THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.
A low and dull sound was ringing out continuously, bouncing and dancing throughout the tiny stone room.
My vision flashes white to each beat of the cruel rhythm, forcing me to dance between the separate realms of consciousness.
In and out. In and out. A perpetual cycle of entry and exit.
My vision was constantly blurring and doubling as the pain rang within my body.
Unending waves of pain, crashing into me violently, washing me under the tide, drowning every cell in my body relentlessly.
Bony knuckles were crashing into my tender body, bruising my cheekbones, cracking my skull, mangling my bones, digging into my guts.
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
I raised my arms to protect my face as I shrunk into a ball, cowering.
But that was meaningless. The assault shifted its focus elsewhere as I flinched in pain.
The pain only continued.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Stop. Stop it. I'm begging you.
THUD. THUD. THUD. THUD.
It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
Why is this happening to me?
What did I do to deserve this?
Pain exploded inside my forehead as the knuckles continued crashing into my face.
I raised my arm in defense once again, but now, they no longer moved. They only fell loosely to my side, losing all their life.
My forehead was throbbing, my stomach was crying, my eyes were stinging.
Nothing but pangs upon pangs of nonstop pain. Over and over again.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Like someone knocking on the door that is my skull, the sounds were faintly growing softer, getting more distant.
I looked up at the man hitting me. All I could think in my head was why? Why was he doing this to me?
"Evka. EVKA. Evka. EVKA!!"
The man was screaming words of pure hatred, but his face wore a completely different expression.
Glee. Pure and utter glee.
It was as if beating me was his grand prize, and he was savoring every moment of it.
"Are you watching, Evka? Are you watching this? You STUCK-UP, ARROGANT, HIGH and MIGHTY BITCH."
"You’ve always been laughing at me on the inside, HAVEN’T YOU? Always laughing at how inferior I was to you, how I could never match up to you no matter how hard I tried. LAUGHING AT MY FUTILE, POINTLESS, MEANINGLESS EFFORTS. ALWAYS FUCKING LOOKING DOWN ON ME!! There’s no need to say the words aloud. Seeing your face, I could always see it. The pity and the disgust you’ve always felt from my incompetence. Even if you try to hide it, I'VE KNOWN. I'VE ALWAYS KNOWN!!!”
THUD. THUD. THUD.
Each word he spat out was akin to adding more firewood to the flames, fueling his own rage as he got angrier by the second.
"All your genius and intellect, ALL OF IT. In the end, it only amounted to THIS!! HAHAHAHAHA! Take a good look. I’m the one destroying it!! ME!!!!”
"ARE YOU WATCHING???"
The man let out an inhuman screech, as if he had been holding in this barrage of gloating within himself for decades.
"WHO’S THE SUPERIOR ONE NOW??"
THUD. THUD. THUD.
"IT'S ME. I’m the one BRINGING IT ALL DOWN TO THE GROUND. I'm the ONLY ONE remaining. IT'S ME. I’M BETTER. NOT YOU. NOT YOU. NOT YOU. IT'S ME!!!!"
Following the explosions of pain consuming my mind, my world slowly became stained in red. The pain piles on and on and on, over and over again. Before I could even get a second to finish processing the last wave of pain, the next one came.
As my brain became flooded with the sensation, I was forgetting everything else. There was nothing in my head but pain.
Nothing else existed in this world besides pain.
It was slowly becoming too much, becoming too overwhelming.
My eyes rolled back into my head as an unexplainable phenomenon swept me over. My body began vibrating violently, my muscles twitched and spasmed.
Foaming at my mouth, the saliva began clogging my throat. My body involuntarily jerked about as I struggled to steal some breaths through my obstructed throat.
But this mattered too little to me. Everything was beginning to fade away. The scary man's voice. The dim lights in the cobblestone room. My remaining consciousness.
Everything was becoming softer, becoming calmer, becoming peaceful.
Very soon, nothing will matter anymore.
I never wanted any of this. I never did anything to him. What was the point of my existence? Was I born just to suffer this moment?
The pain gradually dissipated. And before long, I was no longer connected to any sensation in my body.
I was glad. I never wanted to be trapped in that weak and vulnerable body anyway. It's only purpose was to be my connection to this painful world, to bring me nothing but pain.
Tossing it aside, I will feel nothing. I will know nothing. I will be nothing.
The world will finally have no more means to hurt me.
Slowly, my eyes closed. At last, It was all over.
All the pain, all the sorrow, all the despair.
My mind plunged into darkness. Utter silence, total entropy.
But suddenly, a premonition struck me, forcing an understanding upon me.
In the desolate expanse before me, a lifeless terrain unfolded — withered trees, planted in soil that was dark and parched, obscured by a veil of ominous shadows.
Yet beneath this moribund surface, a subtle warmth emanated, casting gentle orange glows as the magma flowed energetically beneath.
Raising my gaze, I beheld a magnificent black castle, standing defiantly against the oppressive backdrop.
Upon the scalding ground, there were men. With their bare feet blistered by the relentless heat, they trod forward eternally. Each step, a torment on their exposed nerve endings as they wailed out in pain.
Chained in a long line by iron collars, some labored under the burden of colossal stones, while others writhed as lashes tore into their flesh, and more were marked with the searing agony of branded iron.
I couldn’t explain how, but I knew. I knew it with the utmost certainty.
They were sinners. They were evil, evil men. They were just like the scary man who was beating me.
Yes, the pain. All the pain. Everything was their fault. Everything was because of them.
Evil. They were nothing but evil. They deserved all of it, ten times over.
Watching the evil men receive their share of suffering, watching them struggle in pain, watching them regret every second of their existence.
It all felt so right.
This was how it was all meant to be.
Those words invaded my mind.
It was at that moment that my purpose in this world became clear, and I finally understood the reason for my existence.
I was created to punish evil.
That was the only reason why I was born.
I am the Lord of Hell.
I am the Ruler of Retribution.
My lips curled into a smile.
I am, The King of the Demons.
***
"Still alive huh, damn freak."
The man spat venomously, using his fingers to peel off the plain, white plate of a mask sitting on his face.
After relentlessly pounding on the boy for several consecutive minutes, the entire room was now smeared in a million streaks of blood.
As he stood over the crumpled figure, his pristine attire casted a contrastingly dark shadow over him. Seeing his white boots getting soiled by the encroaching dark puddle of crimson, he clicked his tongue in disgust.
He had finally managed to discharge his entire reservoir of pent up resentment. Yet, a different type of annoyance simmered, brewing anew within him.
He hadn’t been holding back his punches, and he could’ve sworn that he had crushed each and every single bone and organ in his body.
So just how was this piece of shit still alive?
He grinded his teeth in fury. "Evka, you're still trying to get in my way?"
He could just imagine the woman's face, mocking him. Each punch he threw that failed to kill the damned creature was continually attesting to his inferiority.
He had been playing directly into her hands, putting on a humiliating circus act. It was as if an irrational fear had gripped him, urging him to ruthlessly extinguish it- to end its story right now, before it even had a chance to begin.
It was as if he was scared. Scared of this meager little failure.
Realizing this, the man covered his eyes with his palm, leaning back as his raucous laughter spilled out of him. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! You think I'm afraid? Is that it? Afraid of your little shitstain? "
The image of the woman flashed within his memories, grinning at him mockingly. This caused the veins on his forehead to bulge.
How was it, that even when she wasn’t present, she was still somehow always able to make a total and utter fool out of him?
The man scowled back in rage at his thoughts. “You think I’m afraid of you? Of your little dog ?”
He would never let anyone get away with mocking him. Never.
Those who looked at him the wrong way, he would tear them into bloody shreds. Those who thought they were superior to him, he would subject him to the most agonizing of tortures. Those who stood in his way, he would make it his life’s sole purpose to erase their existence.
Years. Decades. Centuries. No matter how long it took, no matter what it takes. He will always emerge as the final victor. He will always ensure that he was the final one standing, the only one winning.
“I’ll show you. I'll show you that everything you worked for meant absolutely nothing. I'll fucking prove it to you.”
He grabbed the limp body by the back of his collar, dragging the unconscious body out of the chamber.
***
Lying outside of the boundaries of the world of Altarth, an entity was watching the unfolding scenes intently.
He observed in silence for a few moments, before he finally opened his mouth to speak.
This is the beginning of your story, O’ Fateless One.
Do your best to entertain us to the fullest.
You will suffer, you will anguish, you will despair.
But remember that the stars are always watching.
Awaken, to a world of suffering and despair.
