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CHAPTER 7: THE HELL GATE
The next morning, the sky above Spain burned red. Clouds spun counterclockwise, forming a vortex that stretched from Valencia to Madrid. The world didn't know it yet — but Hell was waking up.
Adrian stood on the school roof, watching the storm churn above the city. His uniform was still blood-stained, his gloves charred from the last fight. Adriana sat cross-legged beside him, rewrapping the chain on her twin blades.
> "Three days," she said. "That's what the sigil warned."
"No," Adrian replied. "That wasn't a warning. It was a countdown."
The city below them looked normal — students walking, traffic buzzing, people laughing. But the twins could see it — faint shadows sliding between human bodies, invisible to everyone else.
Demons were hiding inside people now.
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That night, the twins met in the abandoned gym. The air reeked of rust and salt. Candles floated midair in a perfect circle. In the center — a black flame burned on its own.
> "Rin's mark is reacting again," Adriana said.
Adrian clenched his fists. "He's trapped beneath the school. That means whoever took him is using him to open the Gate."
"Then we stop it."
Before they could move, a figure stepped from the shadows — tall, hooded, wearing Rin's coat.
> "Rin?" Adriana whispered.
"No."
The hood fell back — revealing Lucas, the student council president. His eyes were pitch-black, his smile too calm.
> "Your master was weak. He resisted the pact. I didn't."
He raised his hand, and chains of cursed light erupted from the floor, wrapping around the twins. The gym shattered into a red void, symbols spinning around them.
> "You should've stayed asleep," Lucas hissed, voice echoing with something not human. "You are descendants of the first exorcist — and your blood will reopen the Hell Gate!"
Adriana screamed as the chains burned her skin. Adrian's gauntlet cracked, glowing violently.
Then a voice — faint, but fierce — echoed in Adrian's mind.
> "Break the seal, child. Unleash the Sin inside you."
He didn't know if it was Rin or something darker — but he obeyed.
Adrian roared — his eyes turning bright crimson, his veins lighting up with sigils. The chains shattered, bursting into flames. Adriana followed, her blades spinning, cutting through demonic energy like air.
The battle tore the gym apart.
Adrian punched through Lucas's barrier, blood splattering the walls. Adriana's final strike sliced through the demon's shoulder — and black fire poured out instead of blood.
Lucas fell to his knees, grinning through cracked skin.
> "It's too late," he whispered. "The Gate is open."
Then he disintegrated — leaving behind a floating red crystal, pulsing like a heart.
The twins stood there, breathing heavily, as the floor below them began to split. From the cracks rose a blinding red light — and an ancient roar shook the entire school.
> "Adrian," Adriana said, voice shaking. "What is that?"
"The Gate," he whispered. "Hell's Gate… it's under us."
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Outside, every mirror in the city cracked at once.
And beneath Valencia High, a massive stone door covered in moving sigils began to open — one inch at a time.
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