There was a house deep inside a jungle. Outside that jungle lay a small village — a quiet part of a vast empire.
In the jungle, many beasts roamed — predators and beings of incomprehensible power. The house hidden within belonged to someone whose entire bloodline had been wiped off the face of the world.
The house was built from fine, dark red wood. It was large, with many windows, two balconies, and more. The door creaked open, and a man, no older than twenty-five, stepped outside.
Suddenly, a nearby beast caught the man's scent and lunged. He couldn't react in time — he was pinned to the ground with the beast looming over him. His entire body trembled in fear. He saw death coming, scythe in hand, ready to reap his soul.
"Ahhhhhhhh..." the man cried out in pain as the beast tore a chunk of flesh from his body and devoured it.
But before the beast could bite again, it was slammed into the ground by another creature. The two began to fight savagely. The man, trembling and bleeding, crawled back inside the house.
What was strange, though, was that his wounds began to heal. His body — still shaking from the trauma — started regenerating. He stared in shock at the impossible recovery.
Then, suddenly, **they** died.
They coughed up blood as they fell — their end was quick, almost... "merciful."