Without hesitation, he leaned forward and reached out his arm.
The moment his hand touched the dagger, a sharp pain shot through his palm, and a burning rage flooded his mind.
His eyes turned blood-red, his breathing quickened. The veins on his body bulged, pulsing violently.
He raised his gaze toward his cellmate, still sleeping on the bed in front of him. Slowly, he stepped forward, lifted the dagger, and drove it into the man's abdomen again and again.
The victim didn't die instantly. He kept screaming even after the third stab.
The screams woke the other inmates and alerted the patrolling guards. The guards quickly traced the sound to a cell at the end of the corridor. But just as they were halfway there, the cries suddenly stopped — leaving behind a dreadful silence.
Once in front of the door, one of the guards peeked through the viewing slit. He saw a prisoner standing in the middle of the cell, his back turned, drenched in blood. The three guards drew their pistols, opened the door, and rushed inside.
"Get on the ground! Hands behind your back, asshole!" shouted one of them.
But the prisoner didn't move. He didn't speak.
"Are you deaf?! I said on the ground!" yelled another guard, stepping closer to grab him.
As soon as the guard reached within a meter and stretched out his arm, the prisoner suddenly turned at an inhuman speed and lunged at him. Both men tumbled backward.
The other guards didn't have time to react — the prisoner now sat astride their fallen comrade and, gripping the dagger with both hands, plunged it straight into his skull.
The blade sank in as easily as if the man's head were made of butter. When the guard exhaled his final breath, the dagger's runes began to glow faintly blue — barely visible to the naked eye.
BANG BANG
One of the guards fired twice — a shot to the abdomen, the other straight to the heart. The prisoner, dagger still in hand, collapsed lifelessly to the floor.
"Holy shit, what the hell was that?! How did he even get a weapon in here?"
"I have no idea, man. But this is gonna be a nightmare to explain to the warden… Come on, let's go report this. And lock the damn door."
---
[ 27 minutes later.]
The warden arrived, flanked by several guards and a crime scene unit. They opened the cell, and the investigators went in — but only thirty seconds later, one of them came back out.
"You said the murder weapon was a blade, right? A dagger?"
"Yeah, that's what we said. Why?"
"Then… where is it?"
"…What?"
The scene was grotesque — and it was only the beginning. Similar incidents would soon erupt all over the world.
---
Two days later
Location: Abyss / Obsidian Tower / Throne Hall
I sat on my throne, sipping a glass of wine. In front of me hovered a holographic screen streaming the latest human news.
In just two days, my cursed daggers had done far more than I had expected. They had caused a mild wave of chaos — not global panic, but enough to stir the pot.
Most of the carnage had erupted in prisons, military camps, and dictatorial or terrorist strongholds.
But about seven hours ago, two of the daggers had reappeared in the same place — somewhere in the United States. Since then, they hadn't moved much, but they were still collecting souls, slowly yet steadily.
Well… as long as the souls keep coming in, I'm not complaining.
And besides, today I have to return to the Princess's hotel. Hopefully, I won't walk into some ridiculous "redemption session."
"Well then, time to head out. At least now I've got a passive soul income… and I restocked on wine and booze. Not a bad couple of days," I muttered, dismissing the hologram with a wave of my hand.
I stood up, opened a portal to Hell, and stepped through.
---
Location: Hell / Pentagram City / Happy Hotel
As soon as I emerged from the portal, two things caught my attention.
First: why the hell was there a giant crater in front of the hotel?
Second: the hotel itself looked… different.
Brighter. More colorful. The tall tower at the top had been replaced by a smaller radio tower — no doubt Alastor's handiwork.
And finally… the name.
No longer Happy Hotel, but Hazbin Hotel.
After taking in the changes outside, I headed for the entrance. Inside, everything looked just as transformed.
The place was cleaner, livelier.
A new chandelier sparkled from the ceiling.
The grand staircase had been polished.
To the right, a cozy lounge with a chair, a classic sofa — my sofa — and a fireplace.
To the left, a new bar, half casino, half… Alastor. Voodoo motifs everywhere.
I barely took three steps inside before a familiar voice called out:
"Well, look who's back! Ain't that pretty face Caelvor? Thought you ran away from this boring-ass dump!" said Angel, sprawled on my sofa, legs in the air.
"Ahah! Why would I run away when you're here, sweetheart? And I see my sofa's found a new admirer," I said, walking closer, hands behind my back, flashing a playful grin.
"Oooh, stop it, you'll make me blush. And yeah, seriously — what the hell did you put in this couch? It's addictive!" he said, hugging a pillow.
"Oh, nothing special. Just a few souls who died happy. Haha! Anyway, where's everyone else? And who's the guy behind the bar?" I asked, glancing toward the counter.
Angel hopped up, did a little spin, and dragged me along.
"Well, Charlie's been gone for a while — something about the Heaven Embassy. Vaggie, Alastor, and Niffty — the new girl — are upstairs editing the hotel's promo video."
Once we reached the bar, Angel threw himself onto a stool, crossed his legs, and pointed to the demon behind the counter.
"That's Husk, the new bartender. Husk, meet Caelvor — a guest, an employee… whatever, he's one of us."
"Pleasure, Husk," I said, conjuring a stool my size and sitting down.
"Yeah, yeah. Great. Another nutcase in this hellhole," Husk muttered, downing a shot of cheap liquor.
"Don't say that, whiskers. I'm sure deep down you'd love to get a little closer," Angel teased, winking at him.
While the two of them bantered, I observed Husk's soul. He too bore a chain — Alastor's mark. It seemed soul-trading was fairly common around here.
I could break those chains easily if I wanted… but none of them had anything I needed. Not yet.
As I pondered, a small demoness suddenly climbed onto me — literally — perching on my shoulder with sparkling eyes.
"Hehe! Hi! I'm Niffty! What's your name? Are you a bad boy? Hehehe, I loooove bad boys!" she giggled, grabbing my face with both hands.
Before I could answer, someone else intervened.
"Niffty! Get down from there! That's Caelvor — he's part of the hotel!" said Vaggie, descending the stairs toward us.
At her words, Niffty leapt down, scurried to a corner, pulled out a tiny broom, and started frantically cleaning. What a strange little creature.
"Finally decided to come back? I hope you're not here to cause trouble… or to mess with Charlie!" Vaggie said, arms crossed, glaring at me.
"Wow, no hello? Straight to the threats. Lovely atmosphere you've got here," I replied, laughing softly.
Then Alastor appeared between us, as lively as ever.
"Ahah! A fine day to you, dear friend! It's been some time since you left us. Pity you missed our advertisement shoot, haha!" he said, twirling his cane dramatically.
For a second, I froze. Was it me, or was Alastor being too friendly?
"Good to see you too, Alastor. Yes, I had a few things to take care of. But I'm sure you and the others worked wonders on that ad," I said, swirling the glass of wine I'd just conjured.
After that oddly pleasant exchange, we all continued chatting — mostly about nothing. Angel, as usual, kept the conversation going.
When I asked if I could watch the promo video, Vaggie told me to wait for Charlie's return — apparently, it was supposed to be a surprise.
---
[30 minutes later]
Charlie finally returned. Judging by her face, the meeting hadn't gone well. Vaggie approached her and announced that the ad was ready.
At that, Charlie's whole expression lit up. She came rushing toward us, smiling from ear to ear.
"Caelvor, you're back?! That's awesome! See, Vaggie? I told you he'd come back!" she beamed.
Vaggie's expression softened — a little flustered, even. It was… surprisingly cute.
"Haha, I was gone barely two days. I told you I'd return," I replied with a smile.
Charlie and Vaggie joined us on the couch in front of the TV. Vaggie grabbed the remote and started the ad.
But before the video could play, a breaking news alert from 666 News interrupted the broadcast.
"Breaking update! We've just received confirmation from the Celestial Embassy that the next Extermination has been moved up! You know what that means, right, Tom?"
"No idea, Cathy — what does that mean?"
"That means we have it up our ass."
The screen cut to an image of the great Extermination Clock — its countdown dropped from 1 year to 6 months.
"Holy crap, dollface! What the hell did you say at the embassy to make them bump it up six months early?!" shouted Angel.
"Shut it, Angel! I'm sure Charlie's not to blame," Vaggie said, grabbing her hand.
"I swear it's not my fault! It was that bastard Adam! He kept rambling for hours — bragging about how he seduced a lifeguard, whining about some meeting with the High Authority about a 'new god appearing out of nowhere', or some crap like that. Oh, and something about curing his herpes!"
While everyone argued about the upcoming extermination, I froze at those words.
A new god appearing out of nowhere…
Were they talking about me?
A faint smile crept onto my lips.
Perhaps it was time to visit Heaven… sooner than planned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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