Caeldaemos opened his eyes, and a familiar scene was before him. A large temple surrounded by clouds. But this one was not as gaudy as the last one he saw. It was humble.

“We finally get to meet.”

Sitting in front of him was Io in the flesh. Her statue, though, did not do her justice as she was far more elegant and beautiful.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Io.” Caeldaemos replied, feeling nervous and shy.

Io giggled. “Just Io is fine. I am not for formalities.” With a wave of her hand, a teacup filled with a reddish liquid appeared. “Tea?”

“Oh, I’m not big on tea, but I’ll try it.” Caeldaemos picked up the teacup that looked tiny in his hand and took a sip. “Huh, I might have to give it another try. I know Lista likes tea.”

Io giggled once more before placing her cup down. She stood and moved over to the side. Getting down on her knees and bowed before him. “I’m-.”

“Don’t apologize for her.” Caeldaemos helped her back up. “You have nothing to apologize for. You have been helping me this whole time, haven’t you?” He asked, tearing up.

Tears formed in her eyes. “Yes. I began tracking your actions when I felt your presence in the world.”

They sat down on the same comfy couch.

“When I suspected that you were an other-worlder, I began investigating what had happened, requesting the help of an outsider who helps us world gods.”

“An outsider?” He asked.

“His name is Lord Alexander Tulsen. He can travel between worlds freely. I am glad that I can finally talk to you, as I am sure you have questions about your old world.”

“Well, I kind of let go of the past, but I can’t say that I don’t want to know if my family is alright.” He replied.

Io smiled sweetly. “Your family was devastated by your death, even your sister Karen.”

Caeldaemos laughed at the last bit.

“They mourned you, but your brother strived to push forward. His fiancé is pregnant.”

“Really?! I’m so happy to hear that!” He smiled.

“They plan on naming the child after you. Michael, if it is a boy, Michelle, if it’s a girl.”

“Damn, David.” Caeldaemos teared up at hearing what his brother was planning.

“Your parents visit your grave every Sunday, only to find it mysteriously clean and well-maintained.”

“Is that something you did?” He asked.

She shook her head and smiled. “It is actually your sister. She takes care of your grave quite well. Though she is quite rough with her words when she speaks to you. Your parents have yet to catch her as she knows their schedule.”

Caeldaemos laughed loudly. “What a damn tsundere. God, I wish I could have properly made up with her.”

“I should also tell you that she did find a good man.”

“Really? Someone I know?” Caeldaemos asked.

Io giggled, knowing he would love the answer. “It was your friend Danny.”

“WWWWWWWWWWWHAT?! No way! He was bigger than I was!” He laughed with his whole body.

“Yes. They met at your funeral. He and your other friend promised to finish what you started and gain the body of a strong man. Karen was moved by Danny’s actions, and they eventually got together.”

“Wow. That is amazing. I had hella good friends.” A wide smile came to his face as he fondly thought of them.

“Michael.” She placed a hand on his arm. “What would you like to do about my sister?”

“Honestly, at this point, I want to punish her in my own way, but at the same time… I want her to stop being such a garbage goddess. Have you heard or seen the things her ‘Chosen’ hero has done?”

She nodded. “Yes. In comparison to you, you are more of a hero than any of the heroes. Hana comes at a close second.”

“About her.” He started. “Why did you choose her? Actually, how do you gods choose your heroes normally?”

“We normally go through an interview process. We find someone with a strong will, something that could contribute to the growth of the world, and they must be willing to come. Syl has used a forceful method like she did with you before. She got into quite a bit of trouble for it.”

“If she got in trouble, why the hell did she do it again?”

Io looked down sadly. “She… She constantly lives in my shadow.”

“I guess I can see that. You are a superb goddess.” He commented playfully.

She smiled. “Syl is constantly compared to me. I do not like it and often scold anyone who would dare to tease my sister in such a way.”

“Sister complex?”

Io gave him an indignant look that made him laugh. “I do not have a complex over my sister. I just desire for her to find her own way. Orbus is brash and energetic. Tilra is mischievous yet holds herself to a high standard. Nanduun is elegant and refined, though he is a closet pervert.”

Caeldaemos snorted and tried to hold in his laughter.

Io sighed. “Syl tries too hard to be like me and sometimes does what she believes is necessary to achieve it.”

“She needs to learn a hard lesson.” Caeldaemos stared off into the endless distance of white clouds.

“Yes. Which is why I wish to support your efforts to undo her power.” Io turned to him.

“What? You mean the temples?”

She nodded.

“It was you, wasn’t it? The one who led to my evolution?” He asked.

Io looked away guiltily. “Was it a bit too heavy-handed? It would have happened whether I spoke to you or not. But it seemed like you were fighting against it, not wanting to change and possibly forget your past. A large part of me wanted to help you acknowledge who you are now.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

She placed a slender hand on his chest. “Caeldaemos the Benevolent. The first ever good Demon-Lord. I have seen how you have changed so many things. I want you to continue your adventure with your family. Also…”

“Also?”

“I would allow you to defile my priestess if she so desired it, which I believe she does.”

“YOU’RE THE SOURCE!”

With a ‘boop’ on his nose, she sent Caeldaemos away.

Io had a wry smile. “Good luck, the true hero.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos’ eyes shot open, and light beams peaked through the window curtains. He felt something warm and soft in his hand. Moving it a bit…

“Ah!”

He quickly lifted the covers to find a completely naked Sophia pressed against him, her large left breast groped by his left hand.

“Please be gentler, your lordship.”

His face full of shock and surprise, he Lord of Darkness’ed his big self out of the bed and against the wall.

Sophia sat up in the bed, pulling the sheet in a way to accentuate her… THE PENDANT! SHE WASN’T WEARING IT!

“Must you leave so quickly, your lordship?” She glanced down and saw the mighty Daemos was ready for battle.

“You…”

“Me?” She asked innocently.

“You two are just alike! I. Am. Leaving!” Caeldaemos stomped out of the room, upset at the incessant teasing.

Sophia looked down and sighed with a smile. “My goddess, you ruined my big chance. Well, there is always next time. Though… I don’t know if I could take such a… pfft. Demon-Lord.”

After using a cleaning domain, he changed into his usual outfit and went to the main hall. Focused on leaving, he stopped and turned back to Io’s statue.

He sighed. “I hope I live up to your expectations.”

He turned and headed out of the temple to look for his family.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hana entered the hall of the inn where four of the heroes were staying. They were currently on their way toward the capital of the empire. She had not yet received the news of what had happened, but the Demon-Lord appeared in the realm, and they were tasked to investigate.

Hana sat down next to Lindsey, who seemed like she was dreading something. Greggory was smiling while shaking his head. Haley was giggling to herself. Their support personnel were at the various tables around them chatting. Demons were speaking to humans on friendly terms. Something the Heroes enjoyed seeing.

“Did something happen while I was away?” She asked, accepting a drink from Lindsey.

Greggory shrugged his shoulders. “You could say that, yes.” He chuckled.

“Gabriel was attacked by an avatar of the Demon-Lord,” Lindsey answered.

“Oh! Is he… Alive?” Hana didn’t want to ask if he was safe since she felt he was garbage.

“Yes, he is alive. But he was cursed.” Greggory was fighting back his laughter.

“Cursed? Well, Lindsey could cure it.” Hana said, turning to the Saintess.

Lindsey sighed heavily. “I really don’t want to touch the area. Who knows what I would catch.”

“You have Cure Disease!” Greggory joked.

“I’m talking mental damage. No amount of magic would be able to cure that.” Lindsey spat.

“Um, could someone please explain?” Hana was lost.

Haley found enough time between bouts of giggling to answer. “He… He got cursed with impotence!”

“Oh!” Hana then thought about it momentarily, glancing at Lindsey, “Oh….” She now felt disgusted and understood why the Saintess did not want to cure him.

“Think of it this way. He would cause fewer problems being cursed in such a way.” Greggory pointed out.

The other heroes agreed with him.

Greggory raised a glass. “Even though we must protect the world from him, cheers to the Demon-Lord!”

The other heroes laughed and joined in on the toast.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Caeldaemos sighed heavily.

“It will be alright, Master Caeldaemos.” Mayor Toto assured the nervous Demon-Lord.

“I hope so. If this goes badly, I will most assuredly be hunted for the rest of my life.”

Liara and Mari opened the doors of the large town hall for everyone to enter.

Caeldaemos stood at the front, flanked by Mayor Toto and Sophia in her priestess robes.

Everyone took their seats, many wondering what was happening, others happy that Caeldaemos was present.

The doors to the hall closed as everyone was now packed inside.

Mayor Toto and Sophia stepped forward in unison. “We swear in the name of Io that we are not under the influence of any mind or spiritual control and maintain our free wills.”

Hazes of light passed over the two of them for all to see.

Mayor Toto stepped forward. “It was brought to my attention recently that a baptized child of our town had a disturbing entry in their status. They were a Follower of the Demon-Lord.”

People began to get scared and look about.

“Quiet!” Mayor Toto spoke with a force Caeldaemos did not expect, but everyone calmed down.

Sophia stepped up. “This is not bad news for us. In truth, it is good news. Io spoke to me in a dream to help the Demon-Lord, as he is unlike any of his predecessors. I swear by Io.”

The people of Hallibrush watched as the sign of the Divine Oath rolled over the priestess.

A man raised his hand and stood. “Um, how are they different?”

Sophia smiled. “He is kind and benevolent. This Demon-Lord has slaughtered monsters and protected the innocent.” She threw in a Divine Oath.

“Do you know the Demon-Lord?” A woman asked.

“I do. We all do. All of you have placed faith in the Demon-Lord without even knowing who he was. We have all come to love and admire him while he hid his identity for fear of being hated and ostracized.”

The people looked toward the front of the hall where an anxious Caeldaemos stood.

“Come forward. Have faith in them as they have in you.” Mayor Toto kindly held out his hand.

“Io has given you her support. No one can deny that and call you evil.” Sophia held out her hand to him with a warm smile.

Caeldaemos took their hands and stepped forward. Taking a couple of deep breaths, he began.

“I am sorry, everyone. Because of me, you have all been put in grave danger. When Sophia notified me of the Follower designation, I rushed back here. I was dropped into this world against my will. Forced to take on a role I never wanted. But it gave me the power to protect those I care about. I did not want to lie to all of you, but I knew what would happen if I told you the truth.”

After another deep breath, he faced them all. “I am the Demon-Lord, Caeldaemos the Benevolent. I do not desire the destruction of the world or the races. All I want is a peaceful life with my family and friends. I want to laugh, party with friends, and cry during sad times.” He paused and swallowed hard. “I leave myself to your judgment. I swear in the name of the goddess of the moon and water, Io.” A powerful silver haze rolled over his body, briefly blinding all in the room.

“Such a powerful light….” Someone commented.

“The goddess showed her support of him.” Another pointed out.

The people were beginning to get excited.

“He meant what he said!”

“It was the truth!”

“Hail the Demon-Lord!” One joked.

“Praise to the Demon-Lord!”

“Bed the Demon-Lord!” A young adult male going through puberty cried out, getting smacked by his mother.

One after another, the people of Hallibrush turned the meeting into a big happy joke.

Before long, everyone was cheering and laughing.

The celebration in Hallibrush had been going on for hours. One by one, the people of Hallibrush stepped up to Caeldaemos to get a Cloaking Domain applied to them so no one could see anything related to the Demon-Lord.

Caeldaemos finished with the last people on the list that Mayor Toto held.

“That’s everyone Master Caeldaemos.” Mayor Toto congratulated him.

“Not everyone. I still have one more person I need to see.” Caeldaemos replied.

“Who?”

“Yanni Philbra. He is a friend of mine who helped me greatly. I already messaged him earlier, telling him I needed to see him. We will be heading to his barony. Thankfully it is not far from here.”

“Oh! The good baron. Yes, he has been a great help to us. Which reminds me, what goals do you have to change the perspective of the world?”

“Hmm? Well, my goals, other than getting strong enough that the heroes won’t be able to kill me, is to spread my name, make strong connections, and make it clear to the world that I am not what they think.”

“Hmm. I see. I may have an idea. I will check into things and let you know via Crys-Link.” Mayor Toto said with a smile.

“Thanks. I recommend talking to Rana about it. She is good about polishing ideas.” Caeldaemos recommended.

“I will do that.” Mayor Toto left to speak to Rana, Liara, and Listamati, who were grouped together.

“See, did we not promise you it would work out?” Sophia bumped him with her hip.

“Yeah, you and Io did promise that. Thanks to both of you.” Caeldaemos looked about at the many smiling faces, and his face became tense.

“What’s wrong?” The priestess asked.

“It’s just... will I be able to protect all this? Sure, I’m powerful, but I am one Demon-Lord.”

“Well, you could always try the path of the others, build an army of monsters.” Sophia offered.

“Yeah, not gonna do that. I have heard the things they say. Nothing but ‘Destroy,’ ‘Kill,’ ‘Pillage.’”

“Many would say the same about you, yet here you are,” Sophia replied.

He didn’t like her answer. He had no way to refute it. Caeldaemos sighed, wondering if it might be possible for a ‘good’ monster to exist.

Caeldaemos saw his wives get excited and hugged Mayor Toto happily for some reason. “Hm. Wonder what that is about.”

Sophia saw the three ladies in a heated discussion with Mayor Toto. “Who knows? Though I am sure, you could get them to talk with that mighty wyrm of yours.” She teased.

He looked at her, annoyed. Io might have been teasing about the whole ‘defiling’ thing, but she did give permission. He shook the thought from his mind.

Caeldaemos forgot to ask his wives what was discussed, which would bite him in his thick behind later.