Chapter 1 (Two minutes left to live)

All Jeremy could see was red; his left eye had been badly damaged from countless slashes, and several thick trickles of blood could be seen flowing down his face. His Prussian blue eyes held little to no life.

His white hair had been partly painted deep red, and his light skin was discolored by several celestial strikes.

Lying prone on the floor was none other than the white-haired male who had been brutally bruised and slashed.

"Get up, pipsqueak!" A very low-pitched voice bellowed, reverberating throughout the whole space and causing the entire atmosphere to rumble violently.

'How did it end up like this?' Jeremy thought.

After countless years of training and fighting to prepare for this day, Jeremy couldn't stomach his defeat.

'I couldn't even behold his face properly. Now I'm at his feet, at his mercy. Just how, just how did I live my life? When and where did I go wrong?' Jeremy pondered, using one arm to lift his whole body slightly.

Almost immediately, an invisible force slammed him hard into the ground, creating a massive crater below Jeremy.

His eyes went blank, and his unmoving body remained stuck in the debris.

Even angered by his opponent's weakness, the creature hurled a heap of stones coated with blue fire right at Jeremy. The heaped stones were very colossal, and they had deep red roots of flames burning off the blue fire.

Even before the flaming meteor took off, Jeremy was already close to turning to ashes inwardly. His insides were as hot as hell, while his outer skin was in severe pain.

Jeremy wasn't worthy of the Lucidrix demon's presence, and alas, he was about to meet his end.

"All I ever yearned for was a simple life, and what I got in response was a hellish experience. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss those peaceful days. Rivalry was nothing but child's play between stupid teenagers. Ah!..." Jeremy thought, as his life began to flash before his eyes.

At least, a life of hellish torment was about to come to an end.

Nevertheless, the pain he felt was incomprehensible, like no other. His ears felt like they were about to burst from just a sigh or utterance from Lucidrix.

His body was undergoing Z+-grade torment, and this was nothing near a happy or sympathetic ending.

"I warned you, I warned you from the very beginning! We demons aren't meant to fight each other. I warned you, but you refused to listen. Being a hero or savior is harder than you imagined," the low bass pitch of Lucidrix resounded, causing blood to gush out of Jeremy's ears and eyes.

"Arghh!!!" Jeremy shrieked; the pain and torment were becoming unbearable, as death was now preferable to his current situation.

As he did, blood gusted out of his mouth, making him choke and give a few coughs and wheezes there and then.

The last two coughs were accompanied by thicker red liquid, denser than before.

"Is this how I end?" Jeremy wondered. He felt like he had just coughed out the last blood in him. His face was pale, his bones visible through his skin, and he looked incredibly weak.

Waiting for death or his body to give in was his last piece of torment.

A fiery meteorite was now hurtling his way, and he couldn't even lift a single bone to counter or escape.

As Jeremy was about to close the other eye which was opened halfway, a bright light shone from behind.

"Jeremy!!!" A male's voice yelled, echoing in the enclosed space.

It sounded furious and emotional at the same time.

SWOOSH!!! The meteorite descended, and just as it almost crashed into where Jeremy lay, a white light shone before his eyes.

"Of all the things I thought I would bring or change, it was all a dream, a dream......."

_

"Jeremy!!!" A high-pitched voice broke him out of his reverie.

Jeremy's hands were sweaty, and so was the side of his face. Beads of sweat adorned his forehead down to his chest.

"You're barely struggling to keep up with your grades, and here you are, sleeping away," the teacher bellowed, slamming his hands on the pulpit just shy of the board, where most teachers stood during explanations.

Chortles and giggles emanated from all sides of the classroom, followed by murmurs.

"Quiet! How are any of you better than him?" The teacher scolded, quieting most of the whispers.

"He might have stressed himself out yesterday, that's why he's sleeping. However, that doesn't excuse you to sleep in my class!" He added.

"Sorry, teach," Jeremy mumbled as he rubbed his eye.

"Well, what do you expect from a child with no parents?" A voice echoed, sparking more giggles and murmurs.

"Silence! You all should learn to respect your classmates... (Sighs) Well, that is the end of class for today," Bravo Klutz, the teacher, spoke as he closed his books that were on the pulpit and turned to leave the classroom.

'I can't believe how much discrimination exists in this school.' Jeremy thought as the teacher exited the room.

Meanwhile, Jeremy hadn't even paid attention to what people had said. Firstly, his parents were alive, though it was only his mum, as his dad had died six years ago. However, that wasn't his main concern.

Instead, he was shocked when he momentarily looked down at the back of his palms, which he used to rub his eye earlier, and found tears on them.

'I had a terrible dream, but I can't remember what happened. All I can feel is a certain numbness at my feet, and...'

"I warned you, I warned you from the very beginning!" Jeremy muttered, shocking himself.

He didn't remember anything from his dream, but certain words came to his mouth.

'Warn who? This is certainly not my memory.' He concluded inwardly, almost deciding to laugh it off as he stared at his books on the desk in front of him for a few seconds.

Beginning to pack them into his bag, the teenager couldn't help but think about the words he had just spoken.

'I think I just woke up from a nightmare.' He thought.

"Jeremy?" A feminine voice resounded in his ears.

Looking to his left, he saw a fair girl staring at him with concern.

Judging by her worried expression, she had been calling his name for a few times now.

Jeremy let a warm smile spread across his lips as he looked at her with a welcoming expression