My first impulse was to clear my throat of all the dust from the debris. Some managed to get in my eyes as well so I was frantically rubbing them. That’s when I saw it.

Honestly, I wished I had kept my eyes closed indefinitely but as they say, “curiosity killed the cat.”

My reflection in a large, broken mirror greeted me. In it, I saw the same wings from my dream and this morning, following me. This time, they seemed to be glitching in and out, like a bad television signal.

The halo was absent, but the sight still shook me -resulting in me flinching backwards.

I continued rubbing my eyes in hopes of correcting my vision -hoping I was just seeing things. But to no avail. There they were, still glitching in and out of reality.

My mind was going through a natural disaster. I was confused, scared and my body didn’t even try to hide it. I just sat there, trembling hoping this was all some bad dream. I could only describe that sensation as absolute despair.

The building was completely gutted by the flames and only a few sections of metal still held together -like the skeletal frame of a long dead house of bones. And in the middle of that house, was me, just laying on my butt.

As far as I could see, there were no survivors.

The stench of iron was so strong and pungent, it made me gag every time I caught a whiff. But it was also a familiar scent. One that I remembered very clearly indeed. But from where?

In all directions, civilians were panicking and crying out as they fled from the explosion.

I slowly crept backwards in terror of the horror before me. And as I did, I felt the warmth and texture of some thick and slippery liquid. For some, it would feel like a foreign feeling but for me it was one I had quite some history with.

Beside my right hand was the head of the 3-year-old baby I saw earlier with a small piece of apple slice still in her mouth. His neck looked as if it were ripped off from the rest of the body. You could even see a fragment of her spinal cord sticking out the head.

My guess is that the force from the explosion must have sent her mother and father at a speed different than her’s, resulting in her ripping apart. Though at this point anything could be on the table.

By this time, my chest was reaching a level far exceeding regular pounding.

I stood up to scan the area. I advanced while grabbing my chest to ease the speaker blooming in my chest.

After about 6 steps I tripped on a large piece of debris and slammed straight to the floor. Slowly, I picked myself back up and continued my quest to find at least one survivor but to my surprise that only made things worse. MUCH WORSE!

I tripped and stumbled shortly after and almost slipped in a pool of blood. Turning back to see what I tripped on, I saw what should have been a happy couple burning with passion and life, replaced with two butchered bodies.

On the figure that looked male, the upper half was right next to the lower half and the legs were nowhere to be found. On the female figure, she was missing her right hand, and half her skull had vanished.

I dropped to my knees. The vomit shot out like an arrow from the bowstring of hell itself. It landed in front of me smearing the debris with a coat of disgust. The stench brought me to my very edge and lunged me straight off. I spew anything my guts had to offer straight back up, even covering my shirt with it. At this point I wasn’t screaming, I was hollering!

Then I realized something extremely dire. Something of high importance was missing. My mind asked the question of the highest importance. A question I should have asked myself from the very beginning… Where. Was. Tenshi?

I desperately looked everywhere, flipping every piece of debris in my path, hoping he would just be there. I didn't question or even care if he was already dead, the only thing that mattered to me was finding him. I continued to hopefully look through every debris and organs in my path to find something.

Eventually I saw someone’s burnt body on the floor that wasn’t in pieces, but they were dead all the same.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Some bodies were more burnt than others and some were more torn apart, this one was leading more towards the burnt part.

It was lying face up with some type of short iron pole lodged through their chest. The body has a familiar looking skull ring on the index finger of the right hand, so I went closer in hopes that I was wrong. Stepping over and passing all other bodies, I realized my judgment wasn’t wrong. It was Tenshi!

I fell straight to my knees in disbelief as I laid witness to Tenshi's unrecognizable burnt body. I knew it was him since only he would ever wear such a stupid skull shaped ring. On his index finger no less. In truth it was just a cheap gift I gave him for his birthday that he for some reason kept a hold of, even after all these years.

As the realization that I was now looking at my big brother’s dead body settled in my head, I started hollering. These screams made my earlier crying seem like whispers.

“TEN–”

“Now this is just pathetic” a deep voice proclaimed as they began to laugh.

Hearing his voice alone made me feel as if I were stranded in a blizzard of sharp razors.

I don't know if I was too terrified to meet its gaze or if I was still in a state of shock from seeing Tenshi dead, but I didn't even turn an inch.

“Just look at yourself. You're covered in your own vomit and down on your knees balling like some insignificant little worm. This is just ridiculously funny! HAHAHAHAH!!”

Before I could even get a good look at it, the sight of what I could only assume to be a foot smashed into my retinas.

The sheer impact would have caved in my facial bones and the blow sent me flying into one of the few remaining pillars. The second my back made contact, I felt an intense pain circulating throughout my entire body and fell into a brief unconsciousness.

One would question how I could survive such an attack, but that was the farthest thing from my mind. I didn't even have time to question how I survived, because immediately after opening my eyes, there was a fist waiting to greet me.

It sent me flipping through the wall and into the parking lot and I was caught by a random black car. My entire face was drenched in my own blood. There was also a mixture of blood and saliva leaving my mouth and I was almost certain I had a few teeth missing.

After such a deadly attack I didn't even need to see that thing to know it wasn't human.

“Such a fragile and weak creature you are” he scoffed. “You might actually be worse than an insect. I can’t believe I was so cautious as I approached you too! Even after reducing this place to rubble, I stayed back to gauge your reaction! Just for you to be this pathetic? This is just too funny!”

Since his entry, this was the first time I could lay eyes on him. Laid out on the damaged car, I saw a being equally as unbelievable as the angel in my dream, this one was definitely worse.

His body towered over mine -and believe me I was no short king. I wish I could tell you how he looked, but the only thing I saw was a shadowy mixture of crimson and obsidian.

Before I knew it, death was only inches away from me. I could almost see it in slow motion.

At that very moment, time as I knew it reconstructed itself and a wave of memories began broadcasting into my brain. As my brain skimmed through everything in my life, I remembered events like licking the floor when I was 7, getting punched by my dad during training and even lying about doing my homework.

Weirdly, I even remembered things like, all the times I said good morning to my family, working part-time at a fast-food restaurant and even eating with some friends. I also remembered Alice. How I wish I could have seen her smile just a couple more times. Maybe even just once.

(I see… so is this what it feels like to have your life flash before your eyes?)

(Am I really gonna die here?)

(Die...Die? Death...)

(...What exactly… Does it mean to die?)

(Will I see God? Will I see Satan?... Or will I simply vanish away?)

(Times like these... I wish I was the one to decide!)

(Then I wouldn’t have to worry about judgment. I could be the one to judge others!)

Although I couldn’t quite remember exactly where my hunger for godhood started, one thing I did remember was the origin of my “perfection”.

The scenery was the outside of an abandoned warehouse. I was cloaked under the den of night as a sudden storm broke out.

Laid out on the floor were three middle school boys, beaten and bruised to death. The corpse in the middle was the only one holding a weapon. A wooden bat. And towering over them, with their shirt and fist, drenched in blood… was me.

“(I don’t know what's going on… but I for damn sure ain’t dying today)”

With adrenaline cursing throughout my body, I rose up and took a stance that was perfect for both defense and offense. I put my left leg forward and slightly bent my knees while shifting my weight toward the left leg. I had my right fist just a little above my waist with my palm open facing towards the sky and balled it into a fist.

Then I put up my left hand with my elbow slightly bent out, and my right fist, charged just above my waist. With this stance I’d be able to block and reflect attacks with my left hand and simultaneously attack with the right hand. Watching me take a defensive stance instead of cowering in fear put a grin on the monster's face.

His first was making its way closer to me at speeds beyond human, but I knew I could react. I used the back of my left hand and shifted his carrying arm away from me, leaving his head and torso completely open. Then I used my right hand and fired a quick jab to his nose, followed by a hook to his jaw.

Though he seemed to have felt the hit, that wasn’t nearly enough to knock him unconscious.

He retaliated with a hook using his left arm but expecting this I ducked and countered with a raging uppercut using my right hand.

I followed with a sweep to his legs, which resulted in him sliding to the left but I for damn sure wasn’t about to let him fall peacefully. So I sent my fist to assist with the fall by connecting to the monster's right cheek.

The connection sounded like an explosion, giving off a large "BOOM!" sound. The force I produced shattered the asphalt into pieces, cleared the debris and created a mini crater. I don’t know when or how the hell I got this strong but I for sure wasn’t gonna complain. The only thing on my mind was destroying this clown.