The empty voids of the demon-like being shouldn't have felt the way it did, but he could have sworn they pulsed with terror as soon as he spoke the word of destruction.
He felt a smile stretch his lips wide as the thing let out a moan of despair.
"Why?" He asked, feeling pleased as the creature crumbled to his knees. "Did you want my head?"
He felt a sense of vicious satisfaction as there was a great flash that brought the light of the sun upon them.
And when it faded away—the demon-like creature was gone.
Staggering back, he let go of the blue fiery core and the katana flashed away, returning his hands to emptiness.
He took a deep breath and—
It was as if he breathed pain into himself. His hand flew up to grab his chest.
He clutched at his garment to no avail, a tortured breath escaped him as he staggered.
His eyes grew wet as the pain intensified. He lost his balance as he tried to take a step back only to land on his knees.
A sound of torment escaped him as tears ran down on his eyes.
Inside him he felt his cores warring against an invasive force, he lent them more strength and made them purge him of this new parasite.
He saw someone step into his hazy vision. He was as black as sin and had fiery, glowing veins all over his body.
The stranger knelt down and brought his face near, leaned over and spoke directly into his ear in a voice that made him shudder.
"Embrace the fire, wield it, bask in it," the voice whispered seductively in his ears. "It is yours. It is your vengeance. Raze his soul."
He wondered if he should listen, if it'd all be alright once he let the parasite in. But a parasite was a bad thing, wasn't it?
Except that the voice was so convincing.
"He caused your death, almost destroyed your existence just when you're so young."
Yes, that was true. It was all true. This parasite was the essence of the demon creature thing he'd just killed, it would be justice to subsume it.
"He does not deserve to reincarnate, forbid him his immortality."
He did not indeed deserve any of that. This was his vengeance. He'd let him in for revenge, he'd let him in to put an end to the pain he was suffering.
"Raze his soul."
He welcomed the fire into him, fueling his vengeance even more. This felt right, it felt perfect.
Like finally reaching a zenith he'd been climbing up to for eternity.
He fed it to his rage, poured it out into his soul.
This was it.
"Yes, this is the bliss of vengeance. Don't you want it?"
"I do," he whispered back.
"Then you know what to do."
He started slowly, feeling the rush of bliss as he opened himself up. He received encouragement from the voice that spurred him on.
He sighed in ecstasy as he allowed himself to be carried away by the feeling. The pain slowly ebbed away, it gave way to flooding relief.
He felt like this was his rapture, a rapture spawning him anew.
He closed his eyes and welcomed the devil into his soul.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself staring into the pitch black eyes of the pitch black demon.
He had no memory of him, just as he had no memory of anyone or anything, but an instinct inside him commanded him to obey.
So he rose to his feet, bowed, and spoke the words this instinct inspired him to speak.
"By my sacrifice of blood, I become thy childe. By consuming your essence, I become your servant."
The demon— as this instinct made him known to be —smiled at him and beckoned him to follow.
He walked with the demon who headed towards a group of strange, silent Demons.
There was a silence around them that made even the air quiet.
Opposite them were another group that he hadn't noticed earlier. They were like the demon he'd killed.
His new Master looked to both groups and bellowed a decree. "The Blood Toll has been paid. He who challenged the Prince of Hell has faced the utterance of the word of destructive. Let this serve as a warning to all of you. Power shall forever remain power. It does not do to dream in vain when you are a lesser entity. Stay where you belong, beneath power. It is your fate as much as it is your nature."
All he said, the young servant agreed with. His Master was truly wise.
Power was power indeed. And it could not be overcome by wishful thinking, which was what that stupid demon had when he'd claimed he too liked trophies.
The temerity to have uttered such words to a Great Demon.
He looked at the other demons and wondered if his Master was going to kill them. It would be no less than they deserved.
He hungered for it. He could still feel the vengeance thrumming inside of him, stirring in his cores, filled by the fire of his Master's essence which he'd welcomed into his soul.
He felt it burn, he wanted to unleash, to make them all suffer, to make everyone suffer; to reveal to the world the greatness of the demon he served.
"Now begone, and I shall have safe passage into the realm of shadows."
He felt his rage subside in the face of his Master's mercy.
No, it was not mercy. They would all leave now to spread the word of what happened here. Of how his master was not to be challenged, of how he'd killed for his Master, paid the price for his Master, and bought vengeance for himself and his Master.
The demons bowed to the Master and the ones to the left faded into the shadows while the others just disappeared like they were never there.
The Prince turned around and regarded him.
"You must remember nothing."
The young boy nodded. "You are perspective, Master. I remember not my name, identity, history, or life."
"Well, you are my servant. There isn't much else to your identity. It is all you are, all you shall be."
The boy bowed low. "And does this servant have a name, Master?"
From the corner of his eye he saw his Master smile. "You need a new name. Ran may have been your old name, but that is not who you are anymore. You are greater, more powerful, than he ever was."
Grinning, the boy once known as Ran bowed low. "And what shall be my new name, Master."
"Ya," the Prince of Souls pronounced.
"For you shall be my arrow of victory."