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Chapter 16: Nightmare (Part 6)

Chains linked by steel. The sound of shuffling feet as overbearing eyes looked down with callus grins. Tears and pain wishing for a better life. A bloodied sword mixed red and black. Flashes of war again and again. Friends and family thrown to death. To rise is to fight but impossible alone. Revolution and with it companions. Death after death. Time changing from one to another. New cities, new sights and many old ones.

"Red hair, white hair, blue hair, black. Green, yellow, brown and grey. Orange, purple, the flaxen and none. Such are the Heroes for Devils undone."

When Kyle opened his eyes he was already standing. A strange numbness had stretched across his body where the pain should have been. Behind him was a crushed door and to his side Mr Devro stood with wide eyes barely holding his camera straight.

"Kyle? What was that? Are you okay?" the man rambled.

He looked forward to see the Type S demon blocking the street ahead. It had barely moved from where it hit him. The fog around it clear as if framing its existence all the while its many hands pointed out flexing their fingers as if excited.

"Play? Don't play? Don't Leave. Leave- Play." The hideous words bore the tongues of hundreds. Any innocence from the meaning itself was lost as the definition of play had been skewed to inhuman levels.

"Play?" Kyle responded feeling his body tighten and relax. "Let's play then!"

"Kyle wait!" Mr Devro tried to grab him but couldn't as Kyle dashed away and charged at the demon. His hat already barely on fell to the ground to reveal the mass of white and sliver of flaxen hair that remained. It was do or die. The demon would never let him go. It would keep coming after him until one of them was dead and if that was Kyle, then it would choose another target and then another.

Like an excited puppy the demon jumped and bounced towards him keen to collide head on. Kyle's senses had never felt so alive as if he could feel the entirety of the space around them. In perfect timing he leapt off the ground avoiding the demon as he landed against the nearby wall. Before the demon could react Kyle pushed off and mustering more strength than he had ever before slammed his fist into the mass of hands. A crackle of mana snapped around their surroundings as the energy discharged between them. The demon's hands reached out attempting to pull and latch on to him but under the powerful blow they couldn't get a grip.

A shriek shook the city street as the demon was pressed into the stonework causing several cracks to splinter away. It stood back up uninjured.

Kyle grit his teeth and scowled. That strike had taken all he had and his body wasn't used to the sudden explosion of mana. The result was an obvious recoil as the rampant energy locked his muscles. Unable to move all he could do was put his arms forward as the demon turned and bulldozed towards him. Its hands outstretched from its body, fingers curled in excitement as if unable to wait to embrace its target. Unlike before Kyle was able to resist the collision and instead of being thrown down the street his feet dug into the ground leaving a firm mark as he was pushed back. The decision to hold his ground however was filled with an immediate regret. The demons hands latched onto his arms and body holding them firmly and squeezing tight letting out a hiss as they burned into his skin. If his body had been like before the pressure would have been enough to pop his muscles apart, in his current state however instead all he felt was the pain.

The situation was exactly what Kyle didn't want to be in. He could barely move against the demons arms as they gripped tighter and tighter. Worse still the demon continued to advance. Its mouth hung open dripping black gunk onto the pavement as it salivated trying to reach closer. Up close Kyle could see inside it and was shocked to see the strange darkness within. At first he thought it was just that but as the mouth forced itself inch by inch, he realised the insides weren't made up of simple ooze but tiny hands that almost looked like bristles on a brush. He was quickly being pushed down the street and it was only a matter of seconds before they reached a wall. As soon as that happened Kyle would have nowhere to go and the mouth would close shut ending his life.