In the midst of battle many heroes rise, but what about those who fall? What about those who are forgotten?

“Argh… it hurts, it hurts!”

The man got himself up, he tried to regain his composure.

“Alas, to fight side by side with the almighty Vesper, pain means nothing!”

He kept on hanging on that trust towards his leader. He saw them moving forwards, faster and faster and then they left many behind, many injured and many who wished to keep on fighting were left behind to rot.

The poor man tried to keep up, but he couldn’t walk anymore. His body gave up and fell on the ground. In the pile of bodies, one man trying to hang on the last droplet of life he had.

“It hurts… It… hur…”

A voice reached to him. It was a voice as sweet as honey, but the words were full of malice.

“Ahahahaha, you fool. They left you behind, they don’t care. I can grant you power beyond anything you’ve seen, what do you say?”

“No… I am a proud servant… I shall never fall prey to your foul kind.”

“Deep down I know you want to leave… You want power, you want to stand side by side with him. You want to be his equal! Accept this, and I shall make your wish come true.”

“That silver tongue… Even if I trained normally, would there be any chance?”

He kept wondering if there was a reason for him to keep going. Did he truly have a purpose?

“Ahaha…HA AHAHAHAHAHA AHAH…”

Laughter, it became a cry of despair and turned back into a laughter again and again and again. Nephogram slowly turned insane, all he had on his mind gone… All that remained, wrath.

“SHOW ME!”

“So, you accept the power I offer you… Wise choice!”

“NO! Show me, anarchy… Show me despair and terror, show me the horrors of the world. Turn me into my true self! Change this weak body, change it, reshape me, my mind my being…. I GIVE IT TO YOU!”

“Ahahah, be it Humans or Nephilims… You can surprise even demons with your insanity. AHHAHAH, fine Nephogram, I will take all.”

Years passed and he fulfilled his wish. Chaos swallowed the world. His toy did everything he wanted and more. Nephogram, he didn’t make a contract with the demon and gave him all he had, his entire being… But the demon failed to understand what lurked inside the man… Something more horrifying than a mere archdemon.

The abyss that was his soul swallowed the fiend and Nephogram took away his powers. For thousands and thousands of years he stuffed himself with demons, imps and other kinds of foul beings.

“Hehe… Vesper… Am I doing a good job…? TALK YOU MISERABLE PIECE OF SHIT! I am surprised though… You loved that one so much, you even let him kill you… Such a shame. Or at least it would be if I didn’t plan it, hehe.”

Vesper was long gone, yet there he was at his resting place. For some reason even now, he couldn’t let go of his past.

“You know… I kept your legacy… Your sons and daughters…. They are weak! They have no class, no skill, no talent…. Why did you choose him? I WAS YOUR COMRADE! Ah, it matters not, I will eat away all those demons and I will destroy all that you tried to maintain… Oh, but don’t misunderstand me. It just looks like a lot of… FUN!”

♦ ♦ ♦

“How much has it been…? One hundred forty thousand million-ish years…? I lost track… The humans sure are persistent. I keep snuffing out that flame of theirs and they just crawl back from somewhere… This just won’t do! Why are they so annoyingly persistent? What gives them… hope?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Nephogram kept on wandering the world, looking for answers that would satisfy him, to no avail.

Suddenly a boy bumped into him. He woke up from the deep thought he was in.

“I’m very sorry sir… I was in a hurry and didn’t see you there.”

“Hmmm… Boy, where were you going?”

“Oh, I was going to the church… The priest is teaching me to read and write.”

“Ah, I see… May I tag along?”

“Sure, but sir, you look like a man that knows already how to read and write…”

“Ah, but of course, I only wish to see the church.”

“Oh, my mistake, I am deeply sorry!”

“Mhm.”

The two went and met the priest. The atmosphere was calm and pleasant. It felt very cozy, almost like a home.

“Hmm… Why do I feel uneasy? Tell me priest, why do you believe in god?”

The priest was taken by surprise due to the sudden question. The man in front of him was tall, not as big as a knight, yet for some reason he seemed much more imposing.

“Ah hello my son. A new face in this old town… To answer your question, you see I had a very sick wife and a daughter who was barely six years old. You could say god works in mysterious ways as one day she simply recovered. I had no money for medicine, I was barely making enough to get food for the two of them… I nearly lost hope… All I could do was pray and so I did. It was nothing short of a miracle. After that I gave my life to the church to serve god.”

“What would you do if I were to kill you and everyone you care about? Or what if god wouldn’t have let your wife live? I suppose it would have been one less mouth to feed.”

“I wouldn’t do a thing.”

For a moment Nephogram wavered. He didn’t quite understand that phrase.

“You tell me, that you would just stand there idly… Letting me kill everyone? You would just accept everything?”

“Son, punishment is not mine to give, nor could I stop someone like you. If god wills it, then I will comply.”

“Ah, that’s how it is. You also seem to have seen something in me? Although, I can’t see anything I like in you…”

“I feel a lot of resentment and anger from you, I will not pry son, but it is not good to keep all those emotions inside you.”

For once he didn’t know how to answer. He met a person that would not try to see reason in his words. His spiteful tongue wouldn’t provoke him. Nephogram was at a loss. For the next few weeks, he stood in the town and helped the priest and the boy he was teaching. He watched over their families and tried to see what was so different about them.

“Son, could you go to our neighbors and call their priest here. My body is not what it used to be, if he can’t come at least ask him how is everything going there… I just want to know my old friend is doing well.”

“Mhm, I will return in a few days then.”

Nephogram kept questioning himself about what was happening. He gave up at some point on killing everything and was now living with humans. He felt as though he betrayed his own convictions.

Days later Nephogram was on his way back to the church, only to see the entire town up in flames.

He rushed towards it to find the priest, his wife or his daughter, he rushed to find the poor boy who barely started to read properly.

He ran and ran until a bloody image came upon his eyes.

“Ahahaha…. Haha…ha… I guess I deserve this? I do deserve it, yes indeed… Well this gives me a reason once again to kill every single one of them! ALL OF THEM!”

He followed a trail left by the large band of brigands. They took some people as slaves and among the people was the priest’s daughter.

Nephogram unleashed his claws and transformed into a giant demon. Scales grew on his torso and limbs. His skin became blue and the clothes were torn to pieces as he became a monster. On his head five horns emerged similar to those of a goat. On his back, four dragon wings sprouted. He was not a demon, he was not a monster nor was he human... Nephogram, was an abomination.

He jumped on the brigands and started his carnage. Slashing them apart, eating their flesh, tearing through each and all of them… blood spewed everywhere. The demon was drenched in blood, he burned and ate regardless of who they were, without any concern he kept gulping everyone up. It was a feast… that until he saw the priest’s daughter.

He killed and ate everyone except the girl. He hesitated, something kept him from slaughtering her.

“…Run…”

He turned away and fell on his knees. He punched the ground again and again. He tried to restrain himself, there was no remorse in his soul for killing the humans. Although he had a problem, he couldn’t control his gluttony in that state, it was frustrating for him.

“What am I even doing… Living with the humans, have I really become so pathetic?”

He got back up and looked at the child. His vision was clouded and the scent of blood was maddening.

Nephogram jumped in front of the girl. He knew what was going to happen, he knew he couldn’t control himself. Tears of blood fell from his eyes, he was in agony. For once he did not wish to kill a person in that state he was.

The girl looked at him, it looked almost like she showed him pity. She opened her arms and closed her eyes.

Something inside him trembled, it was an emotion he destroyed a long time ago and was now emerging. It wasn’t right, he didn’t wish to feel guilt.

In that moment Nephogram grasped her with his mouth and bit her in half. He ate so many humans and demons across the years, but this time he wanted to puke. The taste was bitter and sour so much that he forced himself to swallow the girl’s body. In his mind this was the least he could do for her.

To eat the entire body, to not let anything go to waste… It was all he could do at that point.

“At least you didn’t have to suffer… I hope… It wasn’t painful… Ahahah…. WHY?!”

He started crying, he gave everything away to pursue his fun, but now he felt sorrowful, guilty. He pulled off his masterwork, killing Vesper, making his own child kill him. He saw the world crumble and burn in flames one too many times. He felt empty, as though there was nothing left for him to do.

“Damned humans, even now you find ways to hurt me… Priest, if you saw me now… Would you forgive me? How about you Vesper? Is there one person that would forgive me? Would you… little one?”