—Don't look!
The knight's voice thundered—rough and tense. In front of Luck, the girl's collapsed figure threw insults at him without a filter, but he kept walking toward her in silence. She was wrecked. That much was obvious.
—I'm always wearing the armor for a reason… if anyone knew my gender…
Luck didn't reply. He took off his half-torn military shirt, drenched in dried sweat, and without looking, tossed it at her face.
—What the fucking hell are you doing? You think I need help to recover?! I'm the knight here! —she roared and punched him straight in the face.
He hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, rolling backwards.
—Bitch! I'm helping myself here, okay? You almost killed me a few hours ago… and I still saved your ass.
"She's really going to act like a little kid? Great..."
The knight tossed the shirt back, this time with less rage, like the whole situation was starting to bore her.
—Put it on. I went too far. I just don't want anyone to see me without the armor. This hellhole's full of crazy idiots who still think a woman can't lead unless she's shoving a sword down their throat.
Luck spat to the side and smirked lazily.
—Yeah, right. That fireblast really cooked your pride —he muttered.
She opened a crimson portal without a word. A floating circle of dark energy crackled before her. She reached in and began rummaging through it. Luck watched in silence.
"A spatial ability?"
Things started falling out: old swords, broken armor pieces, a rusted axe… junk and more junk, until finally she pulled out a black helmet, identical to the one she'd lost.
—Didn't expect you to use such a greedy power just to cosplay...
"Seriously? All that drama for this?"
Short golden hair. Bone-pale skin. Red eyes that said nothing but saw everything. If beauty could punch you in the face, it would probably look like her.
—Are you really a demon? —he asked, more out of curiosity than interest.
She didn't answer. She put the helmet on like she was locking herself inside.
—You can call me Rouge.
She closed the portal, turned, and walked between the jagged walls, taking shortcuts like she'd been born there. Within seconds, her figure vanished into the dark.
Luck stood still. Face swollen, shirt in hand… and the feeling he wouldn't see her unmasked again.
—Great. Hits me, yells at me, then leaves. I'm really getting used to this hell.
---
Luck wandered aimlessly through narrow halls of sharp rock. Everything looked the same: stone, dust, echoes… and more stone. The darkness was so thick, even his shadow seemed to have given up.
—Great. I follow a lunatic in armor and end up more lost than an angel in a brothel —he muttered, kicking a rock that echoed hollowly.
Not long after, he heard it again. A high-pitched screech shattered the silence. Something small, fast, and way too toothy darted past him, grazing his leg. Pure instinct—he raised his sword and spun.
Missed. Barely.
From the other side of the hallway, Rouge appeared out of nowhere, wiping blood off her armor.
—You again? Are you stalking me or just naturally this clumsy?
Luck lowered his weapon.
—I was exploring. Though if you're gonna keep saving my ass, I won't complain.
She tossed something at him: a glowing compass covered in strange markings.
—Here. If you plan to keep breathing, at least learn where you are. That thing that ran off… wasn't alone.
Rouge turned without waiting for a reply and walked off, faster this time.
Luck looked at the compass. It pointed directly at her.
—Yeah… sure. Because this wasn't already screwed up enough, now I've got a tracker for my new favorite psycho.
She reached a steep cliff wall and started climbing. Luck had no choice but to follow.
He grabbed a rock, testing the structure—not pleasant. Seconds turned to minutes. Nothing changed.
—Try to keep up.
Rouge was in perfect condition, even while hauling around her body and that heavy armor like it was nothing.
Meanwhile, Luck struggled, breathing hard, using his sword to help pull himself up.
—You know, you're one lucky bastard. If I were human, I'd be dead by now —she said, more mocking than admiring.
—Yeah, I get that a lot. You're not the first.
Luck couldn't help remembering his childhood. He never knew his parents. In the Inferno, they were probably killed right after he was born.
He'd grown up in filth, raised by greedy feline demons who forced him to steal daily using his innocent human appearance. Luck had grown up thieving, scamming, and selling shady goods. Even built a small resale business.
But the war shattered all of that.
—Luck? You're deep in thought —Rouge said without looking back, shooting him a glance through the helmet gaps.
—Wait… Did you just call me by my name? —he responded, almost without thinking.
It threw him off. Until now, the closest thing to a nickname was "human," said with more venom than respect. But this time… it sounded different. Almost human. Almost.
—L-look... we made it —Rouge cut him off, changing the subject instantly.
Luck didn't push. His arm was numb and his fingers were burning. He climbed the last stretch in silence, half-hoping she'd offer a hand.
She didn't. Didn't even look at him. Patience wasn't her thing.
At the top, he let go of the sword and leaned on his knees, gasping. Every muscle screamed like he'd carried a mountain.
In front of him, a river of clear water flowed through the cavern. Peaceful. Like nothing in that world was rotten. The water glowed with a faint bluish hue, carrying fragments of white stone that floated like leaves.
Luck just stared.
"A clean river… in hell. That's insane."
—Ow! —he yelped as she yanked his ear.
Rouge dragged him like a stray dog.
—Let go! At least let me drink after that damn climb! —he protested, barely keeping his balance before his sword fell into the water.
—Fine. Three minutes. I'll wait outside —Rouge said, already turning away.
Her footsteps echoed across the stone and her armor's sound faded quickly.
Luck knelt by the river and drank like a dying man. The cold water chilled his gut, but it was better than the burn of dry throat.
It didn't kill the hunger—but something was better than nothing. Ironic. In a place filthier and scarier than hell itself, there was water this pure.
He stood up, grabbed his sword, spun on his feet, and followed the river. He'd finally left the cave. The view that welcomed him was… chaotic?
Rouge—the strongest knight he'd seen—was talking to a group of demons.
"Spying a little can't hurt..."
Luck quickened his pace, hiding behind one of the giant obsidian pillars.
Rouge was surrounded. Five, ten… even more. Some aquatic, rising from the river. Others winged. Most of them massive.
—If we're gonna die at the hands of the archangel soon, we'll at least take you with us, Rouge —said one demon, his blue body glowing with the flames of revenge.
—Yeah! I thought you were just a quiet freak, but because of you... I'm fucking dead and in hell!
The reasons varied, but one thing was constant—pure hatred for Rouge. Most had been killed by her when they were human.
"People are great at remembering the bad shit…"
—That armor gives you away. Wherever you go, you're still hiding your madness under it...
—If you're in hell, you weren't a good person. No excuses for what you did… I don't have any either.
—This is mercy —she said. And before Luck could blink, a massive sword materialized in her hand. It might not be strong enough to pierce angel defenses, but—
—For scum like you, it'll do just fine.
Rouge swung the enormous blade—blunt and brutal, just a chunk of metal—and the fight erupted.
Her body lit up in a sick, red aura. Berserker mode.
She took two steps back, slammed the blade into the ground, and smiled coldly.
With one swing, she sliced off the first demon's head. It rolled like a barrel. Blood sprayed across her armor. Without pausing, she rushed the next one: a clean cut opened its torso, spilling black guts onto the rock. The others backed off, already regretting everything.
Decapitations, shredded limbs, sliced throats—flesh and bone flying in seconds. She leapt, impaling a demon who tried flanking her, pinning it to the floor with a scream that faded in the cavern's echo.
In under thirty seconds, all the bodies lay broken, soaking in a dark red pool.
Rouge wiped her sword on a fallen tunic, staring into the horizon like it was nothing.
—This is… so they learn not to mess with the wrath fish —she muttered, just loud enough for Luck to hear.
He stepped closer, heart still pounding in his ears.
"Who the hell is she? I… really don't know anything about her"