Despite the tears running down his face, the world didn't give the young drow time to mourn.
A Demon who killed his parents came to him and intended to do the same to him.
No time to mourn for his beloved home which was once a sanctuary for a small community of Supernaturals, his dead friend, or even his deceased parents whom he loved and viewed as people who would change the world.
Instead of the bright future he hoped for, he was now running in tears.
Oddly enough, the other Rastrikan Demons that he passed along the way only cast a glance at him and laughed. None of them tried to catch him, he was let loose and free to watch as these Demons mauled and killed the others brutally.
Blood could be seen flowing on the side of the road, drained from the victims.
Even severed limbs, rolling eyeballs, and torn intestines that seemed to be pulled out forcefully and ruthlessly decorated the road with the epiphany of gore, something that should only be in nightmares were evidently displayed in front of the young drow.
Foreign to this bloody sight, his stomach grumbled as he fell and vomited his insides.
More laughter came from the Demons at his pitiful sight.
Despite the horror that was infiltrating his heart, he wiped the reservoir of his vomit smeared on his mouth before running out of the islet into the swamp. But he was knocked from the side, falling face-first into the swamp.
Splash!
Pushing himself up, the young drow glanced back and saw the same Demon as before.
A demonic trident aglow in scorching flames rested casually against the Demon's shoulder, while his malevolent gaze fixated on the young drow. His smile, playful and wicked, exuded an unsettling ease as he relished the sight of the struggling young drow, a fulfillment of his sadistic fetish.
It was a Demon Captain, smacking his lips in delight at the young drow.
"Aaaahhh!!"
Screaming once again, the young drow stumbles forward, pushing himself away despite tripping a couple of times to get away from the Demon Captain. But it proved futile, the Demon Captain easily caught up to him.
No matter how much the young drow tries, the Demon Captain appears before him.
On top of that, the Demon Captain also knocked him down several times.
Splash!
"Come now, little one, you have to do better than this. Despite your parents' failure, I hold a sliver of faith that you might just surpass their shortcomings in running away" the Demon Captain remarked, his words dripping with sarcasm. His sinister chuckle accompanied his voyeuristic delight as he was thoroughly entertained by this.
At this point, the young drow's eyes have already turned helpless and bleak.
Knowing that escape is impossible, he stayed down.
The frigid embrace of the swamp's cold waters sent shivers coursing through his body, mirroring the ominous proximity of death. The creeping dread that he felt was intensified by the relentless rain, causing the water level to steadily rise, enticing the allure of a watery grave by drowning instead of being killed by Demons.
'In the end... Peace cost more than what Father and Mother could afford'
Brak!
Not minding what the young drow was pondering, the Demon Captain walked over and kicked him on the stomach, sending him rolling on the shallow swamp. He did it with a laugh in his throat, seeing that the young drow had already given up.
"Don't disappoint me, keep running!" the Demon Captain exclaimed excitedly.
However, the young drown didn't do anything.
Despite being kicked numerous times on his stomach, forcing blood to climb out of his throat, the young drow didn't retaliate and stayed down. It was done for him, this will definitely be the end of his short journey.
Outrunning a Rastrikan Demon, a powerful entity is literally impossible for someone like him.
It would be better if the Demon Captain would end him right now.
Just as another strong kick landed on his chest, the young drow's eyes bulged as a rib broke and punctured his lung. Death is already imminent, and it would only take one more kick for the young drow to be sent to the afterlife.
But the kick that he longed for never came, the Demon Captain didn't do anything.
'Kill me... Please, I just want this to end...'
Contrary to what the young drow was thinking, suspecting that the Demon Captain wanted to torture him some more and refused to kill him, the Demon Captain stopped because of a steely sound that came from the dense forest.
Gazing at the thick forest, the Demon Captain frowns in alert.
Despite the steely sound that pierced the heavy rain, he couldn't sense anyone around.
Spreading his demonic energy to cover the forest in front of him and beyond, the Demon Captain still couldn't sense anything. Only then that he feel something was wrong, but that didn't dissuade him from engaging.
Splash!
With a powerful stomp, the Demon Captain leaned back with a trident in his hand.
Upon doing that, demonic flames swirled and surged within the trident's form, building a sinister and powerful energy. With a menacing flourish, the Demon Captain hurled the trident in the direction from which the disconcerting metallic resonance emanated, casting an unsettling atmosphere.
Like a bullet, the trident pierces the forest and melts everything that stands in its path.
It was then a big spark was produced when the trident hit something.
But unlike what it did before, piercing everything that stood in its path, the powerful trident was instead stopped in its tracks, caught in between a figure's fingers. As if that wasn't enough of a surprise, the trident shatters with a pinch.
Clang!
Only then that the Demon Captain reckon something powerful heading in his direction.
Realizing that something was going on, the young drow raised his head and saw the fiery path that the flaming trident made earlier. At the end of this fiery path was a shadowed figure, only a pair of its red eyes could be seen glowing.
A pair of glowing eyes that seemed daunting and powerful.
While this enigmatic figure drew nearer, the cacophonous metallic reverberation grew even louder, as if this mysterious presence were dragging a metallic object relentlessly across the rugged terrain or subjecting it to violent, jarring motions.
Soon, the fiery path lit up the figure's form, an imposing humanoid form.
In the instant the figure was exposed, a subtle wind blew to the surrounding area gently.
However, this gentle breeze sends danger signals to the Demon Captain's senses.
"What's happening? My body... it's shaking?"
Looking down at his own body, the Demon Captain could see that his body was shaking uncontrollably. Even though he attempted to stop this, his own body didn't want to listen, a natural reaction that he had never felt before.
But he then came into a revelation, he had seen something like this before.
It never happened to the Demon Captain himself, but his victims always tremble like this.
Even the young drow was also trembling, "Is this what they call natural fear...?"
Despite the remote location, far removed from known human territories, the Demon Captain's countenance darkens with a deepening frown. However, his eyes widened to their fullest extent in a moment of stark realization when he beheld the grotesque sight of a humanoid figure brandishing a chain coursing through the fiery path.
Attached to the end of the chain is a severed head that still oozes with demonic energy.
Stopping abruptly, the figure raised his gaze and smiled.
Raising the chain in his hand gradually, the severed head dangles when his hand reaches its peak. It was then the Demon Captain squinted his eyes before he gasped when he realized that the severed head was familiar.
"I- Impossible! Is that... Demon Lord Ranath?!" He exclaimed in extreme shock.
Crack!
Blitz!!
Out of nowhere, the figure threw the chain to the sky before a powerful black lightning strike that took the shape of a dragon descended, grabbing ahold of the chain and displaying Demon Lord Ranath's severed head clearly in the sky.
Moreover, Demon Lord Ranath's severed head depicts a contorting fearful expression.
Upon seeing this, the Demon Captain unconsciously took a step back.
"Brave enough to indulge in sadistic games and torment an innocent child, yet quaking in dread at the mere presence of a mightier force...?" A haunting voice echoed, its chilling resonance gripped the Demon Captain's very soul. "Do tell, are the vaunted Rastrikan Demons nothing more than a congregation of spineless cowards?"
Gritting his teeth furiously, the Demon Captain's legs bulged intending to attack.
However, he found that he wasn't able to move from his spot.
It was not that there were other unnatural forces that gripped him in place, but his body wasn't listening to him as if both of his feet were nailed to the ground. Realizing that his body is crippled through fear, the Demon Captain decided to do a tactical retreat.
But he failed to understand that the figure, Rex is not that merciful enough.
Swoosh!
Slash!
"Graarggh!!" the Demon Captain exclaimed in pain. Both of his legs were severed completely.
Rex walked and stood leisurely beside the crawling Demon Captain.
Gazing down at him, he mused with a nonchalant tone, "You see, I am not emotional about the bloodshed and gore that you fervently desire, as this is a time of unending war and conflict" He took a brief, intense pause before he continues. "It's a fair ordeal to further your own race and I understand. However..."
Following that very last word, Rex gazed downward fiercely.
"I am emotional about someone that brought the conflict of the world to a child..." Veins could be seen bulging in his neck, displaying a suppressed anger. "A CHILD!" He burst, his eyes glowed extremely bright red.
Upon saying that, Rex laughed in hubris, finding that saying this is futile to a Demon.
Shrugging casually, he pivots to face the Demon Captain. "I don't intend to come off as a hypocrite, for I am far from a saint myself," he began, his tone measured and calm. "Just like you, my hands have been stained with the blood of the innocent but all was done when I was not conscious. Does that not absolve me, at least in part, from the full weight of moral blame?"
Stomp!
"Gargghh!"
Despite the vice-like grip of fear that constricted his body, the Demon Captain summoned every ounce of his resolve when an agonizing stomp crushed his back, shattering numerous bones within him.
With a surge of energy, he unleashed a vicious swipe at Rex in an attempt to break free.
Although he poured everything he had, his attack was swatted away.
"Given your penchant for hunting children, are you aware of the terror coursing through their veins during the act?" Rex's voice turned glacial, his words dripping with disdain. "You Rastrikan Demons revel in aggression and conquest, but have you ever truly grasped the feeling your victims endure?"
But the thought of this made him click his tongue in displeasure.
Anybody who doesn't know the feeling of being a victim is ineligible to be called a conqueror.
In a swift and merciless response, Rex exerted even greater force into his stomp, causing the very ground beneath the Demon Captain's body to shatter and splinter. But within a span of a heartbeat, his blade danced with astonishing speed, ruthlessly severing both of the Demon Captain's arms in a vicious coup de grace.
Now, the Demon Captain was left armless and legless on the ground.
"Armless, legless, weaponless..." Rex uttered as he gazed down at the Demon Captain that has his eyes bulging due to the extreme pain and also the desire to flee. "Just like a child, you are now helpless. Now tell me, conqueror... Do you feel the child's fear now?"
"M- Monster...!" the Demon Captain uttered, looking at Rex with extreme fear.
However, this comment made Rex scoff in disdain. He slowly lifted the Silver Eye, a malevolent grin curling on his lips, and retorted, "Have you just realized it now? Yes... I'm also quite a monster myself"
With chilling nonchalance, he then plunged the blade into the Demon Captain's skull.
Upon killing the Demon Captain, and crushing his head with a stomp, he shifted his attention to the islet where the other Rastrikan Demons were rampaging. It was then that Adhara appeared beside him, "What is your order? Should we attack them right now?"
"Yes... Don't leave a single one alive" Rex replied shortly, his voice extremely cold.
Adhara nodded her head before gesturing to the army to start their attack on the islet.
Suddenly, her hand was seized by Rex, and as she turned to face him, an unsettling shiver coursed down her spine. His countenance bore a savage expression, sending a chill through her very being, realizing that he was extremely upset. "Make sure that even if they plead for death, their demise is a macabre, slow ordeal" He commanded, a ferocious gleam in his eyes.
"Okay..." Adhara nods obediently. "I'll make sure the others receive your command"
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶