Inside the chamber, a young man stirred awake. He wore a hoodie, and a sword lay beside him. Finally opening his eyes, he scanned the stone chamber and noticed the beds surrounding him.
"Where am I?" he said, gripping the sword tightly. "Where in the world am I? Did I get kidnapped?"
Then he saw her—a young woman entering through the chamber doors. She closed them as quietly as possible to avoid waking the other demons.
"Well, I see you're awake," she said, walking toward his bed.
He froze, his eyes fixating on one singular thing: her eyes. They were red, like a demon's.
"You kidnapped me!" He immediately shot up, grabbing his sword and leaping down from his bed.
The woman jumped back. "Hey, wait—"
Before she could finish, he grabbed her by the neck. "You really had the audacity to kidnap me, you filth? You're nothing but filth, you and your entire race. Demons are nothing. Just seeing you makes me want to rip your guts out."
The woman shuddered. Then the young boy finally loosened his grip, and she fell to the ground, gasping for air.
"But I can see you're not like the other demons," he said. "You're just following orders. I'll keep you alive for now. I will kill you—just not now, not yet." He walked toward his bed and sat down, his sword still grasped in his hands.
The other demons woke, all of them stirring and sitting up.
"How in the world did I get here?" one demon said, confused. He looked around, then his gaze fell on the young boy. He shuddered. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! It's him! It's him! Someone get me out of here! He's a monster!"
The young boy looked at the demon. "You're a monster as well. You're lucky I don't want to kill you right here, right now. You know what? Why not?" He grabbed his sword and leaped forward, slashing the man's throat. In an instant, blood spilled. "You're just going to grow up to be a disgusting, filthy demon who hurts other people, like all of your race. You don't deserve to be alive and breathing."
The sword left the man's throat, and he fell to the ground—lifeless, dead.
The other demons recoiled in shock and fear.
"Listen, man, I'll give you as many demon cores as you want," another demon pleaded. "I have family. I have kids. I have people who care about me. I have—"
Before he could say anything more, his throat was also cut open. His eyes widened in shock as he looked at the blade, then he fell back down on his bed, the blood staining the sheets.
"I'm sure your family's already hurting people, and your children will probably do the same thing when they're older," the boy said coldly. "Screw your family."
"You really think you can just kill us demons without getting away with it?" another demon shouted. "The only reason I'm in this position in the first place is because I was overpowered. If it wasn't for that, I would have killed my opponent in an instant. You think you're some vigilante trying to kill every single demon just because you got your feelings hurt? You're nothing. You're weak, pitiful, and you're dead."
The boy leaped forward, but the demon dodged, leaping out of his bed and grabbing a sword.
"The person who overpowered me even struggled to take me out," the demon said. "What makes you think you'll have a chance? You're a human. Demons are mostly civilized. We mostly have amazing homes and whatnot. But I'm not like the rest. I'm a cold-blooded murderer, and I'm proud of it."
The boy's hatred grew even deeper. "You deserve to perish. You deserve to die."
He leaped forward, swinging his sword, but the demon easily dodged every single strike.
The girl, still on the floor, looked up at the fight commencing. Some of the other demons were still asleep, surprisingly. This didn't surprise her, considering how deep some of these demons could actually sleep.
The demon grabbed the boy's sword and tried to bend it, but the blade did not bend at all.
"I can see you're strong, but you're wearing out," the demon said. "You're tired. I can see the sweat building on your forehead, you filth."
The demon kicked the boy's stomach, sending him flying. He still had the sword in his hand, though, as he tried not to let go of it as badly as his body wanted to at that moment. He hit the far wall behind him, and the stone cracked a bit from the pressure.
The demon blinked in front of him within an instant. "Your death is inevitable, but—"
Before the demon could do anything, something grabbed his neck.
"I'm sorry. I feel weak right now, and I think that I need to—"
The demon looked behind him to see Laid, his expression motionless. The demon was shocked. Usually, demons were not like this, but this demon seemed to be a little bit different—just like he was a little bit different as well. When he was a young demon, kids didn't want to play with him, for good reason. He knew he would probably kill those children and eat them for power. The thought still sent pleasure down his spine.
"I see. Laid, the demon, has arrived."
The demon smiled. "Crawley, you seem special, like me. But if you really think I'll let you kill me, you're mistaken, young one."
The demon quickly shook Laid off and grabbed him. He kicked Laid in the stomach, sending him flying back and hitting his head on one of the bed frames, knocking him out again.
"Now, back to our fight, little human," the demon said, smiling.
The boy grabbed his sword and swung while the demon was distracted. A cut appeared clearly across his neck. The demon's eyes did not widen like the other demons when they knew their death was inevitable. This demon just smiled as he fell to the ground, seemingly dead.
The young boy relaxed as he leaned up against the wall. He was tired, and he couldn't even hold his blade any longer. Soon, he passed out.
The demon's eyes opened. His neck wound healed.
"Now it's time for me to feast," the demon smiled as he got back up and stared down at the young boy. "You should never trust what you see, young one. It just might kill you."
He