Price of Being Weak

As the two figures stood between the opposing sides, the tension increased in the air as both the humans and demons could feel the overwhelming presence they emitted.

“You think they’ll listen to us this time, Leon? That other group of humans and demons didn’t seem to follow our Master’s ideology,” said the voice disappointingly. 

He was taller than everyone on the battlefield, and he had a huge body that looked like he lifted weights in his sleep. He didn’t wear a shirt, but it clearly showed the scars and scratches that he had during previous battles. He wore black shorts and had brown sandals on. He was completely bald, but he had piercings on both his nose and bottom lip. He didn’t seem to carry any weapon at all which means that he must’ve relied solely on his brute force.

“That’s why you gotta ask them, Ken. Let’s see if they’ll listen this time,” said the other voice. 

He was a bit taller than Kizou and had black hair that was kept in a ponytail. He wore a dark blue robe that exposed his chest area and also had dark blue pants on. He wore nothing underneath his robe, and let out a charismatic presence of someone who was capable of doing anything.

“Hey! Do you want to join our group!?” yelled Ken with enthusiasm.

“Well, you can definitely ask them but not like that,” said Leon with a sigh.

The humans and the demons put their guards up as they were capable of seeing that they weren’t average people to mess with. Kizou might have been the first to notice that there was something familiar about the two of them that shouldn’t have been familiar at all.

“Who are you people?” asked Kota.

“We’re known as The Deviants. Well I’d prefer if you just called us all by our first names, but Master insists on the cool group name,” said Leon while palming his face.

“The Deviants? I’ve never heard of them,” Luna replied.

“Well, we’re still gathering members as you can tell,” Ken said with his arms crossed. “But everyone always runs away whenever we tell them about what we do.”

“Well, what do you do?” Kota asked hesitantly.

“We’re going to change the world,” said Leon almost triumphantly.

“The world is fine as it is, so don’t do anything to it!” yelled Tina without truly assessing the situation.

“Well that’s where you’re wrong, small child,” Leon replied. “There is evil roaming around everywhere, and we’re here to exterminate it.”

“Wait, so are we! Aren’t you human, so that means you’re on our side,” Kota said towards Leon with a sense of satisfaction at realizing he wouldn’t have to fight them.

“You are correct,” said Leon with a smile.

“But you’re a demon, aren’t you?” asked Kizou immediately towards Ken. This was why he was feeling a sort of familiarity when he was in the presence of these two.

“Yup, I am a demon!” yelled Ken while pounding his chest and smiling.

The mood of the atmosphere changed almost instantly, and it stayed quiet for a few minutes.

“Why is a human and a demon teaming up?!” yelled Tina with confusion.

“Master doesn’t discriminate, and that’s why we’re searching for those who want to follow our Master’s side. We’re actually searching for someone in the Demon Kingdom that we heard would be interested,” Leon answered.

“Demon Kingdom?!” Naota exclaimed with anger. “A demon who would team up with a human?!”

“Yes, and it’s interesting actually. It seems that I just came across someone else who has the same thoughts as us,” Leon answered while taking a quick glance at Kizou. Kizou looked at him and looked away instantly.

“Well what do you say, new friends? Do you wanna join?” asked Ken with a big smile towards them.

The area stayed quiet for some time before Naota finally decided to respond.

“Like hell I will! I am going to kill you two, and then I’m going to kill those humans right after!” Naota grabbed his sword and started releasing energy.

“Your turn or mine?” Ken asked Leon.

“Rock, paper, scissors?” Leon answered.

Naota continued to concentrate and exert energy. He released his horn as he must’ve sensed that he would be no match without it.

“Paper!” Ken yelled before he even put his hand out.

“You’re not supposed to yell out what you’re going to put, you know?” Leon replied while holding out scissors. 

Ken made different faces of confusion, pouting, and eventually sadness after realizing his mistake. He sat down and crossed his arms. Leon turned around.

“Well, I’ll be your-”

Just then, Naota bursted with a force of lightning and had his sword pointed towards Leon’s head. With his horn, Naota was able to increase his speed and strength. This even caught Kota by surprise as he realized that Naota wasn’t even serious in their match.

“Lightning Vortex!” yelled Naota as he lunged his attack. The air filled up with dirt and dust as the speed of Naota finally caught up with the floor. The outcome was surrounded with smoke as everyone awaited for what happened.

“Did he get him?” asked Luna worryingly.

Ken still sat on the floor with his arms crossed without even moving an inch. Tina and Kota watched to see if a demon they were on even grounds with would kill someone they knew was stronger than all of them. As the smoke started to clear up, Kizou had his mouth open at the sight that was in front of them. Naota’s attack with his horn was easily stopped by Leon’s finger.

“Demons always rely on their horns too much,” Leon said with a sigh as he grabbed the sword. “You didn’t even let me announce I was going to be your opponent, you brat.”

“Let go!” Naota yelled at Leon. Seeing as his grip continued to tighten, Naota let go of his sword and backed away.

“Let’s just make things easier,” Leon asked with a tone of anger. “Is anyone here going to join us?”

Both the humans and demons didn’t answer as history always foretold the fighting between the two sides. It was blasphemous to be going against history, and their pride as their respective race told them not to do it. Leon looked around and noticed that everyone didn’t want to change their ways.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Leon announced in anger. “Come at me, all of you!”

Everyone there knew that they wouldn't be a match, but there was someone who was still too young to understand.

“Okay, I’ll go!” yelled Tina who was too naive.

“Wait, Tina!” yelled Kota who tried to reach out to her but was too slow.

Tina rushed towards Leon who still never pulled the sword out of his waist. Tina threw strikes that Leon easily dodged.  She tried to surprise him from different angles, but Leon easily dodged all of her strikes without even breaking a sweat.  His feet movement were no joke as it was clear that he was someone who must've trained for a long time.  After a while, Tina got tired.

“All you do is run, you big loser,” Tina said as she tried to catch her breath. Kizou looked at Tina who still didn’t understand the situation.

“Oh?” Leon said after seeing Tina look so confident in herself.

“That’s more like-” Tina paused.

Leon stood there and met eyes with the naive girl.  He began releasing energy that made his strength look even more frightening. Tina finally understood. She felt the overwhelming pressure of someone looking down at an insect. Her childlike enthusiasm faded away in an instant at the overwhelming presence that was in front of her. Even though they were both humans, Tina knew she stood no chance.

“Ahhhh! Make it go away,” she yelled as she backed away next to Kota and covered her eyes.

“Looks like she really is still a child,” Leon said with a laugh.

Kota grabbed her and held her close but didn’t dare move an inch from where he was. Noata and Luna continued to watch the scene unfold as they too were afraid of what to do.

“Do you see now?” Leon asked as he turned back and forth to address both sides. “If you come with us, we’ll let you live.”

“Or you could just give us one of you,” Ken replied from the floor. “I’m getting kind of tired of asking everyone we see.”

“You shut up!” Leon yelled as he looked at Ken annoyingly.

“We agree,” Luna said.

“Wait, what?” Leon asked. “You agree with this buffoon?”

Ken was picking his nose and looked up after seeing Leon pointing at him.

“Yes, we’ll give you someone in exchange for letting us go,” Luna answered.

“Okay, who will you give?” Leon asked.

“We’ll give you him,” Naota answered.

Suddenly, Kizou felt a foot hit his back as he hit the ground. He looked up and saw Leon a few feet away.

Wait, did they just volunteer to kill me? Kizou thought to himself, scared.

“Fine then, you are free to go,” Leon said as he looked at Kizou on the floor.

Immediately, both sides seem to disperse and disappear. Kizou looked around frantically to see if this was just a cruel joke they played. However, they were all gone.

Kota grabbed Tina in his arms as she seemed to have passed out from the sheer fear that was presented in front of her. He held her tight as he realized that even she was capable of fighting this group while he stood there afraid. He ran as fast as he could towards the Human Kingdom.

Naota and Luna rushed as fast as they could out of the forest as they realized that the strength of those two was too much to handle.

"That was a human we were fighting the whole time," Naota said angrily.  “Damn! How are they that much stronger than us?”

“I don’t know,” Luna replied in a state of worry.

“Do you think they were on the same level as Number 2 and Number 3?” Naota asked.

“I don’t know,” Luna replied again.

“What do you think the King is gonna say?” Naota asked.

“I don’t know!” Luna yelled which shocked Naota. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Naota replied. “We have to report this to the King.”

“And we have to report that the other part of our mission is complete,” Luna said.

“Took a while for the King to make that call, but we finally got rid of that kid for good,” Noata replied. “I just wish I did it with my own hands and not had to rely on those monsters.”

As they ran through the forest, two silhouettes could be seen rushing past them.

Took them longer than I thought, Luna thought to herself.

“Good luck!” Luna yelled out almost mockingly. The two silhouettes didn’t stop for a second.

Back in the forest, Kizou stood in front of Ken and Leon. Even though he was presented as a recruit, it still mattered whether or not Kizou held their same mindset.

“I’ve had that feeling that you were interested in our ideology when I first saw you,” Leon said with a smile.  "So, how about coming along?"

“Wait, so is he really joining?!” Ken asked as he stood up in excitement.

Was I that worthless that they used me as a sacrifice to escape? Kizou thought to himself as he stared at both Ken and Leon.

“I think he’s broken,” Ken said with a sad frown.

I know the Kingdom hated me, I know that! But I was just a child trying his hardest to grow up to be like my idols from Hell’s Group, Kizou thought as tears started rolling down his eyes. So, why did they always look at me like I was a stranger?

“Oh, now I think he sprung a leak,” Ken said with a shocked face.

I just wanted to be a hero to my little brother and wanted parents who would appreciate me, Kizou thought as the tears continued to come. I wanted to make friends with my graduating class and go on missions with them, not be saved and mocked.

“Okay, this is getting bothersome,” Leon said as his patience seemed to run out. He started walking towards Kizou.

I just wanted to go on that date with Mya, Kizou thought. It was the first time she acknowledged me when she accepted my proposal.

“You looked promising, but I must’ve been wrong,” Leon said as he took out his sword. “I’ll end this for you quickly.”

I just want to live! Kizou’s final thought played in his head as he stared at the blade that was about to fall on his head.

Clang!

“Geez, when did you become such a crybaby?” Ty asked as his sword met Leon’s sword.

“You’re supposed to be the strongest from all of us,” Geet answered as he too blocked Leon’s sword with his sword.

“Geet? Ty?” Kizou asked as his tears continued to fill up once again. The backs of both of them were in front of Kizou holding back Leon’s strike.

“More and more interference,” Leon said angrily as he pulled back from both of them. “Everything keeps getting messed up, you finish this up, Ken.”

“Yay, I’m excited!” Ken got up immediately.

“We’re your friends, we’ve got your back!” Geet yelled as he prepared for the next attack. “You told us that!”

“And don’t you ever forget it!” Ty yelled.

Kizou realized he wasn’t alone. He did have friends with him the entire time, Geet and Ty. They promised they would stay together forever and would work hard together to move their way to the top. It took him time to realize, but he truly did have friends who cared about him. Kizou wiped his eyes and looked down on the floor. He was ready to win this fight with the people who have always been with him. He stood up and looked towards Geet and Ty.

“Huh?” Kizou mumbled while looking at the sight in front of him.

Ken stood in front of his friends who were supposed to be there with him throughout everything. However, Ken had a smile of delight as if his thirst had just been quenched. The sound of a ball rolling could be heard coming towards Kizou.

“Well, that wasn’t as fun as I thought,” Ken said.

Ken’s punch went through Ty's body. He took his hand out and threw Ty’s body to the side. Geet’s body was still standing there, but it looked odd. It seemed to sway back and forth before eventually falling to the floor. The sound of rolling continued to increase and Kizou looked towards his right. Chills filled his body, and the only thing he could do was let out a yell.

“Ahhhhh!” Kizou yelled as tears started to come down both of his eyes.

“Did you see how far his head went?!” Ken exclaimed in excitement.

“Yes, Ken,” Leon said as he let out a yawn.

Kizou continued to yell before falling to the floor. He didn’t have the energy to do anything anymore. Everything he had was just taken from him. His two precious friends were gone.

Just kill me, Kizou thought.

“Can you wash the blood off?” Ken asked Leon.

Just kill me.

“You got yourself dirty, go do it yourself,” Leon said.

Just kill me.

“Fine, I’ll do it after I kill this kid then,” Ken answered

Just kill me.

Ken walked towards Kizou with a huge grin on his face.

JUST KILL ME!

Huge pressure seemed to be emitting from Kizou that surprised Ken. He backed up towards Leon who was very intrigued at the sight that was in front of him.

“Looks like he finally awakened,” Ken replied. “I’ve heard the stories about how demons could awaken when they were put under danger. It doesn’t matter though, because it takes time to learn how to fully use one’s horn.”

“Hmmm,” Leon continued to inspect Kizou. Ken’s words rang in Leon’s head, but something seemed different about this child to him.

Kizou got up from the floor and lifted his head up. Along with eyes filled with pure hatred, the horn on his head truly showed the essence of a demon.