Vhoom!
One of the hornless creature shot forward, striking Dera square in the gut before he could even register the creature's movement. The impact hurled him through the air, crashing him against the ground ten steps away. He gasped, pain blossoming in his abdomen.
"Ugh…" he groaned, clutching his ribs as he tried to pull himself up. The old man was right again, he thought, recalling the warning he had ignored. The aura of this hornless creature was unlike anything he'd felt before—it radiated a sinister, almost nauseating energy that chilled him to the core.
Vhoom!
The creature leaped high into the air, its shadow eclipsing the moon as it soared,
then Boom!—it landed with a bone-rattling force right in front of Dera. He stared in horrified awe. Nothing from this world should have been able to jump that far.
Before he could react, it grabbed him by the throat, lifting him effortlessly, and tossed him like a rag doll. He flew backward, his body slamming into a half-cut tree where he chopped firewood, the impact jarring his bones. Blood spurted from his mouth as he choked out a few coughs, his vision spinning.
His gaze shifted, and he noticed his axe lying nearby, its blade gleaming in the dim light. He gritted his teeth, pulling himself to his feet, one hand reaching for the weapon as the creature approached, its hollow eyes glinting with malice.
The creature began to strike, its claws slashing left, right, and down in rapid succession. Dera barely managed to dodge, each strike grazing him as he clung to his axe, stumbling back to gain some distance.
'I can't keep up… It's too strong,' he thought, his mind racing. The beast's attacks were fierce but held a rhythm. He could see a pattern forming, and with it, a small sliver of hope.
'Wait for the right moment...' he told himself, holding his axe tightly.
'If I use my neck-splitting technique… maybe I have a chance.'
Feigning exhaustion, he faltered, his shoulders slumping as he turned his back slightly, baiting the creature. It cocked its head in interest, curious about its delicious meal sudden shift in posture. Then, it took the bait.
Vhoom!
The creature charged, and Dera felt its hot breath just inches away. In that split second, he twisted his body, performing a backflip as he swung his axe with all his strength. The blade caught the creature's neck in mid-air, severing it cleanly.
The creature's body crumpled, blood pooling beneath it as it slumped lifeless to the ground. Dera exhaled in relief, his body trembling as he tried to process what had just happened.
One down… Now to deal with the other one. He glanced at the horned creature, which had watched the entire scene, its face contorted in a wicked, twisted grin. It hadn't intervened at all, almost as if it had been allowing its companion a turn.
'Why isn't it attacking…?' Dera wondered, feeling a strange sense of foreboding. Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him. Dread pooled in his stomach as he turned slowly, his heart hammering with fear.
The creature he'd killed was standing before him, the wound in its neck already sealed, its eyes gleaming with renewed malice.
"What… the... fuck…" he whispered, shivers racing down his spine.
Slash!
The creature's claws slashed across his chest, shattering his axe as if it were made of twigs. Blood streamed down his torso, and he fell to his knees, his vision blurring.
The horned creature chuckled, the sound low and mocking, as it watched its companion lift its claws to deliver the final blow.
"Brother, what's with all the noise?" a small voice called out, yawning as if just waking from a deep sleep.
Dera's eyes widened, hope flooding his chest. "Chika…" he whispered, his heart swelling with relief and fear as he looked toward his younger brother.
Chika, an eight-year-old boy with strikingly white hair, stood in the doorway, rubbing his eyes beneath a blindfold made of white silk. His face bore an innocent confusion as he took in the scene before him.
The horned creature's eyes gleamed with twisted fascination as it stared at the boy.
'What the .. this boy was in this house all along and I didn't detect his presence, even now I can't sense him even though he is right in front of me ' it thought, its gaze narrowing with a blend of awe and lust.
"So, this is the one my lord wants…"A wicked smile twisted on its face, greed flashing in its eyes.
'No forget that, if I eat him I might evolve into a three, no four finned... 'it mused, hunger flaring in its gaze.
"Capture him!" it snarled, gesturing to the other creature.
'Oh no, Chika!... Wait if it's him then....' Dera's mind raced.
Fear gripped Dera's heart as he shouted, "Chika! Take off your blindfold—open your eyes!"
Chika paused, his small hands lifting to the edge of the blindfold as he hesitated. Though blindfolded, Chika was far from blind. He possessed a rare, powerful trait known as the Crimson Four Eyes—a phenomenon within the Chi clan, appearing once every three hundred years.
It was a gift and a curse, manifesting as a pair of glowing red eyes that granted him extrasensory perception. He could see the flow of energy, detect objects from miles away, and even predict events seconds before they happened.
But the power of his eyes came at a steep cost. Their mother had been blinded at first sight when she gazed into Chika's eyes the day he was born, and ever since, their father had forced Chika to wear a blindfold to prevent others from suffering the same fate. Only Dera and their late father could meet Chika's eyes without consequence, a mystery even they didn't fully understand.
One tragic day, shortly after their father's passing, Chika had wandered outside and, in a brief moment of freedom, accidentally blinded several villagers. It was that incident that sealed their family's fate, condemning them to live as outcasts in the slums, branded by the villagers as cursed.
Although blindfolded, Chika's blindness had not deterred him; his vision extended far beyond the physical. He could sense everything—the flicker of flames, the hum of the earth, the heartbeat of those around him.
Dera's mind flashed back to a prank he had tried to pull on Chika once, approaching him while he slept. But the moment he touched him, Chika's eyes had flown open, and Dera was flung across the room by an invisible force, crashing into the wall.
'yes I remember now, if he could do that again' Dera thought.
"Chika, now! Open your eyes!" Dera yelled, panic threading his voice as the hornless creature closed in.
Chika's small hands tugged at the blindfold, sliding it off to reveal two brilliant red orbs that seemed to glow with an ethereal, almost hypnotic light. His eyes, often described as beautiful crystals, were also feared as the eyes of a devil.
The moment Chika's gaze met the creature's, time seemed to slow. The air around them rippled with energy, vibrating like a tensioned string. The creature froze in place, its body suspended in midair for a heartbeat before it burst into countless pieces, disintegrating into the wind.
Dera watched, his mouth open in awe and horror. He had witnessed Chika's power only once before, and even then, he had been lucky to be just thrown clear across the room by its force. To see it wielded so decisively against a creature of darkness left him speechless.
The horned creature, who had been watching from afar, trembled. Its arrogant demeanor faded, replaced with pure terror as it took in the full extent of Chika's power.
Far away, in the depths of the moonlit forest, another figure raced through the trees. A young man, twenty years old, with his black and purple hair braided back, wearing a black kimono adorned with purple flowers, ran with purpose. His light brown skin glowed faintly under the silvery light of the moon, a katana gleaming in his hand as he moved with urgency.
'I have to get there before it's too late,' he thought, gripping the hilt of his katana as he sprinted. His destination: the heart of the Chi clan's dwelling.