Prince Hans, who had met a gruesome death, was now carried by a demon whose wings were torn and ragged, descending deep into the bowels of Hell. This place was nothing like Earth. Eternal darkness reigned here, filled with wails and screams of agony that roared like the engines of a thousand war machines, echoing endlessly through the abyss. Wrapped in suffocating blackness, Hans could not see his surroundings.

  Upon arriving at what appeared to be a prison constructed from human bones, the demon handed him over to two other terrifying beings. Their faces resembled ravens, their muscular bodies towering and menacing. Each held a whip forged from blazing embers. Hans was shackled with massive iron restraints around his wrists and ankles.

  Then the torture began.

  The two demons took turns whipping him without rest. Hans could only groan in agony. He screamed for help, but all he received was cruel laughter. The demons seemed to delight in his suffering, their excitement growing with every cry that escaped his lips.

  The lashes tore his flesh, drawing fresh blood. They did not stop at whipping him. They beat him, spat on him, violated him, and brutally broke his arms and legs before tearing them from his body. Hans witnessed his own mutilation — yet strangely, his limbs regenerated each time. Again and again, they tore him apart. Again and again, his body restored itself, only for the torment to continue.

  Eventually, the endless cycle of brutality shattered his very sense of self.

  Elsewhere, in the realm of the gods — a divine world worshiped by humanity, the paradise all souls dream of reaching — stood the Pool of Life, its crystal waters reflecting the mortal world below. From the branches of the great tree Yggdrasil, whose vibrant green leaves connected Heaven and the Underworld, Goddess Eliel wept.

  She watched Prince Hans Dragensen’s soul being bound and mercilessly tortured by the two demons.

  Unable to bear it any longer, she moved to descend and rescue him — but was stopped by the angel Sar’el.

  “Do not stand in my way, Sar’el,” Eliel pleaded.

  “I must, my Goddess,” Sar’el replied firmly. “What you intend to do would disrupt the order of the universe.”

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  “I do not wish to curse you,” Eliel warned. “Angels such as yourself serve beings like us.”

  “I know,” Sar’el answered calmly. “But do not act rashly. Your desire may lead you into sin.”

  “He is a sinner?” Eliel shot back. “He prayed to the Most High, God Ilio, countless times. After thousands of heartfelt prayers, does he still deserve this?”

  “But he spilled blood, my Goddess. He killed many.”

  “I will save him,” Eliel declared.

  Before she could move, she was confronted by Ebiel, the God of Fate.

  “Stop, Eliel,” Ebiel commanded. “Remember your position. Do not lower your divine dignity for a human already consumed by sin.”

  Enraged, Eliel confronted him, accusing him of writing a cruel destiny for a man who had never stopped praying for forgiveness.

  Ebiel responded calmly.

  “As the God of Fate, I write destinies as revealed to me by the Most High, Ilio. Hans Dragensen’s fate was decreed.”

  But Eliel could not accept it.

  Her anger erupted. A battle broke out between Goddess and God, shaking Nirvana itself. Angels and deities attempted to intervene, but their clash caused tremors that disturbed the balance of the cosmos.

  When news reached Ilio, the Supreme God summoned them to Helight Dom, the Holy Sanctuary at the heart of Nirvana. Ereas, the God of War, subdued them and brought them before Ilio’s golden throne.

  Eliel fell to her knees.

  “Forgive me, Lord Ilio. I was overcome by sorrow at witnessing such injustice.”

  “Lift your head, my Goddess,” Ilio said gently.

  She could barely withstand the radiance of his presence.

  Ilio explained that Hans’s fate had been written in the Book of Life.

  Nothing was added or taken away. His death — whether by enemy blade or Angel of Death — was destined.

  “Must he truly suffer in Hell?” Eliel pleaded. “Can he not enter Valhalla instead?”

  “There is another destiny prepared,” Ilio said softly. “But are you willing to take his place?”

  The question pierced her heart.

  Without hesitation, Eliel agreed.

  Ilio summoned Mimir, Guardian of the Life Spring, who brought a golden chalice filled with water from Lifsins Lind, the Fountain of Life.

  “Are you certain?” Ilio asked.

  Eliel closed her luminous blue eyes, inhaled deeply, then answered firmly:

  “Yes.”

  With that, she drank.

  At that very moment, Hans was released from torture. His fate was rewritten. He was cleansed and returned to the mortal world — reborn not as a man, but as a cursed dragon with a soul. He was tasked by the angel Sar’el to guard Vornahurd at the summit of Mount Levuskan.

  As for Eliel, after drinking the Life Water, she bowed once more to Ilio. Then, guided by Friggel, Goddess of Birth, she was led to the Gate of Reincarnation.

  With sorrowful gazes from gods and angels alike, Eliel stepped through the gate — awaiting her rebirth as an ordinary human.