Pain was the first truth Kael Veyrion learned in Hell.
It was not the sharp, fleeting pain of death he remembered from the mortal world. This was heavier,deeper and rooted in flesh that was no longer human and senses that refused to dull. His consciousness surfaced slowly, dragged upward from a suffocating darkness, until awareness slammed into him like a hammer.
He lay sprawled on cracked obsidian ground, the heat seeping into his skin without burning it. The air tasted of iron and ash. Somewhere in the distance, something screamed, high-pitched, frantic and was abruptly cut off.
Kael inhaled sharply and pushed himself up on trembling arms.
His body felt wrong.
Longer. Stronger. Denser. His fingers ended in blackened nails that curved slightly, not claws, but not human either. Veins faintly glowed beneath crimson-tinted skin, pulsing with a rhythm that did not match his heartbeat. When he swallowed, his throat burned, not from injury, but hunger.
A hunger that had nothing to do with food.
"So this is Hell," he muttered.
The sound of his own voice startled him. It was deeper than before, carrying a faint resonance, as if something echoed beneath the words.
Fragments of memory surfaced ,his death, sudden and unremarkable, swallowed by a world that had never noticed his existence. Then darkness. Then… falling. Not physically, but spiritually, as though his soul had been dragged through something ancient and hostile.
And now this.
Kael rose to his feet, steadying himself as the environment came into focus. Jagged spires rose in the distance like broken teeth. Rivers of molten fire snaked through the land, illuminating the sky with a dull red glow. Above him, the heavens churned, clouds twisted into spirals, streaked with violet lightning that never struck the ground.
This place was alive. Watching.
Before he could process that thought, a sudden sharp chime rang inside his head.
Not a sound but an intrusion.
> [Demon System Initialized]
[Host Detected: Kael Veyrion]
[Bloodline Verified: Forbidden Lineage —Compatible]
[Synchronization: 1%… 5%… 12%… Complete]
Kael staggered back, clutching his skull.
"What, what is this?"
The air before him shimmered, and translucent text formed, hovering at eye level.
> Name: Kael Veyrion
Race: Lesser Demon (Evolving)
Level: 1
Magic Affinity: Undetermined
Bloodline: Sealed
Status: Alive (Condition: Unstable)
His breath caught.
A system.
Not metaphorical. Not imagined. A real, structured interface, cold, precise, and undeniably present.
Kael had read stories like this in his previous life. Power fantasies. Escapes from mediocrity. He had never believed they were anything more than fiction.
Yet here it was.
"Bloodline… sealed?" he whispered.
> [Warning]
Bloodline sealed due to environmental threat level.
Premature awakening may result in soul collapse.
Kael's jaw tightened. Even now, even with this system, Hell imposed its own rules. Nothing came freely.
Before he could dig deeper, the ground trembled.
A low growl rolled across the wasteland, vibrating through his bones. Kael turned just in time to see movement among the obsidian ridges, a shape pulling itself free from the shadows.
A demon.
It was barely humanoid, hunched and sinewy, its skin stretched tight over bone. Its eyes glowed sickly yellow, fixed on Kael with unmistakable hunger. Drool dripped from jagged teeth as it sniffed the air.
A Lesser Imp, Kael realized instinctively. Weak but not harmless.
The imp screeched and lunged.
Kael reacted on instinct alone. His body moved before fear could take hold. He rolled aside as claws scraped against stone where his head had been a second earlier. Heat rushed through his limbs, raw and violent.
> [Combat Detected]
Kael scrambled to his feet, heart pounding. He had no weapon. No spells. Only this unfamiliar body and a system he barely understood.
The imp charged again.
Kael braced himself and felt something shift.
> [Skill Unlocked: Demonic Strike (Passive)]
Effect: Converts raw demonic energy into physical force.
His fist connected with the imp's skull.
The impact was brutal. Bone shattered. Black blood sprayed across the ground as the creature collapsed, twitching once before going still.
Kael stood frozen, staring at his hand.
He had killed it.
The realization hit harder than the fight itself. There was no hesitation in him. No revulsion. Only a strange, cold clarity.
> [Enemy Eliminated]
[Experience Gained]
[Level Up Available]
A rush of warmth flooded his body, soothing aches he hadn't realized were there. His muscles tightened, refined. His senses sharpened.
Kael exhaled slowly.
"This place will turn me into something else," he said quietly.
But even as the thought formed, another truth followed it.
It had already begun.
Before he could allocate the level, the air warped again but this time violently. A massive sigil ignited beneath his feet, carved with infernal runes that burned white-hot.
"What now"
The world folded.
Kael felt himself pulled apart, not painfully, but absolutely, as space collapsed inward. When his vision returned, the wasteland was gone.
He stood at the base of colossal black gates.
They towered into the sky, etched with demonic inscriptions that radiated authority and cruelty. Beyond them rose a sprawling complex of spires, arenas, and towering citadels, structured, organized, terrifying.
A city.
No a school.
> [Location Identified: Infernal Academy – Outer Circle]
Kael stared upward as the gates slowly creaked open.
So this was it.
A place where demons were not merely born but forged.
Around him, other figures began to materialize. Newly reborn demons. Some screamed. Some laughed. Some fell to their knees in terror. Overseers watched from above, greater demons clad in obsidian armor, their gazes indifferent and predatory.
Kael kept his head down.
The system pulsed once, quietly.
> [Objective Updated]
Survive the Academy.
Conceal the System.
Begin Ascension.
Kael's lips curved into a faint, grim smile.
"Then let Hell try to stop me."
And with that, he stepped forward into the academy, unaware that the moment his foot crossed the threshold, ancient eyes far above had already begun to take notice.