"The world will not end with a bang, but with the slow, creeping terror of something unstoppable."
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(POV: Aiden Arceid)
My footsteps echoed in the narrow hallway, silent, and damp. The air was cold, but I felt nothing.
There was a bag in my hand, a black one, that seemed to carry something quite heavy.
The object inside it was slightly glowing, its light leaking out of the fabric.
I descended deeper, through the place the miner's had so professionally unearthed.
They had done their job well.
My lips curled up into a half-smile. Money, it was something that had stayed the same for all the time I had lived. Enough of it can buy anything.
The stone walls around pulsed with a dark energy, one that would send chills down anyone's spine.
I, however, was unaffected by it.
After all, how could a demon be affected by demonic energy?
I chuckled a little, a dark, hollow chuckle which sounded like a low whistle as it reverberated off the walls.
"I almost forgot..." I muttered, the smile on my face not fading. "...where I came from."
It had been so long... so tiring, that I had almost forgot my origins, I was a pure demon after all.
I stopped my thoughts as I reached the final room, pulsating with a deadly concentration of demonic energy.
I walked closer to the portals, my smile growing wider with anticipation.
I placed the bag down with a loud thud, admiring the deep black portals, the violent energy circling them only helping to fill me with more excitement.
I opened the bag, taking three huge chunks of stone out, placing one under each portal with accuracy.
Mana Stone 33.
Not as good of a demon repellent as Mana Stone 34, but still one.
Not was it permanent, it'd hold out for at most a few hours before cracking into pieces.
"Perfect," I whispered, my hand running across the rough, glowing surface of the stone.
I slowly stood up, gazing at the portals, feeling a familiar sense of anticipation.
The corners of my mouth lifted, forming a dark grin on my face, a sight which rivaled the aura of the portals themselves.
But then, a thought came up, one which made me unexpectedly laugh.
Sukuna.
Not the Sukuna I had made a deal with, but a different one with the same name.
And he too was, undeniably, a monster.
(Flashback)
The sun was just setting, it was a beautiful evening, the sky clear, a beautiful orange, almost too pretty.
However, on the ground, there was a river of blood flowing out, almost as if the sky was being painted on the land.
In the midst of this brutality, I was standing, panting.
Blood flowed from seemingly every part of my body. One of my eyes was torn out, my arm broken, turning deep red and blue.
My steps were unstable. I didn't have enough energy to heal myself.
Behind me was a man, one that almost seemed too inhuman to be called a person.
This was him, Ryomen Sukuna.
He was brought by the clans to help kill me, and they had almost succeeded.
Facing him was the last time I had felt fear in my life.
I had thought I was invincible, a force of nature ready to claim everything.
But his presence, wrapped in a scary, almost dreadful darkness, appeared, shattering my misperception of reality.
The moment his sword grazed my throat, drawing blood which still flowed down my chest was embedded in my mind.
I remember the realization that I, Aiden Arceid, could too... die.
By sheer luck, or was it fate, did I escape, my body barely hanging on, slipping through the clutches of death.
My body had healed, but the name—Ryomen Sukuna—was forever ingrained in my memories.
(Present)
It had been centuries, but I still remembered that time, the experience, as if it were yesterday.
I found myself laughing. "Sukuna," I muttered, my voice echoing off the walls. "Of all people, it's you."
It was almost poetic, a different person, the same name.
How the threads of fate tie themselves together. I couldn't help but find it fascinating, the symmetry of it all.
A wicked smile formed on my face. Bending down once more, my hand brushed over the rough surface of the stone.
"Fate," I whispered. "How funny a thing it is."
I was supposed to be different, an anomaly, completely disconnected from fate.
And so was Sukuna, another anomaly who had the power to break and rewrite fate, just like me.
How funny it was to see that us two, the ones most free from fate, were so fated to meet each other.
The portals whirred as I injected mana into them, their movements growing faster as time went on.
It would be faster if I injected demonic energy, but sadly, I had none.
That was the start of my story, after all.
Suddenly, there was a loud blast, sending air rushing outwards.
it even knocked me a step or two back.
The violet energy circling the portal started to get more violent, changing its color to a lighter shade of purple.
A gray, swirly mass started to form on the middle, black part of the portal.
However, the movements were contained as the Mana Stone 33 started to slowly disintegrate, controlling the opening of the portal.
The portal would open once the mana stones exhaust, and demonic energy leaks into the world.
My lips curled up, forming a huge, wicked grin.
With one final chuckle, I turned back, walking out, my heart beating with anticipation.
"In due time," I mused, walking out through the narrow tunnel once again, the cave walls slightly cracking because of the pressure.
.
I was sitting in the hotel room, provided to me by the influential families of England, the place I had come to.
The room was quite luxurious, honestly, even more so than my office, it seems that the people have gone all out.
My mind, however, was not focused on this, but was burning with anticipation of when the mana stones would exhaust.
I was pacing around the room, casting shadows over the walls adorned with beautiful paintings.
Suddenly, my phone rang in my pocket.
My movements stopped as I stayed silent for a few seconds, before taking out the phone from my pocket.
Sukuna.
An amused smile formed on my lips, this person always had to invade my thoughts, didn't he?
I picked up the phone, putting it next to my ear. "Hello?"
A deep voice came from the other side, one which was all too familiar to me.
"Aiden, hallo, I need some info, it's not too much."
I smiled at his informal tone, he seemed quite happy, I wonder what had happened.
"Go on," I said, masking my amusement.
"Can you tell me about Zekuth?" He asked, his voice carrying an undertone of excitement.
I see, he was going to do something with Eva Helion.
I figured so ever since we had the conversation, but this would be a good tactic to secure her loyalty.
Obviously, it would be good for me to create a better relationship with Sukuna by divulging this information, after all, it isn't worth much to me.
"Of course," I said, sitting down on a chair slowly. "He is quite adept at elemental magic, not so much at other forms... like illusion."
I didn't beat around the bush, and came straight to the point.
He remained silent, urging me to continue.
"His best element is fire, then earth, the others he usually doesn't use, but is fully capable of."
I stopped, and a silence stayed between us for a few seconds.
No more information was required.
Zekuth was merely a pawn, one with no worth. How sad it is to think that he believes himself to be irreplaceable.
"I see," Sukuna's voice came from the other side, satisfied with the information he got. "Thanks."
I nodded.
We had a little small talk, a small respite from my anticipation, before he cut the call.
I placed the phone on my table, going into deep thought.
"I wonder," I muttered after a few minutes. "How you will react to this."
Sukuna was ready for the demon invasion, and that is not what I was talking about.
How will he try to milk this event to its last drop, using it for his own growth?
A smirk formed on my face.
"I'm so eager to know," I whispered, my voice drowning in the air, leaving me alone in the silent room.
.
.
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(The Invasion)
A peaceful village, filled with people going about their daily lives, without a worry.
Then, it began.
The first sign of the invasion was the smell.
A rotten, repugnant smell that wafted over the whole area, covering the village in an unbearable stench.
An unnatural wind went through the village, fast, suffocating.
The residents of the village looked up at the sky, farmers, mothers, children, even babies.
The sky seemed to get darker. A sense of foreboding clutched the hearts of all the villagers as they involuntarily stepped back.
Some mumbled prayers to God, which, sadly, would not be answered.
There was a flash of purple light in the distance, followed by a slight trembling of the ground.
And then came the roar, a sound so loud, so primal, that it filled everyone unfortunate enough to hear it with dread.
A woman screamed, clutching her children tightly as she stepped back.
The first one to come into view was a huge, towering figure, one which looked human, but was undeniably, much scarier.
Its eyes glowed with a deep red glint, its eyes scanning the village with an insatiable hunger.
It wasted no time.
The first house was demolished with a single swing of its hand, blowing away as if it were paper.
The family inside had no time to scream as they were disintegrated into a pool of blood.
Chaos set in.
Villagers ran everywhere, screaming and shouting, holding their children in their hands.
The demon continued the carnage, killing person after person, destroying house after house.
A group of men tried to resist it, holding anything they could find, hoes, pitchforks, axes, as weapons, their fear masked by determination.
A man swung his axe, hitting the demon's leg.
The axe bounced off as if it were hitting a wall.
The demon laughed, his dark chuckle sending chills down the men's spine.
It extended its arm, picking the man up by his throat.
The man's eyes bulged as he struggled to get out of the grip, his movements slowing down.
The creature tightened its grip, and a crack echoed amidst the chaos.
The man fell to the ground, his body motionless, his eyes devoid of life.
A young boy, at most 10, ran as tears streamed down his face. He looked back to see the demon chasing his mother.
The mother was quickly caught, the demon's fingers digging deep into her skin as he opened his drooling mouth, revealing terrifyingly sharp teeth.
The boy screamed, a painful scream that echoed in the loud confusion.
The demon, however, didn't stop, its teeth digging into the woman's skull, creating a horrifying cracking sound as he swallowed her head whole.
The boy froze, tears streaming down his face as he looked at the headless figure of his mother on the ground.
The demon turned to him, its eyes glinting in a malicious light.
Before the boy knew, the demon was in front of him, its arm going through its chest.
The boy's vision faded, the last thing he saw was the demon pulling him towards its mouth.
Blood splattered on the ground as the boys body was torn into pieces.
The demon chewed, leaving no corpse, not even bones, but just pieces of cloth and a pool of blood being soaked into the soil.
Inside one of the last houses, a woman hid under the kitchen table, her body trembling as she held her baby girl tightly in her arms.
The mother's eyes widened as the door creaked open, a shadow falling over the table.
She covered her baby's mouth, praying for the creature to leave.
The demon's footsteps seemed to get farther away as the mother closed her eyes, clutching her daughter with all her might.
Silence.
Everything was silent, as if time had stopped.
But then, her relief was broken by the sound of wood breaking away as the demon tore the table into two pieces.
"No, please!" The mother screamed, trying to crawl away as her daughter cried in her arms.
The demon grinned, a terrifying grin that told her that there was no escape.
The demon punched her in the face, gripping the baby with the other hand.
The mother went flying to the other side of the kitchen, barely conscious.
The demon pushed the baby to the floor, its hand holding it tightly as it started to tighten its grip.
The mother tried to scream, but what came out was just a whimper.
Tears fell down her face as she heard her daughter's bones crack under the pressure, her heart breaking into a million pieces.
The baby's body burst open, her organs spilling onto the floor, a grotesque sight.
The demon turned his eyes to the mother, who was staring at her baby—the pool of blood and organs—with a blank expression.
She showed no reaction even when the beast tore through her body.
She had lost her will to live.
.
One by one, the demons came out, each one more dangerous than the last.
One by one, the surrounding villages were destroyed, becoming a feast for the brutal creatures.
One by one, the people died, screaming for their lives.
The demons were not satisfied.
They wanted more.
They craved the taste of human flesh, something considered a delicacy in their world, the addicting smell of fear.
The invasion had only just began.
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IT HAS FINALLY BEGUN
More than 50 chapters to get here, finally, what do you think? Does it look promising?
gimme POWER STONES too :3
cya next time!!