Devil's Business

Silent Night

Two billions of dollars is at hand. Juno felt dwindled despite the satisfaction of their business. He never thought of procurement as a way to deal with things to expand his money potential to the public in a form of economic trade. Being a rich person without any way to invest is notoriously difficult to a nobody like him before, but it seems convenient after a long time of his own tenure as a servant of a demon. Be brave and adamant to what you want, that is the key to his survival until today, and having loss is common for a business person to thrive onwards.

A virtue as a person who was inherited a handsome pack of money does not bring him riches and growth like what it should be. Resilience and persistence to the fate of the invisible hand and its cruelty to the economic human is absolute.

“Thank you.” Said Juno to the audience of the speech.

Because of his current success, Juno has been invited to the gathering of wealthy person under the age of 30. Alongside Je-llo as his first and foremost partner from the country, their joint business has climb the ladder of being one of the most promising venture of Dinesa. It was unexpected, especially since Juno himself does not feeling the same way against the success that they have at the moment. He still wondering of the ‘punishment’ and the battered premonition from the demon, which was perturbing him ever since.

For their award as the young businessman of the year, the minister of economy is approaching them upon the stage of the auditorium to fashion their accolades with a pin of young and inspiring people of 2021. He appeared to have a limp left leg, as he springs upon the ladder with his personal assistant’s aid. Of course, the entire dramatic occurrence has brought them some time to pin their widest hospitality of their expression for longer due to several technical issues of the minister’s way to stride upon them.

Juno has even pondering,’why would they keep the old man going on like this? I am tired on smiling for infinity up here!’ while pouting to the depth of his own conscience and glaring for a second to the incapacitated government’s representative.

At long last, the awaited person has arrived to the front of the two. He adorns a beam of sincerity from his lips despite the slightest indication of his own actual reluctance to do so by a small bit of frown from his eyebrows. He then speaks,”Congratulations. Hope you do well in the future.” while attaching the pin to the awardee’s chest as commemoration. He does the similar to Je-llo and having mirror conversation with the ones happened to Juno formerly.

And they have to hold the biggest smile of their lives to the crowd for their business’ reputation.

“Give an applause to the recent rich person of the country!” Announced the master of ceremony to the commotion of guests down the stages. All the up class personality inside the hall are holding their own glass of wine to the air as a response.

After the tiresome breadth of events in the center of Jatra, Juno and Je-llo quickly drive home to continue their business. They seemed fatigued and inebriated by the amount of heavy drinks with the other wealthy person of the party. Juno’s personal driver wanting them both to be comfortable with their rest, thus putting on the soft jazz music to soothe their sleep on the way home.

The demon appeared once more inside his mind. It smirked to its servant, which greedily devoured the money more than twice its current worth of the start. Juno himself has no bounds to object with the demon’s excitement or even rejecting the fact that he might be plunged deeper than what he once wished to achieve.

“So, here for consolation, Juno? I am only swing by to cover you out if there’s that blonde guy appearing to your real life.” The demon muttered.

“Hm? So it’s real? You even have the name of the person, master Lafath?”

Lafath does not laying its thought immediately. It travels back to the hell’s realm by a flick of its finger before returning back to Juno’s mind,“To tell you the truth.” The demon muttered,” I can’t disclose this matter to you for now.”

“Alright, if it’s what you wish.” Juno answered in spite of his own inquisitiveness of the blonde personality and his matters to resolve.

“What? You’re not interested with it, human? I am trying to tease you out, but-“

Juno is lifting his shoulders up and shrugged,”No way, you’re much powerful than I am, so your desire is omniscient to my objective.”

The demon rolls its eyes to the ambiguity of Juno’s answer, but conceive no words to follow. On the other way around, as he wants to leave back to his own consciousness, he remembered something up to notice,“Why did you go back and forth like that, master demon? I wonder if...”

“Just to gift you with this. It’s lucky you ask, or else I might given it to someone else.”

The demon handed down its goods to Juno. A golden key to somewhere, it persists. A skull decoration with similar furnishing pattern with his personal pen of hell’s bank are embossed upon the hilt. As Juno inspected the curvature of the key, it has three adjustable bits that could be turned upside-down and a rather long shaft that given a huge foundation to the bow.

“It’s huge! What’s its used for, master?”

The demon tilted its head a bit,”A secret and puzzle to decipher, my dearest human. Perceive its eligibility as a master key, and you can master the ways of life-“

“You are totally wise and prudent, master demon, but being oblivious of this one’s would not be great on my occasion against the blonde guy of your insight.” Juno halted the demon’s astute sayings. For the insurance of the key, Juno kept inspecting the key and accidentally pulled out the bow to find an engraved demon’s writings underneath.

“Hell’s bank, huh? Cool!”

“You are not supposed to be there soon, but you’ll get there after two or three cities of the first plane.” The demon muttered, “See you around, champs, and don’t forget to breathe once you’ll get to the vault.”

The demon vanished at the same time with Juno’s unconscious state.

---

“So, it would be on 17th sata when I arrived to Mooma City again.”

Today is Juno’s fourth travel to the city of hell. He sits down upon the master bed of his, patiently waiting cross-legged towards the influx of red teleportation hub against the corner. He reminisced of how painful it has been for him to come this far, but the continuous arrangement seems enjoyable for the time being. The hero’s accountability in hell is still under question, but at least it shortly amended by awesome adventure that he could immerse down the red cloud of the realm.

He sees the corporal Jatra gradually losing its glistening skin. The young soldier of the city, hero of the realm, and all but his military ranks are glorious and admirable. Juno has seen the entire series of the figure, and he stood laughing by how incapable the corporal when finding that he has to follows order from the upper bracket of the entire military groups. Of all things, being a corporal with superpowers has given the hero senseless ability to forfeit and endure, which was came forth as the prominent quality of the character and its properties to fight Jatra’s atrocities.

The red flux is appearing, spiraling against the nature of physics and emanating a low-pitched bass from the center of its circle. Juno sighed to the teleportation device, reminiscing of how much he has to strive for a short course inside.

”Here goes nothing.” He said to himself to soothe the uncomfortable feelings down his hair.

(Boom!)

A moment later and he is returned. Juno’s ability for today, as he could perceive from the insight over his own mind, is multiplying strength. Any stats are increased by two-fold of its enhanced attributes, which also means inevitable danger would go nowhere against his might.

“Amazing. I wonder how this system generated such ability. Sounds much like a video game to me.” He mumbled.

(Boom!Boom!)

Two instances of explosion were blaring across the window pane of Juno’s room. The blue-ish structure of the town has blasted by unknown prowess one after the other. Scream of pain and agony igniting Juno’s fighting sense, alerted him of what were beckoned shortly close to his arrival.

“Is this the punishment from the demon? Lafath surely is harsh towards its own countrymen.” Juno mumbled as he retrieve the twin sword and furnishing the armor to his torso before leaving out to save the day of Mooma city.

When he went out from his own room, the corridor of Mia’s inn has fallen and dilapidated by a crushing force from outside. He can not locate Mia’s presence or remains, but numerous corpses of Mooma city’s residents are spread against the floor. Some of them were melted heads down to the surface, while the rest were covered in dust and scattered in pieces. Juno almost had a puke by the gore scenery, but he could fend off the stint before it comes out and halting his movement out of the inn.

“Such a gruesome fate of this city. What’s Lafath thinking of this level of horrendous management? Is that demon a king or something?” Pouted Juno to his master.

As he ventured outside, the destruction is still continues to suffice. An unidentified personality has laying great amount of damage to the center of Mooma City, destroying the chieftain’s house and turning it to dust by a single ray from its mouth. The monster, or anything that Juno could pry upon the opponent, is glowing bright with luminous yellow-ish light and having a small halo on its head.

“Ah, that halo made me remembered that blonde guy of Lafath’s insight. I wonder if-“

(Clang!)

Juno’s instant sense to parry blocked a swift assault from an unknown man up front. He could perceive a danger has come towards him from hundred meters apart, and it has stifling sensation from the enormous aura that it has brought to the gate. As Juno shortly turning his head for seeing the person, another attack forced him to retreat and move back to feint the blistering speed of the opponent’s sword.

“Can’t-“

(Clang!)

Yet another bargain of war from the enemy pushing the boiling anger from Juno. The person of the other side apparently closing in whenever he opened his mouth to talk. A faint ‘shuush’ from the person’s lips was reaching his ears in place of the attack, bashing him with numerous instances of slashes from its own sword.

‘Your first test from the heaven, Juno. If you can’t pass this man, they could kill you instantly and gouging the life out of you forever.’ Said a person from Juno’s conscious mind. It was the voice of Lafath, the warning that he never requested and asked for, and it comes without a chance for him to grasp upon. No matter how much he tried to look onto the person directly, a barrage of slices has coming towards him in response. When one of the attacks pierced his skin, a hurtful wound is there to punish.