[DEVILICH] Chapter 1 - Aura of Death

[Author's Note]
Hello everyone! With this chapter, I'm announcing my next project. First, to dispel your worries: this will not impact 1% Lifesteal's release schedule in the slightest. It's going to run in parallel. Also, just as a heads-up, this story is quite different from my previous writing. First, it's a LitRPG. Haven't really tried my hand at one before, and this is the first time I'm giving it a proper shot. It's also different in the sense that it's my first attempt at first-person writing, which I think would be pretty nice for my style because of my general focus on fleshing MCs out as much as I can. And for the first time ever in my writing, it will be a story where the MC starts off powerful from the beginning and only gets more overpowered from there.

If you're curious what the story is about but don't want to invest the time to read through the first few chapters, here is the synopsis:

Throughout the decade he spent paralyzed by a terminal illness, James had slowly ripened into the perfect ingredient for a ritualistic sacrifice.

On what should have been his final day alive, he is summoned by an archdemon who intends to evolve into an elder lich. But the ritual fails.

James finds himself trapped within the body of an abomination—a sinister race of such unspeakable evil that the mortal plane could no longer contain his existence if he committed even a single sin. 

The mere idea of doing a kind deed is no longer compatible with his nature, yet he has no choice but to become a force of good. But how?

How does something so wicked make the world a better place?

It turns out that it was far easier than one might think—all he has to do is direct his newfound urges at those who deserve them the most.

He must become the [Traitor of Hell]—the greatest anti-hero the realm has ever seen.

//////

With that, I'm going to get out of your hair and let you read! Hope you guys enjoy it, and remember, feedback is highly appreciated!

Cheers!
[End of Author's Note]

“I wish you would just die already.”

When I heard my mother utter these words, I lost all hope of ever feeling true joy again. Ever since, many days have come and gone, and I, who had given up a long time ago, welcomed them with all the enthusiasm of a corpse. 

Yet another morning showed up. The gentle breeze swayed the curtains while the heart rate monitor beeped away in the background. The hum of the mechanical ventilator that kept my lungs active buzzed beside it. “Medical miracle,” they called me. The man who should have died a decade ago. 

Usually, the days washed over me as I watched in a stupor, but I felt particularly present on that day. My sight was sharper than it had been in a long while, and the incessant static no longer marred my hearing. 

If I wasn’t completely paralyzed, I knew I’d be smiling from ear to ear. For on that day, I felt it, as sure as the march of time, the touchdown of rain, and the setting of the sun—today, I was going to die. 

I was pretty sure my name was James, but honestly, I didn’t remember. The horrors of having been trapped within my own body for so long have withered much of who I used to be. Few things were still clear to me. But as that day passed, I felt an avalanche of recollection collapse on my being. 

For the first time in years, I recognized my sister's face as she came to swap my diapers and feed me. God, she looked so old. I heard her children—my nephews—calling for her, little humans I had barely even been aware had been born. For the first time in ages, I paid attention to music that I heard playing somewhere outside, echoing with the unfamiliarity of an era I hadn’t truly been living in.

It hurt. It felt as if my heart was tearing apart. But I loved it. I bathed in the agony, basking in the bittersweet pain of feeling alive one final time. 

As most days tended to, the day got brighter and then darker. The yellows of a clear summer afternoon dulled into the orange afterglow of a distant sunset, dying the ceiling with a warm gradient.

Soon, it would be night. Soon, it would all be over. 

I blinked. 

For some reason, the orange hues above me suddenly turned into an eerie red glow. My mind was too sluggish to catch up immediately. But something was wrong.

My blanket had vanished. The soft mattress beneath me had turned to cold stone. And the ceiling above had transformed into the uneven, rocky surface of a cavern.

“What a marvelous aura of death envelops this one,” a creepy voice whispered from my right. “I will use it as a base for my new body. Let us begin.”

Calm down, I commanded myself. I had already been aware that I might begin hallucinating as death claimed me. But I refused to let it get to me. I didn’t want to allow life to hurt me once more in my final moments. 

My conviction was shaken a bit as a horrifying face slid into my field of view. It looked like a positively ancient demon was bent over my body, his uncanny features withering under what looked like centuries of life. It looked nearly human, but the crimson eyes, elf-like ears, and the pure expression of evil on its face told me otherwise.

“Hmph. This man might perish by the time the ritual is over,” it deduced. “Activate the death suspension circle,” it ordered.

“Yes, Master,” another creature called, this time from the left. 

“Good,” the demon said, cackling evilly. “ Remember, minion,” it said, raising its head. “If the unification fails, I shall consume your soul.”

“If it pleases you, Master, I shall serve it to you immediately.”

“Keep it for now,” it said.

For the briefest of moments, the suspicion that this was all real snuck into the back of my mind. It felt just the tiniest bit too real to be a mere hallucination. That whole thing about not letting life hurt me? Yeah, that was some wishful thinking. This was starting to seriously shake me up. 

“Prepare the catalyst,” the old demon commanded as it finally slid outside my field of view. 

The ventilator that kept me breathing was gone, and I could tell that I was suffocating. The feeling grew worse by the instant, and it didn’t take long for it to become absolutely unbearable. 

What the hell is happening to me!? I cried in my mind, but I received no answer.

I couldn’t calm down anymore. Panic unlike anything I had ever felt enveloped my entire being. I heard the voices again, but I barely understood what they were saying as I failed to cope with my situation. 

Was this what it felt like to die? Did I not deserve peace, even in the last few moments of my life? What could I have possibly done that was terrible enough to deserve—

A sudden burst of red light lit up the world around me. I heard screams. So many screams, as if a thousand souls were crying out in agony as their light was snuffed out. A sensation that pure, unfiltered evil was seeping into me permeated my body, and as something vile beyond belief touched the core of my being, I knew it beyond a shadow of a doubt—this wasn’t a hallucination.

Terror incarnate seeped through my skin and settled deep within. 

Suddenly, strange words of a monotone cadence echoed through my mind.

Your symbiote has evolved its race!

Symbiote [Human Cancer Cell Biomass] has evolved into [Archdemon Cancer Cell Biomass]!

Several long moments of silence followed until the demon's voice echoed, now inside my mind. What is this? it asked. What is this fleshy mass? Minion, can you hear me!? What have you done? the demon demanded an answer.

A few seconds later, another face bent over me, this time looking more elf-like but with pronounced canines and stark crimson eyes. It was a startlingly beautiful man wearing spectacles. 

He raised an eyebrow as he examined my face closely. “My lord?” he called. “My lord, can you hear me? Hmmm… The fusion hasn’t started yet…” He pressed a finger to his lips. “Did the possession work?” he wondered. “Are you awake?” He waved a hand before my face.

You idiot! the demon called from within my body. You have botched the ritual! Imbecile! Once I claw my way out, I shall devour you from limb to limb until you—

“Hello?” the person above me kept calling, seemingly unable to hear the pleas of the demon trapped in my body. “Hmm, what a conundrum,” the man mused, looking closer at my eyeball. “Ah, I see,” he suddenly said, backing away. “I believe the man’s soul has retreated deeper within, preventing Your Highness from taking full control and halting the fusion.”

What!? the demon within me screamed, whatever bond I had with it conveying a deep feeling of panic. You fool! But its cries went unheard.

“Worry not, Your Majesty,” the man above me said. “I shall deliver on my promise and sacrifice my soul to aid you in overcoming this trial.”

No! the demon screamed. No, no, no! This moron is trying to kill me! Hey! Human! it called. Tell him to stop! If you don’t, I swear I will doom your soul to annihilation!

Is this thing talking to me? 

Yes, I am talking to you! it said as if it could hear me.

The sheer incredulity of what I was experiencing clashed with the compelling conviction that this was truly happening. There were demons, rituals, and strange voices in my head, overwhelming my mind to the point where I couldn’t think straight—yet I was still paralyzed, unable to intervene with the situation.

You’re paralyzed!? the voice in my mind screamed hysterically. Oh, great hells… it’s over for me… it resigned to whatever fate was waiting for it. 

The man standing beside me placed his hand on my chest. Suddenly, a ghastly red light surrounded his body, and a torrent of pure power unlike anything I had ever felt flowed into my being, seeping through the man’s fingertips and into my skin.

The voice of the demon was reduced to nothing but pained, shrill screeches as I felt my very soul swell, filling my body almost like a physical substance as another spirit, a filthy, evil thing residing in a cancer-shaped vessel surrounding my spinal column, drowned within it, being consumed like a candle flame in a hurricane. 

The rush of energy coursing through my veins felt like pure ecstasy. The strange, monotone words appeared in my mind again.

Requirements for evolution met! 

Your race is evolving from [Human] to ???

The last few words sounded like nothing but static as, suddenly, the feeling of pleasure turned into a sensation of unbelievable agony, and my mind drifted into unconsciousness.