On the second day after Matthew got stranded in hell, he laid to get some sleep. Ffyr kept awake to keep out any demon who could try to harm him. The fairy looked at him sleeping peacefully despite it all. His skin was red, his eyes too. Other than that, he looked the same. Yet, Ffyr was scared of him.

Matthew saw himself inside a luxurious palace. It seemed he was back in the 1800s all of a sudden. The walls were heavily decorated with paintings and gold. The furniture was lavish and very ornate. He had no memory of how he got there.

When he was lost in thoughts looking out a window, a door opened and from behind it he saw Faralynn. By her side he saw one of the Laufgraan professors. A blonde dark skinned woman he never saw in class. All he knew was her name, Cesaria.

Matthew froze after seeing Faralynn. A part of him was really happy seeing her, but another part was afraid and embarrassed of the demonic mana inside of him. At the same time he wanted to run and embrace her, he also wanted to hide from her.

"Matthew?" Faralynn called to him when he didn’t move.

"Lynn?" He answered, still not sure of what was happening.

"It’s me, Matt." The elf said in a sweet tone walking towards him. "You’re alive." She said with tears in her eyes.

"Where are we?" Matthew asked, holding his own tears. He thought he’d never see her again.

"You know Professor Cesaria?" Faralynn pointed to the woman by the door. "She’s a Somniomancer. This is her Oneiros. She found you and is allowing us to speak."

Matthew looked at Cesaria and just nodded as a thanks.

"Where are you? After the gate closed we searched all over for you." Faralynn said, taking his hands in hers.

"Violentia." Matthew answered with a single word.

"You..." Faralynn started to cry, unable to finish her sentence.

"I had to. To save the city. To save my family. To save you." Matthew said, squeezing her hands.

"It’s alright. I’ll contact Morris. He can open a gate to you and we can rescue you." Fralynn said, biting her lips. "Just hang in there."

"I..." Matthew wasn’t sure how to say the next words. "I can’t go back."

"What? Why?" Faralynn looked at him wide eyed.

"Look at me." Matthew said, taking a step back.

It is just then that Faralynn notices. His eyes and skin were red.

"What?" Faralynn exclaimed.

"I’m no longer human." Matthew said, pushing her away with care and avoiding her eyes.

"It doesn’t matter." Faralynn said, pushing his hands to the side and hugging him. "I won’t leave you in hell. We can find a way to heal you."

"You know only a greater god can heal me." Matthew patted her head.

"Still, I’ll come for you. I’ll bring you back to earth. We can..." Faralynn started rambling, but Matthew interrupted her.

"No. I’m too dangerous. Even now it takes all my willpower not to lose control." Matthew said. "I can’t go back to Earth."

"What are you saying Matt?" Faralynn let go of him and looked at him with desperate eyes.

"Tell my family I’m sorry. Tell everyone I’m really sorry." Matthew said with tears coming out of his eyes. "I’ll stay in hell."

Faralynn started to cry looking at him.

"I love you, Lynn. I really do. But I’ll only hurt you if I go back to Earth like this."

After a few seconds of them just looking at each other, Faralynn dried her tears.

"Okay." She said with a resolute voice. "But don’t think I’ll give up on you." She sounded angry now. "I’ll find a god to heal you. And when I do, I’ll come for you."

Matthew was surprised by her declaration.

Faralynn then hugged him hard and kissed him passionately.

"Don’t you die there. Don’t you dare say you’re not coming with me after you’re healed." She said with a threatening voice and squeezed him in her arms. "I WILL be back for you." She kissed him again.

Matthew kissed her back and squeezed her butt.

Faralynn laughed when he did and gently pulled his hand up to the small of her back.

"Don’t you lose yourself down there." She said lovingly to him. "Always remember that you’re human. That you have me. That you have your friends and family on Earth waiting for you. I promise you. I will turn you back to normal and I will come back for you."

With those words and a final kiss, Matthew woke up from his sleep.

When he got up suddenly, he saw Ffyr flinch for a split second. "Don’t lose yourself." He heard Faralynn’s words again. He really scared Ffyr back there, didn’t he?

"Ffyr." Matthew called her. "I’m sorry. I let the Mana take control of me for a while." He apologised.

The fairy looked at him and then flew and hugged him once she saw he was back to normal. His skin and eyes were still red, he was still a demon, but her expression was the same old Matthew.

He then told Ffyr about his meeting with Faralynn. How she promised to heal him. To come back for him when she found a way.

"You need to keep me in check, Ffyr." Matthew asked his familiar. "If you see that I’m losing to my dark impulses, remind me of her. Of my family."

"I will." Ffyr said with a sad smile. "We will survive this too."

Violentia was only one of 9 realms that constituted what was known on Earth as Hell. Violentia was the realm that was closer to the prime realm and the easiest to make the travel through the dimensions.

Other than Violentia, there were the other hells: Limbus, Luxuria, Gula, Avaritia, Ira, Haeresis, Malebolge and Cocytus. Each one of those had their own ecosystem and their own rules.

When a mortal died in the prime realm, their soul was judged by the gods and thrown to one of the hells or one of the heavens. In the hells, a soul would assume the physical form they had when they were alive, but deprived of any mana.

Because they had no mana, they were powerless against the demons, but were also immune to the demonic mana influence. Those were called Damnata.

In Violentia, Damnata were subject to the whims and plays of the demons that resided there. Mostly Baalors, imps, dretches, barbed devils, cambions and succubi. The Damnata were immortal, and, whenever they were injured, they would heal slowly, but never die. Therefore, most of the Damnata were tortured endlessly there.

The landscape in Violentia was a vast arid rock desert of red stone. The heat was unbearable. There were lava pits and geysers that made the entire realm smell like sulfur. The sky was also red and there was no night or day. Everything was illuminated by several small suns in the sky.

There were no plants, only mushrooms that grew near boiling lakes and rivers. The only form of wildlife there were black hares that fed on the mushrooms and tasted horrible. Most demons preferred to eat the Damnata or other demons than eating the black hares.

When it rained, the water was acidic and burned anything that stood in the rain. The rocks themselves were full of holes from the rainwater.

Sometimes, it rained hot oil that fried the skin of those who were unlucky to be under it. The oil frequently caught on fire in the sky, and fell down like falling stars.

There were some cities and castles spread throughout the realm. Some demons ruled some places. Other places were ruled by the Damnata themselves.

It was this environment that Matthew was stranded in. Ffyr spent most of the time inside his necklace.

Matthew had to fight off imps and other lesser demons almost daily.

The only thing he could eat was the awful black hares, because he disliked the idea of eating the souls of the dead or eating imps or other demons.

The Damnata distrusted him and offered no help.

Greater demons avoided him, since he carried Aym’s dagger with him.

Every step of the way, Matthew fought against his dark impulses. He held back from torturing the weak, from raping the women, from stealing and killing...

Succubi would taunt him. Offer him a bed and make him feel really good. But Matthew was faithful to Faralynn.

With time, the Damnata learned the truth about him and he became a sort of savior for them. Matthew picked arms to defend the damned souls and in exchange, they gave him shelter and food.

All while Matthew waited for a miracle. For a chance to save his own soul from hell.

And it was like that, that 2 years have passed. Matthew’s hair grew, he now had a beard, his body got bigger and mainlier. But, with the memory of the ones he loved on Earth, Matthew never faltered. Even with a demon soul, he never stopped being human.