Episode 17

...That same night, in Devyl's dark room, after sex, he lay alone in his bed, gazing out the window at the stars and imagining what he could never have: Kairos. Maybe it was better this way. He was a sick man, destined for a short life because of what tormented him....

...He took the ring he kept in the drawer and observed the inscription: "Don't forget me, my demon." Devyl wondered for whom that ring was made....

..."Perhaps it was made for someone special, someone I'm not," he lamented to himself....

...Without much questioning, Devyl placed the ring on his little finger, deciding to honor the request of the old woman who had given it to him....

...Before falling asleep, he already imagined that night would be difficult. He foresaw seeing countless monsters and visions of his own death. He hated to be sad, because when he felt that way, his mind became a dark and desperate place....

...Devyl knew he would scream. The first magic he had learned in that place was a spell to restrict sound in his room, so no one would hear his nightly torments....

...Half an hour passed, and when Devyl was about to fall into a deep sleep, the nightmares began. His mind would wake up, but his body would remain still, and this repeated itself countless times. When he wasn't paralyzed, he would scream in his sleep, feeling the pain in his dreams....

...After several unsuccessful attempts to sleep, he gave up. He lay awake, huddled under the sheets. He wondered how he still had the strength to endure this. Why didn't he just succumb?...

...He'd been doing so well lately. The nightmares had subsided, but all it took was sadness for them to return. He would have to forget Kairos and focus his mind on other things so that loneliness wouldn't happen again. Living as a beggar on the streets will teach you to find joy in the little things of everyday life. At night, he slept smiling. But now everything was different, and his heart ached in an unfamiliar way. Was it love or something more?...

...It didn't matter. He was determined to forget him....

...The days dragged on and Devyl faced this torment for a long week. By the end of the week, his appearance already betrayed the signs of accumulated sleep deprivation. His friends noticed and worried. They knew what was happening, but unfortunately there was nothing they could do. Alex, in particular, felt powerless not knowing how to help him....

...However, of all those in the sanctuary, the one who most understood Devyl's suffering was Kairos. Even though they were separated, avoiding eye contact, he heard, in the silence of the night, Devyl's cries. Through the pact with Lucifer, he had keen hearing and any sound, no matter how subtle, reached him. Thus, Kairos witnessed the suffering of the man he still loved from day one....

...At that moment, they were in an arena below the sanctuary, training according to Trevis' teaching. Kairos was hiding upstairs, observing Devyl's sad face and feeling powerless in the face of that damn disease....

..."Welcome, candidates and future Adepts. For those who don't know me yet, I'm Trevis Muller, Adept of Lucifer, as is Master Kairos....

..."My mastery of magic is advanced and I am one step away from reaching the level of master, as is Master Kairos. Today, I will teach you how to use magic to conjure weapons or enhance them, as well as create shields and strengthen your bodies to, in battle, resist blows that would otherwise split you in half or have your guts spill out...."

...The class promised to be stimulating. Everyone had been looking forward to it for over a month, as they understood its relevance. This was one of the most anticipated skills and would be ministered by someone with combat experience, someone who served Lucifer and fought in the last battle of the apocalypse....

..."Remember, a human without a pact is a warlock with mastery of basic magic, a form of magic with limits, without a defined source. Those who do not possess a pact utilize particles of magic that permeate the air, depleting themselves over time and taking hours to regenerate. An Adept, on the other hand, has a fallen, an arcane demon, as an inexhaustible source of magic. However, even Adepts have their limits, even if they last for a long time in a battle...."