Antek found himself in a mystic forest surrounded by tall trees who outshined his height. He was basically in the middle of nowhere; each way his blood-colored eyes wandered, the same surroundings followed. Upon looking up, you could see the Heavens clearly between the tangled branches, with their rich temples and palaces infuriating the poor folks. The devil angel noticed a zephyr of ivory mist trailing in front of him in a straight path, as if guiding him towards some place he needed to be. Carelessly, he followed it. As Antek paced, his jet-black beautiful hair danced behind him. It reached past his thin waist and he'd part it in the middle, yet untamed strands often fell upon his white face.

Along his hair flowing freely, his jewels snaking his slender neck clanked against each other. He carved them from the bones of his past victims and the gemstones were actually their putrid eyes. He habitually murdered blue-eyed mortals, as the beads made from their eyes had a gorgeous winter lake color to match the bone pendants they were engraved onto, who now looked as if they were made from iron.

His black robes also glided in the air, cascading down his firm back and his long legs; its silks reaching Antek's ankles and wrists.

He was a pretty handsome sight and he was often mistaken for being one of the Emperor's concubines. But he never had any interest for love so he only paid attention to himself.

As he trailed after the string of mist, the path of shrubberies slowly began to clear up, leaving in sight the descending valley of a cliff. He was high above ground and the wind blew his attire forcefully along with it. As he gazed down, he could see a town with tall cathedrals and homes sheltering what he guessed to be wealthy mortals. Next to the town rooted a village nesting short, impoverished houses and a modest church in honor of the Heavens.

Antek spat at the glimpse of high raised crosses but he was thankful to come across a village. He knew the people there were in poverty and their only weapons were knives, lances and swords. A small wound from a blade was no big deal depending on the amount of force used to execute it. Devil angels and demons usually had thick flesh to protect them, and their regeneration could heal them within seconds. But he still had to be cautious nonetheless. His plan was simple yet a single mistake could make him end up back in Hell.

So, without further unnecessary pondering, he began making his way down towards the village. The hill was steep and the debris could not be trusted as his feet often slipped on the rubble and he ended up collapsing on another rock. "Fuck!" he shrieked under his horrible panting as he accidentally fell onto some sharp stones with his bare forehead. He rubbed the bruised spot where blood seemingly began gushing until it faded into his perfect skin in an instant. He was lucky it was the last fall, since he's just arrived on the lowest level of the hill where he could simply jump down and walk the path towards the village, ignoring the metal gilded buildings of the town next to it.

As he walked between the wooden houses, the Heavens illuminated from above. People were minding their own business, infants were rushing and racing each other like they had the utmost freedom one could even wish for, and elders sulked and shunned him. Antek internally laughed in mirth at their garbs, which clung to their slim limbs like a blanket instead of clothes, as a way to praise himself for his handiness at making clothes. These villagers' bones almost stuck out of their weak bodies, and their faces were grim and lifeless. It reminded the vampire of the unfed demons who begged for blood like fools.

Antek was quite grateful that the sunrays did not burn his skin that much. Apart from the fact that his thick clothes and long hair coated his sensitive skin, he left Hell with his stomach full after stealing an arm of a cadaver from a fellow acquaintance. When demons and vampires eat, their bodies gain strength beyond immortality and can encounter light with no worry. Last time Antek went in the Mortal Realm, his stomach was revolting with emptiness, thus his skin was dyed a faint pink from rashes made by the sun.

These people look very much anorexic. There's no way they can protect themselves from a devil angel or a common demon. How hilarious! he thought with a slight smirk. He continued his walk vagrantly. Since it happened to be day, he couldn't just lure a stranger outside their home and kill them out in the inhabited street. So he had to wait until the red moonlit swathed the Heavens. Or, perhaps there was something else to do. Just as Antek's mind went vacant, an idea sprouted right after he regarded the church a few houses away. These villagers probably had weapons on them all the time, but church goers? After all, they come to the church to pray for more power and food, so they must be helpless weaklings.

Though Antek despised the crosses and anything related to the Heavens, hence why the rosary's pendant at his neck was sculped in the shape of the Leviathan cross, he could hunt prey easily if he went after feeble mortals. Speaking of which, he should probably hide that necklace under his robe's collar so he won't blow his cover that easily. It would be quite the laughingstock for someone to enter a church whilst wearing the symbol of another.

Upon surveying the sacred building, it was evidently build by some wealthy person from the town, as its architecture and the materials used in constructing it were far more advanced than the wooden huts. The windows were painted vividly, yet it seemed as though the colors had faded over time. Each white wall had golden statues portraying what mortals described as the Heavens' angels. Bodies of both males and females were chiseled with pairs of feather wings surging from their spines and gilded crowns around their heads, with round faces and spilling robes that barely covered them. The chapels were shorter than the main building but they were equally impressive in terms of appearance. That religious site was probably built hundreds of years ago and yet it was held in perfect shape, unlike the villagers' houses!

That was something a person like Antek, who'd prefer to have his own house built like a palace, could never understand.

With slight disgust and remorse, he forced himself into the church. As expected, it was full of mostly elderly mortals and their grandchildren praying by the altars and listening to the prayers of a middle-aged pastor, who recited verses freely without any book to read from. A strong smell of candles and ash made its way to Antek's sharp nose as he disappointedly seated himself on one of the emptier benches. There were too many people and he couldn't physically take their lives away. So he impatiently waited what seemed like another century and his appetite dissipated, leaving a sour taste stinging his tongue.

He kept his graze down, knowing his blood-colored eyes could attract unwanted attention and affright his prey. Staring at his handcrafted leather boots made him notice all the imperfections he ignored before. He disliked having to end up criticizing his own work, so he tried looking around the church, keeping his head down so that his serpentine loose hair could cover the sides of his hair. Everyone looked almost the same in terms of clothes and weight. He could eavesdrop on the neighboring prayers calling out to the Heavens but they did not reply in exchange.

"Please, make my son healthy and keep our family bonded!" cried a weeping mother kneeling in malice with her hands holding her cheeks.

"Help me become powerful and help the church kill demons!" plead a youth with auburn hair and svelte arms.

"I beg of you, promise that you'll aid us!" a group of armed soldiers prayed.

"Please, Please, forgive my sins and let me live freely without this curse! Please!" said a boy a meter away from him on the bench with rivers of tears soaking his wan features. He looked young yet Antek guessed he just passed the age of seventeen.

All these call for help were unanswered and it made the devil angel grin in merriment. Each hour he spent lazing in that seat numbed his legs and thinned his prudence. But at least the number of people going in and out also lessened.

Currently, only the pastor and a few women who entered to seek his guiding and advice stood in the church besides him. The church's only light source were the candles and bright chandelier, as well as the rouge moon sighing above them. Nighttime had finally settled upon these apathetic lands, and the sky wore a dark, obscuring mantle.

How are these women not scared to go home late at night? Antek thought as he raised a brow. Now that the church also darkened, he could safely lift his eyes from his imperfect boots and look around. The female mortals had just left and the pastor went to one of the chapels, leaving the vampire on his own. He could've gone after those women and savor their untainted flesh but Antek disliked their flavor. It tasted innocent and faithful. For some reason, he enjoyed the dirty blood of sinful mortals. Just as his taste in fashion, he was quite finicky and indecisive. But he was also astute.

His sharp ears picked up the murmurs of a young voice in the distance. Although he couldn't make out what they were saying, he was undoubtful of it. Swiftly, he follows the trace of their words like a hunting dog, until he arrives in the middle of a cemetery where a boy crouched beside a grave with dried stains under his eye bags. His clothes were wrinkled and dusty, it was almost as if a ghost was wearing them. His pallid complexion was starveling, just as the other villagers. His hair was of a dark shade and it seemed as if it was trimmed by a razor blade wielded by unprofessional hands. The bangs curling around his jaw and cheekbones had many uneven layers and an uncut rat tail swirled down his back. At least he was trying to look a bit more different than the other mortals, but that wasn't meant in a good way.

Antek watched as his leaking teardrops pattered onto the grave's stone and the same beseech escaped his crimson lips over and over again, as if he was praying to the dead. "Please! Please, forgive my sins and let me live freely without this curse! Please..."

His mumbles caressed the tips of Antek's ears like a whispering gale, his occasional sniffs were louder than his tone. It was quite awkward for an emotionless vampire like Antek to stand behind a crying stranger and stare at him disrespectfully, so he chanted the most common saying mortals usually tell. "Sorry for your loss, little boy," but his words shared no empathy or pity. They almost sounded like a swear unlike a comforting phrase.

Upon hearing another voice speak those words, the boy spun around, his knees dipping in the mud as he let his body weight faint, and glared up at the man who encountered him. Antek's hair glowed silver under the moonlight, and his chiseled face was bleached and cadaverous. His ruby pupils shone a threatening luminescence, as if he was about take a bite out of him. The expression on the boy's face was full of horror and dread, as if he was offended and scared at the same time!

Antek enveloped him with his gaze, cold and reserved. The shorter boy wiped his eyelids in circles with his knuckles, his breath flinching. The black-haired vampire indeed wasn't satisfied with this reaction. After all, if this was going to be his pray for tonight, he had to make sure he won't waste time hunting it. Apart from that, he always hated interacting with crybabies who wailed when he hurt them. This boy was sobbing everlastingly, but somehow his emotions were sincere and almost mature for his age, so he must be able to handle suppress them. Therefore, Antek continued to question him with false curiosity.

"Did your loved one die or something? Someone close?" He tried his best to sound honest, but his voice escaped his throat rudely. The boy ignored him distantly, as if he wanted to be left alone. But Antek was talkative when no one listened. "So... what's your name?"

The boy's pout contorted into a puzzling expression. It seemed as if he was trying to come up with a name of his own! Alas, he replied in a frail tone that annoyed the devil angel, "...Zuzhou.."

Then after a second, he added what seemed his family name, "Lun"

Zuzhou Lun?

Antek was unfazed, perhaps the names of the Mortal Realm were different just as the language, but he eventually learned it. When he first stepped into this unusual world, he was nauseous the whole day. He was young and he hissed at the way the radiance of the Heavens which burned his eyes, which were used to the dimness of Hell who was only lightened by brewing flames. When he first came across a mortal, they spoke a very different language than him, which led to much confusion. Luckily, one of the elder vampires who raised him was well-acquainted and taught him this strange semantic so that he could go undercover in the Mortal Realm and trick weak folks.

"Do you need anything...? What do you want from me?" Zuzhou stammered as he stood up from the ground, still looking up at the beautiful figure before him due to their height difference. Since Antek was no human, his legs and torso were longer and sturdier. This only intimidated the poor boy even more. The red-eyed devil angel chuckled absentmindedly. His prey was already resentful and defensive, which only made matters way more interesting. To Antek, human's lives were a trivial, insignificant thing. If he got the chance to pursue them before slitting their guts with his bare hands, it would be considered a short play at an opera to him.

But somehow, he felt indulgence building up inside of him as he looked at the scared boy. Was it because of his young age or the fact that he was crying near a grave just a few moments ago? He did not know. He did not even want to figure out an explanation. But for some reason, his face relaxed in a serene, consoling expression. He never tended to care about his victims, since they were usually elderly people who were unaware of what was happening. In the past 600 years, he had only consumed just a few infants who were asleep soundlessly.

"Why are you here in the middle of the night?" The taller man asked, his black long hair swaying behind him. This boy calling himself 'Zuzhou' averted his gaze and left no reply for the latter. Quiet interrupted their one-sided conversation and Antek was getting hungrier by each second. Why didn't he just kill this weakling and return to Hell? How come he's stayed for more than ten hours in the Mortal Realm without feeding at least once? What was this kid even doing here?

Zuzhou was uncomfortable and shameful so he gathered his courage and began running amidst the cemetery into the woods surrounding it and the back of the church. His actions made no sense but Antek assumed he was just shy or freaked out because of his sudden appearance. A slight tug of the hems of his robe pulled him in the direction where the boy escaped to. Then, the same ivory mist painted a stream in front of him. Yet again he had to follow it. When demons settle upon their victims in the Mortal Realm, this translucent trail guides them towards the prey. It was an efficient way of finding food, but sometimes, the prey was stubborn and difficult.

Just as he entered the forest, he ended up being in the same place as when he had just entered the human world: surrounded by endless trees. He was fortunate enough to have this one trick under his sleeve to guide him to the boy's location. The moon was scarlet and kept stalking Antek behind him as his limbs scurried. Suddenly, he heard the roars and howls accompanied by gasps just up ahead. It must have been the boy, Zuzhou. As he slowed down to not surprise the other with his unexpected appearance again, the silhouette's of four legged animals began forming in the shadows. They had sharp ears and gray fur, eyes red with rage.

It was a group of wild wolves!

Antek has seen many animals during his ascends to the Mortal Realm, but he's never seen this type of creatures. They reminded him of the dogs owned by human he's seen often. Nonetheless, they had a more dangerous air to them, and their pointy fangs which peaked from their mouths could only mean trouble. The mist ended its trail right in front of Antek, and as expected, his prey was there too. Zuzhou had his back pressed against a tree's truck, holding a pocket dagger in his dominant hand in vain. He was too weak to protect himself and a small blade like that couldn't scare these untamed beasts.

Upon further observation, he was wounded too. Blood was draining down his torso from deep wounds and bite marks and one of the wolves which circled the tree had a minuscule injury on his forehead. There were five wolves in total, each rumbling with displeasure.

Antek showed himself from behind an obscuring tree behind the wolves and with a touch on one of their tails, it shattered to smithereens and crimson red liquid spurted out in puddles near its shredded body. For some reason, the other beasts were menaced. One revolted and tried jumping on his tall figure, ending up in the same state as his brethren, in pieces. Out of the blue, the other's whimpered and bowed their heads to the ground before scramming away.

Were they showing fear in front of Antek? Or was there something else that scolded them away? To be fair, the devil angel sensed that these wolves had remnants of demonical energy. It was odd...

Zuzhou's onyx big eyes darted at him with shock. He was relieved Antek came to his rescue, though he was a stranger to him, but he was now terrified for his life. He knew from the beginning that the devil angel was no human being due to his ethereal eyes, but he was also sure he wanted to harm him. On the other hand, Antek was standing closely to him, peering down at him with care. Somehow, he felt sympathetic for the first time in his life. Looking down at the boy's skeletal body and his wounds severed into it made his dead heart pound against his chest for the first time as well.

He took the blade from the boy's slender fingers which let go of the object with regret, and drew the dagger across his forearm. In Hell, the blood of a demon was very much expensive but it would bring power and fortune. It was a legend but Antek believed in it since the moment he received the Emperor's blood and his cadaver was much more resistant to the Mortal Realm's sun and hunger. Either way, he wanted to check if this theory applied to the humans as well. What would happen if mortals drink his immortal blood? Do their lifespan shorten or extend? Do they die or live?

After carving the cut, he returned the dagger in Zuzhou's trembling hand, squeezing it and holding it in his palm. Now, rivers of blood curtained his arm as he lifted it to the boy's lips and instructed in a cold-hearted demeanor, "Drink."

Why was he doing this? No idea. It was as if his arms and legs, as well as his words, were all maneovred by a puppeteer master. Just who was this boy?

Confusion spread onto Zuzhou's face like wildfire, but he parted his lips and began sucking on each bead of his frozen blood. It had a bitter taste and it was cool to the touch, but he obliged in case his life was about to end if he didn't. He felt lukewarm as Antek held his hand with his raw-boned fingers, it was as if he was deeply caring for once. Even Antek was taken aback by his own behavior. It wasn't right. Did something possess his body?

Since the gap separated them barely existed, Antek got the chance to focus entirely on something he didn't notice before to this boy. In the spot where his heart pumped warm blood, there was a white flame which was barely ablaze. This, he guessed, was the blessing of the Heavens. But if he was born up in the skies, why was he in the Mortal Realm? Honestly, Antek could not figure out whether angels also fed upon human flesh or not.

What he also noticed where his gloomy eyes. Although the star's glimmer showered them, his eyes had no light or life. They were cursed. These were not the eyes of an angel or a mortal. But something in between?

Ah, it all came clear now. This boy was exiled from the Heavens and sent to the Mortal Realm to die a sinful death. Perhaps his lifespan was even shorter than a normal human's. Was this why he kept begging for his sins to be discarded? What crimes has he committed?

None of this really mattered to Antek, but his mind still had the curiosity of a foolish human from back in the days were he also wandered this world as a mortal. Also, these two had similar backgrounds.

Antek was once a mortal but he was cursed by an angel whom he didn't even know. He then died from a chronic illness that solidified his bones, organs, and skin and turned them into fragile stone, fragmenting and leaving no trace of his existence. Then, the wind blew these fragments down to Hell and formed his body.

Zuzhou Lun was an angel who had committed some sin and was banished from the Heavens into the Mortal Realm with a short life.

The devil angel patted his back mentally as a praise of his own logical thinking and somehow, whatever controlled his limbs just a few seconds ago that forced him to give Zuzhou his blood disappeared. The boy stared up at him, his open wounds had almost sealed, which clarified that mortals, or whatever he was, could be healed by vampire blood. At least Antek learned something new during his visit in the Overworld instead of tempering his hunger.

He probably should've killed those female mortals back them without hesitation and he would've been in his own realm by now, crafting jewels from their bones. But unfortunately, he had to go out of his way because some wuss caught his attention with his filthy blood and ended up saving him from some wolves. Or whatever those beasts were!

"D...don't you have to go home?" A trembled voice stilled the vampire as he stepped back. He probably had been staring more than he should've. Why didn't this kid just run away?

"I'm a wandering traveler with no home, little boy."

Oh, right. He should also probably stop addressing him as 'little boy' since he was probably around hundreds of years old back in the Heavens. But he couldn't care less. Now he was a helpless mortal with no holy power to depend on. This thought made Antek want to devour him and ruin his life even more. How much strength will he gather after he savors his thin skin that was once so expensive amongst angels?

"Will you take shelter in the village?" another futile inquiry. The boy's orbs were darted right at him, concentrating on his facial features. He found this stranger handsome. But Antek never revealed his name to him. He wasn't even willing to. But if he was going to come back here tomorrow, he should choose a name which fit along with the other villagers.

"No," he replied coldly.

"Are you going to find a cave around here and sleep there?"

"No," wait that wouldn't make sense. "I mean yeah, yeah. I should better go find it, it's late, bye," and Antek left, merging into the emerald leaves of the trees as his robe streamed graciously. He decided that tomorrow, he was going to return to the church and find this boy, lure him out of that cunning place and butcher him to bits.

He ambled a long way in a straight line, surprisingly leaving no footprints. His walk was delicate and almost phantom-like. After he counted 200 steps, he stopped in his tracks. Then, he took the Leviathan's cross out of his robe's collar and drew his sharp teeth onto his own flesh, causing blood to spill on the ground. Then, he enchanted a few verses in one of the languages used in Hell, "Dominus maledixit nobis omnibus..." and a seal had broked beneath his feet. The ground crumpled apart, and the stairs which led downwards appeared.