did they belong to?"

"Do you really want to know?"

Remnya blinked in confusion and annoyance but realized she was too exhausted to care about the morality of such actions anymore. "Whatever." She closed her eyes. "All I want is to recover as soon as possible."

Debrin bobbed his head and turned toward the piles of corpses surrounding them. "Now, please, try to rest while I purge this place. Too many souls are lamenting in my ears right now."

"What are they saying?"

"Too many words to understand right now. Anger, grief, regret." He took a deep breath. "It's better not to worry about it at the moment. There'll be time to satisfy each one of their demands."

"Do you hear Brisa?"

"No. Her soul only belongs to you."

*°*°*