Hyderabad—India's sleepless city of lights—was alive under the fading glow of streetlamps. Traffic roared like waves, and the city pulsed with the heartbeat of millions.
But among the crowd was a single boy whose path led into something far beyond the human world.
Eshu, eighteen years old, skin pale as ivory and hair black as the midnight sky, was walking home after his daily training.
A sharp mind, an unmatched athlete, and a quiet genius—he was the kind of student every teacher admired, and every rival feared.
Yet, despite his brilliance, Eshu was not interested in fame or fortune. His dream was something far colder and stranger—
to become a detective, a man who peers into the abyss of human sin and brings truth from darkness.
When others wasted time in games or gossip, Eshu spent his nights between two places: the shooting range, where he honed his precision, and the library, where he devoured every book on crime, psychology, and investigation.
And when his body demanded movement, he trained in Kalaripayattu, the ancient Indian martial art said to be the origin of all others.
Discipline. Focus. Control. These were his weapons.
That night, however, his calm world would collapse into nightmare.
It was past ten. The streets were unusually empty as he crossed a bridge beneath the moonlight. The soft sound of his shoes echoed across the metal surface.
Then—silence.
The city's hum vanished.
No cars. No voices. No wind.
Only a void so still that Eshu could hear his own heartbeat.
He stopped walking and turned around. The bridge behind him was empty. He turned forward again—nothing.
Not a single human in sight.
"What the hell…?" he whispered, his voice trembling slightly.
He began to run toward the city center, his instincts screaming.
But as he reached the main street, something impossible began to happen.
The sky dimmed, swallowing the stars. A black mist rolled in from the horizon, devouring the lights and streets like ink spreading through water.
A sudden chill ran down his spine.
The silence deepened until it felt suffocating.
Then, when he looked up—his blood ran cold.
The moon was no longer white.
It had turned crimson, as though drenched in blood.
It hung low in the sky, pulsing faintly like a beating heart.
"What… happened to the moon?" he breathed.
And then, the noise came.
A distorted growl, followed by a thousand shrieks—wet, broken, inhuman.
The sound was like meat tearing and bones grinding, echoing through every alleyway.
"Who's there?!" Eshu shouted, spinning around.
Something moved in the shadow of a nearby building.
A hand—charred black, dripping with blood—clawed its way out from the darkness.
Then another.
Two hands gripped the wall, pulling out a creature that should not exist.
It had a half-burned face, a snake-like tongue, and instead of legs—a thick, writhing serpent tail. Its flesh hissed and smoked as it crawled forward on its bloodied arms.
Eshu's breath caught in his throat. The creature let out a guttural hiss, its melted jaw opening wider than any human's.
And then, from every shadow, more began to emerge.
Dozens. Hundreds.
All burned. All twisted. All hungry.
Their red eyes glowed in the fog as they began to crawl, slither, and climb the walls around him.
"...You've got to be kidding me," Eshu whispered, taking a step back.
The moment his foot hit the ground, every creature screamed—and charged.
He turned and ran.
The sound of their pursuit echoed like thunder. They moved like spiders, scaling buildings and walls, their claws scraping against concrete.
The air itself seemed to warp with their presence.
Eshu's heart pounded as he sprinted through the empty streets. But before he could reach the other end, the ground began to shake violently.
The monsters stopped moving and raised their heads to the sky, letting out a deafening shriek.
A tsunami of black mist swept across the city. The world itself trembled.
Eshu stumbled, shielding his eyes as the darkness consumed everything.
And then—
Silence again.
When he opened his eyes, he saw it.
A colossal shadow stood between the ruined buildings—a giant beast, at least two hundred feet tall, with the head of a buffalo and the body of a demon. Its eyes burned like molten iron, and in its hands was a massive war axe that radiated death.
The beast raised its head and roared. The city shattered under its voice.
Eshu's legs trembled. He couldn't move. The smaller monsters began to shriek once more, charging toward him in a frenzy.
He clenched his fists.
There was nowhere to run.
But before the swarm could reach him, a storm of light rained down from the heavens.
Thousands of glowing arrows pierced the darkness, falling like divine punishment. Each one exploded on impact, turning monsters into ash.
The air was filled with the sound of their screams, and then—nothing.
Eshu looked up.
A figure was descending from the sky.
She was beautiful and terrible all at once—a devil woman with long white hair, wearing a crimson war dress, and holding a bow wreathed in black flames.
Her red eyes burned with power beyond mortal comprehension.
The buffalo-headed demon roared again, lifting its axe.
The devil woman raised her bow, her expression calm, and drew the string. A violet arrow of pure magic formed at the tip.
The air cracked as she released it. The arrow struck the giant's chest, sending it tumbling backward through a building—but it wasn't enough to kill it.
Eshu cupped his hands and shouted, "Hey! You there! Who the hell are you?!"
The devil woman paused, lowering her bow. "A human…? But how…?" she whispered, her voice faintly disbelieving.
She descended, landing before him, her presence suffocatingly divine.
Without warning, she reached out and pinched his cheek—hard.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?!" Eshu shouted.
"You're… real," she murmured, eyes wide.
"Of course I'm real! Who do you think I am, a ghost?!"
Before she could answer, the demon roared again. It was already charging. The earth shook with each of its steps.
The devil woman turned, raising her bow to block the strike. The axe met flame, and the impact split the ground open beneath her.
"Hey, human boy!" she yelled. "Run! I can't hold it off forever!"
Eshu hesitated, stepping back. But then—he heard it.
A low hum. A sound like air being torn apart.
A portal had opened behind her. From within, a shadowy hand emerged, gripping a flaming bow. Without hesitation, it loosed an arrow straight toward her back.
Eshu didn't think.
He moved.
He threw himself between the arrow and the woman.
The burning projectile struck his chest, piercing through his heart. Blood splashed across the ground.
"Wha—?! No!" The devil woman's eyes widened as she caught his collapsing body with one arm, still pushing against the demon with the other.
He coughed, blood staining his lips. "Tch… guess I'm… not much of a detective after all…"
The portal faded. The woman's bow began to crack under the pressure. "No… my weapon… it can't break—!" she cried.
The demon bellowed, raising its axe and unleashing its full might.
The world trembled. The bow shattered like glass.
A single swing cleaved through her body, silencing her forever.
Eshu lay dying, his heartbeat slowing. "So this is how I go, huh…" he whispered weakly. "Didn't achieve my dream… didn't even get a girlfriend… guess I'm the worst kind of hero…"
He laughed bitterly, the sound fading into blood.
"If I could live again… I'd live like a honey badger. My favorite animal… fearless… untamed…"
The light left his eyes.
But just before darkness consumed him, a gentle voice echoed through the void.
"I heard you."
A woman with pink hair, radiant as dawn, appeared before him, arms outstretched.
Then everything dissolved into white.
---
The city folded into itself.
Buildings bent like paper. Stars twisted in reverse.
Eshu's soul and the devil woman's drifted across the cosmos, drawn into a current that swallowed all of creation.
His form began to change.
His soul shrank, his limbs twisted, his spine arched, and fur sprouted across his body. A tail grew behind him. Light engulfed him completely.
When the light faded, a small creature lay on the ground—a baby honey badger, breathing softly.
---
Morning.
Sunlight spilled through the trees of a forest unknown to Earth.
Eshu groaned, rubbing his eyes groggily—only to feel something sharp.
"Wait… claws?"
He looked down at his hands. "Why… why do I have claws?"
He turned, seeing a black and white tail behind him. "What the—!? I have a tail too?!"
Panicking, he stumbled toward the sound of running water.
There, in a small lake, he saw his reflection—and froze.
A honey badger stared back at him.
"What the hell happened to me?! Why do I look like this?!" he shouted, his voice trembling. "That's right… I was killed… by that arrow… and that woman—she… she saved me… But where am I now?"
He leaned closer to the water. His left eye glowed deep crimson, swirling with something… unholy.
He reached up to touch it—
"Stop right there!" a woman's voice shouted sharply.
Eshu froze.
There was no one around. Only the rustle of trees and the whisper of wind.
But the voice was clear—
beautiful, commanding, and ancient.
He looked around, fur bristling. "Who's there…?!"