When I was young, my mother used to tell me stories before bedtime. Sometimes she would tell me stories of Evil Witches giving a poisoned apple to a princess. Said princess saved by a merry band of dwarvs and with her ending up with a sweet prince. It was a fun story. But there was a specific story that she told. It was the story of the Hero defeating the Evil Emperor of the demons and devils.

Legends said that one day, The Demonic Emperor amassed an army and unleashed it upon the world. With his ultimate desire to conquer the world. Times back then were dark. Villages were being pillaged and ransacked, and entire cities burned to cinders. Leaving nothing but a mountain of corpses and ash in their wake.

Some heroes tried to fight off the army of the demonic emperor. They were powerful. Able to battle a Demonic general and their army by themselves. They were a dime a dozen, but there was one factor that humanity forgot. One was that despite the heroes being as powerful as an entire army, it was not enough to even be considered a foe by that being. It was the Demonic Emperor.

It was said that the Demonic Emperor crushed the Heroes like they were ants. Some even believed that a demonic god descended upon their plain. But it was an impossibility. Everybody knew that Gods were forbidden to descend. The heavens forbid it. There was no exception.

But one day, something inexplicable happened.

A hero emerged. A hero like no other.

In mere days, the demonic army's unstoppable march towards humanity's last bastion of hope was stopped. One man did that. Stories say that the man had golden hair that was likened to the sun. Golden eyes that seemingly allowed him to see through heaven itself. In his hands was Helios, The Sword of Heaven. The Gods bestowed the hero with a sword able to pierce through the armor of the Demonic Emperor and once and for all, do one thing that no other thing can do. Slay him.

In the final battle between good and evil, the heavens cried as it was being torn asunder. The skies turned red with blood. Entire Oceans boiled as the scorching heat of the hero's sword showed. No living thing except for the two survived the aftermath of their battle. It was the two of them, their battle deciding the fate of the world.

Needless to say who won? The hero emerged victorious as his sword pierced through the Demonic Emperor, ending his crusade of death and terror against the world. It was my favorite. It was my wish as a child to become someone like the Hero. And an opportunity emerged that allowed me to do the same. To do battle against an evil being.

I gazed at my enemy. It had green skin, its height not even exceeding my chest. It held a dagger, its blade glinting against the sun. Its mouth salivated as it looked at me, thinking that it had his lunch for the day. But I did not waiver. I lowered my center of gravity, gripping the blade that Mr. Samuel gave me.

"Cosmo, stop shaking. You don't want your hands shaking when you fight an enemy. Trust me, you want your head to still be attached to your head."

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"Ah- umm... yea yeah okay," I said with a courageous tone.

I glared at the [Goblin Dreamer], a monster that Mr. Samuel told me about. He said that it was a different kind of species from the normal [Goblin]. This type of species was able to use illusions to hunt down and trick its prey into fatigue. Once their prey are trapped in a dream, the [Goblin Dreamer] will kill their prey while they are in a dreamlike state. But there was one caveat with their skills, and it's that they could not hunt prey that was stronger than them mentally.

Mr. Samuel said to me that he has never seen a human being trapped in a [Goblin Dreamers] clutches. I wanted to cry, but there were no tears to be shed.

Snapping out of my thoughts, I saw that the monster made its move. It lunged at me with its dagger, its tongue hanging out from its mouth as it started its assault. It slashed at me, and I tried dodging but it was still able to cut my shoulder. It was a surface wound, but it still sent me a shrill of pain. It was then that I felt something was wrong. I was starting to feel dizzy.

"Oh I forgot to tell yah, their daggers are poisoned so that even if they can't use their ability, it doesn't mean that they can't kill you. Use your sword god damnit, it's not there to make you look good."

I wanted to protest and say that he was being a terrible teacher, but the monster would not let me. It continued its assault. Slashing and stabbing, and with its every attack I barely dodged it or parried it with my weapon. It seemed that its poison was working, as I staggered for a moment. It seemed to have realized that his trick was working, as it lunged at me in full force.

Not able to dodge in time, I used my weapon to clash with him, but he slightly overpowered me, sending my Chokuto clattering away. He took that opportunity and stabbed me in my stomach. I felt the blade enter my core, as an eruption of blood escaped my mouth. I thought that Mr. Samuel would stop the fight, but the goblin was still twisting his blade into my stomach. It was at that moment that I realized, I was going to die.

The concept of death never crossed my mind. The Guardians of my family protected me twenty-four-seven, around the clock. And sure I was kidnapped several times, but I was never in real danger since I was quickly found within half an hour. But at that precise moment, I felt that the cold touch of death was caressing my face.

'I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die I don't wanna die.' The phrase kept cycling through my head in a span of a second, and it was that phrase that made my body take action.

I used my last bit of strength and wrestled the dagger away from the goblin. I managed to make him lose his grip, as I then pulled the dagger out from my stomach. Blood spilled from my insides but At that moment, I couldn't feel it. I jumped on the goblin, and despite its attempt to claw at me, I gripped the dagger with both hands and stabbed it. I stabbed it again. And again, and again and again and again and again.

How many times I stabbed the [Goblin Dreamer], I did not know. All I remembered was that blood covered every inch of my body. It was both my blood and the monsters.

"Kid.." I turned around and slashed the dagger at the voice. I pointed the dagger at the one who called me, but I then realized that it was Mr. Samuel. He looked at me with cold eyes, as he said. "It's dead Cosmo, it's dead." I looked back and saw the monster was indeed dead. Its guts were spilling out from its body, and a pool of blood was forming from its corpse. Its eyes were showing complete whites, as a single movement from it was no longer possible. But despite that, I still gripped the dagger.

Mr. Samuel slowly took the dagger away from me, and despite my attempts to hold onto it, I lost my grip as the rush I felt was slowly dying down. I collapsed unto the ground, as my consciousness drifted into slumber.