Unknotting Fate

CHAPTER 1: Death and Porn

The night sky was suddenly disturbed by a barrage of thousands of silver-tipped needles. As soon as they touched any structure, it erupted in an explosion of fire and smoke. Streets were filled with burning debris, blood, and wounded people caught in the onslaught.

Despite the danger and destruction around them, some foolish people still attempted to capture the scene on their phones, running along the streets while frantically trying to get a good shot. Priorities are priorities.

Among the crowd running was a teenage boy wearing a ramen bowl costume. The embarrassing outfit he had been forced to wear for that lame waitering job bounced wildly on his shoulders. Sweat dripped down his face, and his heart raced faster than ever as tiny, razor-sharp metal fragments descended from the black ink sky, consuming everything in its wake. He desperately prayed for salvation, but it was too late. He felt a quick prick on his neck and then a raging heat as flames engulfed him, prayers denied.

The flames turned the waiter's body into charcoal. Suddenly, a 7-foot-tall female ghoul stood over him. Her white leather dress hung heavily from her slender frame, drenched in fresh blood.

Her eyes were like black marble orbs, and her long sharp claws clicked together impatiently. Without a single sound, she crouched and began to devour her prey. 

Her code name was 1795, and she was a ferocious night creature responsible for the city's destruction.

Rumor had it that she hungered for young men, delighting in the smell of their charred flesh. She was a sinister force that brought terror to all who encountered her.

Having finished off her prior victim, 1795 alighted onto a lamp post to survey the chaotic streets for her next meal.

Two potential choices presented themselves in the panicking throng: an elderly woman striving to flee but lacking the strength and a portly young boy struggling to run. She decided upon the larger, more succulent choice.

Spider-like legs sprouted from her back; she flew towards her prey. Knowing he couldn't outrun 1795, the boy stopped and braced for death. After an eternity, the boy slowly opened his eyes and looked up. He saw her suspended in the air, writhing and squirming as though trying to break free from some unseen force. Like an animal being tortured, she thrashed and screamed.

Suddenly, someone from the frenzied crowd shouted, "Look, Mom! That man standing on the building's ledge stopped the ghoul."

People shouted back, "Huh, where?"

"There"

"Where is there?"

"You see the wallscape that says Gays go to hell; repent to the Gods today, above that!"

The crowd gasped; their breaths held in unison. The mysterious figure on the ledge wore a long brown cloak that shrouded his identity. He leaped from the building's ledge to the pavement below in one fluid motion as if gravity had no hold on him.

He removed his hood, revealing raven-colored crew-cut hair, olive skin, paper-thin lips, and chestnut eyes blazing with determination.

The same person shouted, "Holy shit! Is he a slayer? I think I've seen him on TV."

As soon as the word 'slayer' was mentioned, the roar of the fleeing crowd died away. People were drawn to see a Slayer in person. However, no one dared to walk back until someone shouted, "Oh dear! That's Ko of the Resurreccion Clan!"

When they heard his name, the people's terror dissipated, and they started moving nearer, their phones up, ready to capture the renowned slayer in action.