Hero's Bane

Chapter 57: Vanquish

Edited 5/3/2022

The White-Eyed man stared up at the Nertherbrick ceiling with frustration and even with a little apprehension, it took pure power from a strong entity to shake the foundations of his great fortress. Herobrine could shake the place himself if he wanted to; though it would take quite some power, but for absolutely nothing for that small orb to? There was a great force at work here and he knew what it was, it was that beast calling him and he needed to answer it for not keeping up with his debt. That had to be the reason for this disturbance, he hadn't collected enough souls recently and that miner had distracted him from doing so. He really didn't know what to expect up in that tower, prepared or not he had to go up there.

If by chance that the End lord had shown up in his castle, then things could go from bad to worse. Not only would his hide be at stake for failing to keep his payments, but if the beast caught a whiff of the human then things could get real ugly. Punishment he could handle, but loosing his new friend to a monster that hated humans as much as him? Not so much.

The stronghold continued to tremble violently and he had to stop the power from shaking the place apart for the miner's sake, for that reason and because it was the being's only shelter that he spent years building in the hot Nether realm. The Nether construction was structurally supportive and seemed very sturdy after it's creation, especially when the being often threw fits of rage and tore down pillars and walls with ease in frustration to release tension, but this tremor was strong enough to rock the entire fortress which made some individual bricks crack and slide out of place in some spots.

It was startling enough to find a long fine crack along the end of one of the arches above, but with these rough shakes it was going to bring the stronghold down if he didn't do something about it quick. The miner would be crushed alive at this rate so he made sure that the human wouldn't leave his spot under the safety of the strong solid arch. After getting a signal from Steve that he wasn't going to move; Herobrine then focused his attention purely on the ceiling above and appeared in a dark, long, and narrow room of the first tower.

From this lengthy corridor he approached the room connected to it with one huge barred Nertherbrick door blocking the entrance. Herobrine quickly sprinted over to the door after a strong unexpected tremor, he grabbed it by one of it's bars and ripped the whole thing right off of it's hinges in one swift yank and threw it behind him without care. Not even the loud echoing clang from smacking the ground could remove his attention from the small spherical item that caused so much trouble. The first thing his eyes landed on was a small orb that had a lustrous shine from the flickering flames of burning Netherrack that had been neatly placed near the pedestal that the object rested upon.

Herobrine slowed his stride as he got closer to the large dark green pearl that was perfectly situated in the center of the dark red room, it looked like one of the pearls that human souls were transformed into, this one however; was slightly bigger and darker. He scanned the object carefully for any changes but could not find any sign that indicated that it was active. In fact; it hadn't been active in a very long time. It only shined a few times and that was many years ago when he first received it.

The being let out a sigh of relief. At least the End lord was not in the Nether. -So this is a warning?- He surmised.

The strong quakes abruptly began again and the powerful shifts caused the being to stumble forward and grab onto the edge of the platform for balance, as he did this his hand accidentally bumped into the glassy object and a low lime glow filled the center of the rocking pearl.

As soon as he touched the sphere the strong quakes died down in magnitude, Herobrine could feel the floor beneath his feet now only rumble slightly. With the orb now glowing he wrapped his hand around it and held it before him, the deep lime color grew into a brighter hue and a small black sphere formed deep within it. The circular black core stretched up and warped into an oval then the oval ends narrowed into a sharp point, it expanded in size and the slit widened like an eye of a demon. He could feel power from the sphere pulse in his hand and it shook his arm, Herobrine absorbed the powerful pulses and waited for the sphere to settle in his palm. The energy boost he absorbed from it was really needed after his sleep was disrupted, so he wondered if the End lord minded if he helped himself to some of that power. The eye focused intently on Herobrine and quietly stared up at him, it pulsed more wildly as a deep guttural snarl soon filled his ears. The being deeply frowned as the low feral snarl turned into a loud growl, this deep-throated sound grew louder as the slit of the eye narrowed. Herobrine lightened his grasp and let the energy flow.

"Heeeerrrroooobbbbrrrriiiinnnnne."

A loud, heavy, and malicious voice echoed throughout the room and caused the walls to shake from the very powerful tone that reverberated all around him, it was clear from the tone that the beast was not happy at all but infuriated as it called upon him. The eye shook frantically and stung Herobrine's palm as the growl emitted from the orb, the being narrowed his eyes and took the stinging sensation as he absorbed more power from the object. He was going to take all that he could get since the beast was literally emitting it as a display of power and apparently; a warning.

"Mooooorrrrrreeeee. Nooooowwwwwwww." The beastly voice finished with a disdainful hiss.

The White-Eyed man softly nodded in the eye's gaze, keeping his ridged expression to hide his vulnerability; his fear of the unknown creature of unpredictable amounts of power. He knew the End lord wanted more souls, that was automatically a given; but at the same time the creature was making a warning with it's forceful presentation that shook his greatest construction and even damaged it a little.

The black pupil then narrowed sharply and shrunk back down into a black dot that vanished within the glowing lime and green shades, the orb stopped shaking and the energy it released had subsided. The fortress now only rumbled slightly from the after quakes of fading power, Herobrine could feel the shifting of the floor become hardly noticeable.

Herobrine glared at the round object in his hand and lightly squeezed it from anger, so tempted to smash the object into a thousand pieces. This beast he collected souls for had just threatened him wordlessly, it was possible that the creature had seen through his expression to find fear which the monster also hated; for it was a common behavior of humans. Fear.

He never wanted to admit to any fear other than his fear of being trapped forever helpless and alone again in a world of torment; but he didn't even want to admit to that. This new fear he felt made him quake, he shouldn't have any fear of this creature but he wasn't entirely sure what the beast was capable of. If it was capable of putting him in the same state that Notch did or even use enough power to vanquish him; then he had every right to fear great punishment from it, he could not risk severely disappointing the End ruler. It was bad enough that he had already did a little by doing nothing to appease the lord, by letting distractions come between him and his pact with the monster.

This fear of the beast used to not even exist, but now with the threatening growls still echoing in his head with the shaking structure; he felt like he had a target on his back for not meeting the agreement of his debt on time. He didn't need more fear, it was a weak feeling and he prided himself on being the strongest entity in all of Minecraftia other than Notch, now he was probably sitting in third place and possibly fall into the category of prey like humans.

Herobrine snorted to himself in anger as he continued to stare down at the little round object, there was no denying what he felt. He wondered why the he felt so vulnerable by the warning. With his powerful gaze he had seen through the black pupil and in that dark hole of an eye he saw dissatisfaction, impatience, and rage, the fluctuation of energy only confirmed it. He had held the object many times and a few times when he spoke with the lord of the End, many years ago. Back then the eye held compliance, justification, and a mutual feeling of the hate they shared of Notch and his creations, but now the eye held irritation and impatience from 'him'. Back then he didn't fear the beast, they had common ground and worked together to get back at the god of Minecraftia. This association with the End lord was now in peril from his first failure, he was on the brink of losing good terms between them.

-Then this is a warning.- Herobrine concluded. He watched the bright color dimmed down into a deep shade once more, back to it's inactive state. He could feel nothing coming from it anymore, only it's smooth glass-like surface. The being placed the item back on the center of the platform and then backed away from the pedestal. With this warning, the old hero had to claim the lives of more humans and real soon from the threatening glare he also got, he needed to hunt now.

...

Steve kept a firm gaze on the ceiling, the spot where the White-Eyed double had looked up at and teleported to. Apparently the force that shook the Nether fortress came from one of the towers above the throne, that is where Herobrine must have gone to; the place that he told the miner to never go or that he would suffer greatly before death.

Steve blinked again as the trembling ground became still, whatever the being did had stopped the tremors, but what really disturbed the miner was that feral growl and even words he thought he had heard. He wasn't sure what caused the deep growl; first he thought it was a mob but mobs couldn't make a growl this startlingly loud or powerful. Or that is what he at least thought. The quakes looked like they put Herobrine into distraught and concern before he left, just hearing that animalistic growl made Steve tremble more than the shifting Nertherbrick at his feet did. This could have been why Herobrine called him mortal after trying to call him by his real name a few times. Regardless, Herobrine must have known something and they way he defended that tower meant that he was hiding something, something 'big' from the shakes and sounds of it.

Steve was curious but going up there wasn't worth the risk, the frightening snarl also discouraged him from wanting to go against Herobrine's word. What the ex-hero was hiding was obviously dangerous and deadly.

The feeling of being watched suddenly hit him and his eyes moved from the ceiling and darted down to find Herobrine now sitting at his throne with one hand messaging his temples as he leaned back in his chair with his other arm lying limply on the armrest. The old hero looked anything but happy, his expression fitting more along the lines of irritation and trouble.

"Don't even ask, I can already see your thoughts wondering in that direction." The powerful man was quick to speak.

The miner's eyes moved away from the man on the throne, his face filled with concern and apprehension. "I wasn't going to, aloud; but that still doesn't keep me from wondering about it." He carefully looked back at Herobrine. "I could tell from your expression a few minutes ago that you wanted me to stay out of it, so I will. I can't control what I think about though, at least not all of the time." He weakly grinned.

The old hero dismissed the thought of the human and the lack of control of the things he thought about. For himself; it was easy, as long as it wasn't a memory anyway. But for the human? The miner's kind had their flaws. What a great job their all mighty creator had in making them with so many imperfections.

"But-" Steve started cautiously with his tone. "If you need help with something or anything for that matter, then I'm here. If anything is bothering you- then..."

Lionel used to offer help too, even for the things that Herobrine did not want him to get himself thrown into. The miner just seemed more like him the longer he stuck around the being's presence. He was wondering if calling the miner a friend was such a good idea and now it seemed like deeming the man as an ally wasn't such a bad decision after all. But still, the human couldn't help him with the debt. The man would automatically turn down the idea of going out and taking human lives so there was no need to even ask, the human couldn't take souls anyways so he would be anything but helpful.

"I must depart soon." Herobrine started with an irate look. "There is something I must do. I won't need your help, you won't be able to."

"What?" The miner blinked and took a bold step forward and lifted a hand. "Why do you have to leave?" Steve wished he would have kept his lips zipped but he just had to know, especially after what just happened and with that monstrous sound and his show of distress.

Herobrine made a small glare. "I have to go and do something outside of this realm. ... You should know what it is by now."

"Oh." The miner said quietly, he dropped his raised arm as he looked down a his feet with a disappointed look. It seemed as though Herobrine was going to go and kill more innocent people again and harvest their souls, more for the sand pit. This made the man deeply frown, he couldn't even look up at the being because he knew there was nothing he could say or do to convince the old hero not to. But as for his promise of stopping the being from torturing and killing the innocent; he had to at least try and persuade the hero not to take the lives of those who had done nothing to the powerful man.

At first he was nervous about saying anything since he already knew the response he would get, so instead of asking Herobrine not to kill; Steve simply chose to make a statement. "I know you hate humans, but you don't necessarily have to hate all of them. Just the ones who persecuted and tortured you."

It wouldn't have even come close to changing the being's mind, but those words lingered in his thoughts for a minute as he sat quietly in his chair. It really didn't matter if the humans he hunted did anything to him or not, he hated all of them and the one who made them. Herobrine exhaled softly as he stood up from his throne and walked slowly down the steps in an unhurried pace. He hated humans, he wanted every human; down to the last infant to pay for what their kind did to him. Yet, here he has no desire to leave and go on his habitual killing routine.

The last collection of kills ended horribly, he nearly lost control of himself multiple times that resulted in the lack of the heightening feeling he got when human blood filled his nostrils. Before that; he didn't hunt for almost two weeks because of the miner's presence in his territory, and now he had to go out and do an activity that he could no longer enjoy. -All because of that miner.- Now hunting and chasing his prey was more of a chore that he didn't have the urge to do, but he had no choice in the matter; this time he had to kill more than enough to satisfy the beast.

"I'll be gone for a little while this time around. Probably for half of the night. I am not sure though." He paced towards the miner slowly and instantly vanished from sight in the blink of an eye.

'It's night?' He thought quietly to himself, almost forgetting what the time of the day was like after being in the Nether for so long and seeing nothing but shades or red. Steve blinked in surprise and before he could even glance around for the missing immortal he felt frozen in seconds, an eerie feeling had chills shooting down his spine but he couldn't shiver or shake it off. He couldn't move a muscle nor turn his head, he was frozen in place and held much fear. This was a paralyzing feeling that he had once before he even made it into the valley, he was in the deep ravine when Herobrine first attacked him. The first thing that happened that he remembered was becoming stiff with a strange power keeping him immobilized, now he was feeling it again.

"It's not that I don't trust you since you have earned it, but I will not be here to save you should you run into trouble again. For this reason alone it will be best if you rest while I'm away. Now sleep." Herobrine had his right hand raised up to the back of the miner's head and his eyes started to glow brightly.

'Wait Herobrine!' Steve screamed in his head. 'You don't have to do this! I can- can...'

"On the contrary Steve, I must. Now sleep." He repeated as a powerful pulse flowed through the veins in his arm and out through his fingertips, the pressure hit the miner's head and instantly knocked him unconscious. Steve's body suddenly became limp and he fell forward until Herobrine grabbed him by the arm and kept him from smacking the floor. -I don't need you in my way. You wouldn't be able to help me.- Herobrine slung the man's body over his shoulder and began a slow stride down the set of stairs.

…

The toxic purple fumes of the Nether swirled around his form and dissipated into the pristine air of the cool night as well as the heat wave that followed him. Herobrine opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of an open field that was partially surrounded by woodlands with a bright crescent moon hovering above him with a veil of stars to light up the night sky. He turned his head to find a single house sitting a top of a slope with lights coming from every window. This house wasn't that big, only big enough to support a small family. It was also the only structure that he could see for miles, it was clear that the owner was brave and sort of foolish to live alone and without the safety of numbers like those who live in villages. The being rolled his neck and began a slow walk towards the house. It was time to get started.

From what he could see; two large oak trees somewhat shaded to what looked like the back yard and painted the ground an even darker color in contrast to the bladed grasses around the trees shining from the moon above. It was a perfect place to hide and strike his unsuspecting victims, human eyes were weak so the mortals in the house had a big disadvantage at night.

Herobrine immediately stopped as light footfalls came from around the house, after listening more closely he could also hear laughter. Two small forms came running from around the house; a young boy and a young girl came from around the corner of the small building, the girl was chasing the boy and they seemed to be completely unaware of the bright-eyed being several yards away from their home. Herobrine looked back to see a fair sized tree about ten blocks adjacent from him, he took one step backwards and instantly zoomed from his spot to the shadow of the oak tree. His gaze moved from the playing children to the area around the house. It was strange, there was no mobs upon first glance, but as he looked closer he could see a pile of bones nearby and a still corpse mostly hidden by tall grass.

The mobs had been slain before he even arrived; which explained why the kids were running around after dark, the light coming from the moon gave them enough sight to move around and see each other and their obstacles. So the father of the kids must be inside the house and he's evidently not defenseless. Perfect.

The brown-haired boy suddenly went down to the ground while laughing out loudly as the little girl tackled him with a huge smile. They were foolish. The parents must have been careless to let their little children play outside at night, even without mobs around the house there was always danger lurking in the shadows not too far away. More monsters would eventually move into the area anyways, so they were not as safe as they thought they were.

The kids were easy pickings, there was no adults watching over them, so now was the prefect time to harvest their born essences. Herobrine held out his hand and let his diamond blade form in his palm as he walked out from under the tree and towards the boy and girl, they continued to tag each other on the ground, completely oblivious to the powerful man quietly walking in their direction.

"You're it!" The girl poked the younger looking boy on the nose and he retaliated by poking her back in the cheek.

"No, you're it!"

"You are it silly!" The blonde girl with curly locks poked his cheek again with him pinned down and continued to prod the other as she was jabbed in return. She chuckled softly and proceeded to poke the other until she caught movement on the edge of her eyesight. She turned her head slightly and gasped aloud with widened eyes, she spotted the silhouette of a man coming towards her and her brother with eyes that glowed brighter than the moonlight. She couldn't believe her own eyes, she gaped in silence for a long moment. There was the sinister looking figure that her father always told tales about. But those were only stories right?

Herobrine watched as the children froze in fear from the sight of his presence before they scrambled to get off of the ground, the young girl was the first to fully stand up and she bolted towards the house in a quick sprint screaming.

"Daddy! … Daddy!" She came to an abrupt halt as the White-Eyed man suddenly flashed in front of her with his sword down at his side, his neck crooked downwards as he gazed at his first prey of the night. She stared silently with wide amber eyes and took steps backwards as he took steps forwards.

He could hear the child's heart racing in her chest cavity, her breaths were short and ragged from her previous pursuit of the boy. The girl was obviously young, appearing to around six or seven while wearing a small purple dress with white floral designs. Herobrine moved his gaze up for a second to find the boy paralyzed in fear, he remained standing in his spot and had yet to move with an expression of terror. He was younger looking; maybe about four or five years old and wore a plain green t-shirt and blue jeans. Both of the kids were young and completely defenseless, not his favorite kind of prey to silence since they couldn't even begin to put up a fight or even be a challenge of any kind. Age difference or not, humans were humans which meant they were all the same. They needed to pay. To parish.

"You're eyes? … Who- who… are you? Why are … you following me?" The young girl asked between her intakes of air, knowing fully who he was but wanted so much to deny it.

The being ignored her questions and narrowed his eyes, he couldn't answer her anyway. Herobrine raised his arm along with his gleaming blade that had immediately caught the child's attention, she kept walking backwards but her eyes would not leave the glowing enchanted diamond sword that shined with a faint dark blue aura.

She began to tear up and clear drops now ran down the side of her cheeks, the man before her was very scary and he looked anything but friendly. He looked like he wanted to hurt her, like he had did to others in the old stories. With the raised sharp weapon she couldn't help but choke up and snivel in fear. The child began to cry in her slow pace. She was deeply frightened and helpless to get away from the strange man. She had to though, she didn't want to be near him anymore. With this in mind she suddenly turned on her heels and ran further away from him and the house towards the woods.

"Kristy!" The boy cried out her name and gasped as the inhuman being flashed from his spot and reappeared in front of the elder sibling.

The girl known as Kristy screamed as Herobrine suddenly popped in front of her with his sword ready to come down over her head, she tripped back and fell on her rear end in her failed attempt to move backwards. She only sat there with terror written on her face as the being stepped a little closer for a better and more cleaner strike.

"No please don't." She softly plead with one arm now raised and an open hand to poorly defend the attack with. "Please?!" She cried louder as the sword went back behind the being's head and then went straight at her.

A loud scream filled the air and Kristy now kept both of her arms over her head as the inevitable happened. But it didn't happen. She pried her eyes and daringly looked up to see the diamond blade just inches away from her.

Herobrine stopped as soon as he heard a door from the house slam wide open, he looked up at the small building to see a dark haired man with a sword running at him across the yard.

"Leave my kids alone! Get away from them!" He screamed but instantly came to a halt when he saw the man's glowing eyes, his own eyes went wide from disbelief of the figure standing dangerously close to his first child.

This mortal had short brown hair and nicely trimmed stubble with a few scars that blended into his strong and gaunt features. He wore a black long sleeve shirt that had been stained with spots of charcoal and small splotches of rancid zombie blood, his gray pants also had the coal-colored dust and dried blotches of the odorous brown fluid. The man also had what looked like a custom made iron sword in his hand that had a thicker handle to fit his long fingers. Though he looked very skinny he had well toned muscles which only proved the theory that this man killed the mobs in the area and made it safer for the kids.

"Timothy!" The man yelled and the young boy quickly looked at his father. "Go and get in the house, right now!" He commanded with a desperate look.

"But dad?! Kris-"

"I said now!" The man yelled in frustration and fear and the boy quickly nodded before leaving his spot and running towards the house as quick as his little legs could carry him.

"You're real?" The man's fearful expression turned more into an angered one when his daughter sniveled again. "Let her go. Please?" He asked with his teeth barred and his sword raised to waist high.

Herobrine sharply narrowed his eyes. Of course he was real, otherwise the children would have been picked off by some other monster.

The man lightened his fighting stance after the being refused to move. "Please, just let her go. She has done nothing to deserve this!" He shouted more loudly, now fearing that the legendary man known as Herobrine was going to kill her on the spot.

-That is where you are wrong. Existing as she is- is reason enough, the same goes for the boy and even you.- Herobrine spoke to himself, knowing that he couldn't talk to the man, nor did he want to waste more time than he already had with just standing there staring back at the older human. He positioned the sharp edge of his blade on the girl's shoulder and she held her breath, not knowing what to expect next.

"Leave her alone!" He screamed as he now charged at the powerful man, sword positioned upright to pierce him.

Herobrine looked at the charging human and vanished from his spot, he reappeared behind the man as he stopped on his heels to see the being missing. The White-Eyed being kicked the man's back and sent him stumbling to the ground before running with lightning speed and kicking him with force, causing the man to cry out as he rolled from the powerful kick to the gut. Herobrine then raised his blade over the human and slung it down quickly; however, he missed as the mortal swiftly rolled away from the strike and barely escaped the end of the blade cutting into the dirt.

The father of the kids coughed as he rolled onto his knees and looked up, he kept his sword firmly in his grasp as the being approached him with an unhurried stride. He pushed himself off of the ground an immediately prepared his sword as the shining diamond one came at him quickly. He winced as the metallic clink filled his ears, the iron sword in his hands vibrated strongly from the strike and he felt it getting heavier by the second. The man widened his eyes as Herobrine pressed down more with ease, he then grunted and hissed as the weapon in his hand was being forced downward from the strong press.

With him losing the hold he immediately moved his sword down and leapt back as the diamond blade swiped across his chest. The man hissed and placed an arm upon his upper torso from an open cut, it wasn't too deep but it hurt and stung badly like it had fire burning on the inside of the wide lesion. He took a few steps back as Herobrine narrowed his eyes and lowered his blade. The being suddenly flashed up in front of him and swung his leg around that impacted with the side of the guy's head and made him fly out a few blocks. He thought that he would get a break and rest for a second but Herobrine had other ideas.

As soon as he hit the ground and rolled onto his side he was suddenly hauled up by a strong force clenching onto his throat, a hard fist landed on the other side of his cheek and made him jolt in the hold and grimace deeply. Not only did the man feel something crack along the side of his jaw but he also became instantly dizzy from the rough blow that rattled every one of his bones to the very core. He tried to open his eyes and raise the iron blade that still barley clung to his hand, but as soon as he pried them enough to see two bright orbs glaring through him he was released from the hold and fell.

As he fell he was quickly swept back up with a coiled fist flying into his lower stomach which made him gape silently in pain as he flew back several blocks with the loss of air. The body tumbled as he rolled until he came to a stop in some thicker grass and laid motionless as his downed form heaved for air.

"Daddy!" The little child shouted as she began to run in his direction, this cry made the mortal draw enough breath and he leaned up as quickly as he could.

"Stop! Get to the house now!" He cried out as he moved onto his hands and knees and wrapped an arm around his pained stomach, he couldn't bare the idea of losing his kids, so he picked up the iron weapon that laid at his side and made an effort to stand. As soon as he stood he immediately noticed that Herobrine was walking towards the girl who was retreating to the house. She kept her terrified eyes on the being while she ran and ended up tripping on a dirt heap. She steadily pushed herself off the ground but was forcibly shoved back down with a hand that made her tremble greatly from the touch alone, some kind of strange energy made her seize up and she was too afraid to turn her head around so she laid belly flat and cried into the grasses that cushioned her face.

"Leave her out of this you monster!" The father growled as moved onto his shaky legs and swayed in his stance. He pushed his battered body towards the man in a swift sprint and he ran as fast as he could as Herobrine raised the glowing blade and held it over the child's back; looking like he was ready to drive the blade down. "HEROBRINE! GET AWAY FROM HER!" He screamed even louder with pure anger and concern, he moved despite the fact that his head ached strongly and everything in sight danced with a ghostly double in his line of vision. The motivation he had to move even faster was more than he ever had in his entire life, none of the mobs he ever faced posed this much of a danger to him nor his kids until now.

That was when Herobrine lightly tilted his head back to find the mortal up and moving again. The being turned around and charged straight at the man with footsteps that seemed to glide over the blades of grass like he was running on air. Within seconds he closed the distance between them and sprung up from the ground, the human stopped and gawked as Herobrine jumped up high into the air and positioned his blade down as he fell towards the father of the kids; using a fair amount of power to break through the human's one line of defense as he predicted the man would try and block him.

The man instinctively brought up his own blade to deflect the ancient evil but as the diamond sword landed down upon his; the iron sword shattered like glass, the fragments seemed to explode outwards. The man shouted out loudly as his arms shuddered wildly from the powerful strike. Some of the fragments flew passed his face and left tiny cuts across his clothes and exposed skin, some pieces even flung right into his flesh and he winced from the biting segments that nailed him. He cried out and fell flat on his back from the sheer force, it was like he was hit by an obsidian block that flew at him at in incredible speed.

He hissed as he forced himself to lean up, feeling not only sore but almost drained from the power that still quaked his body. His arms burned from the pressure and his body was still sore from taking a beating from the inhuman being. He lifted his heavy aching head to see two Herobrines walking towards him. He shook his head back and forth and placed a hand to his side and searched for his weapon on the ground. He was too rattled by his headache that he failed to realize that there was practically nothing of his sword left. He clenched his teeth as his hand patted on something sharp and he glanced down to pluck up a wooden sword handle that was missing nearly the entire blade length. After hearing the steps nearhim, he shot his gaze back up to see one solid Herobrine grab him by the ankle.

Herobrine started to drag the man across the open field, this one was fighter but he was also wasting his time that he needed to collect more souls with. This man had to die now.

"L-let go!" He squirmed in the hold and tried to lean up to slice away at the demon's hand with the remains of his sword, but he couldn't lift himself far enough with the strong jerks that Herobrine made which caused his head and back smack into the ground as he tried. He soon came to a stop and lifted his head to see Herobrine turn around and sling him up and over his shoulder before being slammed down on the other side of the being. The man silently gasped as his spine smacked painfully against the dirt, he then coughed and spat out blood that seeped from the corners of his mouth. As he drew breath he groaned; but that was cut short though as a heavy force landed on his chest and kept him trapped to the ground. He soon found it hard to breathe and struggled to take in enough air to meet his rapidly-pounding heart's needs.

Herobrine coldly glared down at him. This man was a bothersome thorn that ate away at his time.

The man coughed again and placed a hand upon Herobrine's foot and struggled to pull it away or even lift it, this caused Herobrine to sneer from his attempt and press in more. "You're a living nightmare you know that?" He stated and the being darkened his expression. He was afraid for his life but there wasn't anything he could do now. He wished for this fight to all be a dream but with the pain it was very unlikely. Herobrine was going to kill him now, the evil legend of a wicked man with powers of a god truly existed, and he was going to die in the hands of him.

"Tho-… those stories of you reeking havoc and taking innocent lives like the demon you are… are apparently true right? …" He sneered through his pained expression and shifted uncomfortably under the weight of the heavy boot. "So how many of these stories really happened huh? Like the one where you unleashed a horde of powerful and fiendish rotting mobs from the fabled Netherworld that destroyed an entire sacred village and slaughtered many innocent villagers, including the village chief?"

Herobrine deeply scowled and pressed in more with his heel and made the man sputter crimson saliva in his wail.

The mortal took a few breaths after Herobrine's heel lightened up on his tender chest. "That story ended with the chief's… the chief's adopted son and apprentice-" He wheezed as the pressure lightened up for a short second before it came back on him more brutally. "Killing you… in a heroic battle. You were vanquished." He finished with a gulp of air but failed to fully take it in as Herobrine lifted his foot and stomped it down roughly again, in rage from the old tale.

It was one of many lies that humans shared to their children to spread their mockery, fear, and strong hate for him. These stories used to end in terror with the victims perishing in the end, but with each growing generation; they started to change the story and mostly ended up with Herobrine himself being vanquished and destroyed in battle instead. He was tired of hearing it. He was more powerful than any human and defeat would never come upon him, ever.

Only with his battle with Steve did he ever fall and it was from dumb luck on the miner's end, not through sheer power though he put up a good fight. He shouldn't have fallen back then, now he will never fall again or let that opportunity arise again. Herobrine scowled deeply and snorted in fury. His vision started to fog and the faint smell of the human's blood was making his muscles tense and his head ache. Despite this; a dark grin formed on his lips.

"Why aren't you going to say anything?" The man beneath the demi-god's foot choked. "What about that story? It can't be real… if you are still here." He paused and waited for a reply but all he got was a sick glare. "Don't… don't have any nasty comebacks or remarks? What about an …answer? Just how evil are you monster?"

Herobrine dropped his grin and seethed, he sharply narrowed his eyes from the title he was just labeled. Just the word 'monster' alone made him grind his teeth and squeeze the handle of his blade so hard that he thought he was going to snap it. He then blinked over and over as pure white began to cloud his vision, the human's words only enraged him more and made it harder to concentrate or see through the thickening fog. He was losing it again.

He rammed the bottom of his foot into the man's chest once more and he heard a small crack from his strong stamp, the human obviously wailed in pain and his features contorted from the fracture and breakage of a few of his ribs. Herobrine placed one hand on the top of his head and applied pressure from the splitting ache forming, it was getting hard to see straight. He took his sword and pulled it back, ready to end the man for good. He needed to kill this man now without losing control or otherwise there was no telling what would happen to himself. Fits of blinding rage had taken over him the last time he claimed some lives and there was some points in that time when he felt like he wasn't going to be able to ever see through the fog ever again. All he remembered was anger and bloodlust. His head also hurt but it didn't stop his never-ending rage.

The being drew his sword up and held it over the man's upper chest with the blade tip pointing right over his heart, there was no point in toying with his prey anymore; he had many more souls to get and he wasn't even enjoying himself.

"Nooooooo!"

"Leave him alone you big meanie!"

Herobrine heard footsteps rushing towards him and he cocked his head to the right to see both kids running towards him, the little boy was the first to reach him. He cried out loudly with tears streaming from his eyes and then started to wail on the being's leg, pounding his tiny fists on the powerful man. The old hero didn't stop the annoyance pestering his leg, the child couldn't do anything to him anyways.

"Stop stop STOP!" He shouted louder and started to punch with more force and vigor as the being faced away from him. It was really getting annoying now. Almost to the point to where the white fog was clouding his vision even more. Herobrine growled at the little nuisance of a human child and used his free arm to shove the kid away and made him fall to the ground a few blocks away.

"What are you kids doing!?" The man beneath Herobrine's heel shouted. "Go, run away! Get out of here!" He plead for his children to run but they refused and ran back to Herobrine before slamming their small hands against him.

Herobrine deeply growled and this made the little boy stop and tremble, but the older sibling continued to hit him. He removed his foot away from the battered man and shoved them both down with force. He then pointed his sword towards the little girl.

"NO! Please don't hurt them! PLEASE?! Take my life but don't take theirs!" The man shouted louder and rolled onto his side, somewhat immobilized by the pain that flooded his chest. He made a weak effort to sit up but remained partially lying on the floor. He quickly reached out as fast as he could and grabbed the being's ankle.

The White-Eyed man swiftly re-adverted his attention to the father to see a deep pleading look on his face.

"They mean everything to me! Please, just let them go!"

Herobrine jerked his leg out of the man's weak hold and glared straight into the man's sorrow-filled auburn eyes. Then his bright white gaze moved onto the little boy who ran up to the injured man and wrapped his arms around the man's neck. The child stared back fearfully but with a hint of courage behind his widened-waterlogged orbs.

Herobrine suddenly hissed as a strong pang ate away at his brain. He then dropped the enchanted blade to the ground and wailed as the pressure grew, he squeezed both of the sides of his head and jerked his head left and right with his eyes tightly sealed shut. Something was wrong, the fog had faded a bit but now his head ached even more. He heard something dart by him and he looked down to see the little girl by her father's side, next to her younger brother. They both sobbed and sniveled as the examined the damages to their dad.

Something about seeing the kids by their wounded father's side seemed vaguely familiar. That courageous glint in the boy's eye was defiantly familiar to him.

He has seen something like this before.