South Korea — November 2030
Despite the decades and millennia, Jin still remembered that day—the day he thought he was smarter than the devil, but also the day he met Ginny.
The train was a futuristic machine with metal wheels spinning at dizzying speed, gliding over the magnetic surface.
Jin Kang Soo sat in one of the aisle-side seats, his gaze lost in the bright screen of his phone.
Articles scrolled rapidly beneath his fingers, a multitude of strange and unsettling news—meteors targeting Earth, supernatural phenomena impossible to explain, unexplained mutations affecting individuals worldwide.
One hastily taken photo showed a man lifting a car with his bare hands.
Further down, another story spoke of a woman claiming to predict global disasters in her dreams.
Jin scrolled feverishly through the information, a strange sensation growing inside him as his eyes fixed on each new line.
But deep down, a certainty took hold of him—he couldn't escape the imminence of change.
Nor did he truly understand what was happening to him.
Around him, the train kept moving.
The passengers, all immersed in their own realities, seemed indifferent to the changes looming on the horizon.
— "They have no idea what's coming. No one knows anything. And me?" he wondered, rubbing his temples in a desperate motion.
For several days now, a persistent migraine had accompanied him due to his constant thinking.
Suddenly, a strange heat rose within him, like a fire burning beneath his skin.
His vision sharpened, the details of the world becoming clearer, more precise. Colors took on a new intensity.
— "Is this... the change they're talking about ?" he thought, gripping the edge of his seat.
A shiver of excitement ran through his body. He felt a power awakening within him, an energy that felt unnatural.
Then suddenly, everything froze.
The presence of an invisible entity seemed to seep into this dimension, as though time had stopped.
The rhythmic clacking of the wheels, once constant, ceased, and the voices of the passengers fell silent.
Jin looked around, his eyes wide, breath halted.
All the passengers were frozen, their faces still, trapped in a scene that seemed outside of time.
In absolute darkness, Jin stood alone. Then a deep voice echoed in his mind.
— "You resisted. Few can. That's why I chose you."
Still trembling, Jin gathered his strength.
— "You talk like I'm supposed to be flattered. Who exactly are you?"
— "Once, they called me Sparda. I was an archdemon… The only one who refused the coming of my kind to this world. I fought my own, sealed the Gates, and vanished from history."
— "You mean… all the religious texts are true?"
Sparda nodded.
— "Far more than you can imagine. The Gates are about to be reopened. The meteors… the prophetic steles… all of it are fragments, shards of the original broken seal. The world is tipping again. But this time… I can no longer intervene."
Jin straightened, his muscles tensed. A silhouette formed in the darkness—tall, imposing.
Two golden eyes fixed on him, sovereign.
The creature took shape, this time appearing more human.
A dark armor covered his chest.
His golden eyes pierced Jin.
— "You still don't know what you are. But I never forgot."
— "Are you just a side effect of my migraine or some bastard starved for worship?"
A heavy silence followed. Then a contemptuous chuckle.
— "I am the lord of a world your kind betrayed by falling to the tricks of the Evil One. I fought armies of demons before your species even learned to make fire. And you, insect, dare speak to me as an equal?"
— "I talk to what I see. And right now, you're just a loud voice in the dark."
The shadows around Jin began to dissipate. A suffocating heat rose. A colossal wolf emerged behind Sparda, but with a simple gesture, the master calmed it.
— "This world is nearing its end. The meteors are not random. They are keys—openings to the darkest realms imaginable. An unprecedented catastrophe is coming. Weak, corrupted men seek to exploit them. But I want to stop them from consuming everything. Like I once did."
— "Stop what? An apocalypse? An invasion? And why do you need me, huh? You don't look like the type to ask nicely."
— *"Because I can no longer act. Not like before. My body is sealed, exiled in a dead dimension. But you… you have mixed blood, a strong bond that goes beyond DNA and blood—it's tied to your soul and spirit. That is your true race. Your kind is extremely rare, yet still inferior. You are a bastard, yes—but a useful one.
— "Ah, also because you're broken. Torn between justice and hatred. And yet… you still resist corruption, though it nearly claimed you many times. You're not special, Jin. It's impossible for you to awaken any supernatural power, regardless of the energy type."
A flash of anger passed through Jin, but he merely smirked, his gaze defiant.
— "I don't need you to survive what's coming."
Sparda smiled.
— "But you want more than survival. You want to see them fall. The ones who took your family. The ones who stole your peace. You want to make the world pay—and the demon who killed your mother. No, worse. Your grudge goes deeper than that. You want to exterminate the demon race."
Jin stayed silent, then whispered :
— "I want to tear down the established order. The powerful. The elites. Those who think they can play with our lives. I want a revolution. I want the world to feel what I lived through. But I don't want to doom it."
Sparda stood still, his gaze aflame.
— "Then we share a goal."
— "You want me to stop your kind's return. I want to destroy those opening the Gates… The two align," Kang Soo concluded.
— "I'm not seeking an apostle. I seek a vassal—a weapon. Someone capable of cutting down impostors, purifying this world before it's entirely consumed. And you… you've nothing left to lose."
Silence fell again. Jin, fists clenched, gaze distant.
— "And if I refuse?"
— "Then you'll die like the others. And I'll take your body once your soul is gone."
A smirk curled Jin's lips.
— "At least you're honest. But I've got plans too. If you want me to do your dirty work, you'll have to offer more than a broken prophecy."
— "But know this : the power I offer… is no gift. It demands a pact, a fusion between your nature and corruption. You'll never be a normal man again. You'll be my vassal."
Jin stepped forward, defiant.
— "On one condition."
— "Speak."
— "I remain free in my choices. You can advise me, but never control me."
A long silence, then Sparda's voice echoed.
— "Z'ka ra'mol tha'skar Kang Soo Jin…
Xel'nira vukar… Va'shun et draal…
Aen'thel'ka, aen'thel'ka, aen'thel'ka…"
The language of fallen angels, far too powerful for ordinary mortals.
Hearing even a single word could annihilate regular beings—but of course, Kang Soo Jin was no ordinary man.
A crimson circle widened on the abyssal floor, enveloping them both.
Jin placed his hand at the center. A burning energy surged through him.
— "I'm not your slave. I'm your sword."
Sparda replied :
— "And I am not your master."
The light returned. The train was moving as if nothing had happened.
The passengers, unaware of the intrusion of another world, carried on with their lives.
Jin, panting, glanced at his arm.
A faintly glowing mark pulsed like a living heart—it was the seal of the Fifth General of Sparda's army, Gluttony.
Though later, Jin would nickname it : Ginny.
The naivety of that 24-year-old young man had doomed him.
Thinking he could achieve his aims, he was eventually discarded by Sparda due to his aging and weakness.
Yet Sparda showed mercy—he let him live but cursed his body with a stigma that prevented him from sleeping.
But this new beginning with Dante's body marked a death sentence for Sparda and more.
Kang Soo Jin would not stop until he had avenged all who had betrayed him and torn away those he loved.