The trees in the forest were malady-brown. Grains of poison begrimed the bark and gleamed like witch dust. Trolls haunted the sooty coppices, salivating over their prey and smearing the blood over their heavy faces. The decaying air and stifling atmosphere provided the perfect abode for those who worshipped the darkness rather than the light. In the dense shadows, spiders clutched their snare-strings. Their webs shimmered like meshed steel dipped in silver. Eyes a-flame with hunger, they were hoping to dine on bloated bodies and slurp on hot blood.

I could overhear something growling at a distance, and at the same time I could hear whispers along the way.

It was the most unlikely of places, the moon struggled to shine against the silver clouds. The darkness started blindfolding the eyes.Suddenly an unpleasant smell struck my nose. It was that of the dead rotten leaves that lay upon the path.

The whispers became more and more prominent, loud and frequent as I walked deeper into the woods.

And then suddenly I hear footsteps.My heart started to beat the hell out of my chest, I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my blood as I recognized something not so warming was coming.

I summoned my sword of rebirth, shivers came rushing down my spine. The footsteps became louder and frequent as every second passed by.

I honestly was scared to death. I might have been a Demon slayer but this was their territory, their sacred ground.

It ultimately appeared, a tall middle-aged lady with long hazel coloured hair and turquoise blue eyes.

Tears came streaming down my eyes, and in an instance I knew that she was my mother.

‘It has been a long time Hei.’ she said as I went on and hugged her.

‘Why did you leave me alone?’ I asked bursting into tears.

‘I know you have a lot of questions, but I can answer them if we were to stay here.’

‘I feel so isolated without you mom!’

‘Me too dear, now there is no need to shed tears any longer.Do you want to stay with me?’

‘Hell no, you freaking demon.’ I said as I cut her body into two halves.

Then it showed me its true form. It was a crooked old man with fiery red eyes.

‘But How?’ he screamed, his voice was way heavier as for his size.

‘You almost got me, but my mother had a scar on her forehead.’ I answered.

‘A mortal can never defeat me!’ he remarked, the succeeding moment he seized hold of my head and haled me a long way until he finally released me and I crashed with a gigantic tree.

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He was way too fast, he kicked my torso and my body flew off and had struck another such tree.Blood came flooding out of my mouth, I couldn’t possibly raise my body and I realised that I had fractured a few bones.

The crooked man appeared once again as he gripped a long knife on his right hand. He set his foot upon my head and pierced my forehead with the knife. I saw his real form. It looked just like a shadow with read glowing eyes and long nails.

I was still breathing, but it became more burdensome as every second passed by. I was completely bloodbathed with my very own blood.

I knew that the end was nearby. Finally, I closed my eyes.

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‘Wake up, its time for our subsequent reunion.’ something whispered onto my ears.

I opened my eyes and found myself to be seated inside the London eye, I remember this place. It was nighttime, and the city looked as charming as ever. I felt nostalgic.

When I took a proper look, I saw my younger self, dressed in the same white shirt. I don’t know how to describe this phenomenon, maybe it was an illusion of the scenario that crossed my mind.

‘At this place we meet once more, poor Hei.’ mentioned the boy.

I didn’t recognize how I was still breathing, I should have been slain by now.

‘Life always bestows misery upon you Hei.’ he remarked.

‘I assume that to be an understatement, former self.’

‘Understatement, what makes you feel so?’

‘I have never being any happier you know, I know that I am long gone by now. I don’t maintain the control over my own feelings, but I suffer no agony all I feel right now is the peace that surrounds the air.’I replied.

‘You are as weak as ever Hei, you still have a hard time accepting the truth.’ he said walking towards me.

‘It absolutely happened because you were too weak all along, Ethos is one hell of a teacher I guess. He should have realised that you couldn’t possibly have survived inside the demon realm.’he continued as he offered me his hand.

‘I am always there to aid you Hei, you can escape this situation and all you need to do is accept me as a part of you.’

‘Accept? But I never rejected you!’I screamed in agony, yes I felt agony.

‘You always sacrificed your desires for the sake of others. You were kind but at the same time you were equally foolish. All you constantly received was hatred and criticism.You must live Hei, but in a alternative way. As a demon slayer you must serve others, there is nothing wrong in being kind but being weak is a completely contradictory thing.’ he remarked.

I stooped down and hugged him tightly. I never possessed a reason to die.The value of my existence lied deep within myself all this time.

I will live for myself!

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‘Now I can devour a mortal soul, I haven’t tasted one for centuries.But I must allow him to suffer some more, I will let it blend perfectly. I must return within an hour.’said a dusky figure as he walked away from Hei’s terribly injured body.

‘You won’t have it that easy you demon.’ shrieked a man, the demon turned backwards to witness an unbelievable scenario.

It was Hei. All his wounds had healed all of a sudden.His eyes were shining like an emerald with its overwhelming green glow, it was slit-shaped like that of a cat.

How the hell does he possess those eyes? Thought the nervous demon.

Instantaneously, Hei appeared in front of the demon and delivered a kick right on its head, thus causing it to fly off and crashing through several trees.

'There no way a mortal can ever defeat...' he tried to continue, but he got punched hard by Hei, right on his stomach.

The demon collapsed.But it tried to counterattack Hei, extending his claws to pierce Hei but he dodged all of them and stroked the demon once more.

The demon summoned its wings and tried to fly off. But Hei summoned the sword of rebirth and swooshed it in thin air, and a giant lunar shaped green colored energy wave was created that slashed the demon's body, and later on caused a massive explosion in air.

'Farewell, filthy demon.' He said as he teleported himself to the mortal world.