Somewhere at a high-school located at the heart of Malaysia, two figures could be seen clashing against one another in a battle that could only be described as the clash of the titans. The spectators that consisted of students, teachers, and several important figures who were taken as hostages watched in awe as the two figures traded powerful blows.
Eventually, one of them was knocked to the ground. When he tried to stand up, he was met by a rain of invisible slashes that not only sent him to his knees, but also inflicted serious damage to his body. Numerous deep gashes spread across his entire body with blood coming out from his head to toes, further damaging his injured body.
The other figure, a tall man in a suit with dark blazing angelic-like wings, looked down at him with a disgusted expression. He adjusted the bangs of his blonde hair before landing on the ground and extended his right arm forward, causing the injured teenager to receive another invisible slash on his chest.
"One more slash and I will expose your beating heart, child," the man with crimson eyes spoke to the teenager with no hint of mercy, let alone giving him a quick death. "The only way to save yourself is to submit to me and pledge your loyalty. Be my champion. Become what you are destined to be. Become what your father rejected."
Gritting his teeth angrily, the bleeding profusely teenager immediately stood up and threw a punch only for his arm to be sliced off and received a powerful kick to his gut, sending him into the pillar. He tried to stand up but a spear was thrown at him, pinning him to the pillar.
The blonde haired-man conjured a sword made from a pool of shadow-like substances. The teenager closed his eyes, accepting his death but felt nothing. He slowly opened his eyes and was horrified to see a female teenager using her body as a shield to protect him from the final blow. Everyone was shocked, including the man with the blazing wings, who pulled out the sword.
In a fit of rage, the teenager unleashed a massive shockwave via screaming that knocked the man away, freeing himself. He caught the body of the teenager and placed her head on his lap gently.
"No… No… Amaris, why did you do that?!" he asked with teary eyes, unable to control his emotions as the life of the girl who saved him slowly slipped away.
Amaris only smiled and whispered something that the teenager ignored as he cried. She mustered the remaining of her strength and gently caressed his cheek before dying in his arms, causing the teenager to scream her name at the top of his lungs.
***
"Mr. Mikhail!"
Our main protagonist immediately woke up from his nightmarish slumber and realized that he'd fallen asleep in the middle of the class. Rubbing his left eye, he adjusted his position and glanced at the stern lecturer.
"Since you fell asleep, I assumed you studied this topic last night. How about you solve this question so that your classmates can leave this class early?"
The young man with a short spiky dark hairstyle, dressed with a black jacket over a matching knit-wear turtleneck, dark skinny jeans, and a pair of white sneakers, nodded his head and went to the front. He grabbed the marker and wrote the answer to the question of tax calculation with ease.
After observing the answer method, the lecturer was impressed and gave a nod to Mikhail. He then gave a small talk which Mikhail found not really interesting. A few minutes later, the class came to an end and Mikhail hurriedly left the class, heading to an unknown destination. He wasn't aware that someone had been calling him until that person stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.
"Ammar? What's wrong?"
Ammar, a tall, young Malay man with curly dark brown hair and wearing glasses, took a deep breath and asked, "Where are you going so fast? Don't you feel a bit hungry?"
Mikhail shook his head and explained that he just wanted to head back to their room and sleep since he had a meeting with the debate club in the evening. While they were having a conversation about what they should do tonight, a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair approached them.
Her light brown eyes gazed at Mikhail's lone eye with a beautiful smile across her face. Seeing the young woman caused a ghostly smile to appear on Mikhail's face as she greeted him,
"Hello, Miku."
"Camellia."
Camellia or prefer to be called, Camy, grinned madly and then took out a notebook from her bag. She then handed it over to Mikhail, thanking him for lending her the book so that she could finish the task that their lecturer gave them a few days ago.
"Say, Miku," Camellia watched her first friend keep the book inside his bag and continued, "Are you free tonight? How about we go to dinner together? Don't worry, Ammar can join us."
Ammar grinned madly and quickly interrupted, "And ruin your two dates? Nah, I'd pass."
He made a poor choice of words and received an elbow to his gut from a grumpy Mikhail. Their interaction caused Camellia to giggle and waited for Mikhail's answer.
"Sure, why not?" Camellia beamed in happiness when she heard Mikhail's answer. "But I'll be a bit late since I have a short rehearsal with the debate club for our upcoming event."
"Ah, it's fine! Take your time."
The trio then decided to walk together with no destination in their heads. While walking with only Ammar and Camellia having a conversation, Mikhail was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't realize someone was walking at him with a pile of books. It wasn't until the two bumped into each other that they realized the presence of one another.
Mikhail apologized to the female student and helped her gather the scattered books. When he made eye contact with her, Mikhail was stunned and speechless. Not because of her stunning, gorgeous appearance or her long wavy brunette hair that gently blew in the wind. He was stunned when he gazed into her dark brown eyes.
Those eyes fill with hidden anger and bloodlust. He had seen them before. Yes, he had seen them before and it reminded him of someone he harbored a deep resentment for.
"Thanks for helping me," the girl spoke to Mikhail with a small smile, snapping him out of his thoughts. "I'll see you soon, Mikhail."
Mikhail watched the mysterious woman slowly disappearing from his sight. He had numerous questions which overwhelmed his mind, hurting his mind slightly. A tap on his shoulder and the voice of Camellia calling him out caused Mikhail to return to reality.
"Hey, bro. Are you alright?" Ammar questioned with a worried expression, which Mikhail brushed off and stated he's fine.
Being very close friends with him, Ammar and Camellia looked at one another and knew that Mikhail was not fine ever since a few weeks ago where there was a mass hysteria in their university. After being attacked by a female student possessed by a vengeful spirit, Mikhail was different. He became more silent and preferred to be alone rather than spending time with the two of them, especially Ammar, his inseparable close friend.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it. The only thing that I worry about is how that girl knows my name." Mikhail said while adjusting the bandage that wrapped his left eye.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Camellia cracked a joke by saying, "Well, aren't you famous for selling the lokcing?"
Ammar burst into laughter and jokingly said, "Is it true that there's this girl who approached you and asked whether you are single or not?"
Mikhail grumbled angrily and hastened his pace, prompting Ammar and Camellia to chase after him while laughing. While Ammar and Camellia were talking to Mikhail with giggles and laughter, our main protagonist kept asking himself why is the girl that he bumped into earlier so familiar? And how did she know his name?
***
"Don't you feel Mika is a bit different?"
Ammar stopped eating his burger and glanced at Camellia who was looking at her drink. He then took several bites and then asked Camellia what she meant by Mikhail a bit differently to which she responded that Mikhail rarely talks or even spends time with them like usual.
"I get it that we all are in the second year degree now and I fully understand that he's busy with studying and working a part-time job to support himself, but… I don't know? It's just that Miku is not like his usual self." Camellia said with a sad face and then released a heavy sigh.
"Yeah, I noticed it too," Camellia lifted her head and looked at Ammar with a surprised look. "Ever since he helped the possessed girl, he has become a bit different. Sometimes he had nightmares and mentioned two people's names. But after that incident, he kept having nightmares to the point he didn't sleep at all."
"Who are those people?"
Ammar thought about it for a while but he couldn't remember it at all. He shook his head in disappointment and then continued eating his dinner. They then looked around them, noticing the amount of the students at the cafe, twice the usual which surprised them. Camellia was about to say something when suddenly, a woman's scream grabbed everyone's attention and caused them to turn to the direction of the voice.
What they saw caused them to widen their eyes. Everyone within the cafe saw a young woman being lifted into the air with a blade coming out from her back. They all gasp when the woman is thrown away, revealing a mysterious figure in a tattered hooded cloak wielding a sword.
The stranger looked around the environment and smirked before appearing right in front of a student who was about to run away. Before he could say anything, the stranger decapitated the student with the sword that was constructed into a massive chainsaw-like sword. That stranger's action caused everyone to scream in horror and try to run away but several gigantic spikes burst out from the ground, sealing the exits and trapping everyone.
"Relax," the stranger spoke up in a feminine voice to everyone. "I will not shed anyone's blood if you cooperate with me."
One of the students bravely asked, "Who are you?! What do you want?!"
The enigmatic woman gave a sly smirk and less than a second later, she stood in front of the body with her right arm pierced through the student's chest, killing him instantly. She licked her lips at the aroma of the blood and then said in a demonic voice, "I don't like your tone, boy."
Hearing the tone of her voice, Camellia stood up and yelled, "You are a Demon!"
The stranger grinned madly and stared at Camellia who widened her eyes and was struck by a massive intent killer that froze her. Even Ammar felt it too and was paralyzed with fear. Unlike everyone else, only Camellia and Ammar felt the murderous intent from the stranger who was surprised and smirked.
"So, both of you have the potential… Very well, I shall make my mother happy by bringing you two to her and become a powerful Demon!"
As soon as the stranger said that, Camellia was trapped by several roots and the stranger sprinted towards her. She closed her eyes and prayed that this was just a dream as the stranger laughed hysterically and swung her massive weapon.
CLANG!!
The stranger was taken aback when someone blocked her weapon with a broken katana. Before the attacker could react, the stranger received a powerful kick directly to the gut, knocking the stranger away who recovered immediately and in surprise.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here," the stranger said with excitement. "If it isn't the living legend himself who graced us with his presence…"
"Mikhail or should I say… Genji Mikazuki, the Cursed Child."
The one who rescued Camellia was no other than Mikhail himself who was surprised when she called him by his birth name.