A boy about sixteen years old knelt on the ground, dressed in white. A deep wound on his shoulder poured blood in heavy streams. Above him, the star filled sky glittered as if in celebration, while the boy remained silent, refusing to make a sound. Showing pain in front of twenty thousand spectators would be pathetic.
Behind him stood a sea of demons. Nearly twenty thousand of them knelt in a line that stretched all the way to the horizon. And before them all, where everyone could see him, knelt the wounded boy.
His black hair gleamed in the night, his red eyes burned with fury.
Towering above him stood a massive figure. It looked human, yet unmistakably inhuman. Its overwhelming height drew attention, as did the two black horns on its forehead. It was the elite guardian, Gyrol.
"Execute me… argh…" Lux, the young demon, groaned.
Gyrol held the red katana in his hand. Beside them, upon a throne, sat a black shadowed figure. They were out in the open. The entire demon race was watching.
The dark figure laughed. It laughed so loudly that everyone heard it. Even the humans heard it.
Then a deep, ominous voice echoed through the air.
"My son… you are a traitor. So you shall bear the sword of traitors. And that wound will remind you. It will remind you that you are a failure."
The boy stared at a single point on the ground. He did not speak. He did not move.
Suddenly, Gyrol swung his blade and slashed open the wound on Lux's right shoulder. Blood splattered across the ground. The demons cheered and laughed in amusement.
This was a unique punishment. Had Lux been an ordinary demon, he would have simply been executed. But he was not.
Lux, the son of the Demon King.
The red katana drove deeper into the young demon's flesh.
"Arghsst!" A painful groan escaped him. Then a single tear rolled down his face.
In a soft voice, he whispered, "Father… I will kil—"
Suddenly, Lux's heart pounded violently. Warmth spread through his body. His vision blurred. The last thing he saw were the king's glowing red eyes.
Then flames.
Burning fire.
A mountain of corpses.
Rivers of spilled blood.
And at the very top stood a black figure with red eyes, holding a crimson katana dripping with blood.
It was him.
"I will kill them!""All of them!"
A horrifying voice echoed inside Lux's head.
"Father, I will kill you!""I will kill my people!""I am the traitor? Look at what they did to me!"
Lux jolted awake.
He was lying on something soft. Straw?
His hand shot forward.
"Clap!"
His palm landed on someone's face.
He immediately pulled back.
An older woman sat beside him on a wooden chair, smiling warmly.
Lux looked around. He was inside a wooden house. A village house?
Instinctively, he scanned his surroundings.
He pressed a hand against his head. "Ah… it hurts," he muttered, sinking back into the straw.
The elderly woman stood up. "Oh dear, you're in pain. What happened to you?"
Lux only half listened at first, but as the pain faded, he focused on her.
Should I kill her?
He remembered his demon training. His oath. He had sworn to kill every human.
But they had cast him out.
He did not have to follow their rules anymore.
No. I will not kill her. Why should I?
He relaxed slightly and asked, his head lowered a little, "Where am I?"
The woman smiled gently. "Far away from everything. Near the Forest of Rain. I have lived here my whole life. Some call this forest the End of the World."
Lux shifted uneasily. "What happens if you go farther?"
She laughed softly. "No one knows."
"I left some clothes here for you. Black ones. They will suit you perfectly," she added with a smile.
Lux stood as she left the room.
He thought for a moment.
Then something struck him.
"Why perfectly in black?" he called after her.
He waited a few seconds for an answer.
Then her voice drifted back.
"Well… you are the son of the demon. Your sword is beside the do—"
Her voice suddenly stopped mid sentence.
Lux frowned.
Why had she stopped? And more importantly, how did she know he was a demon? Why was she not afraid?
He glanced at his sword lying beside the door. He grabbed it quickly and rushed outside.
Then his eyes widened.
A massive bear stood in the clearing.
It held the woman in its jaws.
And tore her apart.