The boy — Arsenal

"Should we kill him?" A tall boy asks his friends as they stare at a young boy with black hair lying on the ground.

"He is better off dead," one of his friends replies and laughs. "We should kill him, of course!" He happily says in addition to what he had said before.

"No, I think we should push him down that cliff," another boy says and they all turn and gaze in the direction of the cliff. They all snickered in response. "Below the cliff is the dangerous water, he's going to definitely die down there. We don't have to soil our hands, you know," the boy added.

"I think you are right, James," the leader of the gang says, agreeing with what the boy, James had said.

In agreement, the leader let James and two other boys carry the almost-dead boy to the cliff and there, they tossed him down without a second thought.

"Goodbye, Arsenal," James says and begins to laugh, along with the other two boys with him.

As Arsenal went down, he slowly opened his eyes and caught a glimpse of James and the other two boys. He saw them laughing and a tear dropped from his eyes.

'What did I ever do to the world to make her hate me this much?' He thought with a bitter expression. His heart was tight, his head felt like it would explode any moment from now, and his thoughts were scattered all over the place.

Born into a wealthy family, Arsenal thought or believed that his life was going to be a smooth ride. At first, it was so but later on, after clocking ten, things began to change.

Why? Because he was born dumb.

Unlike his three siblings and every member of his family, Arsenal was very dull, and not just that, everything around him seemed to be cursed.

Nothing was working out for him, he could not go to school because he was a failure in all subjects. As such, everyone began to avoid him, his siblings, parents, and friends, no one wanted to be with him. As a result of this, enemies grew and before one knew it, they began to seek his life.

As his body went deep into the water, he trembled as a result of the water because it was known for its great depth and freezing nature. The water had no beginning, it equally had no end; that's exactly what the people believed.

'If I die, I can finally rest," Arsenal thought as he felt himself going deeper and deeper into the cold water. Soon, his eyes closed and he felt his lungs tighten, thus, causing him to stop breathing abruptly.

Yet, he refused to struggle. He had given up on life, he believed that to be dead is better than to be alive because, life to him, has no meaning.

So why should he struggle? This was his fate, he would gladly accept it. That way, people can also stop hating and causing him.

After a while, he no longer had any idea where he was. All he knew was that he was in some kind of dark and empty place, there was no noise, no hate, no pain... Everything was serene and he felt at peace.

"Human," a voice came to him out of the depths of the abyss.

"Human," the voice came again and he opened his eyes and saw the faint figure of a man but the light surrounding him was intense so he could not see properly.

"Who are you?" He asked the man.

"I am the keeper of the underworld," the voice replied.

"Am I in the underworld?" Arsenal asked him, shocked by the identity of the man.

"This is the boundary between the human world and the Underworld. That is to say, you aren't in the underworld," the voice replied.

Arsenal fell silent. He was somewhat unhappy.

"For a reason, your soul was rejected," the voice told him.

"Is that a bad thing?" Arsenal asked him.

"Yes. A rejected soul will never have the chance of rebirth. You will continue to wander around until the day your soul finally dissipates," the voice replied and Arsenal suddenly became happy.

"It's good news then, certainly not a bad thing," Arsenal said and the man was taken aback.

"What is there to be excited about?" He asked him. "Many souls are wandering around, praying and hoping to be given a second chance at life but here you are, happy?" He asked.

"At least, I won't have to suffer anymore." Arsenal's reply made the man quiet for a while before speaking again.

"No, you must return!" He said and opened his hands. A red floating ball appeared on his palm and directed it toward Arsenal. "That is a core made from the remnants of the king's immortal essence. Once you absorb it, you will have eternal life. Not only that, there is every possibility that you have the chance of becoming the next king," he said to Arsenal.

"Why are you helping me?" Arsenal asked him, confused by everything the man was saying.

"Because you have a bright future and with you, I have every right to believe that the demon race will not go extinct again," the man replied.

"I don't understand—" Arsenal said but before he could finish speaking, the man waved his hand, causing him to abruptly stop talking.

"You ask too many questions. Don't worry, with time, you will understand why all these had to be done," the man replied and caused Arsenal to absorb the core through his mouth.

As the core went down his throat, Arsenal let out a loud shout. He yelled his throat as if trying to force the object out of his mouth.

"The pain will last for a while and after that, you will leave this place at once," the man said and left afterward.

Arsenal was left to suffer the pain which lasted for almost an hour before finally subsiding. With the pain now gone, he stopped crying and when he opened his eyes, a set of double red irises replaced the normal ones. He began to float upwards until he got out of the water and stood in the air.

His sudden appearance brought about a dramatic change in the atmosphere as the sky turned dark, rendering everywhere in utter gloom.

The sky roared and purple lightning arcs colored the thick clouds.

"I am back," he said with a voice as loud as the thunders. This statement he made before suddenly losing control of himself and descending to the ground. He fell and a loud explosion took place at the same spot, creating a deep hole there.