Reason to Fight

Updated and final version at: https://thednw.net/34-reason-to-fight/

_____________________________

Hao Xuan chose a Brute beast for his first fight. Its body was that of a lizard with the head of a cobra. It used a paralytic poison on its enemies and then would slowly gobble them up alive. As a brute beast, it wasn't too hostile and rarely fought any monster stronger than it. Its main prey were the young of other beasts that were incapable of defending themselves and that was why it was despised by all other beasts and even attacked on sight.

"Please wait, when an arena opens up you will be called," said the prompt.

Hao Xuan had no choice but to wait. He was really excited about this upcoming battle. There would be tens of thousands watching his every move. How glorious would it be to stand there with his head raised as they showered him with praise, he dreamed.

A sound woke him up from his delusions, another person had entered the locker room. A bald guy, about the same age as Hao Xuan with brown skin, but there was something wrong with him. He gave a very strong and deadly feeling to Hao Xuan, as if he wasn't human but something else.

He looked like he had just lost a loved one, extremely depressed. There was no light in his eyes as if he was dead. He went up to the screen and registered and then sat down on the other side and closed his eyes, paying no attention to his surroundings.

After a few seconds, Hao Xuan also stopped paying attention to him and looked at the mask First had given him. It was completely white in color with no marks or blemishes on it at all, as if brand new.

Hao Xuan bit his finger and put a drop of blood on it and it changed color from white to green, to blue, to crimson red and then back to white. Its structure also slightly changed and now looked to be an exact fit for his face.

Not expecting this sudden transformation, he put the mask on and his eyes glowed brightly for a few seconds and the mask started giving off a sudden burning sensation. Surprised, he tried to take it off but it wouldn't budge in the least which made him panic a little bit.

But when he remembered that First had given it to him he calmed down a little. If First wanted to hurt him, there were much easier ways, especially for someone as powerful as him.

The burning sensation got stronger and stronger for about 30 seconds and then it vanished completely. Hao Xuan couldn't even feel the mask anymore. He touched his face and the mask was still there, but it had absolutely no weight or feeling.

If he didn't remember putting it on himself, he probably wouldn't even be able to tell he was wearing it unless he looked at his reflection.

"Is it a spiritual item?" he thought but then gave up on the idea. Items like that were rare and needed a really strong bond to their owners to gain spirituality.

He closed his eyes and thought about taking the mask off without even touching it and it vanished from his face and appeared in his mind. With his eyes closed, he could see the mask as clearly as day and could even reach out and touch it.

And as soon as he did, masks entire history and functions appeared in front of him.

"Made from the face-bone of a half 'Sominare', an illusion demon, it changes appearance according to the user's wishes and can hide aura and presence against similar leveled or weaker opponents."

Hao Xuan was taken aback after reading that. First said this was made from the first beast he had killed, but according to this it was from the demonic race. Had First actually killed a demon and was wearing its skull as a mask? It gave him shivers just thinking about it. Good thing First was on his side.

*Bing*

"Soldier Hao Xuan, please proceed to the gate number Six," said a feminine voice in the locker room, waking him from his stupor.

He got up and walked to the door that had 'Six' over it and pressed his hand on the screen beside it.

"Please choose an alias," a new prompt said and an empty field appeared on the screen.

He thought for a few seconds and a word appeared in his mind out of nowhere, "Ira".

"Hmm?" he furrowed his brow, there was a strange sensation his brain like something was vibrating. He closed his eyes and the three books appeared. It was Wrath of Deimos that was vibrating and a red 'smoke' was coming out of it.

Hao Xuan hesitated for a few seconds but then put his hand on top of it and his eyes turned completely red. It felt like he was transported to another world.

He saw a cute little boy playing with his mother under a tree. They were living in the outskirts of a small village near a forest. Everyone avoided them because of the horns that were growing out of the boy's head. They called his mother a witch, and the child an abomination.

Other children would make fun of him and beat him up whenever they saw him. He would go crying back to his mother who would tell him to not be mad and forgive them. She said they didn't know any better, it was what they were taught by their elders, who were uneducated and scared themselves and weren't at fault.

The boy didn't know why his mother was so kind to them, but following her example, he did the same. Whenever there was a medical emergency in the village, they would call for her and she would go without a complaint and help them using her 'magics'.

The scene changed. Several years later, the boy grew into a sturdy man and joined his kingdoms army. He fell in love and got married to a pretty girl from the capital and had twin daughters. He moved back to the village and lived with his mother until a summons came from the army, the kingdom was at war.

He fought for 7 years straight to protect his homeland and returned home when they finally emerged victorious.

But when he came back, his home was gone with nothing but ash left. Panicked, he ran to the village and asked what had happened and they said one of the royal prince's had passed by on one of his hunting trips. He had some deranged hobbies and took a liking to the nine-year-old twin girls and tried to buy them.

When their mother refused he took them forcefully and had his guards violate her for several days until she died. Their grandmother fought against them and even went to the closest military base to ask for help. But instead, they caught her and burnt her alive on the cross, saying she was a witch trying to destroy the prince's reputation.

The man stood there, not knowing what to think. The very kingdom he had fought and bled for had done this to him.

Blinded by rage and sorrow, he headed straight towards the capital to save his daughters. After hiring some assassins and mercenaries, he broke into the palace and finally found them. Their limbs were cut off and then burnt to stop the bleeding. There were different bloodied torture devices laying around, probably used on them. They weren't even recognizable anymore.

Overtaken by grief and anger, he killed everyone in the castle. But when he tried to leave with the girls they begged him to kill them. They couldn't live on like that. As a father, that was the last thing he did. His precious little girls asked him to kill them.

Having lost everything, he slit his own throat. But just when he was about to slip into internal sleep, a voice spoke up.

"Are you not angry mortal? Is your love for your family so limited that it could be satiated with just this much blood? You gave your everything for these people, and in return, they raped your wife and daughters and burnt your mother alive. Are you even a man?"

"What do you want?" he asked with his dying breath.

"Nothing. I want nothing, but I can give you everything. I only ask that you Rage! Rage against the heavens, Rage against the Gods that stood by when your family was being taken from you. Rage and kill for all of eternity!"

"I agree," the man said without hesitation with tears streaming down his face. They all knew what was going on, but not a single person stepped in. They deserved everything that was coming to them.

"Rise! Rise and lay waste to the cosmos, Deimos!"

The blood of every single person that died in the castle flowed towards the man, the horns on his head grew several feet, towering like dragons. His skin turned dark red and he completely turned into a demon. With his very own hands, he destroyed that kingdom, then that continent and then the world.

Not a single creature was spared. He moved from one world to another devouring everything in his path.

It was several millions of years later that he came upon a man, a man with a sword on his back and a wine gourd in his hands, sitting on a moon. Without a second thought, he attacked him. The man slowly turned around and look at him.

"Poor soul, how long have you suffered? Let me put you out of your misery."

The man lifted his hand and Deimos, the great demon, couldn't move a single muscle.

"Don't. He has already suffered so much, why must you hurt him more?" said a gentle voice and a lady in green garments appeared floating next to the man. She slowly walked up to Deimos and put her dainty little hand on his head.

"Sleep child. It is not your time yet," she said gently and Deimos vanished and a book appeared in his stead with the name "Deimos Ira" on it.

Hao Xuan woke up with a buzzing head and fell to his knees. All that had happened within a second.

"Were those memories? His memories?" he mumbled while rubbing his eyes.

He slowly got up and looked at the screen once again and remembered what was going. He spent a couple of mins digesting everything he had seen. Whether that was real or illusions created by the book, it didn't matter right now so he put it all in the back of his head.

He entered the name 'Deimos' in the empty field and went through the door.