Everyone was still for a few seconds; the imposing figure that stood at the village entrance had seemingly frozen them all with their glare. The man retracted his arm, and then, in a blur of motion, he retrieved a massive axe from behind his back and threw it up in the air. As the axe rose and then fell, he smacked it with his sword, like if it was a baseball. It all happened so fast that if you blinked, you would miss it, which is precisely what happened to Klester. As when his eyes opened up after that fragment of a second, another demon fell to its knees, disintegrating before it ever reached the ground. Next to the pile of ash, the axe laid, firmly penetrating the floor.
"What… What is happening?" Klester thought as he stared mouth-wide at where the demons had stood just a few moments ago. Then, finally, the kid turned to where the nightmare of monsters stood. "Who is this person?!" The villagers shared his same thoughts, as there were whispers about who their mysterious saviour might be.
An enormous roar shook them all, stopping the gossiping. The last demon extended its hands, summoning two fireballs which it then threw at the man, who simply protected his face with his arm. The shockwave that rippled across the village was strong enough to throw almost everyone off their feet. Klester fell behind on his back, and when he sat back up, he witnessed a massive ash cloud that had engulfed virtually all of the village.
There were a few seconds of silence, and then from the ashes, the figure emerged once again, charging at the giant demon in front. The monster tried to punch the man, but he swung his swung faster, cutting off the demon's hand before the blow landed. The demon screeched a deafening sound and stumbled back. The figure jumped high and grabbed the devil by its throat, embedding the claws of his hands deep inside the demons flesh, muffling the scream.
The demon fell on its back, and the figure rose, stepping on the monster's cut-throat, which secreted a black fluid from it. Then, raising his sword, the man promptly brought it down on the demon's face, embedding it in between the demon's eyes. The devil opened its mouth as if trying to scream, but no sound came out. Still firmly gripping his sword, the man began to twist and turn it. The more he twisted it, the more the demon bled. Finally, after a few seconds, the slayer decided to remove his sword but not before opening the demon's cranium.
The swordsman stepped back from the demon as it slowly disintegrated, leaving only a pile of ash behind. Everyone else stood in shock; there were very few people across the world who could take on a medium-level demon and even fewer who could kill them so quickly. Now that he was closer to them, Klester and the rest of the villagers got a closer look at the man's face, or rather, what was left of it. He was old, his hair was as white as snow, and there were few wrinkles here and there. However, what caught the most attention was that the left part of his face was utterly covered in scar tissue, making him seem deformed, almost like a monster. Anyone capable of doing such a feat would be greatly celebrated, and portraits of them would adorn the halls of the churches as if they were living saints, and yet no one recognized that man's face.
The man turned to look at the villagers, that cold gaze falling upon them once again. He paid close attention to all of them as if he was looking for someone, but when the man seemed to not have found it, he turned around and went to retrieve his weapons. As he passed after the villagers, finally, the true scope of his height could be comprehended. Not even the tallest of the villagers could come close to his stature; a small giant would be the best way to describe him.
Once the shock finally passed, the villagers all swarmed him while at the same time still allowing him to walk forwards. "Thank you!" "You have saved us!" "You must be a heaven-sent!" "Thank you, thank you!" The villagers bombarded him with praise as he took his weapons, placing them behind his back, the swords on an "x," and his axe on the middle. Klester tried to push his way through the villagers to get a good look at the dark-armoured warrior, but he was shoved back and even elbowed in the face as he tried to pass through.
"You idiots!" The mayor shouted. "Have you forgotten what I just said?!" All the villagers turned to him once again while the slayer ignored him. "There is no salvation, no matter how many demons we kill. This is the end! That is our destiny!" This seemed to catch the dark warrior's attention as he turned to look at the old man. "It was written down long before our time, and we must accept it as such!"
Once again, the ground began to shake, and a mighty roar shook their soul. Dark clouds with a tint of red covered the village, and from the hills, a new demonic army marched towards the town. "See!" The mayor shouted once again. "This is our fate! And there is nothing we can do to change it!"
When the mayor finished rambling, the warrior walked towards him, unsheathing the sword from his back. The man placed the sword firmly on the ground in front of the mayor. The old man looked up at the towering figure, meeting the warrior's grey eyes. The old warrior stared at him for a few seconds that felt like hours as the tension rose, and then, in a rough and firm voice, the warrior stated: "Death to the architect of fate."