1 Devil's Spawn

Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!

Footsteps were heard as a boy who was holding a loaf of bread in his hands could be seen running hastily.

"Hey! You fucker come back here!"

"We'll kill you when we catch you!"

Shouted two burly men who seemed to be chasing the boy.

The boy slightly glanced back, revealing his blood-red eyes.

Huff~ Huff~ Huff~

He kept running as he panted, his snow-white hair flowing freely in the wind.

The chase continued on for a long while before the two burly men caught up to the boy in a dead end.

Although the two burly men were faster, the boy was able to skillfully navigate through the streets and alleyways which made it more difficult for them to catch him.

Alas, the boy clearly had a malnourished and weak body which caused his stamina to be depleted rapidly.

Huff! Huff!

"You really made us work hard, huh?"

One of the burly men gritted his teeth as he panted.

"Hey, hey. Don't waste your breath talking to this wretched boy. We can just take our time beating him up instead."

The other burly man spoke in a harsh tone, it was clear that he was quite angry as well.

However, despite their remarks, the boy kept silent.

It did not take too long before the two burly men slowly made their way towards him.

His blood-red eyes shone prominently as he looked up to them.

This did not sit well with the burly men as one of them already had his fist piercing through the air.

Thud!

The boy did not put up any resistance and fell down, the loaf of bread in his hand being thrown to the ground in the process.

"Hey! Why did you punch him? We still need to get something from him!"

"I'm sorry Brother, I really couldn't help myself." 

"Well, let's just get this done and over with."

The burly man said as he crouched and lifted the boy up by his hair.

"Hey, you know what I'm talking about right?"

The boy still kept his silence and only stared at the bread on the ground.

"Hey Brother, what if we beat him up a little bit first?"

The other burly man shook his head and said decisively, "Not yet. We must make sure of something first."

He then turned his head to the boy again and asked, "Now tell me, where is it?"

For the first time, the boy opened his mouth.

"What are you talking about?"

The burly man smashed the boy towards the ground.

Thump—

"Now, do you feel like talking?"

This time, the boy glared at them and remained silent.

Seeing the boy's stubbornness, the burly man looked at his companion and said, "You know what? I've changed my mind."

He turned to look back towards the boy. 

"Let's rough him up a bi–"

However, before he finished speaking, he saw a little hand fling a handful of mud towards his eyes.

"Arghhh!!!"

Not missing this opportunity, the boy went in and smashed the burly man's private parts with a rock he prepared beforehand.

Crack—

A loud sound of something cracking echoed in the air.

The other burly man unconsciously covered his private parts upon the sight, "B-Brother are you oka–"

"Stupid! Go get him!" Unable to get up due to the sheer pain he was experiencing, the burly man shouted at his partner.

The other burly man did not waste any more time as he tackled the boy to the ground.

"Argh!"

The boy used all his strength to hug the burly man in his waist, but it did nothing to stop the burly man's charge.

Thud!!!

Although the boy was able to hurt one of them with a surprise attack, he was clearly still no match for the two burly men.

Now that he was caught, he had no means of protecting himself. It also didn't take too long for the other burly man to recover.

Thus, all he was able to do was cross his arms in front of him in order to shield his face from the barrage of punches.

Thwack– Thump– Thud–!!

Enraged by the boy's actions, the two burly men ganged up on him.

It was only after a long while that they stopped.

"Hey Brother, I thought we still needed to get something from him?"

The other burly man shook his head and said, "Never mind that, this kid clearly doesn't have anything to do with that. It must've been the other gangs."

"This should've been just a formality, but this cursed kid really pissed me off."

Hearing the word "cursed" the boy's ears twitched as he glared at the burly men.

Noticing his actions, one of the burly men sneered and kicked the boy in the stomach, "Oho? Are you angry, huh?"

Thump–

"What? Do you think you can repeat what you did, huh!?"

Thump! Thump!! Thump!!!

"You better thank the heavens that we're quite busy right now, or else…" The burly man grinned.

The boy panted with a lost look in his eyes, he didn't even seem to hear the burly man's words anymore.

He only stared at the direction of the loaf of bread that was now covered in mud.

Noticing his action, the burly man's grin grew wider.

Slowly walking towards the bread, he asked, "Oh no, is this supposed to be your meal for today?"

The boy's face remained blank.

"Oh? Why are you so timid now when you were so energetic earlier?" The burly man picked up the bread and slowly handed it to the boy.

Just as the boy was about to take the bread, it fell to the ground.

"Oh no, it fell~" The burly man smiled as he raised his foot and stomped on the bread.

"Oh no, it became mush." 

The boy's expression remained blank.

"What are you going to do about it, huh?" The burly man smiled in front of the boy's face.

Ptui!

However, the only reply he got was a spit to his face.

A nerve seemed to have popped in his temple as the burly man punched the boy with full power.

Bam–

The boy's body was flung towards the mountain of trash on the side.

"I'm going to kill you!" The burly man went on and repeatedly punched the boy.

"Hey Brother! Stop!" The other burly man stopped his companion after a short while.

"Don't try to stop me! I'm going to kill this trash!"

"No! Although the guards don't care about the slums, killing someone is crossing the line!"

The burly man's head seemed to have cooled down as he stopped his punches.

He looked down at the boy who seemed to be on the verge of death and said, "Don't let me see you roaming around the slums again."

"Brother don't bother with him. He won't live for long. After all, he's a Devil's Spawn." The other burly man said as he looked at the boy's blood-red eyes.

This seemed to have triggered something in the boy as he gritted his teeth in anger.

Ptui!

The burly man spat on the boy before turning to look at his companion, "Let's go, we still have to find the Aura Primer."

Once the two burly men left the alleyway, the boy slowly stopped gritting his teeth.

His eyes shone in crimson under the afternoon sun.

"Devil's Spawn, huh?" He smiled.

He reached towards the two pouches hidden in the mountain of trash happily.

"Now let's see my profit for today…"

***

A few hours later after leaving the alleyway, one of the burly men felt something off.

"Hey Brother?"

"What?"

"Have you seen my pouch?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm planning to buy a sword in the city, so I brought all my savings…"

"Then you lost it?"

"Yeah…" The burly man scratched his head in embarrassment.

The other burly man sighed and reached out to his waist, "You're really clumsy. Here, borrow some from m—"

However, his expression suddenly froze before he could continue speaking.

Noticing this, his companion asked, "Brother? What happened?"

"My money pouch…"