Chapter 2 - Backup?

"Wake up." Karral slapped Eisal's face multiple times, stirring him into consciousness.

Slightly confused, Eisal slowly looked around, 'Where? Am I dead?'

"Not just yet," Karral chuckled, walking in front of him, "Now, you see that?" he forcefully turned the half-dazed Eisal's head towards the direction of his fallen comrades.

"Walin! Eson!" Eisal shouted as his eyes widened, trying to untie his arms from the thick rope binding him to the ground with no avail, "What did you do to them? Let me go! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you all!"

"Bring one over," Karral ordered, as a villager picked up the semi-conscious body of Walin.

Dragging Walin in front of Eisal, he held out a knife.

"Now. I wonder where would be the most painful place to stab?" he states, hovering the blade a few centimeters above Walin's face, before stopping in front of the right eye.

"Here?"

He glanced over to gauge Eisal's reaction.

Eisal's face had gone completely pale, he laid powerlessly on the ground, his head forcefully raised by a villager to look at the current situation.

"No! No! Please! Don't!" Eisal begged, tears running down his eyes as he rapidly shook his head, "I'm sorry! I'll return the bread! I'm sorry! Please don't!"

With a quick plunge, the blade went straight into Walin's eye. The wailing screams pierced the air as Walin gained consciousness from the pain, his remaining eye staring straight in front of him, locking onto Eisal - Begging for help.

However, all Eisal could do was watch. Completely powerless, completely useless.

"Sorry! I'm Sorry!" he continued to beg, unable to take it anymore, his heart about to erupt from his chest from guilt.

"Hm. Not sincere enough." Karral muttered, pulling the knife out and pointing it at the other eye, "what about this one?"

With a quick stab, the blade entered the remaining eye, producing another blood-curdling cry.

"N-No! Please! Kill me instead!" Eisal cried, banging his head on the ground as tiny slashes of blood flowed out from his forehead.

"Oh,"

Karral ripped the knife out of the eye as he directed it towards Walin's chest. With a quick stab, the knife pierced through the flesh, blood dripping onto the hilt.

"What about now?"

With the strong grip, he instantly pushed the blade down, dragging it all the way towards Walin's stomach.

"N-No! Stop! Please! No!" Eisal's hoarse voice whimpered from the distance, his face already pale from watching the torture of his dearest friend right in front of his eyes. The urge to vomit crept up from his throat, but the fear kept it down, the burning sensation continuously running up and down his esophagus.

"Tsk, this one died already." Kassal clicked his tongue as he threw Walin aside like casual garbage, 'Hey, bring the other one.'

The villagers which stood around, quietly murmured to each other as one slowly walked over and dragged Eson, the remaining demon to his executioner.

"Boss, don't you think this is a little too much?" he muttered, looking at the bloody corpse of Walin, a hint of pity in his voice.

"You," Karral's hands froze as he turned around, a hint of anger in his voice, "Are you sympathizing with the demons?"

"N-No! A-Absolutely not," he whimpered, cowardly backing off.

"Wait. Stay there." Kassal suddenly ordered, grabbing the bloodied knife and walking over. "Take this." He held the knife in front of him,

The villager nervously took the knife, "Boss?"

"Stab him." Karral pulled Eson from the ground, "Right here." He pointed at Eson's heart.

"B-but," the villager stumbles with his words, bewildered at the situation.

"Stab him. You coward." Karral bellowed, gripping Eson by the neck as he continuously tilted his hand, causing the boy to shake from side to side like a rag doll.

The villager hesitatingly fumbled the knife as he slowly held his arm out. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and swung forward, successfully hitting the bullseye.

His arms began shaking, stepping back and letting go of the knife.

"I- I. Killed," He stared at his hand, shaking.

"Tsk" Karral grabbed the knife, "You fucking cowards!"

Putting pressure on the knife, he forcefully pushed it down Eson's body, leaving behind a bloody cut from his chest to his leg.

"These are demons!" He began looking around at the horrified villagers, "They're the embodiment of evil!"

"They need no sympathy. They've already terrorized and taken over the west. They hunt humans. They eat humans. These...Things are our mortal enemies! They contaminate our precious would with sin. As humans it is our duty to get rid of this disease!"

He points at Eisal, "These demons hunt humans and use our heads as trophy-pieces. Why can't we do the same?" His inspiring speech resonated through each villager's ear.

'Wow. Such propaganda.' The voice of a young girl suddenly sounded out behind him.

The air turned cold as all the villagers instantly focused all their attention behind Karral, cautiously positioning themselves into an attacking stance. Stood behind him was a young girl around the age of 16, crouching over Eisal, repetitively poking him on the cheek. She donned an exquisite sleeveless black formal military suit with gold silk-like lining and wore matching black and gold shorts. Her dark olive-green waist-length hair was tied into two pigtails. In front of the two pigtails were the distinct horns of a demon.

"Who are you?" Karral cautiously pointed his spear at her, 'Backup?'

The girl glanced up, her blood-red eyes glowing in the dark starless sky, tilting her head as she gave a short thought, tapping her finger on her lip before glancing back up with her innocent, yet piercing eyes, "Hm. Not really?"

Suddenly, confusion fills the air as a sudden thud and a scream of horror sounded out within the crowd. Out of nowhere a villager had collapsed onto the ground, his head rolling off his shoulders and blood began raining down as one by one, more bodies had also simultaneously followed suit and dropped to the wet stained grass below.

The remaining villagers stumbled around, panic sounding out, glancing at all directions for the perpetrator. Suddenly a deep monotonal voice echoed through the forest. "Squad Zero. Dispose of them all. Leave no witnesses."

"Understood!" The young girl suddenly stood straight with a weird grin on her lip and a lick of her tongue whilst multiple voices also sounded out around them as multiple glowing red eyes peered through the surrounding trees, like predators searching for their next prey as another body dropped down headless.

In a blink of an eye, all 30 villagers had found their heads rolling on the ground; not a single patch of grass having retained its original green color.

Eisal stared at the young girl in front of him, curiosity and fear filled him as he saw her standing proud, watching the massacre around them. The girl turned around and looked curiously at the small boy in front of her.

"Commander!~ What do I do with this kid?" She suddenly asked out loud, forming a makeshift cone around her mouth as she shouted into the darkness.

A short silence filled the air before the voice replied, "No witnesses."

The girl turned around again with a small apologetic pout on her face as she mouthed a small 'Sorry,' before whipping out a small dagger from behind her back and proceeding to pierce it into his chest.

Eisal coughed up a mouthful of blood as he continued to stare at the girl, his vision slowly fading. He could feel his entire body writhing in unbearable pain, and as he took his last breath a small smile broke out from his lips.

He could finally be with his family again.