“Hand over the Essence Bead, 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.

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.

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?” Brock asked.

Brock’s question brought about a shout of rage from all the men and women surrounding the white-haired creature.

All had known, publicly, the notorious and condemning deeds of the Messiah-turned-Demon.

Massacres, assassinations, kidnappings, and rapes; name the crime and he had committed it.

Old and young, none had survived under the wrath of his sabers, spilling their innocent blood over the floor like butchering pigs.

The people in the streets talked about a demon, who had killed his father from his mother’s womb. 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 2 years had passed since then.

The 16-year-old Kai took in all the faces judging him for the crimes he had committed and the crimes he had been framed for.

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 hand and unfurled his fingers, letting everyone see the content placed there.

“Is this the thing you all want?” Kai hissed.

The Essence Bead!

Kai noticed the looks of greed and hunger on all faces with 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.

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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 Essence Bead 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.

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.

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.”

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.

It was as if the entire world had forgotten Brock’s existence.

Chameleon Blood 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, hitting 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.

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

“Hmph!” 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 the dark eyes and smirked.

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 where his fingers were. The snake devoured the Essence Bead 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 disintegrating face.

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