CHAPTER 8: THE RISE OF THE CRIMSON DEMON
The ground beneath Valencia High split open like a living wound. Blood-red light spilled out, painting the walls, the sky, even the moon itself.
Students screamed as the air turned heavy and thick, burning the skin of anyone who wasn't marked by cursed energy. Sirens wailed across the city — but they weren't human sirens. They were summons.
Something ancient had woken.
Adrian Sanchez stood at the center of the crater where the gym had been, flames spiraling around him. His hair shimmered silver under the red glow, his eyes burning with demonic light. Adriana staggered beside him, her face pale but determined.
> "It's happening," she said softly. "The Gate's… alive."
"No," Adrian muttered. "It's hungry."
A deep voice thundered through the air — not from any mouth, but from the Gate itself:
> "BLOOD OF THE FIRST… UNLOCK THE SEAL."
Adrian dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. His veins glowed brighter, his pulse pounding like drums of war. The sigil Rin branded on him years ago began to burn through his shirt, taking shape across his body — forming wings made of smoke and fire.
Adriana reached out.
> "Adrian! Fight it!"
"I… can't! It's too strong—"
Then, suddenly, the flames around him turned black.
A figure stepped from the light — not Rin, but something wearing his face. The same long coat, the same sword, but eyes completely hollow.
> "Rin?" Adriana whispered, horrified.
"Not quite," it answered. "I am what your master sealed away. I am his other half."
The twins froze as the entity smirked, raising its hand.
Chains of red lightning snapped into existence, striking the ground and carving sigils of summoning. From each one, demons crawled out — towering, armored, and snarling.
Adrian stood slowly, fire blazing from his eyes.
> "If you're Rin's other half," he said, voice trembling with rage, "then you're the reason he's gone."
The creature smiled.
> "And you are his weapon."
Adrian's aura exploded — wings unfurling, claws forming. He wasn't fully human anymore. The mark of the Crimson Demon had awakened.
The ground split open again, the Hell Gate's center rising like an altar. Adriana stood behind her brother, blades drawn, refusing to back down.
> "We end this here," she said.
"No," Adrian growled. "We start it here."
He lunged forward, crashing into the demon wearing Rin's face, their blows shaking the ruins. Flames and darkness collided, every strike echoing like thunder. Adriana leapt through the smoke, cutting through summoned demons with divine light.
The battle raged — light and blood twisting together until it was impossible to tell which side was winning.
Finally, the entity laughed — a hollow, echoing sound that froze even the fire.
> "You still don't understand, children of blood. This Gate doesn't open Hell."
"Then what does it do?" Adriana shouted.
"It brings Hell here."
The sigils on the Gate turned gold, spinning faster. A red sun rose behind the storm clouds. The world began to tremble.
Adrian roared, pushing his last strength into one final strike.
His fist — glowing with cursed light — smashed through the creature's chest.
The false Rin exploded in flame.
The Gate stopped moving.
For now.
The twins collapsed side by side, staring up at the blood-colored sky.
> "We stopped it," Adriana whispered.
"No," Adrian said weakly. "We delayed it."
And in the smoke behind them, a pair of golden eyes opened, watching, waiting.
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🔥 The war for humanity has officially begun.