While we walk through the forest, I ponder whether I should call this “group”... I guess this isn’t a group—more like two guys who almost killed each other when they met, and some girl.

If I did name whatever the hell this is, it would be called “The Devils”. The name came from something I said to Miyamoto when we met.

That I’m The Devil stuff.

To get back on topic, Miyamoto and I were walking in front of this Celeste girl. It didn’t mean we trusted the girl Celeste, but we figured we could survive anything she threw at us.

I had to ask if he could better describe what the fuck those blue flames coming out of his katana were. He was able to infuse fire-type magic with his katana, but creating such a strong flame to execute the T. Rex knocked the wind out of him.

Magic…

Huh.

How does that even work?

Does it follow the Law of Conservation of Mass, or has the illusion of science been thrown to the wind? Probably should research the topic at this mysterious library if we ever make it there.

I guess it doesn’t matter too much; knowing your enemy is important, but I got everything I need. My gun and knife—it’s not like I’m going to fight in a war or battle a god and the devil at the same time.

Celeste caught up with us and told us that this is where the ambush took place.

We look around for clues as to what could have happened after Celeste ran away.

I discovered a blood trail and followed it for a bit.

A foul smell came nipping at my nostrils.

That was rather normal, here it seemed.

There was an encampment with a cave behind it with about a dozen or more little green things. If this is a land of magic, then I’m guessing these things were goblins or something of the sort.

I decided to walk back to the other two to inform them about what I had found.

“So there are about a dozen goblins, of course; there could be more.

First, Celeste, I need to know what you can do. To see if you would be of any use.”

“I cast a fi-fi fireball the size of a fist, and I can-can create arrows made of magic.”

“Give me a second; we don’t just want corpses by the end of this.

Right.”

I started to pace around the once-battlefield, just pounding, trying to remember what Conrad taught me.

I took a swig from my flask and started to spin my plan.

“Okay, Miyamoto and I will take out the main encampment, and when we lure the remaining enemies out, you, Celeste, will set a blaze to the remaining forces. I guess the first true team meeting for The Devil has now been completed. I wish luck to each of us and a great meal after we finish.”

I took out my Bowie knife, and Miyamoto took out a wakizashi.

The journey to the camp was a long one due to the need for sneaking. Anything could happen during a war and destroy our plan.

Every movement draws us closer to damnation.

With my arrival at the encampment, I started to hear sounds, something that almost sounded like speech.

I saw two goblins with wooden spears muttering to each other. I found a small rock around me and chucked it into a deeper part of the forest.

Cling.

The goblins, hearing the noise, walk over to it.

I readied my knife and crawled after the two.

The two had split up. I followed the one that went left.

The goblin looked to his left and right and started to piss. I stabbed the fucker again and again. Always remember: in combat, overkill doesn’t exist. I did the same thing as the one who went to the right.

I wiped off the blood from my knife onto the grass and returned to the camp.

The camp reeked of shit.

I headed into the cave without backup and kept my gun at the ready. I couldn’t call for Miyamoto because his location and the number of enemies left out front were unknown.

Celeste was too far in the back to be of any help and would’ve passed out from the smell.

There was a strong sense of uneasiness that consumed me while walking down this rocky passageway.

As if I was walking into something that would change me mentally for the rest of my life. Like my brain was flashing big red lights, but I kept going.

Driving straight into this abyss.

When making it into the stomach of the cave, I damn near vomited due to the smell of death, feeling like a gut punch.

Corpses piled up, and screaming came deeper down…

Children.

Women.

Men.

All piled on top of each other…

The rot of death surrounded me.

Puddles of blood filled any area where the blood could combine.

In one of the piles, a child's body looked me in the eyes with its cold, dead eyes.

Anyone would’ve snapped from seeing this.

The only relief I could gain was that Miyamoto and that kid Celeste, weren’t here to see the true horror of life.

The horrific reality of evil revealed its horrendous face to me.

My ears rang, and my throat was dry.

And my mind…

I continued the departure into this hell, killing each beast I saw as painful as possible.

I wonder what the men who found the concentration camps thought… Could their minds comprehend the horrific reality of what they had saw.

I had become drenched in the blood of these fucking beasts.

Tracking down the source of the screaming, I saw the raping of a scared woman upon a wooden table.

I blew the brains out of the beast and was damn near ready to pull the gun on myself.

I helped the woman off the blood-soaked table; the blood was caked with both new blood and that of dried blood… I believe anyone can figure out what that means.

I kept moving.

Bodies and the smell… the… what could have man done to deserve such a fate.

What can anything that has ever been created deserve anything… anything…

I discovered a cage full of people, broken, dead-eyed, and traumatized.

The ability to cry was lost to me a long time ago, but I wish I could remember how to now.

Their faces blank and hollow.

With the mere wish for death written within their skin.

There was a lock on the cage.

I told everyone to cover their ears.

They did so, and I shot the locked door and started leading the people out.

On the way out, I felt a tug on my shirt.

It was this young girl mounted on the back of a huge dog.

She looked up at me with a piercing gaze.

Her face looked like that of a boy who had just come back from war.

A tear fell down her cheek.

I went to pick up the girl, but the dog growled at me.

The girl patted the dog's head, and the girl reached out to me.

I cradled her in my arms, placing her head into my chest, knowing I was not hiding anything from her eyes.

When I made it outside again, the dawn had broken overhead.

The world kept moving even after the end.

I only had after the events of tonight, and I was covered in blood. And filled with nothing but reality.

The golden light of dawn revealed the abyss.

The dawn was warm, and I was tired.

I placed the girl back upon the dog, and then I collapsed.

“For when you gaze long into the abyss.

The abyss gazes also into you.”― Friedrich W. Nietzsche