Footsteps and Ragged breaths filled the forest as a boy ran for his life, just behind him were hooded men brandished with weapons.

“Faster! Don’t let the kid escape!” Ordered by the man in the middle as they slowly hasten their pursuit for the boy.

“Haah! Haah!” the boy gasped for air as he ran deeper and deeper into the forest.

‘I can’t get caught, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. Everything will be for nothing if they kill me now.’

However fatigue has finally caught up to him after running away for almost half an hour now, not realizing a log is in front he stumbled from it and fell to a slope. His small figure rolls down as the sound of bones and ligaments breaking can be heard,

“...Ghhhhhhh!”

The boy’s teeth clatter as the bones in his body break, his eyes explode in tears as pain overloads his senses.

As his descent slowly picks up pace, the edge of the mountain up ahead can be seen with nothing to stop him and the lack of energy to slow himself down his body was pushed over by the inertia and flew off the cliff.

As he’s body propelled in the air for a few seconds he could see the three men at the other side with twisted grins across their faces as they watched him fall to his death.

Still, the boy was comforted by the fact that he will be with his parents after death. With a heart drowning with scorn for the people who tried to kill him and his family and regret for he was unable to fulfill the last wish of his parents, He thought.

‘Given a chance, I will have all of your head! Mark my words.’

Thud.

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"Ah...."

The boy’s entire form trembled as he lay on the forest floor motionless, bleeding from his head and mouth due to him falling from the cliff atop.

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“I...still....live…?.” croaked by the young boy from his almost dry throat as he tries to move his mangled body in an effort to reach salvation.

His whole body is in pain as every breath he takes feels like a shard glass made its way into his lungs, his body feels the burning sensation as he moves his already broken arms and ligaments.

He didn’t have the will to scream nor cry from the pain his body is experiencing, all he had was the yearning of survival, the wanting to live, so he continued, he struggled as he slowly crawled away dragging his almost limp body leaving a trail of blood in the process.

He crawled and crawled until his body couldn't endure it anymore, and gave up. He felt the hard dirt floor against his cheek.

His strength has completely left him now, and he had already lost sensation to his entire being.

The pain from his body is so excruciating to the point that he thinks he’s better off dead.

‘It hurts, It hurts, It hurts, It hurts, It hurts, It hurts, It hurts.’

As he suffered silently he could feel his consciousness starting to slip away.

Even the pain in his body that is making squirm in agony has finally vanished. All of the abhorrent things he felt and saw is slowly fading away along with his life.

As his life source slowly dwindled, a pair of blue shoes stood in front of him. There was someone there, using his last remaining strength he called out to that person. The boy had no clue who they were, nor why they were here in the first place, but he didn’t really care about it.

All he wanted was someone to save him from the pain he was in right now.

“H-help….” He uttered in a hoarse tone.

After a long silence between them that felt like an eternity for the boy the person in front of him replied.

“Sure I suppose, But I will require something in return. Is that fine?.”

The boy felt the voice of the person in front of him. It's akin to a bell striking in the middle of the night. It reverberated throughout his entire being, chills run down his spine as those words sinked in his very core.

But the boy has passed the point where he can think and decide in a rational way. With survival instinct taking over his mind he wouldn’t think twice in taking the offer given by the malevolent being in front of him

So in his pitiful state he gathers all his strength that he can muster to reclaim back his already gone consciousness, the fact that whatever is in front of him at this very moment could be a dangerous entity has vanished off his mind.

He’s well aware that a large consequence is waiting for him after this very moment,

But even so—

“....T-take....a-anything.”

When the boy said those words he thought he could hear giggles coming from in front of him but it’s probably just his imagination at this point his senses were numb and he couldn’t even differentiate what’s real and what’s not.

“Anything you say?” The person mused

As the young boy drew his last breath a cold gust of wind passed by his battered broken body and with that his consciousness vanished as the bell struck again.

“Then, I’ll take your soul for that matter.”