Kaelen staggered back with a ragged breath. His mind was screaming in pain, but his body was thrumming with a strange hunger—a never-ending one.

  The taste of the demon goblin’s blood lingered, and it seeped into his body like fire in his veins. His muscles had tensed, and his fingers twitched uncontrollably.

  For a moment, the battlefield disappeared, and all that remained was the voice.

  “DEVOUR, CHILD!”

  It kept on repeating in his head like a broken record. He felt it wrapping around his soul.

  “Aahhhh!” Kaelen shouted in pain as he clutched his chest. He could feel his heart pounding like a drum.

  Somehow, he knew that the darkness within him, which he had always feared and tried to suppress, was stirring.

  His body began releasing a primal force as strange black lines formed on his skin, which made the air around him grow heavier as his pupils dilated.

  Suddenly, the demons hesitated as they could feel the primal force. However, one of the demon wolves lunged at him recklessly, aiming its claws at him.

  Kaelen didn’t even think, and his body moved quickly. Much quicker than he should have been able to.

  His hand lashed out, grabbed the demon’s throat and lifted it off the ground with ease.

  “Aagh! Doko! Weil meag ni haim!”, The demon wolf said something in demon tongue as it kicked its legs wildly in the air as it’s eyes widened in fear.

  However, Kaelen couldn’t care less.

  Without remorse, he tightened his grip around the demon’s throat.

  “Aaagh!”, The demon wolf shrieked in pain.

  Kaelen gazed at the dear in the demon wolf’s eyes and a sinister smile formed on his face.

  CRUNCH!

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Kaelen broke the demon’s neck and dropped it’s dead body on the ground before him.

  He closed his eyes and exhaled as a wave of satisfaction filled his body as he realized, ‘My body likes this. It wants this.’

  “KAELEN!”

  Suddenly, Sylra shouted, making him snap his head toward her.

  Sylra gazed at Kaelen with narrowed eyes and thought, ‘What is he? A demon? No… he can’t be a demon. Not with those strange runes on his body. Then, what is he? I thought I had seen his strength before, but this… this is different. I need to be more careful around him.’

  The old mage was watching Kaelen too, but unlike Sylra, he had an understanding look on his face.

  Kaelen turned his head back at the demons and smirked as he shouted, “What are you waiting for? Come and get me!”

  He could see every twitch, every breath, every hesitation in the demons before him. The primal force inside him surged, demanding more, screaming for blood.

  The demons hesitated no longer and charged.

  “GROOWL!”

  “WAAAHNG!”

  “ROOOAARR!”

  A huge demon with spiked arms and a gaping maw charged at Kaelen with its claws aiming for his chest.

  ‘Too slow!’, Kaelen thought and vanished from its sight like a blur.

  He appeared behind it and before the demon could even turn around, he aimed and slammed his fist into the demon’s back.

  The sheer force of his punch sent the demon’s body flying forward, crashing into several trees.

  “ROOARGH!”

  Kaelen turned around and noticed two snake-like demons charging at him together—one wielding jagged twin blades, the other baring its fangs and claws.

  Kaelen grinned and said, “Come!”

  The blade-wielding snake-like demon struck first as it slashed it’s blade at him.

  Kaelen tilted his head slightly and dodged it by a hair’s breadth. He twisted his body with an unnatural speed and caught the demon’s outstretched arm.

  “AURGH!”

  The demon roared in pain as Kaelen ripped the arm away from its socket. Without hesitation, he aimed and threw the severed arm like a spear toward the second snake-like demon.

  The demon barely had time to react before the arm pierced through its skull. It slumped to the ground, twitching once before going still.

  Looking at it’s dead body, Kaelen laughed widly, “HAHAHAHA!”

  He turned around and jumped toward the other demons.

  A few minutes later, Kaelen ripped the heart out of a demon and bit into it.

  “Aah!”, Kaelen moaned in delight as he savored the taste of the demon heart and gazed around the carnage.

  There were bodies lying all over. Some were crushed. Others were torn apart.

  Kaelen’s breath was heavy with his body covered in dark demon blood. His hands trembled—not from exhaustion, but from hunger.

  He wanted more.

  The voice inside him whispered, “More… Devour… Feed…”

  His grin widened and he was about to go when suddenly, a hand gripped his shoulder.

  “ENOUGH!”

  Kaelen blinked and turned around to find the old mage looking at him with a serious expression on his face.

  Behind him, Sylra had her bow drawn with an arrow nocked at him as she gazed at him in fear.

  Kaelen looked at them and then at himself.

  The bodies. The blood. His hands.

  His mind screamed in shock as he realized, ‘Wha-What have I done?!’