Blood dripped onto the stone floor.
"Aah… how did it turn out like this?"
The young man coughed, his white hair falling across his face. His dark eyes, marked by slit red pupils, stared at nothing. Horns curled from his temples, now cracked. He clenched his chest, but the hole there was too large. His fingers could not cover it.
He looked up.
Zack Vessara stood over him. Dark hair, dark pupils, face the demon god He had known since childhood stories. The hero's arm dripped with the demon god's blood.
Behind him stood four others.
Cecilia, the saintess, let out a small sigh. Blonde hair fell past her shoulders, untouched by the carnage around her. White robes remained spotless. She tilted her head.
"Is it over?" she asked.
Sienna, the greatest sword woman, kept her hand on the hilt of a blade longer than her own leg. Scars crossed her arms like lines on a map. She did not relax her grip.
"Don't lower your guard," she said.
Ashen, the Hammer king of red sand, took a step forward. His shoulders blocked out the sky. Armor stretched tight over muscle. He rested a war hammer against his shoulder and looked down at the demon god with something close to boredom.
"He can barely breathe," Ashen said. "I say we finish it."
At the edge of the group, Dace, the high elf, kept his bow raised. Platinum hair was tied back from sharp features. The arrow remained aimed at the demon god's heart. His fingers did not tremble.
Zack ignored them all. He walked closer until his boots touched the edge of the blood pooling beneath the demon god. He looked down.
"Any last words, Demon God Bathomen?"
"Demon god, you say…" He gritted his teeth. "Right. I'm a demon god."
He did not understand any of it. Maybe the blood loss was catching up. His past drifted through his mind like smoke.
He had never been a demon god.
He was an orphan named Adam. An organization hired him to steal a special artifact from the academy. Something connected to the demon god Bathomen. He succeeded. Then they experimented on him for years. Now a demon god lived inside his body.
He looked around at the sea of blood and the corpses scattered across the ruins.
His gaze returned to the group before him.
'They don't even recognize me, their old classmate.'
"Just slay him, Zack!" Ashen yelled.
"You don't have to remind me, Ashen." Zack raised his sword. "Goodbye, demon."
Adam closed his eyes as the blade came down.
"Finally. I can't wait to see the other side. Your faces make me sick."
He wanted it to end. Freedom from this torment.
The blade stopped.
"No," Zack said. "Let's not do that."
Everyone hesitated.
"Why?" Ashen barked.
"What are you doing, Zack?" Sienna yelled.
"He's already dying." Zack's voice turned cold. "Killing him would be merciful. This man tortured and killed innocent people. Don't you think a quick death is unfair?"
They paused. They stared at one another. Then they stared at the demon god struggling on the ground.
"Let's give him a painful death instead," Zack continued. He kept his sword raised. "Let him die slowly. Alone."
Ashen stepped forward. "But by doing that—"
Cecilia placed a hand on his arm.
"He's right. Let's stop this. He's badly injured and almost dead anyway." She closed her eyes and prayed. "May the Goddess Gaia punish him for his sins."
"Ah, whatever." Ashen facepalmed.
Adam stared at Zack. The absurdity of it left him dumbfounded. Zack's decision to spare him so he could die alone was not even a cruel death.
"Pfff…"
A dry cough escaped him then grew into something bitter.
"PhwaHahahaha!"
Everyone turned and stared at Adam laughing. They all thought it was another way to mock them and to get under their skin.
Ashen stepped forward with his hammer clenched. "Why is this bastard laughing?"
"Oh, sorry for laughing." Adam's voice dripped with amusement. "It's just… Zack, right? You were always this stupid."
Zack eyes narrowed. "How does he know my name?"
"Right. You wouldn't know." Adam's voice dropped low. "I was just a stepping stone for the bullies at the academy. I'm sure someone insignificant like me is not part of your so-called society. You didn't help me back then. You're a selfish bastard, as always. You only care about saving your own face. What did I expect from a noble spoiled brat?"
Sienna raised her sword. "Don't say another word, demon, or I'll slay you myself!"
"Oh no I'm scared."
He mocked them with a smile that did not reach his eyes.
"I'm tired of this hell." Adam frowned and rubbed his hair, staining his fingers with blood. "That's why I'm not dying alone. I'm taking everyone with me."
Dace's eyes widened. He felt the energy shift. He knew what was coming.
"This is bad. Everyone, we need to run!"
But it was already too late.
A dam broke inside Adam. All the demon energy rushed into his body. His skin began to crack. Light poured from the fractures.
"DEMON GOD, STOP!" Zack yelled, trying to shield his comrades.
Adam raised his middle finger toward Zack. "I hope in your next life, you get hell!"
"RUN!"
Everyone tried to flee.
Suddenly time distorted and stopped.
Adam's eyes widened.
"Huh? What the hell? What's going on? Is this one of your stupid abilities?"
A heavy presence pressed down on Adam. He could not breathe, he recognized this energy. It was the same energy he had felt when he was possessed.
"D-don't tell me—"
Bathomen materialized before him. The demon knelt, resting his chin on his hand with a bored expression.
"Kekeke. Hey, brat." Bathomen grinned. "I didn't think you'd go so far as to kill the hero of this story."
"Is this a hallucination? What's going on? What did you do with my body?"
"Insolent brat." Bathomen's grin faded. "I don't have much time, kid. Let me make this simple." He pointed at Zack. "We are under a script and we were meant to die here, Right now by that pathetic bastard."
"What do you mean, script?"
Bathomen drove his fingernail into Adam's forehead.
Suddenly Adam saw pages. Thousands of them. Flipping fast. He saw his life written out. The ending. Zack and his companions killing the demon god. Zack marrying the princess and becoming a king. Not an ounce of the organization being found out. It was just Adam becoming the bad guy.
Adam trembled. "A book. I'm a character. A villain meant to die by the main character." He looked at Bathomen. "You're saying all my suffering—"
"Now you see the truth, boy."
"Damn it." Adam punched the ground. "Who is the author, then? If this life is a script—"
"Who else?" Bathomen scoffed. "The goddess herself is the author. But it doesn't matter. We don't have enough time."
He looked at the frozen world around them. Time was slowly returning to normal.
"We have to face this crisis together. Defeat the hero bastard and his friends. Screw fate."
Adam stared at the demon. He did not trust a single word from Bathomen. But his situation alone explained everything.
He did not care what happened next. If he could have one more chance to change the past, to get rid of the people who used him, the organization, the script, fate itself—
"Screw it. I accept."
"Now, boy, I will give you an opportunity. I will turn back time with my last power." Bathomen's voice grew serious. "Make sure you don't become pathetic again. Not even I will save you next time."
The demon's hand covered Adam's face.
Pain surged through his body. Then darkness.
.
.
Gasp.
Adam suddenly sat up and fell off the bed, gasping for air.
The ground beneath him was old wood. He tried to stand and noticed his hands were smaller.
"Huh… My hands…" He stared at them. "They're smaller. What's going— ow."
The sudden pain moved through his body.
"It hurts."
He looked around. He was alone in the room, but another bed sat across from him. The space felt like a dormitory.
"Don't tell me—"
He got up and approached the mirror.
His younger self stared back. Age sixteen with White hair, Golden eyes and Pale skin. A massive number of injuries covered his body. His upper lip was torn and his face was slightly swollen.
"This pain… this sensation." His voice came out hoarse. "Did I come back to the past like the demon god said?"
[ Of course, you fool. What did you think happened?]
Adam startled, he knew that voice.
'Did the demon god follow me?'
He turned immediately. What he saw was not the tall, terrifying being. Just a floating small version of himself and his little arms folded.
[ What is it, brat? Don't you feel scared?]