I

Taking a cold shower was a delightful experience for a recently completed twenty-eight-year-old EVA Lydia organisation director. And, for him, it feels more like a blessing after an exhausting day, which weekends are not supposed to be.

Recent activities in the capital, dealing with the rumours about the cursed child, and then my messed up situation with the king due to accidentally killing the noble. These recent events, for him, were like the walls standing between him and his peaceful life. Massive and thicker walls.

Walking inside the bathroom, he carefully placed himself inside the bathtub, closing the shower curtains in the process. The water was carefully adjusted to the right temperature - to make sure it was not hot, but not too cold that he might get sick. As the shiny switch was turned on, the big ceiling shower head, spread all over the massive bathtub, sprankled the cold water all over him like the cold rain in the fields.

After his body was wet thoroughly, he scrubbed his body, washing away all the stress and anxiety that filled his heart these recent days.

Being an extremely calm and efficient member of the organisation, the responsibility of 'The Director' was thrown at him at a very young age. He never experienced how it feels to be able to play at his younger age, he never experienced how it feels to be part of a family, to have someone who he cares about, and someone who cares about him.

Being born to a lower-class and illiterate family on the outskirts of the Kingdom. His family was scared, looking at his extraordinary thinking skills, decision-making ability and the unknown divine energy he had.

In a world where most humans possess cursed energy, for his family, being born with Divine energy was considered a bad omen. Thus, abandoning him on the crowded streets of the Capital. But he would not give up so easily if he wanted to make history.

Fortunately for him, his unusual abilities were addressed by a kind man, making him a small part of an unknown organisation, EVA. The first on-field assignment was assigned to him when he was fourteen. In the age when kids of his age played soccer on roads, he was busy saving them from dark entities of unknown origin.

Thirteen hours was the time given to him for completing the task. He, completing the work in less than four hours, showed all the seniors how important an asset he was to the organisation. After that he never looked back, eventually, unwillingly, claiming the position of 'The Director'.

Many many thoughts about his past ran inside his mind, while the massive ceiling shower head was washing his stress and anxious feelings away. After standing for enough time, he closed the switch and walked outside the bathroom, covering his naked body with the soft, white towel.

Organising his wet hairs, he went straight to his kitchen, attached to his main living room with only a kitchen cum dining compartment separating them both. He removed a kettle out of the upper shelf and poured coffee for heating it on the stove, while his body was rinsing the water off of it.
While doing so, he subconsciously found himself standing in front of the huge mirror, stuck on the walls of the living room for no reason - just an artistic choice, if that's even a reason.

He, after a long time, observed himself and his body. He observed his decently jacked-up muscles, which he never paid attention to. He observed the scar on the left part of the chest, reminding him of his fight with the 'higher first'.

I guess I look good... He thought. At least, after I put my pants on.

The sound of the kettle snapped him back to the present and he put off the fire of the stove. He poured the coffee into his, as usual, a big mug and rested his towel-wrapped body on a soft cushion on his living room sofa.

With a single click, the phonograph, idly sitting on the table near the sofa, was on with only one recording on the player.

Dear mister fantasy, play us a tune
Something to make us all happy.
Do anything take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy

As he started the player, the big black coloured disk rotated on the phonograph and the words of the song spread all over the house, to every corner and every doorway in the house. His mind, relaxed and out of stressed thoughts, sunken deep inside the calm, lofi waves of the music and its every word.

It was one of some countable disc recordings, recovered after the great calamity of 'the first impact', preserved for more than 500 years and now belongs under his name. His eyes closed and his lips moved with the words spoken with the playing music. He never found it interesting, but it was good enough to distract his mind for a while.

While he was enjoying his time, diving deep inside the music, a sudden bell on the door snapped him back.

"It's open." He said it aloud, to make sure it reaches louder than music.

At the same time, there was another bell, this time on his voice messenger. He, with a click, stopped the phonograph and started the voice message.

"Hey Steve, It's Jessica. just a reminder that I'll be visiting your home today." The voice on the device was of Jessica, number fourth of the nine elite ranks working under EVA, Currently observing the activities in the towns near the northern mountain range.

Steve switched the device to 'reply' and said: "Yes, I do remember. I'm ready, but you can come after some time."

The reply to the voice message was successfully sent and within no time, the bell on the device rang again.

"Steve," said the voice. "I'm outside the door, and glad to know you're ready."

As the unexpected voice message on the device ended, the doorknob was turned and a woman, dressed in a casual dress, entered the room. Steve, realising he's still in the towel, throwing himself in panic, stood up and their eyes met each other.

The woman's face instantly went red in embarrassment and she tried to distract her sight at the painting on the living room walls.

"Ah...um..." the woman looked away. "I'm sure I heard you saying, 'I'm ready." she paused. "This does not look like...being ready."

"Ah...I'm sorry." Steve said. "I didn't know you were outside the door."

They both, Steve and Jessica went quiet and stood in their place, as if their bodies were frozen. The whole time Jessica avoided looking at Steve and distracted her sight.

"You should probably wrap that towel back on your...body," said Jessica. "It's fallen."

"ah..."

Steve, realising the actual reason for her embarrassment, quickly looked down, wrapped the towel back up and fastly walked inside his changing room. Jessica, releasing her awkward deep breath, walked inside and rested herself on the soft seats of the chair nearby.

~~

After a while of Jessica's waiting, Steve walked outside his changing room, dressed in his casual clothes - sports pants and full sleeve shirt. He glanced towards the big rhombical clock hanging on the wall and then at Jessica. He greeted her with a smile and had a seat on the chair at the dining table.

Steve, again looked at Jessica and pointed with his open palms, towards the dining chair, opposite to him. Understanding his unspoken words, Jessica stood up from the chair and walked toward the dining table.

"I apologise for the inconvenience I caused some time ago."

"It's fine," Jessica said and rested herself on the dining chair opposite to his. Steve poured the water into two glasses and passed one glass to her.

"Thank you for coming here on just a single call." He said.

"You're the Director," Jessica said, grabbing the glass of water. "It's my job to work according to your orders." Her lips touched the mouth of the glass as she poured half a glass of cold water down her throat.

"So, any reason for calling me this late?" she asked.

"Yes," replied Steve with his usual calm smile. "I was willing to recap, or may I say, revise all the current events happening in the Capital and especially with William...and maybe to analyse these events, just to see if there is any pattern."

"So, you mean brainstorming about recent events?" Jessica asked.

"You can put it that way," he said. "And when it comes to connecting the dots, you were the first person that came to my mind."

Jessica kept the water glass back on the shiny surface of the table and looked at Steve.

"So, where shall we begin?"

"From the very beginning," he said and stood up. Steve walked into the kitchen, removed another mug from his shelf and poured the steaming hot coffee.

"There was no need," said Jessica.

"The discussion might get long. You will need it."

Steve took his seat back on the table and slid the coffee mug towards her. She grabbed the handle and sipped a small portion of the beverage in the mug.

"hmm."

"For the sake of the record," Steve said. "The main question lurking in my mind is 'how is William connected to Genesis?'"

"Why do you think he is connected to Genesis?" Jessica asked with a sharp gaze.

"So, for now, let us consider Genesis as a base of this whole discussion," said Steve. "Just to make things a little simple."

"Agreed."

"As per the old records, the last Genesis occurred around 500 years ago." Steve presented. "And, there is mention of it being an artificial or human-made Genesis."

"Not just old records," Jessica said. "There are pieces of evidence found in the north about the process of Genesis, which occurred due to non-natural activities."

"So..." Steve paused, "some years after Genesis, there were sayings of people witnessing the rise of dark entities, curses."

Hearing his words, Jessica kept her coffee mug down on the glass table and leaned herself forward, towards the table. "What are you implying?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I'm not implying, It's just a guess."

"Your guess is, Curses and potentially even devils have a connection to Genesis?"

"I think Genesis was the reason Devils and curses exist," said Steve, his words filled with confidence. "After all, there were no mentions of such dark entities before that--"

"Or maybe there was," Jessica interrupted him. "but those records were destroyed in the calamity of Genesis."

"Well, more than sixty recorded music discs, including 'Dear Mr Fantasy', survived Genesis, but not even a single record of devils or curses? We don't have any records now." Steve gave a questioning look at Jessica. "So it's fair to assume they never existed before Genesis."

"First of all, how are you not tired of that old song?" she questioned. "And second, you still think William has something to do with it?"

"Yes...and, yes."

"And, how can you say that for sure?"

"Okay, connect these dots for me." Steve started. "The process of Genesis occurs around 500 years ago. Some years after genesis, these dark entities appear out of nowhere. A woman with the name of Mary existed in Zora in the year 240, in the year 290, this woman, as per William, was still young and she adopted him. And, no one in town except William, Rita and George saw that woman."

"There is no way that lady, Mary, could have lived for that long," said Jessica, cutting his statement. "This lady adopting William makes things interesting. And I remember you mentioning, that William possesses a kind of QI, that resembles that of any ranked devil's."

Steve noticed the curious expressions growing on Jessica's face. With a small hope of her, connecting these events, Steve continued.

"Then, William was called to the Capital last month. Before that, there were no large-scale attacks on the capital. But, on the very night when William arrived, Sallos appeared and assembled all the possessed people. Later Naberius, a literal higher rank, appeared and almost killed him if Charlotte didn't come in between."

"Man..." Jessica paused. "William got a dark story, eh?"

"You make anything of it?"

"A sudden large-scale attack on Capital," Jessica said. "On the very day when William was assigned on the field. You sure those many possessed people never gathered at one place before?"

"We have people watching over most of the Capital," Steve said. "None of those possessed people gathered before. We even have no idea about these many people being possessed and living in the capital - like sleeper slaves."

Jessica finished her coffee mug and kept it back in the white tray on the table. Took a silent deep breath and calmly released it.

"That flashes light over the reason behind why people in the Capital used to disappear randomly and then found dead with terrible physical conditions," she said. "These bastard-possessed people used to feed on them."

"That night was the first time when they gathered together, hundreds of them from all over the capital," said Steve. "And William was clearly targeted, even by the higher rank."

After Steve described the whole situation, there was a long moment of silence in the room with only the sound of some birds chirping, outside the kitchen window. They both rested calmly in their thoughts. Steve glanced towards Jessica, just to notice her face with a faint curious smile.

"Is there any reason behind our discussion today?" asked Jessica.

"The King will be summoning me next week," Steve said. "After what George Watson did and the rapidly spreading rumours about William being the cursed child, the child of the devil, I have to put a strong case in front of his Majesty to protect them. Or else, EVA will be no more, for siding with what people call traitors and the devils."

"Any other reason?"

"I'm not sure if it's a reason," said Steve. "but, for helping them both runaway and still siding with them, I might get exiled."

"I will be joining you when you're summoned," said Jessica.

"That would be a big help," Steve said. "For the sake of people, we can't, in any circumstances, let the king break EVA."

II

At that time, there was a saying which parents often used, to make sure their small kids don't go far away from the house in the evenings while playing.

'Don't get fooled by the beautiful night,
don't wander in the jungle, where eyes don't catch the sight,
in the place, where the sun doesn't shine,
there exists a shrine where the devil resides.'

On the south border of Lydia, where Lydia, Assyria and Rose kingdom meets, there existed a small area of jungle on the cursed belt. The higher concentration of cursed energy exposed to the surroundings made the living beings of this place mutate differently. Weaker animals died, stronger mutated into wild, massive beasts, and the trees were larger and denser.

Deep within the forest area, once, there appeared a small passage, just enough for a single person to walk. The passage went all over the undiscovered jungle, from massive trees, from hot streams and waterfalls to the crystal-clean river. The place would have been more crowded if it was not covered in dense fog and toxic air.

With silent footsteps, like a cat, a person walked on the small narrow path. Though every inch of the forest was covered in dense fog, the narrow path would still look clear and guide the way to the trespasser.

We were never summoned for more than a hundred years. He thought. Why, all of a sudden, does the master want to meet us?

He didn't think much further and kept moving on the narrow path, calm and quiet. He looked around and observed the thick cloud in the area, which gets even denser as he moves forward. Fortunately for him, the toxic cursed energy air didn't affect him, mentally or physically, even a bit.

The man continued walking forward, those were the orders and he didn't dare to not follow them. As the narrow path came to end, there existed a thick mist wall, a dense, dark fog wall, which no one willingly could enter.

"Master..." he muttered in a low voice. "I, your servant, have arrived."

As soon as those words escaped his mouth, calm chilly winds blew in the area decreasing the mist intensity. The big fog wall in front disappeared, revealing the gate painted in red and black. The road of broken tiles was revealed through it, leading to the old eerie-looking shrine some distance inside.

The gates opened and the person entered the shrine vicinity. He walked forward, towards the shrine until a voice stopped him.

"Vual," said the voice. "you've finally arrived."

The person, Vual, turned around to notice a woman, dressed in black and brown, sitting on the top of the big bars of the gate. She jumped down and walked towards him.

"Long time no see," Vaul smiled.

"Since when did my companion get so used to human speech?" she replied with a mocking smile.

"Why do you think the master called us?"

"I'm not sure and we are not allowed to assume," she said. "Obeying him is all we are allowed to."

As they both approached the shrine doors, there appeared a ticking sound for a brief moment, they both stood quiet. After the tick was stopped, with a single string sound, the doors opened, revealing the dark emptiness inside and they both entered the shrine.

As they walked a little further, the darkness in their eyes cleared and the inner shrine was seen. The shrine was nothing but, just a pathway to the real place. This was the castle of the dimensional void. made of various sections among different dimensions of space and time.

"You are late Vual." came the voice from ahead. "Master will be arriving anytime now."

That voice was of another person, present in the room. A muscular, short-haired, pale-skinned. Vaul ran his sight forward, meeting glance with the other men. Three men in total. The other one was fair-skinned, short-haired, dressed in a 3 piece suit with bow tie and frameless glasses.

The third man stood on the other side of the big hall. Another fair-skinned, long hair tied in a braid, dressed in red, with a long howri flowing over his red cloth.

Vaul and the other women walked forward, closer to them both. Greeted each other with some forced smiles on their face and stood quiet. After a while, there appeared a single string sound - like the sound of a single note of shamisen, and the door in front opened, revealing a fairly good-looking man calmly sitting on a cushion, sipping a beverage from a small handleless cup.

All four of them stood quiet, confused, looking at the man. The man looked calm and charming, yet had a hauntingly intense Aura which convinced them to not dare get against him.

Who the hell is this guy? Vaul thought. And, what is he doing in master's place?

"What am I doing in this place, you ask?" said the man, to which four of them froze in their place. All the people except the woman revealed a clear expression of shock.

That voice! The other man thought. m...master?

"That is right, my sweet child." the man said. "I hope you know why you were summoned here. One of your ranks, Naberius and Sallos, were slain in the last few days. After more than 100 years, one of us was slain by a mere human."

"Y...yes, master." The long-haired man dropped his chin on his chest while agreeing to his words.

"I must tell you the reason," The man said and kept his beverage cup aside. "You all underestimate the strength of sorcerers. Dealing with them as if they are pathetic insects until you find yourself in their place. How long shall this continue." he continued with a more serious voice. "How long shall the wait exist to see the beginning of Genesis? How long shall we wait to finally be able to live freely, instead of these bodies of the human host--"

"Stop pretending, Valefor." came the bold voice from the pale-skinned person, interrupting the man.

"Agares," said the man. "you shall address me as 'master'."

"Master, huh?" Agares said. "Then let's face the truth...' master'. Sallos and Naberius died because of you. We all ranks are connected to you by blood. But after getting defeated that day, by that man-child, you are losing your strength.

All the people present in the area looked at the man, Valefor, with a surprised faces. Their body was still frozen by the weight of his strong Aura, his QI.

"Tell me, why are we not making any move after Sallos and Naberius? Why are we hiding like rats? How are mere humans bale to stand against us?" Agares said, trying to break his spirit. "'Cause, you are getting weak, Valefor."

"That's already enough, Agares." Said the long-haired man. "You said enough."

"Back off, Ashtaroth," Agares said, removing the person's hand from his shoulder. "The only change needed is the change of leadership. The change of Godhood."

"That's enough!"

The man, Valefor, shouted in frustration. His hands slid off the table, breaking the beverage cup and the table into pieces. An intense spark ran throughout their body, making them lose sight for some time.

As the spark faded and the sight was regained, Agares found himself floating in the air. His neck was grabbed by the hands of deadly serious Valefor. Valefor looked much different now, his calm, charming face was now the dark more sinister face with dark eyes.

I went too far! Agares reminded himself as his body, now in hands of Valefor, trembled in fear.

"I didn't hear you the first time," Valefor said, with a sinister voice. "Say it again, Agares."

No words escaped his mouth.

"F...forgive...me, Master."

"I said, say it again," Valefor said louder. "Say it, looking in my eyes."

There is no way I'm escaping this. Agares thought. In that case.

Agares jerked off his body, loosening Valefor's grip on his neck. He moved back and the dark colour covered his skin. He looked in Valefor's eyes, revealing his mark- 'third, Higher'. Agares backed off and his limbs extended forward, cutting through the air, rushing towards Valefor's core.

Before it reached him. Valefor gripped his neck again and his fist closed, separating Agares' head from his body, destroying his core. His body fell to the floor and Valefor calmed himself again.

As soon as he decided to speak to the rest of the ranks present. there appeared another sound of the string. A single note of shamisen string.

Valefor's body changed back to normal. His dark body and haunting face were now the earlier, calm and charming face of the person sipping his beverage. He descended from the air and quietly sat back on his cushion - like none of the slaughter ever happened.

"Master," said Vaul. "Apologies, but you just erased one of our ranks."

"There are more waiting, more capable than him." Valefor said. "The meeting was interrupted due to some unexpected turn of events. When the right time comes, one shall summon you once again. Till then, no one will dare to cross the lines with that man-child, William."