This was the tenth time Billy was confronting a demon.
The first time, he'd been caught in a demon attack in the city. Back then he had no powers, no Devil's soul—just a scared kid who nearly died until his stepmother performed a ritual to save him. She'd bound herself to his body, to his soul, living inside him ever since.
She said one day she'd appear physically in the real world. Temporarily, at least. Billy didn't know when that would be.
The second time was last night—some bug-like demon in an alley. Weak. Barely worth mentioning.
But this one...
Billy felt something he rarely felt anymore. Interest. Maybe even anticipation.
A smile crept across his face. He didn't know why, but he wanted to fight this thing.
"Hey, you human," the demon said, its multiple tones overlapping wetly. "Are you one of those guys?" It paused, translucent skin rippling. "The so-called Order?"
*Well, this one talks,* Billy thought.
*It's because it has intelligence,* Eva replied in his head. *If it can talk, that means it's also stronger.*
Good. Billy wanted strong.
When Eva had adopted him, she'd trained him—martial arts to defend himself at school, basic combat techniques. After he'd nearly died that first time, Billy had wanted to become stronger. Needed to.
Eva's soul living inside him didn't just save his life. It granted him abilities. Powers he was still learning to use.
At first, Billy had thought she was insane when she told him she was the Devil's wife. He hadn't asked for details—Eva said she'd explain everything eventually. For now, he just needed to focus on getting stronger.
The way she'd said it, deadly serious, made Billy wonder: What was it like being adopted by the Devil's wife?
"Hey, demon," Billy said, rolling his shoulders. "Let's get this over with fast."
The demon's laughter echoed—multiple voices, wet and grinding. "It will be great if I slaughter one from the Order!"
It thought he was a Hunter. Billy didn't bother correcting it. Let the thing think what it wanted.
He looked directly at the demon.
Billy's eyes changed. The brown irises drained of color, becoming completely white—blank, empty, inhuman. His skin shifted, lightening to a pale gray that looked almost corpse-like in the fading afternoon light.
And his smile widened. Far wider than any human smile should go, stretching from ear to ear like his cheeks had been slashed open. A devil's grin. Sharp and wrong and hungry.
His teeth looked different too—sharper, more numerous, gleaming like broken glass.
The demon froze.
*What the hell is with this guy? His power... his strength...* The demon's thoughts were practically audible in its panic. *Dammit, I shouldn't have gotten involved with him. I should run while I have the chance!*
In an instant, the demon turned and bolted.
It was fast—faster than human, faster than most demons Billy had seen. Its body elongated as it ran, limbs stretching impossibly as it fled toward the parking lot exit.
*We haven't even started yet and it's already running away,* Billy thought, slightly disappointed. *Oh well. Let's kill it before it reaches the street and attacks someone else.*
Not that he cared about random people. But Eva would nag him if civilians died because he let it escape.
Billy raised both hands toward the fleeing demon.
Chains erupted from his arms—black metal covered in writhing symbols, moving like living things. They shot forward with incredible speed, crossing the distance in less than a second.
The demon was still running, still thinking: *Damn it, I have to get away, I have to—*
Pain exploded in its back. Something pierced deep—not once, but four times. Sharp. Cold.
Before it could process what happened, the demon was yanked backward.
Billy pulled his chains back toward him. The ends were tipped with small blades—curved, serrated, designed to hook into flesh and not let go.
The demon's feet left the ground as Billy reeled it in like a fish on a line. It thrashed, screamed, clawed at the air.
The distance closed rapidly.
When the demon was five feet away, Billy's right hand shifted. His fingers extended slightly, curled into a claw shape, nails hardening into something more like talons. His hand blurred forward.
Billy's clawed hand punched straight through the demon's back.
His arm went wrist-deep, then elbow-deep, then all the way through. His hand erupted from the demon's chest, fingers wrapped around something that pulsed and squirmed.
Black blood gushed out—not spurting, but pouring like a waterfall from the massive wound.
The demon's multiple voices merged into one agonized scream.
Billy leaned close to where its ear should be and whispered: "*Hellfire: Inferno Crush*."
Black flames erupted from his hand—from inside the demon's chest cavity. They spread instantly, consuming from the inside out.
The demon's screams intensified. Its translucent skin turned black. Cracks appeared, glowing orange-red from within. The smell of burning meat and sulfur filled the air.
This wasn't regular fire. Hellfire burned the soul first, the body second. It didn't stop until there was nothing left—not even ash, eventually. Just air. Just nothing.
The demon thrashed for another ten seconds. Then fifteen. Its screams grew weaker. Its body crumbled.
Thirty seconds after Billy had ignited it, the demon was gone. Reduced to black ash that drifted away on the breeze, then to nothing at all.
Billy stood alone in the parking lot, his hand still extended, covered in black blood that evaporated in the hellfire's residual heat.
His eyes were still white. His skin still gray. His smile still too wide.
*Why was it running like that?* Billy asked.
*It sensed your power,* Eva explained. *So it knew it couldn't defeat you.*
*Why didn't that insect demon last night run away when I transformed?*
*Simple. That one wasn't intelligent. It couldn't sense the magnitude of your power. But this one could—it felt something similar to the Devil's own strength radiating from you. So it tried to flee.*
*Oh. That explains it.* Billy frowned—an expression that looked bizarre with his too-wide smile. *It just ruined my chance to see how strong I really am right now.*
*You'll have other opportunities,* Eva said dryly.
Billy's transformation faded. His eyes returned to brown. His skin regained its normal color. His smile shrunk back to human proportions.
He looked back toward where he'd last seen the little girl.
She was still there. Standing by the van, pink backpack clutched to her chest. Staring at him.
Not with terror anymore. With curiosity.
No tears on her face.
Billy walked over slowly. Crouched down to her level. Reached out and patted her hair gently—an awkward gesture, like he wasn't quite sure how to be comforting.
"What's your name, little girl?"
She replied softly, "Ke-Kelly."
"Hey, Kelly." Billy kept his voice calm, empty of emotion. "Let this be our secret, will you?"
Kelly nodded, still not quite sure what to say. Then, quietly: "Thank you, mister."
Before Billy could respond, a voice called from across the parking lot: "Kelly!"
A woman—mid-thirties, business clothes, face streaked with tears—ran toward them.
Kelly's face lit up. "Mommy!" She turned back to Billy one last time. "Thank you, mister."
"Sure, kid."
Kelly ran to her mother, who swept her up in a desperate hug, checking her for injuries, asking if she was okay. The woman's eyes found Billy for a moment—grateful, confused, questioning.
Billy turned and walked away before she could say anything.
---
Billy walked through the city as the sun set, hands in his pockets, backpack over one shoulder. The adrenaline was fading now, leaving him feeling empty again. Hollow.
He needed to get some ramen. His apartment had nothing except cereal, and he'd been eating cereal for dinner too often lately. Sometimes he was just too lazy to buy groceries.
There was a convenience store a few blocks from his building. Billy headed there, taking his time, in no rush to get home to his empty apartment.
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