Mono felt his consciousness slowly fading away and his body growing numb. He had suffered a lot of abuse and sustained many injuries ever since he got to this place, and it was taking a toll on him. He also hadn't had any food or water in days or even weeks, he didn't know, but he was weak from all the strain placed on his body.
His will to live was also diminishing slowly, he had lost Pollo, and the people here were foreign creatures, he had never felt so much pain until now and it seemed as if he needed to fight to survive. So why not give up now? He couldn't even save Pollo, he didn't know how to fight at all, it wasn't possible. So maybe... maybe if he just sleeps here... He can see Pollo again, and just apologize and be together with him once more.
With all of these thoughts, Mono's body was starting to give up and he didn't mind. It felt peaceful and relaxing.
The girl watched his limp body for some time but after being impatient by his lack of response, she stomped on his head, trying to wake him up, "Oi, wake up, I haven't had my fun yet," She continuously puts her foot down on Mono's head, but he remains still and unmoving, "Hey, I said wake up you idiotbutt dogpile." She was getting irritated.
Mono laid lifeless, devoid of any effort to react in any way, and she clenched her teeth, stopping the assault, "You...!" She shrieks, and throws her heavy wooden club to the side, hitting and killing another scared young trainee in the arena, with his head getting torn from his shoulders, hurtling it to the other side of the grounds from the force, smashing into the wall in a bloody mess, "You! You! You!" She throws her head back, her eyes getting crazed and delirious as she starts foaming in her mouth, digging her nails into her scalp, "Ughhh... Ahhh... You're making me go crazy!"
The ground started rumbling as her power rose, making the other young demons in the arena stumble.
The girl started growling about to reach the limit of her frustration, but then, she felt a small pat on her back, "That's enough, Erenshia,"
Like a flame on a candle being put out with a soft blow, strong wind surged around the area, the gust taking some of the squirmishers along with it. And the whole place went silent.
The girl, Erenshia, paused, her madness dissipating in an instant, as she just stood still.
The small and delicate girl who was half of Erenshia's height, looked up at her with a dull and tired expression, with her deep crimson eyes drooped with some sort of consistent exhaustion. However, her short height, cute dark ponytails and purple skin were not reflective of her power because this innocent-looking exterior had an aura that had overcome the entire area, as this girl was not in filthy rags like the others, she had the white uniform of someone with a significant position on the heirarchy, and her three evident horns further dictated this.
With the displeasure expressed by her tone despite her idleness, she spoke with disdain, "You really almost destroyed the entire arena. Even though you've been sent here to train these children, you decided to go berserk..."
She sighed and shook her head in disappointment that she didn't really want to spend her energy on, and turned her attention to the weak boy gradually but willfully losing his vitality on the floor.
Erenshia felt a bead of sweat running down from her forehead as she gulped. Her breathing getting panicked.
"You've made me more listless than before, Erenshia. And now I'm even more tired." As she walked a step closer to Mono, a cut started to form across Erenshia's torso as she whimpered and shook, sweating excessively.
And she was cut off mid scream as in a blink of an eye, she was sliced in half, the sudden burst of blood sending the top half of her body into the sky before coming back down and falling with a squish onto the floor. Her face still and preserved with her hyperventilated expression.
The girl who was the cause of this decapitation was unflinched by all of this as she held her focus on the motionless Mono slowly being drenched in fresh blood.
She crouched down and poked at his head, "Oiii, you still alive? I really don't have the energy for this..." She continued poking at his head and rested her cheek on her palm. Feeling more fatigued.
Mono was still. He was giving up, and he wanted to, there was nothing without his brother, his friend. And there was too much pain, everywhere, everywhere was ache, soreness, and pain. But there was relief in the thought of being gone. Some kind of tranquility that lightened his heart. If Pollo was gone, he just needed to be gone too.
His heartbeat slowed as the light in his eyes started to fade, welcoming darkness.
But then, Pollo's dark and guttral voice echoed in his head, "Do not try to seek redemption, slaughterer."
Ba-dump.
"Kill... Kill... Kill... Keep killing," The voice hissed.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
"Drench the land with the wails of the unworthy, that is your purpose," The voice started to sound more distorted and unrecognizable from Pollo's voice.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
Without intention, Mono's heartbeat started to pick up.
A certain scent started to ooze from him, and the girl that was poking at him with a dull expression had her face shift to extreme trepidity as she had a onslaught of warning bells driving her survival instincts into frantic alarm, snapping her out of her idleness and making her clench her teeth as she knew she had to flee immediately and without a moment of hesitation, she swiftly teleported herself out of the arena in a flash.
Just then, a sudden burst of explosive power imploded from Mono's limp body, obliterating everything in the area, and by everything, it was absolutely everything.
-----------------------
Mono woke up from his deep sleep, his eyes drowsy with blurry and wobbly vision, his head pounding with pain.
He could only see hazy colors from his droopy eyes, his headache was also transferring and contributing to his eyes, making them feel sore as well.
Despite the discomfort from all the pain he was feeling, Mono squeezed his eyes shut, grimacing from the gesture and blinked a few times, finally clearing and assembling his sight, he found himself staring into a pair of two red sparkling orbs hovering above him and paused in bewilderment, blinking in confusion and trying to comprehend what he was seeing.
Without thinking, he smashed his fingers into them, and with a high pitched scream, they vanished out of sight, "Ugh! You filthy mutt!"
Mono sat up and turned his head towards the sound of squeeing frustration, and saw a small silver-headed figure rolling on the floor in pain, pressing their fists on their eyes.
Mono watched in guilt and sheepishly murmured, "Uh... Um... Sorry..."
The girl shot up from her position on the floor and instantly slammed her fist into Mono's face, having his head crash on the wall behind him.
The girl was flustered as she clenched her fist, her small figure trembling in annoyance, "This is the first time anyone has had the galls to disrespect me like this."
Mono was in a daze from the unexpected assault as blood dripped down from his now broken nose, "My... My face hurts..." He said, his speech muffled and slurred from the now deformed teeth and blood in his mouth.
The girl huffed, brushing away her annoyance and straightened herself. However, her eyebrows were still scrunched in displeasure, "You'll regenerate, stop whining,"
As she said, Mono's face stopped hurting, his blood fading away and his bones cracking back into place.
At this unfamiliar experience, he jumped out of bed in shock, inspecting himself all over for any signs of bruises or aches and doing so, his hands reached his head, feeling something that wasn't there before.
He gulped and shook in nervousness, "H-Huh... Wh... What is this...?" His eyes quivered in his anxious state.
The girl crossed her arms, her dull eyes watching him without any surprise or concern in her face, as if nothing was out of the ordinary for her.
In his disoriented state, he turned his gaze to the girl for answers but paused before doing so, as he noticed the three pointed horns extending from her head, but upon finally noticing this from the much needed sobriety of his state of mind, it was all useless at this point. Because he lost his composure at the sight of his own reflection behind the girl, who looked just as horrifying.
What he saw was not himself, but a monster that made his blood run cold.
"Who... Who is this...?"