The battlefields of the world had never seen a day like this.
Beneath a sky darkened by swirling clouds of ash, a lone figure stood amidst the ruins of a once-great city. The ground trembled under the weight of ancient power, and the air itself seemed to freeze. The Devil stood tall, his icy form radiating a cold so profound that even the wind refused to dare approach. His eyes glowed like twin frozen lakes, piercing through the darkened sky.
His voice, when it came, was as cold as the winds that whipped around him.
"Foolish... to challenge me here," he whispered, his words carrying the weight of eternal winters.
The ground beneath him shifted with a crack, as the air itself began to frost over. Every step he took was marked by a chilling exhale, an omen of the impending death.
But then, from the smoke, a roar—a fierce crackling of flame that seared the very atmosphere itself. Huǒyàn emerged, his blazing form a furnace, his body cloaked in a dark, charred armor that pulsed with the heat of a thousand suns. His eyes burned like molten lava, and the sword in his hand, Fēnghuǒ, blazed with an infernal fire.
"I have come to burn everything you are to ash," Huǒyàn snarled, his voice like the roar of a wildfire.
The Devil tilted his head slightly, observing the firestorm before him with cold detachment. His breath frosted the air as he took a slow, deliberate step forward.
"You speak of fire... but you know nothing of true power," The Devil replied, the icy winds around him intensifying. The ground beneath him cracked, frozen veins spiderwebbing outward, as if the earth itself recoiled from his touch.
The two figures stood across from each other—the personification of death by ice and fire.
Then, without warning, Huǒyàn lunged, his Fēnghuǒ slicing through the air like a comet of destruction. The heat alone was enough to sear the very sky, and the flames that engulfed his sword seemed to cut through the world itself.
But The Devil was not moved. With a casual flick of his hand, he raised a barrier of solid ice, a wall of frozen death that collided with the flaming blade. The sound of cracking ice reverberated through the ruined city like the sound of thunder.
"You cannot defeat me with your flames," The Devil stated, his voice a hollow echo. "I am the cold that consumes all warmth."
Huǒyàn grinned, a firestorm igniting around him. The heat intensified, the air distorting as his power rose to meet the challenge. Infernal aura radiated outward, turning the air around them into a burning wasteland.
"You think ice can stop fire?" Huǒyàn laughed, the flames of his sword rising higher, engulfing everything in its path. "Watch closely, Devil. Watch as I turn your frozen heart into cinders."
He swung Fēnghuǒ, the flames turning into a whirlwind of destruction that encircled The Devil. The ground cracked under the heat, and the very sky seemed to ignite as firestorms rained down.
But The Devil remained unfazed, his absolute cold aura spreading with such intensity that the very flames seemed to freeze in the air. The firestorm slowed, then stopped altogether, falling into frozen shards that scattered across the battlefield like snow.
"The cold cannot be beaten by fire alone," The Devil said softly, raising his hand. The frost that spread from his touch enveloped the firestorm, locking it into a solid block of ice.
Huǒyàn's eyes blazed with fury. He roared, slamming his sword into the frozen ground, causing fire to burst forth, but it was no match for the unrelenting cold.
"You think you are the only one who controls destruction?" Huǒyàn shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. The flames around him intensified, forming into monstrous, towering fire-beasts that roared to life and charged at The Devil.
With a flick of his wrist, The Devil summoned ice beasts of his own—towering creatures of jagged ice and sharp edges that lunged toward the fire-beasts in a deadly collision of frost and flame.
For a brief moment, it was as if the world had turned into a battleground of primordial forces—fire clashing with ice, destruction meeting eternal winter. The battle raged on, fire and ice tearing through the earth, sending shockwaves across the land.
But then, Huǒyàn smiled darkly, a flash of insanity in his eyes.
"Your ice is cold, Devil... but I am faster," he growled, his body moving with blinding speed as he streaked through the battlefield, leaving behind a trail of flames. He appeared before The Devil in an instant, swinging his sword in a blazing arc that cut through the frozen air like a comet.
The Devil’s eyes flicked upward, his icy aura suddenly contracting, creating a barrier of frozen energy to deflect the sword. But the sheer heat of Huǒyàn's strike caused the ice to shatter, sending shards flying across the battlefield.
And as the battle reached its fever pitch, with fire and ice colliding like two unstoppable forces, the city around them began to collapse, consumed by the chaos that raged between them.
Who would claim victory? The world could only watch as these two forces of nature clashed, knowing that the earth would never be the same.
Psychological Analysis:
The Devil is not just a villain—he's a personification of absolute isolation and control. His attachment to ice is more than just thematic. It represents his emotional state: cold, detached, unyielding. His power comes from controlling the environment around him, freezing everything in place, from enemies to emotions. He thrives on fear, pain, and the absolute domination of those around him.
Mental Health Check:
The Devil’s mental state is highly dissociative. He has completely separated himself from human emotions, using his immense power to protect him from the vulnerability that comes with connecting with others. His only attachment seems to be to power itself, and he seeks to spread that power like a frozen plague, turning everything he touches into a cold, emotionless shell. The lack of empathy and connection, however, suggests deep-seated narcissism and sociopathy—he doesn't experience love, compassion, or regret. He is the cold; he has internalized it.
- Paranoia: His distrust of others is likely a byproduct of this immense power and his belief that vulnerability = weakness. This paranoia fuels his cruelty and makes him a master manipulator.
- Depersonalization: His mental state likely leaves him unable to see others as individuals; they're tools, pawns to be manipulated in his grand plan. He may even experience a detached sense of self, seeing his power as something outside of him, more than just a part of his being.
Personality Type:
The Devil fits the INTJ (Architect) personality type. He is visionary, strategic, and thinks in long-term, calculated terms. He wants to reshape the world in his image, using logic and a harsh, detached approach to achieve his goals. The Devil has little to no tolerance for failure, and his emotional coldness makes him unapproachable and unrelatable. His desire for power borders on the obsessive.
- Strengths: Brilliant strategist, fiercely independent, self-sufficient, able to see the world objectively.
- Weaknesses: Lack of empathy, unable to form meaningful relationships, incredibly ruthless in his pursuit of power.
Mental State:
At the core of The Devil’s psyche is a numbing despair. His ability to freeze time, spaces, and people is a metaphor for his inability to connect emotionally with others. He is trapped in his own cold, frozen world, unable to experience warmth, love, or true joy. He has replaced his humanity with ice, and every bit of his power reinforces this emotional isolation.
- Nihilism: His existence might be driven by a deep belief that everything is meaningless, that only destruction and control bring purpose.
- Emotional Repression: His anger, fear, and pain are buried so deep under layers of ice that they manifest only in violent outbursts when his control is threatened.
Character Traits:
- Cold, calculating, manipulative: Uses logic to manipulate people, sees them as pieces to be moved around.
- Emotionally distant, unyielding: Keeps people at arm’s length, dissects everything emotionally without allowing himself to feel.
- Fearless: He feels no fear, only dominance.
- Master of intimidation: Fear is his ultimate weapon, and he wields it with precision.
- Supreme self-control: His frozen, controlled demeanor makes him terrifying; he doesn’t lose his cool.
Psychological Analysis:
Huǒyàn is a force of nature in every sense. His mind and spirit are bound by raw emotion, passion, and the unrelenting need to prove his superiority. His control over fire, much like The Devil’s control over ice, is symbolic of his inner turmoil—a searing, consuming desire to burn the world and rebuild it in his image. Unlike The Devil, Huǒyàn cannot suppress his emotions, and they fuel his every action, making him erratic, dangerous, and unpredictable.
Mental Health Check:
Huǒyàn’s mental state is much more volatile than The Devil’s. While The Devil represses his emotions, Huǒyàn is consumed by them. His passion for destruction is driven by anger, grief, and regret—likely a trauma response. His need for strength stems from his fear of weakness, perhaps due to a history where he was either powerless or saw others fall due to their inability to rise up.
- Aggression and Impulsivity: His anger leads him to act rashly and violently, with little consideration for the consequences. He fights not only out of necessity but as a form of release for his inner turmoil.
- Repressed guilt and fear: Though outwardly confident and fiery, he is haunted by a fear of failure and a deep insecurity about his own vulnerability. His obsession with power is not just about dominance but a defensive mechanism against the world that once scarred him.
Personality Type:
Huǒyàn likely falls under the ESTP (Entrepreneur) personality type. He is adventurous, impulsive, and driven by a desire to act on his emotions. He craves the thrill of combat and the heat of battle, seeing it as the ultimate test of his strength.
- Strengths: Highly adaptable, quick thinker, able to take risks and thrive in chaos.
- Weaknesses: Impulsive, emotionally driven, lacks long-term strategic thinking, prone to overestimating his own power and underestimating his enemies.
Mental State:
Huǒyàn's mind is a maelstrom of emotion, driven by desire, rage, and an overwhelming need to prove himself. He doesn't just want to fight—he wants to feel alive, to feel the rush of combat and the certainty that he is unbeatable. His mental state may verge on obsession, with each victory fueling his overinflated sense of self-worth. However, deep down, his actions are motivated by a deep fear of being inferior, of being left behind.
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: His obsessive pursuit of strength, coupled with a perfectionistic streak, leads him to constantly test his limits in battle. He is always searching for more power, more heat, more destruction.
- Emotional instability: His fiery outbursts often mirror emotional instability, resulting in quick escalation when challenged. He may suffer from intense mood swings and emotional outbursts.
Character Traits:
- Fiery, aggressive, driven: Always on the move, constantly pushing forward, either in battle or emotionally.
- Ruthless and unrelenting: He sees only victory or failure—nothing in between.
- Brash and impulsive: Takes risks without considering the consequences.
- Prideful: Huǒyàn holds immense pride in his strength and is highly susceptible to insult and perceived slights.
- Chaotic, passionate: Everything is intense with him. There are no half-measures.
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The Devil: Detached, calculating, emotionally deadened, driven by a need to control and dominate. His coldness is a psychological defense mechanism against the vulnerability he feels beneath. His obsession with perfection and control fuels his destruction, and he has little to no emotional depth, rendering him a narcissistic sociopath.
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Huǒyàn: Driven by passion, rage, and a desire to prove himself. His mental state is a chaotic whirlwind of impulsive decisions, anger, and fear of inadequacy. His emotions often control him, making him a volatile, irrational, and unstable force of destruction. His obsession with strength comes from a deep root of insecurity.
Both are tragic figures, bound by their emotions and obsessions, with the fire and ice serving as metaphors for their inner turmoil.
Backstory:
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Huǒyàn’s childhood was a world of abandonment and abuse. He grew up in a small village, one of many children, raised by indifferent parents who saw him as nothing more than a burden. The fire of his catalyst wasn’t born of some mystical origin—it was the fire of rage that had been brewing in his heart for years, a rage against the world that constantly rejected him.
From a young age, Huǒyàn knew what it meant to be neglected. His parents were distant and cold, often leaving him to fend for himself while they focused on their own lives. His mother would always be too busy with her own vices to notice the bruises on his arms, bruises that came from the relentless beatings his father would dish out. The man was angry, bitter, and cruel, taking out his frustration on his son. Huǒyàn, emotionally neglected and physically abused, grew silent—fighting was his only way of releasing his rage.
The first time his catalyst activated, it wasn’t from an external trigger; it was a culmination of years of suffocating pain and neglect. One evening, after a particularly brutal beating, Huǒyàn snapped. His entire body was consumed with a furious, blinding heat. His hands, as if they were on fire, reached for his father in an instinctive act of revenge. Flames erupted from his body, engulfing everything in its path. The fire that flowed from him wasn’t just literal—it was his hate, his deep-seated pain, manifesting into a destructive power.
It was then that Huǒyàn realized he could control this fire. It became an extension of him—a means of survival and expression. It was his way of fighting back. No one had ever shown him affection, but this flame? This was his.
However, even after he killed his father in a fit of rage, his path to true power was far from clear. Emotional neglect had turned him into a sociopath, someone who saw others as mere obstacles. His connection to people was shallow, nonexistent. He had no idea what love was, and his mind had become a chaotic whirlpool of anger and hurt.
His first moments of vulnerability came later, when he encountered Plague Doctor, the strange figure who seemed to know exactly what Huǒyàn was going through. They met during one of Huǒyàn’s missions—he was sent to wipe out a small town that had been resisting the terrorist group’s control. But in the ashes of the battle, when the flames had died down, he found Plague Doctor, who didn’t react with fear or judgment, only quiet understanding.
Plague Doctor saw through Huǒyàn’s anger and rage. In a rare moment of genuine empathy, he told Huǒyàn, “You don’t burn because you want to—you burn because you’ve been forced to. That fire inside of you is the only thing keeping you from being consumed by the darkness. But you need to understand one thing—it can either keep you alive or destroy you. Which one will it be?” Huǒyàn was caught off guard. For once, someone didn’t see him as just a tool, but as a person who had been broken.
But even Plague Doctor’s kind words couldn’t break through the layers of self-hate that Huǒyàn had built around himself. He was too far gone. Plague Doctor’s attempt to reach him ended as most things did—in flames.
Mika, the young girl from a rival group, would be another pivotal encounter in Huǒyàn’s life. He initially viewed her as weak, just another pawn in the game of destruction. However, when they were forced to team up on a mission, Huǒyàn noticed something different about her—a warmth that he could barely comprehend. She didn’t seem to fear him, nor did she seem to hold any hatred for him. She wasn’t afraid of his fire. She was even able to talk to him without looking at him like a monster.
For the first time in his life, Huǒyàn felt something shift within him. Mika didn’t need him to be a monster, she just wanted him to be something more than the fire. But Huǒyàn, consumed by his own bitterness, couldn’t let her in. She was too kind, too fragile. He was too dangerous.
And so, just as Plague Doctor’s empathy had been, Mika’s was crushed by the flames.
Backstory:
The Devil’s story begins as a normal boy, much like any other—except for the fact that his life was shattered at the age of 15. That was when everything changed. His parents, whom he had loved dearly, were killed in a tragic accident. A car crash that left him alone, with only memories of the warmth of his mother’s smile and his father’s comforting embrace. But in the void left by their deaths, something twisted inside him.
His adoptive family was supposed to be a source of healing, a place where he could grieve and find solace. But they couldn’t see past his pain. They didn’t understand him, didn’t understand his need for connection, and for years, he lived in an environment of emotional neglect. The love he so desperately craved was never offered. The Devil became silent, retreating into himself, his mind slowly beginning to unravel.
The schizophrenia he developed was a result of his growing isolation. His mind was constantly at war with itself—voices, visions, fears, and thoughts that were his alone to bear. His adoptive family would scold him, call him “crazy,” but the truth was they never tried to help him. No one had the tools to reach a boy who had long since withdrawn from the world.
One night, when the whispers in his mind grew too loud, too maddening, his powers began to emerge. The cold that he felt inside—the chilling emptiness—manifested into something far worse. His heart, already numb from the emotional abandonment, grew cold. He could feel the frost creeping in, turning his body into something inhuman. He had no control over it—the cold took over, freezing everything it touched.
When the catalyst first manifested, it wasn’t through choice. The Devil didn’t make a decision to embrace the cold; the cold simply came over him, freezing his adoptive family in place. His first act of power was his last connection to them. The ice encased their bodies, and in that moment, he killed them. Not with malice, but with a chilling, silent detachment. They were gone, frozen in time, and he was alone.
The Devil’s first vulnerable moment came when he was forced to confront the ghosts of his adoptive family. He had killed them—but in doing so, he had killed his last chance at redemption. The trauma from his schizophrenia, his emotional neglect, and the sudden emergence of his ice powers broke something inside of him. He no longer saw the world through a lens of love or hope; it was just ice—cold, impenetrable, and unyielding.
But there was someone who saw his potential—The Devil’s recruit to the terrorist group, a man who promised him power in exchange for his loyalty. This man didn’t care about the Devil’s emotional scars; he saw the potential for someone who could use his power to freeze the world and reshape it into something cold and controllable. He promised that the world would bow to The Devil, and he would no longer be weak. No longer alone.
In his mind, the terrorist group became the only family he could have—the only thing that could save him from himself.
Mika, for both Huǒyàn and The Devil, represents a lost connection—a glimpse into the world that could have been. Her kindness, warmth, and lack of fear stand as a reminder of everything they both could never have.
For Huǒyàn, Mika represented a fragile hope—the possibility that he could connect with someone who didn’t want to burn him alive with judgment. But his sociopathic tendencies and the emotional chaos within him prevented him from ever letting her in. He could never allow himself to feel something positive. It was easier to stay detached, to watch her burn away like everything else in his life.
For The Devil, Mika’s vulnerability was a cruel reminder of everything he had lost. She saw him, not as a monster, but as a human being—something that terrified him because he no longer believed he could be human. Her kindness wasn’t something he could comprehend anymore. And so, he withdrew.
Plague Doctor, the shadowy figure who tried to see through both of them, also tried to reach them—but both men were already too far gone. For Huǒyàn, he understood that there was no saving him—he was too wrapped in his flames. And for The Devil, the cold was all he had left.
Both Huǒyàn and The Devil were shaped by their emotional neglect, abuse, and the need to survive. Their powers came from pain, and as they wielded these powers, they began to lose themselves. The vulnerability they showed to figures like Mika and Plague Doctor was brief—an illusion of connection that would always slip away, swallowed by the very darkness and fire that made them who they are today.
The world had been set alight—metaphorically and literally. Huǒyàn and The Devil, two of the most feared members of the terrorist group, stood side by side with Mika Regina, now far more than just the vulnerable girl they had once known.
Her transformation into the vampire, fueled by the raw power of her own catalyst, had shifted her entire presence. Her eyes, once bright with naive hope, were now dark, predatory, and piercing. Her skin glowed pale beneath the moonlight, her fangs barely hidden behind a smirk that showed nothing of her previous fragility.
She had embraced the vampire inside her, a transformation that came with its own set of hunger—not just for blood, but for destruction, something she never fully understood in her former, weaker self. Now, with her newfound powers, Mika had become a terrifying ally in the group’s mission. The world was ripe for their devastation.
The streets were filled with the screams of the few survivors, though none of them would make it out alive. The terrorist group, led by The Devil and Huǒyàn, had descended upon the city like a plague. Buildings were already burning as Huǒyàn’s flames lashed out, leaving scorched earth in his wake. The Devil, standing stoic amidst the chaos, exhaled frost that froze entire blocks, turning everything into a white wasteland.
But it was Mika who found the most joy in the destruction. As she stood in the middle of the chaos, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth, her laughter filled the air—a sound like the tolling of a bell, eerie and pure.
Mika Regina’s Vampire Catalyst Powers:
Her vampiric abilities had changed her. The hunger was always there, gnawing at her consciousness, but she no longer feared it. It had become a part of her, a tool of power. Mika could summon shadows, twisting them to her will. With a flick of her wrist, the shadows would latch onto her enemies, crushing them under their weight, or dragging them into the darkness where they would disappear, never to be seen again. Her speed was supernatural now—each movement was a blur, every step an omen of doom for those who crossed her.
But what she loved most was the ability to charm. With her enhanced beauty and vampiric allure, she could freeze anyone with a single glance, making them vulnerable as she approached. She didn’t need to fight them directly—she could simply mesmerize them, drawing them into her world of death and power. Their last moments would be spent in awe, unaware of the fate that awaited them.
The night was heavy with bloodlust, a storm of rage and satisfaction swirling around the three of them.
Huǒyàn stood near a building, flames rising from his hands like some kind of living demon. He looked at Mika with an almost amused expression, his molten eyes flicking over her as she tore through the crowd, her claws extended like sharpened weapons. “You’re enjoying this a little too much, Mika,” he commented dryly, but there was no judgment in his voice—only a hint of approval.
Mika’s laughter bubbled up, and she turned her gaze on him, her vampiric eyes gleaming in the moonlight. “You’re one to talk, Huǒyàn. Do you think I don’t see the way you smile when you burn them alive?” Her voice was playful but dark, almost mocking. “We’re both monsters now.”
The Devil’s presence loomed over them, cold and oppressive. His eyes, though still filled with the shadows of madness, were sharp and calculating. He hadn’t said a word yet, but his control over the scene was absolute. The cold aura that emanated from him was unlike anything the world had ever seen. Entire blocks were frozen solid, with people trapped inside frozen shells, their bodies unrecognizable.
“A monster? No, Mika,” The Devil finally spoke, his voice like a glacier. “We’re beyond that now. We are the architects of a new world. A world that only understands the language of fire and ice.”
Mika’s eyes narrowed. “How cute,” she said with a smirk, her fangs flashing. She darted forward, vanishing in a blur of shadows, and in an instant, she was upon a group of terrified citizens. They didn’t even have time to scream before she sank her teeth into their necks, draining the life from them in a matter of seconds. The blood spilled like a river, staining the pavement.
As she tore through the helpless civilians, her mind was flooded with the primal pleasure of the kill. She didn’t just crave blood now—she craved power. She craved the complete and utter destruction of everything in her path. And this city? This city was her playground.
Meanwhile, Huǒyàn was orchestrating his own reign of chaos, his sword slashing through the air, leaving trails of fiery destruction in its wake. His flames were no longer just flames—they were an extension of his very soul. He could feel the heat of their death as it rose, knowing full well that each life snuffed out was one more piece of the world burned to nothing.
“I’ve always loved fire,” he murmured to no one in particular, his voice low. “It purges the weak. And this place is full of weakness.”
The Devil remained detached, watching with a cold, emotionless gaze as his allies wreaked havoc. His cold breath froze the ground beneath his feet, spreading outward and freezing anything it touched. He could feel the screams of the terrified, their panic echoing in the frozen air. It only made him smile. The more they screamed, the more he felt alive.
As the night continued, the bloodshed grew worse. The city was in complete ruin, the streets littered with the bodies of the innocent, their deaths an afterthought to those who had caused it. Huǒyàn, now fully in his element, was setting fire to entire buildings, watching as they crumbled into ash. The flames roared like a hungry beast, a force unstoppable and unrelenting.
Mika, her skin covered in the blood of her victims, turned to face Huǒyàn, her lips curved into a wicked smile. “I didn’t think you’d be so… thorough. It’s almost like you enjoy it,” she teased, her voice dripping with venom.
Huǒyàn’s smirk matched hers, though his eyes were cold. “Don’t pretend you’re any different, Mika,” he shot back. “You’ve been feasting for hours.”
Mika laughed. “True. But it’s not just the blood—it’s the fear that makes it sweet. Watching them run, knowing they can’t escape. That’s the real rush.” She wiped the blood from her mouth, her eyes gleaming with a hunger that had little to do with just blood.
Huǒyàn nodded. “Fear is a beautiful thing,” he agreed, swinging his sword with a fiery arc that sliced through the air, cutting down everything in its path. The fire seemed to respond to his every whim, growing in size and intensity.
The Devil, on the other hand, had long since ceased to care about the spectacle. For him, it wasn’t about the joy of the kill; it was about the power he wielded, the control he had over the situation. His eyes, locked on the chaos around him, were devoid of emotion, yet there was a certain gleam in his gaze—a reflection of someone who had become something far beyond the boy who once cried out for help.
“The world will never be the same,” The Devil muttered to himself, watching his icy reign spread across the city. “And that’s the way it should be.”
The massacre raged on, but amidst the carnage, a bond had formed between the three of them. It wasn’t friendship—it wasn’t even loyalty. It was something darker, something far more dangerous: a shared appreciation for the destruction they had brought.
They were brothers and sisters in arms, united by a desire to burn the world down to its core, leaving only ruin in their wake.
Mika, once a fragile girl, was now an unstoppable force of darkness, reveling in the sheer violence of the moment. Huǒyàn, the infernal flame swordsman, was at his peak, his power running wild. And The Devil? The Devil was the cold hand that guided their destruction, ensuring that no one escaped the wrath of their might.
The city was theirs. The world would be theirs. And in that moment, amidst the ashes and the cold, they stood together, reveling in the chaos they had wrought.
“Let’s make the world burn,” Mika said, her voice a promise. “Let’s burn it all.”
And with that, they did—scorched earth and frozen ruins.
The beginning of their new world had just begun.
End of Chapter.