The full moon hung high in the sky, casting silver light down onto the dense forest. Shadows danced among the trees, the wind carrying a haunting whisper that swept through the branches. Luci, the young demon with crimson eyes, walked in silence through the undergrowth, his footsteps light and purposeful. The chains on his wrists clinked softly with each step, and the iron ball at the end of the chain dragged through the dirt behind him. His tattered clothing hung loosely from his lean frame, the fabric long since worn from his years of confinement.
Luci paused for a moment, looking up through the canopy at the night sky. The vastness of it, the sense of freedom that came with being outdoors after so long, should have filled him with relief. But it didn't. His power was still sealed, his true demonic form bound by the chains his father had placed on him. As long as they remained, he would never feel whole. He would never truly be free.
The distant sound of hoofbeats broke through his thoughts, and Luci's crimson eyes narrowed. He tilted his head, listening carefully as the sound grew louder. Twenty knights, by the sound of it, and they were heading in his direction.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. *They must have heard about my little escape,* he thought. *Let's see what these so-called protectors can do.*
Within moments, the knights appeared, emerging from the darkness like armored phantoms. Their bronze armor gleamed faintly in the moonlight, and the crest of their order was visible on their shields. At the head of the group, one knight raised his hand, signaling the others to stop. His eyes locked onto Luci, taking in the young demon's tattered appearance and the heavy chains that bound his wrists.
"What are you doing out here, traveler?" the lead knight demanded, his voice gruff and filled with suspicion.
Luci didn't respond immediately. He let the silence hang between them for a few heartbeats, watching the unease settle over the knights. Finally, he raised an eyebrow, his tone calm but tinged with amusement. "Just passing through."
The knights exchanged skeptical glances. The chains and the ragged state of his clothes didn't exactly scream 'harmless traveler.' The lead knight narrowed his eyes. "Passing through? With chains around your wrists and dressed like a beggar? You expect us to believe that?"
Luci's smirk deepened. "You're right. I'm no ordinary traveler." He stepped forward, the chain dragging behind him with a metallic scrape. "In fact, I'm the demon you've all been looking for."
A ripple of unease spread through the knights. They stiffened, shifting uncomfortably in their saddles. The lead knight, however, didn't waver. His eyes were hard, his grip on the hilt of his sword tightening.
"You're no demon," the knight scoffed, stepping forward. The moonlight glinted off his armor, and Luci's eyes flicked to the bronze badge pinned to his chest. A Roman numeral IV was etched into the metal, marking him as a Bronze Rank 4 knight—a rank of considerable power.
"You don't fool me," the knight continued. "We know what demons look like. Red skin, horns, and glowing red eyes. The only thing you've got are those crimson eyes, but even they're not quite right. Demons have regular red eyes, not whatever you've got. You're just a prisoner from the mage kingdom, aren't you? Some other race pretending to be what you're not."
Luci chuckled under his breath. *If only they knew,* he thought. His true demonic form was still sealed away, thanks to the cursed chains around his wrists. His crimson eyes were the only thing that gave away his true nature, and even that was a rare trait among demons.
The knight drew his sword, pointing the gleaming blade at Luci. "I'll put you in your place, runaway. Just another prisoner who thought he could escape his fate." He raised the sword above his head, preparing to strike. "Calling the—"
The knight never finished his incantation.
In the blink of an eye, Luci moved, faster than any of them could track. One moment he stood in front of the knight, and the next, he was standing atop him. Luci's boot pressed down on the knight's helmet, the weight of his foot crushing the man's skull with a sickening crunch. Blood sprayed across the forest floor, staining the moonlit earth red. The other knights froze, their faces pale with shock and horror as their leader's lifeless body slumped to the ground beneath Luci's boot.
Luci gazed down at the body, his expression unreadable. "How pathetic."
The other knights snapped out of their stupor, panic setting in. Some turned and ran, their armor clanking as they fled into the forest. Others dropped to their knees, pleading for mercy.
"Please! Spare us!" one of the knights cried, trembling.
Luci turned his gaze to the cowering knight. "Spare you?" he echoed, tilting his head. "Perhaps. If you tell me where I can find that holy water you knights carry around. The one that opened the door I was locked behind."
One of the remaining knights shook his head frantically. "We don't have it! Even our leader didn't have it. You have to be a Silver Rank 2 to carry holy water. We're not—"
Luci's eyes darkened, his smirk turning into something far more sinister. "Then I'll just have to turn this moon into a blood moon."
Without warning, Luci kicked one of the knights, his boot slamming into the man's chest with enough force to crush his armor. The knight's body flew backward, crashing into a tree with a sickening thud. His bones shattered on impact, his body crumpling to the ground like a broken doll. The other knights screamed, scrambling to flee.
But Luci wasn't done.
He moved from where he stood, and with his incredible speed he appeared in front of the knights who had tried to run. A sadistic smile stretched across his face as he stood in their path, arms crossed. The knights skidded to a halt, their eyes wide with terror as they realized they had no chance of escape.
"Leaving so soon?" Luci asked, his voice dripping with mockery.
One of the knights fell to his knees, trembling. "P-please, spare us! We didn't mean to—"
Luci cut him off with a lazy swing of his chain, the iron ball at the end crashing into the man's skull with a sickening crunch. Blood splattered across the forest floor, and the knight's body collapsed in a heap.
The remaining knights stared in horror as Luci toyed with them, his speed and strength far beyond anything they had ever encountered. One knight, his voice trembling, managed to stammer, "C-calling the—"
Before he could finish, Luci flung the iron ball toward him, the weight of it smashing through his chest and sending him flying backward. The knight's body crumpled against a tree, his lifeless form slumping to the ground.
"Calling the—" another knight attempted, but he, too, was silenced by the crushing force of Luci's chain.
One by one, the knights fell, each of their desperate attempts to invoke a spell cut short by the sheer brutality of Luci's attacks. The forest echoed with the sound of their screams and the sickening crunch of bones breaking beneath Luci's strikes.
As he dispatched the final knight, Luci stood over him, his foot pressed down on the man's leg with enough pressure to snap bone. The knight whimpered, tears streaming down his face as Luci leaned in close.
"Say it," Luci whispered, his voice cold and menacing. "Say the magic words. Let them hear you scream."
The knight trembled, his lips quivering as he struggled to speak. "C-calling the—"
His sentence was cut short as Luci crushed him underfoot, his body crumpling like paper beneath the weight of the demon's power.
Luci exhaled, looking down at the bloody mess he'd made. His iron ball, slick with blood, swung gently at the end of his chain as he turned and walked away. The forest around him was eerily silent, the only sound his footsteps and the faint drip of blood from his weapon.
As he disappeared into the shadows, the bodies of the twenty knights lay scattered behind him, blood staining the moonlit earth. Somewhere in the distance, the knights of the Silver Rank prepared for a demon they didn't know was already hunting them.
"I'm coming," Luci muttered under his breath, crimson eyes gleaming with malice. "And I'm coming for that water thingy. Brace yourselves, knights. There's a demon on the hunt."