Warning: This contains disturbing topics, so skip this if you're weak-hearted...or something. Well, if you like Berserk, continue.
Also, listening to Guts' Theme while reading this is beautiful :3
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"Hell is empty, and all the devils are here."
– William Shakespeare, The Tempest
The halls of the sect were beautiful, intricate decorations carved on their walls, glowing in the dim light.
But to me, this has always been hell, the darkest place of my life.
I was the only son of this sect's leaders, born to be great, carrying the blood of one of the greatest demons to ever live.
At least, I was supposed to be.
The day I was born, my parents received the greatest shock of their lives.
I had a decent amount of mana, which would be considered half-good in the sect, but that wasn't the problem.
I had no demonic essence, not even a single drop, it was as if I wasn't demon, but a mere...human.
I was pushed around ruthlessly, treated with disdain by everyone, even my parents.
"Disgrace."
"Failure."
These were the words I overheard every time I walked out. They never said it to my face, but I knew.
I knew...better than anyone...how defective I was.
But, there was something special about me...my eyes.
I could see something in everyone, something glowing inside them.
I named it...the Soul.
I don't know what it is, but every time I tried to tell anyone about it, I would be dismissed.
"Stop seeking attention," they would say, their faces twisted in disgust as they walked away.
I would cuddle up in the small room I lived in, crying all night.
My parents hated me, my teachers hated me, the students hated me...I had no one in this world.
My train of thought was broken as I arrived at the place.
There was a huge door in front of me, intricate designs and patterns carved on it meticulously.
This was my father's room, where I was called.
My heart beat in my chest, threatening to burst out. I knew that this wasn't going to be something good.
"Just go in," I muttered to myself, steeling my resolve as I pushed the door open.
I was greeted by four cold eyes staring right at me, my mother's and my father's.
They looked at me without emotion, as if they had no connection to me whatsoever.
I stood there, frozen, not being able to think of a single word to speak.
"_____," my father spoke my name, his voice laced with disgust. "You have proven yourself to be more useless than before."
My heart sank at those words.
I had trained without break, just wanting to be acknowledged by them, but no matter how hard I tried, nothing changed.
"I-I tried...I've bee–"
"Ten years," my mother spit, her voice distant. "You've been alive for ten years, and all you did was show you're worthless."
Her eyes carried unending disdain, she was not even sure how she gave birth to such a purposeless child.
I gulped, I could see their souls too, scarier than anyone, they were fluctuating with emotions.
"Please...I'll do better...I'll–"
"Enough!" My father shouted, his hand punching the table, slightly cracking it. "You're just a disgrace, we gave you a chance. I know now...you should've never been born."
Tears welled up in my eyes as I heard his words.
I wanted to tell him that I did my best, that the students in the sect always interrupted me during my training, hiding the minimal equipment I got, throwing rocks at me, never letting me focus.
But I knew...they wouldn't care, they had had enough of me.
A tear fell down my eye as I faced my parent's cold eyes, their figures towering over me.
"End it," my father said, turning away, no hesitation.
My eyes widened at this...he had ordered to kill me.
My breathing quickened as I looked at them with pleading eyes, but their expressions didn't change, they didn't feel anything.
I ran out of the room, into the yard, ignoring all the looks of contempt aimed at me.
I ran, ran until my legs hurt...I was being chased...chased by demons much stronger and faster than me.
I could feel them getting closer, my legs hurt...my whole body hurt...I wanted to stop.
Tears rolled down my cheek as I kept running through the forest, the branches and splinters impaling me all around.
I was filled with bruises and scratches...it hurt...but I didn't stop.
My pursuers came into view...they were chasing me without emotions...trained to kill since a young age.
My heart raced, I was going to die.
I felt something change inside me, my soul fluctuated as I fell down, holding my chest in pain.
The assassins were getting closer, but my mind was elsewhere.
I saw something...I don't know what it was, but it felt...good.
I extended my hand in the air, touching nothing where I saw a dim, purple light.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang and an ear-piercing screech, it was as if the world itself was being shattered.
I instinctively put my hands in front of my head.
But, nothing happened.
I slowly opened my eyes, only to see something marvelous.
My eyes widened to an unimaginable degree...it felt...different.
The sky was bright, a beautiful light blue color with clouds floating around.
The ground was damp, I slightly sunk into the soil. The vegetation was greener. It looked so pretty.
The mana felt different too...it was something I had never experienced.
I knew...this was no longer the demon realm.
I had overheard conversations about a human world, but I never thought that it was actually real.
"Wow," I muttered, looking around, I tried to push myself up, but to no avail.
I was too injured...the mana here was too different.
My whole body hurt...I couldn't move.
I just lay there, hoping for something to find me...alone, gazing at the sky.
.
It had been an hour. I was in pain, I was thirsty.
Just then, a heard footsteps to my right, something that sent hope coursing through my veins.
I slowly, with difficulty, turned my head to the right, the blurry image of a few humans coming into view.
A small, almost unnoticeable smile formed on my face. I will be rescued...I'll be safe.
Just like that, I passed out.
I heard some unintelligible murmurs, and felt myself being carried around, but that's all. I went into a deep sleep.
Little did I know...humans were more demonic than demons themselves.
.
.
.
My eyes groggily opened, my vision blurry as I started to slowly wake up.
My throat was dry, even though I tried to speak, no words came out...it was as if my body was pushed to its limit...as if I was brought back from the dead.
As I looked around, my vision started to clear, and the true nature of my situation dawned upon me.
My heart raced as I gazed upon the dim room I was in. The room was damp, with a smell of decay wafting in the air.
There were a multitude of items scattered around...discarded weapons, torn pieces of clothes, empty bottles of alcohol.
I didn't need to think anymore...this was a bandit camp.
As soon as I figured this out, I, instinctively, started to get up, but I couldn't.
I looked at my arms, which were fastened to the wall using thick ropes that dug into my skin.
Fear creeping in my mind, I pulled my arms hard, but it was no good.
I knew that I was stuck here, my fate in the hands of these bandits.
I had nothing to give them...I wasn't even human...what if they sell me for experimentation?
Fear coursed through my veins as my breathing turned into shallow gasps. I was panicking, my heart almost bursting out of my chest.
But my body was still small and frail, the restrains were too strong for me to break out of.
Even as I desperately tried to pull myself out of the ropes, I couldn't help but feel a sense of dread overtake my mind.
"He's at most 11," I heard a voice say from the other side of the door.
My whole body became alert at the sound, my eyes darting around, searching for escape.
"Even better," a different voice said this time, and I heard silent footsteps approaching the door.
My desperate attempts at escaping got more violent as I struggled against the ropes, my wrists hurting from the pressure.
Suddenly, the door opened with a silent creak.
A tall man walked in, his face covered by the shadow of the hat he was wearing.
Looking at him, my movements froze. For some reason, a chill went down my spine.
Breaking out of my thoughts, I tried to back away, my back touching the cold, damp stone walls.
His eyes roamed around my little, vulnerable body, a twisted grin on his face as he closed the distance between us two.
I didn't understand what was happening, but the way the man looked at me filled me with a terror worse than even my parents.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I tried to scurry away from him, my back pushing into the cold wall.
The man knelt down, extending his hand and caressing my cheek. His touch was anything but gentle.
I tried to speak...to plead, but no words came out.
Tears fell from my eyes as the man's lustful gaze fell upon me.
I tried to pull away, my small body trembling, but he held my chin, not letting me do so.
I was too weak...too scared...I knew that there was no one coming to save me.
His other hand moved to my chest, his touch ominous and dreadful. I tried to pull away, but I was as far as I could go, my back pressing against the wall.
My breathing quickened even further as the man's grin widened.
Then, his hand moved lower.
.
.
.
The door shut with a loud thud as I was left alone, curled up into a ball in the corner.
It was finally over.
I was barely able to comprehend what just happened, my body hurt in ways it had never hurt before.
My wrists had red marks from struggling against the ropes, my clothes torn and my body even more bruised than before.
I felt hollow, and...violated.
Tear marks stained my cheeks as I whimpered silently, my body trembling uncontrollably.
Even though the man had left, a deep fear was engraved into my mind.
I wanted to scream, to cry out, but my voice was caught in my throat, and I was left silently whining in the corner.
Why was this happening to me?
I was just ten years old, just a child.
...No, I was never considered a person...I was always a broken, discarded toy.
Neither my parents, nor these monsters, care about me...they never did. I was living in a fantasy all my life.
My hands gripped my knees, my knuckles turning white. My breathing ragged.
Little did I know...this was just the start.
This would continue...every day.
Every day, that man would barge into the room, doing the same things to me, until I cried out from pain, or passed out entirely.
After a certain point, I stopped feeling anything...I was hollow, my mind completely broken.
But this hollowness only served to further increase my growing hate...not for the bandits...not for my parents, but for something else entirely.
One day, this hate got its chance to explode.
The bandit camp was attacked, engulfed in fire, the bandits ran around in panic, being killed left and right.
I didn't think...I just ran.
I ran as far as I could, for as long as I could.
My body was filled with bruises, the crackling sounds of fire, and the screams of burning men slowly subsiding.
Once I lost all my strength, I fell to the ground, gasping for air as my legs trembled.
I looked back, and there was a huge illumination near the base of the mountain, a huge fire that engulfed everyone in the vicinity.
A small, almost wicked smile graced my lips as I looked at the scene.
I felt glad that I had escaped, and a sense of twisted satisfaction hearing the screams of the people who had endlessly tormented me.
I could see the souls of the dead bandits floating in the air, moving around weakly.
Lying on the ground, I steeled my resolve. I had found my goal.
Humans...demons, there was no difference.
And since there is no difference, I'll destroy them both.