Prologue
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Clang! Throbs of dull pain rippled through my fingers. The Titanium Golem I had clashed with reeled back from my sword’s blow. Undeterred, it brought up its massive fist for another attack—the might of which would shatter my ribs. A small noise came from its flank. It slithered up the arm of the metal monster until it reached the shoulder, and crack! the limb of the golem split midway. If only I had put a little more oomph into my attack, his arm would have fallen right off.
I let out a rasp before breathing in a batch of air that pricked my tongue. The oxygen here was far from clean, tainted with so much Malice it inflamed my lungs. Yet, thanks to the red crystal hanging around my neck, I wouldn’t succumb to the evils within the wind.
Woosh—! Something flew by and I leaned back. I grabbed its wing as it missed its nosedive attack and watched it squirm under my hold. It was one of the lesser demons, otherwise known as Kid Bats. Alone, they posed no threat, but in the skies were hundreds of them. Not to mention the army of Iron Golems that still marched my way. Fighting them was pointless. None of these demons would stop spawning unless I defeated the Demon King, whose castle I had now reached. This year-long journey felt like a lifetime. But, finally, the gate was in my sights, and I braced myself for my fate.
A wave of brilliant flames poured from a swing of my sword. Its light blinded the demons and I leapt onto the shoulder of the golem. Using the construct as a springboard, I arrowed to the castle, fire gushing from my shoes, burning all of the Kid Bats in my way with my blazing body. Holy fire sheathed my fist; I was prepared to blow back the gate with a single punch. Then, there was a glint between me and the castle. I reacted fast, pointing the sword held slack in my other hand and thrusting it like a spear. Within a moment, my blade tip collided with a wall of purple glass. It was strong. Nary a scratch despite the power in my attack. This time with both hands on my hilt, I pushed against the wall until the skin beneath my fingers tore. Yet, it refused to budge. Suddenly, I was blown away, as if all of my strength rebounded back at me. My body dragged along the dirt and my sword fell meters away from me. It wasn’t going to be that easy, I suppose. Demons surrounded me and I picked myself up, plucking my neon-green blade off the ground. Outnumbered a thousand to one. Well, I was used to these odds. I spun my weapon in my hand–a habit I had since I began this journey–and stepped forth. In that moment, a chill froze my bones. I halted my steps and a booming voice raced across the battlefield.
“Give up, hero. There’s nothing you can do. You’re alone. Without your other six teammates, you cannot fulfill your destiny. You will lose.”
Those words rattled the air around me. At long last, the Demon King himself had spoken. He who had the power to end all life. A flame lit in my breath. Give up? Now? After all I went through? I had to watch the people who supported me die before my very eyes; I watched as their entire race was wiped out by demons, and so many times, I came close to death myself. And now, he wanted me to lay down my arms and surrender...?
Like hell I would.
A storm of fire burst from my clothes and reduced the nearby demons to cinders. An Iron Golem reacted to my surge in power. It charged with its arm out front, breaking the ground with each of its steps. My response was simple. I chucked my sword underhand and lodged it in the giant’s monocle. A red tape appeared between us, linking the butt of my sword with the hand I threw it with. I scrunched it between my fingers and set my forearm ablaze. The tape caught fast, as if it was lathered in oil, and flames took the golem. BOOM! The rock giant scattered within a plume of fire.
I caught my sword as it flew back from the blast and rested its flat side on my shoulder. There were still enemies as far as the eye could see. Regardless, nothing would stop me. Not this army, and not that barrier. Mark my words, the Demon King dies today. After all, I’m a hero, and–
“I will never lose.”
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Heroism 1 - Brighter Than The Sun
Grand Central City—
‘The City of New Beginnings’, as many called it.
It was built upon an old kingdom, one of the few that survived the demonic war, and from where the hero pulled his sword from its stone foundations. Though its ramparts crumbled from the test of time, from the same soil grew a town that became the crown jewel of the planet.
Spanning over 100 kilometres, the city itself was formed of several islands which all connected, by bridge, to a central hub. Pristine waters from faraway snow caps filled the rivers, and trees that survived centuries of bloodshed were preserved instead of chopped down. Clean buildings were the theme of the city, walls were white and windows blue; cleaning robots were deployed daily along the buildings to keep them looking fresh. In this town, everyone from every race was accepted without prejudice. For many, this was the birthplace of their new life. How did this city survive the times, when its castles and bricks had been lost to ruin? Why did the people bother rebuilding upon it? Everyone had their own theory, but if you asked the eldest citizen, a seer who watched as centuries passed, she would say that everyone was just too stubborn to let it all die.
By the way, if you ever want to visit the city, come at night. The buildings all light up in a spectacular show of violet and blue, and the six watchtowers surrounding the main island become lighthouses. There’s even a surprise in the middle of the city that only showed itself under the gleam of starlight.
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This was where our story began, on the planet with four moons—Neves. It had been a century after the Demon King was slain, and peace prevailed throughout the lands. A statue was built for the deceased tall-haired hero, and, each month, a ceremony was held in the town square so that his bravery would never be lost to time. Today, a pastor stood at the foot of the statue, concluding the sermon that he had recited over a thousand times.
“Demons are never truly gone…”, he said to a crowd of different ears and furs, “They are born of Malice, and as mortals, Malice is something within us all. Listen closely, my friends. The evils in our hearts, when allowed to thrive, become Malice, and Malice, when let out, takes the form of many things. Smog, careless whispers, even solid bodies with claws and wings. And these creatures will do only evil, because it is from evil itself that they are born…”
The children gasped. One of them called out from the back of the crowd and shoved their way through to the front. It was a cat-girl, no older than 10. Her brown dress was scratched and torn, and squares of red and yellow hid the holes beneath her clothes. The pastor nodded. She was from one of the humble families that lived on the outskirts of the city. Still, there was no stigma against the poor and children ended up in the same schools or groups despite the status of their families. She raised her tail straight, as if it were her hand, and asked with the brightest of eyes:
“What do we do if we see a demon? Can I tear it to shreds?”
The pastor chanted a prayer under his breath and performed a series of hand motions no different from yo-yo techniques. When he was done, he rested his palm on his holy book and whispered for the goddess to forgive this violent girl.
“Child. If you see one, you must run.”, he said while he wore a frown, “Seek help. From the fair guards in the city, or any adult around you. Your tiny hands are not destined for violence. And even so, fighting is not the true solution. Brute force does not eliminate Malice. It will simply form again. The real answer to our plight, the plight of all of mortalkind, is…”
“…Is..?”, the girl clasped her hands and stood on her toes.
“……My brand new book! In this stunning biography, I list my daily rituals of purification! My diet, my mantras to the goddess, even my new body wash, your heart can be pure, too, for the low price of $39.99! Ow!”
The pastor bent over and clutched his thigh. Someone had kicked him in his holy shin. He sucked in a long breath to bear with the pain, and noticed from the ground that a shadow loomed over him. His eyes peeked up and he saw the scowl of an older feline, her gold pupils telling him that he deserved it.
The elder cat hissed, before she noticed that she was getting stares from the children and adults around her. She took the arm of her sibling and fled to an alley, where she squeezed through as the walls pressed against her ample bosoms. Within a minute, they came under the shade of a tree. They climbed up its bark and tip-toed along a thick branch. “I knew coming here was a bad idea.”, she spat , “The central city is full of scammers”.
“Why not buy the book? We’ll be safe from demons!”, questioned her sister. The older feline sighed.
“Listen. Those stories about the Hero, the Demon King… it’s all folktale. I’ve never seen a demon, nor the Goddess. And what even is Malice anyway?—”
Ksssh!
A noise came from above and her fur stood on end. She leapt back, prone along the branch with her hip high and her claws dug into the wood. What was that? A hiss from a serpent?, she asked herself. No, it was worse…The voice was shrill; like nail tracing along the surface of a glass. Her heart stilled in the moment that she heard it. No creature alive made a sound like that. She lifted her arm and turned back, ready to flee, but she saw her sister frozen in fear behind her, and she forced her palm back on the branch. Her ears thrummed with the beat of her heart. She held her breath and counted to three. Then, she craned her head up, slowly, to where the voice came from.
A pair of red eyes met her golden orbs. They belonged to a pair of children–no, bats, that hung upside-down from a branch above. Their skin was pale green, their bodies were the same size as her sister, and saliva rolled from their fangs. Drip. The liquid from their mouths touched her face and trickled down her cheek. She couldn’t move. Her limbs refused to obey. Every beastkin knew their place, when they were prey instead of predator. She was food to these creatures, and though she had never met them, she was sure of what they were.
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“Help! My sister! My sister!”, a little girl yelled. She scampered to the town square from an alley with tears in her eyes and she pointed to two gray figures gliding through the town. Three guards nearby took up their halberds and gave chase. The Pastor, unable to believe his eyes, whispered: “Damn. Karma’s a bitch…”
A horn wailed throughout the town. Grand Central City was a safe place, but it was by no means complacent. Knights poured in from every part of the metropolis, following the instructions given to them through their helmet’s headsets. And that wasn’t all. The city had six watchtowers at its corners. All of which housed a cannon on its roof. The marksmen on duty jumped into the seats of these cannons, which were no different from a car’s seat, and used a steering wheel mounted on the front to direct the nose of the gun. They trained their reticle above the demons and their fingers squeezed the triggers until it clicked to a stop. The moment these hellspawns took to the skies, they’d end up as fireworks.
In less than two minutes, the demons found themselves trapped. Caught in a circle of the city’s most elite guards.
“Humanoid bats the size of children…These are Kid Bats! Be careful, everyone!”, yelled their shieldbearers. The commander–a lionkin in silver armour–ordered his troops to take formation. He met the eyes of the demons, and instead of being frightened at the devils, he challenged them with a roar. The bats shrank. They knew that the two of them weren’t enough. One of them squealed at the other and they started to release their grip, but the other Kid Bat stopped, a moment of clarity bringing a smile to its face. It raised its claws, then scratched its partner’s eye. The hurt demon let go of the feline and stumbled forward, where three guards waited. Their spears jabbed the demon, again and again, until it laid still. A bar of silver was above its head the entire time. It was full at first, with 10 green boxes, and each attack depleted those boxes until the bar was empty. Then, the silver bar shattered, and the demon turned to dust. The remaining Kid Bat crackled, insanity in its voice. It had taken the few moments of distraction to bite into its victim’s neck, where it injected a paralyzing toxin. Its hostage was now limp; no longer able to fight back. The demon could do whatever it wanted with her, so, he inched closer to the guards, and pushed the feline’s neck into their speartips. The guards retreated and clenched their teeth. “Kisha!!”, crackled the demon, mocking them. It flapped its wings and took to the skies. It had won.
“Cannons! Don’t shoot! They have a hostage!”, commanded the lionkin. The marksmen in their towers watched on, unable to pull the trigger as the demon’s shadow faded into the clouds.
Back at the square, the girl dropped to her knees. She clung onto the pastor’s robes and yanked at it while she cried.
“Please help my sister! Anyone!”, she pleaded. She and her sister had just moved to this city, to run from their abusive parents. They scraped up whatever change they had, stowed away amongst the luggages in a ship, and began a new life here, where her sister took whatever jobs she could to put food on the table. For it all to end so cruelly now…
“I’m sorry, child. I can only pray, not fight.”, the pastor apologized, hugging the girl’s head. All was lost. Nobody in the square knew what to do. Then, the little girl lifted her head. Her eyes were bloodshot, mucus stuck to her face, but there was a sheen behind her dandelion pupils.
“Then…! Ask the hero! He’ll be able to do something!”, she cheered while pointing at the statue.
The pastor gulped and stood stiff. Not once in his life was he at a loss for words, until now. How was he supposed to break the news to her? Left and right he looked for anyone brave enough to help explain the situation, but alas, everyone avoided his gaze. The duty fell on him. He gathered up what courage he had, shook his head, and forced the words from his throat.
“T-the fight between the Demon King and the Hero is a century past. The one you seek…I’m afraid he’s no longer in this world… Child. I know that you are afraid, but all we can do now is pray to the goddess…?”
“Don’t bother. The Goddess doesn’t give a shit.”, interrupted a voice behind the girl. “I’ll take care of it.”
The feline’s heart leapt and she turned to thank her savior, only to find that his head was on fire. She ran to the fountain closeby and collected water in her palms. Then, she threw it on him. The flames weren’t doused, so she did it again. She prepared to do it a third time until he caught her hands. His brows were pushed together until creases formed between, but he didn’t scold her. “Stop it”, he said, so she parted her hands and let the water fall. He had a paper bag in his hand. Within it was what looked like a portable camera and microphone, both of which he took out to shake off the water.
“Damnit, my Vtubing stuff…”, he groaned. “Hopefully it still works… Oh well, anyway–”
From his looks, he seemed weak. He wore a simple outfit: black shirt, dark pants, and a white jacket with the crest of a red sun on its right. Around his neck hung a pendant, the end of which was hidden within his collar. And his head was on fire. That was the most striking part.
“What are you— Hey, that’s my book!”, screamed the pastor as his text was plucked from his hands
“Listen up, old man. I’m going to need this book to save that person.”
“It’s $39.99-”
“Ok, ask that little girl to pay. Bye.”
He didn’t let a word in edgewise. The tall-haired person shoved the book in his jacket, together with the camera and mic, and looked to the clouds. The girl wanted to ask what he was about to do, but the ends of her hair rose, along with her dress, and scraps of paper on the floor. Beads of sweat rolled down her face. What’s happening? she asked herself, until she saw the man she just met spread his arms. Columns of flames gushed from his palms. He bent his knees, letting the flames in his hands swell, then, when he was ready, he leapt and shot to the sky. The girl asked the pastor who the person was, and the holy man, who had taken a handkerchief from his robes to wipe his tears, answered:
“That’s our past hero…no, our current hero, SkySkyRed…and he just left without paying…”
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I flew as fast as my flames could take me, parting walls of clouds as I gained on the speck in the distance. The demon I was chasing was a Kid Bat. Fodder of the Demon King’s army. Its combat strength was terrible at best, but it did have an area it excelled at. Fleeing. I wasn’t worried that it’d get away from me, though. The luggage in its arms had halved its speed, and I never lost a race in the skies. A few minutes in and I caught up with the demon. It was chuckling to itself, so I asked it if it could share the joke. I didn’t understand a word it said, yet I laughed anyway to humour it. It looked at me with a smile, turned away, then looked at me again, this time with its lips parted and its pupils had shrunk a few sizes.
“Hello! I’m Hero Vtuber SkySkyRed!”, I introduced myself, “Good weather for evil, ey?”
I had my camera in my left hand and my mic in the right, which I pointed near the demon’s mouth. My feet had taken over my flight, from which jets of flames drew two lines across the sky. The bat kept silent as we flew side by side and the next minute went on without a word. I continued the interview.
“What is a Vtuber, you ask? Well, it’s someone who plays games and either streams it, or uploads a video of it. Tell me, what games do you like? Kidnapping? Eating people while they’re alive so you can feed off their fears?”
The demon refused to answer. I paused the recording and kept both pieces of equipment back into my jacket. During which, a flake of my flames brushed against the bat’s wing, and it shrieked in a voice that felt like a needle pressing against my eardrums.
“Ah, did it surprise you?”, I grinned at the bat. “My flames are a bit special, you see.”
Malice was what all demons were made of. It was a cluster of thoughts and emotions, such as anger or envy, which had no form. Flames didn’t burn thoughts, and weapons like spears or swords couldn’t stab or cut through them. You could destroy a demon’s body, but its energy, the Malice within, would survive after their death. My flames, however, were divine. They were able to scorch curses, evil intent, and turn it all to ash. The bat’s face drained of blood, ironic for a bat, and it swerved away. I matched pace with it and slid out the book I had loaned earlier. Entitled in gold letters were the words: Holy Biography of Pastor Pasta.
“Would you like to trade?”, I asked the demon, “It’s only 39.99! Here, catch!”
Confused, the bat let loose its prey and clapped the book in its hand. The feline fell, her limbs flopping in the sky, and I dove, catching her before she hit the ground. I laid her across the grass and took a look at the person I just saved. Her face was pale, drool leaked from the side of her mouth, and her eyes were rolled back. “Man, you’re ugly.”, I commented.
I decided against chasing the child-sized bat. It would be stupid if I left the victim alone for another demon to abduct. She wasn’t able to walk back on her own as well. Not only was she still unconscious, the toxins still in her body left her limp, like a strand of overcooked noodles. The demon laughed, mocking me for letting it escape, however…
…Nnghk! A length of tape appeared between us, stretched taut as I coiled it around my hand. The other end of it was wrapped around the book. Bits of flames started from my elbow to my finger. It blazed across the ribbon, and I called out the name of my skill; [Combustion Tape]. The demon let go of the book but it was too late. A plume of smoke flowered in the sky. The creature dipped out; its skin charred and flaked. Inside its health bar was a single red square that blinked. It looked like it was going to disappear, but it remained within the silver box. The bat had survived. My tape crumbled to ash in my hands and I opened my palm to let the powder slip through my fingers. The Kid Bat had escaped. For now.
“I’ll see you later.”, I promised its back.
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SkySkyRed’s Pro Tip!
Kid Bats attack their prey by sinking their fangs into the necks, injecting a toxin that numbs the victim within seconds! Then, they drag the hapless sack of flesh back to their nest before feeding! Why? Because fear is the fuel for Malice, and nothing scares a person quite like watching yourself get eaten! Whatever you do, don’t get caught!
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A crowd gathered at the step of the hero’s statue. 50 or so mortals, humans and beastkin alike, shared stories that they’ve heard. One talked about how their grandparents were alive during the demonic wars. A traveler mentioned that he had passed by the ruins of a city, which was razed by the Demon King. “Where? When, and with who?”, asked the people. One person, an adult male, shouted: “Is the Demon King real? Will he kill us all?” To that, the crowd fell silent. Whispers began, which turned into arguments. Within a minute, a shouting match started at the square. The pastor tried to calm the people, but he was called a liar and shoved aside. The cat girl sat on a bench, clutching her hands below her knees. She noticed strands rise from the crowd. They crept up and wiggled like tadpoles in a lake, and they began to stain the air in a black tint. Then, she noticed a pair of eyes. One from the corners of an alley, and one from a manhole cover that was inching off. Their red gleams followed the trail of the purple tint. The girl felt a puff of cold air touch her heart. She rubbed her eyes and hoped that she was just imagining things. Her lids opened and she looked at the same places. Then, she saw one of them stretch out a hand from the shadows. She was about to scream, when the sun grew bright, and light on the surface of the ground expanded to where the eyes were. The creatures slinked back into the darkness.
She heard cheers at the square and turned her head. The people, who had been arguing a moment before, all had smiles on their faces as they looked up. She followed their gaze and found the man she met before; the one she poured water on. He floated to the ground on jets of flames, and when he was close, the fires petered out from his shoes and he landed with a tap. He carried something with his right hand. Was it luggage? No, it was a person, who he lifted by the back of her clothes. He let the person down and ignored her complaints. Tears welled in her eyes; she would never mistake that voice. She ran to her sister and gave her a hug. The people clapped, and the dark strands above them faded with the wind.
“Hero!”, called out the pastor, “Did you finish off the demon?!”
“Nope. I let him go.”, he answered.
“Why would you do that?!”
“Hm? What a dumb question. Did you really think there were only 1 or 2 Kid Bats? Judging from your blank face, I guess so. Sad. Nobody would have been that naive a century ago. These bats are born in droves. They always have nests. Killing one means nothing. You’ll have to take out their entire flock. Why do you think they bothered to kidnap someone so heavy? It’s so they could feed their entire group.”
“I…I see. Then, you have the power to wipe them out? It’s said that creatures of Malice cannot truly be defeated. They will just reform over time.”
The hero clasped the iron chain hanging around his neck, his hand pulling on it and revealing an ornate medallion dangling on its end. It was unlike any other: a gold plate made up its base, the material formed into a phoenix with its wings spread wide. Fitted to it was a bronze piece, with a shape similar to the base yet smaller in size. And, at its middle was a ruby, light wiping across its surface. At the core of the jewel was a symbol of the sun, matching the crest the hero had on his jacket. Legend said that each hero was given a crystal–just like this–to help them defeat the Demon King. No evidence of their existence had ever been found, until now.
“This thing grants my flames divinity. Even Malice will burn.”
“I see! And, if I may ask, how are you still…”
“Alive? I was sealed in magic during my last battle. The barrier weakened recently so I managed to get out.”
“I see..! So now you’re going to finish off the demon’s nest!”
“Yeah. It’ll probably be something cliche, like a cave or a bandit’s hideout. Anyway,”, he clapped, “I’m heading off before the sun sets. Stay back or you’ll get burned, okay?”
“Wait, hero! Before you go… Please, tell me. The demons’ appearance, and your own… it’s not mere coincidence, is it?”
“Heh. Nah. You people really don’t know anything, ey? I’ll explain it to you how it was explained to me back then. Ever wondered why chess has two sides?”
“Hm? No, I haven’t…”
“Divinity and Malice, light and dark, white and black. Two sides of the same coin. The game of chess was made to depict the battle between the Goddess and the Demon King. Each piece, their pawn; and each step calculated years in advance. Every hundred years, the match restarts. It’s not by chance that demons are appearing again. The pieces are starting to move.”
“So then…the Demon King will…”
“Don’t worry. I’ll defeat him again.”, the hero said. His tone was blunt, and his smile had inched down. He was strong, to be sure, and he had slain the Demon King before. The pastor and the people wanted to believe in him, except, the light in his eyes had dulled. He was hiding something from them. The pastor kept quiet. He didn’t dare pry and risk hearing something he’d regret. Most of the crowd did the same.
But one girl wasn’t afraid. She walked up to the hero that saved her sister, with her cheeks pushed up in a grin, and she asked:
“You’ll really defeat him, right?”
The hero blinked. Life returned to his emerald orbs and he laughed. He ruffled the girl’s hair and motioned for her to step back. Once she did, flames swept over the town square. Before he took to the skies again, he shifted his vision to her and said:
“You’re damn right I will. I’m the goddamn hero.”
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I landed in a clap of thunder. A cloud of dust bloomed from the earth and I waved it from my face, trying not to cough. I was hours away from the city by now–following the trail of the bat. Its scent ended here. At the shores of a beach under a crescent-tipped cliff. Saltwater flavored my first breath. Terrible. I hated the sea.
Aside from me was a cave. It ran inside the cliff and its mouth was 10 meters high. Was this where the bat hid? It looked harmless enough–no signs of life or traps. Still, I wasn’t convinced. My eyes scoured for marks in the rocks and my ears drowned out the fall of the waves. This was [Malice Sensing]. No different from raising your guard as you walked through an alley at night. In my years as a hero, I had developed this sense to a supernatural level.
I strolled inside, my lips turned in a smile. There was a spot of shadow, you see, along the ceiling that rubbed me the wrong way. I raised my palm and let a length of flames brush the ceiling. The darkness shrieked. Three child-sized bats fell to the ground as the fires ate their bodies. The fourth, who escaped with just a singe on its wing, barrelled along the dirt. I finished it with a puff of fire.
Four steps into the cave and I stopped. I kicked up a stone with my shoe tip and caught it near my chest. Then, I attached a bit of tape to the pebble and threw it high. It clicked above me, which I took as a signal. Flames streaked from my hand and the rock exploded. Portions of the ceiling crumbled and fell, stacking up against the entrance till darkness took the cave. My torch, or rather, my hair, was my only source of light now. Why did I do it? Well, certain demons were a hassle if you didn’t take precautions. Kid Bats loved escaping. And they multiplied fast if left alone. Sealing them in was the best way to deal with them. Once the entrance was closed off, my hands wreathed in flames. Only losers walked. Heroes flew.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
…
…5 minutes passed. Or centuries, I wasn’t sure. My flight had taken me to the end of the tunnel, where the cave that I assumed was narrow had expanded into a cylinder-shaped cavity within the cliff. Mud stuck to my shoes. It was at this moment that a terrible stench attacked my nose. It was musty, sour, and reeked of stupidity.
“Smells like extroverts”, I growled.
In response to my racism, the cave was lit by floodlights, revealing to me its true nature. It was a village. Stone houses lined up along the rock, ascending like a screw to about three storeys high. Mold grew from them–along the hinges of the doors and the lining in the brick. However, it seemed like repairs had been made to this age-old village. Sticks and tarps replaced missing roofs, and planks were nailed across the cracks. There were also foldable tables and chairs along the houses. These were new, bought off a cheap sale, probably. Together, it looked like the clash of two time periods.
Cans of beer and playing cards scattered along these 20 or so tables. 5 men sat around each of them. So the total came up to about 100 men. Shirtless, too.
I winced at the sight of these typical delinquents. Bald, ugly, smelled bad. How was it possible to stink when there was water everywhere? Oh well. At least I knew I hit the jackpot. A den of hoodlums was the perfect place for Malice to grow. Just as kindness begets kindness, evil begets evil. The more malicious people you could gather in one place, the faster Malice could spread. I squinted my eyes and saw claws from their shadows. Indeed, they were all semi-possessed. Controlled in part by the Kid Bats latched to their backs. There was no chance to talk things through. Not that I wanted to, mind you. I was here for violence.
A fortunate piece of news. Half of these idiots were humans. Humans were bitches–easy to defeat. The other half, however, had stubby horns and maroon skin. Not to mention their square-jaws and underbites. Ogres. They ranked with humans as some of the most malicious species, making them easy targets for possession-type demons. Worst of all, they were strong by nature. The average ogre had rank C in Str and Def.
And, there was one more. A demon on a separate level from these fodder. He looked down upon me from a throne above the roof of the highest house. Red liquid swirled from a glass in his hand. He rested his head on his fist and patiently waited for the fight to start. Indeed, he was the one I expected to find. The Kid Bat that I had injured, right beside him, was nothing more than a means of getting to this demon. I took a step forward, and my foes, a hundred strong, stood up. They eyed my every move. What, were they waiting for an invitation? I thought to myself. It seemed like these fodders needed the ring of a bell. In that case, let me give them one.
“Come at me.”, I gestured to the crowd, cocking my head to the side. The response I got was a roar that shook the cave.
The ogres charged. The first to reach me twisted his body and wound up his fist. An ogre’s punch would hurt, even for me. A gust blew past my ear. The ogre stared at me in surprise, unsure of why he had missed. Had I swayed my body at the last second? Side-stepped in a show of my reaction? Nah. I hadn’t bothered to move at all. All I did was slap away the ogre’s arm before his fist reached me. Ogres were prideful beasts. To them, my slap was nothing short of an insult. He pulled back, prepared to attack me a second time. But, he paused for a moment. Something was off. I flashed a grin at him and pointed. The beastkin traced my finger back to his own arm.
“?”, grunted the ogre. There was a flat length of tape attached to his forearm. He looked back at me, who had the other end of the tape bunched in my fist. He tried to yank it off, but only managed to pull it taut. Then, it all happened at once. A flash of flames raced across the tape. Then…
Boom!
Ashes rained in the cave. Everyone stared at me with eyes as wide as they could be. The ogres, the humans, they all felt a catch in their throats and the size of their unmentionables shrink. Some of them sobered up when they felt the burnt flakes of their former companion fall on their faces.
“Next”, I called out, to which nobody dared take my challenge. Really, what did they expect was going to happen? Once Malice corrupted a soul, there was no saving it. Did they think I was going to spare them, or beat them down without taking their lives? The only way to rid the world of evil was to cleanse it with ruthless flames. That fact hadn’t sunk in for any of them, judging from their faces. I laughed, and laughed. “Either fight me or die standing there!”, I announced. To hit my point home, I released a jet of flames and wiped out a row of enemies. Now, what was it going to be?
The survivors ran at me, hearing the screams of their comrades as waves of fire washed over them. In the end, only 30 or so managed to reach me. The humans held their axes tight and the ogres raised their shaky fists. I stifled the last of my flames by closing my hand. Time for close combat.
I stretched out my palms, fingers closed, and swirled them in front of me to stir the air. Each of my hands moved in the opposite motion, yet they both followed the same snaking path. At the end of my stance, my hands returned to their original position–pushed out in front of my chest. My arms were relaxed and I put a minimal amount of strength in my legs. This was my stance.
They came at me and I jabbed at someone’s neck. Then, a shoulder. A wrist, an eye, an elbow. There wasn’t much force in my attacks. All I did was thrust my fingers in man and ogre alike. If they attacked, I smacked their hands away. After each exchange, they checked their bodies, and, as they feared, a web of tape connected them all to my hands. They screamed and came at me, knowing that they had to kill me before I lit a flame. But it was too late. Flames entered their throats and explosions drowned their voices.
“Enough!”, cried the demon on his throne. He walked off the roof and floated down to face me. You see, in a flock of Kid Bats, there would often be a leader. One that had evolved from the tiny winged creature into something a little more humanoid. They would have pointed ears, ashen skin, blond hair brushed back with streaks of red, and often, they were dressed in medieval clothes. The one before me wore a dark red suit, a rose in his breast pocket and a muffler stained in drops of blood. Gold buttons lined his blazer and chains of the same colour hung from his belt loops. His trousers were black. His cape was the same; fanning out behind him, its edges pointed like knives. The most notable part of him, of course, was his fangs. He was a Vampire Lord. The next evolution of a Kid Bat.
“Kishaa!!”, shrieked the demon that started it all. It pointed at me and begged for the vampire to defeat me. It seemed like the lord didn’t care for its lack of manners, and grabbed the bat before biting its head off.
“Well, thanks.”, I said. At least that was one problem solved.
I wasn’t sure what went on in the ashen demon’s mind. He walked up to a pile of burning corpses and placed his fingertip on a remnant flame on their clothes. He reeled back the instant it touched his skin. Then, he bared his fangs at me as if I had attacked him myself. His jaw opened wide and he let loose a howl strong enough to rip the tarps and planks off the houses. A chill ran down my spine. It’s been a while since I fought one. How strong were Vampire Lords again?
He fought cautious; his eyes followed each of my attacks and avoided them by a wide margin if he could. He’d retreat into the houses any time he saw my fists glow red and he’d snake around the furniture to avoid the lightest touch of my flames. Vampire Lords preferred close combat from what I remembered. Their main goal was to sink their fangs into the nape of their victims and empty their blood within seconds. This one, however, didn’t shy away from fighting at range. He swiped at the air between us, creating a set of red arcs that fell upon me like blades. I melted through them with a blast of fire and ran through the hole, right at the vampire. My fingers closed like the tip of a spear and I stabbed at his eyes. He dodged it by craning his neck. But that was all I needed. He was so focused on my hands the entire time that he forgot about my feet. I stomped on his toes, which made him suck in his lips. Then, I flicked my fingers at his chin to surprise him, and shoved him against the wall to paint it with the blood from his skull. He snarled at me and loosened his jaw. We were so close that I couldn’t avoid him biting into my flesh. His fangs sank into me. Or almost did, but right before contact, his head jerked down. He blanked, bewildered at what happened. Something had tugged at him from below. His eyes drifted down and saw that a bit of tape was attached to his chin, the end of which I held like the string of a balloon.
“Boom”. I whispered in his ear. The house we were in burst into flames. One or two attacks wasn’t enough to defeat an evolved demon, though. He rose from the dust with a beat of his wings and gathered a greater length of blood at the tip of his nails. “Kishaa..!! Nail Biter!”, he called out his attack, swinging down his arm. The crimson blades carved the cave with their ends as they fell upon me, the might of them enough to cut through my body and the earth beneath. But I was faster. I had reached him first, and my feet, in a blaze-tipped arrow, tore a hole through his wing.
“SkySky Rocket Kick!”
He hissed at me right before he plummeted to the ground. I squinted my eyes and focused my mind to bring up a metal bar above his head. His health had dipped to 30%, three bars. I raised my hand and gathered a sphere of flames the size of my body. Time to end this.
“..!” My fingers buzzed when I tried to move them and my toes curled to brace against the shocks that raced across my nerves. I looked down at my arms and my thighs. Wires ran through them. Was I attacked when the demon fell? Was his final scream a command? I traced the silver lines to the rocks around me and saw metal cases with a nozzle peeking from their tips. Snickers came from inside the houses. Kid Bats. Their fingers pinched sticks of a controller and the nozzles of the cases nudged in my direction. Another set of wires ran through me. At that moment, I remembered what I felt at the entrance of this cave. It was a trap. The ball of fire smoldered from my hand and I gasped for control of my body. These wires were laced with the bat’s paralyzing toxin. They took my weakness as a sign to attack. Hundreds of them flocked to me and bit into my skin. I endured the pain and let out a growl. Flames started from my body, raring to ignite with my next breath. But the Vampire Lord flew from the ground and hovered in front of me. He slacked his jaw, showing me his finger-length fangs, which he sank into my neck.
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“Hero..! Hero..!”, cried a nostalgic voice. “If you go any further, you’ll split your soul!”
I didn’t care. I poured forth whatever flames I could summon and let the stray whips of heat destroy my surroundings. Even this forge, made to withstand the hottest fires, began to have its walls turn red. The person next to me shielded her eyes and tried to push against the hot gusts that stormed from my hands. If she was a normal person, she would have been boiled alive.
More! I need more!, I told myself. My hands shuddered and my skin paled as I drained my very life force to fuel the flames. It wasn’t enough. The metal beneath my hands wouldn’t melt. My vision started to blur and my head wobbled back. No! I snapped back into focus. If it takes my soul to melt this metal, then take it! Take it all! I would give anything; sacrifice even this life of mine. I’d never give up! So, please..!
How long ago was that? I forgot. But I remember falling on my back that day, and parts of me, condensed into orbs of amber, rolled down the peak of the highest mountain.
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“KISHAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!”, cried the Vampire Lord, digging his nails into the skin of his neck. Something hot welled inside his throat. He craned his head up and opened his mouth, releasing the fire that had climbed through his body. “How does my blood taste?”, I taunted while cracking a smile. He was lucky, all things considered. Had he sucked half a liter more from me, he would have turned to ash right there. The other bats were set ablaze, as well. They feasted on me and that was their consequence.
“Haaaa!!!”, rose my voice. A veil of flames poured from my skin and snapped the wires that held me captive. I rolled the numbness off my shoulders and cranked my head. The Vampire Lord, at this point, had shrunk–reduced to a scrawny man in smoldered clothes. All of my attacks must have depleted his Malice stores. Flames gushed from my hands to keep me afloat, petering away at times. We were both in a terrible state, but he was worse for wear. The cuts and teeth holes on me started to fill. He, however, had no way of recovering without a new pool of Malice. Bits of flames started on the peak of my knuckles. I clenched my fist and grit my teeth. Then, the both of us saw it. A spot of water crawling along the ground. The demon gathered what he had left and shot a raven bullet at the puddle. I flew in front of the liquid and took the blow. Had I mentioned? I had terrible luck. Turned out that the cave was on the verge of collapse, and that blast was just the push it needed. Boulders fell upon me and buried me beneath their weight. I surfaced from them a few minutes later, but the Vampire Lord was nowhere to be seen. He must have escaped through the newfound hole in the ceiling, where four sets of moonlight shone on my face. I shoved away the rocks and looked for that pink puddle I protected. It squirmed from the gaps in the boulders and rolled along my hands till its bubble-like body was in my palm.
“Slimes, ey? You guys love damp places, don’t you? This place is dangerous, so go find somewhere else to live, alright?”
I let the slime slide down from my hand and it crawled along the rocks, turning back to look at me once with its non-existent eyes. Slimes were a species that I was fond of; one that I was proud to protect. Helping it, and a few other races, was in part why I chose to stay a hero; humans not included. What was my main reason? That was…
In any case, I couldn’t bring it along with me. Slimes were weak to heat. I stepped back and lifted my head to the sky. First, I chased a Kid Bat, Now I had to pursue a vampire. What a waste of time. But it had to be done. I had an idea of what the demon was after when it ran. Just like the bat before, it’d find a place to recover; a place with Malice. And a few kilometers from here was a place that teemed with lives to feed on.
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Night had fallen. The watchtower guards were changing shifts and the new guardsmen surveyed the distant skies with their binoculars–as per routine. Ever since the demon attack earlier, the entire city had been placed on alert. A particular guard was new, having just passed training. As he walked out of the lift and replaced his senior guard, he felt something catch in his throat. Right now, he was supposed to use the mounted telescope and survey the skies, but his legs felt heavy and he didn’t dare to approach his station. After all, he had never caught a common criminal before, much less a demon. Wasn’t this too much to ask of him? Night was the time where demons roamed, or so the legends said. Maybe it would be best to ask someone else to replace him? His friend had much more experience and owed him a favour, maybe–
“..!”
His body froze. There. In the skies. Two figures parted the clouds. One wreathed in dark purple aura, the other a bright flame. He ran to the telescope and leveled it to his right eye. Indeed, his worst fears had come true.
“S, sound the alarm!”, he yelled without hesitation. No one was around to hear him, so he pressed the button on his helmet and barked his orders. The silent radio burst into chatter. He hoped, that even if he was to die on this day, that somehow the hero would keep the citizens–his family–safe.
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Beams of light shot through the sky. The hero rolled away from one, feeling it warm his skin as it brushed past. Each of these lasers were a cluster of Elemental Energy. Stored and concentrated in tremendous amounts. A direct hit from any of them would hurtle him towards the ground. He didn’t mind, though. He had the reflexes to evade them and each shot frazzled the demon more than he. At this rate, he was going to catch up. He cheered the city on, urging them to fire more, until…
…the five other watchtowers pointed their cannons at him.
“Shit!”, the hero clicked his tongue as he spun out of the way. What the hell were they doing?! He was bright as a torch–nothing like the demon before him. Did he not matter to them? Did they not care if they hit him? The answer to that was simple.
Yes. They didn’t care.
You see, the legend of SkySkyRed was famous among the city guards. They gossiped about him in their spare time and came up with theories on how he beat the Demon King by himself. Some said that he had many lives. Some said he was invincible. To them, the hero was a mythic figure that surpassed reason. A laser or two wouldn’t hurt him. Hell, it wouldn’t even singe his clothes. So, they squeezed their triggers with smiles on their faces.
One of their shots found its mark. It burnt a hole in the demon’s right wing and the vampire crashed into the 20th floor of a building. The marksmen hollered. They radioed for their ground forces to intercept and hoped that the hero would take care of the rest. Then, one of the marksmen told them to wait–his eyes still peering through the scope of the cannon. There were two fliers in the sky. One bright red and the other dark purple. One of them crashed. The other flew into the heart of the city, flapping its wing.
It took them 7.1 seconds to process the information. They tracked the demon with their sights and their heckles stood on end. If the vampire wasn’t the one shot down, then…
The hero SkySkyRed was slumped over a desk. That laser packed more of a punch than he thought. If he had to gauge its power, it was around B rank. Strong, but no match for the magical ballistas the kingdom once had. In any case, he got up, brushing glass shards off his jacket and rolling his stiff shoulders with a crick. Bruises faded from his face. Alright, what should he do first? Kill the demon, or the guy that shot him?
He hopped in place, preparing to leap out of the window he crashed through til a tug on his sleeve stopped him. There was a woman beside him, dressed in a formal suit. Her hair was ruined, just like the rest of her office, and the button of her shirt seemed to have popped off, revealing a rather eye-catching pink fabric beneath. In her hand was a piece of paper that she nudged towards him. He feared that it was some receipt for damage, for which he wasn’t going to pay, but on closer inspection, it was just a blank sheet with a coffee stain on it.
“Could you please sign this?!”, she asked with glitter in her eyes. The hero scoffed and picked a pen from a nearby desk. That was when a crowd of other office workers came out of hiding, each with a picture or book in hand. Well, it was part of a hero’s job to humour his fans. Just signing a few autographs wouldn’t hurt.
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“Oh shit”, I cursed as I sucked in my lips. I had leaned my body out the window sill to look at the situation below and…it wasn’t pretty. Buildings aflame, Kid Bats attacking citizens; and every moment screamed a new voice. How did all of this happen in the span of a few minutes? Black streams rose from the people–they snaked up like wafts of smoke and converged at the tip of a skyscraper, where the Vampire Lord stood. His wing had healed. The burns from his body; gone. I focused my eyes and saw blocks of green fill his health gauge. He had recovered. And not just that, he even had strength to spare, splitting off parts of himself to spawn Kid Bats.
Cries drew my eyes to the streets. People were hurt, some were dying. Sad. One of my rules was to eliminate the cause. The symptom, these errant demons, I had no time for. Well, there was one thing I could do at least. I waved my hand and sprinkled a few fireballs onto the ground. My holy flames caught onto curtains, litter, and whatever else was flammable. They’d ward off the demons for now.
Balls of heat collected in my palms. I flapped my arms and blazed through whatever demons came at me until I arrived at the skyscraper. My shoes planted firmly against the window’s glass and I strolled up the building, eyeing the demon. His devilish red pupils glanced at me for a second before he returned to what he was doing–absorbing all the fear in the air in a long breath. Was he ignoring me? The nerve. But he had a plan in mind. Excess fear would bloat him instead of power him up. He knew that as well, yet he didn’t stop. His chest puffed up like a balloon. When it seemed like he was going to explode, he bit the insides of his lips and pressed against his pectorals, forcing himself to deflate in hitches until he returned to his original size.
He was satisfied with his meal and shot me a smug grin. Was he ready to fight? Apparently not. He picked up a little girl he had hid on the roof and dangled her off the building by her neck. Not a word came from his mouth. He didn’t threaten to drop her or anything. But the streams around us–these clusters of fear–began to swell. The onlookers below screamed.
“I see…”, I mumbled to myself, before my body blazed with a flame thrice my size. I demanded for the demon to let her go. That might have been a poor choice of words. Since, well, he did.
I caught the back of the girl’s shirt as she passed by. She shrieked in horror, which hurt my ears, so I shook her a few times to silence her. I think she passed out. What was I to do with her? Flying down to lay her on the streets would give the vampire a chance to escape. I wasn’t interested in another chase, so, my choice was made. I dropped her. People screamed. They screamed their lungs out. But when they noticed that her descent was slow and controlled, their voices faded. After a bit of time, I felt some slack on my tape and torched it with the smallest of flames. I wasn’t able to move the entire time, and the Vampire Lord took the chance to breathe in his newest batch of fear.
“Kishishi! You should have slain me when gifted with the chance, hero! Do you know why I’m here? Why I gathered all of these fears? If you’ve no idea, behold with your own eyes! My Ex Skill!!!”
He lit up. A gust of Malice burst from his body and tentacles of dark purple writhed from his pores, which slithered down the edges of the roof. There were two skills that each creature had. A Basic Skill, and an Ex Skill. My [Combustion Tape] fell under the former, it was a good ability to have, but nothing I could call a trump card; just like the Kid Bat’s [Possession]. So what was an Ex Skill? Well, it was the essence of a person; the shape of their soul. Inherited, given, but rarely chosen. The Ex Skill of a Kid Bat or Vampire Lord had 2 conditions:Have a body capable of storing a huge amount of Malice or fears.Absorb a hundred person’s worth of it.
What happened after that? Well…
His pectorals burst from his clothes. His biceps ripped his sleeves. And all the while, he let out a howl that shattered the glass beneath my feet. I reached out my hand before I fell and grabbed onto opposite sides of the window. My feet slid from the sill but I strained my toes so they’d hold onto the edge. Screams, the fears he collected, and the wails of pain from the people I didn’t save, all of them snuck their way into my ears and I braced myself to tune them out.
The Vampire Lord arched his back, his face twisted under the grace of moonlight. He was at his peak. The moment before satisfaction. His pupils rolled back, he spread his arms, and he yelled,
“Malice…EVOLUTIOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!”.
A raven halo pulsed from the skyscraper. The Kid Bats, the citizens, even me. We all fell silent, as if an invisible hand pressed against our throats.
…
……
Crick, crick.
Bones snapped into place as a set of wings stretched into the night. They blocked out the stars with their leather-like skin, and spores snowed from them with the slightest beat. The demon lifted himself from his perch. He brushed back his hair that had grown to the hem of his pants and looked at the back of his arms, where an ashen pelt had taken over his skin. His nails were crooked, their edges sharp and jagged. A giggle escaped him, for a moment, then, he gave a roar that shook the earth.
He stared at me, a bar of silver above his eyes confirming that his [Ex Skill: Malice Evolution] had been activated. Behind the gleam of his pupils was a demon that no longer saw a foe, but a prey. I flew to the roof and met him face-to-face. He towered 3 meters above me, just like the Vampire Ancients I had fought in the past. I hate to say this, but, as of right now, I didn’t have the power to defeat one. A blaze took my body and its forks rose past the head of the demon. I wasn’t afraid, nor was I going to show the slightest hint of hesitation.
The first strike came; his nails tore bits of my shirt. I bumped the side of his forearm with my wrist and let a stretch of tape ignite. The resulting flame was a pillar that slanted into the sky. Unlike the fight at the cavern, I no longer had to worry about being caved in. My true power could be unleashed. I balled my fists and forwent my usual defense. Each punch was all that I could muster. Each flame burned a chunk of the arm that the demon couldn’t recover. But the Malice within him was dense. Even my holy fire wasn’t able to burn more than a hand-sized hole. Claw marks began to appear on my cheeks and body. Did you know? Malice stung in a different way from pain. It felt wet–like sizzling water that dried your flesh before your skin peeled off. Then, the curses, the illness, and all of that negative energy enter your bloodstream. Anyone would get sick, and some die in days, depending on the amount of Malice within the wound. The flames within me were a natural vaccine for the virus. And coupled with the protection of my red jewel, it’d take quite a bit of blows before I’d feel the corruption.
“Isn’t it ironic, hero?”, he chuckled while tearing at me, “Look at the fears around you! Look at the fuel I could use for my Malice! I have an infinite supply of power, given to me by the very people you’re trying to protect! Tell me, is it worth it to save them?! What a pitiful thing a hero is!”
The tip of his nail ripped a length of skin across my shoulder and hip. A bar of my health dropped and I returned a punch that burned away his. I’d die before him at this rate. My hands quickened and I shoved away his next blow, but my wrist bent as I met the side of his palm. That was the gap in power between us.
He started to fall stiff in moments of his attacks. I took the chance and broke his jaw. He lumbered back, his eyes wide in disbelief. ‘This can’t be possible!’, he muttered to himself, before clawing at me again. The next bit of my health was shaved, but, he froze. This time, his body shrank. He sucked in as much Malice from the air as his lungs could take and reformed his deflated muscles.
“Heh.”
“Don’t laugh at me!!”, he lashed, each of his words rippled with a growl. He gathered a ball of Malice in his palm and charged at me, colliding the sphere into my left gut. A splatter of blood left my mouth and I flew, tumbling across the floor. Where did I end up? Sploosh! An infinity pool. Just my luck. I swam to the side and pulled myself up. The demon huffed and shot me a smirk. Bitch. Don’t get cocky. I would have destroyed you in my prime. My clothes dried with a flash of flames. Round 2. I was going to go serious-serious this time.
But the demon gulped. His body shrank again, reverting to the Vampire Lord he once was. “What’s happening?!?!”, he questioned, tears welling in his eyes as his biceps turned soft. “Why can’t I maintain this body?!”
“...Well, sad for you, but you just didn’t have enough Malice.”, I answered, dragging a tanning chair from the poolside before I sat down.
“Impossible!! Once evolved, I can’t de-evolve! That’s how it works!”
“You forced your evolution too much, dumbass. Growth isn’t forced. It’s an accumulation of experience. Your body wasn’t used to the amount of Malice. Neither was your mind. What you were was basically a kid on a sugar-high. Now, you’re crashing.”
I slumped over, elbows on my thighs, and I held a breath before letting it go. Someone had left a perfectly untouched glass on the table. The kind with an umbrella. Some kinda blue drink.
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Oh, right. My foe was still having an existential crisis. Sweat dripped from his face as he fell to the floor. It typically took a few hundred years for a Vampire Ancient to appear. That’s why they were called ancients. Absolute idiot didn’t even realise it.
“B,but…! I can still defeat you! Even if my form is temporary, if I restored my strength for a moment, I can kill you, hero!!”
“Okay, try.”, I taunted and leaned back into the chair. He was like a fish–hopping with his mouth open at the closest streams of fear. “Why are they so thin?!”, he complained. “After witnessing my evolution, fear should have taken the very souls of the people in the city!”
“True.”, I nodded, “For a moment, there was a surge of negative emotions. Why do you think it diminished? The answer is obvious if you think about it.”
“They…stopped being afraid of me? But why?! What reason could they have?!”
The demon ran to the side of the roof and leaned his head out. The streets were filled with civilians, each of them trembling while they embraced their loved ones. Yet, fear hadn’t dulled the light in their eyes. Within their pupils reflected a flame; a flame that hadn’t wavered since the fight began. The demon turned around to find its source, and his gaze locked with mine. I stood up and cracked my neck.
“Part of a hero’s job is to give everyone courage and hope. As long as I’m here, as long as my fire burns tall, they have nothing to fear. It tells them, definitively, that the hero is still alive.”
“KIIIIIIIIIISHAAAA”, he shrieked, cursing at me while he lashed his claws. Bam! I caught his wrist before his nails could scratch me. He screamed as flames took both our arms and his fingers turned to dust. His survival instincts kicked in. Fortunately for him, his new wings had yet to wane. He flew far with a single beat and he weaved through the buildings, trying to escape. Nah. Not this time. Flames gushed from my palms as I launched in pursuit. Seeing that I was hot on his trail, he collected the last of his energy and spawned a colony of Kid Bats. They dive-bombed toward the citizens, trying to draw my attention, but silver-armoured knights ran into the streets and raised their shields like umbrellas, holding their own against the rain of demons. It brought a smile to my face. Within me, deep in my chest, started a small flame. It grew, and grew, until it consumed my entire body.
“You asked me if it was pitiful to be a hero… Maybe. But, when I see things like this, it feels like my soul’s lit ablaze..! Well, not that you can hear me. Time to end this!
All eyes were on me. Everyone, no matter the era, expected the hero to end the fight in a needlessly flashy way. And honestly? I loved it.
“My name is SkySkyRed! I am the hero that defeated the Demon King, and I never lose! It’s time for the final attack! Observe, you fools!”
To that, everyone cheered. Human, beastfolk, and kins of other species all united their voices and chanted my name. Pink and blue floodlights from the city followed the demon wherever it flew. The flames from my hands swelled and propelled me right behind the demon.
“SKYSKY…!”
In an instant, I caught up with the vampire. I locked the demon’s neck with the front and back of my knees. Then, I blazed through the night with my victim in tow. He screamed as the heat from my flames burned his legs. But I wasn’t done. Two lengths of tape fluttered from my shoes at the height of my flight. I braced my core, turned my torso, and with a child-like giddiness, I spun as fast as I could. My tapes drew an arc of red rings across the sky. Gravity began to slope my flight. That was the sign. Cinders ignited from my feet, and right before the tapes caught, I finished the name of my attack.
“...RECKLESS RAINBOW!!!”
Every ring in the sky burst into glorious flames, all at once. The fireworks brightened the night and for a moment, it seemed like daylight had returned.The cat-girls watched on in a breath-taken daze. The younger one seemed to have called my name, but I couldn’t hear her from the sound of the explosions.
My attack lasted no more than a few seconds. I landed on the other side of the city walls and the red hue that took the sky faded back into the night. Dust rose from my impact. Again, I blew it away with a wave of my arm. There was an odd movement beneath my foot. A worm, perhaps? Nope. Under my shoe tip was a Kid Bat no bigger than my thumb. That was the demon’s basest form. Perhaps this was why their Ex Skill was growth; they were just compensating for what they really were. It let out a last cry and begged for mercy. It promised me that it’d change and never do evil again. Haha. I twisted it under my heel and forgot about it.
A crowd greeted me at the gate as I returned. Plastered on their faces were some of the dumbest grins I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t sure why they looked so stupid until I saw their shirts. It was me. My face. Who the hell managed to snap a photo of me and print it on these clothes to sell as merchandise? I had only returned today. Such frightful speed for enterprise. I caught a glimpse of a smiling brown-haired merchant out of the corner of my eye. Before I could question him, the townsfolk picked me up and tossed me into the air, chanting my name.
“Oh, by the way, I recently started Vtubing. Call me Hero Vtuber SkySkyRed from now on!”
Most of the citizens didn’t know what I meant, but they repeated after me anyway.
“Hero Vtuber SkySkyRed!”
“Say it again!”
“Hero Vtuber SkySkyRed!”
“One last time!”
“HERO VTUBER SKYSKYRED!!”
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The hero sat perched at the zenith of the seventh tower, his jacket flowing with the night’s breeze; his eyes a mirror to the glimmers in the dark sky. How many moons has it been, he wondered, when he last took in the stars at this very spot–when the foundations were made of stone and the bump of the castle’s roof turned his buttocks sore. So many things had changed since then, yet, whenever he looked up, it seemed like time had never passed.
He reached into his shirt and pulled out his medallion. As usual, his red gem was warm to the touch and shone with a gentle luster that you could only appreciate in the dark.
“Looks like I gotta do this again…”, he whispered to the crystal, “I have to defeat the Demon King. This time, without…”
A puff of white escaped his lips.
…
……
“..!”
The hero’s heart stilled for a moment. His crystal had grown hot–a reaction he hadn’t seen in a hundred years–and inside of his head was an itch he couldn’t scratch. Something was happening. A change to the world, on par with the moment he became the hero. The chessboard had moved once again. He looked up, to where his senses called him, and saw a set of falling stars. They bored through the clouds, their might shaking the very sky, and their intent was clear–to destroy the tower he stood on. A million scenarios ran through his head. How was he going to stop them if he could? Was running an option? How large would their damage be if they were allowed to fall? His mind gave him an immediate answer, and his body responded in kind.
He thrusted his hands forth, joining the side of his thumbs and fanning out his fingers like plumes of a bird. A mighty surge of flames took his body and he glowed brighter than the city’s lights. His shadow could barely be seen in his own inferno. This was his strongest attack. An all-or-nothing blow to destroy the celestial bodies. His voice traveled through his chest. In the moment his flames spiked up; their tips sharp as blades, a rippled roar burst from an endless reserve within his body.
“Divine Sun–!”
Just as he was about to release all of his power into the sky, the stars split–their trails scattering across the planet.
What were they? And more importantly, what was this feeling of dread that took hold of his heart? In response to his doubts, a spectrum of red rose from his crystal. The red rock floated before him and from its flames formed the figure of a lady in robes. She had long, rose-gold hair, olives for a headpiece, and her silken dress dragged across the floor. All the ages past and her appearance hadn’t changed a bit.
“The hell do you want, bitch?”, the hero spat with his chin lifted against her.
“Please do not address your goddess like that.”, she admonished flatly. “Those six stars are, as you must have felt, crystals. No different from yours. Last century, I lost the crystals due to global warming, and had you fight the Demon King yourself, but this time…it will be as the cycle preordains. You will have a full team to face what must come. Hero, the time of the Demon King’s resurrection is at hand. Assemble the other six members, and save our world once again.”
“Fine. I’ll handle it. Don’t call me again.”
He grasped the gem whole to smolder the flames. Once the image was assuredly gone, his eyes, with a lingering hint of disdain, wandered back to stargazing. From the sky stretched four coloured trails. Which was he to pick? Black, gold, brown, green. Any of them would lead him to the other heroes the goddess mentioned. Did the order matter? Probably not. So, he chose one at complete random. The next minute he spent in silence, letting the wind blow past him while he looked at the trails. One question hung on his mind.
“What’s the point..?”