"Shit," Brandon cursed under his breath, his mind racing as he assessed the dire situation before him. While facing psychopaths or even serial killers might have invoked fear in others, Brandon's past experiences had instilled within him a unique set of skills and resilience.
His parents, understanding the importance of self-defense, had enrolled him in various martial arts, running, and parkour classes. It was a decision made to empower him, to ensure he could protect himself from any potential danger that lurked in the shadows.
Drawing upon the knowledge he had acquired, Brandon's instincts kicked in, his training taking over. He quickly analyzed his surroundings, seeking the best route for evasive maneuvers. His eyes darted from alley walls to fire escapes, mapping out a mental blueprint of his potential escape routes.
Brandon's pragmatic nature led him to prioritize running and parkour as his primary skills. In his mind, mastering martial arts to an extreme level seemed futile against the unpredictable nature of real-world threats. After all, even the most formidable martial artist could be taken down by an edgy teenager with a gun.
Believing that escaping and evasion held the key to survival, Brandon dedicated himself to honing his agility, speed, and the ability to navigate through urban environments with unrivaled finesse.
His pursuit of escapism and evasion was not born out of cowardice but rather a keen understanding of the asymmetrical power dynamics present in dangerous situations. Brandon recognized that evading confrontation altogether could often be the wisest course of action.
As Brandon's heart raced in his chest, his mind raced just as fast, desperately seeking a solution to the seemingly insurmountable problem before him.
"How the fuck am I going to outrun a psychopath that can fly?"
His parkour skills seemed useless in the face of her aerial advantage. Despair threatened to consume him, but he refused to surrender.
While Brandon's inherent yearning for survival grew stronger, he swiftly abandoned his idea of trying to find out why she had wings. Realizing that his life was at stake, he made a split-second decision to trust his instincts and rely on his fleet-footed skills.
"Ah fuck it! I'll just run away! It's better than doing nothing!"
With a surge of adrenaline, Brandon pivoted on his heel and sprinted in the opposite direction. His heart pounded in his chest, fueling his legs as they propelled him forward with all the speed he could muster. Each stride he took seemed to propel him farther away from danger, his mind focused solely on finding safety.
He glanced over his shoulder and felt a glimmer of relief as he saw the demon woman engrossed in the intoxicating scent of the blood on her own body. Her attention was consumed by her gruesome indulgence, sparing him a few precious moments of respite.
Brandon leaped over obstacles, ducked through narrow alleyways, and dodged startled pedestrians in his desperate bid for freedom. Each turn he took was calculated, every movement deliberate as he navigated the maze-like streets.
But just as he thought he had managed to outmaneuver his pursuer, an invisible force abruptly seized hold of his body, freezing him in mid-stride. Panic washed over him as he tried to move, his muscles straining against the invisible restraints.
It felt as though an unseen hand had pressed the pause button on his very existence. He could feel the weight of his body suspended in the air, his legs suspended in a perpetual state of running, while the world around him continued to move in a dizzying blur.
With wide eyes, Brandon frantically scanned his surroundings, searching for any sign of the source of this mysterious hold. The realization that he was powerless to escape intensified his fear, his mind racing for a solution. But no matter how hard he struggled and strained, the invisible force kept him locked in place.
The only body parts he could move were his mouth and eyelids, but Brandon's heart sank as he realized the depth of his predicament. The precise control exerted over his body was an unnerving display of power, indicating that the demonic woman he had encountered was far stronger than he had anticipated.
"Did you really think I don't know what you are thinking?"
A shiver ran down his spine as a voice, dripping with devilish allure, slithered into his ears. The words carried an undeniable air of malevolence, sending a chill through his entire being. A warm breath brushed against his ear, normally an intimate gesture, but instead of arousal, Brandon felt an overwhelming sense of dread grip his heart and mind.
The sinister voice continued to echo around him, the source remaining concealed in the shadows. It was as if the very air had taken on a malicious persona, seeping into his consciousness with its wicked intent.
Moving his eyes sideways, he caught a glimpse of the demonic woman beside him, her visage inches away from his right ear. The sudden proximity chilled him to the bone, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and dread at her uncanny speed. It was as if she had teleported, her movements too swift for his eyes to follow.
A whirlwind of thoughts churned in Brandon's mind, grappling with the unsettling realization that there existed a supernatural side to the world he had known. Questions flooded his consciousness, swirling in a vortex of confusion.
'Does this world have a supernatural side? How come I am so unlucky to meet the evil ones instead of the good ones?'
Brandon's thoughts echoed within the depths of his mind, his questions swirling like a tempest. But to his astonishment, the demonic woman seemed to have tapped into the very essence of his thoughts, responding with a voice that resonated within his being.
"This world indeed has a supernatural side," she hissed, the venom in her tone seemed to seep into every word she uttered, causing a deep-seated terror within him. "But they were easily vanquished by the might of our world, Malum!"
"We have initiated a purge to cleanse the Earth of its supernatural elements, eradicating any concealed forces that may hinder Malum's conquest. And you, young boy, stand as the final remnant of the supernatural world," she said with a chilling conviction.
Her words carried an aura of power and malignancy, as if she relished in the impending demise of her adversaries.
"So die and remember that the one who killed you is none other than I, Alice Gustav, the Primordial of Sin!"
While Brandon stood frozen in fear, his mind racing to grasp the gravity of Alice's words, an icy emptiness swept over his chest. A searing pain surged through his body, intensifying with each passing moment, causing him to crumple to his knees.
Agony coursed through his veins, shooting through every fiber of his being, leaving him gasping for air and clinging to the last shreds of consciousness. The world around him blurred as he fought against the overwhelming torment, his vision fading into darkness, leaving him at the mercy of Alice Gustav's malevolent presence.
As the invisible restraints released their grip on Brandon's body, he plummeted to the unforgiving ground, his limbs trembling with the shock of the impact. The pain coursing through his chest was unbearable; a consuming torment that obliterated all other sensations.
There, standing before him, was Alice Gustav, her delicate fingers tightly clutching his pulsating heart. It was a grotesque sight, his once vital organ now soaked in his own lifeblood, the crimson fluid dripping through her fingers like a macabre melody.
Without a hint of mercy or remorse, Alice's grip tightened, her fingers crushing his heart within her hand. In that moment, he became heartless in every sense of the word, his heart shattered both figuratively and literally.
His chest pulsated with agonizing pain, engulfing him in its fiery grip and extinguishing all rational inquiry.
Brandon's mind raced as he tried to comprehend the swift and gruesome events unfolding before him. He could only speculate that Alice, with her supernatural speed, had effortlessly pierced through his back, her fingers expertly extracting his beating heart with a chilling precision.
But as his life force rapidly drained away, Brandon's ability to reason and question faded into oblivion. The words Alice had uttered, once so significant, now seemed inconsequential in the face of his imminent demise.
He no longer had the luxury to contemplate why he had been entangled in the supernatural world, a world he had unknowingly possessed powers within. Regret washed over him as he realized his past complaints to John about the mundanity of their existence were utterly futile.
Brandon teetered on the edge of death's door. The gaping wound in his chest gushed blood relentlessly, a torrential flow that surpassed any he had ever witnessed. With his heart ripped from his body, there was no chance for his system to replenish the vital fluid that seeped out, leaving him on the precipice of oblivion.
Each passing moment intensified his dizziness and weakened his senses. The diminishing blood supply to his brain caused his consciousness to wane, like a flickering candle in the wind. He struggled to maintain focus, his thoughts becoming fragmented and muddled as his eyelids grew heavier.
The world around him started to blur, the edges fading into darkness. The distant sounds of life, the murmurs of the city, and the echo of his own shallow breaths seemed to grow distant, slipping away from his grasp. Brandon felt the pull of unconsciousness, a seductive allure beckoning him to surrender to its embrace.
'Am I going to die?'
'Heh. I haven't even lost my V-card yet.'
As Brandon's consciousness waned, these thoughts echoed in his mind, a mix of resignation and bitter humor. The gravity of the situation sank in, and he realized that if he succumbed to unconsciousness, his chances of survival would plummet.
At least, staying awake would delay his death. But prolonging his suffering seemed futile. The chances of a savior miraculously appearing and performing a heart surgery were slim to none. It was a cruel reality that Brandon had to face.
Resigned to his fate, Brandon made a bittersweet decision. Rather than clinging desperately to a life filled with agony, he chose to surrender to the inevitable embrace of death. His eyelids, heavy with weariness, closed gradually, sealing his fate. The rhythm of his nonexistent heart continued to echo in the silence, a haunting reminder of the life that once coursed through his veins.
Before his eyelids closed, the last scene Brandon witnessed before his impending demise was Alice Gustav, her wings unfurled, soaring into the darkened sky. The image etched itself into his fading consciousness, fueling a flame of vengeance within him that transcended the boundaries of life and death.
In the realms beyond mortality, Brandon vowed to unleash upon Alice Gustav a torment that would eclipse the horrors he had endured. He would become a force of malevolence, a harbinger of suffering, and exact upon her a vengeance that would reverberate throughout the ages.
'So what if Alice is a beautiful woman?! Then that's good! I will make her suffer more!'
'After I defeat her and enslave her in my second life, I will ravish her body and after I get tired of toying with her body, I will seal her power and throw her to an orc village!'
'I, Brandon Culianz, swear that if there is a next life, I will take my revenge in my second life!'
'Whether it is Alice Gustav, the Primordial of Sin, or the entire Malum World, it doesn't matter! I will hunt down and slay the Primordial of Sin, Alice Gustav, and obliterate the very foundation of the Malum World!'
Before Brandon succumbed to the cold grip of death, his fierce resentment towards Alice Gustav and the dark realm she represented reverberated through the very fabric of the world.
Unfortunately, despite his fierce determination, Brandon's body couldn't handle the damage inflicted upon it anymore. The candle of life within him dwindled to a mere flicker, and his essence slipped away from the mortal realm.
In the aftermath of his demise, the world continued to turn, seemingly indifferent to his passing. The sun rose and set, and life carried on.
But fate had a different plan in store for him.