PROVOCATION

Michael's body fell, blood gushing uncontrollably from his chest.

Maxwell, who had just arrived to witness this, stood motionless.

He couldn't move, not out of fear of the beast before him not panicked by the death of his best friend but due to anger and frustration.

" Why...why won't you leave me alone" Maxwell muttered under his breath his body slightly shaking from anger.

His blue eyes flickered between shades of purple and red. The air around him churned violently as he glared at the demon before him.

Noticing the changes around, the demon turned its head, its gaze meeting Maxwell's blood-red eyes. The demon flinched instinctively, stepping back in fear. 'No, I must kill you; then, my brothers will love me,' it roared as it ran toward Maxwell. The turbulent air around Maxwell struck it, sending it hurtling into the trees in its path. It was pushed several meters from the scene, finally stopping as it hit a tree, halting its momentum.

Maxwell moved a step forward vanishing from sight. He arrived in front of the demon and with a clinch fist, punched a hole through its chest. Black blood gushed out of the demon as it cried in pain.

" Who sent you... was it Azazel?" Maxwell shouted furiously. His fiery gaze locked with that of the demon's, his body still shaking from anger.

The demon coughed up a mouthful of blood as it tried to speak. Maxwell noticing the demon's attempt to speak, removed his hand from the demon's chest allowing it to regenerate. It jumped back and looked fearfully at Maxwell.

" Brothers said you were weak. Brothers lied... You no weak" It spoke, its voice shaky from fear.

Maxwell glared at it sending shivers down its spine, it knew instantly that it had made a mistake by not answering his question immediately.

" I want brothers to accept me, I want to be god, like brothers... I come on my own...i" It knelt shaking intently.

" If you were after me, why did you kill the boy," Maxwell said his tone domineering.

" It had your smell..." Before it could finish speaking its head blew up as Maxwell threw a punch at it. He continued punching with every punch resulting in a bloody mess.

Tears flowed down Maxwell's cheeks as he remembered this same line. He would lose friends and family because they had his smell on them.

"Why...why...why must you always do that? You are after me right, then why must you destroy what I care about" He cried out causing the winds to stir.

" Just wait, I will come after you all and all your so-called devotees, you will all feel the pain I have felt" He cried out, reacting to his provocation, the sky grew overcast as storm clouds gathered in various areas around the world.

********

His voice echoed throughout the heavens, the abode of the Gods and goddesses. They shivered upon hearing his provocation.

" It got guts"

" A weakling like him thinks he can do anything"

" What a load of crap"

"..."

Voices echoed throughout the seven heavens as the gods and goddesses mocked his provocation.

In the third heaven, on top of a boulder adorned with gold lay a being.

Its skin was as dark as the night sky, covered in golden fur, and wore armor that complemented its features.

" I guess he will go on the offensive in this life, finally the fun begins" the being thought to itself as it laughed.

*********

The goat demon had become a puddle of blood and flesh. A result of the continuous pummeling.

Maxwell stopped his assault as he felt it was enough and looked in the direction of Micheal.

The scavenger grass he lay on was trying to consume his body.

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Scavenger grass; is a type of grass that eats up the body of the deceased. They do so by slowly dissolving the body of the deceased.

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Maxwell disappeared and immediately appeared beside Michael's body. He looked at his best friend who lay lifeless on the grass. The grass had only been able to dissolve a layer of skin. Maxwell feeling irritated stomped his feet causing the grass to wither.

He then carried Michael off the ground, "Esty, heal him, I have exhausted most of my energy" He spoke addressing no one in particular for there was no one there.

Estel appeared from thin air and took Michael off Maxwell's hand.

"Maxy, I am afraid he is dead," Estel said her tone sympathetic.

"I know, just heal his body... I know what to do" Maxwell said.

Estel nodded and disappeared just as she appeared.

Maxwell's domineering aura faded away as his eyes returned to its clear blue color. With a tad, he fell just as his domineering aura faded away. He had fallen unconscious.

********

The next day

Maxwell woke up feeling extremely tired, his memories fuzzy. He looked at the sky and saw a red beam of light which triggered his memories. It only triggered the memories of the test but not of his actions. He then decided to run towards the light just like his colleagues.

He stood up, dusted himself, and made his way towards the light. As he moved he had a nagging feeling that he was forgetting something important. He came to a halt.

" Ah... yeah, I was looking for something before I blacked out. Something was calling me from that direction. I can still feel the connection. Let's take a look before I continue with the test" he thought to himself as he changed his destination.

He continued moving till he stopped at a huge boulder. On it lay a Wampus cat.

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A Wampus cat; a jaguar-like beast with three pairs of legs. It's as vicious as a jaguar but moves at a speed closer to that of the speed sound. It is believed that its king moves at the speed of light.

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The beast stared at Maxwell lazily, Maxwell who knew a thing or two about the beast in front of him shivered in fear. The beast could kill him before he even had a chance to blink.

He stayed still and kept his eyes on the beast. The beast had already seen him and chose to ignore him, just as a lion ignored a bug.

What he felt calling him seemed to come from the boulder the beast sat on.

"Should I just give up?" he thought to himself. The odds of him dying were pretty high, he didn't want to die just because of something he was not sure of.

He turned around, trying to head back to where he came from.

His eyes flashed with a glint of purple light as he felt that what was in the boulder was worth risking his life for.

With his mind made up, he stupidly rushed in, thinking he could outmaneuver the Wampus cat. The beast looked at it again but this time with killing intent. It had ignored the human earlier but that human dared to run towards it.

It disappeared from where it sat and reappeared on top of Maxwell. It had pinned him down, its front legs on his chest.

With one of its paws raised, it attempted to strike him.

" Know your place, you pussy cat" Estel's voice sounded as the Wampus cat was slammed on the boulder. Feeling wronged it hissed at Estel who had appeared out of nowhere.

Estel let out her aura which scared the beast, and without any hesitation, it ran away fearing for its life.

"Maxwell, are you okay?... Why would you do something like that? ...You are just a kid you know." Estel said sternly as she helped him stand up.

" Am, sorry... I want to go there" Maxwell could barely make a sound as he was shaking intently.

His short life almost came to an end today of course he would be scared

Estel smiled internally as she looked at the pitiful Maxwell.

" Do you need my help?" Estel inquired as she wiped his tears.

" Yes please, I can feel a strong attraction from that boulder but I am scared... What if that beast comes back or even worse a stronger beast attacks me from nowhere" he said his voice shaky from fear as he pointed to the boulder which was a few metres from where they stood.

Estel nodded as she held his hand. They moved towards the boulder.

Upon arriving, Estel touched the boulder trying to discern its properties but to no avail.

Maxwell touched it as well but surprisingly his hand went through it. It felt as if he had touched the surface of water. Estel saw his hand enter into the boulder and knew what it was.

" It seems I cannot help you out, but don't be afraid, there is nothing in there that will hurt you. I promise whatever is on the other side is safe." She said with a sweet smile.

Maxwell the seven-year-old boy, had grown to like and trust her as he had spent most of his time with her.

He nodded trusting in her words.

Putting on a face of determination, he stepped into the boulder.

" Welcome..."