Year 10 A.S (After Seraphim)

A chorus of footsteps echoes back to you as you descend through the pitch black cave. You do not bother to ask one of the demons for a spark of their flames- the angry, red-glowing King of Hell provides plenty of light for you to see, even ten paces behind him out of reach of his flames. Mildly, you contemplate why, after all these years, no one has bothered to install torches to highlight the way.

The demon to your left releases a whine, stretching his arms out above his head, “I hate night scouts, nothing fun ever happens.”

You adjust the sword resting against your hip before answering, “Depends on your definition of fun, Daehyun. Night scouts are important for us to gather information on the angels with minimal risk to us and the humans.”

“Pfft, it’s still boring,” Daehyun grouses. You do not need any light to know that he wears a pout on his face. “What do you think, Jongup? Night scouts are boring, right?”

You turn slightly to peek at the demon behind you, his hands clasped casually behind his head. “Doesn’t really matter to me. We fight enough during the day,” Jongup punctuates his reply with a wide yawn.

Daehyun, unsatisfied with the answer, clicks his tongue and walks a few steps ahead. You shift your gaze around him to the King who still glows red - what upset him you are not sure. A question for him alights on the tip of your tongue, but before you can get it out, the entrance to the city appears.

Although you have seen this same sight for the last ten years, your breath still halts in your lungs as you take in the glimmering city. It teems with life of both demons and humans who intermingle as if they are all the same. Human children, who have only ever known this life underground, chase each other across your path. Your unit pauses to admire the bustling around you, but soon you notice the stares of a group of children who walk past.

You shake your head and tentatively nudge the red demon next to you, patting out the resulting singe on the sleeve of your shirt. “Hey, Yongguk, mind turning off your flames? You’re scaring the kids, again.”

The King of Hell turns his head towards you, the bright red ring around his pupils glowing fiercely. A dull sense of alarm sparks through you, but you silence it, knowing full well that he will never harm anyone in the city, let alone his captain.

“What?” he snaps.

You point at the flames that dance across his body, “Douse yourself, please.”

Yongguk looks down at himself, his hands twitching when he realizes what he is doing. In an instant, his flames are extinguished with the faint scent of sulfur left lingering in the air.

“Sorry,” Yongguk rumbles quietly, “I wasn’t aware I was doing it.”

You brush aside his apology, “Something on your mind?”

“Thinking of that pain-in-the- Seraph we have yet to see and kill?” Daehyun pipes up from behind.

Yongguk tilts his head to the side, running his fingers through the fading red streaks in his black hair, “Yeah, something like that.”

Of the four Seraphim- the leaders of all the angels- three have been defeated over the past ten years, but the last Seraph remains elusive. In order to wipe out all of the angels and place the world back into the hands of humans, the Seraph will need to be destroyed. It has never shown itself- the only knowledge of it comes from lesser angels that have been encountered. If it decides to remain hidden, then humans and demons will never be able to end the war and live in peace once again.

Sensing that your unit needs a change of subject and some morale, you clap Yongguk on the shoulder, ignoring the immense heat that spreads through your palm, “Come on, let’s go wash up. Then we can eat and get some rest.” Daehyun and Jongup let out a synchronized whoop and turn to head to their quarters.

“Hey! Captain! Wait up!” a familiar voice shouts to you from a nearby street.

Youngjae and Junhong rush towards you and your demons. Daehyun and Jongup pause their leave upon seeing the two men.

“Oh, haven’t seen you in awhile, Junhong,” Jongup remarks, “What have you been up to?”

“Not much, my unit has been traveling between some smaller villages to distribute supplies,” Junhong states with a shy smile.

“Youngjae, you don’t have to call me Captain. We’re the same rank and friends,” you remind the man.

“Yeah, but you’re the elite Captain,” Youngjae teases. You send a glare his way, which he promptly ignores to relay his message. “Himchan wants to talk to you and your unit. He said it’s pretty urgent and wants you to see him now.”

“Why do you use my title, but not Himchan’s?” you grumble under your breath.

“Now? But we just got back from scouting all night,” Daehyun comments in surprise.

Youngjae shrugs, “Take that up with him. See ya!” He grabs Junhong by his belt loop and runs back the way they came.

You sigh, the exhaustion beginning to take hold of your muscles, “Let’s go.”

The demons accompany you to the military building with minimum complaints. Demons are known to have a vast store of stamina, but the amount of missions your unit has been on in the last two weeks is finally taking a toll. You are definitely going to give Himchan a piece of your mind for running you into the ground.

You approach Himchan’s office on the top floor and push open the deeply stained wooden doors with the heat of three demons at your back. Himchan looks up from the mounds of paperwork on his desk and ushers you in with a tired dip of his head. The fatigue spares no one.

You line up shoulder-to-shoulder with your members and salute, “Major General Kim, Elite Unit One reporting.” Himchan blinks at you with bloodshot eyes and leans back in his chair with a heavy sigh. He rose through the ranks swiftly after the war began, mostly because his superiors were constantly defeated in battle. He was promoted to Major General three years ago after the last one was killed by the third Seraph. Himchan constantly reminds you that he has only made it this long because the fourth Seraph has not shown up yet.  

“At ease, Captain,” Himchan says, his voice straining not to break.

You relax, the demons following suit after you. “Good morning, Himchan,” you say softly. Your complaints could wait until another time, perhaps after he has a proper night of rest.

Himchan runs a hand across his face, trying to muster up any dregs of energy he has left. “I’m sorry for calling you all here right after a scout, but this really can’t wait. I just received intel that angels plan to attack a village to the North in a week. I need you to head out there now to prepare, and prevent anything from happening.”

Yongguk stiffens at your side and his heat radiates over you, his anger boiling to the surface at angels and innocent villagers being mentioned in the same sentence. No matter what happens, you must not let anything happen to them. You swore that oath ten years ago, and you intend to keep it until your last breath.  

“Give us some time to gather what we need and eat, then we’ll leave before noon,” you answer.

“Alright,” Himchan pushes the pads of his thumbs over his eyes, desperately trying to fight off sleep, “Be quick and be careful.”

“Always,” you give a curt nod, “and you should try to sneak away for a couple of hours to sleep.”

Himchan breathes out through his nose and a small smile tilts up the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, right. The only time I’ll be able to sleep again is when I’m dead.”

“Still, you should try,” you say gently, turning on your heels. Papers shuffle behind you in lieu of Himchan’s answer. Stubborn old man. Jongup walks ahead of you and holds the door open as you pass through. In the back of your mind, you know that Himchan is correct- none of you will be able to sleep soundly until death closes your eyes.

The secretary on the bottom floor hands you an envelope with the details of the mission, and location of the village. You quickly thumb through it when a particular sentence sticks out to you.

“Why can’t we take a vehicle?” you look up to the secretary for an answer.

She gives an apologetic smile before responding, “Our gas reserves are extremely low. The Major General wants to save as much as possible for emergencies.”

Daehyun snatches the papers out of your hands and looks at the distance to the village. His mouth opens and closes like a gasping fish as he calculates the time it will take to travel there on foot. “It’ll take us three days!”

“Yes,” the secretary timidly adjusts her wire-framed glasses, “that’s why the Major General wants you to leave as soon as possible.”

“I’m gonna kill him myself, Seraphim be damned!” Daehyun shouts, spinning around and making a beeline towards the stairs. You giggle when you notice tiny sparks of pink flying off of him.

Daehyun does not make it far before Yongguk grabs ahold of his collar and drags him back to the group. Yongguk releases Daehyun, plopping him on the ground, his arms crossed in frustration. Jongup, unfazed, carefully pries the crumbled papers from Daehyun’s fingers and hands them back to you.

“I’ll go get our supplies ready, while the three of you can change and eat,” Jongup says as he reaches down to pull up Daehyun. When Jongup notices the uneasiness in your eyes, he smiles and drapes his arm across Daehyun’s shoulders, “Don’t worry about me, Captain, we don’t need to eat as often as humans.”

You scrunch up your nose, “I know, but I’ll grab you some snacks and a change of clothes anyway.”

A crooked smile lights up Jongup’s face before he whirls around to leave for the equipment storehouse. Daehyun bumps into your shoulder as he follows after him, fussing the whole way. You do not admonish him because you, too, are not delighted at the thought of walking for three days. The demons will probably be able to make it to the village in two days on their own if only your weak human body did not need rest. A sigh pushes through your lips and you wonder why they even follow you in the first place. It is even more perplexing why the demons have continued to live in peace with humans for ten years; they have all the power necessary to defeat the angels and Seraphim without assistance. But, the demons have certainly been the key to the survival of humans. A cold shiver trickles down your spine at the thought of how humans would most definitely be extinct by now if the demons had not offered protection.

Heat spreads from your back, and across you, a signal that Yongguk is ready to go. Sweat begins to bead at the nape of your neck because of the Devil’s proximity- you really need to remind him to either keep his distance when he is fired up or learn to keep his temperature under control.

“Let’s go, Yongguk before you set all the secretary’s documents on fire.”

Yongguk coughs uncomfortably at your callout, “Sorry, Captain.”  

An hour later your unit is gathered in front of the main tunnel entrance. You stuff a few snacks into Jongup’s pack and zip it closed, “There, I think we’re all ready now.”

“Hooray,” Daehyun cheers lifelessly.

“Oh, come on, Dae!” you playfully punch his arm, but the demon remains unamused, “Maybe we’ll encounter some angels and you’ll finally get to stretch your legs and fight.” You swallow around a lump in your throat and pray that there will not be too many. While you are confident in your combat abilities, angels are quick and dirty fighters. Many soldiers have fallen to their tricks.

Daehyun hums at the prospect, “You’re right, Captain. This could be fun.”

You are not sure who in their right mind would find fighting angels to the death fun, but then again, demons are their natural enemies. You toss the idea of trying to understand the mindset of your demon soldier and step into the tunnel, the others mute as they shadow you.

Two days later, you find yourself carefully holding your packaged meal over a pink flame that dances in the middle of Daehyun’s hand. There is no need for a campfire when you have three walking stoves with you. Having a campfire is dangerous, anyway, as any prowling angels can find you easier.

You lower your meal closer to the flames, eyeing them closely to keep your fingers out of reach. You should have brought tongs, you think, or a stick. Steam finally begins to rise from the food when Daehyun and Jongup begin their usual argument over whose flames are more powerful. You tune them out and focus on your slowly warming meal, but that would be your only enjoyment of it. Daehyun’s hand jerks slightly before his flames grow three times in size, effectively charing your meal and scalding your fingertips.

You drop the blackened remnants of your food with a cry and look up to find Daehyun chasing Jongup in a circle, shooting balls of fire at his back. Yongguk lies still on the ground with his eyes closed, unbothered by the sudden commotion.

“Just once,” you sigh, tenderly blowing on your throbbing fingers, “I would like to eat a meal that isn’t burnt.” You poke at the food on the ground, testing to see if you can pick it up, and blow out the tiny flame that waves in the wind. Daehyun’s and Jongup’s yells and the intermittent small explosions of their attacks provide background noise as you pick at what little edible food bits remain.

The next morning your unit rises before the sun. You hurriedly shovel down breakfast and join the waiting demons; another full da