Staggering in the castle hallway, the lone demon tried to reach the end, where the room of his lord was located. Concrete and bricks covered all sides, leaving human sized barred windows to regulate air. The only source of light were the single filled torches on both sides of the walls. The hallway was empty, and the sound were the constant echoes of his footsteps. The creature was severely injured: ripped church ropes, bruises, cuts, broken bones, and a twisted left leg. His face was in a terrible state: a bleeding nose, nonfunctional right eye, and a fresh scar across the right cheek.

The demon had just returned from his mission and still held onto the features of an old bald man. His mission was to assist his brethren in finding the hero—the only creature that could harm the demon king. Like many others, he was just a minion within the massive demon army. The demon army consisted of multiple generals; they were the pillars of the demon army. They were warriors, who were personally chosen by the demon king for their talents, power, and strength. The castle, which the injured demon was in, was in the command of such a general. Since he served this particular general, it was common knowledge to first report his findings to him, before anyone else. The reward for accomplishing this task was unknown, but failure was undoubtedly death.

The walk to the door of his lord was both painful due to his wounds and ominous. There was no telling how his lord would react. Since the generals were chosen based on their gifts and power, they weren’t known to be normal. Many had certain fetishes and abnormal values that were rarely seen. His lord was one of those generals; a demon who desired to create the perfect being, and viewed every single organism as imperfect abominations. He only saw people, besides the demon king, as lowly trash. In some cases, they were just vessels that held the organic piece needed to forge the perfect being. He created twisted monsters from the bodies of others, which he described as beautiful.

The minion hoped that he would leave the room unharmed, and the object in his hands was his way of pleasing the general. Afterall, he had obtained it from the hero’s father.

Finally reaching the door, the demon knocked and slowly pushed it open. Due to previous experiences of other demons, their lord didn’t like to interact with people he considered trash, unless necessary. This includes and is not limited to peasants and servants. As such, the minion walked in with just a few knocks on the door. Once inside, he saw a figure wearing a white lab coat. Reaching at a height of 5 feet, the general had a pair of short horns on his forehead, a few wrinkles on his face, and a skinny body structure. He was bald on top, while white curly hair covered the upper half of his ears and back side of his head. His clothing was unbefitting for a demon of high standing: flip flops, shorts, and a white armless shirt underneath the lab coat.

His room, which was more of an evil laboratory, had all sorts of organs, bones and abominations stitched together using magic. Currently, he was working on his newest creation. The mad scientist was General Zabel von Avil or, as everyone called him, The Mad Doctor.

“Milord, I have urgent news.” Talking in his injured condition was difficult, but it was required if he wanted to increase his chances of survival.

“Strike one.”

That was the only thing Zabel had said. There was no interest in his voice as he kept working. The minion was confused by the reply. Yet, his fears of Lord Zabel didn’t stop him from continuing to speak.

“I have found the hero.” He continued.

“Strike two.”

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Still not heeding to the somewhat concealed death flag, the minion kept talking.

“The low life is located in a small village near the Raven Forest.” (demon priest)

“And that’s strike three.” Stopping his work, Zabel faced the insignificant demon. There was an obvious hint of killing intent in his tone. The injured demon had annoyed him by interrupting his godly creation of the perfect being. Such an unsightly act could only be resolved through death. Snapping his fingers, blue flames erupted from underneath the lowly demon. The victim screamed and tumbled to the floor. The flames gave off a sickening smell of demon barbeque as it consumed him, leaving nothing behind.

Zabel watched the suffering he had caused, while feeling refreshed that the nuisance was eliminated. He waited until the last of the flames were out before resuming his work. His eyes moved from the scorched floor towards his incomplete creation. He was about to return to his work, but something on the floor caught his attention. Rolling to his feet was the object that the deceased demon had held in his hand. Getting a closer look, the spherical object was a dissected human head: tan skin, brown eyes, black hair, and an excessive amount of wounds. The general picked up the head by the hair. In just a single glance, Zabel knew that the brain that’s encaged in the skull was the perfect and final piece he needed. His reaction was not based on instinct, but a special skill birthed from his obsession with making the perfect being. It was a passive skill that categorized all things, organic and inorganic, by their usefulness to the user. The ranking was similar to the status: the highest being SSS and the lowest being F. The brain of the human head was categorized as SSS; the best possible grade. Fresh brains were diffucilt to obtain, especially those that had to meet his specifications. For his perfect creation, the brain was the hardest component to find and it had, by fate, tumbled to his feet. This was a sign. A sign that the supreme deities wished for him to complete his project. He would not waste this chance. It was time for the birth of his glorious perfection.

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Jeetus POV

Saving my son from certain doom by using myself as canon fodder is such an overused anime tragedy trope. but it worked. I should have known that hairstyle was the death of me. I never imagined myself doing this either; it just happened. Before getting freaking stabbed through the chest, I imagined myself being the hardcore sensei training my son. Actually, even before finding out that he was the hero, I still planned to train him to fight and survive. I have all the equipment ready too. However, things didn’t go the way I planned it to. My son was the hero and I, the normal father, was stabbed. The happy life we had together was gonna end right there. My upcoming death was stuck in stone, so I had nothing to lose. Like any caring father (and not in anyway influenced by the shows I watched in my past life), I forced myself to stand and protect my child. He refused my advice to escape, acting like the protagonist I had always dreamed to become. This characteristic would be his downfall, and I couldn’t allow it. So I lied to him to let his guard down. The skill “Retired” needed physical contact on the target to activate. Hugging my son allowed me to use the skill without interference. This skill, in a simple description, takes the target to the nearest safe zone. In this case, was the adventurer's guild. My son disappeared in a flash of white light, leaving me and the demon behind.

Oh boy, was the demon pissed about that. At the condition I was in, winning was impossible. The demon would surely kill me for my actions so I did the most questionable thing. I turned myself into a ticking bomb.

Hold your criticisms and let me explain. You see... No matter what, I was going to die. Dying a pointless death would be… Pointless. So why not die in a blaze of glory. Trust me when I say I never planned to be a suicide bomber. This just happens to be the perfect chance to use a useless skill that I was scammed to get by a fortune teller, who told me I would need it. I couldn’t believe that she was right on the mark. Stupid fortune tellers and their stupid future seeing riddles.

I regret not living a bit longer in my second life. I had fun in this world of magic and monsters. Though if there was something I regret, besides the karma bullsh*t and having someone inside of me, is not getting a girlfriend. Who knew that in a world of demi-humans and demons, it would be so hard to find a girl. Hell! At one point in my life, I was even considering getting married to a monster girl. It was illegal by the laws of the Holy Light Church, but I was desperate. On the other hand, finding one that I’ll actually like is somewhat impossible since most monsters are instinctive murder machines who thought of me as food rather than mate.

Sigh. I’m sorry little brother. It would seem I couldn’t use you.

*Shink*

During my internal monologue, the priest took the chance to stab at me. The feeling of getting stabbed twice wasn’t the most pleasant sensation. Though with him this close to me, this was an optimal moment to blow myself up. Out of sheer reflex I grabbed the demon by the neck with my good hand and self-destructed using the skill “Final Resort”.

“What are y-” (demon priest)

*BOOM*