The sunrise brought no calm that morning.
Daytona sat at the edge of the bed in the stuffy hotel room, breathing deeply as she looked at Saravia — who slept stretched out, as if nothing in the world could bother her. The room's silence was only broken by the distant hum of the street. Daytona pressed the tips of her fingers together, feeling something heavy in her chest — like a dark tide trying to rise.
In her mind, Belzebub appeared as a low voice, vibrating like a muffled drum:
Belzebub: "Hallara Daytona… I must step away. Unfinished business. Stay alert, you'll feel something strange."
Daytona frowned without moving her lips.
Daytona: "Business? Where are you going?"
But there was no answer. Only the echo of muffled laughter, like wind passing through an open throat. She looked over at Saravia, who stirred and muttered — Leviathan's voice whispered to her too, coiled like a serpent in the water.
Saravia opened her eyes, yawned, and lazily rolled over.
Saravia: "He said he's leaving… Leviathan. Big stuff. And your talking goat is gone too, huh?" — referring to Belzebub, with his goat-skull head.
Daytona sighed, fixing her hair in the mirror.
Daytona: "Yeah. Off to growl with his kind, I guess."
They stood, grabbed the backpacks thrown in a corner. They left the room without much said. The hotel hallway felt narrower that morning — Daytona could feel invisible eyes following them along the walls. Outside, the wind tossed old newspapers across the sidewalk. They knew Belzebub and Leviathan were gone… but it still felt like a shadow lingered behind.
Setealem — The Cube
In another dimension — far, far away — a colossal cube floated in a void that seemed to breathe.
Each wall of the cube was black as pitch, but from time to time a crack would open, revealing brief flashes of bone, pulsing flesh, or nothing — just emptiness, as if space itself forgot to exist in there.
At the center of the cube, a circular table made of something dark as smoldering coal. Seven thrones, carved from beast bone, arranged around it. Each occupied by a presence so ancient the air trembled.
Lucifer stood slightly above his throne, black wings arched back, eyes so clear they looked like they held auroras.
Satan laughed low — a chuckle that made the air vibrate, his massive body hunched forward, hands resting on his knees.
Belzebub leaned against his throne, goat skull tilted, silent — almost bored.
Leviathan didn't fit inside — a dark ocean projected on one of the cube's walls, a living mirror where the colossal sea serpent watched in silence, eyes like glowing craters.
Belphegor, lying sideways on a tilted throne, eyes half-open, yawned. He looked nearly identical to Belzebub, but thinner and wrapped in a scarf.
Asmodeus drummed his fingers on the table, beautiful as a living statue, skin like carved marble — and a smile that promised things no one asked for.
Mammon, the most restless, muttered to himself, scribbling symbols onto a piece of tanned skin.
The air in the cube was dense. Nothing existed beyond them.
Lucifer: "Something rises along Earth's spine. A vitality piercing the sky. Does anyone here have something to declare?"
Satan chuckled, pounding a fist on the throne's arm, cracking the bone.
Satan: "Ah! A whisper of power… delightful. Is it my fault? I don't remember leaving anything down there… haha!"
Belzebub raised a finger, but said nothing. Just breathed, as if telling jokes with the silence.
Leviathan stirred within the ocean. A massive whirlpool formed around his head, as if he spoke to the sea itself.
Leviathan: "Hmm… alive. But not mine. Yet."
Belphegor let out a drawn-out sigh.
Belphegor: "So tiring to talk about this… who cares about a little blue dot…?"
Asmodeus licked his lips, glancing at Mammon, who muttered nonsense.
Asmodeus: "Might be something interesting. If it's fresh flesh, we could have some fun… right, Belzebub?"
Belzebub didn't reply. Just dropped his skull into his palm, a dry sound echoing.
Lucifer tilted his head, as serious as stone.
Lucifer: "Then it shall be verified. If it's a spark threatening to ignite our name, we wait for a direct threat before it turns to flame."
Mammon raised his head, pausing his ramblings.
Mammon: "We can sell… the soul. Or buy it. Eat it. Steal it. Doesn't matter. As long as I can count the coins…"
Satan laughed again, so loud the echo distorted the cube's geometry.
Satan: "Mammon, shut up. It's always money, money, money… Flesh is the real gold, you know?"
Asmodeus stretched in his chair, eyes shining.
Asmodeus: "Oh, Satan. Let's see who brings more pieces to the table first — want to bet?"
Belphegor just closed his eyes again.
Lucifer stared into nothing, and the cube trembled — for a moment revealing a flash of something outside: Daytona, sitting on a ledge, feeling the wind.
Lucifer: "Find out. Watch. Report. Who's going first?"
Satan raised his arm, his smile slicing half his face.
Satan: "I'll go. I need some fresh air. Hehehe…"
Leviathan swirled in the ocean, creating a tidal wave that dissolved against the black wall.
Belzebub, unmoving, breathed deeply — and in Daytona's mind, a cold twinge reminded her he was still there. Distant, but connected.
The cube pulsed in slow breaths. Inside, the black table throbbed like a fossilized heart. Time had no urgency here.
Satan cracked his neck like a caged beast, each pop distorting the air.
Satan: "Already bored. I could go down now… rip the flesh, bite the source of that energy, just to see if it screams."
Mammon, beside him, tore pieces of his tanned skin, scribbling invisible numbers.
Mammon: "If they scream — more coins. A moan's worth three digits. A cry… five digits. A sigh… five hundred…"
Belphegor, without opening his eyes, muttered like someone dreaming.
Belphegor: "So much talking for a mosquito. Let them kill, let them swallow. Just wake me when there's only silence left."
Asmodeus leaned on his elbows, smile dripping from his face like hot oil.
Asmodeus: "You're all so rude. If the source is beautiful… I want to play first. It'll be fun… to open… and close…"
Leviathan, in his watery wall, spun his massive body. A single enormous eye rose from the vortex, staring at everyone.
Leviathan: "Useless. A hole in the surface. If you won't devour it, I will. The sea doesn't refuse flesh."
Belzebub, silent until now, raised his head. His voice was deep, slow — but when he spoke, it was as if a well opened beneath the cube.
Belzebub: "You forget the root. If something grows that strong down there, there is a seed. There is hunger. Maybe… one of us."
The air cracked, cold, as Lucifer smiled. Not a warm smile — a perfect fracture in his face.
Lucifer: "A seed of ours, then. Planted without permission. Let it bloom or burn, I don't care… but we'll know. And if it is… one of us…"
He leaned forward, black wings moving like veils of smoke.
Lucifer: "…I'll tear out the roots myself. And devour them."
Silence sliced through the cube — seconds stretched like hours.
Satan snapped his fingers.
Satan: "Alright then! I'm off. I'll break a bone or two. If the source bleeds, I'll taste it."
Mammon clapped slowly, like an excited child.
Mammon: "Bring coins. Bring skin. Bring teeth. It all becomes numbers."
Asmodeus looked at Belzebub, his tone sharpening.
Asmodeus: "You're too quiet today. Got something to confess, goat?"
Belzebub slowly turned his head. His silence was a wall of stone.
Belzebub: "…When it's time to speak, I'll speak."
Leviathan growled, shaking his ocean walls.
Leviathan: "Let them talk. Let them choke. The sea sleeps — but it wakes hungry."
Belphegor yawned, turning on his throne like a makeshift bed.
Belphegor: "Let me know if something explodes. I want to fall asleep to the sound of cracks…"
Lucifer leaned back slowly. Watched them all, his eyes sharp as polished blades.
Lucifer: "Then it's settled. Satan investigates. Mammon counts. Asmodeus hunts if needed. Leviathan observes. Belphegor… sleeps. Belzebub…"
Lucifer paused, locking eyes with the goat skull.
Lucifer: "…remains. Silence is useful. But act only at the right time…"
Belzebub exhaled, like releasing invisible smoke through the cube.
For an instant, each throne pulsed with pale light — like hearts remembering how to beat.
Outside, Setealem twisted in echoes. Rifts opened and closed at the edges of realities no human could understand.
Lucifer tapped a claw on the tabletop. A dry sound — a command.
Lucifer: "Meeting adjourned. Don't disappoint me."
The light vanished. The cube breathed, then fell silent.
At the edge of the void, a single spark trembled: her name was Daytona.