Zerek was taught at a young age to hate demons and all creatures that did not originate from their realm. For they did not belong in this realm and were foreigners to the world he lived in: a threat that needed to be eradicated. He'd always had a bit of a temper growing up as a slayer child, fueled by the desire to ensure that the demons that plagued their realm were taken down.

But this was not what was meant for Zerek. When his day came to prove himself a true Slayer on his first real hunt, he chased after a feral looking demon spotted by slayer scouts in the woods. His chosen hunt. The creature in question was in fact, a demon by the name of 'Lurid', and upon the chase, Zerek lost sight of lurid, only to collide with a much worse demon: Amvyos.

In that moment, Zerek had the chance to kill the demon while it was helpless, but taking a life felt so wrong. It didn't seem right. His faltering let the demon get away, and he returned to his village feeling ashamed of his failure.

But it was then that Amvyos came back with friends, a small demon gang, and destroyed his entire village full of slayers, powerful enough to wipe them all out. Amvyos mockingly spared Zerek's life, wounding him terribly but not killing him, telling him they were even.

After the tragedy befalling his family, destroying all he held dear, Zerek was found wounded and nursed back to health by an ex bandit, Abbae, and his friendly demon companion, Lurid. Spending time with the odd pair taught Zerek that regardless of their origins/past choices in life, not one soul is born good or evil... something akin to a 'grey area' of sorts. He learned to see Lurid as a kinder demon than the one that had attacked him and destroyed his village and family.

During this time, Abbae helped Zerek manage his anger and trained him with a spear, seeing in Zerek what he once was, lost and trying to find meaning. This bond deepened particularly when Zerek stopped a group of slayers from finding Lurid and Abbae. While they hid and listened, Zerek lied to the slayers, sending them away in a different direction. And now Zerek was managing this guilt, lying to his own people to help demons and a demon sympathizer. But he saw slayers differently now. Knowing the innocence of Lurid and the kindness of Abbae despite their upbringings and backstories, they were good people and didn't deserve the bloodthirsty fate slayers would have them receive.

It wasn't long after that all hell broke loose. Lurid finally perished at the hands of slayers, trying to protect Zerek from a blow. Abbae attacked to avenge his dear friend and companion Lurid, blowing himself and the slayers up in one heroic moment. Zerek was helpless to stop him and was forced to watch his friends die for each other in a blaze of glory. They murdered Lurid simply because he was a demon. Their minds set that everything was in black and white. Good vs Evil.

Zerek was filled with anger and sadness, wandering alone, wondering where he belonged, what the point of it all was. He walked along the woods by the beach when he saw a group of demons gathering as a ship came in. Amvyos was among them, greeting what would become Char, the great demon horde master of the land of Edin. But little kid Zerek wasn't wise to that. He saw his hunt. He saw Amvyos, the one that brought it all down on him and his loved ones. And he was filled with rage.

Armed with Abbae's spear, he lunged and attacked Amvyos, but was easily countered and thrown to the ground, his spear tossed aside. The demons, now joined by their new boss Char, laughed at his anguish and tiny pathetic human body. Char playfully put Amvyos and Zerek up against each other. Amvyos laughed as Zerek held his fists up to fight. He knew he was going to lose, but he was going to fight just like Abbae did. He would go out in a blaze of glory and rage, to avenge his loved ones, his innocence, his life and self.

As Zerek lay bleeding and beaten on the ground after Amvyos easily threw him around, toying with him until he was black and blue, crowded around by the newly formed demon gang, Zerek blacked out for a moment. His eyes opened in a black headspace, as if standing on shimmering black waters. He saw a red-headed demon, tall, lanky, pale, thin, standing there looking at him as if on the other side of a veil he couldn't see but knew was there.

He questioned the demon, asked him who he was. Why he seemed so familiar. Why he was here in this darkness. Why he felt so angry, so upset, so lost, so empty. What was he looking for? He didn't know why he had so many questions for this creature that stood silently, its eyes hidden behind fiery red hair, but he knew it had the answers.

Zerek wondered if this was death, and remembered as he heard the echoes of Amvyos and the gang laughing around him. He screamed at this demon and felt himself rise, as the red headed demon lifted its head up towards him, its eyes of gold and cyan shining brightly through the hair of its head. Zerek's eyes snapped open in the waking world.

He feebly stood up, aided by a heatwave that steadily leaked and drained out of him. Increasing inferno. The demons had stopped laughing now. They watched in silence as Zerek erupted into flame and rage, lifting from the ground in a blast of volcanic flames and burning rage. Every scar-shaped birthmark on his body, and his eyes and mouth, glowed with embers.

He heard the screams of a dying demon, the charred and smoking corpse of Amvyos as Zerek slowly came to, his feet touching the sand. Too weakened and hazy to keep upright, he crumpled to the ground next to the corpse and fell unconscious, the blurry scene of a man (Grey),getting off a horse and running to him from the beach side.

Char and his new gang were nowhere to be seen. Zerek faded to black.

Zerek turned his back on the slayers and joined the Hunters, after being found by Grey, a Demon Hunter who showed him the doors to the city of Sekkra. Knowing that his slayer skills could still be put to use (just without the 'slaying' part), he was simply keeping the dangerous demons out of the populace, the demons that caused chaos and gave the good natured demons a bad reputation.

Zerek made it his sworn duty to uphold the law of the land, to keep the more treacherous demons at bay while the others, humans and kinder demons alike, could coexist in peace.

Zerek made it his sworn duty to uphold the law of the land, to keep the more treacherous demons at bay while the others, humans and kinder demons alike, can coexist in peace.

Life and Death of Zerek:

Zerek befriended Astasia soon after arriving as a boy. They grew up together, becoming an infamous hunter duo, he the level headed tactician, she the wild and headstrong force. Their love felt like it completed him, like he'd been searching for her his entire life. She was cooling as water and can be as wild and fierce as the ocean, and together they kept each other afloat.

But Zerek harbors something he doesn't understand. After years of build-up, he experiences bouts of explosive anger, a heat that bubbles in his chest, growing until it erupts. It scares him. The loss of control, the rage that consumes him. Yet afterward, he feels calmer, more collected, like himself again. He doesn't know why this happens to him, why the fire within him demands release. Astasia sees his fear and wants to help him figure it out, to understand what's buried beneath those scar-shaped birthmarks he was born with.

They worked for Queen Ellah, often clashing with Char in a constant game of cat and mouse. If Char remembers Zerek as the child who erupted in flames, he hides it well. But Zerek remembers. And sometimes, when the heat builds in his chest, he wonders if that red headed demon in the darkness is still watching.

On one hunt, Zerek met an untimely demise. He fell into the waters of purgatory, where he meets Grieve: a torture demon of Hell. (Though Grieve would prefer 'Creator', as his methods may seem like torture, they are not intended to be so.)

From there his soul changes forever and so enters the next phase of his existence: Becoming a demon...