Chapter 38: The Infernal Hierarchy
(Part 1 – One Month in Hell)
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Thirty Days of Suffering
Time doesn't exist here. Not in the way it did before.
There's no sun. No moon. No stars. Just an endless sky of crimson and black, swirling like a storm that never ends.
If you asked me how long I've been here, I wouldn't be able to give you an exact answer. But I know this much—it's been a month.
A month of hunger.
A month of running.
A month of barely surviving in a world where everything wants to tear me apart.
And somehow, I'm still here.
I should be dead. Hell, I should've died the first night. But against all odds, I'm still breathing. I don't know if that makes me lucky or just too stubborn to die.
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The Reality of Survival
Let's get one thing straight—I'm not a warrior.
Not yet.
I don't have weapons. I don't have powers. I don't have some grand destiny whispering in my ear, telling me I was chosen for something greater.
All I have are my instincts.
And those instincts? They've been sharpened to the point of madness.
The first few days were the worst.
No food. No shelter. No understanding of this place.
I spent my time hiding in whatever cracks and caves I could find, hoping the creatures that roamed these lands wouldn't notice me.
But hiding doesn't feed you.
And hunger?
Hunger turns you into something desperate.
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What I Became
I'm not proud of it.
I've eaten things I never thought I would.
I don't have the strength to hunt—not yet. But I don't need to. This place is filled with creatures that kill each other constantly. The strong devour the weak. It's a never-ending cycle.
And I've found my place in it.
I am neither strong nor weak.
I am something in between.
A scavenger.
When the larger demons kill each other, I wait. I watch from the shadows, tracking their battles, learning their movements. And when one of them dies—I take what's left.
Flesh that hasn't rotted yet. Bones that can be sharpened. Anything that can keep me going.
I've seen vultures in my past life, picking at the remains of roadkill.
Now?
I'm no different.
But here's the thing—I don't care.
Not anymore.
Because the more I eat, the stronger I get.
The more I observe, the more I understand.
And if I want to survive?
I need to evolve.
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The Laws of Hell
I've started to notice something about this place.
It's not just chaos.
It's not just endless torment.
There are rules.
Laws that every creature here seems to follow.
1. Strength is everything.
If you can't fight, you're nothing. The weak are eaten. The strong survive. Simple as that.
2. Territory matters.
I've seen demons fight over land, marking areas as their own. There are borders—unspoken, but real. I've learned to avoid them.
3. There is a hierarchy.
Not all demons are the same. Some walk like men, others crawl like beasts. Some have intelligence, others act on pure instinct. And at the top? There are beings I don't understand yet.
I've seen glimpses of them—shadows moving in the distance, their presence alone making the air heavy. They are different. They are rulers.
And one day, I'll have to face them.
But not yet.
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The Change in Me
I sit inside my current shelter—a crevice in a massive rock formation, deep enough to keep me hidden.
My body is leaner now, my muscles more defined, my senses sharper than ever.
I'm still human.
But I don't feel human.
Not anymore.
The old Derrick would have been horrified by what I've become.
But the old Derrick is gone.
And the new one?
He's learning.
He's adapting.
He's getting ready.
Because this world may not favor me—
But I will make it mine.
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A New Goal
For the first time in a month, I don't feel like prey.
I don't feel like a victim.
I feel something else.
Something dangerous.
I want more.
Hiding and scavenging won't be enough forever.
If I want to survive, I need strength. Real strength.
That means finding weapons.
That means learning how to fight.
That means climbing this hierarchy and carving out a place where I'm no longer at the bottom.
Because I refuse to be weak anymore.
I refuse to be nothing.
This is Hell.
But if Hell thinks it can break me—
It has no idea what I'm about to become.