The Dawn of the New World

Wern tried to get back to his feet but his injuries were too severe to allow that kind of movement. All he could do was lean against the rubble and watch helplessly as the creature slowly walked up to him.

Its appearance was the most human-like out of all the "demons" he had seen so far. It didn't have any hair or reproductive organs but the rest was identical to an average human male.

It was just over 1.9 meters tall standing perfectly straight. There was almost no fat on its body but even then its leathery skin was stretched to its limits. The eyes resembled pitch-black cueballs that had shone by themselves. When it opened its mouth two rows of small razor-sharp teeth could be seen decorating the insides.

The demon looked Wern up and down coldly with a straight face.

The guards, nervous as they already were, naturally assumed the demon could not understand what was going on. The guard with the bushy beard leaned out a little to speak directly to it.

"He is yours, a sacrifice! Do you understand? Let us go and we will bring you even mor-"

But he was quickly silenced when the demon responded in a much more eloquent tone of voice.

"There aren't many more of them left. Just three if I remember correctly, one of which is already in the possession of the human they call the 'Blood Prince.' So what possible reason would I have to spare vermin like you?"

His voice, his manner of speaking, if they weren't looking directly at him there would be no way to tell that this creature wasn't even human.

The guards were stupefied for a few seconds and couldn't even respond until he spoke again.

"Well? Do you have nothing else to say? In that case," he raised his hand and all the smaller creatures came alive, snarling and twitching right on cue, "There is no reason to drag this along any further."

"WAIT!" shouted the scrawny guard, "I-If you were going to kill us anyway then why bother listening to us? You...you must want something right? What is it? We will do whatever you want!"

The demon smirked, taking pleasure in listening to their panicked voices.

"Hmm, I'm not sure if you can do it."

"We can! We will do whatever it takes to get it done, you can trust us!"

The demon silently stared at them for a moment before ordering the smaller ones to move back, "Fine, you may come down. You have my word that not a hair on your simple heads will be harmed."

Delighted at the outcome the guards picked up their spears and swiftly exited the building. The bearded guard was smiling ear to ear.

"Thank you, we won't forget your kindness."

The demon smiled in much the same manner, "Oh I am counting on it," and the moment he finished speaking the smaller creatures jumped on them from all sides.

"AAAAH!"

Their arms were pulled from the sockets, skin peeled off of their bodies within seconds, and tongues cut from their mouths.

"Be careful not to harm their hair too much, I wouldn't want to be called a liar now would I?" the demon mumbled to himself jokingly before kneeling down to face Wern.

"And you little one, have you learned your lesson yet? Kindness is the greatest sin one can commit."

Wern could do little more than spit on his face, "Fuck...you..."

"Hahahahahaha!" the demon threw his head back in a joyous cackle, "You and me, we will have a lot of fun!" he gently caressed his cheek.

"But before we get started, I am looking for someone. A human, one of your 'brothers' if I am not wrong. Goes by the name Hao Xuan, seen him around recently?"

Wern was on the verge of losing consciousness but when he heard the demon's question he was jolted awake.

"Brother Hao? Why...why are you looking for him?"

"Oh no reason," the demon rolled his eyes in annoyance, "My master really likes the boy you see. He has been looking for him since all this started."

"Who....who is your master?"

"You wouldn't know him. He is new but his power, phew, it's no joke I tell you."

Wern started laughing which caused him to bleed even more.

*cough*cough*cough*

"You...are lucky he is...not here."

The demon perked up instantly, "Oh? Why is that? Is he very strong?"

"The...strongest..."

"Ah, then it is even more of a shame that he is not here," he stood up and grabbed Wern by the hair, "My master will be disappointed but...you should be enough to appease him for now."

The demon threw him over his shoulder and started walking away. Wern was too weak to even struggle. He used his remaining strength to look up one last time in the direction that they had come from and what he saw put a smile on his face.

"Ah...there he is..."