Yet another peaceful day passed in the city of Renport, a port city on the very Western edge of what used to be the Ruthobold Kingdom.
The sun rose in the North, lightly beating down on the people who approached their days with vigor.
Things seemed to be changing for the better.
After the chaos in the Capital caused by Kyle Ruthobold, the noble lord who ruled over the land had been removed from his position for a time, causing unease in the people, however with the takeover of Kyle Ruthobold this unease was quickly dispelled.
However, that was before the war with the Empire, whose armies were led by none other than the Indeterminant himself.
The knights of Renport had set out and met up with Kyle Ruthobold only to be defeated at the hands of the Indeterminant and the Legions of the Empire.
Following this, the former heir to the throne, Reginald Ruthobold, had supposedly made an attempt to take control in the chaos, publicly executing the seven women who had raised Kyle Ruthobold, branding them as traitors.
On witnessing this event, the Indeterminant had deemed Reginald Ruthobold and his cohorts to be villains who would slay innocent women who were caught up in the mess. Having deemed this such, Reginald Ruthobold and Sylvester Ruthobold died at his hands, and the people were saved from a potential tyrannical rule.
According to what had been told to the people of the newly formed Empire, the Indeterminant found the current Emperor to be just as villainous, having denied the starving people of the Sultinate the food which he had guaranteed to provide in exchange for the services of their hero's military strength.
"The former leaders of this world were obsessed with power, resistant to change, and focused only on one thing- themselves. Due to their evil actions, I have no choice but to take over and rule this world myself- to ensure that humanity does not go down the wrong path."
These were the words of the Indeterminant towards all the people of the world as he took control, and the people of Renport were not particularly concerned about his rule.
While the sudden shift of power came as a surprise, no major events had taken place in their city aside from the removal of their own previous noble Lord. Having seen no practical changes to the running of their nation, they cared not about who actually stood at the top.
Whether it was one of the heroes or the man who was said to lead the heroes, it didn't effect them.
Life went on.
Therefore, no protests occurred within this city.
As soon as the people realized that their daily lives were no different from before, they continued on under their new ruler.
A census occurred at some point, but aside from this one event their lives were peaceful and normal.
"Hey, Sidney. Come on over here, will ya?"
"Yeah. I heard your parents got ahold of a chunk of cash recently. Come on and share it with us."
A group of four boys walked through the streets wearing schoolbags on their sides.
Approaching another boy who was thin and sickly, they grinned with devious expressions as they quickly surrounded the boy, who shied away.
"We.... really didn't get much.... my parents may be merchants, but everything they earn is barely enough to survive..... I'm only spared enough to eat, really...."
"Ah? Is that so? Haha..... Sidney, you know that's a girl name, right?"
Slamming his fist to the wall, the boy who was the apparent leader of the group looked at the child with a grin.
"Only spared enough to eat? Save us the trouble. Come with us. Or else."
The arrogant boy walked away into a side alley, waving for the others to follow him.
The timid boy looked to the ground in shame, holding his head low as he followed the four obediently.
He was unable to stand up to them.
It was four on one, so even if he ran he would be chased down and caught.
There was nothing he could do.
He was led into the alleyway, at which he was met with a fist to his face.
"Ugh...."
Falling backwards and landing on the wall, the boys approached the weak child.
"Now that's gonna make for a black eye. Girls shouldn't have black eyes, you know. Hand over the money and we'll leave your other one alone."
Looking down to the ground, the boy bit his lip, glancing over to his satchel.
Reaching his hand over, he opened the pouch, placing his hand inside it.
Then, about to take something out, he stopped.
'What am I doing?'
The boy froze, thinking to himself as he reached into the bag, feeling the money.
It was in his hand.
He would give it to them, and they would leave.
They would come back tomorrow and they would ask for more.
The situation would repeat itself. He would give them his money and he would leave.
It would be a neverending cycle where he always lost, and they always won.
'Does my life..... does it always have to be like this?'
Nobody would come to his aid.
Nobody ever had.
Nobody ever would.
'If I want things to change.... then perhaps I have to change myself.'
Sliding his hand out of the bag, the boy stood up, clenching it's contents.
"That's right. Now hand it over."
Holding out his hand, the boy closed his eyes, clenching his teeth.
And then, he flicked his wrist.
"Wha-!?"
Spraying a handful of dirt onto the boys, the child took off running.
"I'm done with you!! I'll never give you anything again!!"
The boy took off, however soon after the four followed him.
"Get him!!"
"Teach him a lesson!!"
"Thinks he can mess with us, eh? I'll show him that he was wrong to go against us!!!"
The four rushed forth, chasing after the boy.
Running from alleyway to alleyway, the boys turned a number of corners as they chased the child until he came to a dead end.
"No..... huff.... "
Turning around to see the four furious children behind him, the boy named Sidney was out of breath and out of options.
'Shit.... shit.... I shouldn't have done that!! I should've just given them the money and left!!'
Hands quivering, the boy looked down in complete defeat.
"A.... alright.... I'll give you the mon-"
"I don't want it anymore."
Stepping forward, the leader rubbed his now reddened eyes, wiping the dirt from them.
'Ah.... ah....'
Sidney stepped back, once more pressed to the wall.
And then, a fist.
And another.
And another.
And another.
Kicks, slaps, spitting, and soon, the other three boys joined in on the beatdown.
"That's right!!"
"Curl up into a ball and cry like the girl you are!!"
"Hahaha!!"
"This is what you get for trying to go against us!!"
The four beat the child to the point of death, and after a long while the beating came to a stop.
Standing around the child who was now bruised all over, they looked down on him with smug grins.
"Maybe that'll teach you? Don't ever try to..... go against.... us.... again..."
As the boy known as the leader said this, he watched in confusion as weeds seemed to sprout from the ground, wrapping themselves around the bruised boy.
"What.... is going on?"
The green foliage wrapped around the boy, and then they pierced into him, poking into each and every vein and artery within the child like roots taking hold.
And then, as they boy looked around with his now black eyes wide, his skin became wrinkled.
"What.... is happening to me?", Sidney gasped in pure terror, barely even able to get the words out.
And then, as if he was sucked up by a straw, the skin of the boy became dry.
The eyes of the boy were slurped up by the weeds which pierced into them, and all that remained was a husk of skin and bones.
Up to 60% of the adult human body is made from water.
For children, an even greater percentage of the body is water.
Therefore, the overall size of this thin boy had been reduced to literal skin and bones.
As the child was rung dry by these mysterious roots which had sprung out of the ground for no apparent reason, the four boys who were watching could only drop their jaws in shock at the sight.
"Why... how.... he....."
Stuttering as he watched the boy die in such a gruesome and bloodless manner, the boy known as the leader stepped back in terror, gasping for air.
"We.... need to get out of here..... we need to get away from that.... that thing.... that..... that overgrowth.... those weeds."
The other boys stepped back as well, nodding in agreement as they turned around to run off, however as they did so the weeds which had sprung from the ground turned to vines, shooting forth as they honed in on the four, wrapping them up as if they could sense the fear in the four.
"Agh!!!! Let us go!!! Agh!!!!"
The four struggled to no avail as they were wrapped in the vines, overtaken by whatever horrible mutation was the cause of this.
"It's.... it's a monster!!! It's aiming for people!!!! Agh!!!! Somebody!!! Anybody!!!! Help!!!"
The boys then begun to shout out in terror, screaming for someone to come by and free them.
Having already released their own bladders, the tears which dripped from the four were not the only liquid which emerged from them as they were squeezed by the vines.
Imagining the fate of the boy who had been pierced just moments earlier by these vines, the boys were filled with an utter despair as they realized that they would be killed here and now without anyone coming to save them.
"HELP!!!!!"
They continued their fruitless screaming, and as if their prayers had been answered, they heard footsteps and a pair of voices conversing from just beyond the alleyway.
"To think that her eminence would have us take care of this defenseless village on the opposite end of the world. However..... she did return our abilities. Though it would seem that even without me, you could have managed this task on your own. How irritating that all it takes is the flip of a switch for her to grant and remove such power.... hahaha.... but I suppose that is why I came underneath her. Because of that limitless power which overcame even my own abilities."
The first voice was that of a male, and he spoke with arrogance in his tone, yet with a strange resignation to his own inferiority towards the one he spoke of.
"I don't think it's quite right to call this village defenseless, Huberos. After all..... aren't they all?"
The voice of a female responded to the male voice as the steps of the two came closer and closer.
"I suppose that is right. Before my great power, there exists no village, human or monster, which holds even the slightest capability of defense. And with you by my side..... hah."
The arrogance in the man was almost tangible, to the point where the boys forgot to even continue their screams for help.
"We are unstoppable."
Stepping around the corner, the two appeared before the children who were now wrapped in vines.
And the second they did so, the boys who were previously screaming for help went silent in complete and utter horror.
The first was a woman made from cellulose.
Her skin was green, and her hair was made from long leaves which draped down her back and far behind her, as if she was dragging along a firehose which was connected to a hydrant.
She wore a short gothic skirt and a punk black shirt, and she smiled with a smug demeanor as she glanced from the man next to her over to the captured children.
However it was not this woman who caused the hearts of the boys to want to leap out of their throats.
Rather, it was the one beside her.
A demon.
Flesh and blood.
He wore a suit and tie, and walked with pride, not so much as looking over to the boys- for to him, they were nothing more than inferior beings.
His skin was indigo and his hair resembled a hurricane, swirling around it in chaotic manner.
His long horns and fangs accented his demonic appearance, and his skin was covered in veins which purple blood pumped through.
His hands were clawed, and he stepped forth alongside the woman, the two looking over to the children with sinister grins.
"Ah..... it would seem we have encountered some class 2 humans. These are the first we have come across thus far. There were so many class 1 people within this city that I was almost becoming concerned that the rankings which her eminence placed on the people were incorrect."
Speaking the words, the boys looked to the demon with fear and anger in their eyes.
"What..... are you? You..... you.... you plant beast..... are you the one who did this!? Are you the one who killed him!?!? Are you the one who is holding us captive like this!?"
Shouting out to the girl who had a humanoid appearance yet a plantlike composition, the boy held captive glared back at the woman who stepped forth with a smile.
"That would be me.", she said while holding her hands behind her back. "Now..... let me ask you something. Shouldn't you be thankful to me? After all, I helped you finish the job just now. You were about to kill him, right?"
The eyes of the four bullies went wide as the girl stated such a vile thing with such a happy expression.
What to even say, how to even respond to such a thing....
"O.... of course we weren't gonna kill him!!!! We were just messing with him a little.... and yet.... you.... you..... you went and killed him like he was nothing!!", one boy shouted out.
"Ah. I see."
Walking around her own vines and over to the boy who said this, the woman eyed him with a frown.
"Do you really believe that?"
Were the words she spoke.
The four looked to one another, eyes widened and unsure what to even say.
"But.... even if you weren't going to kill him..... you planned on killing his soul each and every day until the day he died. Therefore.... isn't what you were doing worse than actually killing him?"
It was in the next moment that the four boys were met with a horrid grin.
"I am a weed. I was designed to suck the life from everything around me. You know..... I always thought that my nature was demented.... that it was wrong. I had to deny myself of my nature.... I had to fight against my own bloodthirst my entire life as I lived in my hometown.... I loved the people around me, and I didn't ever want to hurt them. Therefore.... I became a good girl. I got a job, I worked, and I lived a normal life. Yet..... heh..."
Looking up to the four with thinned eyes that beamed with pleasure, the girl licked her lips as if she was about to consume a tasty meal.
It was then that the earth erupted, and vines sprung the ground, wriggling around the woman like tentacles in a display of power.
"I suppose coming under the rule of her eminence has allowed me to satisfy that craving without harming anyone..... aside from a bunch of lowly humans."
It was then that the four felt as their bodies were penetrated as the tentacle like plants shot forth, piercing the kids like a pincushion.
The vines begun to vibrate, sucking the fluids from the children as they shouted in pure agony.
"AGH!!!"
"UGH!!!"
"EEEK!!!"
"KYAAA!!!!"
The four screamed in clear torment, unable to handle the immense pain as they were stabbed in all locations, yet not a drop of blood flowed from the bodies of the four as they slowly dried up.
"How foolish. Just now, you four were calling that other boy a girl, claiming that his name made him somehow inferior to you. Yet despite that, you four are screaming in a much more feminine manner. It continuously boggles me how we are always trying to establish our dominance over one another."
Adding on his comment, the indigo demon looked onto the four with disgust, rolling his eyes as he leaned back on the wall behind him, allowing the woman to do the work herself.
"Agh!!!!"
"STOP IT!!!!"
"HELP!!!!"
"YOU MONSTERS!!!! STOP THIS!!!!"
The four screamed and shouted in the immense pain, their bodies vibrating as they desperately attempted to escape the grasp of the woman, however the roots had now spread throughout their bodies.
They could do nothing more than writhe in pain until their deaths.
It was at that moment that, as if having teleported, all four boys heard the voice of the male demon as he whispered into their ears.
"But of course. I am Huberos, the former Host of Pride. The greatest among all demons in the realm of.... so called monsters. And yet now I come to you as a mere slave of the Determined.... the Queen of Evil."
Hearing these words, the boys were chilled to the bone as they realized the immense situation which they found themselves in.
The pain which they endured was so great they wished to shout out in terror, but the fear which they felt as this demon whispered into their ears was enough to stop them from breathing altogether.
"So then let me ask you. As someone serving the one destined to destroy everything in this world..... what else could we be.... but monsters?"
Stepping forward, the man snapped his fingers.
[Humble]
And in that moment, the four boys transformed into goblins.
Their faces were wretched, yet their bodies were weak beyond measure.
As the two walked off with sinister laughs, they left the four to writhe in pain.
While they sat twitching in agony, the plantwoman turned around, waving to the four boys with a disturbing smile.
"Now you can die as monsters as well. Some corrupt guards should come around and find you in a bit. Have fun trying to explain that you were turned into monsters and that you're actually human. Think about your actions in your next life. Oh.... right.... the class 2 people aren't going to be revived. Then..... I suppose I'll suck you all dry slowly before you expire. Come on, Hube! Let's go!"
"Do not call me Hube. That irritating nickname is something which I could not stand even when Vex referred to me by it, but I will absolutely not compromise in this case. You will refer to me as Huberos, Tera."
The girl put on a pouting expression, grabbing the arm of the demon before looking up to him with a light smile.
"Alright. And you will refer to me as Tera Garefol then."
"In what universe have you obtained the right to my last name?"
"In this universe."
"Tch...."
With a light smile, the demon let out a sigh.
"Fair enough."
Looking onwards, the two walked off through the alleys as the expression of the demon became serious and work oriented.
"Have you spread your roots all over the city?"
Taking flight, the woman grabbed onto the demon as he flew up onto the top of a nearby building to reveal that the entire city had become a massive overgrowth of vines and moss.
As if a virus had spread through the entire city, buildings were collapsing and people were seen running back and forth in terror before they were wrapped up by even more vines.
It was nothing less than a calamity.
"I've already sucked all the class 1's dry. We can take care of the class 2's one by one, and then we move onto the class 3's. Well.... as for those people..... heh....."
The girl looked onto the scene with a strange tranquility.
They were truly monsters, who saw this as nothing out of the ordinary.
"I would feel bad.... but knowing the criteria which her eminence has been using, I don't at all. They'll get what they deserve.... and be repaid in suffering a hundred times over."
"Of course. I would expect nothing less from the one who defeated me."
In the next moment, from the alleyway which they had just left, they heard a couple of shouts.
"What is this!?"
"Goblins!? These four are monsters!!! They must be a part of this attack!!"
"Kill them!!!"
"Wait!!! We're not monsters!!! Agh!!! NO!!! STOP!!!! HLEP US!!! YOU HAVE TO-"
The screams died down soon, followed by orders which were spouted out by some men.
"I can't believe there were goblins in this town as well!! This way next!! We have to find out who is behind this and defeat them!!"
On hearing these words, Huberos smiled lightly, laughing as his fangs pierced his lower lip.
"Heh heh.... they truly are scrambling. I suppose I am glad that I am able to do this with you.... Tera Garefol."
"Hehe..."
Looking onto the city, these two stood at each others side, destruction abound.
A demon and a humanoid plantkin.
Both monsters who once stood on different planes of existence from one another, these two were now slaves of the Queen of Evil.
The destruction had begun.
The destruction of the human world as it was known.
----
[Time log]
[10:00 AM. A demon and a humanoid plantkin are first spotted within the city of Renport]
[10:02 AM. A large plant is seen to have spawned within the center of the city, growing furiously without limit.]
[10::05 AM. The roots of this plant have spread throughout the city of Renport, reaching to even the outer edges of the city, poking out of the ground with bloodthirsty intent. Many humans attempted to run, only to be captured by these roots.]
[10:08 AM. The roots of this plant begun to grow over buildings, completely enveloping the city in parasitic manner.]
[10:10 AM. All human survivors are either killed or taken captive by the two invaders. There was no apparent pattern in the people taken captive, as any features which were common between said captives were in proportion to the existing population- as if the samples were taken randomly.]