1 Viswa

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

"Target Secured, Man down, Man down. Viswa is hit. I repeat Viswa is hit."

*WHIRRR..*

Three gunshots, the sound of a helicopter, and these few words are the last things Viswa heard before darkness clouded his eyes. At that moment, a smile appeared on his face as his life flashed past in an instant.

He was just an ordinary kid from a regular Indian family. One day, he saw Indian Navy Day Celebrations and fell in love with the Navy.

So, he gave it his all and got into the Navy as a soldier. Soon, he started raising in ranks and one must say he was quite good at what he did. Soon, by the age of twenty-five, he is part of the Marine Commando Unit, otherwise known as MARCOS.

One of the elite special forces units in the world. In fact, they are so good that even when the President of the United States visited India, he counted on MARCOS to provide security. He specifically asked for it.

They were that good.

Now, Viswa is twenty-eight years old and he is only on his forty-fifth mission and from the words 'Target Secured' this one is also a success.

He couldn't help but smile widely as he thought of this. He did everything he wanted to do in his life. The only regret he had is that he wouldn't be near his parents when they shed tears over his death.

With those thoughts, his eyes teared up a bit before he lost consciousness.

***

Viswa opened his eyes to a bright light. He looked around in shock. He is standing in the middle of the large corridor.

The floor is covered with Marble even the walls seemed to be covered with the same material. He checked his body and he felt light as a feather. There is not a single sign of injuries. He even hopped a few times to check and he realized he never felt better than this.

But then confusion came over. He is supposed to be dead. He is very sure that he got hit cleanly and there is no way he would have survived and then another thought popped into his mind.

'Where am I?'

This is an unfamiliar place, but he felt unnaturally comfortable with the surroundings. As he thought about it, suddenly he saw a person sitting behind a desk at the other end of the corridor.

"Was he there before?"

He frowned as he asked the question and slowly walked towards him.

"Hello." He waved his hand and greeted that person. He tried to put on a calm façade and just strike up a normal conversation.

The other person is sitting on an office chair behind a desk full of documents.

He raised his head with a sad smile.

"Hello Viswa, I really didn't want to see you here."

Viswa frowned but immediately hid the expression.

"Don't try so hard. You can't hide anything from me. As for the question that's bugging your mind, you are right. You are already dead and this is an afterlife."

His tone carried a hint of sadness and melancholy.

Viswa was stunned. He looked at his palms and then touched his face.

"Afterlife?" He said in a voice that is so low that it was almost a whisper.

"Yes, afterlife. You can say that I am some kind of receptionist that's here to sign you up so that you can take your punishment in hell, enjoy your rewards in heaven and once again start your cycle of life. It is just that I am really unwilling to do so.

I really didn't want to end your life just like this. I had high expectations for you."

Viswa frowned. He couldn't care less about keeping calm anymore.

"Are you the God?"

"Kind of."

"So, I am talking to a god right now?"

"You can say so."

"So, gods use desks and documents?"

This time the guy just chuckled and didn't answer. Viswa didn't continue that line of questioning and asked something else.

"What do you mean by high expectations?"

"Well, when you entered Earth for the current cycle of your life, I saw a lot of potential in you. You are one of the few that I observed and was amused by. I felt like you could have achieved anything you set your sights on if you made the right choices.

And you did make the right choices, but it is just that your goals were too small. All you wanted to be is a soldier, one of the best soldiers, not even the best, but just one of the best.

You hit the goal before you were thirty and here you are."

Viswa was dumbfounded.

"So, I died because I fulfilled my goal?"

"Something like that. Anyway, I don't want you to end just like this. So, I have a plan for your soul. In your soldier terms, this is a Mission I prepared as a contingency for you. Would you like to take it?"

"To my soul? How can I do anything with just my soul? Become a ghost and scare people to death?"

"Hahaha… You are funny. But I have enough people to do that. I need you to do something much bigger and much more important."

Viswa didn't know what to say. He is still having a hard time wrapping this 'death' and 'afterlife' around his head. And now 'God' is giving him a mission.

"Am I going to be someone like Jesus?" A random thought popped into his mind.

"Of course not. Do you really not know how many people you have killed? How can you be someone like Jesus?"

Viswa felt like a cat that got stepped on its tail and almost jumped up. He felt naked all of a sudden.

"What is the mission you are talking about?"

"I can explain, but I think it is better if I show you."

The man waved his hand and the whole scenery changed. Both of them appeared in a movie theatre. Except for the two seats they are seated in the whole theatre is empty and a movie is being projected on the screen.

A voice overcame.

"Asura World.

A world that has been ruled by countless races. Humans, Demons, Yakshas, Kimpurushas, Gandarvas, and so on.

The world and the continents have changed regimes with time. But from the past millennia, the Demonic regime has not met its match.

During the peak of the human regime around five thousand years ago, Demons were targeted and almost driven to extinction."

The text on the screen disappeared and an image of three men appeared in the screen. They are standing on a stone platform as they held three orbs in the middle of nowhere.

"It's about to get exciting."

'God' said as a bucket of popcorn appeared in his hands.

Viswa didn't even know how to react to this. He became pretty numb by now.

He looked at the screen and the voiceover continued.

"Three demon kings rose and reestablished the Demonic regime. They suppressed every other race and set out to conquer the world.

With the Continent of Tripura as their base, they spread their claws to the rest of the world and drove most of the races to smaller continents and corners of the world.

But they treated one race with cruelty that was never there before.

Humans.

As the Demonic Regime prospered, humanity suffered more and more. Except for some lucky clans of humans who managed to escape and survive, most of humanity fell prey to the demons.

And within the Demonic Empire, their only chance of survival is through being a slave.

Now, five thousand years after the raise of the demon kings, except for one small country that is ruled by humans and a few countries ruled by other races, most of the world is still under demon rule. Creating a massive imbalance.

Most of humanity is still under slavery.

And this is the story of a young slave who wants to challenge this imbalance of the world."

The voice-over went on as the visuals changed. It looked like a prologue for a real movie and the visuals finally changed to an aerial shot that soon zoomed into an arena.

The seats are filled with a brim. There are humanoid creatures that are almost two meters tall and looked extremely strong. They had this strange sense of charm and beauty that made people get lost for a moment.

They looked like humans, but if the humans were a dozen times more charismatic.

But they are not humans, they are demons. And right now these demons are cheering as two humanoid figures clashed within the center of the arena.

A young demon is standing on one side with armor and a sword in his hands. He had a grin on his face as he looked at his opponent with contempt.

A human is standing opposite him. But unlike the demon, he didn't have anything on him. His skin is tanned and he is not that tall. One look and anyone could guess that he is in his early teens. He still had a faint hint of childishness on his face.

But it is not present in his eyes. He is standing bare except for the loin cloth around his hip and the crotch. It is also dirty beyond words.

Still, the most eye-catching thing is how skinny yet jacked he is for his age. He looked like a Mixed Martial Artist doing an extreme weight cut. The only difference is that no mixed martial artist on earth would have scars as this kid did.

This whole back is covered with scars that seemed to have come from whips. A lot of them are still fresh and even his chest, arms, and legs are covered with such scars.

His eyes are lifeless but still, there is some unknown determination that is pushing him through.

The referee whistled and the demon charged at the boy with his sword.

The boy slowly crouched down and went on all fours as he looked at the approaching swordsman and when the sword came at him, he lunged forward and tackled the blade before tackling the opponent to the ground.

He didn't hesitate and went for the arm holding the sword as soon as he mounted the opponent. He threw vicious punches on the side of the demon's elbow and cracked the joints before doing the same for the wrists.

The demon clearly lacked experience and couldn't handle the pain. He dropped the sword and the boy didn't miss the chance to pound the face with vicious elbows.

The fight ended just like that. In just a few seconds.

The cheers died down as the body stood up with blood all over his face. The demon is unconscious.

A few demons stepped into the arena to carry the unconscious opponents away and one of them walked with a whip as he hit the body behind his knees making him crash into the ground.

"Stay like that until your next opponent is here."

*WHIP* *WHIP*

Two more strikes from the whip opened up a wound on the boy's back. But he didn't even wince in pain.

The host took over the arena and started announcing the next match.

"As you can see this human boy is a beast in disguise. He is vicious like an animal he is. So, what do you say we put that animal against another animal?"

*CHEER*

The crowd cheered with claps and whistles and the host gestured for the demons to open an entrance to the arena.

A large boar that is almost double the size of a regular boar appeared. It has black skin and red eyes that looked abnormal. It released a faint and sinister aura which is only amplified by the abnormally long fangs protruding out of its mouth.

"A Mortal Slave Vs 1-Star Demonic Wild Boar. Let's see how long this brat can last."

The host announced and the crowd cheered once again.

"Of course, to make the fight more interesting, let's incentivize the vermin a bit."

The host said as a platform appeared at the corner of the arena. All kinds of weapons big and small are there.

"You can use whatever you want to fight against the boar and if you win, you can get a hot mean tonight."

A voice came from behind. Boy didn't even have to turn around to know who it is that spoke.

His gaze landed on the boar and the weapons.

He knew this day would come. He is just a slave with no cultivation, but he is being pitted against a Demonic beast. It is clear to finish him off. For the first time, his face revealed a trace of emotion. He is anxious.

Not because he is facing almost certain death, but for something else. His brain said that the worst has happened, but his heart didn't want to accept it. He still held a bit of hope.

And to confirm that hope, he can only do one thing. Survive and get out of this fight alive.