1 Demon

"Hand over the Heaven Defying Beast Essence, Demon," Brock said coolly. His black eyes were emotionless, and his even blacker hair was smooth as silk. "You are not worthy."

Reflected in his mirror-like eyes was a red figure, but its beastly appearance could be seen clearly even then. This figure had cloudy white hair, disheveled and sprawled over his shoulders, lifeless. His body was covered in red armor from the neck down. The sound of gears turning and screws screeching against nuts kept coming out of it. From the joints of the armor, a burst of white and yellow steam came out now and then, jolting his body which hovered above the earth. But even this armor couldn't hide the most striking thing about this man.

It was his eyes.

Hazel, pure but defiant. A queer combination of gold-brown-green. The hue itself seemed to change with every turn of observing heads and every drop of height in the setting sun.

Those ever-changing pupils of his were not alone, unlike his red-armored figure surrounded by dozens of people, all hovering in the sky's emptiness using one device or another. The white of his eyes had been claimed by the dense blood-red veins, starting from the corner of his eyes and reaching towards the center. It was like thousands of lava-rivers were fueling those golden-colored seas in his pupils.

"How many innocent people have died under your hands, Demon?" Brock asked.

His sudden question brought about a shout of rage from all the men and women surrounding the white-haired boy. Clearly, these "people" once had belonged to the angry mass at a point in time.

All had known, publicly, the notorious and condemning deeds of the red-armored boy. Massacres, assassinations, kidnappings, and rapes; name the crime and he had committed it. Old and young, none had survived under the wrath of his saber, spilling their innocent blood over the floor like butchering pigs. But this had not earned him the name Demon.

The people in the streets talked about a demon, who had killed his father when he was just ten-years-old. And then he waited, like the snake he was, for the right time before killing his mother too at the boyish age of 14.

Only two years had passed since then.

They said the Demon had been born after killing his mother. But many believed it had always been alive, hidden deep under the mask of his charming eyes. No matter who was right, they all agreed that the last two years were like surviving the apocalypse all over again. For the Demon had awakened, and it brought a field of blood and fire upon the world.

Not all knew if the Demon had another more humane name as well. But Brock knew, and so the others presented there.

"In the name of Justice, you WILL die today, Kai Stormborn," Brock said, pointing the tip of the spear out.

Kai took in all the faces with his bright, but dead, eyes. Anger and resentment coursed through his very veins, replacing the blood if there was some left. His entire body ached, the wounds felt stabbing into his bones, and he could feel the blood draining out of his body with every passing second. Only the armor was keeping him airborne.

'But for how long?' Kai bitterly thought.

The white-yellow steam coming out of the armor was growing thin. The grating noise of the armor's parts sounded like roaring the last goodbye.

'Is this it?' Kai thought, his eyes moving up to see the vastness of the blue sky. Behind him, the gurgles of the thunder were approaching. Every other blast felt closer than the last. Soon the black clouds would take over the sky, and the light red sunshine of the setting sun. 'A storm is coming…'

Kai closed his eyes for just a moment, but when he opened them, there were no more questions. His left hand swept by his left thigh. His actions made everyone straighten their back, taut like a drawn bow. He lifted his left hand, his palm closed, and unfurled his fingers, letting everyone see the content placed there.

"Is this the thing you all want?" Kai asked.

There was a blood-red-colored object in his hand, hovering over his palm. It was more solid than a liquid. But it was not solid enough either, as it kept churning into itself, forming vortexes now and then. This was the thing that had turned the world upside-down. This was also the thing that had cost his parents their lives.

It was the Heaven Defying Beast Essence.

Kai looked at the object and his thoughts wandered out of his control. He couldn't help but remember the start of all this, dark and bleak.

It was the year 2222 AD now. His mother had told him about the days of two hundred years ago when the virus Oxycron had hit the world out of the blue. In just a few years, it had engulfed every nook and cranny of the world, wiping out most of the human population. How it had originated was nothing compared to the question of how it had died. When the last infected case had passed away, the population was dwindling on its last legs. And none were prepared for the changes coming in the next few decades.

Those years saw an incomprehensible surge in the world's oxygen levels. The few scientists that had survived the pandemic labeled it as the effect of the virus they had thought had long gone. When in truth, it had just moved on from the humans. The previously assumed fact that the virus didn't affect the animals faced its first challenge when the humans found a mutated mosquito the size of a human head.

The plants kept breaking their height limits, and animals kept becoming larger and larger. But the humans gained nothing. It was almost said that the Earth had forsaken the human species. Those who had survived were nothing but a part of the food chain, destined to go extinct in the 21st century, also named The Century of Apocalypse.

Hope arrived late, but it came as the new century knocked on the door. Humans, at the cost of a pyrrhic victory, learned to harness the strength of those enhanced beasts in the form of their Blood Essence. Even before the technology had taken a major step ahead, they learned to assimilate this Blood Essence into themselves and obtain the power of that beast.

Those were the times of incredible unity and trust. Those were the times when humanity had resurrected Faith into itself. But human greed knew no bounds even then.

Once the humans gained a firm step into the world, they started to work on the method to assimilate over one Blood Essence from different beasts into their bodies. But the heavens rejected them. No matter what they did, how they did, they couldn't combine two different Blood Essences into one body.

All roads seemed to close until two prodigies came to the surface some thirty years ago from now.

Kai reined in his thoughts and noticed the looks of greed and hunger on the faces of men and women alike. But not Brock. He had an emotionless face, and his eyes gave away no hint. Brock was always cool-headed, even now, facing him right into his eyes.

'The time has changed when you can put trust in others,' his mother had told him, repeatedly. He did not remember the disappearance of his father, only rumors and her mother's mumblings. She never told him much, other than that he was the greatest scientist of his generation. She and his father were the lead scientists working on the multiple beasts' essence program.

After the disappearance of his father, his mother had single-handedly completed the project, giving birth to this abomination hovering over his left palm.

Kai remembered the frail appearance of his mother. She almost looked like a skeleton as if there were leeches on her back sucking her blood all day and night. He also remembered her sweet smile, her honey-like words, and her bony hands caressing his face.

'You must trust no one, my dear son.' Her words rang in his mind like sonorous chimes of a bell. But trust he did. The single-gravest sin of his life was trusting this person, who called himself Brock Valeheart. And this trust brought about the death of his mother's life. She had died in his arms, with a spear plunged in her heart, which had shattered his heart as well.

Kai had murder in his eyes.

A sudden gust of wind lifted Kai's white hair, signaling the storm's arrival. It also gave an unplanned signal to the others, and they lunged at him from all around.

"Purge the world of this filth," Brock commanded.

Kai closed his left palm, his right hand swept by his right thigh, and a long saber appeared in his hand. Behind him, a colossal illusion of a red, coiled serpent appeared. Lightning flashed through it, showing its forked tongue and red-slit pupils.

In the next moment, the serpent's image diffused and entered Kai. His blood boiled, a sudden burst of power overtook him, burying his tiredness deep within him. Little by little, his round hazel eyes turned long and narrow slits.

The same happened to the others as well. There were images of enormous porcupines, giant sea-birds, towering apes, and many more. As the images entered their bodies, a beastly growl came from their throats, challenging the Demon and vowing to eat him alive.

A hiss slithered Kai's surroundings in reply.

An old man, with giant eagle-like wings on his back, shot himself towards Kai. He was the strongest among them, just beneath Brock. He was also the fastest of them all. To the astonishment of others, Kai also lunged at the old man. There was an elation in the old man's eyes seeing this. Just when they were a few meters away from each other, Kai threw the Heaven Defying Beast Essence towards the old man.

"Take it," Kai said. The old man lost his bearings. His clawed hands clutched the object which all desired. Its touch felt the smoothest to him, and then the cold steel kissed his neck. Kai beheaded the old man with a heinous smile of greed still planted on his wrinkly face.

Others learned soon enough and reigned their charge. The Demon had tasted blood before, they all knew. The more he fought, the more he grew stronger. And his cunningness knew no bounds. A Demon in actions and thoughts.

Kai snatched the object out of the lifeless hands. He could see the wariness in all eyes. But time was not in his favor. If they won't come to him, then he would go to them.

The gears of his red armor furiously rubbed against each other in agreement. Kai charged at the nearest Essence Cultivator. He was the one with the essence of Mutated Porcupine. The middle-aged man hated Kai no less than the old man, his greed even larger. But the fear of death held him at his place.

"Cover me," the middle-aged man shouted. He faced his back towards Kai and shot out hundreds of over 1 meter long pikes at him.

Kai again didn't change the direction of his flight. The middle-aged man was the only long-ranged attacker, and he would do anything to kill him. The pikes rained down on him from his front. His bones gave out a popping sound simultaneously. Another hiss resounded in the ears of listeners and then they saw Kai slithering among the pikes effortlessly.

It was like a snake was slithering among the thorns but not worrying about their sharpness at all.

They had heard of it, and a selected few had even seen it on screen. But the live motion of Kai's movements had surpassed all imaginations.

"It was true," one said.

"One with Beast," another exclaimed.

But they didn't have time to say more. Kai had emerged out of the pikes' rain without suffering a single injury. The middle-aged man had asked for help, but now it was too late. Before another round of pikes could come out of his back, Kai coiled himself on his back. All saw Kai opening his mouth, and the two black fangs protruding out in place of his canines.

The middle-aged man couldn't even shout when Kai plunged his fangs into his neck. The man fell when Kai let go of him, but before he could fall even 100 meters, he turned into a pool of slimy blood.

Fighting against a group was Kai's specialty. None doubted it now.

Thunder was above them, and all other sounds had receded. The following few minutes were just men and women screaming and dying. Wounds were exchanged, but lives were only taken. The Demon stood true to his name, cutting off limbs and heads with no hesitation and remorse.

Kai's back was caved in from the repeated blows of the Ape Essence Cultivator. A sword was running through his stomach, trying to hack his waist, and from the hilt of the sword dangled a wrist with a bloody stump.

Kai's chest heaved, trying to find the elusive air. His nostrils flared, and his brilliant eyes were getting darker with every other strike of lightning in the sky. The storm was at its peak.

"Finally… it's you and me," Kai said, looking at Brock, his grip tightening over his parents' legacy. "I should have never trusted you, traitor. My mother gave you a home, I gave you a brother, and you killed one. The other is even deader than dead."

Kai had indeed thought of Brock as his brother back then. His eyes were dry, but remembering his mother, his voice softened.

Revenge! Kai wanted nothing but revenge. All those who had used his mother had been judged by his saber.

'Only he remains. I must kill him. I will kill him.'

Kai took a last deep breath in his beastly form. His red armor felt alive, roaring its last battle cry. But Kai could feel that Brock, as ever, had no hint of panic on his face, his eyes still calm as winter lake. Just when Kai reached the peak of his speed, Brock vanished, merging into the surroundings in plain sight.

'Chameleon Beast Essence,' Kai thought, gritting his teeth. It was his mother's gift to Brock, and Kai was the one who had suggested it.

Kai had to stop. The hissing around him was dying, and his senses were dull. The blood loss was showing its effect, and the armor was on the verge of blasting into pieces. Lightning crack on his left and from his right came a shrill sound of air. A deadly feeling rose in Kai's heart.

Click!

Kai parried the spear and counterattacked and hit nothing but air. His saber went by the empty air, sending him out of balance. The spear again showed itself at his calf, but Kai had no way to parry this one. A shower of blood burst out as his left leg got cut off. The armor could do nothing to stop the sharpness of that spear, Kai knew it.

'My father's spear…' the thought passed through Kai's mind. This was not a gift. Brock had stolen it after pinning the crime of killing his mother on Kai himself.

"Hahaha!" Kai suddenly laughed, a touch of madness in his voice. "Brock, you bastard, you too want this, right?" Kai held his left hand high and then suddenly brought it to his mouth.

"Humph." A snort came to Kai's ears and a phantom hand flicked his left arm away from his mouth. Kai's joints felt rusty to even move when Brock thrust the full length of the spear-blade into his chest. A sudden twist of the spear made Kai let go of the strength through which he had been holding the saber.

"Some men are destined to rise, stepping on the ashes of the dead. You are not even a man, Demon," Brock said.

Kai looked into his dark black eyes. Those cool eyes he looked up to. And a smirk came upon his face. For the first time, he saw panic written on Brock's face. This was the only thing Kai could do; he knew from the very beginning. He had no chance against so many, not when he was about to face Brock in the end. If he could get his revenge at the cost of his life, then the price was cheap indeed.

His left hand twisted, and a snake-like mouth opened up once where his fingers were. The snake devoured the Heaven Defying Beast Essence in one gulp.

"YOU FOOL!" Brock roared.

"Haha… Boom…" Kai said, with a huge smile on his face. His red armor was nothing compared to the spear, but it was the best of its kind. As soon as it got the command, it ballooned up with all the power left in it. Brock had no time to back up, even after letting go of the spear.

The storm must have gone away, for Kai heard nothing. Before the darkness took over him, his eyes were just looking at the panic on Brock's ever calm face.

And oh, he so loved the sight of that panic.