“First off, what is the Demonic Continent exactly? I’ve never heard of you guys before.”

The first pupil furrowed his brow. “Really? I assumed most humans would know of us after the war between humans and demons.”

“There was a war between us?! Can you go into detail about it?” I said eagerly. I’m curious about this war between these two races. We humans document every war that has happened throughout history. A war this big can’t be swept under the rug that easily.

“Before I talk about the war, I should address your first question about the Demonic Continent," the first pupil said. "The Demonic Continent is an unruly place. A place where only the strong survive, and the weak perish.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but that happens everywhere," I chimed in. "That phenomenon isn’t secluded to the Demonic Continent.”

The first pupil clicked his tongue while wagging a finger. “I wasn’t born yesterday. I am fully aware of that fact. What I meant is that this notion is kicked up several notches. In the human and athios land, there are strict laws that hold everyone in line. For the Demonic Continent, the laws are lax. You are free to do as you please as long as you have the power to do so. If you are bullied, you either rely on someone to fix your problems for you, get stronger and fight against the problem yourself, or stay weak and hope it passes.”

Well, sucks to be born in that place! Good thing I wasn’t born in that type of place!

“Territories across the Demonic Continent were split up between the mighty called Warlords. If Warlords wanted to plunder and snatch away land, they must fight the other Warlords and their armies on their own. Civilians would be swept up in the power struggle. Many kids became orphans, and their parents became childless. I too was one of those kids who lost their parents to these Warlords…”

The first pupil averted his gaze, staring at a nearby wall with pursed lips and slumped eyes. I felt like saying anything to him would do no good, so I just kept quiet, patiently waiting for him to continue.

“Excuse me. I drifted away there for a moment,” he mumbled under his breath.

“It’s fine.”

The man nodded and continued. “Where was I… oh right. We demons are considered bloodthirsty brutes by the humans and athios. Brutes who are uncivilized, barbaric, unclean… they gave us many names. To be honest, they aren’t wrong. Demons just can’t get along with each other, and especially not with the other races.”

…Yep. I can feel it coming. This is the part where he addresses the war between demons and humans.

“This leads me to the war. Care to take a guess on what triggered it?”

Hmm… With how the flow of the conversation is going and thinking about how we humans frequently go to war with each other...

“Let me guess. The Warlords weren't satisfied with the Demonic Continent and wanted to rule the other lands.”

“Bingo! You’re an intelligent human,” he said happily. “Yes, the Warlords wanted to conquer the Human Continent, a land rich with resources and beautiful women. For the first time in centuries, the Warlords were finally on the same page. It was to the point where some of them even conspired with each other, promising to split the lands equally in a fair manner. It's laughable… A race that spends most of their miserable lives fighting one another, working together! You could fashion a play out of such an idea.”

“And what happened next? Did they succeed?”

The somber man looked at me wide-eyed, caught off-guard by my question. I narrowed my eyes at him, getting a little uncomfortable with the staring.

“What? Was it something I sai-“

“Pfft! Hahahaha!” He was thrown into fits of laughter as his body heaved with every giggle. The first pupil clutched at his sides, curling his hand into a fist and smacking it against the ground.

“Oh man! That was hilarious!” The man wheezed, lifting a finger and wiping a tear away from his short eyelashes. “Pfft… Sorry! I didn’t know you were such a comedian!”

Solgac and I exchanged glances at each other, probably thinking the same thing. This is the person we’re supposed to be worried about?

“Whew… I think I’m done laughing," the man giggled. "To answer your question, no. They lost miserably. There’s no way the Warlords would work together in that short amount of time! They are way too prideful and battle-hungry.”

“Geez, sorry for asking then…” I scowled.

“The Warlords, once preparations were complete, sailed south toward the Human Continent. As soon as their forces landed on the shores, they proceeded with their conquest. They burned and looted every village they came across. Fields of golden wheat and ripe fruit turned ablaze, and homes became devastated. They took in prisoners and had their way with them. Slowly but surely, they were making progress toward their goals. When the humans caught wind of what was happening on their turf, they decided to unite against the invasion. Rulers who were enemies became allies, working under a common goal, and fighting a common enemy.”

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The man paused for a moment, smiling as he readjusted his posture.

“It took the humans a week to gather all their troops. They set forth and marched toward the Warlords. Once they arrived, the battle was already nearing its end. Can you guess what they foun-“

“The Warlords were fighting amongst themselves," I said swiftly. "The outcome was obvious from the start.”

The man nodded and continued. “The Warlords were slaughtering their own people, which isn’t surprising. It has been said that they were in a disagreement about how the conquered lands were distributed and decided to settle things with a skirmish. That little skirmish evolved into a blown-out war. The demon's ranks imploded, and so did their planning and people. It didn’t take long for the humans to clean up the remaining demon forces. After three days of constant fighting between the races, the demons had no choice but to retreat, thus ending with the human's victory.”

“The demons are as stupid as us humans. No offense, by the way.”

“None taken. You sure are critical of your race. Why is that?” The first pupil edged his head forward, waiting for my answer.

“Does it seem that way to you? I’m not THAT critical of us. Every race is the same. The only difference is our appearances. You demons have red skin, the athios have horns, and the humans are like the athios, but without the horns. We all give in to our desires, mostly to greed and pride. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

“I see...”

The first pupil folded his arms and shut his eyes as he hummed. Is he thinking of a question to ask me, or is he waiting for me to continue?

“Hey, first pupil. I got a question for you.” I said before he could speak.

“Hmm?”

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, and I want to hear your thoughts. What’s your opinion on the gods?”

At the word gods, the man’s eyes instantly shot open. For as long as we’ve been talking, the first pupil would have a cheery look on his face. Now, it’s the complete opposite.

“Those pieces of shit? Those old fogeys should just die in the middle of nowhere, their ashes strewn all over the deepest corners of Tartarus where they have no hopes of regenerating,” he hissed, his body visibly shaking in rage.

I scooted away from the furious man, fully expecting to catch a fist. “Damn, dude. The hell did they do to you to badmouth them like that? Also, shouldn’t you be worried about, you know, one of them coming down and enacting their so-called divine retribution?”

The man rolled his eyes and scowled. “Please, I welcome them to try. My master wouldn’t allow that to happen.”

Such confidence… Is his master capable of holding their own against a god?

“Why are you asking about those shit stains anyways?” He asked.

“I was just curious,” I shrugged. “Hey, since you seem like you know a lot about these gods, tell me more about them! Specifically, Demos.”

The demon tilted his head in confusion. “Demos? Why would you want to learn about the weakest god in all the pantheons?”

Wait, seriously? Demos is considered the weakest of them all? Then why the hell is he leading the other gods?

Before I could ask the man any further questions, his body jolted upwards. He then craned his head upwards to the ceiling, his eyes focused as he started muttering to himself.

“…Really? I can’t tell her anything else about them? Alright then. I’ll wrap things up here.”

I gave the guy a quizzical look just as he finished speaking to the air.

“Sorry about that. Master just told me I can’t tell you anything else about the gods. If you wanna learn more, you’ll have to talk to them directly,” he said quickly.

You got to be kidding me! Am I really being blue balled here?! That is so not fair…

“The master has just informed me that our little talk should end. You know what that means, right?”

“I do…”

When our talk ends, that’s when the fight between us begins. All we are doing is delaying the inevitable. I’m still a little nervous from before. The power he so proudly displayed to Solgac even if it was a little snippet still sent shivers down my spine! The first pupil’s mana reminds me of one person- a person I’ve fought before, although briefly.

“Hyup!”

In one fell swoop, the man sprung up from the ground and proceeded to stretch as he continued to address me.

“Are you going to fight with that dragon on your shoulder? Maybe a two-on-one? Or will it be one-on-one? I don’t mind either one.”

Instead of answering the guy, I just stayed put and watched him with a bored look on my face.

“Don’t want to give away your game plan, eh? Understandable. I would’ve done the same if I were in your shoes,” he said with a wide grin. After a few moments of stretches, calisthenics, and massaging his muscles later, the man was finished. He bent his legs and picked the sword off the ground, resting the blade on his shoulder. After confirming he was done, I silently rose from the floor and grabbed my rapier out of the Inventory.

“Before we begin, I would like to make a suggestion," the pupil declared. "Nothing too fancy.”

“Go ahead,” I replied, my eyes set on the black rapier.

“I thought we should spice things up a little. How about we just fight without using mana at al-“

“I refuse."

“I figured you would say that. Quite frankly, I’m glad you refused. Fighting without mana feels… wrong. It would be like fighting with one arm tied behind your back. We should fight without holding back!”

Is that how you see my refusal? If I agreed to that proposal, I would be at a severe disadvantage if I were to fight relying on my debuffed Stats and skills against this guy of all people. Would I have agreed if the pupils before him asked? Hell no.

“Alright challenger, or should I say Laila? Anyways, are you ready? You look ready.”

“Let’s get on with it already. Your master must be getting bored hearing us talk this much.”

“You’re right! I almost forgot that master is watching. With an audience, I should do my best to not disappoint them. If I want to take over their spot as Demon Emperor, I must give them a good show and prove that I’m fit to carry on the legacy,” he declared proudly, revealing his pearly-white teeth behind that fine smile. He removed the sword from his shoulder and leveled the blade directly at my eyes.

“Without further ado, the fight between the challenger and I will now commence!”