This is an old version of the novel I'm writing... It's about four chapters long. Any comments about this old work is highly appreciated <3
(The prologue is sh*tty, but if you're a sucker for pain—go join Kenny's sob story.)
The four chromatic statues stood before a gigantic gate. The soil beneath them was covered in a blanket of clouds, and the grasses swayed despite the absent wind, but the colored statues themselves, upon close inspection were men clad in heavy armor. Despite the gate having towered their frame like a skyscraper, these four knights were still as large as Earth's Statue of Liberty.
They looked fully equipped for battle with each carrying swords sheathed on their waists. Their presence was enough to create an eerie atmosphere, however, the gate—the towering portal before them—looked like a gaping hellfire. Intense sparks drifted like flies before vanishing midair. If those armors were their skin instead, it would have singed them to dust.
"It's time!" One knight declared.
Suddenly, six wings sprouted on the four knights' backs, casting a brilliant glow on their chromatic armor. There were also six arms moving from the sides of their torso, the lower four melding on their armor's base.
One knight carried a trumpet apart from the others, took a step forward, and held the instrument above his head. The loud siren that followed opened the portal like a wound, marking the start of an apocalypse.
~ 2012- December 21 ~
A weary-looking man took his usual route home at night on the lonely streets of Mabini, Tagum city. There was an expression of undoubted discontent on his face to go along with the stride of his steps. From his right hand there swung his worn-out leather briefcase, the kind what office workers carry. On his left fingers were drawstrings of a blue cotton shopping bag from Bluewich-eleven. He was returning home after three days of overtime work from an exploitative company.
"Man, I hate people. I wish the world would just end…!"
A moment later, the poor guy was still probably wishing for the world's end before he knew he was dead. What stood from his place was now a large crater, his guts had exploded like fireworks in the scene.
"FUUUUUUUUUU*K!"
Then came the screaming, the running, and the collapse of a nearby stall in the street. Every person that witnessed him explode raged in a mad frenzy. Then came another gut explosion, this time from a frail-looking nobody, somewhere thirty meters away in a dark alley. It was accompanied by a thundering trumpet in the sky.
"Gawd! I'm outta here…!" cried a boy who sported numerous bandages. He met an untimely end after a rubble collapsed over his head when his frail friend exploded. Then another one exploded, and another one, and another… The explosions continued like a chain-reaction across the streets before another trumpet was blown…
["Remember, you're a Nexus…"]
A minute before midnight on that day, a young man—of no historical significance in the world—lay unconscious on a floor mixed with rubbles and garbage in an alley. His forehead was covered by dried blood after getting smacked with a metal bat, giving him the worst kind of headache after waking. His name was Kenny Sou. He had bruises over his face and body that gave him the worst shape ever, like washed-up clay dough.
When he finally forced himself to get up from the surrounding scent of blood (and rotten eggs), there were already three bodies littered around (and beneath) him. His last memories were looking at a fireworks display, plus a swinging bat to his face. It made sense to him as to why he felt pain all over his face (and body), but he couldn't guess why there'd be corpses around him.
"And, gawwd—why am I even calm…?!"
Kenny gave in to the thought after calmly noticing he had stepped on a dismembered arm, it was oddly soft and squishy under his loafers. He could tell the arm had been lopped off around two hours, although he was confused about how he knew such a fact.
When he looked around, he could clearly see a pair of hands sticking out from the rubble of bricks beyond him. A little meter above it, a splash of blood replaced a graffiti wall, the owner of the dismembered arm was squarely jutted on the wall like a piece of installation art.
Somewhere—it sounded like (maybe) from around the corner on Mabini Street—something exploded.
The sky had an exact look of a red version of Van Gogh's Starry Night, with swirls of red orbs replacing the cute harmless stars. He stood there with his eyes wide in disbelief, his hands above his head, and his mouth hanging open. There was even a part of his mind that applauded the scene before him. If this was a dream—it was too damn realistic.
Kenny dropped his heavy shoulders, blinked thrice, and stepped forward from the arm he was standing. Everything felt real and vivid that the texture of blood mixing with garbage leachate rivaled triple-A graphics.
Then he heard someone screaming. It was more akin to a howl than a man yelling for help. But despite how disturbing and otherworldly that noise sounded, it never flinched or scared him.
On the exit of the alley—Kenny saw only above his peripheral vision—a car flew upside-down along the road from left to right, causing a resounding explosion after disappearing from sight. The screaming continued just beyond the alley's exit. And before Kenny could begin to snap his gaze (from the crimson view of blood on the floor), a huge shadow had loomed its figure behind him…!
Kenny ducked with snakelike speed, touched the floor with rugged palms, and instantly felt something brushed past his hair.
This time, he tasted fear and terror for the first time since awaking—not from the bloody face staring at him from the rubbles (that he just noticed), nor the shadowy swipe that could have (instantly) shredded his body, but from his (abnormal) instinct that made him dodge instantly without his consent. The last time he experienced this was from a distant memory when his instincts forced him to jump from a two-story building when he was still a child.
"…What the heck!" He cursed.
Kenny instantly stood and spun around to meet whatever bastard made him duck, meeting a fairy-faced girl whose strong young teeth biting deep into a man's neck. There was an enormous jet of shadowy blood. The fairy-faced girl stuck her face in it, looked like bathing in it, perhaps even drinking (which Kenny thought she did), and shook the man back and forth like a fragile puppet corpse.
The man was bigger and had to outweigh the girl by at least seventy pounds, but the head flopped back and forth when the girl shook him hard. At the same time, the man's arms turned into long sharp shadowy tendrils and flung them sideways towards Kenny.
Its attack melded with the dark walls and shadows in the alley. But despite the tendrils (slowly) nearing him sideways, its attack looked harmless compared to whatever brushed past his hair earlier. In fact, the attack looked to move in slow motion, like setting a video's playback speed to a quarter.
'Hmmmm…?'
The tendrils continued their projected path, taking their time to reach him. Then thin whip-like slipstreams began appearing behind from the swipe, accentuating the attack like a wind blade. Kenny was no idiot to have waited for the attack to happen, he had already backstepped before the slipstreams appeared…!
'Clintsh*t… shadows are formless' Kenny smirked (in fact, the entire alley is covered in shadows).
A moment after he had realized his dumb blunder, Kenny's front leg kicked backward away from his position. What stood earlier from his place were traces of (literally) ripped-apart air molecules and space. The spatial impact had also gifted him some cuts and slits that further tattered his battle-worn pajamas…
Somehow, the girl biting the man's neck cocked her own blood-smeared face up to Kenny's posture and growled in what sounded like contempt.
"What… in the hell, are you?" Kenny asked, holding back curses after recognizing its childish features.
At the sound of her (next) food's voice, the girl whipped her bloody head around. Blood dripped from the fluffy curls of hair overhanging her forehead. Eyes that looked deathlike peered from blood-dappled sockets.
Sh*t!
The girl dropped the man it rode, who collapsed to the floor with chewed-open carotid artery still spraying, then pounced towards him like a hungry wild tiger…!
Kenny didn't think. If he had thought, he'd have his throat opened like the discarded corpse on the floor. In that instant,Kenny shifted his weight backwards, raising his elbows to shield his face from the incoming attack. He had expected to lose an arm or finger without fear. However, nothing came after his momentary wait—nothing bit him, nothing hit him, nil at all…!
And what if-?
Kenny swiped his hands over his defenseless naked nape, and had just imagined blood-soaked teeth biting him unawares. Despite slightly agreeing that the girl looked a little attractive (if she were normal), those bloody fangs looked eerily creepy for his tastes. Instead of a specific Lolita in mind, he imagined a particular zombie from a game who rode players like a jockey.
"I don't wanna turn into a zombie…? Wait…"
Kenny paused, recognizing how abnormally quiet it was around him. It was almost deafening, like being locked in a soundless chamber kind-of silence. He expected some noises: a little explosion from afar, a little growls or howls in the distance—but instead, everything 'feels' and 'sounds' out of place. Even the surroundings were also of similar abnormality.
Endless black walls surrounded him from all sides, and the familiar scenery of bloody walls, rubbles, and red Starry Night sky was clearly gone.
[You're weak…]
Kenny flinched, surprised to see words made of gray-smoke appear before him. Regardless of how enigmatic(?) the message was to him, it relieved him to see a different color besides black gracing his view.
'A little longer, and I could have sworn I'm blind and deaf…' Kenny chuckled, then waved his hands in confusion.
The smoke passed through his skin and remained undisturbed, annoying him for a while before trying to swipe it again. Still, his hands failed him… He tried blowing it, blinking and swiping again. But no matter how hard he tried waving his hands like a musical conductor, the words remained like a ghost taunting him.
"Truly…mysterious…" He murmured.
It even follows in his peripheral vision like an anchored CGI on a screen.
'Will it work if I say exit?' Kenny blinked, his thoughts focused for the prompt to disappear. At the exact moment, black vapor-dust and raining ash greeted him, along with the unusual red sky and torn-up alley. The familiar sounds of screaming and explosions welcomed his eardrums like a yawning echo.
However, something beneath his left loafer made Kenny pause for awhile (in confusion), something that distracted him more from the noticeable bruises and cuts suddenly appearing in his body.
'Damn… How did this chick got under my foot?'
'Damn… How did this chick got under my foot?'
(Let's rewind for a bit…)
The girl pounced on her target baring bloody-sharp teeth like a mad tiger. She was angry that her vessel (the discarded corpse on the floor) cannot follow simple orders. Earlier she was controlling it to launch a deadly attack, only to be easily dodged by a human wearing pajamas. Despite the corpse possessing powers gifted with shadow energy, it only annoyed her if those powers proved useless.
That's why she quickly took matters into her own (bloody) hands.
Her eyes were squarely focused on the tempting neck of her prey. Her tongue was also craving for the taste of blood being pumped into her mouth on those squishy-looking arteries. Regardless of her prey shielding its face, those elbows meant nothing but meat to her. She had even started imagining what dormant powers her food offered.
"Nexus…!"
Somehow, the girl shut her lips tight. The human had mumbled something that rang like an alarm to her pointy ears. Instead of relying on her blood-soaked teeth, sharp black claws suddenly protracted from her delicate fingertips. Despite appearing to have a frail-looking frame, her hands possess herculean strength with claws capable of rending steel easily, as if it were mere butter.
It was only a matter of time before she'd lop off that head.
Preparing to slash through the elbows, she extended her arms midway toward Kenny. She was confident that her nails would easily rip his elbows to shreds, crush his bones, and finally sever his head. Her mind was already picturing another corpse. However, instead of claws tearing on tender flesh, her eyes widened in surprise to hear high-pitched metal screeches upon slashing his elbows(?). Sparks flew like fireflies on contact.
"…!"
The girl spun herself on instinct, pushed her legs backward on solid(?) air, and slid herself away from Kenny. Although only for a moment, she had stolen a fleeting glance at the concealed space nestled between Kenny's elbows during her initial slash. Suddenly, she felt shivers running down her rotten spine to whatever she saw.
'T-Those eyes…' her dead heart raced, 'T-Those aren't…—!'
Within an instant, the air between them cracked like a broken mirror. Trash bags, blood, rocks, empty cans, even corpses; everything within the alley swirled madly in the air. Suddenly, she could only see a single palm grabbing her face—
"The end has come."
Kenny bashed the girl's head down the pavement, sending fragmented bricks flying on impact. Despite the force reaching a thousand-pound, it wasn't enough to break the girl's skull. However, that head smash is not without repercussions.
"Our selves return."
Heavy cuts and bruises further ruined Kenny's tattered pajamas. The arm he used for bashing the girl's skull had also sustained broken bones and a cracked wrist. In retaliation, the girl propelled Kenny backward by kicking him in the abdomen.
"the final stage,"
The kick only slid Kenny a few feet away, leaving only a gaping hole in his pajama shirt and a purple(?) bruise below the chest. While the kick should have crushed his internal organs, Kenny continued to remain standing without any reaction. His voice also sounded like an old wizard, apparently...
"Where all world's burn. "
Immediately, the girl decided to ditch the scene. She had already decided the human wasn't worth the struggling efforts and readied to cast an escape spell. Zero percent! That was the only percentage that her instincts screamed regarding her chances of survival…!
"Nexus…"
But before her thoughts could finish commanding for retreat, her mind blanked out from an intense pain coursing all over her body. Somehow, she couldn't move nor sense anything, except for the fleeting feeling of her soul being dragged down the floor.
["You're weak."]
After the clouds of dust finally settled, Kenny removed his foot from the lifeless fairy-faced girl he was standing. It was then, as he surveyed his surroundings, that he noticed his battered state: his body was decorated with innumerable scars(?) and vivid bruises, each mark flooding him with intense pain unlike nothing before. The worst pain came from his right hand which seemed ready to break.
"What happened to my shirt!" Kenny complained, realizing his appearance made him look worse than a stray animal.
The surrounding alley had also been rendered into ruins: walls were obliterated, tin bins flattened, and bricks and stone turned into dust. There was also a stinging pain in his chest that made his breathing erratic as if he had sprinted at near-top speed for an hour.
"What the hell happened to me?!"
["Answer: Body injuries."]
Sh*t! Somehow, a monotonous voice answered Kenny's complaint. It rang inside his head like an integrated speaker that caught him by surprise. Kenny whipped his head around searching for any person only to find no one lurking around him.
"Who said that…?" Kenny asked, hoping for a reply.
But the explosions and the screams echoing in the distance were his only answer. He decided to drop the question and move along the alley. The sting in his chest had also subsided along with his bruises that started to turn into yellowy-brown shades.
"Must be my imagination," he muttered.
Kenny's attention was attracted by the lifeless body on the ground. The witch's claws protruding from her slender fingertips had greatly interested him. Despite wearing clothes that belonged to a young girl, her appearance betrayed her real age which spanned hundreds of years. She looked adorably young enough to deceive any person, but her looks never worked on Kenny.
"How in the hell did this even die?"
["Answer: Monster."]
While observing her unique features, the monotonous voice echoed again in his head. He was cursing again in surprise for its sudden interruption during his concentration—
'Hmmm. Concentration?' Kenny blinked, smiling in revelation.
This time he tried gazing intently at a puddle of blood before him. Its disturbing texture had also piqued his curiosity after noticing it mixes with garbage fluid. If his guesses were correct, that robotic voice should provide a hint about this blood.
["Answer: Blood."]
'Well…' His anticipation was lost from those two words. He was honestly smirking inside about 'the fantastical uses of an integrated voice assistant' in his head. If its reply were that obvious, it was no different than his personal observation. Nevertheless, at least he knew how to use it despite its seemingly inept answers.
Kenny sighed in resignation and left his imagination be…
***
["Answer: Sky."]
Kenny had been looking at the sky for a while after taking a little walk on the street. He had been seeing strange people creeping out from the buildings and alleys, and most of them were far different from what he remembered seeing. Recently he had seen a man resembling a lizard chasing a hapless victim, though Kenny was lucky he had watched from a safe distance.
'It really does work whenever I focus.' Kenny thought as he watched the crimson night sky. The voice was also the reason why he felt sure it was a lizard man he saw earlier.
Like anybody else, it was hard to believe everything in front of him wasn't a dream. Although the dilapidated buildings looked more realistic than a nightmare, he had tried pinching his cheek despite withstanding the throbbing pain from his broken arm. 'Worth a shot' was his excuse.
["Answer: Monster."]
Kenny squinted his eyes beyond the road. The buildings were standing in disarray with fragments and debris strewn across the streets. The electrical posts were also in fallen form, decorating the ruined sidewalks with shattered glasses, twisted cars, and fumes of smoke.
It was a little blurry to observe in the dim red night, but it was definitely a drake he saw crawling beyond the road. The voice confirmed a second time:
["Answer: Monster."]
"Yepp… Definitely a drake," his voice devoid of fear. Just like his encounter with fairy-faced girl earlier, being unable to feel fear is a BIG problem. With all the abnormal stuff going around, although with its perks of facing monsters head-on, being fearless gave the worst backfires. And for Kenny, it meant death.
To make matters worse, he could actually feel that bone-chilling breath of death caressing the back of his neck. And there he stood, in nothing but raggedy-ass pajamas, all alone on a desolate road. The chilling wind felt like it wouldn't let up anytime soon.
"I definitely need some clothes…"
But for some reason he could feel the voice chuckling in agreement. He looked around the buildings that looked safer than the others. The drake had burnt most of the houses, with evidence of people screaming in the distance.
Mabini street was a commercial area lined with burning stores on the sides. Everything was under disorder as most people were left fending for themselves. The people who tried fighting back were already dead with their corpses lying around the sidewalks.
It was do or die at this point.
If suppose Kenny could rob a house, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't run into unforeseen dangers once inside. Apart from monsters, he imagined trespassing properties would give him a swift bullet in the head. Distinguishing monsters from humans was also an issue, and he remembered it wisely thanks to fairy-faced girl.
Reluctantly, Kenny settled on wearing secondhand clothes from a thrift shop nearby; grabbing whatever on his hands that looked to fit his build. It was all printed with vintage graphics and torn jeans style, but at least it was decent compared to his outfit of rags.
From outside the dimly lit store, where Kenny hid inside, came an unmistakable hollow bang-and-jingle of a car crash, followed by screams. The screams were followed by another explosion, louder and screeching than the first. Despite the cloud of smoke blanketing the road, the explosions were clear that it came from cars mowing down a store's rolling door, hidden by the smoke.
Kenny could also see a silhouette of a drake crawling towards the car crash. It's heavy stomp accompanied by the flat voice from Kenny's head confirmed it was a monster. Although the smoke made it difficult to see, the burning glow from its underbelly's silhouette…!
["Answer: Human."]
'WTF?!'
A loud scream dispersed the smoke in the air, then came a loud bang that surpassed any noise outside. A single strike sent the drake hurtling on the ground like a bowling ball. And what stood from its place was a humanoid beast with burning hair and large fangs.
'Sh*t, that's a human?!'
'Damn… How did this chick got under my foot?'
(Let's rewind for a bit…)
The girl pounced on her target baring bloody-sharp teeth like a mad tiger. She was angry that her vessel (the discarded corpse on the floor) cannot follow simple orders. Earlier she was controlling it to launch a deadly attack, only to be easily dodged by a human wearing pajamas. Despite the corpse possessing powers gifted with shadow energy, it only annoyed her if those powers proved useless.
That's why she quickly took matters into her own (bloody) hands.
Her eyes were squarely focused on the tempting neck of her prey. Her tongue was also craving for the taste of blood being pumped into her mouth on those squishy-looking arteries. Regardless of her prey shielding its face, those elbows meant nothing but meat to her. She had even started imagining what dormant powers her food offered.
"Nexus…!"
Somehow, the girl shut her lips tight. The human had mumbled something that rang like an alarm to her pointy ears. Instead of relying on her blood-soaked teeth, sharp black claws suddenly protracted from her delicate fingertips. Despite appearing to have a frail-looking frame, her hands possess herculean strength with claws capable of rending steel easily, as if it were mere butter.
It was only a matter of time before she'd lop off that head.
Preparing to slash through the elbows, she extended her arms midway toward Kenny. She was confident that her nails would easily rip his elbows to shreds, crush his bones, and finally sever his head. Her mind was already picturing another corpse. However, instead of claws tearing on tender flesh, her eyes widened in surprise to hear high-pitched metal screeches upon slashing his elbows(?). Sparks flew like fireflies on contact.
"…!"
The girl spun herself on instinct, pushed her legs backward on solid(?) air, and slid herself away from Kenny. Although only for a moment, she had stolen a fleeting glance at the concealed space nestled between Kenny's elbows during her initial slash. Suddenly, she felt shivers running down her rotten spine to whatever she saw.
'T-Those eyes…' her dead heart raced, 'T-Those aren't…—!'
Within an instant, the air between them cracked like a broken mirror. Trash bags, blood, rocks, empty cans, even corpses; everything within the alley swirled madly in the air. Suddenly, she could only see a single palm grabbing her face—
"The end has come."
Kenny bashed the girl's head down the pavement, sending fragmented bricks flying on impact. Despite the force reaching a thousand-pound, it wasn't enough to break the girl's skull. However, that head smash is not without repercussions.
"Our selves return."
Heavy cuts and bruises further ruined Kenny's tattered pajamas. The arm he used for bashing the girl's skull had also sustained broken bones and a cracked wrist. In retaliation, the girl propelled Kenny backward by kicking him in the abdomen.
"the final stage,"
The kick only slid Kenny a few feet away, leaving only a gaping hole in his pajama shirt and a purple(?) bruise below the chest. While the kick should have crushed his internal organs, Kenny continued to remain standing without any reaction. His voice also sounded like an old wizard, apparently...
"Where all world's burn. "
Immediately, the girl decided to ditch the scene. She had already decided the human wasn't worth the struggling efforts and readied to cast an escape spell. Zero percent! That was the only percentage that her instincts screamed regarding her chances of survival…!
"Nexus…"
But before her thoughts could finish commanding for retreat, her mind blanked out from an intense pain coursing all over her body. Somehow, she couldn't move nor sense anything, except for the fleeting feeling of her soul being dragged down the floor.
["You're weak."]
After the clouds of dust finally settled, Kenny removed his foot from the lifeless fairy-faced girl he was standing. It was then, as he surveyed his surroundings, that he noticed his battered state: his body was decorated with innumerable scars(?) and vivid bruises, each mark flooding him with intense pain unlike nothing before. The worst pain came from his right hand which seemed ready to break.
"What happened to my shirt!" Kenny complained, realizing his appearance made him look worse than a stray animal.
The surrounding alley had also been rendered into ruins: walls were obliterated, tin bins flattened, and bricks and stone turned into dust. There was also a stinging pain in his chest that made his breathing erratic as if he had sprinted at near-top speed for an hour.
"What the hell happened to me?!"
["Answer: Body injuries."]
Sh*t! Somehow, a monotonous voice answered Kenny's complaint. It rang inside his head like an integrated speaker that caught him by surprise. Kenny whipped his head around searching for any person only to find no one lurking around him.
"Who said that…?" Kenny asked, hoping for a reply.
But the explosions and the screams echoing in the distance were his only answer. He decided to drop the question and move along the alley. The sting in his chest had also subsided along with his bruises that started to turn into yellowy-brown shades.
"Must be my imagination," he muttered.
Kenny's attention was attracted by the lifeless body on the ground. The witch's claws protruding from her slender fingertips had greatly interested him. Despite wearing clothes that belonged to a young girl, her appearance betrayed her real age which spanned hundreds of years. She looked adorably young enough to deceive any person, but her looks never worked on Kenny.
"How in the hell did this even die?"
["Answer: Monster."]
While observing her unique features, the monotonous voice echoed again in his head. He was cursing again in surprise for its sudden interruption during his concentration—
'Hmmm. Concentration?' Kenny blinked, smiling in revelation.
This time he tried gazing intently at a puddle of blood before him. Its disturbing texture had also piqued his curiosity after noticing it mixes with garbage fluid. If his guesses were correct, that robotic voice should provide a hint about this blood.
["Answer: Blood."]
'Well…' His anticipation was lost from those two words. He was honestly smirking inside about 'the fantastical uses of an integrated voice assistant' in his head. If its reply were that obvious, it was no different than his personal observation. Nevertheless, at least he knew how to use it despite its seemingly inept answers.
Kenny sighed in resignation and left his imagination be…
***
["Answer: Sky."]
Kenny had been looking at the sky for a while after taking a little walk on the street. He had been seeing strange people creeping out from the buildings and alleys, and most of them were far different from what he remembered seeing. Recently he had seen a man resembling a lizard chasing a hapless victim, though Kenny was lucky he had watched from a safe distance.
'It really does work whenever I focus.' Kenny thought as he watched the crimson night sky. The voice was also the reason why he felt sure it was a lizard man he saw earlier.
Like anybody else, it was hard to believe everything in front of him wasn't a dream. Although the dilapidated buildings looked more realistic than a nightmare, he had tried pinching his cheek despite withstanding the throbbing pain from his broken arm. 'Worth a shot' was his excuse.
["Answer: Monster."]
Kenny squinted his eyes beyond the road. The buildings were standing in disarray with fragments and debris strewn across the streets. The electrical posts were also in fallen form, decorating the ruined sidewalks with shattered glasses, twisted cars, and fumes of smoke.
It was a little blurry to observe in the dim red night, but it was definitely a drake he saw crawling beyond the road. The voice confirmed a second time:
["Answer: Monster."]
"Yepp… Definitely a drake," his voice devoid of fear. Just like his encounter with fairy-faced girl earlier, being unable to feel fear is a BIG problem. With all the abnormal stuff going around, although with its perks of facing monsters head-on, being fearless gave the worst backfires. And for Kenny, it meant death.
To make matters worse, he could actually feel that bone-chilling breath of death caressing the back of his neck. And there he stood, in nothing but raggedy-ass pajamas, all alone on a desolate road. The chilling wind felt like it wouldn't let up anytime soon.
"I definitely need some clothes…"
But for some reason he could feel the voice chuckling in agreement. He looked around the buildings that looked safer than the others. The drake had burnt most of the houses, with evidence of people screaming in the distance.
Mabini street was a commercial area lined with burning stores on the sides. Everything was under disorder as most people were left fending for themselves. The people who tried fighting back were already dead with their corpses lying around the sidewalks.
It was do or die at this point.
If suppose Kenny could rob a house, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't run into unforeseen dangers once inside. Apart from monsters, he imagined trespassing properties would give him a swift bullet in the head. Distinguishing monsters from humans was also an issue, and he remembered it wisely thanks to fairy-faced girl.
Reluctantly, Kenny settled on wearing secondhand clothes from a thrift shop nearby; grabbing whatever on his hands that looked to fit his build. It was all printed with vintage graphics and torn jeans style, but at least it was decent compared to his outfit of rags.
From outside the dimly lit store, where Kenny hid inside, came an unmistakable hollow bang-and-jingle of a car crash, followed by screams. The screams were followed by another explosion, louder and screeching than the first. Despite the cloud of smoke blanketing the road, the explosions were clear that it came from cars mowing down a store's rolling door, hidden by the smoke.
Kenny could also see a silhouette of a drake crawling towards the car crash. It's heavy stomp accompanied by the flat voice from Kenny's head confirmed it was a monster. Although the smoke made it difficult to see, the burning glow from its underbelly's silhouette…!
["Answer: Human."]
'WTF?!'
A loud scream dispersed the smoke in the air, then came a loud bang that surpassed any noise outside. A single strike sent the drake hurtling on the ground like a bowling ball. And what stood from its place was a humanoid beast with burning hair and large fangs.
'Sh*t, that's a human?!'
Kenny hid behind a dim corner of clothing racks and mannequins. His eyes were drawn outside the half-open rolling door, the smoke-blanketed street, and two ugly beasts. It was enough to make him grin as his head received nonstop answers.
["Answer: Monster."]
["Answer: Human."]
'Sh*t, that's a human?!' Kenny rubbed his eyes.
He was looking at a six-foot demon covered in yellow flames melting the asphalt beneath its feet. It punched the drake singlehandedly, howled that shattered everything glass-made, and sent heatwaves that made Kenny sweat profusely. Its demonic figure was a far cry from a human being.
Kenny felt the tremors of collapsed buildings nearby. The drake had torn through the urban landscape with its dragon scales. It had almost crashed into a pile of dead cars before gripping on asphalt, whipping its tail to counter the momentum. It looked unhurt despite hurtling meters away.
["Answer: Drake."]
Kenny blinked, wiping his sweat-covered forehead. Instead of hearing the usual 'monster' answer, the voice replied with a unique name. Its dark scales, vertical reptilian pupil, and massive van-sized body had captured Kenny's attention.
'Did it just say drake?' His eyes fell squarely on its reptilian mouth.
It had started spewing liquid flame after its belly glowed hot red, perhaps annoyed by the relaxed demon. It was hot enough to melt the road into fiery liquid, creating crackling noises that drowned the distant screams of 'help!' and 'monster!'. The flames moved like winds at high velocity.
"Are demons even vulnerable to that?" Kenny muttered, drawn ironically on the flame-covered demon. Common sense dictated they were practically immune to fire, and whatever he thought, he had a huge question mark on his head.
["Answer: Human."]
Regardless, his head resisted labeling it a 'demon.' The flames were nearly a few paces before his eyes turned round when the demon extended its arms before it. A bright light suddenly glowed mid-air.
["Answer: Magna."]
It was an unfamiliar word. It rang in Kenny's head like an erratic light bulb flashing on-off. His gaze was straight on the glow; it had stopped the flames from swallowing the demon. Like an invisible barrier, it bounced the intense flames, producing intense thermal pressure in the atmosphere.
"That's enough entertainment…"
The demon rasped, its voice fueling the flames. It was echoing in eardrums while Kenny shot in disbelief. He was gaping in shock after understanding its words, despite having zero knowledge of the demonic tongue.
The demon took a single stride while pushing the flames with extended arms. Each step erupted tremors that swayed the floor and rippled loud thuds in Kenny's chest. It even began to grow larger and fiercer, its muscles bulging twice its original size. Likewise, dark horns were also emerging from its fiery forehead, while casting the lizard's flames aside.
Then, it pounced toward the busy reptile while protracting sharp golden claws. It looked capable of ripping space.
However, betraying its large frame, the drake moved swiftly like an iguana. It used its four limbs to dodge sideways with a snakelike reaction. Its fire-foamed mouth was already sizzling in flames before aiming it toward the demon in the air. Its helpless target cannot dodge.
The flames knocked the demon away, crashing its body on the rolling doors. It accompanied flames that started to creep on the building's walls, along with an impact that threatened the structure to collapse and bury Kenny under its concrete roof.
It was like a miniature sun had appeared when the flames swallowed the demon whole.
'Sh*t!' He cursed inwardly. Kenny stumbled on the floor while gripping the metal racks when the impact created shockwaves. Piles of clothes and mannequins dragged along his pull, burying him with their nauseating odor.
Fortunately, it had protected him from the heatwaves. It had also covered him from the falling debris of concrete and metal beams affected by the tremors.
["Answer: Human."]…
["Answer: Drake."]…
But it couldn't protect his head from the looping messages eating his sanity. It was like a broken radio at this point. It continued feeding him answers despite being covered under the clothes.
Kenny forced his hands atop, tearing through the mounds of fabric. A bright light greeted his vision and the sound of sustained snapping issued from the nearby flames. It had eaten half the building, setting the area aflame thanks to the amount of flammable clothing. There was a muffled grunt, like someone enduring wounds, then a sickly groan. Kenny whipped his head around and saw a floating figure. The demon was wrapped in yellow flames with orbs dancing around its body.
["Answer: Magna."]
'That glow…' Kenny focused. The orbs warped the space around it—the wounds and damages were healing like a fast-forwarded video clip. The first thing he wanted was to observe whatever those glows were, as they were strong enough to both shield and heal the demon from the drake's burning breath.
["Answer: Human."]…
["Answer: Drake."]…
Kenny turned away quickly, cursing the replies that had annoyed him like pests. He had to resist yelling curses if he wanted to remain hidden behind fallen racks and mannequins.
["Answer: Human."]
'Damn this!' His anger bubbled in his face. He was gazing outside an empty corner filled with wrecks and a dilapidated rolling door, shielding his attention from the beasts within peripheral vision.
'Again with the answer! There's no one there!' Kenny slapped his forehead. There was no one across the road except abandoned vehicles. The streets were strewn with wrecks and ghosts only.
Suddenly, an arm shot inside a car, ripping the roof apart like paper. It rang alarms of human presence again in Kenny's head before the interiors burned like an oven. It followed another hand, sliding on the torn metal spoilers. The sound of grinding metal joined the cacophony of flames. The heat had also started the melt the car's frame, and Kenny nearly yelled himself from the voice's repeated alarms.
["Answer: Human."]…
A human clothed in fire clawed itself from the explosions. It had easily discarded the car after engulfing it with flames. Unlike the demon confronting the drake, it had human skin befitting humankind. The horns and sharp claws were the only abnormalities Kenny noticed… and the fiery aura that wrapped its body.
"What in the world is that…?" Kenny gasped, glaring at the cracking road.
A large scar had appeared, opening the asphalt like a fissure steaming with magma. It also produced an intense earthquake that devoured the electrical poles, vehicles, and buildings nearby.
Kenny spun his head, the demon covered in yellow flames had shrieked a cursed surprise. It was still busily fighting the drake before noticing the wide crack in the road. "F*ck! Why's there a fissure here?!"
"Who knows…" the half-demon snickered, walking from the melting car. It pretended to wipe its chest like it was dirtied by ash. "It's two-thousand and freaking twelve!"
Suddenly, jets of flame flew from the bowels of the fiery trench. Hundreds of hands started to grip from the sides. They were like ants waiting to crawl the surface.
"Sh*t…" Both demons cursed.
["Answer: Skotadi."]…
Kenny watched as hundreds of similar-looking creatures spilled from the fissure. Their cracked silicon-colored skin revealed emerald-glowing flesh, like blood replaced with lava. They had curved horns pointed downwards and elf-like ears, screaming the personification of a 'true' demon in Kenny's dictionary.
'Sko- wut?' Their names were rather odd and unfamiliar. They emerged from the trench and bore height equal to an average human. Their appearances, however, halted everyone except the drake in their tracks.
"Fels!" the half-demon screamed, referring to the many creatures clawing their way to the surface. The endless replies in Kenny's head flooded him with diverse names ranging from human to skotadi.
"Sh*t, that kid's here!" Kenny leaned towards the demonic voice—the four-metered beast had locked its eyes on his position. The voice in his head and the worry of being spotted are close to pushing him to insanity.
Kenny had even sworn that he had hidden safely. Despite being surrounded by flames and rubble, he was confident nobody could notice him. However, his body felt naked just by hearing those words. He instinctively grabbed a metal bar and crouched away.
"Which—"
The walls behind his back exploded. Suddenly, Kenny found himself wrapped in balls of clothing, then flung him towards the explosion at quick shot speed. The last moments Kenny saw were creatures attacking madly against demons and drake, flames devouring the building and the street.
["Answer: Magna.]
["Also known as magic."]