From the smoldering crator of the guild, a monstrous figure emerged. It was a demon, a towering creature of muscle and malice. Its skin was the color of dried blood, and its eyes burned with a cruel red light. It surveyed the destruction with a satisfied sneer, its voice a low, gutteral rumble that seemed to shake the very air.
"Ive come to take the head of the guild master, but it seems he is not here," the demon announced, it's voice echoing across the panicked vilage. The demon's gaze fell on the fleeing villagers and the few remaining adventurers trying to hold the line. "I wonder if he will come back if i take a few heads."
Rin, having just finished helping a group of children, spotted the four of them and ran toward them, her face pale with terror. "Guys!" she screamed, her voice barely audible over the chaos.
"What was that!?" Silas yelled back, his eyes fixed on the immense demon.
Rin ran up to them, panting and desperate. "A demon vice-general just landed in the guild base! I'm evacuating the citizens while the people of the guild are stalling for time until an A-rank or higher adventurer can be dispatched here!" She grabbed Silas by the arm, her eyes pleading. "You guys are new, so you don't have to fight for us. I won't blame you for running away."
With those words, she turned and continued to herd the terrified citizens to safety, leaving the four of them standing alone, staring at the monster. The demon was clearly having fun, toying with the few adventurers who dared to challenge it. It held one by the throat, a twisted smile on its face as it toyed with the adventurer's life.
"You guys are all weak! Is there no one here that can best me in combat?" the demon roared, its voice filled with a bloodthirsty arrogance.
Silas watched the scene, his fists clenched. They were F-rank adventurers, but Rin had been kind to them. She had given them a home. He couldn't just stand by. "Well, I feel we should help them with everything they've done for us," he said, his voice quiet but firm.
The others nodded in unison. Shizuma, his expression cold and resolved, Kain with a grim determination, and Kuren, his playful energy replaced with a burning anger. With a unified, silent agreement, they began to move in the direction of the demon.
The demon, clearly having fun, held one of the guild members by the throat. Its claws, like jagged obsidian, were wrapped around the man's neck as it dangled him in the air. "You guys are all weak!" it bellowed, its voice a taunt. "Is there no one here that can best me in combat?"
Silas, his expression a mix of fury and resolve, stepped forward into the carnage. The sight of the demon's casual brutality had set his blood boiling. "Yeah! The people you speak of are right here!" he shouted, his voice a challenge that seemed to shake the ruined remains of the guild.
Kain, his calm facade unbroken, responded first. He raised a hand, and with a flash of light, a crystalline spear of ice materialized. He launched it with incredible speed, aiming straight for the demon's head. The demon, however, didn't even flinch. It caught the ice spear effortlessly between its fingers, a smirk spreading across its face. Without a second thought, it crushed the man in its hand and tossed his limp body aside.
Shizuma, seeing the opening, summoned his shadow. A formless mass of darkness with a single, glowing scythe-like arm, his summon Licht, emerged from the floor and attempted to disorient the demon with a series of quick, blinding attacks. But the demon simply roared with laughter, the shadow attacks passing harmlessly through its form.
"You can't beat me with cheap tricks like that!" the demon mocked. It then shot a fast-paced fireball toward Kain.
Kain, quick to react, threw up a massive ice shield. The fireball slammed into the shield with a deafening roar, blowing up on impact and creating a thick cloud of smoke that obscured the demon's vision.
Kuren and Silas both used this opportunity. Kuren, his fists glowing, charged from one side while Silas, with a short sword in his hand, blitzed in from the other. The demon, however, was faster than they could have imagined.
It lunged out of the smoke, catching Kuren and Silas by their necks with its massive hands and throwing them both violently into Kain's newly formed ice shield, shattering it on impact and sending them all sprawling. "Is that the best you guys got!?" the demon roared, its confidence unshaken.
But as the demon's back was turned, a silent killer emerged. Shizuma, having re-submerged into the shadows, appeared behind the demon. With a flash of his summon's scythe, he slashed the demon across its back, leaving a huge, deep cut.
"Aak!" the demon cried out, a cry of genuine pain for the first time.
The demon, furious, spun around to face Shizuma, but Shizuma had already faded back into the shadows. As he prepared for another slash, the demon's form blurred, and it was gone.
It appeared behind him, its massive claw already extended. With a horrifying crunch, it stabbed him through the chest.
Shizuma's body went limp. A hollow, lifeless look appeared in his purple eyes as the demon pulled its claws out of his chest. He didn't fall. He just stood there for a moment, a vacant, hollow statue of death, before collapsing into a heap on the scorched ground.
"SHIZUMA!!!" Silas screamed, his voice raw with pain and fury. The grief and anger he felt were a maelstrom of emotion, and as his emotions reached a fever pitch, something happened to his body. A searing pain shot through his right hand, and the Demon God's Mark, a dark, intricately detailed sigil with a sharp, vertical eye at its center, burned itself onto his skin.
With the mark now active, his power surged to a level he'd never experienced. He was faster, stronger, and his reaction time was inhuman. His eyes glazed over with a mindless rage, and the world narrowed down to a single target: the immense creature standing over his fallen friend.
Kuren, his fists still glowing, dashed toward the demon, seeking to avenge his fallen friend. But the demon, far too fast, simply swung its clawed hand. With a clean, horrifying slice, it cut Kuren's head off, sending it flying through the air.
The demon's expression, however, had shifted from smug amusement to a look of utter shock and dread. It stared at the mark on Silas's hand, its eyes widening with a primal fear. Is that— it thought, its voice a terrified whisper in its mind. A Demon God's Mark? How is this possible?
Before the demon could finish the thought, Silas, now a blur of pure, uncontrolled rage, was in front of him, wielding a short sword. The demon, no longer taunting, was forced on the defensive. The two exchanged many fierce blows, but the demon's immense experience and strategic cunning allowed it to barely keep up with Silas's overwhelming speed and strength.
The demon pushed Silas back with a powerful blow. "ENOUGH!" it roared in frustration, summoning five massive fireballs and sending them all toward Silas. Silas, now completely mindless, simply reflected them. But while Silas was doing that, the demon took the opportunity to close the distance, sidestepping the reflected fireballs. With a horrifying, cunning slash, it cut Silas's head off.
Kain, frozen in place, watched in utter terror. All he could do was watch as his friends were cut down and rendered useless against the demon's insurmountable strength. He threw more freezing spears at him, but they were not affective, and the demon simply swatted them away as if they were nothing more than bothersome insects.
The demon's gaze fell upon Kain, a cruel smile on its face. "Goodbye," it sneered.
With a single, fluid motion, the demon sliced Kain's head off, and everything went black.
As Kain drifted in this silent, absolute abyss, he was plagued by a torrent of thoughts. What could he have done differently? How could he have saved his friends? How could he have prevented everything from happening? The guilt and regret were an unbearable weight in the silent black.
After what felt like an eternity, he heard a sound. A familiar voice, filled with a sound of concern.
"Kain?" the voice said. "Are you alright?"
Kain's eyes snapped open. He was no longer in the abyss. He was lying on the soft, green grass of the forest floor, and his friends—Shizuma, Silas, and Kuren—were standing over him, their faces filled with concern. They were all there, alive and well, in the exact spot they had first woken up.
Kain sat up, his mind reeling. The memory of the demon, the fire, and the deaths of his friends was still fresh in his mind. He looked around at the familiar forest, then back at his friends, his expression a mix of shock and utter disbelief.
".....What....?" he whispered, his voice barely a breath.