Legend of the Misfit

Killian could hear the others scream, but his head felt heavy, and his eyelids grew heavier with each passing second.

"I'm tir—

He felt his body collapsing on the ground, but when he opened his eyes, he was lying flat in front of Sherry's hut—Raiden lay beside him unconscious. 

Killian got up slowly and took a glance at himself—all the wounds were gone. Without hesitation, he turned to check on Raiden.

Ahvi and the others hurried in, and as he turned to them, he noticed something unsettling—the once narrow road was now completely widened as if a massive monster had torn through it with sheer brute force.

"What happened? How come the road has widened now?"

"I don't know. Didn't you see it?"

None of them saw anything—they said—they realized Killian was tired and was about to collapse, but before his body could hit the ground, a huge wind blew, the road widened, and he was nowhere to be found. So they hurried along the road.

After hearing that, Killian began to believe what Lucid said, but the current situation wasn't a time to dwell on power. 

Zeya hurried for water and poured it on Raiden; he immediately got up and clung to the artifact. Killian was relieved that such a simple trick brought Raiden back. 

Raiden let out a sigh. "Thank you, guys."

Killian helped him up. As soon as he noticed how much the road had widened, he asked. "What happened to the road?"

Killian gave a faint smile. "I'm sure it's my core's doing."

Everyone turned to him in disbelief, but Raiden brushed everything off.

"We can leave now, right? Kill?" 

[I thought he would want to rest, at least.]

"Yeah, sure." With a firm nod.

Ahvi tried to insist on them resting a little, but Raiden was determined. After almost thirty minutes of trying to get them to rest, they finally got the chance to leave.

[I love it when Raiden take the blame.]

Killian had no desire to stay, but he watched as Raiden single-handedly talked their way out.

Before they could leave, Sherry gave Killian two of the necklace artifacts; he put one on and offered one to Raiden, but he declined.

The others bid them farewell as they walked off.

As they strolled, not a single word was shared among them for hours.

But wasn't what Killian cared about.

He was growing weary of his core with each step. He was grateful that it could save him in certain situations and make him stronger, but a lingering worry gnawed at him… What exactly resided within his core? Why was his core different?

Raiden suddenly interrupted his thoughts with a question, and he snapped out of it.

"Do you think I need to get my memories back? What if I was a terrible person back then."

Killian patted him on the shoulder. "Don't you think if you were a bad person, you would have shown a few traits by now?"

"Don't worry about anything, Raid."

He let out a sigh in relief, "Knock me back to my senses if I turn bad."

Killian grinned. "You bet I would."

Killian could feel that Raiden saw something in there, and without a second thought, he asked.

"Why were you unconscious? What happened there?"

Raiden's expression darkened. "I don't know, but it was like someone or something was in there. Its presence overwhelmed me."

"Was it that overwhelming?"

"Yes, it was."

Killian noticed Raiden's body trembling as he spoke about it, so he chose not to press further.

He began examining the artifact closely—it was a crown. Numerous questions swarmed his mind as he examined it from a distance.

If the artifact was meant to activate the moment ig was worn, then why must they take it back?

[Lucid? What do you want? What if whatever was in there had something to do with the crown?]

Killian let out a sigh and chose to let it all go.

The journey continued; nevertheless, they were aware of the places to avoid and the places to be sharp and vigilant.

After three days into the journey back, the number of monsters they had slain could be counted on one hand. At first, they assumed they had killed so many earlier that the rest had fled.

Until they ran into them, upper demons. They were in search of Raiden due to his distinctive scent and aura.

They should have sensed them earlier, but for some reasons, they didn't.

They were trapped—two stood before them, and two behind. Their only options were to fight or flee. 

"You two have caused a lot of damage, you know?" 

The upper demons began closing the gap.

[How popular are we?] Killian thought, and he scratched the back of his head.

Not long ago, Killian would have been terrified. But this time, he stood tall, head held high, overflowing with confidence.

"Wouldn't this be bad blood if you four fought us at once?"

Laughter. "You think we will be fighting you? I will be killing you alone, kid."

Killian grinned and gestured to Raiden to let him handle the upper demon.

Raiden smiled and gave Killian a firm nod. "Let me make it easy—kill me first."

The upper demon smirked and cracked his knuckles. 

In the blink of an eye, his fist was slammed into Killian's ribcage, and he was sent slamming into the ground. Killian gasped for air as he struggled to regain his breath.

[Teleportation magic?]

Raiden clenched his fist and attempted to make a move, but Killian gestured to Raiden to let him handle him.

"This is nothing compared to being kicked in the nuts."

"Really? You don't have an affinity, do you?" He tilted his head.

"Ever heard of willpower?"

The upper demon smirked.

Attacks flew from all directions and slammed into Killian's body. He could barely see him before another strike landed—but he wasn't backing down.

In no time, Killian's face bruised, his body screamed in intense pain, and his legs trembled, but he listened.

Killian forced his senses to ignore the pain and listened. The upper demon teleported back after each strike, panting as he caught his breath.

Killian gathered every ounce of strength in his body and waited for his moment to strike. 

Finally, it happened—a pant before a strike. Killian seized the moment, landing a powerful blow to the upper demon's throat, and sent him crashing into the woods.

Killian dropped to his knees as blood trickled from his nose and then collapsed onto the ground. His body was numb—he couldn't feel a thing. He lay there, breathing like a dying goat.

Raiden hurried to him as the other demons approached them—raged. Raiden stood firm in his stance, gripping his dagger tightly.

Killian lay calmly. All he could do was watch. 

Raiden dashed to one of them, dodged his attack, and slit his throat open. 

The other two suddenly collapsed onto the ground. In an instant, Raiden hurried to Killian's side, positioning himself to shield him. 

[Who was that?]

Suddenly, a kid their age stepped out from the shadows, holding the severed head of the demon Killian had sent flying.

He dropped the amputated head and held his waist.

"You down there, I like you."

Raiden was still ready to attack.

[Red ink? Where do these kids come from?]

"Willpower alone won't get you through everything, you know?

"By the way, I am Morningstar."

Raiden finally let his guard down and introduced them. Morningstar came closer to Killian, bent down, and touched his head.

Killian's body became warm, and all his muscles felt at ease. He began to feel his limbs, and he slowly got up. His pains were somehow reduced, and he could walk perfectly.

"This should be enough."

Killian glanced at his body. "I didn't heal you, stupid. I just boosted your oxygen and nutrient delivery."

"Blood manipulation to this level? You aren't an ordinary demon, are you?"

Morningstar brushed Killian off. "You owe me now. You must answer when I call, Killian." 

He waved at Killian as he walked away. Raiden wanted to question him, but he didn't stick around for them.

They needed to rest, but first, they had to put some distance between them and the scene.

With baby steps, they strolled through the woods until they reached a place far enough to rest.

They found something to eat and leaned their backs against a tree, letting exhaustion settle in.

[How many times must I be saved by others? Will I survive the Wildlands at this rate?]

Killian's mind wandered. Even though he was grateful for the help, he couldn't shake off the feeling that it was making him weak. 

[I need to get stronger, stronger than all these people.]

As his mind wandered, Raiden got up and suggested they continue the journey.

Overthinking had ruined Killian's journey, bringing on a migraine just hours after they continued the journey. His head spun endlessly, and throughout the trip, he barely managed to take down a newborn monster.

Before long, they arrived at Lucid's mansion. He welcomed and congratulated them and offered Killian a potion for his bruises.

But Killian's head continued to spin, so he didn't wait for the potion, but rather hurried to his room and slept.

After hours of sleeping, he woke up with his body aching. Yet, he decided to train with the robots. As he walked to the training room, he stumbled upon Lucid.

He stood in the living room with a scary smile etched across his face as he slowly put on the crown artifact.

His body suddenly transformed into a humanoid creature with an elongated, skeletal face and sharp, curved horns extending from his head. 

His body was highly muscular and sinewy, with detailed anatomical structure emphasized by heavy cross-hatching.

His aura, though unstable, was three times more powerful than before—enough to bring a city on its knees, yet it had a mild effect on Killian.

Killian's legs began to tremble, yet something about his form felt strangely familiar.

[What is that? Why am I immune?]

His left hand began to react—electric waves and shadowy smoke coursed through it.

He clenched his wrist tightly, struggling to keep himself from being noticed.

[If he catches me in this form, I am dead.]

Lucid began removing the crown, and the moment his body returned to its original form, Killian's hand moved on its own—grabbing him by the neck and locking him in place.

The grip was so tight that he began gasping for air.

"What are you doing, kill?"

Killian's grip slowly loosened, and he turned to Raiden.

Raiden's face was etched with disgust and anger.

"Why were you trying to kill Master Lucid?"

Lucid collapsed on his knees, gasping for air, and he held his neck.

"It's no—

"He tried to kill me, Raiden. I don't know why, but he just walked in and held my neck."

With just a glance at Raiden, Killian knew there was nothing he could say that would make Raiden believe him. After all, Raiden saw him do it.

"How could you, Kill?"

Killian remained silent.

Raiden hurried to Lucid to check up on him. 

Killian's heart still held onto hope.

[Maybe he will believe me. I am this best friend after all.]

He took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to hurt him, Raid. My core reacted o—

His heart sank deeper as he caught the intense gaze of despair in Raiden's eyes.

Killian's jaw dropped as he watched Raiden continue attend to Lucid.