"Yummy... Delicious... Want more..."

  Beneath Ivy's screams of agony, Leox could hear the human head that stuck out from the side of the fish's body speaking. Its speech was broken, but it wasn't difficult to make out what it said. It wanted more food.

  Ivy fell onto her bottom, staring at her skeletal hand and continuing to scream. In a few moments, she would pass out from the shock. The fish approached her, which made Leox's legs move against his will.

  He sprinted as fast as he could. He was probably roaring with rage too. What was his plan? He had no idea. All he knew was that he had to punish the demon for what it had done.

  Eventually, the fish turned its face towards him. At that moment it seemed to have found a more interesting meal. It switched courses and started running towards him, leaving a trail of goo behind it as it dashed across the sand. Only then did Leox realise that he had no plan. He might have been physically gifted, but he wasn't trained in combat.

  When the demon stepped into range, Leox's first instinct was to throw a punch. It was a hooked punch; fast and powerful. To his surprise, it clobbered the beast in its human head, forcing it to cry and stumble backwards, eventually falling off balance due to its thin, misshapen legs.

  If Leox were calmer, he could have taken advantage of the situation and used that opportunity to pounce on the demon. Unfortunately, he was far from calm.

  He swung again, and before it could land, the beast turned its head and opened its mouth. His arm entered its jaw, all the way up the elbow. He felt his entire limb become enveloped in a wet, sticky substance. Then, a hundred sharp teeth pierced his skin.

  He felt his arm burning. The demon's saliva was like acid. At the same time, it used its teeth to scrape off his flesh like chicken from a bone.

  Leox screamed from the pain.

  Stumbling backwards and falling onto his back, he felt his arm slide out of the demon's wet mouth. When he looked down at it, there was nothing there except a skeleton.

  He expected to meet the same fate as Ivy. Left on the sand, screaming at the sight of his missing arm and eventually falling unconscious. Instead, he wasn't even given time to process the pain.

  The fish was already on him again, and he was unable to defend himself. It walked over to stand over his head, oozing smelly goo onto his face.

  He tried to push himself away, but it was no use. The fish opened its mouth and wrapped its plump lips around his head. He felt its teeth and acidic saliva going to work on his skull, as it bit a chunk out of the bone and began to suck his brain through the crack.

  Dead again. Perhaps the most gruesome death yet.

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  This time, he expected to be completely unable to process anything.

  Unlike both times when he had been stabbed through the eye, his brain was now no longer intact. It had been turned into a liquid meal for the demonic fish.

  He no longer possessed one of his most major organs. Yet still, he was able to process these events. He could still feel the rage, and pain that came with his own death.

  It was enough to almost drive him insane, but insanity was overwhelmed by his sadness for his friend, Ivy Graceful.

  Ivy Graceful... She was still alive.

  That wouldn't last long. The demons were known for having hunger that could not be satisfied. They would eat until they were killed.

  What would it do after it was finished devouring each and every one of his organs?

  It would turn to her.

  Leox couldn't let that happen. He had to do something. He prayed despite his lack of speech. As long as his consciousness still floated somewhere in the realm of existence, he could formulate words within his spirit!

  He asked the Allfather for one thing. The strength to protect Ivy before it was too late.

  After offering the prayer, it felt as though he heard a voice echo through his consciousness. A voice that for some reason, he seemed to recognise.

  It told him that 'today, he will be reborn.'

  Leox's body started to remake itself. This time it was faster than ever before.

  His body had been devoured so brutally that he was unable to know which part of his body was remade first. But by the time he felt his consciousness inside his physical body again, he was completely reformed. His skull and brain were intact, as well as his arm, and any other body part that the demon had feasted on whilst he was away.

  He looked up and saw that the demon was now crawling back towards Ivy, who was unconscious. It was ready for its second meal.

  It wouldn't reach her.

  Leox reached out his arm and called upon something. At that moment he didn't know what it was.

  When he clenched his fist, he felt a weight enter his hands, despite nothing being in his grasp. When he dragged his hands backwards with all his might, he saw a giant wave being created in the Black Sea.

  It was as tall as a small house, and appeared from out of nowhere. As he unclenched his fist, it toppled over towards the shore with power and speed.

  The demon fish looked up at the wave. It had no reaction. The wave crashed onto the shore, sweeping up the fish and Ivy, and then not long afterwards, the water collected Leox too.

  He felt himself drowning in freezing water. Yet he knew that if he allowed himself to become overwhelmed by the events, things could get bad.

  He focused on his swimming. He needed to find Ivy.

  After pushing himself hard, he managed to overcome the wave. His head peered above the water, and he gasped for air before looking around.

  In the distance, he saw Ivy's body floating above the surface of the black sea. It took all of his strength to swim towards her, powering through the waves that he had created.

  Eventually, he reached her body. He slapped her in the face, attempting to wake her up, but it didn't work.

  "Shit," Leox swore. He had to carry her.

  He took Ivy onto his shoulders and started to swim towards the black sandy shore, which was further away than it was before.

  Eventually, they arrived, and Leox collapsed onto the beach.

  After laying her body on the sand, he tried his best to bring her back to life. He pushed down on her chest until her ribs cracked, and he blew air into her mouth.

  For a moment, he thought he had failed. He thought he had lost her.

  But then.

  *Cough*

  Ivy's eyes shot open as a bunch of water choked up out of her mouth. At that moment, Leox sighed the greatest sigh of relief a boy possibly could. His head rested on her chest, as he thanked the Allfather silently.

  Ivy regained her consciousness. Her first words were completely unrelated to her missing hand, or the fact that the apocalypse had begun.

  "Leox. I told you that you would awaken." His selfless friend said.