Rhonex looked around.
The world around him swirled like mist, blurred edges, silent wind. It looked like a battlefield… or maybe a training arena. He couldn't tell. Everything was distorted, as though time itself was gasping for air.
Then, a figure emerged.
From a distance, it was impossible to see clearly. The light around the figure was blinding, too pure, too unnatural for this place. Rhonex squinted, shielding his eyes. Slowly, the light softened. The shape became clearer.
It was… him.
Or something that looked exactly like him.
Before he could make sense of it, he heard a voice.
Familiar. Soft.
"Rhonex"
Mother.
But… his mother was long gone. Dead. Buried. Lost in blood and screams.
What was she doing here?
He wanted to run to her. To speak. To talk.
But something held him back. A weight in his chest. A knowing.
He watched as the false Rhonex walked toward her smiling. He hugged her gently, tenderly, as if this were the world he belonged in.
Rhonex's mother smiled.
"How do you feel today, Rhonex?"
"I feel happy, we should go for a walk."
Rhonex whispered under his breath, voice shaking:
"This is not me."
Why would he smile?
Why would he say he felt happy, a word foreign in his world?
Why would he go for a walk?
Confusion twisted inside him like vines. The illusion began to crack.
Then, flashes.
Dark whispers.
"Only if you were not an epitome of evil, your mother wouldn't have died."
"The curse will kill you."
"You could have had a normal demon life… but yours had to be different."
His vision changed again.
A memory, or something worse.
He saw himself being born. Not into fire or war.
But as a normal demon baby.
No tiger. No roar.
He cried, like any child would.
And his mother… she smiled.
Happy. Peaceful. Whole.
He saw himself growing up,
Laughing. Talking.
People weren't afraid to come near him.
He had friends.
Real ones.
They walked beside him without fear.
They smiled when they saw him.
Rhonex gritted his teeth.
"Stop. This is not real."
He clenched his fists, his voice trembling in his head.
"I have to kill that fake Rhonex before I lose myself completely."
He forced his eyes open.
And there he was, the other him, standing a short distance away, smirking like he already knew how it would end.
Then he spoke.
His voice was calm, almost mocking.
"If only you weren't evil… if Lucifer's soul wasn't inside of you… you could have had a normal life."
"Tell me, Rhonex… don't you crave it?"
"I can give you that."
"Damn it…" Rhonex cursed silently.
This trial was harder than he imagined.
They had warned him, most never made it out.
He had laughed it off.
Thought it would be a test of strength.
But no one told him it would be a battle for his sanity.
He lunged.
The punch he threw should've crushed a giant.
It cracked through the air with raw fury,
but the Fake Rhonex didn't even flinch.
He just chuckled.
Chuckled!!!?
Rhonex stumbled back, confused.
Why didn't it work?
The only way to end this, as they told him, was to kill the Fake self,
.....and Lucifer's soul within him, what does that have to do with what was happening.
Suddenly, pain lanced through his head like lightning.
A splitting headache.
Memories. Fragments.
Was this connected to what he'd forgotten?
His knees buckled slightly.
He clutched his chest. The curse was flaring up again.
It felt like fire was crawling through his lungs.
Still… he couldn't stop now.
He had to end this.
Before he was the one lost to the trick.
If only his magic wasn't restricted in this place…
He would've ended this in a blink.
"You can't kill him using physical ability or magic." The voice echoed through the fog in his mind, calm, unbothered.
Rhonex snarled. "Then how the hell am I supposed to kill him?"
"That's for you to figure out."
"Mtcheww," he sighed.
Of course it was her.
What was the point of her saying anything if she never gave real answers?
He braced himself, the pain in his chest still clawing through him like a living thing,
and forced his thoughts to steady.
"I have to figure something out…" he muttered.
And then
Another surge of pain.
Sharp. Blinding.
His vision split.
He saw Rienne.
His little sister.
Smiling.
She was laughing, playing with friends, carefree.
Not weighed down by whispers, not branded the sister of a cursed soul.
She looked free.
And then came the words, smooth and venomous from the Fake Rhonex.
"Just accept it, Rhonex."
"You are the reason everything became like this. The reason Hell is in chaos."
"Everyone fears you. They hate you. Even your mother."
"I'm sure she regretted giving birth to you."
For a brief second, the silence was thick.
Heavy. Suffocating.
But then,
A smile crept across Rhonex's lips.
Not a soft one.
Not a sad one.
A devilish, knowing smile.
Had it been he had have a heart, maybe those words would have broken him.
But they didn't.
Not anymore.
"So much for a difficult trial."
He straightened his back, his voice steady.
"This is a trial of identity. Not power. Not pain."
He looked the fake version of himself in the eye, hell fire burning behind his gaze.
"You don't get to tell me who I am."
"You are not me."
The fake Rhonex narrowed his eyes.
"Then who are you?"
Rhonex's voice dropped to a near whisper, but it echoed like thunder through the illusion.
"I am Rhonex, the cursed one, yes. The demon with Lucifer's soul, yes. But I am also more."
"I am the one who endures. Who refuses to break. Who defines himself."
The fake Rhonex staggered slightly.
Cracks appeared across his face like shattered glass.
Rhonex stepped forward, voice unwavering.
"I am not your reflection. I am not your shame. I am the truth.
The Fake Rhonex screamed, and began to disintegrate into light and shadow, torn apart by the weight of truth.
Ronex stood still as the battlefield faded, the pain in his chest easing for the first time.
And the voice, returned, quieter this time.
"Now… you're ready."
His golden irises scanned the arena, calculated, focused.
He tapped into Ramiel's sight magic, a trick they both shared, the ability to access each other's power when needed.
"Ha!" Rhonex exclaimed silently, the devilish smile still tugging at his lips.
He saw it, the truth, hidden deep inside the Fake Rhonex's body.
That was him.
A fragment. A shadow. A trap.
The moment he fully identified himself, that illusion would shatter.
And the Fake would die.
Then another pain tore through his skull.
The Fake Rhonex was trying to impose another false memory, twisting the truth, sewing doubt.
Not this time.
Rhonex clenched his fist and summoned what little magic he had left, channeling it into a mental barrier, a shield to keep illusions out.
Then, with a voice like thunder in the quiet void, he spoke:
"I know who I am."
"I am Rhonex, the rightful King of Hell."
His voice rose like fire.
"Inside me is the soul of Lucifer, given to me in place of a weapon."
"I am ruthless. Wicked. Evil. And I accept that."
"But I am also a demon who wields witch magic through my blood, though that blood remains purely demonic."
His eyes locked onto the Fake Rhonex.
"I don't crave anything you have to offer. I am already enough."
He scoffed.
"Nice try, Fake Rhonex. If you'd offered to break my curse instead of these cheap tricks, maybe I would've flinched."
"But you played the wrong hand."
He took one step forward.
"I am Rhonex, the Cursed Demon Lord."
"The rightful King of Hell."
"Or as most people in Hell call me…"
He smiled, wide and cruel.
"…the DEVIL."
The FAKE Ronex cracked like glass, splintering apart before shattering into nothing.
Silence returned.
But this time, it was his.
"You actually passed this trial."
The voice echoed through the now-empty battlefield, layered with a tone of amused surprise.
"I'm surprised. Out of the thousands who entered, you are only the second to conquer this trial."
Rhonex narrowed his golden eyes.
"Who was the first?" he asked.
The voice paused.
"I can't quite remember. It was… about 4,000 years ago."
Rhonex's brows furrowed.
"4,000 years ago?"
That was around the time I was cursed… and when I fell into slumber.
The voice chuckled softly.
"Yes… yes, it's coming back now. The person had a pure energy… not demonic, not dark. Celestial. Yes, a celestial being."
Rhonex's gaze sharpened.
"A celestial being… also in search of the sword. And me."
Rhonex scoffed.
"Once I get out of here, you'll tell me everything you know."
"But for now, I need to finish what I started."
He looked up.
The arena dimmed. The sun, or whatever powered this illusion world was beginning to set.
"From what I see, it's almost evening," Ronex muttered. "Time runs fast here."
"I have to be at the Duskhelm castle by morning... to meet my impending father-in-law."
The voice chuckled again, deeper this time.
"Let's get to the third trial then… the Trial of the Illusion maze."
A long silence stretched… then the voice said:
"It's your confidence for me, Lord Rhonex."
"You just might be the first to get out from here"
"This third trial is the hardest," the voice added, tone now grave.
"The celestial being… I almost believed he'd make it. But he didn't. He's still trapped in the illusion mist."
"His soul?"
"Almost entirely eaten away."
Rhonex clenched his fists. No time for weakness.
"Do I get any help this time?"
"Only four words," the voice replied.
A moment of silence.
"…Snap out of it."
Rhonex stirred.
He woke up in a completely different place.
Soft sunlight filtered through silken curtains. He was lying on a bed, one that felt too familiar, too warm. His eyes fluttered open… and there they were. His mother and sister, Rienne, sitting by his side.
Rienne's eyes lit up the moment she saw him.
"Brother, you're awake!" she exclaimed. "You've been out for four hours after you drained your energy."
Rhonex blinked. Four hours?
He sat up slowly, scanning the room. Something was off. Too quiet. Too perfect.
But what?
He racked his memory.
He remembered… draining his magic, forming a barrier…
Barrier from what?
"What did I drain my energy on, Rienne?" he asked carefully.
Rienne huffed, crossing her arms.
"Well, you've been obsessing over mastering the Eclipsed soulfire ability," she said.
"You achieved the first two levels, just today!!!! and wanted to achieve the final level, "ABYSSAL CROWN".
"Practicing like a maniac. Even after several warnings from Mother! That ability drains even Immortals to death, and you're never the type to listen, are you?"
Rhonex frowned slightly.
So that's why I'm lying in bed, with both of them looking like I'm about to drop dead.
He glanced at his mother's worried expression. Too real.
"I'm fine, Mother," he said softly.
Rienne shot her brother a quick glance, then stood.
"Well, if you say so…" she muttered. "I'm off to class, to learn the evil magical note of the cello, I'm already late because of you*
, by the way."
She pointed at him dramatically.
"You owe me. Introduce me to one of your handsome friends."
Rhonex scoffed.
"Not happening. I'd rather give you—"
"—a dragon egg?"* Rienne smirked. "Well, I'll manage that, since you clearly don't have the guts to do the first."
"You little---"
Rhonex was about to retort, but Rienne darted out the door with a laugh, blowing him a kiss.
"You two are so cute," his mother said with a warm smile.
Cute, my foot, Rhonex thought dryly.
She brought a wooden bowl toward him. He didn't even need to ask, herbs. The sharp, earthy scent already gave it away. Something bitter. Something healing… or maybe something else.
He took a few reluctant gulps, grimacing at the taste.
"Where is Ramiel, Mother?" he asked, lowering the bowl.
Her expression shifted. Confusion. Too real. Too perfect.
"Who is Ramiel?" she asked.
Rhonex blinked. Who is Ramiel?
The name echoed in his mind like a bell, familiar, urgent, important, but he couldn't grasp why.
He frowned.
"What about Molan… my butler?"
"Oh, you mean Bolan," his mother corrected, chuckling. "Not Molan. I sent him on an errand to cut some rare flowers. I need them for a potion I'll be brewing later today. You and Rienne will help me."
Rhonex stared at her, his brows slowly drawing together. She continued, her voice calm and sweet. "That's why I told you not to drain your energy like that. It makes you say strange things. Even illusions, maybe."
Illusions. The word stabbed at his gut.
He suddenly felt dizzy. Heavy. Sleepy.
"Did you… put something in the herbs?"
His mother smiled gently, brushing a hand over his hair.
"Yes, just a little sleeping herb. You need rest, sweetheart. The best sleep heals everything."
Rhonex's eyes began to close, against his will.
Rhonex saw his mother leave the room, her soft footsteps fading behind the door.
For some reason, everything felt… safe.
Or rather, strange.
He placed a hand on his chest , his heart was beating steadily.
w
"Why does having a heart feel strange"
Why does that feel unfamiliar? he wondered.
Then he recalled something, a single word his mother had said.
Illusion.
It echoed in his mind with weight. It meant something. Something important. But his thoughts were slow. Sluggish.
Maybe… just maybe, he should rest. Just a little. When he wakes up, maybe things will make more sense. Maybe he'll remember why this world feels so wrong.
Rhonex closed his eyes.
**********
Molan had just teleported back to Lord Rhonex's mansion, landing with urgency and heavy steps.
The moment he entered, he stopped cold.
A strong demonic aura.
Too strong.
He hurried toward one of the servants.
"What happened? Who came here?"
The servant bowed quickly. "A hell-messenger creature came. It brought three boxes of gifts… said they were from different lords and ladies, honoring Lord Rhonex's upcoming wedding."
"Wedding? Since when did those demon creatures care about wedding with other creatures" Molan brow furrowed. "What's inside?"
"Only Lord Rhonex is allowed to open them. The creature said they are 'soul-bound.'
"Take them to the attic," Molan ordered. "He'll handle them himself once he returns. Anything else?"
The servant hesitated.
"Yes, sire… the creature poisoned Lord Rhonex favourite tree, the one he always carries to wherever he plans to stay."
Molan's eyes widened.
"The one Lord Ramiel is obsessed with?"
"Yes. The creature said it was a gift… from Asmodeus. And we have six hours to find the antidote… which he doubts we will or else the tree will die."
"Shit." Molan cursed under his breath.