Episode 3: The Demon’s Proposition

Elias jolted awake, his body drenched in sweat. The sensation of darkness wrapping around him still lingered, as if Raziel’s magic had seeped into his very bones.

He sat up, his breathing heavy, only to realize he was no longer lying on cold stone. A bed—if it could even be called that—rested beneath him, covered in dark silk. The chamber was dimly lit by floating crimson orbs that cast eerie shadows across the walls.

He wasn’t in a prison. He was in Raziel’s domain.

“Finally awake, are we?”

Elias’s head snapped toward the voice. Raziel leaned against a grand, throne-like chair near the far wall, his long fingers lazily tracing the armrest. His crimson eyes gleamed with amusement as he studied Elias.

Elias scowled, pushing himself to his feet. “Why am I still here? What do you want from me?”

Raziel sighed dramatically. “Always so impatient, little priest. I thought you would have figured it out by now.” He stood, closing the distance between them in an instant. Elias tried not to flinch as the demon god towered over him.

“I already told you,” Raziel murmured, his voice dangerously smooth. “You and I are bound. Our fates are intertwined.”

Elias glared at him. “Then unbind me.”

A chuckle. Low, amused. “Oh, Elias,” Raziel said, shaking his head. “If only it were that simple.” He lifted a clawed hand, and immediately, the mark on Elias’s forehead burned.

Elias gasped, stumbling back as pain shot through him. It wasn’t just physical—it was as if something deep inside him was being pulled, as though his very soul was connected to Raziel’s presence.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” Raziel mused. “That is the price of our bond. The farther you try to run, the worse it will get.”

Elias clutched his chest, panting through the pain. “You—” He gritted his teeth. “You did this on purpose.”

Raziel’s smirk remained, but his gaze darkened. “You think I planned this? No, priest. You were the one who bled over my prison. You were the one who set me free.” He stepped even closer, forcing Elias to meet his gaze.

“And now, you are mine.”

Elias clenched his fists. “I will never be yours.”

For a moment, Raziel simply stared at him, unreadable. Then, he chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”

With a flick of his wrist, the air around them shifted. A gust of dark energy crackled, and in an instant, the walls of the chamber seemed to dissolve into swirling shadows.

Elias stiffened. “What are you—”

“I’m offering you a choice,” Raziel interrupted, his voice suddenly serious. “You can continue resisting me, trying to fight what has already been decided by fate… or you can help me.”

Elias narrowed his eyes. “Help you? With what?”

Raziel’s expression darkened. “Vengeance.”

Elias’s breath hitched. “Vengeance against who?”

Raziel smirked. “The gods who sealed me away. The same ones who betrayed me.”

Elias shook his head. “You expect me to turn against the gods? I devoted my life to them!”

Raziel exhaled, almost as if he was expecting the response. “Did they ever tell you why I was sealed away?”

Elias opened his mouth, then hesitated. He had been told stories since childhood—the Demon God was a force of destruction, a being of chaos that sought to consume the world. But now, standing before Raziel, he realized something…

He had never questioned if those stories were true.

Raziel must have noticed the flicker of doubt in Elias’s eyes because he smiled. A slow, knowing smile.

“I will give you time to decide,” Raziel murmured. “But remember this, Elias—your gods abandoned you the moment they used you as their pawn.”

Elias’s hands trembled at his sides, but he said nothing.

“Rest now, little priest.” Raziel turned away, shadows swirling around him like living tendrils. “Because whether you accept it or not… the longer we are bound, the more you will become mine.”

And with that, he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Elias alone with the terrifying realization—

This bond might not just be impossible to break.

It might already be changing him.

To be continued…

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