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"Son, why do you want my throne so badly? Why the hatred for humans? You do know your mother was a human, right??"
"Wait—Father, what do you mean my mother…?!!!You told me she never existed. You said we came from the powers of the stars...""
******************""
I woke from that terrible dream—my heart pounding. "What was that…? Was it a dream… or was that my life before I came here?"
As I placed my cracked, battle-worn obsidian mask over my face and stood up, I turned my gaze south. The sun barely shone through the mist.Rose and Lyra were still out cold—silent, like sleeping statues beneath the trees.
I decided to head deeper into the forest to train—where the trees were thick and ancient, and shadows whispered secrets.
---
"I, stood alone in a clearing, firm in my stance. A tall, lean figure draped in black robes with faint silver runes etched into the sleeves. My dark blue eye—hidden behind the narrow slit of the mask—burned with questions. My jet silver white hair was long and often tied at the base of my neck to my back and shoulders. I practiced every strike as if it were my last.
With each slash, Lyra’s cryptic words echoed in my head:
“Your eyes… they hold wonders.”
What did she mean? *What does she see in me?*
---
I practiced for what felt like the thousandth time, sweat pouring from my brow.
“You’ve been working hard, haven’t you?” came a soft, slightly playful voice.
Rose ,petite in stature, but deceptively powerful. Her curly chestnut-brown hair bounced lightly with every step. Freckles dusted her cheeks like stardust, and her sharp hazel eyes sparkled with warmth—and something ancient. She wore a light armor reinforced with enchanted silver thread, flexible yet resilient. Her presence radiated energy, like a flame trying not to explode.
“If I want to beat you in combat one day, I’ve got to train until my bones shatter,” I replied, smirking.
“Ohhh?” she tilted her head. “And do you know what I’m training you for?”
I paused. “No… What are you training me for?”
She turned, her expression distant. “You’ll see in due time. I don’t want to scare you.”
I narrowed my eyes but didn’t press further. I turned, and she followed.We walked for miles. Through the muddy thick road in the forrest for the first time the forest seemed to be at peace not a single sound only my boats crunching the dried leaves on the forest floor in a far distance I could smell burning ashes of word and stone and small screams coming from a distance
---
We reached the next town—and devastation painted the air red.
Blood drenched the streets. Fires flickered in broken homes. I stepped into a pool of blood—thick, warm.
Rose froze. Her body, once full of life, went stiff. Her hands began to tremble.I followed her gaze.
A little girl with silver-blonde hair lay lifeless. Her limbs—severed.Beside her, a woman—possibly her mother. Decapitated. Her head a few feet away.
Rose's eyes widened. Then she broke.Screams of horror echoed.
I ran to her, gripping her shoulders.
“Rose!! Look at me! It’s too late—we can’t help them. Look me in the eyes and breathe!”
She shook her head, tears falling freely, then let out a soul-ripping scream.
---Lyra with silver hair flowing down her back in braided strands. Her skin was pale like moonlight, and her eyes—violet and unreadable—glowed faintly even in the day. She wore a robe made of star-thread, and in her hand, she carried a long staff carved from obsidian wood one of the most rare type of wood a normal person could find, topped with a floating crystal orb that was used to control the flow of her mana which was too great for her to handle alone. Her energy was calm but immense—like the deep sea hiding a leviathan.
“Look up,” she said softly.
---
I raised my head to the sky.
There hovered a mysterious figure—his long dark purple cloak billowing in the wind.He wore a white mask with two large, twisted horns curving upward. The mask bore a sad, almost weeping expression—but the voice beneath it was delighted.
“Ohhh… I missed a few,” he purred.as I began to tremble in fear
Lyra's eyes narrowed. “Be careful. He’s one of the Demon Lord’s creations.”
“What do you mean—Demon Lord!?”
She didn’t answer. She just readied her staff.
Rose wiped her tears, her energy shifting into something deadly. She stepped forward.
Sword drawn. Fierce eyes blazing.
“Come down here, you bastard. Let’s settle the score.”
---
I took my stance beside her.
The masked figure slowly floated down, a clawed hand twitching in excitement as he took out his tongue in a circle motion like an excited serpent
“How dare you challenge the 5th strongest mask created by the Demon Lord!!!”
He laughed, flicking his tongue like a serpent, savoring the tension. He's motion was so fast I could barely move an inch in the next few milliseconds
The clang of metal echoed as he nearly took off my head I saw the sparks flicker from nowhere—but Rose stepped in, blocking the blow.
“You’ve got guts, beautiful,” he grinned.
Rose returned the smile, unshaken.she seemed to enjoy the tension he gives off
Lyra disappeared with a whisper-spell—gone without a trace.
It was just us now.
“Traitor,” I muttered under my breath.
---
Steel clashed against claws sparks where flying everywhere as I could barely keep up with the two strong souls
A loud bang echoed and dust emerged from the group as it shook. I quickly moved my head to the right, and saw Rose dropped to one knee, using her sword for balance in the dust cloud
Then, she whispered: “Masked One… now’s the time I show you my true power.”
She took a deep breath.
“Sword Style: Art Four!”
Her sword ignited with black flames—dancing up her arm, consuming her body.
Her form shifted violently.
She transformed into a tall, shirtless male with long jet-black hair cascading over carved muscles. His eyes, now crimson, burned with rage. His new sword had black strings trailing from the hilt, and the blade shone grey like the moon.
In a deep, fearsome voice, he said:
“Masked one… meet the power of my clan the Tokugawa clan" as he took a smirk with pleasure
---
They collided—sword against claws their movements was now faster than anything any normal person could read I struggled to keep up with them as sparks covered the sky like fireworks
The masked figure removed his hood. His face twisted with hunger. “Come on! Show me everything!”
His mask now revealed more detail. A sad face with cracked designs… but underneath, madness brewed.
I stood frozen. Helpless.
Rose fought bravely. But the transformation didn’t last.
He collapsed. Reverted. Screaming, every vein bulging. Eyes turned completely white.
The enemy turned to me.
“That was it? I guess I’ll have some fun with *you* now before I rip your body limb from limb!”
---
I struck first it was a heavy strike with all my might and I missed missed.His punch hit my ribs I felt my ribs break in pain i heard the cracking sounds of brunches but this time it wasn't in the woods it was my own bones . i felt something hard hit my back as I fell into the rubble of rocks and into a pool of blood. I hit my head hard. I hit my head so hard that my vision was slowly turning blood red.i Coughed blood.Still, I stood.despite the pain with a blink of an eye
He was in front of me already. As he slowly lifted his fist and I felt a hard this hit my guts then my face the my cheeks then my nose making a cracking sound
His blows were unreadable I couldn't counter or make a move all I could do was stand there and indure the heavy blows.my blood flying everywhere and staining his cloak. A kick to the stomach knocked the breath out from my soul.as I flew even further
I dropped to my knees.as I struggled to stood up blood was dripping from my fact to the piles of rubles he created
I pounded the ground.while I scream in tears
“Why am I so weak!? WHY!?”Rage .Exploded inside me
My mask shattered and fell to the ground from the heavy blows the figure has given me
“Crying now? How pathetic,” he mocked with a laugh of enjoyment
---
Then—my eyes turned pitch black.
Its presence distorts reality. The temperature dropped, sound seems muffled, and gravity feels heavier. Trees bend slightly, as if trying to lean away. The beast doesn’t growl—it hums with low, guttural vibrations that get into your bones.
The beast stands nearly 10 feet tall, broad-shouldered, with a monstrous yet humanoid form cloaked in living shadows. Its skin is not truly skin, but a swirling, moving texture of black mist and embers—like darkness trapped in a furnace. Its glowing crimson eyes are shaped like slits, always unblinking, like it’s seen the end of worlds. When it walks, the air ripples and burns slightly beneath its steps.
A pair of jagged horns curl backward from its head, resembling cracked obsidian, and black smoke flows constantly from its back like a cloak in motion. Its mouth is a serrated maw that opens vertically, revealing glowing red cracks running across its throat like molten veins.
The figure grinned. “A duel of monsters, huh?” he laughed with excitement
They clashed with fury. I could barely keep up.
*I’ve done it again… I summoned another one."
I grinned faintly and pushed myself up, leaning on my sword.
Its left arm is muscular and heavily plated in dark armor etched with ancient demonic runes. With a single gesture, it summons a sword—twice the size of a normal blade—that forms from the void itself. This blade, forged from the creature's energy, is pure black with streaks of glowing red along its spine, and hums with unnatural vibrations.
It charged.
---Using Demonic Strength – One swing can destroy walls, send enemies flying, or even crack the earth.
The masked figure flew through buildings. Crashed through three.He rose, coughing blood, his mask now grinning. Its color darkened to pitch black.
He lifted his hands. The forest moved—cleared in an instant. A shockwave of power.
My vision blurred. My breath caught.
The monster I summoned glitched—flickered.
I choked—forced breath into my lungs. Coughed blood.
The beast lifted it's left arm as armor appeared
Sukmroti Armor:A black, angular armor that seems to grow onto the beast rather than be worn. It attaches like an exoskeleton, fusing into its flesh with burning symbols along the chest, shoulders, and knees. The armor absorbs light and deflects magic, and when fully active, the beast looks like a demon war-god from forgotten prophecy.the book of monsters I remember studying as a little boy
As it said Void Creation – as it summons weapons from pure darkness.
Everything turned pitch black.
As the beast vanished into thin air and appeared infront of the masked figure and he could barely block the strike the beast delivered steel on steel clashed as sparks flew from the sword on claws
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