The night passed without screams. Without monsters. Without divine interference.
For the first time in weeks, Luv slept peacefully — no visions, no whispers, no silent battles in the dark.
When morning came, he stretched slowly, rubbing his eyes. The sun poured through his window like melted gold. Everything seemed… normal.
Until he stepped outside.
The tree near the edge of town — the one the pig-headed demon had stood on before trying to abduct him — had fallen.
Its trunk was split in half, the bark scorched from the inside out, as though lightning had crawled up its core.
No one knew how it had happened.
Some villagers said it was the wind, others blamed old age or a storm in the night. A few superstitious elders muttered about curses and spirits, but were quickly laughed off.
Luv said nothing.
He simply looked at the tree, tilted his head… and smiled.
"Starfire leaves no scars that mortals understand," he thought, walking away. "Let them believe in weather. It's easier that way."
It was a holiday — no school, no chores. Luv sat quietly in his room, legs crossed, eyes half-closed, thinking.
"What should I do today?"
He thought for hours. Not because there was nothing to do, but because choice had weight. He had once commanded galaxies. Now he could choose between apples or oranges. It was... amusing.
Eventually, he decided to walk outside. He slipped on a hoodie, laced his worn shoes, and walked to the market.
Humans bustled around him — laughing, yelling, bargaining. Stalls overflowed with goods, coins clinked, and lies filled the air.
Luv's red eyes scanned it all.
He saw a merchant lying about purity to sell fake jewels.
A woman selling stolen watches from her coat.
Children pickpocketing tourists while pretending to beg.
People cheating, exploiting, manipulating — all for money, all with a smile.
He sighed.
"Humans are mortals. They don't understand right or wrong. They just… survive," he thought.
He didn't hate them.
But he didn't respect them either.
He turned and walked home, quietly.
Back in his house, Luv went to a room no one used. He locked the door, closed the curtains, and sat cross-legged on the wooden floor.
His hands rested on his knees. His breath slowed.
Meditation.
He could feel it — the energy in his body. The leaking fragments of Heaven's blessing and Hell's curse. Unstable. Wild.
He had to control it.
He couldn't afford an outburst.
"Not yet. Not here."
He meditated until the pressure eased. Until the buzzing behind his eyes dulled. Until the world felt soft again.
Then he stood, stretched, and walked outside.
This time… to play.
He joined a few children in a field behind the school. They kicked a ball, shouted nonsense, raced barefoot through grass.
Luv ran with them — no purpose, no plan. Just laughter.
For a moment, he wasn't EL. He wasn't a god. He wasn't feared.
He was just a boy, under the sky, with nothing to protect or destroy.
As he lay in the grass afterward, watching clouds drift by, he pulled a notebook from his pocket.
And began to write:
"To fly like birds with no chains on their wings,
To live where the sun doesn't fear kings,
To laugh without reason, to cry without war,
What is freedom if not this — nothing more?"
He smiled softly.
"Beautiful," came a voice behind him.
Luv didn't turn. He already knew.
Behind him stood a boy — short, smiling, eyes too round to be real.
Luv knew.
A demon.
One he'd never heard of before.
The boy sat beside him, legs crossed. "That poem… it's really good."
Luv glanced sideways. "Thanks."
"I'm Dolton," the boy said cheerfully. "I live nearby."
Luv raised an eyebrow. "I'm Luv. I live nearby too."
They shook hands.
But Luv already knew who — or what — Dolton really was.
A demon without face. A shapeshifter. A parasite in skin.
One of the newer ones. Too fresh to be feared. Too weak to be dangerous.
Still… interesting.
Luv smiled politely. "Why do you want to be friends with me?"
"No one plays with me either," Dolton shrugged. "And your eyes… they're red, but I don't care. I like them."
Luv tilted his head. "Most people avoid my eyes. They say I look cursed."
"I don't believe in curses," Dolton said. "Just choices."
They sat in silence for a while.
Then Dolton asked quietly, "What do you think of this world, Luv? The people in it?"
Luv took a breath. "It's beautiful. Full of kind people. But… yes, some are bad."
Dolton's smile twisted.
"I disagree. Humans deceive their own kind. The poor rot while the rich grow fat. Crime climbs like ivy on a dying wall. And gods? They just watch. Do nothing."
His voice grew colder.
"We need something stronger. A system that burns the rot. That crushes the corruption."
Luv looked at him — long, silent, unreadable.
He could hear it. The cracks in Dolton's voice. The hunger behind his words.
"He's testing me," Luv thought. "Trying to see where I stand. But he's too new. Too impatient."
He smiled.
"Well," he said calmly, "maybe one day someone will fix it."
Dolton grinned wide. "Maybe someone like you."
Luv didn't answer.
Because in his mind, he already had.
Luv looked at Dolton with a gentle smile, eyes gleaming like rubies under the fading sky.
"You say I should fix the world?" Luv chuckled softly. "How would I do that? I'm just a human. I don't have the power to change anything."
For a moment, Dolton froze.
Then he burst out laughing — loud, exaggerated, a little too hard.
"Hahahaha! Of course, of course! I was just kidding, buddy!" he said, slapping Luv on the shoulder. "You took that way too seriously!"
Luv's smile didn't fade.
But behind his eyes, the gears turned.
"He's trying to provoke something. Test me. But I won't bite... not yet."
Dolton leaned back, gazing up at the sky as the sun dipped below the horizon. The clouds had turned orange, bleeding into crimson.
"Looks like it's getting late," Luv said, standing up and brushing grass from his clothes. "My parents are probably waiting for me."
Dolton nodded. "Yeah, yeah. You should go."
"I'll see you later," Luv said, walking away with his hands in his pockets, his steps unhurried, calm.
Dolton watched him go.
The playful smile on his face vanished the moment Luv disappeared around the corner.
Now alone, the demon dropped the cheerful mask. His boyish disguise felt heavier than before.
He whispered to himself.
"Why…? Why would Lord Satan give me this task?"
His voice was quieter now — colder.
"To recruit a boy who acts like he knows nothing… smiles like he's never seen death… speaks like he's never held power. He's so kind it makes me sick."
He clenched his fists.
"He's just a mortal... isn't he?"
A breeze blew past him, ruffling the grass.
Demord's expression darkened.
"But I don't get to ask questions. I don't get to doubt. I was ordered to watch him, befriend him, and bring him to our side."
He swallowed hard.
"If I fail…"
A shadow passed behind his eyes.
"…Lord Satan will never forgive me."
He looked up at the stars now blinking into view, eyes full of unease.
"But something about that boy..."
"He isn't normal."