The old chapel park in Southland bathed in the soft glow of the afternoon. As chirping birds flew over the branches, the chapel was filled with so much moss and grass. It was an old building for the 'old gods.' Apparently, humans believed in higher powers before the miracles, but only a few of them truly understood, or even cared. Most people saw 'innovation' as a better religion, and better practice. Although the nations did live in harmony prior to the war, I doubt it was fair. Even before the war I could see how unfair human practices were. Silence the weak, and thrive on shared money, from Kan's words, the lands were controlled by major heads who wanted to play 'house' and ended up creating rules that benefit them and leaving everyone else to live outside the fancy house... If anything, they should be thanking us for killing their idiotic systems. But I digressI walked into the chapel, looking at the torn old dark wood benches, the chipped alter, the fallen windows yet clean floors. and the tree growing from and into the building. "Interesting" I mumbled as I began looking through the series of books on the shelfs behind the alter. These chapels are more of a library if you ask me, many religious and non-religious books reside on these torn shelfs, dusted, withered. But some still hold valuable information. If there is anything I pride myself with, it would be knowledge. If you know your enemy, you know their weakness.Yet, nothing piqued my interest, typical of these old books, I have either read them or they speak of plain information. Come to think of it, I doubt they will keep this chapel, probably going to make a new 'Miracle' statue or some 'Apostle' statue to praise them more. I mean come on; how arrogant do you have to be to have a statue of yourself plastered everywhere. I call that insecurity. I walked out of the chapel onto the cobbled path empty handed, contemplating yesterday's events. I can't believe Kan let a Nirath in our hideout, you need to be crazy stupid to even make that judgement, or just desperate. I sat on an empty bench under one of the trees in the park. I have to dispose of her somehow..."Killing thine enemy is easy," a dark silhouette spoke, emerging next to me on the bench, in dark pitch-black fumes it caught me off guard. it tilted its head, as the body frame faced forward in a stiff pose, like a mannequin. It's grin, so wide it could devour the birds above. "So, thou summoned me? "Kikron, the Great Beast of Urgrim." It spoke again in a growling gruff voice, I didn't make any sudden moves, as two men jogged past the bench. "Kikron...?" I muttered in disbelief, "I thought the ritual failed" I continued, the silhouette twisted its neck around me as its head detached, floating before me—a grotesque, toothy maw with countless eyes that could unnerve even the bravest demon. It stared back, a hunger in its gaze that promised either a feast or a hunt. Kikron is known in our clans as the hunting beast. His power brings ease to hunts, even ones including the giant mammoths, but he is also known as the maddest demon to ever walk hell. Even reaching the lord's chambers to challenge him, the legends say he even beheaded one of the lord's head."The ritual was a miss, but half of me made it..." He said, as the smoke of his body danced onto my skin. It did not leave a sense of touch, but a never-ending anticipation that it will occur, like someone slowly inching their finger in-between my eyes."thou eyes of peculiarity, Molshiva, thou hunts not thy feast, yet thy kin alone?" he growled, "I saw not a deficient demon before, yet thou hold my madness with ease..." He continued. Kikron turned into a bodiless head of a wolf, its jaw broken with many sharp teeth making their way to his throat, and its black silhouette leaving traces behind, "But thy void eyes... So eloquent," he laughed madly, "thou shall feast! feast the children, the woman, the humans! feast thy fangs on flesh," He yelled, "feast", as everything else became mute. Words of intent and death urged me, to survive feast! To destroy feast! To feast! The whispers grew louder, leading me to cover my ears, holding my breath.Panicked, I quickly fled from the park while hiding my face, to wherever, or whatever, I just know I ran far away. Kikron laughed, filling my ears with nothing but disgusting shattered glasses. I felt the darkness closing in, the grasp of madness, and the smell of burnt ashes. I kneeled in an alleyway. How am I going mad right now after doing so much not to... "You are not... Taking control of me you mad asshole..." I whispered, as the darkness that began consuming my skin turned me into my demonic form. The black skin and eyes threatened to emerge. I ran my hands through my hair, letting both my eyes appear, grounding myself, I tried pushing back against the darkness yet small laughter escaped my barren face."Weak, Molshiva, thy strength is but spec. Thou kind is but a decieved mockery." The beast spoke, as my body spasmed in the alleyway, "thou wish for 'higher purpose' was unfounded," he continued as I began taking the true form of the demon, "thou believeth Tyurus's teachings - that old fool - will save thee? I shall show thou truth!" he growled as the black burnt skin engulfed my body. The iris of my left eye turned from red to white and my sclera from white to black. Black saliva fell from my thirsty mouth while laughter filled my body. And lo' and behold, lunch has arrived. Shadowy figures emerged from the alleyways to its centre, coming for the hunt. They must've smelled my blood.No matter, this will be fun; a feast is in bound. I chopped off my left hand's middle finger with my fangs. The four hunters backed up for a second before launching at their doom. Black and red blood splattered everywhere, painting the walls a new texture. In one slash of my finger, I had cut down two of the inexperienced hunters, before the other three jumped in front of me. They used their friends as human shields and chopped off my right arm. Their blades were made out of demon blood, black and messy in pattern, yet more sharp than blunt. I screeched backwards in pain before launching at the leader of the group, biting his ear off. The blood dribbled from my chin as I crunched, the crisp texture of bones made it better with every chew.The leader retreated behind his goons, as I pick up my bleeding arm from the ground, reattaching it to the rest of my body by woven blood. "Milanfano!" let us dance! I grinned in sibilant whisper, the grin rising to my eyes.I moved with the ferocity of madness, one second at the wall, a split second crouched under one of the hunters, two seconds later and I am in the air with a chunk of one fool's abdomen in my mouth. I almost feel pity for those hapless hunters who dared to challenge me. Every move was calculated chaos, a deadly dance that left destruction in its wake. Although the hunters began bleeding from their cuts and injuries, they were steadfast on finishing the job. Their silver blades glinted menacingly, as my form twisted and turned, evading their strikes I sustained handful of strokes, like a canvas, my body became a painting of black and red. And my tattered jacket and shirt soaked in it. Yet, as the blood spilled from every wound, it coalesced in the air, forming into sharp blades. Like a sculptor shaping clay, I shaped my blood into twisted daggers and thorns.With a flick of my wrist, the daggers flew towards the hunters, some were deflected, some grazed their armor but one was unfortunate. Blood pierced through his brown light leather armour and flesh, some in his eye, some in his throat, some piercing through his mouth. Looking at their dead ally with such horrified looks is amusing, I couldn't help but crackle even more. "Fuck the harvest, get the holy water!" The leader yelled, before the last of the goons pulled a bottle from his satchel, gripping at it as his eyes glared at me. I stopped, backing up as I looked for a place to escape. "That's right you piece of shit, run away!" The hunter splashed the water at me as I jumped on the wall, my fingers piercing into the concrete. When I noticed my right hand, it began dissolving quickly, a drop or two made their way in. The skin first, then the muscles, then the bones, all turning into goo, they began mutating into bubbles, the water was traversing through. I screamed in agony as I bit off my forearm, ripping the limb off. Normal water by itself is deadly to us, it slowly dissolves our bodies, but holy water grows through the husk, all the way to the heart, then Bam! I watched my infested arm fall on the ground, exploding into a bloody mess as the hunters ran away, escaping the conflict.I launched off the wall, holding on the ledge of the right building, my hunger is satiated, although with a bit of loss. My blood began spilling onto the floor of the roof. Having so much blood spill will put me in a coma... I placed my other hand on my right bicep, focusing my blood to stop the bleeding and quickly regenerate, "Damn you Kikron..." I mumbled, as the darkness that covered my skin dispersed, retracting back into my right eye. Kikron in the other hand, was laughing out of my head. A head out of a head, a fang out of a fang, a wolf into a wolf, with four eyes, and a growling face."Accept thy truth Molshiva, a demon is a demon, mad for eternity," he said, as he escaped into my body. Great, I am beginning to regret calling this deity for strength.The clamour of the skirmish reached the ears of those outside the alleyway. The commotion drew a crowd at the alleyway exits, their murmurs and gasps filling the air as they peered cautiously into the scene of destruction, at the blood on the walls and the scene of gore on the floor. And if hunters were not enough to end on a good note, the scholars joined the pursuit. Hunters are hard enough to fight alone, but scholars are a new form of suicide. I darted through the roofs of the buildings; everything became slower as my huffs grew faster. Every shadow and sound alerted me to their presence. The scholars, white robes, white masks. They must've came from the crowd, you can never know who a scholar is, they can be a family member, an old woman taking a walk, or the clerk at the grocery store. I can be buying groceries from them, and I would not even know it. I sensed them behind me, armed with special grade holy water rifles, they were just 40 meters away. their steps almost made no sound, their white robes protected them from demonic touches or blood magic, even the fabric was infused with holy water. They were behind me, and they were closing for a clear shot, Shit, think think! I spotted an old, burnt-out building looming ahead. With a burst of speed, I dashed towards it as shots were fired, piercing through the walls of an enclosure I jumped behind to evade, it scratched my leather brown jacket, burning some of the fabric. Great, I forgot I had my clothes all soaked in blood too. I leapt through the shattered window, the glass pieces flew in. Inside, the air was thick with dust and the scent of charred wood, befitting an old, abandoned war apartment. What would a demon with one arm, two legs and death looming do in a second? I thought, before taking off my soaked jacket and shirt and hurled it under some rubble nearby. The scent of blood would mislead them for a couple of seconds. I found a sheet of brown cloth, big enough to cover myself with it as I jumped out the window of the other empty room, before they surrounded the building. I blended in the crowd; this form of clothing covered my blood smell well with its burnt one. I took care to avoid any paths that might look suspicious. Navigating the streets home wasn't hard, but I had to stay away from the many scholars in the area. They were so suspicious of anyone with even black hair. I lost a whole arm for a drop of fucking holy water; one drop is all it takes to kill a demon... What an unfair world...***When the night settled, I reached the safety of home. stepping inside, the door closed behind me with a soft click. Inside, I could finally let my guard down. My wounds ached, even regeneration does not relieve the burning pain. I took the cloth off of me, inspecting the wounds I sustained on the mirror before settling down to rest, on the floor. The dimly lit interior greeted me with a mix of concern and relief. I began hearing yells and concerned screams, suddenly nudges by small hands, then another set of feet approach me. For whatever reason, this world does not want to give me even a sense of relief. Can whatever touching me just fuck off for 5 minutes?I felt a sense of fear when I opened my eyes, evading a bucket of water coming my way. "Heh, works every time," Kan said, chuckling his ass off. "So, what the hell happened to you," he said, putting the full bucket down."It's a looooong story, also, if one drop of that bucket touched me, I would've made you eat the dirt outside," I said as I dragged myself to the sofa "suuuure you would," he said, as he brought out mud medication. He wasted no time tending to my wounds. With practised hands, he mixed mud and demon blood vials, applying the paste on my injuries. Our bodies are made entirely of mud and hatred, thus why demons have better characteristics than a human. While water makes things weaker, it is harmonic, with enough of it, you can destroy a world and rebuild it... Our blood is chaotic, with just a bit of it; you can destroy a nation and its inhabitants. "I see you bought the new TV," I said.
"Yup, the one I told you about too," Kan said.
"I didn't know you a junk lover."
"At least I am not a nerd, nerd"
"I help too," Nakumi joined the conversation, as she took some of the mud and began applying it on my arm and chest. But why was everything glowing all of a sudden? I felt a surge of power on my limb, as vibrant energy pulsed. Warmth spread through my entire body. To my astonishment, my missing arm began to regenerate within seconds. What would normally take hours, if not days, regenerated within a couple of blinks, the bones grew, the flesh and the skin began wrapping around it, forming around it. And finally, the nerves connected. The stump was soon replaced by a full limb. The room fell into stunned silence. I stared at my newly regenerated arm, flexing my fingers in disbelief. Kan eyes wide with amazement, "How'd you...""Ehehehe, I help!" Nakumi said. Perhaps she is not as big of a liability as I initially thought. I should document it, the first true book of the royal blood.***