The claw descended toward the hooded boy. Before the demon could complete its strike, something impossible occurred. The attack met resistance. The demon's eyes widened in disbelief. How? The boy remained unconscious against the wall, his body limp and unresponsive, showing no signs of awareness. Yet somehow, he had moved.
The demon's smile persisted, though. Dark fascination crept into its voice. "I see your hatred for demons runs deeper than consciousness itself. Your body has developed its own loathing for us. How intriguing."
The demon leaped back, its legs smashing a crater into the stone floor. The impact sent tremors through the chamber. "You think you can attack me? This will be entertaining, knowing your body can fight independently. Stand up, boy, or must I strike you first?"
As the demon stepped forward, the young boy rose to his feet. He grabbed his sword, eyes still closed, and leaped forward with mechanical precision. The demon dodged and caught the blade mid-swing.
"You're still weak. How unfortunate."
It punched the young boy into the wall again. However, since he was already unconscious, the blow inflicted no additional damage. His body simply absorbed the impact, driven by something beyond pain.
The woman scrambled to her feet, still rubbing her bruised neck. She frantically walked toward the chamber door, breath coming in ragged gasps. She needed to escape. This fight had spiraled beyond control. Before she could reach safety, a slash cut across the back of her neck. Her knees buckled.
She turned with her last strength. The other boy stood there, eyes closed. When he spoke, his voice was mechanical, devoid of emotion. This wasn't him speaking—it was his hatred, his body's pure instinct.
"Didn't I say I would kill you?" The monotone words accompanied her final moments.
He turned. The demon stood right behind him, grinning with savage delight.
"Oh, this is delightful! Go on, attack me."
The boy swung his sword. The demon dodged and kicked forward. The young boy caught the demon's leg with his free hand, leaped into the air, and hurled the demon to the ground with full force.
BAM!
The demon crashed against the chamber floor. A shockwave rippled outward, nearly shaking the beds where the surviving demons slept.
"You disgusting filth," the boy's body said as it charged forward to deliver a fatal strike.
The demon dodged, blinking nearly out of existence, then materialized behind the boy and seized him by the neck. Its grip was iron.
"This was entertaining. Very entertaining, in fact. Sad that I won't fight someone like you again. Your hate, your disgust—they drive you, and that makes me smile. To see a young one fight so well... unfortunate that you must die by my hand, though." The demon's voice carried a somber tone. "Your death is worth it. At least you gave me a proper fight. Most people can't even manage that. Know that you died putting up resistance against me."
The demon swung down, and it was over.
Or so it thought.
The demon's head fell to the ground. It looked up at the boy, surprised. It had expected to deliver the final strike. How had its head been removed?
"You fell," the boy said, eyes still closed.
The demon looked up at him, a strange smile forming on its severed face. "Well, this was a good ride. At least I died in an honorable, amazing fight. You gave me a good death. Thank you."
The demon closed its eyes and perished.
---
Another demon woke. It scanned the chamber—stone walls, beds scattered around. Nearly half the demons had their throats slashed open, blood spilling onto the mattresses. Some demons still slept, unaware of the carnage. Then it spotted a decapitated head on the ground and a young boy standing with a sword, eyes closed, hood up.
"How in the world did I get here?" the demon muttered.
This wasn't what it had last seen. It remembered a man cutting it open. The demon chuckled. "Interesting. So he did manage to knock me out. I didn't know that simply cutting my stomach open would be my technical end. Too bad he didn't kill me, though. Didn't hear my last words before he sliced my stomach open, before I passed out: 'If you don't manage to kill me, I will come back and end your entire life. I will come back and end your bloodline.'"
The demon's expression darkened with grim determination. "Unfortunate for him. I hope—I really do hope—that he doesn't have any family. I would hate to kill them, but words are words, and I must stick to them."
The demon rose from its bed, black hair messy and wild. "Seems like these demons couldn't defend themselves, could they? Having their throats cut open like that." It chuckled. "And that one has his head severed. Wow, you demons are weak, aren't you? At least you actually managed to die. My killer couldn't even finish me. Fatal mistake for him, I guess."
The demon stretched, its red eyes glowing slightly. Then it jumped down from its bed, landing on the stone ground with a soft thud.
"Man, even the woman too." It looked at the young woman who had been fleeing through the door but now lay dead, her neck cut open. "She was one of the nicest people I met. I didn't know she could come here, wherever this is. What a shame."
The demon's gaze shifted. "So I'm guessing this young boy did all of this."
It looked at the young boy. The boy turned around, eyes still closed.
"Demon," he whispered.
"Yes, I'm a demon. Let me guess—you harbor a deep hatred for demons and wish to kill them all? Please, don't kill me. I must go back on my word and kill my opponent's entire bloodline. So please, I have business to attend to, and words I need to keep. Be an honorable little human and spare me."
Shock registered on the demon's face. "Oh, you're wondering how I know you're human? Well, you don't have a demon aura. It's really that simple. Anyway, kid, go about your business. You can kill everyone except me and my opponent's bloodline."
The young boy turned around, his eyes finally opening, consciousness returning. "Wait, what happened?"
The demon blurred and appeared before the door. "Well, I must take my leave. Bye, kid."
The demon opened the chamber door and saw a large hallway completely made of stone. "So this door isn't the exit to the outside world. Am I underground, or is this some type of large stone house?"
The demon left the room and walked down the stone hallway. Numerous rooms lined the corridor, most locked, though one stood unlocked. But it didn't care to investigate. There was no point.
It finally reached the end of the hallway. Steps led up to a large door. It climbed slowly—not because it was in a rush (it wasn't), but simply because, why should it move fast? Why should it hurry to leave this place? Its opponent could have a few more moments to live. Why not grant him that grace?
It finally ascended the steps and opened the doors to the outside world.
"Wow," it said, surveying the demon city. "This is pretty sweet."
As soon as it left, the ground began to close up, sealing the chamber behind it. It noticed a large crater ahead, nearly a few dozen feet away. The crater bore some sort of human outline within it. It ignored this and continued walking.
---
"All right, all right, Jeremy, look—can you just give me a moment? I need to get a few demon stones real quick to buy some snacks."
A young demon sighed as he set down his communicator on the table. He rose from his chair and walked toward a snack venue. He examined the lines of snacks and reached into his pockets. "Let's see... one, two, three, four, five, six. Only six demon stones. I really hope that's enough."
A man approached the young demon. "Are you looking to buy one of these snacks?"
"Yeah, I'm planning to get one of those," the young demon said, pointing to what looked like shadowy tentacles wrapped in packaging.
"Are you sure you want those?" the man asked.
"Dude, just give me my food," he said, holding up the six demon stones.
The man sighed. "All right, then."
The man quickly walked around the corner and handed the young demon the strange snack. The young demon smiled as he returned to his table and picked up his communicator.
"All right, I'm back. So what did you want to talk about?"
Before he could say anything more, someone appeared behind him.
"You remember me?"
The young man shivered. "Please, I have a family—"
"What I said was, if you didn't manage to kill me, I was going to kill you and your entire bloodline. I gave you a few more moments to live, and I hope you used them well."
He turned to see Icon behind him. Icon's black hair, red eyes, and strangely muscular figure shocked him.
"No... no way. It's him. I killed him. I thought I did. Was cutting up his stomach not enough? Foolish me. I should have struck him in the head, the neck, the chest even. Why did I leave him? I'm such an idiot."
The young man tried to scramble away, but Icon placed his hand on the man's shoulder, his grip firm and unyielding.
"I suggest you not move. Please. The more you move, the more it hurts. I'm trying to make this as painless as possible for you. But hey, if you want to face excruciating agony, I won't stop you."
The young man shivered, his voice breaking. "Please, I have a family. Don't do this."
Icon stared at him, his expression cold and unfeeling. "You know I said your entire bloodline, correct? So honestly, you saying that doesn't really mean anything. I'm going to kill your family anyway, after I finish with you."
Suddenly, someone walked through the double doors. He wore a hoodie, his eyes were open, and he carried a sword. All the demons turned to this figure.
"Oh my God!" multiple demons screamed as they quickly rose from their seats. "Everyone, run! He's going to kill us all!"
Icon stared. "Oh, it's that young one I saw in the chamber. How interesting. Well, it's a shame I have to deal with him before I deal with you. Wait, never mind—you're right here."
The demon swiped his hand and sliced the man's head clean off. "There. Now I don't have to worry about you when I fight this kid."
Icon stood and looked at the young man with the sword. "You killed a demon."
"All of you are going to die by my hand," the young man whispered, his voice carrying an eerie calm.
"Is that so?" Icon said, cracking his knuckles.
He blinked, and suddenly materialized in front of the man. He grabbed the man by his head and squeezed hard, but his hand passed through like mist. The young man stood behind him, sword already swinging.
Icon ducked and drove a knee into the young boy's stomach, sending him flying back into several tables. The furniture splintered under the impact.
"You should never have fought me, kid."
Icon's red eyes blazed with lethal intent as he advanced. The young man struggled to his feet, sword trembling in his grip. Around them, the remaining demons scattered in terror, their screams echoing through the venue.
"I've seen what you can do against some demons," Icon said, his voice dropping to a deadly whisper. "But I'm not like them."
The young man raised his sword, and for the first time, genuine fear flickered across his face. He had killed countless demons tonight, but this one—this one was different.
Icon's form blurred.
The young man's eyes widened as he realized he'd lost sight of his opponent.
Then Icon's voice came from directly behind him, breath hot against his ear: "Found you."
The young man spun, blade cutting through empty air.
Icon stood ten feet away, arms crossed, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "You're fast. Impressive. But speed won't save you from what's coming."
The ground beneath them began to crack, spider-web fissures spreading outward from where Icon stood. The demon's aura intensified, a suffocating pressure that made the air itself feel heavy.
"I'll give you one chance," Icon said, his red eyes gleaming with predatory excitement. "Run. Run as fast as you can. Because when I catch you—and I will catch you—I want you to know you tried everything."
The young man's grip tightened on his sword. He didn't run.
"Wrong choice," Icon whispered.
And then he vanished. Hatred beyond consciousness