They first appeared over a hundred years ago. Terrifying creatures with a thirst for human flesh and blood.
When they first arrived, they brought death and destruction with them. Ironically, their arrival also brought about something good. As a result of their appearance, one-third of the world developed special abilities called heavenly pacts.
Those who used their heavenly pacts to fight off these demons were called hunters. After a long time of warring against demons, the humans finally won. Most people don't know how the war came to an end; some people say it was because of a single person's heavenly pact, but the truth would never be known.
It had been years since the war ended and people had finally forgotten about the demons and moved gradually into an era of peace. Unfortunately, the demons hadn't forgotten about them.
On New Years, the demons returned to the world through pillars of light that appeared all over the world. Not just in England but everywhere; from The USA, to Madagascar, to Nigeria, Japan and even Antarctica.
The government was disorganized and struggled to respond to the crisis, the fatality rate among hunters was staggering.
Most hunters who fought during the first war had died and the current era of hunters had no experience fighting demons, leading to their deaths.
Four months after the arrival of the demons, Derrick continued to train with his uncle, Cedric and over the last four months, Cedric had become harsher.
Maybe it was the fact that he felt Cedric was overdoing it or the fact that Angelina wasn't around to help him recover anymore, but Derrick could have sworn his uncle was trying to kill him.
His grandfather had been called to battle as one of the few experienced hunters who survived the last war. Ronald had once told them that he lived for war.
During the last demon era, He earned himself the title of Veteran King for defeating over five hundred demons single handedly.
Angelina too had left to become a hunter so she was rarely around, leaving Derrick at Cedric's mercy. More than once, she would come back home to see Derrick lying unconscious in a pool of his own blood.
Many times, she wanted to take it up with her uncle but Derrick always stopped her because he didn't want her to get involved.
Early in the morning before Cedric would get up, Derrick went out of the house and took a walk through town.
The streets were basically deserted with only a few people bold enough to come out of their homes.
From what he knew, it wasn't like the demons were always around roaming the street.
Most of them go back into the gates and come back from time to time. But the destruction they left behind was massive.
According to Angelina, most of them are territorial. They prefer to pick a place and stay there rather than roaming about all the time.
Nevertheless, people were still terrified.
Derrick walked a couple of streets till he came to the town center. This was where he had first seen a demon on New Years.
The events of that moment replayed in his mind painfully. The screams, the sight of people dying and the aura of the demons.
It was like he was reliving that night over again.
At the center of the town, the pillar of light still stood there dormant with no demon in sight. Derrick stood there for a moment, transfixed and remembering the events of that night.
He seemed to hear a voice calling for something but he couldn't make any sense of it.
He turned around to leave then he felt a surge of energy from behind him. For a moment, his heart stopped due to fear as sweat broke profusely from through skin.
He was about to dash when he noticed that he couldn't feel any breathing or anything that indicated the presence of a demon.
When he turned around, he saw nothing save for a glowing red stone enclosed in a small glass cylindrical prism on the ground which he could have sworn wasn't there before.
The prism was just large enough to fit perfectly into his fist. He couldn't be certain but his instincts told him that the prism came from the pillar of light.
Curious, he bent down and reached for it. As his hands got closer to the stone, he felt something like electricity tickling his fingers.
Just before he would grab it, he saw several images. They flashed through his head so fast that he couldn't make any sense of it; but that didn't deter him. He didn't know why but he just had to see the prism up close.
Once he grabbed it, it was like everything went blank. He was unconscious
Suddenly, the scene before him changed. He saw himself in a pool of blood, though it was like he was walking on it without sinking. The edges of the pool were lined with a variety of bones in no particular order.
At the center of the pool, there was a throne made from skulls and a figure sitting haughty on it. Derrick couldn't quite make out the figure but it seemed to have horns and a very belligerent pair of eyes.
Suddenly, Derrick snapped out of the transe and saw himself on the floor. There was someone crouched over him with a hand over his wrist as though to check his pulse.
"You alright?" The man asked with concern.
"Yeah." Derrick responded, getting up to leave. "Thanks."
"Hey are you a hunter?" The man asked with curiosity written boldly on his face.
"I'm not." He responded with a plain tone.
"Hmm. Strange." The man said getting up to leave.
Derrick couldn't help but notice that the stone in the cylindrical prism was no longer glowing. Losing interest, he tossed the stone away as he headed home.
Just before he entered his house, he noticed that his body felt different but he couldn't explain how. He went inside to meet his sister and grandfather at home, much to his surprise.
Unfortunately, his uncle didn't allow him to enjoy that surprise. The moment Cedric saw him, he dragged Derrick to the training ground.
Derrick, who was fed up with the whole routine, was a bit more at ease knowing that his sister could heal him when he gets injured. Even still, he couldn't help but feel insulted at the thought of being beaten up by his uncle and having to rely on his sister to heal him when he got injured.
He could feel something, greed like he had never felt before, a craving for power. For some reason, he remembered all the times he'd gotten beaten by his uncle. He felt that anger burning hotter in him. In a way, it pushed him forward.
Then suddenly, something inside of him just snapped.
His uncle dashed towards him with a sword in his hand. Cedric wasn't the fastest hunter, but he was still a very powerful one and most of the time, Derrick couldn't keep up with his movements but for some unexplained reason he could see them now.
This time it was different. Derrick dodged the strike and moved his body dodging Cedric's repeated attempts. This time, he could see the attacks and his body could respond with surprising ease.
His uncle slashed diagonally at his head, Derrick tilted to dodge. Following up from his previous attack, Cedric struck with his elbow but Derrick caught his arm immediately.
Cedric pushed against the ground and jumped backwards, putting some distance between him and his nephew.
He made the motions of a dive then he vanished. It was a move Derrick had seen countless of times, most of those times, he was at the receiving end of the attack
Cedric would seem to disappear then reappear where Derrick wasn't expecting and strike him. This time , it was different. His body responded on its own and Derrick spun swiftly and grabbed unto the wrist of his uncle who had attempted to stab him from behind.
Desperate to win the fight, Cedric shed his skin leaving only an empty lump of flesh in the hands of Derrick then did a little dash to put some distance between them.
He used his blood to cut his palm then sprinkled the blood in Derrick's direction. The drops of blood transformed into a den of snakes, all making their way towards him.
Just before they would get to him, he heard a voice from within him, "Insolence," it said and immediately, all the snakes were decapitated. Derrick didn't really know what was going on, but he didn't question it.
He saw Cedric dashing towards him then suddenly, a creative idea struck him. He dashed towards Cedric then dodged a slash from Cedric's sword. Just as he dodged the slash, he put up his hand, grabbed his uncle by the face and smacked him onto the ground.
"I win." He said coldly as he looked at his uncle dead in the eye.