"This might be the end of me, and I didn't do anything useful in my entire life," Max thought to himself while fighting for his life, and his breath, Snickers right beside him. "I wasn't a good student, nor a good son, about being a good friend no words need to be said after what I've done in that first dungeon," he felt tears running down his cheeks, he was afraid, his arm was burning because of the curse and a giant, naked, green-ass demon is chasing him. He turned to see if the demon was still behind them, the red eyes that locked with his blue eyes were not friendly at all, full of hatred, dark energy, and all that evil juice. "I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die, I don't wanna die…" that was all he could stutter after that.
"Maybe I wasn't the best at anything in my world, but I can still somehow do something good in this world," he stopped shaking, slapped himself, he tried to act like he got rid of his fear.
"Snickers!" he yelled, even though Snickers was right beside him. "You see that ugly destroyed house in front of us?"
"Yeah!" Snickers replied.
"You go left to that street and I go right, the demon can follow only one of us, the other one should be safe!" he knew that the demon would follow him, after all, he had the curse. "And if we both survive this, we meet at the inn, or whatever there will be left of it! Okay?!"
"Good luck buddy, see you at the inn!"
The demon followed him, it growled behind, and Max could sniff his stench. "Why did I do that!?" he thought. "I'm no hero! Why would I act heroic at the very end, now I will die alone!!!!!"
The demons were everywhere around him, destroying anything that stood in their way. The demons on the ground broke doors and entered homes, people were screaming in fear, pain, crying, death, and destruction everywhere. Max saw people getting torn apart, a small child cried calling his mom for help, while she lay in a pool of blood next to him. The demon that killed her started approaching the kid.
"Fireball!" it slowed him down and made him stop, but this time he didn't miss. The demon cried in pain, his back burned, and it slowly turned around to look at who had attacked him.
"Run kid!" Max screamed at him. "Move, go hide somewhere!"
The demon gave Max a cruel smile, turned towards the kid once again, and started breathing fire. The kid didn't even have a chance to react, it was burnt in crisps in seconds, nothing but ashes left where he was standing.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck…" he kept running, he tried to save him, but once again he proved to himself that he was no hero.
Above the town, between the gray and black smoke, demons with giant wings flew through the sky. They dashed down, snatching up fleeing townspeople with their claws, only to drop them from terrifying heights. The screams of the helpless victims echoed loudly at the start of the drop, and in the middle of it their voices would just break, and the roar of flames and the demonic sound of wings were the only sounds left.
Max saw the town's soldiers trying desperately to hold back the tide of demonic creatures. Their swords and spears slashing through demons, but they were heavily outmatched. The demons with their strength overwhelmed the defenders, not giving them much hope of survival.
Max kept running, he did too many heroic deeds for a day, and they all failed miserably. Maybe even Snickers was dead, Max didn't know where his friend was. Even Lett had disappeared somewhere, who knows where.
The curse still burned on his arm, the demon followed behind him only focused on him and no one else.
Max found himself cornered in an alleyway, his back against a cold stone wall. The demon came crashing down in front of him, its eyes burning, claws ready to strike. Max felt like the demon stole his breath, he couldn't breathe, his mind raced, he didn't know what to do.
"No, this can't end like this! Can it?" Max yelled out loud, gasping for air. "I didn't travel for ten months just to die here, in this shitty town!" The streets of Brighthaven were covered in blood, smoke, fire, and pure destruction. Dead bodies were all around him; in every corner he turned, a body with severed limbs or empty eye sockets was facing his direction. It was as if they asked him, "Aren't you the hero? Weren't you supposed to save us?" But Max couldn't save them, not now, not before, not ever.
The demon started approaching Max, it enjoyed looking at Max panicking, it could sniff his fear. "Funny how you humans always pray to your Gods when you need to die, and only then!"
"Well, that's not entirely true, Mr. Demon. We also pray before exams," his voice was trembling. He knew it was a stupid thing to say, but he couldn't help it. If he could prolong his life even for a tiny bit, he would be happy at this point.
"Keep praying; maybe your God will show up!" the demon mocked, raising a clawed hand to deliver the finishing blow.
Just as the demon attacked, a blinding light filled the alley, so bright that Max had to shield his eyes. The demon screamed in pain, jumping away from the bright light. Max looked up, an old man descended from the sky, Max could feel the old guy's mana surrounding him, it spread everywhere. In white, mage robes covered in mystical symbols, the old guy looked like an angel, a bald angel, but an angel nevertheless. A big staff glowed with bright light in his right hand, his long white beard moved majestically, and his eyes were fixed on the demon.
With a single wave from the mage's staff, blue lighting came striking down the demon, killing him in a flash. The creature's roar of pain was cut off, leaving only a cloud of ash and smoke in the place where it once stood. Max stared, wide-eyed, as the old mage turned his gaze toward the cathedral, where the portal was opened.
Without a word, the mage rose higher in the air, carried by an unseen force, and flew toward the cathedral, there in the sky stood a hooded man, the bastard that opened the portal. Max watched as the mage flew fast above the town, a white trail of light leaving behind him.
Max climbed the ruins of a house, to be closer to the sky, to the mysterious bald figure that saved his life. He didn't see anything around him anymore, he only looked at the two dots in the sky, floating in the air, it looked like they were talking. And without a warning, the battle began, it was unlike anything Max had ever seen in his life.
The sky above the cathedral began to change, it was filled with a storm of magical energy. The old mage summoned lighting and fire, his attacks were devastating for the surrounding area because the hooded man kept dodging his attacks with ease. The hooded leader countered with dark spells, the old guy didn't even bother to dodge, all the magic would just get swallowed in the light, leaving him unharmed.
The air crackled with the force of their fight, the sky seeming to tremble because of their power. The mage raised his staff high, and a massive beam of pure light shot toward the hooded figure. The cult leader countered by conjuring a tornado of darkness, which absorbed the light and threw it into nothingness. The clash of energies sent shockwaves so powerful it caused nearby structures to shake and crumble further.
The mage then summoned a storm of ice shards, which rained down hitting demons that somehow were still alive close to them. The hooded figure deflected some of the shards with a dark barrier, while others cut through, causing him to scream in pain. In response, the cult leader summoned a massive serpent made of shadows, which sprang towards the mage attacking him immediately. The mage calmly raised his staff, and the serpent was obliterated in a flash of light.
The hooded figure summoned a portal of darkness above him and jumped inside, the portal closing behind him, he disappeared without a trace.
The mage went up higher into the sky, his staff raised above his head holding it with both of his hands he started chanting. The dark clouds moved, and the sun shined through. It was so bright, that Max had to cover his eyes once again, he couldn't see what was happening, but a couple of seconds later everything became quiet.
Max opened his eyes, he saw the mage flying down, the entire town was covered in holy light. All the demons around them turned to ash, the portal in the cathedral had been closed. The danger was over, the attackers repelled, and Max survived.