Chapter 5 - Anomaly

At that moment, Aahan wanted nothing more than to get home with his brother and have a steamy bowl of instant noodles they always shared. However, it was a dream that would be left unfulfilled.

Aahan didn't know what happened, but the next moment he saw Vivaan's legs give away, and they both fell to the ground. It was then Aahan noticed something protruding out of his brother's back.

Somehow he managed to turn around, only to see a whip-like tongue danging from Asura's mouth. It was unlike anything Aahan had ever seen, either in movies or real life.

The creature's tongue had over a dozen spikes appearing out of it, which Asura used as a whip to impale Vivaan while his back was turned.

"Where do you think you're going?" Asura asked with a cruel smile spread across his face as he pulled the Vivaan's sword from his back and threw it towards Aahan. "I don't remember giving you my permission to leave yet."

Aahan turned to curse at the god-forsaken demon, but the moment he did, he collapsed. His vision turned red, and he could only see the texts floating before his eyes.

[Warning! Exposure to Ahur radiation has crossed the limit humanly possible. Your health has begun deteriorating. Further exposure to the radiation will cause irreversible damage to your organs!]

Even as the wall of text appeared before him, Aahan couldn't focus on anything but his brother's frail form. He was still breathing, but with an injury like that, it was no secret that Vivaan was on borrowed time.

Aahan didn't know what was happening but knew they needed to leave the forsaken place. Unfortunately, it didn't appear like Asura would allow him to carry Vivaan out of the hell hole without a fight.

The warning texts kept popping before him like wild mushrooms in a monsoon. Yet, for some reason, Aahan felt better than before. His body was no longer in pain, either because of the adrenaline running through his veins or because he had grown numb to the pain.

Regardless of the situation, Aahan knew what he had to do. After all, he didn't survive in 'hell' for seven years to die on the day he was released.

"You... bastard..." Aahan managed to mumble while forcing himself to his knees. "You have any... idea... how long... I have waited for this day?"

"..."

Asura kept staring at the strange human, not because of what he said but because of his resilience. Usually, a human without their armour would only last for five minutes inside their world. That's why they often aimed to destroy the invader's armour and let their world do the rest for them.

But it had been over twice that long, and somehow the human still had the strength to get back on his feet. It was the first time Asura had encountered such a human.

'As much as I would cherish killing the human myself, I must inform the elders about this first.'

With that thought in his head, he was prepared to leave. But then, another thought entered his head. If he left the humans like this, the other Asuras would spare no expense in making fun of him.

No matter for whatever reason, if he were to return without any human corpse, everyone would view him as weak and pathetic.

Not to mention, if no one had ever encountered a human like the boy before him, it was unlikely they'd believe him and think he was making things up to save some honour.

"Besides, the elders would like to have a sample with them to experiment upon," Asura mumbled as he licked his lips. "I would rather bring them a corpse than a tale."

Meanwhile, Aahan had managed to get to his feet, and the first thing he did was to rip open his shirt and wrap Vivaan's wound to slow the bleeding.

Although it might look like a wasteful move, but saving a single drop of blood could be the difference between life and death.

"Try and relax for a second; I'll be right back..." Aahan reassured his unconscious brother before picking up his sword with shaky hands.

As the demon stood before him, Aahan had no idea what he was supposed to do. All he had was a sword, a resolve and a mind as calm as a freak.

"You better... help me out... once we get out of here," Aahan smiled as if Vivaan could hear him talk.

Without a second thought, he charged towards the demon. Asura snarled at him, whipping his barbarous tongue at him. However, instead of trying to avoid the blow, Aahan willingly offered his hand to the demon's tongue.

A jolt of pain shot up his arm, but even then... Aahan was smiling as if a psycho's spirit had possessed him.

"You made my brother bleed a lot," Aahan roared, smiling like a lunatic. "Shall we see if you bleed or not?"

As the spikes on the tongue broke through his skin, Aahan quickly wrapped it around his left hand before tearing it in half with the sword.

The Asura screeched in pain, clutching his mouth, as his tongue got severed. The demon staggered backwards while staring at Aahan, wondering who the monster was between them.

The human who should have died long back was not only alive, but even managed to injure him? How did it make any sense?

As for Aahan, a minute ago, he was barely managing to stay on his feet, but now he was feeling as energetic as ever. Almost as if he had consumed something like a performance-enhancing drug.

[Error! Error! Your body has adapted to prolonged exposure to Ahur radiation! An anomaly has occurred! Please report to the nearest purification centre for further analysis.]

Although another text appeared before him, Aahan ignored it, focusing solely on Asura's fear-stricken face. It was a strange moment to see a demon fearing him.

In the end, Asura's gaze wasn't any different than the scared expression of the inmates from juvie when they learned about the crime Aahan had been accused of committing.

"That expression... show me more of it!" Aahan exclaimed while charging straight towards Asura.