The audience applauds the beautiful, tall brunette talk show host Kim Green steps out on to the set, she is wearing a teal suit and a Hollywood smile as she strolls across the set while waiving to the audience and stops in the center of the stage. The air felt electric tonight as the crowd was bursting with energy and it just boosted Kim’s charisma and excitement for hosting tonight's show.
“Thank you all for coming out tonight!” She shouts to the audience who responds with cheers and clapping.
She then takes her usual seat on a black leather sofa on the center of the stage. The crowd goes silent as she begins to introduce tonights guest.
“I’m sure you are all excited to see the man who is going to be with us tonight! His exploits have become legend, there is no one who doesn’t know his name. The legendary hero who has conquered devils of all shapes and sizes, saving countless lives. Without further delay, I would like to welcome the Hero who singlehandedly killed [Red Death], Jin Kai!”
The crowd erupts into thunderous cheering as a young mid 20’s, athletically built Korean man stepped onto the stage. The spotlight reflecting off his long-ruffled raven black hair, a matte black eyepatch covering his left eye, his right eye a stormy grey, tonight he is dressed for the occasion wearing a tuxedo and a calm smile across his face as he looked out at the crowd.
He waves to everyone with his right arm and takes a seat alongside Kim on the black sofa.
“Jin, first off I’d like to thank you for your service to not just our country but to the world.”
Jin ran his hand through his hair and maintained a serene but confident expression, “I was just doing what anyone else in my position would’ve done.” His voice was smooth and his words were genuine.
Kim laughs, “Cute and modest, your wife is lucky to have you. But seriously, you have sacrificed so much to get where you are. At some point along the way, didn’t you stop and think that you were giving up too much, that youve done enough and it was time to this Hero business to the new generation of Blessed?”
Jin was used to this question since he had been asked it so many times. “Not once, I happily gave up what I could to the Gods to achieve my strength. Sometimes I wonder if I haven’t given up enough compared to other ‘heroes’. Take Adeline for example, for her powers of healing, she had to give up the use of her legs. Meanwhile they just took my left eye and left arm. As for the next generation, i plan to work with and guide them until we finally eliminate the Devil threat in our world.”
“Glad to hear that! Adeline is another Legend I’d love to have on, rumor is she actually brought you back from the dead after your battle with [Red Death].”
Jin thought back to that night when he fought the crimson robed grim reaper. It was the most brutal fight of his life, after just barely managing to crush its skull, he returned to the established base camp barely hanging to life with his throat slashed and a hole through his chest.
Luckily, Adeline was able to use the power granted to her by the Goddess of Spirits to save him from the brink of death. But despite being able to heal his wounds, there still remained heavy scarring across Jin’s body.
Jin had been granted the physical strength of a God through the sacrifice of his left arm to the God of War, making him the strongest hero to walk the earth and while it made him more durable than most, it didn’t make him immortal.
“That is true, Kim. I’ll put in a good word and I’m sure she’d love to stop by sometime. But Adeline is always needed somewhere in the world, wherever someone is fighting Devils, she’s there to save our heroes.” Jin said this, but he knew that bitch Adeline was out there healing whoever could pay her the most and ignoring those truly in need.
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“Now let’s talk about the devils, ever since that fateful day 6 years ago they’ve been popping up and wreaking terrible havoc.” With Kim’s words the mood began to shift from cheerful to more serious.
“Well as you know Kim, we are still working on a way to track where the Devils will emerge from next so we can continue minimizing casualties. We do know that they always follow earthquakes and other natural disasters. Fire Devils come from wildfires, Hydro Devils from floods or Tsunamis-“ Jin was cut off by Kim.
“And Hell Devils from earthquakes, the worst of them all, they rise from cracks in the ground as if crawling out of hell. They’ve all but conquered Australia, killing countless millions.”
Jin put his hand on Kim’s shoulder.
“We are still working on a plan to retake the fallen country, but even with my power it’s proving difficult” Jin did his best to try and comfort her and all who were listening. He didn’t want the world to think they had given up on retaking Australia, but there were few heroes willing to fight the seemingly endless hordes of monsters there.
Most heroes nowadays preferred to work for money rather than what was for the good of the world. Even fewer heroes would go up against Hell Devils, Jin was one of the few which is why he’s earned so much fame. He became famous to the world, but Infamous in the eyes of most heroes who felt that he was making them look bad.
“Now onto what everyone wants to know, are you and the others in your raid group really going to retake Los Angeles?” Kim asked and a few people cheered in the crowd.
“I am positive that by this time next week, we will have eliminated all the Devils in Los Angeles. I wouldn’t have made the trip all the way from Korea if I didn’t think we could do it.” Jin had gathered a couple dozen heroes to help with the raid. All with different powers and abilities that would prove useful in the fight, he gathered Healers, Mages and Warriors to make sure their party was well-balanced.
Kim motioned towards Jin’s eyepatch, “Nowhere is too far for you though, isn’t that right?” She joked with him, trying to bring the mood back up.
Jin laughed, “I guess you’re right about that.”
While every other hero only had one God backing them, Jin had 2. He was recognized for his actions by the God of the Void and in exchange for his eye, Jin was gifted the ability to teleport anywhere he's been or seen in the blink of an eye.
“Rumor also has it that a couple other legendary heroes will be joining your team for the raid on the city.” Kim poked for more details that the public was dying to know.
“Well, the rumors are true, a couple names you might recognize that’ll be with me during the raid are Shadow and King.”
Kim and the audience gasped, “King? As in the man who many call your biggest rival, you 2 will be working together?!”
Jin awkwardly laughed, “Yeah, that’s the one.”
King had been blessed by the God of Beasts and given great strength & instincts that seemed to predict an enemy’s moves when he fought them. In exchange he lost his sense of most emotions such as love and compassion. Making him an especially cruel and deadly person, he cared only about hunting and killing Devils. Not caring about the casualties that may follow.
This made Jin hesitant to work with him, but he felt more at ease having Shadow there with him to watch his back.
Shadow had been a friend of Jin’s since they first started hunting Devils in Seoul together.
Shadow was also blessed by the God of the Void, in exchange for losing his hearing and his voice, he was now able to summon armies of minions from the shadows of his enemies. Other than that, Shadow was the most mysterious Hero. No one had even laid eyes on his true face. While most Heroes relished the spotlight, he hid from it.
Kim looked to the crowd and spoke, “Well I think I speak for everyone when I say I feel safer and more confident now that I know such strong heroes are on their way to retake the city.”
“The others and I will be fighting that much harder knowing we have all of you supporting us.” Jin waived to the crowd and they applauded him.
Jin felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out, the message he saw surprised him, but such a situation seemed enevitable. It was time to go.
Kim saw the concerned look on Jin’s face, “As much as we love having you here, it looks like you are needed elsewhere. Everyone, let’s cheer the World's Strongest Hero Jin Kai one last time before he heads off!”
Kim stood up and so did the crowd, who began cheering as loud as they could.
Jin looked at them, gave one last wave and was gone the very next second, leaving behind a shallow black mist where he was once standing.
Despite Jin no longer being there, the crowd continued cheering for a brief moment longer. No one there would forget this night, the night they got to see a legend in person. The Hero that they all wished they could be.