Despite the decades and millennia, Jin still remembered that day—the day he thought he was smarter than the devil, but also the day he met Ginny.
...
The wind blew in gusts, whipping Soo Jin's already wounded skin.
He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, but the fatigue was building. He hadn't felt his feet in a while.
They moved mechanically, driven by a survival instinct.
The snow behind him was stained red. No matter how hard he pressed on the wound in his side, the blood kept flowing.
— "Klein...Illias..."
He whispered that name, over and over. It was the only word that could pass his cracked, dry lips.
His gaze didn't waver. He was focused, as if he could still hope to hold on.
He clenched his teeth from the physical pain, but also the emotional.
He didn't scream or beg.
He just kept going, across the endless snow.
Behind him, deep in the death valley — a No Man's Land that was once know as the state of Alaska — the engines of a hundred of vehicles were approaching.
The sound grew clearer with every second.
They were the Inquisition's trackers. He knew them.
They had been his colleagues, his friends, his brothers in arms.
And now, they were hunting him like the deserter he was. Or worse — a traitor.
They all wore expressionless masks.
They hadn't come to talk — but they had come to finish him off.
Their snowcats rolled over the red trail he had left behind.
Nothing slowed them. They drove through the corpses of their own fallen comrades — some frozen mid-defense, others disemboweled, arms stretched toward an empty sky.
Soo Jin didn't have the strength to look anymore.
He knew almost all of them. He'd grown up with some. He'd killed the others.
And that was the worst part.
He had been part of the machine. He had obeyed for decades.
The Heresy Inquisition.
A secret branch of the Church, meant to enforce order, to purify, to hunt down anything that stood against their divine vision.
They were called the cleaners, the agents of faith.
They hunted "the corrupted," "the heretics," "the mutants," "the infidels," "the strayed."
There was always a justification for what they did.
And Soo Jin had been one of those who killed without asking questions.
It wasn't until much later — far too late — that he realized nothing they were doing was just.
He had seen human faces, not monsters.
He had seen children, old people, terrified families. And eventually, he had refused.
One day, he lowered his weapon. He didn't shoot.
That day, his life changed.
That day, he understood he was just a dog.
An animal trained to bite and obey, without understanding what was truly expected of him.
And now, he was running to stay alive. Or maybe just not to die by their hands, because they had a slow, excruciating death planned for him.
His legs suddenly gave out. He collapsed, face-first in the snow.
He tried to get up, but his arms were shaking.
He had lost too much blood. His breathing was uneven — he was spent.
The vehicles stopped nearby. He heard doors opening, footsteps approaching.
The click of weapons, the crunch of snow under boots.
He stopped moving and slowly lifted his head.
And in front of his wide, stunned eyes, she appeared in all her majesty : Belial.
High Commander — his former colleague.
She wore a white polar uniform, covered in golden insignia.
She walked toward him slowly, upright and unyielding.
She stopped a few meters away, arms crossed.
— "So it's you, Jin. This is what's left of you."
He didn't reply. He kept breathing with difficulty.
He stared at her, his gaze full of anger, not lowering his eyes.
— "You thought we wouldn't find you? What did you imagine? That you could run forever?"
She stepped closer and she kicked him in the shoulder, knocking him to the side.
He let out a muffled groan of pain.
— "You butchered my men, you son of a bitch. You betrayed your oath. You betrayed the Church."
— "No," he answered in a weak voice. "I just stopped lying to myself."
She burst out laughing. Short and joyless.
— "What did you think? That you were better than the rest of us? That you'd become a hero? You're nothing. You've never been anything. You should've died before figuring it out."
— "Klein… he's using you, and he'll toss you aside when you become useless," he said, struggling. "Wake the hell up!"
She looked down at him almost with pity.
— "It would've been better if you'd never found out. Now everything's falling apart, and you think it means something? You think you've won anything? All your companions are dead or in exile, Jin. All of them. You're the last. And even you won't make it."
He looked at her with a mix of hatred and exhaustion.
Despite the pain and fatigue, he moved. He slowly stood back up, struggling.
His hands were trembling, but he was standing.
He spat some blood, wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
— "Come on, then… kill me!" He replied, giving her a nice middle finger.
She didn't answer.
She charged him.
They threw themselves at each other like wild beasts.
They hit each other without holding back, scratched, shoved.
Soo Jin grabbed her hair, she elbowed him.
He strangled her, but she struck him in the throat.
They rolled in the snow fighting like primates in front of the perplexed soldiers.
He was taking the upper hand.
He pinned her to the ground.
His fist rose and he hit her again and again.
— "Fire!" shouted finally one of the soldiers.
But nothing happened — because suddenly, everything stopped.
The winter breeze fell silent. The snow hung frozen in the air.
The soldiers stood motionless, weapons raised, fingers on the trigger — frozen like statues of ice.
Belial stopped struggling. She looked around, stunned.
Soo Jin slowly got up. He looked around too, eyes wide.
Time no longer moved. Everything was frozen, except them — or rather, Belial herself was slowly freezing too.
And there, in that silence, a presence was felt.
Suddenly, a strange heat rose within him, like a fire burning beneath his skin.
His vision sharpened, the details of the world becoming clearer, colors took on a new intensity.
A shiver of excitement ran through his body. He felt a power awakening within him, an energy that felt unnatural.
Then suddenly, everything froze.
The presence of an invisible entity seemed to seep into this dimension, as though time had stopped.
Jin looked around, his eyes wide, breath halted.
In absolute darkness, Jin stood alone. Then a voice sound in his mind.
— "You resisted. Few can. That's why I chose you."
Still trembling, Jin gathered his strength.
— "You talk like I'm supposed to be flattered. Who exactly are you ?"
— "Once, they called me Sparda. I was an archdemon… The only one who refused the coming of my kind to this world. I fought my own, sealed the Gates, and vanished from history."
— "You mean… all the religious texts are true ?"
— "Far more than you can imagine. The Gates are about to be reopened. The world is tipping again. But this time… I can no longer intervene."
Jin straightened, his muscles tensed. A silhouette formed in the darkness—tall, imposing.
Two golden eyes fixed on him, sovereign.
The creature took shape, this time appearing more human.
A dark armor covered his chest.
— "You still don't know what you are. But I never forgot."
— "Are you just a side effect of my migraine or some bastard starved for worship ?"
A heavy silence followed. Then a contemptuous chuckle.
— "I am the lord of a world your kind betrayed by falling to the tricks of the Evil One.
I fought armies of demons before your species even learned to make fire.
And you, insect, dare speak to me as an equal ?"
— "I talk to what I see. And right now, you're just a loud voice in the dark."
The shadows around Jin began to dissipate. A colossal wolf emerged behind Sparda, but with a simple gesture, the master calmed it.
— "This world is nearing its end.
The meteors are not random, they are keys—openings to the darkest realms imaginable.
An unprecedented catastrophe is coming. Weak, corrupted men seek to exploit them. But I want to stop them from consuming everything. Like I once did."
— "Stop what ? An apocalypse ? An invasion ? And why do you need me, huh ? You don't look like the type to ask nicely."
— "Because I can no longer act. Not like before.
My body is sealed, exiled in a dead dimension.
But you… you have mixed blood, a strong bond that goes beyond DNA and blood—it's tied to your soul and spirit.
That is your true race. Your kind is extremely rare, yet still inferior. You are a bastard, yes—but a useful one."
— "Ah, also because you're broken. Torn between justice and hatred. And yet… you still resist corruption, though it nearly claimed you many times. You're not special, Jin. It's impossible for you to awaken any supernatural power, regardless of the energy type."
A flash of anger passed through Jin, but he merely smirked, his gaze defiant.
— "I don't need you to survive what's coming."
Sparda smiled.
— "But you want more than survival. You want to see them fall. The ones who took your companion. The ones who stole your peace. You want to make the world pay—and the demon who killed your mother. No, worse. Your grudge goes deeper than that. You want to exterminate the demon race."
Jin stayed silent few minutes, then scream :
— "I want to tear down the established order. The powerful, the elites. Those who think they can play with our lives. I want a revolution. I want the world to feel what I lived through. But I don't want to doom it."
— "Then we share a goal."
— "You want me to stop your kind's return. I want to destroy those opening the Gates… The two align." Soo-Jin concluded.
— "I'm not seeking an apostle. I seek a vassal—a weapon. Someone capable of cutting down impostors, purifying this world before it's entirely consumed. And you… you've nothing left to lose."
Silence fell again. Jin, fists clenched, gaze distant.
— "And if I refuse ?"
— "Then you'll die like the others. And I'll take your body once your soul is gone."
A smirk curled Jin's lips.
— "At least you're honest. But I've got plans too. If you want me to do your dirty work, you'll have to offer more than a broken prophecy."
— "But know this : the power I offer… is no gift. It demands a pact, a fusion between your nature and corruption. You'll never be a normal man again. You'll be my vassal."
Jin stepped forward, defiant.
— "On one condition."
— "Speak."
— "I remain free in my choices. You can advise me, but never control me."
A long silence, then Sparda's voice echoed.
— "Z'ka ra'mol tha'skar Kang Soo Jin…
Xel'nira vukar… Va'shun et draal…
Aen'thel'ka, aen'thel'ka, aen'thel'ka…"
The language of fallen angels, far too powerful for ordinary mortals.
Hearing even a single word could annihilate regular beings—but of course, Kang Soo Jin was no ordinary man.
A crimson circle widened on the floor, enveloping them both.
Jin placed his hand at the center. A burning energy surged through him.
— "I'm not your slave. I'm your sword."
Sparda replied :
— "And I am not your master."
As he disappeared he heard : "Survive, show them our power."
Then the light returned. The train was moving as if nothing had happened.
The soldiers, unaware of the intrusion of another world, carried on with their lives.
Jin, panting, glanced at his arm. Then he see the seal of the Fifth General of Sparda's army, Glutonny— The Gourmet Dragon.
Though later, Jin would nickname it : Ginny.
The naivety of that young man had doomed him.
Thinking he could achieve his aims, he was eventually discarded by Sparda due to his aging and weakness.
Yet Sparda showed mercy—he let him live but cursed his body with a stigma that prevented him from sleeping, demonstrate great power at the risk of dying and he allowed corruption to devour three times more the body of Jin.
But this new beginning with Dante's body marked a death sentence for Sparda and more.
But for the moment, as those who had witnessed it could attest, it was a massacre.
Under a surge of renewed power, Soo Jin had exterminated the entire garrison.
So since that day they had understood that no one and nothing would stop him until he had avenged all who had betrayed him and torn away those he loved.