Chapter 1: Death Is Just The Beginning
A young man who seemed to be in his twenties could be seen running from a mob of people.
Heavily wounded by the mob, he was forced into a dead-end at the edge of a cliff. Some of the people in the mob were his friends and people he cared about and protected in the past. Feeling betrayed, he resentfully looked at them with hatred and shouted.
"You bunch of heartless bastards!...All these years of protecting you people, is this how you pay me back? By killing my wife and my unborn child who had nothing to do with 'The Great Calamity'."
The mob's shouting immediately rebutted him,
"You devil! You got the guts to talk about the 'The Great Calamity' after being the one who caused it claiming billions of lives."
"Yes, you almost annihilated our human race, and you dare talk about your wife. Thanks to you, we have lost many or all of our loved ones and families. Killing off anybody related to you, including your devil spawn, will be a favor to the world."
"Of course, the whole world will remember this day and us for burning the devil's wife at the stake."
The mob kept on throwing remarks filled with hatred at him. The young man tilted his head upwards and laughed like a maniac.
"Hahahahahahahaha..."
"I am the cause of the calamity? No matter how many times I say it wasn't me, you people will never believe even when I didn't even possess that kind of power before."
"Done the world a favor by burning the people I love? The true devils are you all who burned an innocent woman and child. Thinking about it, I guess the extinction of the human race doesn't sound so bad. I regret you all survived, as the world would be a better place without a race which pays back kindness with vileness."
His voice had started becoming weak and hoarse. But he had a mocking grin on his face. The mob grew angrier hearing his words, but the baleful aura around the young man made them reluctant to rush towards him to cut him down.
However, one of them, who seemed to be the leader of the mob, came forward.
"Everyone!!" He shouted at the top of his voice to the crowd. The crowd immediately let down their voices and stopped their charge to look at the mob leader with a curious gaze wondering why he suddenly stopped them.
"It seems like torturing you for all those years has been futile, seeing that you still haven't learned your lesson." said the mob leader looking at the young man.
The leader continued, "Don't be in a hurry to kill this devil, my people, as death will be an easy escape for him. Do not worry about his devilish powers, as we all already know he has lost it because of his grievous sin. Otherwise, this devil would have escaped our grasp already. The heavens are giving us this chance to make sure that the rest of his life is a living hell by torturing him more. Only then would our loved ones in heaven rest peacefully."
The mob got more excited, apparently showing their approval to the idea, and threw back all ideas of ripping apart and killing the young man instantly. Instead, they were preparing to capture him.
"As if I would let myself be tortured at the hands of lowly scum like you all. I decide my own death, not you cowards!"
The young man sneered. He suddenly turned around and ran towards the edge of the cliff. He jumped into the abyss and was long since covered by the fog.
"What the fuck?? He just jumped to his death like that?" A man shouted from the crowd.
The young man, while falling into the abyss, thought, 'What a joke. I didn't even get to find out who brought this disaster upon me. Is this what being virtuous and kind-hearted leads me to? Sofie, I am sorry for not being able to protect you. If there is a next life, no matter what or who I am, I will join you soon and make sure we never suffer.'
He slowly closed his eyes, making himself ready to embrace death.
"Doesn't matter. We won't let him go that easily." The mob leader said while looking deep down into the abyss.
He turned towards one of his followers and ordered him, "Find his body, no matter what. We have to hang his body for everyone to see and let everyone rest easy knowing that the devil is dead."
'The Great Calamity' was an earth-shaking event that happened in 2030. It almost destroyed the human race by claiming ninety-five percent of the earth's population.
The young man had been their guardian, protecting the world from disasters and saving people.
But to this day, some of the survivors still remember his crimson red eyes and wings when he extinguished all those lives as if they were nothing. They didn't know why he did it or how he got so ridiculously powerful like a god on the day of the calamity.
"To think all those years that devil lived among us with his innocent looks and ways." A woman who seemed to be the leader's right hand scoffed.
"But back in those days, weren't you head over heels over him saying how ridiculously handsome he looked and all. I still remember how badly you wanted to be his woman." The leader mocked her.
The woman poked her finger at his chest, pretending to be aggrieved. "Dear, how could I have known that he was a wolf in sheep's clothing. He really seemed to be innocent and treated me like a very good friend. Hell, he even forgives his enemies, and I haven't ever seen him kill a single soul."
The leader had a mocking grin on his face and said, "Don't tell me you are that stupid. The more power a person has, the more corrupted they are. Anyway, it's for the best he died, he had unfathomable superhuman abilities, they were nothing compared to his. I was always jealous of his powers."
"Exactly. It's like he wasn't from this world...so weird. I— " She got cut off when a subordinate came up running. "Sir, the ones we sent to search for his body, haven't returned, and they are not responding on our comms."
"What?? You can't even find a dead body, and those idiots are not even responding?" The leader fumed and was about to say something when suddenly the air around them became suffocating, finding it difficult to breathe.
A murderous aura spread around them, making them all cough out blood.
"And here I thought maybe I killed too many of you lowly humans."
A girl's ice-cold voice came accompanied by a snort. It was just a simple sentence, but those words sounded beside their ears and penetrated deep into their hearts. They all got tensed and looked around but couldn't make out where the voice came from.
Everyone was struggling to even stand, and their bodies were trembling as that unknown girl's aura was getting heavier. The woman beside the leader woke up from her daze.
She stammered, "Tha...that voice, it...seems…" She felt that she found the voice familiar, but she couldn't remember whose it was no matter how much she tried to recall.
Suddenly a girl who looked about sixteen years appeared before their eyes hovering in the air. Her snow-white ice-cold eyes, radiating with a bluish tint looking at them with a gaze that seemed to pierce into their souls.
Her face was so beautiful that it could steal souls away just by a simple look, causing people to be unable to shift their gaze away from her.
Her body emitted a noble and ethereal aura that seemed as if a goddess had descended into the mortal realm.
She was clad in a pristine black attire that blended well with the night sky. Her silver-white hair reaching her waist reflected the moonlight as it danced in the air. But it was her eyes and her mesmeric snowy skin that made her figure look more bewitching and alluring.
Even the most beautiful woman on the planet would feel inferior in front of her.
Everyone standing there was stunned and dazed, seeing an otherworldly beauty in front of them, causing them unable to even utter a sound.
But the malevolent aura she was exuding made everyone's hearts palpitate with terror...as it could only mean one thing - Death.
Seemingly a horrible one considering her bad mood. And apparently, her mood couldn't be any worse.
The leader couldn't even muster any strength to ask her who she was. Everyone was confused and apprehensive seeing such a powerful being who apparently seemed to be angry with them. They had no idea who she was and why she was here.
Her killing intent mixed with anger and pain permeated the whole surroundings. Some weak-willed people even died just from that and exploded into pieces.
She lifted her hand with an indifferent expression and said in a voice filled with bone piercing hatred, "Be damned for eternity."
Each of those words resounded like thunder to their ears and souls.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
They all let out miserable screams as they felt like their skin, muscles, and bones were tearing from inside out. It was the pain of their soul tearing apart. Soon they turned into dust and became one with the air with nothing left as proof of their deaths.
The bright full moon was shining among the heavy, black driving clouds. It's light reflecting off her as she slowly shifted her gaze filled with melancholy towards it.
Soon time passed, and the sun was slowly rising. Her body suddenly lost all strength as she dropped down to the ground. Her skin was slowly cracking like glass as her face contorted with pain.
Changing her gaze towards the rising sun, her eyes misted over with tears as she muttered, "It's time...I am sorry, Damien, I couldn't find a better way. Next time, I hope it would be different so that you can live the life you always wanted and not lose anyone you love...If you still find me worthy enough for your love, I will gladly be with you again and forever."
Her body emitted a brilliant white light as her body finally turned into nothingness.