"Trang!"
A swordsman in armor parried a thrust from a Demon King's spear. He lunged forward instantly, grabbing the Demon King by the face. "Blam!" A burst of white light erupted from his hand, blasting the Demon King square in the face.
"Graaaaaa!"
The Demon King recoiled, clutching his face in agony from the laser-like white light.
"Damn you! Die!" the Demon King roared, spinning his spear before thrusting it violently toward the knight.
The knight dodged the strike with ease, but the Demon King unleashed a binding shadow spell from his hands to snare the knight's legs. The knight tripped, but he managed to roll away just as the Demon King tried to skewer him. Getting back to his feet, the knight charged again with savage intensity. A brutal, close-quarters struggle between sword and spear broke out.
Three figures stood in the background, watching the fierce battle with cold, expressionless faces. When the knight and the Demon King finally broke apart to catch their breath, both were gasping for air, their bodies covered in deep wounds. Still, they locked eyes with murderous intent. The Demon King—a terrifying sight with his massive frame, black wings, curved horns, and glowing red eyes—dug into his fighting stance.
The knight removed his helmet, revealing a handsome face. He took his stance as well, raising his sword to his side and gripping it with both hands, ready for the final strike.
"Let's settle this with one last move," the knight said.
"Fine. Today, it all ends," the Demon King replied.
Their bodies surged with a terrifying aura, emitting a light so blinding that the three spectators behind them had to shield their eyes. The knight was enveloped in a multicolored white aura—a fusion of all elements with the Void—while the Demon King was shrouded in the red and black flames of hell. The blades of their weapons glowed with the intensity of their respective powers.
"Yaaaaaaaah!"
They both screamed and charged. The collision of sword and spear triggered a massive explosion that leveled everything nearby. The three onlookers had to manifest their own auras just to keep from being blown away by the shockwave, though they still cried out in alarm.
When the dust settled, "brugh," both combatants collapsed to their knees, powerless and mortally wounded. The knight used his sword to prop himself up, fresh blood coughing out of his mouth and staining his armor. The Demon King leaned on his broken spear, his face a mess of gore.
They were both panting, their power perfectly matched. Suddenly, the three onlookers—dressed as a greatsword warrior, a mage, and a nun—bolted forward. They descended upon the helpless Demon King and finished him off. The knight watched, feeling relieved that his companions had ended the threat.
"Klang." His strength finally gave out, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground, dropping his sword. He watched as the warrior pulled his blade from the Demon King's lifeless body. The three approached the knight. He looked up, ready to welcome his friends, but the smile died on his face. They were staring down at him with eyes as cold as ice.
The warrior gave a sinister smirk and raised his sword. "Blesss!" He drove the massive blade straight through the knight's helpless body.
"Ahak... W... what are you doing, Jared?" the knight gasped, spitting up blood.
The warrior didn't answer. Instead, he stepped forward and ground his boot into the knight's back, right next to the sword.
"Ugh... aaaaaaa!" the knight screamed in agony.
"Hahaha, thanks for doing the heavy lifting. Thanks for killing the Demon King for the three of us," the warrior said, continuing to press his foot down.
"Arghhh... why... what did I do wrong?" the knight cried out.
The kingdom's princess—a beautiful, sexy blonde dressed as a healing nun—approached him. She knelt down to look at the knight's pained face. Her expression seemed sad at first, causing the knight to look at her with lingering affection. But as he tried to speak, she suddenly plunged a knife into his eye and ripped the eyeball out.
"Aaaaaah!" the knight shrieked.
"Wow, who told you to look at me like that? I know you love me, and I loved you too. But honestly, I love him more. Besides, I'm just following orders from my father, the King. He told me that once you won, I had to kill you. Hehehe." The princess stood up and wrapped her arm around the warrior, who was still standing on the knight's back.
The two shared a kiss right then and there, while the eyeball was still stuck to her knife. The knight wept at the sight. The pain in his heart from the betrayal was so sharp that he could no longer feel the agony in his body. The woman he thought was his lover had been on a secret mission to execute him the moment the Demon King was dead. A female mage stepped forward and set the knight's arms on fire; he was too far gone to even scream anymore.
The knight went silent. He could only stare at them with a sharp, singular gaze from his remaining eye. The mage laughed and twirled around with joy at his expression.
"Enjoy it! I've wanted to do this for a long time. Why? Because I want the riches that will restore my family's noble status, hahahaha! Come on, he's basically dead. Let's go raid the Demon King's palace," the mage shouted as she walked away.
"Wait, let me make sure he's done." The warrior pulled his sword out of the knight's back and drove it through the base of his neck, then yanked it out again.
The knight vomited blood. He could no longer move or speak, but his ears still caught every word from the people he once called friends. In his mind, he cursed them all, swearing revenge for what they had done, but his body was broken. The three of them walked away, leaving him to die alone. The knight lay there, shaking and weeping, waiting for the end. The world began to grow cold.
Before his eyes closed for good, he saw the Demon King's head move. With an agonizing effort, the Demon King raised a hand and fired a black-red orb of crackling energy into the knight. The Demon King smiled, then his head and hand slumped back into the dirt. After that, the knight felt himself falling into total darkness. Suddenly, a woman who looked like a goddess appeared and pulled him out of the void. She smiled and spoke:
"Return to your original world. Live, and be happy."
She pulled him into a light so bright he had to shut his eyes, but he felt an overwhelming sense of peace.
***
"Plip... plip."
The sound of an EKG echoed in a hospital room. A young man opened his eyes slowly. His eyes went wide as he stared at the ceiling. Instinctively, he sat up and looked around. He was alone in a hospital room, surrounded by high-tech life-support equipment.
"Huh... I'm... alive again?" Steve asked.
He looked at his hands. One arm had an IV drip; the other was in a cast. Both of his legs were in casts as well. Suddenly, memories flooded back. He remembered helping a girl in a different school uniform at a crossroads. A truck had been barreling toward her. He didn't know what happened to her, but when he pulled her out of the way, the truck hit him instead.
Then he had been reborn in the world of Arendel, becoming the hero who defeated the Demon King, only to be betrayed. He touched his face, then climbed out of bed. "Clang." The IV pole rattled as he dragged it toward the bathroom. He looked into the mirror. He saw his own handsome face—exactly as it was before he crossed over—except his short black hair was now incredibly long.
He reached out to touch the glass. He realized he was back in his old body—specifically, the body he had at the time of the accident.
"I'm... young again? Does this mean... I never actually went to that world?" Steve wondered.
He began to piece it all together. In that other world, he had died at 35 after being betrayed by people he had spent his entire life adventuring with. "Crack." Without thinking, he punched the mirror. His fist didn't have a scratch on it, but the glass shattered and collapsed.
"This is... strange. I remember my life in that world perfectly... and I remember everything that happened right before I went there," Steve said.