Nocturnal Challenge

1!

0!

[A ghost timeline loaded.]

<Go, Dad!>

<Kill them all, Daddy!>

Thirteen-year-old Ru ran without looking back, getting farther and farther away from the campsite. And he kept running, putting more and more distance between himself and the moth-winged gray imps, their tiny bodies covered in a layer of viscous tar.

But that wasn't exactly what he wanted to do. Ru desired to defeat the demons, to destroy them if possible, but he had to do it in a completely unmanned area.

When he was sure he had put a considerable distance between himself and the scout camp, he stopped.

Finally facing the demons, he motioned for them to approach with a wave of his hand.

The six imps charged at him, flapping their wings, a size too small for their bodies, and hopping up and down on their tails.

As they closed in, Ru braced himself for the impending confrontation.

Ru cheated early in the battle. One by one, he began throwing stones across the field at the imps. After this series of successful throws, he re-drew his knife and eagerly ran towards the imps. If anyone had been watching from the outside, they would have thought he was happy to see the imps.

"Come on, you fools! Don't run away! You assholes!"

Ru carefully aimed his knife at the wings of two imps. With a quick and precise movement, he made a clean slash on each of their wings. The imps squawked in pain as their ability to fly was instantly compromised.

"Shh! You'll wake people up. Please die quietly," he said and gave one of them a strong kick in the stomach.

After disemboweling three demons, Ru delivered a powerful elbow to the face of another demon. The impact sent the imp tumbling backward, momentarily disoriented. Seizing the opportunity, Ru lunged forward with his knife, aiming for a decisive blow.

He slit the imp's throat and watched with sadistic pleasure as the black blood flowed.

Ru's heart raced as the adrenaline coursed through his veins, fueled by the intense collision. The impact had sent a surge of energy through his body, making him feel invincible. Ready to unleash even more brutality on his enemies, he had just lifted a large stone into the air. This was the stone that would have crushed the imp's head.

"Nwhahaha!"

However, amidst the chaos, a low growl pierced through the air, catching Ru's attention. His ears perked up, and he instinctively turned towards the source of the sound. The growl was deep and menacing, sending a shiver down his spine. As Ru's eyes scanned the surroundings, he spotted a pair of glowing eyes in the darkness. The growl grew louder, echoing in the night. It was then that he realized he had stumbled upon the territory of a formidable predator.

Yes, something was coming at him fast. A large, four-legged thing that left a smoky trail where it passed.

<A hellhound, Dad!>

"Shit! Where is it," shouted Ru.

<Behind you!>

As the girls observed, Ru seemed unsure of what to do or where to go.

<Climb the tree!> one of the girls shouted, and Ru immediately jumped into action.

He leaped and grabbed the trunk of the tree. As he climbed up, an imp appeared, its eyes shining brightly, its horns pointed, and its body twice the size of the others. It carried a small, gray fire in its hand. He threw it towards Ru.

"Oh my goddess! Help," Ru cried, and at the last moment, he grabbed a branch and managed to dodge the firebolt by pulling his legs up.

Meanwhile, the hellhound revealed itself at the base of the tree. The gray smoky aura outlined its invisible form. The hellhound's claws were as large as rakes, and its nails scratched the trunk of the tree.

Ru could not remain indifferent to this situation. The tree that he was clinging to was not only shaking, but it was also bleeding from the inside. He became angry: "You vile anti-nature!"

He took out some of the stones, large and small, that were left in his pocket. He then threw them one by one, hoping to distract the hellhound at the base of the tree. Some of the stones hit the hellhound, but unfortunately, they did no damage. Undiscouraged, he quickly scanned his surroundings for another object to use as a makeshift weapon. He apologized to the tree he had taken refuge in and plucked a dry, thin branch from it. He swung it toward the hellhound, tossed it to the left, and yelled, "Catch, boy!"

But the hound had come from hell and was as big as the biggest dog in the world. As long as what was thrown wasn't a soul, it didn't care ...

"Bad dog," he said.

Undeterred, Ru immediately came up with a new plan. He reached out, took off his shoe, and threw it in the opposite direction. Even though the shoe had no soul, it had a smell. The move appeared to work. The dog, unable to resist the instinct to chase, ran after the shoe.

"A dog is a dog," Ru said proudly as if he had invented a pithy saying.

Meanwhile, the Imps were surrounding the tree under the leadership of "Big Brother Imp". The Big Bro Imp's claw glowed with a gray light. As Ru had experienced, he was preparing his second firebolt.

There was not a single Ru in this universe who would let a tree burn.

As he watched in amusement as the hellhound crushed a demon, he made his decision. He took off his other shoe and threw it at Big Brother Imp.

The shoe hit Big Brother's big head, but the hellhound was nowhere to be seen.

"What the hell," Ru asked.

Big Brother, who was unharmed by the shoe at that moment, sent the gray firebolt.

The hellhound appeared on the bold branch directly above Ru.

"Oh no!"

Ru's mind raced, desperately searching for a way to escape the hellhound's wrath.

The creature's powerful muscles flexed as it lunged at Ru, its claws ready to tear through flesh. In a split-second decision, Ru dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the hellhound's ferocious bite.

Just before the gray firebolt hit, Ru leaped onto the hellhound.

The girls closed their eyes in fear.

Time stood still for Ru as the girls screamed with excitement.

<He's gone, our father is dead.>

< Why is our new father so crazy?>

<How many points did you give to his mental statistics?>

Body: 10

Agility: 16

Vitality: 7

Mind: 17

Heart:?

Spirit: 13

Charisma: 20 (childhood sweet+3)

Luck: 0

<Why is the spirit stat low?>

<We nerfed this stat because our dad does not favor spiritual paths.>

<Ow!>

<Let's start it and see how it goes.>

<What the hell, he's dead already.>

[The past is reloading...]

In the pond of magical water around which the girls gathered, the tree and the Big Bro Imp and its minions surrounding it could be seen. But Ru and the hellhound weren't up in the tree. Then where was he?

<Where did he go?>

<What happened there?>

<Play it back!>

[Re-launch past.]