“Hmm,” Beelzebub thinks for a moment before saying, “Your power, what abilities do you have?”

My brain starts spinning. What will he gain if he knows about my abilities? Will he kill me if I don't agree to cooperate? Will I be able to escape?

“Hey, look me in the eyes when I'm talking,” said Beelzebub. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I got hit again, except this time it's the right side of my torso.

My body flipped when he kicked me and landed on the ground with my face first. It was painful, especially the face, as dirt covered my face. My right torso also hurts as hell.

“You should be occupied with random thoughts when someone is speaking to you,” he said smilingly, but his face was covered in cuts and blood, so he looked quite scary.

“What do you want from me?” I ask.

“Was that some time and manipulation?” he asked, ignoring my question.

Is he interested in my powers? Or is it something else?

I answered. "Yes,” and I ask a question.

“What happened to that guy?”

Beelzebub is still smiling. “I'm in a good mood now that guy was dead.”

“I will answer some of your questions, and you will answer mine,” he said. hahaha, boy. There is this feeling of some hidden motive behind this conversation; he is forcing me. He knows that I know even a dog knows.

“Was that magic?” I ask.

“In the fight? Then yes, that is magic. Many agree with that, but I personally think magic is the power of the divine,” he said. I thought he was not the type to talk too much. But he did say he was in a good mood.

“I'm interested in your powers; they can only be found in...,” he thought again for a moment before asking. “Your blessing, how did it affect you? Can you describe it?” he asks politely.

I began to think about how I felt when I obtained that blessing. Is it really a blessing? Anyway, I answered, “I felt joy and more at peace than I normally would. It's a weird feeling to be honest.” I began looking for a way out while I was talking. ‘‘I also felt powerful; it's like...” I stopped talking. He was uncomfortably looking serious. He looked like he was in deep thought.

"Hey, that tall man said this forest is different; why is that?” I said, but he did not answer me.

“Hey man, you said it yourself that it's rude when you're distracted,” I said to him, but he did not answer.

My brain started spinning again, and adrenaline started pumping into my bloodstream. I am calm, thankfully, in this situation, looking for a way out. Maybe this forest is special and will help me escape.

Because I notice now that the sun is setting in the distance. It looks like I have been sleeping for a long while. I'm still sitting, so I stand up and run.

I did not look behind me again, and I noticed something, and it was that my body that was injured during the explosion was gone, but my clothes are covered in bloodstains, cuts, and dirt.

The trees were red, making the escape more ominous. Beelzebub, I don’t know anything about him or what his motives are for approaching me. All I know is to get away from him.

As the light faded, the forest plunged into eerie twilight. Shadows deepened, and the trees seemed to close in, their twisted branches creating ghostly shapes. An unsettling feeling crept over me, as though unseen eyes were tracking my every move, the very forest itself conspiring against me. Why is that? the trees, as the sun starts to set. My mind feels like someone is watching me and the trees. I feel like they're moving. I feel like I was still dreaming, and I'm in a nightmare. As I was occupied by thought, the world around me had gotten dark and became ominous. The winds blew like they were whispering to me.

I'm running out of breath and my heart is beating fast. I finally look behind me; the trees are moving. Their branches were twisting and curling up. Their roots seem to dance, and I trip on one of them, but I manage to not fall and continue running.

I stopped running. I recall the battle I have been running throughout their fight to escape. No, this focus. I slapped my face. Where should I go? Beelzebub didn’t follow me, did he? He said the tall man was dead. Did he really die? He might be around somewhere. This forest is strange. I remember the tall man saying something about this forest; anyway, I'm wasting powers. I look around.

All the trees I see, they all look creepy to me. They were normal in the daytime, but they looked creepy at night.

I kicked a nearby tree and broke one of its twisting branches. And looked over and saw it was just an ordinary tree.

I heard footsteps; they were faint, but I heard them getting closer. I made my decision quickly and slowed down a large area in the direction of the footsteps. After that, I distorted the space around me, forming a wormhole. On the other side of the wormhole, I saw trees. I used a pebble in the ground and threw it at the portal; it didn’t disintegrate or something after checking if it was safe. I jump into the portal. When I got to the other side, I lay down in a nearby tree. The use of powers fatigued me, but the blessing I was given helped me to recover faster.

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But it does not help my hunger. I'm hungry; I haven't eaten for a while, but I can last without food for days.

It was such an incredibly strange day. My head feels heavy, though it's recovering. I'll take some time for a full recovery. As I finish assessing my condition, I look around. I was still in the forest. I don't know how far I am.

I sign over my situation, and I turn my head to look above me. I see the stars in the sky above the leaves of the trees. It was twilight, a period of time after the sunset.

The sky still has light while it's dark in this forest.

I reach out with my hand towards the air. Half my hand seems to disappear into thin air as I grab something and pull it back out. My tumbler appeared in my hand . I opened it and drank it. It was refreshing, but this water won’t last for very long. After drinking water, I put it in my storage dimension. Then I grab another item, a knife. The Blackout Tactical Knife is a dark knife with its blade about seven inches long, with a sharp, straight edge on one side and a toothed edge on the other. The blade’s dark, non-reflective finish made it almost invisible in this place, perfect for surprises. My trusty knife, which has been given to me since the war.

I put it in my pocket.

“I need to find a water source, but I'm not sure if there is any in this damn place,” I remark.

“gotta get going to keep moving.” I slap my face with both of my hands.

I made a frowning expression while I took off my back against the tree and started to stand up.

“I think this is the opposite path of the battlefield,” I pointed in the nearby trees. I walked in that direction and passed those creepy trees. As I walk, I feel like they are staring at me, watching my every movement. I ignored it and thought. How big is this forest? Did their fight barely damage it at all? I wonder if this forest is alive from how the trees seem to move. Why is it only waking up now?

I pick up the pace, I jog through and avoid several trees in my way, and I also pass by several things. One was a face in a tree, and some shadows were in the corner of my eye; the others, I only barely saw them. You can say I didn’t see them at all, and it was all just my imagination.

I'm getting out of here and into the mystical world of fantasy; that's what keeps me going. Scenes of people with pointy ears doing magic and living on tall and big trees with houses in them. Medieval castles were kings and queens. Floating islands, mystical and beautiful oceans, mystical and beautiful forests.

Places where there is no destruction, no gray world, and hello, new world, I'm coming. I'll step foot in every corner of YOUR LAND. Happy thoughts

And I return to reality. Still jogging with my new profound motivation, I started using my powers to space bend and fold. The distance I travel is increased at the cost of slight fatigue to my already tired self. Still no one is chasing me; the trees are not attacking. Beelzebub is nowhere to be seen. I just got to keep this up.

Then I saw something nearby. an open space. I went just outside this open space and realized with horror on my face that this was where the forest battle took place. The previous fires had died down, letting me see the trees were turned to charcoal. The water on the ground from the rain has also dried up. I can also see where the last explosion took place before I sleep. It left a deep scar in the forest, turning part of it into a wasteland. This place shows the immense power of the two individuals who fought here.

How can it be?

Just when it could get worse, I heard sounds of footsteps. I use time magic to slow that direction down and try to create a portal.

Then I heard a booming sound. The next thing I know, Beelzebub is right. In front of me, the slowing down of time did slow him down. But it did not stop him from escaping to a place I can’t see.

“I'm lost too, you know,” I heard Beelzebub’s voice.”

Then I heard a second boom. He was moving between the trees like a phantom. Beelzebub was like a blur. I did not see him in this dark forest. He spoke from the shadows in the night. Hunting and menacing.

“As you can see, I am injured. It takes a long time to recover, so I cannot get out of this place,” Beelzebub said.

He has broken my concentration to create a portal. I tried to create another one, but Beelzebub flew through the air, flying past me, and he smashed the ground, disrupting my creation of the portal. When I looked at Beelzebub, I saw the wounds on his face were gone.

“We're both in the same situation; we are trapped in here; why don’t we work together?” he said.

“I'm not trusting you; you think I’m dumb,” I said calmly.

“Kid, I am not here to gain your trust,” he then raised his hand and pointed at the sky. That twilight period is almost done, and it's about time to be night time. Then he said, “It's about to begin. Are you sure you don’t want to work for me?”

From working together to working for me, he is slowly revealing his true intentions, and did he just call me a kid? I'm a teen.

I wanted to live. I hate this place, and I'm afraid of this guy. Then I said, “Your name is literally Belzebub, the name of a demon from my world.”

After hearing what I had to say, he said, “You, that guy, just call me Beelzebub, but my real name is Beel.” His tone shifted from mocking to something sinister and ominous.

Why am I wasting time talking to this guy? O, because I can’t escape, is the only option to fight? Cooperating with this guy won’t do me any good. He will betray me. He is stronger than me, who can only utilize his powers to escape. So having a loose alliance where the two of us are equal is nonexistent, which is why he said to work for me.

“Running away again. You know you can’t run forever,” he smirked at me with his bloody face.

Without knowing what I thought, he could guess.

“You should not be trying to around aimlessly.”

After that, he reached with his hand to grab something in the air just like me. He also has some sort of space pocket to keep his things.

The area has become even more sinister. Twilight finally enters the night, where only the stars and moon shine light into the night, but even the light can’t penetrate this forest. Shadowy beings that appear and disappear, hiding beneath the trees. It seems to confine me to this open area. I can hear the winds carrying the sounds of whispers. They seem to be talking. The moon shining down upon us, Beelzebub took out an item.

It was a scroll.

Beelzebub ignored what was happening around us and talked.

“This is a magic contract from the church of contracts.” “Or from the Sanctuary of the Sacred Covenant.”

“You can right the terms and conditions.”

“And any punishment from breaking them and it will come true, even death.”

“Pretty convenient, am I right?”

“Now we can work together now,” his words were like whispers of the devil. I took a setback. I was close to the trees. I can feel countless eyes staring at me from behind, sending shivers down my spine. I’m scared, is how I felt. There is only so much a blessing could do.

As I was back in a corner, he said. “Kid, you got potential.”

“It will be a shame to die in this forest.”

“Even if your an outlander didn’t the god as well the same.”

“You got a bright future ahead of you.”

“I don’t just randomly kill people.”

“I have my reasons.”

“You can be a hero or an adventurer exploring uncharted territories.”

“Take it,” he said.