The Demon in the Trees
Light crouched in the woods, hidden behind a thick tree trunk, his breath steady, his mind sharp. He knew Thomas would come. Adrenaline would drive him here. Survival instinct would tell him to hide. And the woods off-limits to all citizens, punishable by death would seem like the only refuge.
They believed me when I said it was to save the Earth, Light thought. Global warming. Melting ice. Ecological collapse. They ate it up.
But the truth was older. Darker.
Every species gets its reign: the dinosaurs, the mammoths. But humans? They broke the rules. I tried to play God. Created life where it wasn't meant to be. And the universe doesn't forgive that.
A twig snapped.
Light's eyes narrowed. He pinpointed the sound, shifted silently, and waited.
Footsteps. Breath. Close.
He smiled. Even when I know what's coming, I still enjoy being right.
As the figure passed, Light exploded from behind the tree with a vicious clothesline. The man flipped backward, landing hard on his head unconscious.
Light stepped over the body, surprised. Just a man. Not Thomas.
Then movement.
He turned.
Thomas stood a few feet away, staring. Blank. Silent.
Light broke the silence. "Here I am, peasant. I know you hate me. I couldn't care less. You're a stain on the purity of our system. A stray. A mistake."
His voice grew darker. "I will kill you. And prove Father wrong. I am the strongest."
A reddish aura bled from Light's body, pulsing with violence and mayhem. The trees around him withered. The grass blackened. The air thickened.
A true demon.
He pounded his chest, shrieked, and launched forward inhuman speed, a superman punch cocked and ready.
But Thomas moved.
Not like a man.
Like something else.
He dodged fluid, precise, electric. His eyes were pure white. His body is calm, his movements effortless.
Light unleashed a flurry of lefts, rights, kicks, combos. Ten strikes in seconds.
Thomas dodged them all.
Then crack.
A counter punch. Mountain-shattering force. Straight to Light's jaw.
Light flew backward, crashing into the earth.
He lay there, stunned. So this is the power Father warned me about.
He stood, trembling with fury. His eyes turned pitch black. His aura shifted—no longer red, but void-black. Trees died instantly. The ground cracked.
"You will die here, Thomas!" he roared.
But Thomas's aura flickered.
Then vanished.
He dropped to his hands and knees, gasping for breath.
Light paused, confused. Did his power shut off? Is he done?
Then he laughed. Loud. Cruel.
"This is the power I was warned about?" he mocked. "A few dodges and one lucky counter?"
He stepped forward, voice cold. "You had a good run, peasant. But this is where you die."