The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 65: A misstep. (Part 3)

"Oh no," I breathed out only to spin back as my senses began to pick up life. Down the street, a group ambled towards the square and I stood in plain sight. Even from a distance I could see their unnerving smiles. They looked at me as I did them, a chill crossed my spine just as the leading member squealed a horrific and shrieking cry.

"We've got a live one!" the terrible feminine voice boomed across the city and upon its call I began to feel the city wake up. They came from all over, hundreds then thousands pouring from the cracks of the dead city, each smiling, each with their eyes wide, vivid and alive.

"Ria, hold on," I spoke to her and drew my sword. "We're leaving." I didn't know where we'd go, but I knew for certain this city was a deathtrap. They were all demons. Though my encounter with demons had been little I knew what they were capable of, and each of the beings running towards me gave that sickening feeling. The entire city had their minds bent to become the definition of the enemy of mankind, of the world.

I chose a direction and ran. I didn't know the layout of New York but knew for sure, anywhere else was better. Ria's grip tightened on my chest, her face stuck into my chest and refusing to look elsewhere as I bounded across the broken city. The demons chased, much faster than an ordinary person but compared to the Old Man's training, they just couldn't keep up. I sprang off the buildings and walls, using the streetlamps as footholds to propel myself further, quickly making distance between them and us.

It was going well. Too well. Just as the thought crossed my mind, I felt a much greater strength press down on me. I swung my sword defensively and blocked the fist that had come from nowhere. In a single moment I felt the weight of their strike, the fist that didn't give at all against the sharp edge of my blade and just like that I was flung back from the force. Ria screamed as we tumbled through the air and I did all I could to protect her.

I landed heavily against the pavement but somehow kept on my feet, facing the threat who had attacked me.

"Oh ho ho?" the behemoth of a man grinned in undignified pleasure. "You've got some bite." He stood over two metres tall, shirtless and a mountain of muscle. Scars covered his entire body but were shown like trophies. A trimmed beard covered his face, but the eyes, the eyes I instantly recognised.

"Callus?" I let out in shock.

"You know me?" he roared in laughter and peered down, his face plastered with a never letting smile. "But you're not one of mine. You're not one of those traitors who threw me away for her! No... no... but, you know her. I can feel it! You know her!" He began to laugh, bathing in the sadistic nature he exuded. "Are you here for revenge? Are you here to kill us for what we did? Oh you're beautiful Hero crucified and hung for the entire world to see!"

What the hell was he saying? The other demons were gathering but against Callus, let alone a demonic Callus, I couldn't let my guard down and run. I needed a moment to prepare. A single opportunity to get out.

"Bask in the glory of your Hero, bask in her defeat!" Callus praised the sky, gesturing behind him. It was only then that my attention focused on it. Hung on a cross nailed to the wall of a building, a mummified skeletal figure that I recognised in an instant. It was Zen. Wherever I was, in this world they had killed her. For a moment I felt my emotions dull to nothing only to resurface in a vehement rage. Anger and hatred that I thought I couldn't achieve broke from my lungs.

"Callus! I'll kill you!" my body burned with power, and I felt the call of the Void at my fingertips.

"Daddy!?" Ria's voice broke through me like freezing cold water. The anger and hatred popped, leaving the grief of losing my teacher. The power within me however remained and instead I aimed it elsewhere, away from Callus. The ground shattered and I shot far away, crossing the city blocks in fractions of a second. I couldn't fight with Ria here. We needed to escape.