There was a loud bang outside.

“What was that!?” Kazuki exclaimed.

“An explosion! Kazuki, we have to evacuate the townspeople!” Sensei started grabbing things from the dojo and shoved the items into a duffle bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder and hurried towards the door.

“Shouldn’t we fight back, Sensei?”

“I don’t think you understand how powerful a Demon Lord is, Kazuki,” explains Sensei, “just one of them has the power to wipe out an entire village in seconds.”

Kazuki was at a loss for words. He paused to think before speaking. “But that’s insane. Why would something as powerful as that come to a village like ours? We have nothing valuable!”

Sensei sighed before answering. “Competition. They do it because they’re always fighting, competing to see who’s the strongest.”

Kazuki looked at his sensei in disbelief. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “So, you’re telling me they kill for fun?”

Sensei slowly nodded. They both stand there in silence for a moment before Kazuki bolted out of the dojo and started to sprint towards his house. He could see massive flames in the distance.

“Wait, Kazuki!” Sensei shouted.

He examined the sky and saw it, the Demon Lord. It put its hand out and something appeared in front of it. A massive beam shot out of it and exploded in the distance.

“This has to be a dream,” Kazuki thought. The tears were already flowing down his face making his vision blurry. “Why, why is this happening to me?”

Kazuki arrived at his house, which was now a pile of rubble. He fell to his knees. “No way….”

In the rubble, he could hear a faint voice. “Kazu… ki….”

“M-Mom!” Kazuki frantically started digging away at the wreckage.

Kazuki’s mom gripped at his shirt. “Kazuki… you have… to run away….”

"No, Mom, I can't just-" A massive explosion behind Kazuki blew him away from his mom and into a field. “Damn… it,” Kazuki said in frustration. He struggled to get up. That blast alone caused him to lose 30 HP. “Why did I have to be born with such a useless ability?” He stood up and looked back at his village. It was practically gone; a massive crater was there where it used to be. Sensei was right, an entire village, gone, in a matter of seconds.

A gust of wind came from above. “Oh? It seems I missed one,” said a voice.

Kazuki looked up and saw him. “You… You did this!?”

A grin split across the Demon Lord’s face, “Oh, what if I did? What will you do about it?” He put his arms out and stretched them into the air, “Since you are the last survivor, I’ll tell you my name. I am the Demon Lord, Shruke!”

Kazuki wiped his tears away. Now’s not the time to cry. “Shruke huh? Well then, I have a request.”

Shruke looked intrigued. “Let’s hear it, kid.”

“Fight me,” Kazuki pointed his thumb at his chest, “in a fist to fist battle no abilities!” He put his fist out towards Shruke.

Shruke glared at him, “Really? That’s a new one. Usually, people beg for their lives or try to attack me with all of their pent up frustration and anger, but you? You want to fight fist to fist, even though you have 100 HP?” Shruke lowered his body to the ground and adjusted himself into fighting stance Kazuki had never seen before. “All right kid, let’s go.”

Kazuki lunged forward and faked a right hook. Shruke fell for it and attempted to block. He was caught off guard by a kick and clumsily dodged to the right. Kazuki used the momentum from his foot to left cross Shruke in the face. Shruke grabbed Kazuki’s arm and slammed him into the ground. He then jumped into the air and attempted to land on Kazuki’s stomach with his knees, but Kazuki rolled to the right.

“Not bad,” Shruke murmured as he stood back up.

Kazuki prepared for the next assault. Shruke adjusted his fighting stance to a defensive one. Kazuki charged at him and unleashed a roundhouse kick. Shruke grabbed Kazuki’s leg and pulled it up causing Kazuki to fall backward. He put his hands on the ground and used his other foot to kick Shruke in the face. Shruke dodged and let go of Kazuki’s leg. Kazuki lowered his legs and used the force of the kick to spin on his hands and does another heel kick. Shruke blocked and Kazuki pushed off of his arms to stand up and gain some distance.

How much longer can I keep this up? Kazuki thought. He wiped the blood from his face. It doesn’t matter. I need to keep the pressure on! He immediately dashed toward Shuke, running practically parallel to the ground.

Shruke put both of his hands together and attempted to slam Kazuki into the ground. Kazuki kept accelerating and slid under Shruke to his backside, putting Shruke into a neck lock. Kazuki pulled Shruke down from the throat and threw him into the ground. Kazuki attempted a kick at the beast, but Shruke swiped at Kazuki’s leg causing him to retreat.

Now! Kazuki lunged towards Shruke.

“That’s not gonna work a second time, kid!” Shruke kicked at Kazuki who was still dashing to Shruke at full speed. But this time, Kazuki jumped and spun to gain momentum for a kick, then slammed his heel into Shruke’s head.

Shruke stumbled backwards, grabbing the side of his head. “You know, you really surprised me,” he chuckled, rubbing his now injured head, “I never knew there was someone besides him who was this good at martial arts! And because you’re this talented, I’ll kill you with the strongest attack in my arsenal.”

Kazuki put his hands in front of him, “Wait, that’s breaking the rules! And, who’s hi-”

A black magic circle appeared in front of Shurke. “This is my ultimate spell! 『Demonic Rupture』”

Something that appeared to be a black beam discharged from Shruke’s magic circle, instantly penetrating Kazuki’s chest.

“GUAAAAAAH!” There was a massive hole in Kazuki’s torso and his shirt became drenched in blood. Kazuki fell to the ground and the last thing he saw was a number. A number that read, 190,000.