Year 5864 of the Lunaris calendar.
Cristal Palace, Capital city of the Holy Kingdom.
__ Midnight, Cristal Palace, Throne Room __
A slightly greying, middle aged General reported before the throne while kneeling.
“Your Majesty, we have won yet another border conflict with the Demon Lord’s forces.”
A scrawny, grey haired advisor bowed from the left of the throne as he spoke.
“I believe this is the best time to collect our army in full and march across the border to take back the cities in the North that have been list to the demons, Your Majesty.”
The North Border Defence Army General nodded at the advisor’s words.
“Indeed, Your Majesty, it seems the demons are weakened by the special pendants produced by the Arch Magus. They seem to slow down and become restless when near the pendants. Your Majesty, I believe we can finally reclaim our cities.”
The King, a little over 20 years of age with golden hair down to his waist, a pair of sharp, emerald green eyes and a soft almost feminine face held up his hand to stop the General.
“What do the Main Territory Army and North Territory Army Generals think of this proposal?”
The King’s sharp emeralds fixed onto 2 of the 4 people on the right of the red carpet which split the throne room in half.
North Territory Army General and Main Territory Army General walked out to the middle of the carpet before walking closer to the throne and kneeling just behind the kneeling North Border Defence Army General.
The contrast in appearance could not be clearer. The pudgy, pig like man being from the capital, always hiding in the safety of the city wall. Meanwhile, the tower of muscle, forged and trained while fighting demons day and night being from the North.
The pig stuttered from the close proximity to the smell of blood coming from the Generals of the North armies, practically screaming out his answer.
“I… I believe, t.that thiss, iiis a ggreat opportunity to to re re take the cities in in in the North!”
Being used to such antics and displays, the King simply locked eyes with the bald tower of muscle next to the pig. The man, a huge contract from the pig, simply nodded twice and smiled slightly.
Suddenly, the huge door of the throne room opened. Running in, a huge, long robe flapping in the air while a thin wrinkled hand held the brim of a large pointed hat. All purple in colour and decorated with star shaped runes and glowing patterns, the Arch Magus flew into the throne room like a hurricane almost knocking a few generals off their feet as he landed just behind the kneeling Generals.
“We have a huge problem! The Demons are training an immense amount of extremely high tier demons! The amount is at least 4 times the total troops of all 10 armies and the reserves put together!”
At this moment, the entire throne room became silent enough to hear the maid cleaning the room behind the throne who apparently dropped an item and fainted.
Everyone in the room turned pale as paper and some even trembled in fear of the statement.
The King looked at the Arch Magus with trembling lips and asked in a whisper.
“Are you sure William? How can that be?”
William looked at the King before snapping his fingers. A second later a cloud of light red dust flew in through the still open door and settled just tin front of Williams right foot. The dust swirled and started to rice. As the dust rose it shrank and solidified into a solid golden red cylinder about as thick as a wrist. As it reached the height of William’s eyes, the dust cloud had all disappeared leaving behind a beautifully staff topped with a pale gold crescent moon.
Grabbing the fully formed staff, William prodded the kneeling generals out of the way with the bottom before lightly tapping the crescent against the ground in front of the throne.
[Mirror]
A small wisp of silver light rose out of the flood and formed a circular mirror before the King. Looking at himself in the mirror he realised just how pale he had turned. Coughing into his fist the King looked at William expectantly.
“Please, I see myself enough every morning while getting dressed.”
William simply nodded and pointed at the mirror with the crescent tip of his staff.
[Image Transfer]
The view in the mirror changed to a bird’s eye view of a forest rapidly moving beneath the familiar. As the edge of the forest came into view the first signs of demons began showing. The Familiar stopped and focused closely on the demons at the edge of the forest. Large, red and black skinned with bony spiked shoulders, tails and ram like horns. Demons in every sense of the word. In pairs, these demons fought against each other.
At first the King thought the demons were simply fighting against each other, maybe a dispute between leaders of a conflict of interests. However, soon he saw a demon be thrown on the floor by his partner, the partner, instead of killing his downed partner shook his head and helped the other up onto his feet before getting into the stance the other was in and showing his mistakes by pointing them out with his own tail.
The King opened his eyes wide at the sight. William simply shook his head.
“That’s not all.”
Soon the familiar started moving again. More and more demons appeared from the top and moved down the mirror as the familiar flew further and further away from the forest. Soon the mirror was so crowded with demons that the King couldn’t tell which tail belonged to which demon. The familiar flew higher and higher and eventually reached the clouds at which point is stopped and lowered itself out of the clouds to give a view of everything bellow it. Everywhere the familiar could see was covered in demons. Right in the middle of the mirror, the Demon Lord’s castle stood like a fortress of black crystals growing directly out of the ground. The closer the demons were to the castle, the higher tier and stronger they were.
William looked at the King and shook his head.
“Gregory, we have to do it.”
King Gregory looked the William and widened his eyes.
“Are you sure you can do it safely? We both know how dangerous it could be and if anything goes wrong we could end up worse than we already are. Remember the Hero from the United Republic?”
William looked thoughtful for a second and nodded.
“I do, but nothing bad happened with him.”
William said sceptically. Gregory shook his head.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I just remember some of the things Father told me about him. One of the things he always talked about was something he called the ‘nuke’. He kept saying that all it would take is one of said ‘nukes’ to wipe the demons off the map. When Father asked what this ‘nuke’ is the Hero explained that it is similar to the [Supernova], [Explosion] and [Shockwave] spells put together with something called ‘radiation’. The ‘nuke’ is a device from his original world which was created by the best minds of his country many years ago to threaten other countries to stop a war that was going on. After the ‘nuke’ was taken to the destination by a flying creature called a ‘plain’ the ‘nuke’ which was shaped like a huge egg was dropped from high up in the air. He said that after dropping to the ground the ‘nuke’ would explode with such power and in such a violent way that buildings very far away would collapse just from the shockwave. After a demonstration of the [Supernova] spell he said spell looked like a campfire compared to the explosion of an ‘nuke’. Then one of the ministers of the United Republic remembered the dangers of the summoning ritual and did what you did with the [Mirror] and [Image Transfer] to show the Hero what happened in a neighbouring country after the summoning ritual failed. After seeing the flash of the mana explosion and the shockwave from the blast he said it’s nearly the same. After seeing the crater that used to be the capital city he said it’s exactly the same. So back to my earlier point. You realise that if anything goes wrong the entire capital will become a crater with nothing left of us or the surrounding walls and forts, right?
William stared at the floor for a few seconds before looking at Gregory again and nodding his head.
“I have long prepared for this to happen. In fact, I wasn’t the only one who was preparing. My master before me was preparing and your father before you was preparing too, as was his father.”
Gregory raised his thick brows and asked in disbelief.
“What was prepared?”
William looked up and thought for a while before liking at his hand and counting off the prepared items.
“1000 drops of magic infused blood. 3 leaves of the sacred elf tree. 2 branches with runes carved by the best beastman enchanters. 5 bars of BloodSteel and 4 Bars of ManaCopper forged and purified by the best dwarven Magic Smiths. Anything else? Let’s see. No… Yes, the ceremonial brush made with Unicorn tail hair. That’s all.”
Gregory looked amazed while the Generals looked at each other wondering what most of the items would be useful for other than a ritual.
“When can you start the ritual?”
William thought while tapping his fingers against his staff.
“It will take about an hour to move all the materials to the ceremony room and probably another 7 to finish preparing the magic circle. Then I’ll probably need around 2 hours to check everything so the earliest we can start is noon.”
It was Gregory’s turn to think while tapping his fingers.
“Get it done William. I’m counting on you.”
William nodded and disappeared with the flash and fizz of a spell.
[Teleport]
One of the Generals on the left of the carpet scratched his head while the rest of the Generals in the room sighed.
“Why did he have to burst in through the door like a tornado if he could have just done that?”
Gregory was lost in thought for the rest of the meeting as the Generals discussed the Army formation centred on the new Hero.
__ Daybreak, Cristal Palace, Throne Room __
William stood in front of the throne once again.
“I’m going to need some help with this magic circle. It’s too much to do alone. Not only is the circle huge, but the runes and crystal placement are too much for me alone. I need at least another 10 people who know what they are doing to help me.”
Gregory looked at William and spoke to the advisor standing next to the throne.
“Send for the 12 best ritual teachers in the Royal Academy. Have them be transported to the ritual room as quickly as possible.”
The advisor bowed and left, returning shortly after.
“The teachers have been sent for and will be teleported directly to the ritual room from the school’s meeting room.”
William nodded before disappearing again.
__ 10 am. Demon Lord’s Black Crystal Castle, Demon Lord’s Bedroom __
In a lavishly decorated bedroom full of expensive looking furnishings like chests, cabinets, wardrobes, cupboards, and mirrors, in the centre stood a huge canopy bed. With red silk and expensive, finely carved wood, the bed looked like it couldn’t belong to anyone lesser than an absurdly rich lord.
The room was dark, the dark red curtains covering the window drawn closed to prevent light from entering. In the silent room, in which only the soft and regular breathing of a sleeping person could be heard, the silence was broken by a soft knocking on the door.
“My Lord, it is already the middle of the day. I believe it is time to wake up. My Lord?”
The voice of an older gentlemen came from the other side of the door. Along with the soft knocking, his voice was also soft and intended to wake the occupant of the room without startling them.
“My Lord, it really is time to wake up now.”
Continuing like for a little over 10 minutes, the voice finally stops after getting no reply from the occupant for so long. Seconds later, just in front of the door on the inside, a glowing blue magic circle begins to draw itself. Finishing, the circle flashes lightly leaving a tall, grey haired, old man. His bask as straight as a sword wearing a pristine butlers uniform. A long red scaled tail handing just behind him, nearly touching the floor and a pair curved horns rising towards the ceiling gave away his heritage as a Red Dragon Demon.
“Really, My Lord, you cannot sleep all day. I apologise, but you simply must get up now My Lord.”
The butler dressed Dragon Demon walked across the room to the curtain covered window.
“I do apologise My Lord.”
Saying so the butler pulled aside the curtains, flooding the room with bright sunlight and illuminating the inside of the room fully thanks to all the mirrors. The butler tied the closed curtains and moved towards the bed in the centre of the room. By now, the occupant of the bed had woken up and periodically growled in annoyance. Standing at the foot of the bed, the butler parted the curtains revealing a mountain of blankets slowly moving up and down.
“You really must get up now My Lord. It is already noon.”
A growl emanated from behind the mountain of blankets. After the growl came a voice. The voice gravely and the tone sarcastic.
“Yes, Father.”
The butler showed no noticeable reaction aside from flicking the tip of his tail and responded.
“My Lord, I have told you many times, it is your responsibility to take care of your people, especially at a time like this.”
The growls were shortly replaced with a sigh.
“Fine.”
Out of the mountain of blankets came a hand. As large as the butler’s torso, the hand grabbed onto a post or the canopy bed. Shortly after came another, from the other side, grabbing the post on the other side. After another sigh, another pair of hands came out and held onto the post just above the first pair. With another sigh the bed posts creaked slightly as the mountain of blankets shifted and rose before sliding to the side. The mountain of blankets, turned out to be in fact a single blanket. The blanket slid to the side revealing another pair of arms. One supporting the owner against the bed while the other rubbed his eyes. The slight scratching noise of scales rubbing against each other rang out as the room became silent again. A pair of draconic wings stretched and folded back onto his back as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. His huge chest expanded with a deep breath as the bed posts creaked again, this time light brown runes lit up eliminating the creaking.
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Pulling himself off the bed with the help of the bed posts, the Demon Lord stood up. Standing at his full height of 5 metres, he towered over the butler who stood at an impressive 2 metres tall. At the sight of the Demon Lord out of bed and standing, the butler got down on one knee and bowed his head making himself reach no higher than the Demon Lord’s knee. Finished stretching all 3 pairs of arms and his back and legs, the Demon Lord looked at the butler.
“Come on, Cornelius, I already told you there’s no need for the theatrics when it’s only us. We have known each other for far too long for all this Lord and servant crap.”
The butler, Cornelius, stood back up and looked up at the Demon Lord.
“I guess you’re right, Maxwell, we have known each other for a long time. Long enough for me to know you are the most terrifyingly talented person I know, and also the biggest waist of talent in history. That’s why after today’s conference I have arranged for you to train with the troops.”
Sighing, Maxwell walked to a wardrobe. Opening the wardrobe, a white rune lit up the inside. In the wardrobe was nothing but a single suit of armour. Looking like armour plates stacked and overlapped over more armour plates, the entire suit emitted bloodthirst and coldness. With glowing brown, white and purple runes, as well as strange symbols glowing a soft blue, the entire suit looked like a walking fortress. The entire suit was a single part, attached and held together with well positioned plates and some runes. Made to be more of a restraint than protection, the suit opened at the back. The plates making up the back would slide apart and let the wearer in or out through the gap they created. The plates would then lock in place and be reinforced with runes and the strange symbols to eliminate the potential for a weak spot. The only thing missing was a helmet. However, Maxwell discarded the helmet due to the difficulty of equipping it. Fitting 2 sets of winding horns into a helmet was more time consuming and troublesome than it was worth.
Each of the 6 gauntlets, inlaid with a pair of purple and white spheres which are surrounded with a ring of the weird symbols, had the fingers tipped with sharp claws as well as equipped with a blade attached to the forearm. Each blade started just above the wrist and ended slightly past the elbow.
Each leg looked bulky and was heavy and heavily armoured for extra stability and protection. Added to either side of each shin, 4 long, extendable spikes allow the wearer to absorb additional mana from the ground as well as anchor themselves against heavy impacts that would otherwise nock them back or over. The boots were also fitted with retractable spikes in the soles to provide extra grip on uneven terrain.
The torso part of the armour, being the most heavily armoured, was densely packed with runes and symbols, making it the most eye-catching. The shoulder pads on either side, each inlaid with a white sphere which was surrounded with a ring of symbols, ended half way around the top of the shoulder to make space for the extra arms at the back of each shoulder.
Because of the size of the boots and the shoulder pads, the entire suit, without a helmet, reached the top of Maxwell’s head. Looking at the armour, Maxwell sighed.
“Do I really need more training with the troops? Didn’t they have enough last time? I’m pretty sure some of them went home with flashbacks of our fight each time they heard a heavier footstep.”
Cornelius looked at the armour too, thinking of the soldiers Maxwell had traumatised after he got out of it. Looking at Maxwell, Cornelius decided to save this training group.
“This time, you’re definitely not allowed to take it off until the training finishes.”
“Maxwell patted the left shoulder pad with one of his right hands and sighed.
“I guess you’re right, I’ll have to stay in it until the end.”
Cornelius looked at his mana watch and shook his head.
“We have to go. The conference starts in less than 10 minutes.”
Maxwell turned to Cornelius, pointing a thumb at the armour over his shoulder.
“I’ll wear it to get used to it a little, so I don’t break someone during the training like last time.”
Cornelius nodded.
“Good idea. We really don’t want a repeat of last time.”
Maxwell nodded and turned back to the armour.
“One more time, old friend. We get to fight together again after so many years. Even thou you’ve never seen a real battlefield or a real fight, neither have I. Till now, the strongest opponent we have ever faced could only pierce the first layer of plates of your shoulder joints.”
Maxwell walked around the armour to the back before pressing his hand against a set of white runes on the centre of the back.
The entire suit lit up in blue. All the strange symbols on the armour crazily pulling in and absorbing the free mana from the surroundings. The back planes slid apart, letting Maxwell in after a short while.
Sliding a leg into the armour, Maxwell adjusted his foot into the armour boot before sliding his other leg in. Putting his feet into the boots and sliding his arms into their corresponding armour sleeve, Maxwell pulled himself into the armour with his head between the shoulder pads. Standing up straight, Maxwell pulled his wings close to his back to let the armour close around him.
Hearing the plates on his back slide into place, Maxwell circulated his own mana around the armour to gain full control and release the lock runes that keep it standing up right while not being worn.
Stretching his arms and moving his legs, Maxwell adjusted his movement speed to the restrictions of the armour. Finished with his movement, Maxwell checked all the armour’s functions.
The 2 orbs in the shoulder pads lit up, producing a thick mana shield around the entire armour.
The 6 purple orbs in the gauntlets lit up, materialising weapon after weapon: Broad Swords; Long Swords; Katanas; Claymores; Bastard Swords; Spears; Pikes; Lances; Glaives; Scythes; Maces; Morning Stars; Battle Axes; Great Axes and many more.
The 6 white orbs in the gauntlets lit up, making all the weapons float. Each weapon began dancing in the air, performing complex battle manoeuvres under Maxwell’s control.
The 2 white orbs in the shoulder pads flashed once more. The armour became less and less noticeable, blending in with its surroundings, reappearing seconds later as Maxwell stopped the ability.
Flashing once more, the 2 shoulder orbs emitted a bright light. When the light settled a second later, Maxwell and the suit had already teleported to the door of the room. Unlocking the door, Maxwell walked out, heading down the corridor to the throne room.
“Come, Cornelius, let’s not keep the rest waiting.”
Cornelius hurried to follow Maxwell, closing the door behind him.
__ 10:30 am. Black Crystal Castle, Throne Room __
Before Maxwell and Cornelius arrived at the throne room, the door opened. All eyes in the room, demon of all shapes waiting to report to the Demon Lord, fell on the lone figure strolling down the red carpet.
Illuminated by the sunlight coming through the huge windows on either side of the room, the figure calmly walked. A few demons stared whispering to each other.
“Isn’t that His Majesty’s new favourite?”
The demon next to him hushed him.
“Don’t talk like that about her. Are you tired of being alive? If she hears you, you’ll just be another soul for her to enjoy.”
Looking at the figure walking on the crimson carpet, towards the throne, many demons couldn’t take their gazes off.
Lightly armoured, high heel leather boots. Long, slim, toned, lightly tanned legs. A red skirt, ending just above the knees. Moderately wide hips, hypnotically swinging left and right with each step. A short, leather jacket covering only the chest, revealing a thin waist, and toned, perfectly flat stomach. Huge breasts threatening to burst out of the jacket with every step. Thin shoulders and arms. Red finger nails. Slim neck, adorned with a small leather collar. Oval face, blood red lips and cute, petite nose. Large, watery, golden eyes with slit pupils. Long eyelashes and thin, arched eyebrows. Flawless, skin and long, silky red hair. A pair of cute, pointed, red fox ears twitching and moving on top of her head. The long red fox tails swaying along with her hips identified her as one of the very rare Fox Demons, Kitsune. However, the number of tails, 15, to be exact, identified her as not just any Kitsune but the Kitsune Goddess. The creator and patron of all Kitsune.
She looked around the room while walking, winking, and licking her lips at the ones she spotted looking at her chest.
Reaching the end of her journey, after climbing the steps to the throne, she simply sat on the huge throne meant for Maxwell.
Peering around the room with her golden eyes, she would occasionally lick her lips and sharp canines after catching sight of a Pig Demon, Orc. Every Orc in the room trembled instinctively, like prey before a predator.
Her left ear twitched twice, after which she hurriedly checked her skirt, jacket, and hair. Moments later, the door opened once more. This time, the figure took up the entire door to the throne room. Walking in with unnaturally quite steps for his size and supposed weight, Maxwell walked into the throne room with unhurried steps. Looking at either side if the crimson carpet, Cornelius nodded from behind Maxwell.
“It seems all of the important people that should be here with the exception of the leader of the elite squad are here, My Lord.”
Maxwell nodded at Cornelius’ words.
Looking towards the throne Maxwell and Cornelius caught sight of the Kitsune Goddess waving and seductively smiling at Maxwell.
Both with different expressions, spoke at the same time.
“The naughty kitten’s here too.”
“The waist of space is here too.”
As Maxwell waked towards the throne, every demon in the room got down on one knee.
When Maxwell reached the throne the Kitsune silently lid off the seat to let Maxwell sit down.
While sitting down Maxwell looked at the Kitsune.
“Hello Kitty, why where you in my seat again?”
The Kitsune blushed and puffed up her cheeks.
“I told you to only call me that when we’re alone. My name is Crystal.”
Maxwell leaned back in his throne. Crystal took the opportunity climb onto his lap and sit herself comfortably on one of the armour plates on his thigh.
“Kitty, this is not the time for that. maybe after my training session, but not right now. I’m going to be a little busy for now.”
Maxwell was reaching to pick Crystal up and move her to the floor next to his throne. As soon as his hand was close enough, Crystal pounced at his hand. Climbing around his wrist so that he couldn’t grab her, she climbed up to his shoulder in a flash. Sitting on the left shoulder pad, she dangled her legs onto his chest. Pressing her hand onto the side of his head, just below one of his eye, she smiled and patted his face.
“Don’t worry, I’m here to help you with this.”
Maxwell simply smiled.
Cornelius, standing on the right of the throne, sent Crystal a glare before calling out the first demon waiting to report.
“We have lost another border battle. The Alliance seems to have agreed on summoning a Hero to complement their strategy of breaking through the borders and defeating you, Your Majesty.”
Maxwell looked thoughtful for a few seconds before raising his head.
“Send in more lowest level grunts. Give them something to do, without hurting them too much.”
Cornelius looked at a demon on the right of the stairs.
“Bring a list of all tribes who have just finished their mating season and those with populations over the set marker.”
The demon nodded and bowed to Cornelius, then to Maxwell, before leaving in a hurry.
Cornelius looked at Maxwell while in thought.
“Shall we disturb this summoning too?”
Maxwell shook his head.
“No need. The Holy Kingdom, the focal point of the Alliance, is to large to have their capital city along with their king wiped out. It would cause too much trouble. It would be too boring for too long before they managed to reorganise and take control of the area again.”
Cornelius nodded after thinking.
“As you say, My Lord. We will let them summon their Hero.”
Maxwell nodded.
__ 11:30 am. Black Crystal Castle, Outdoor Training Field __
Maxwell looked around him. Surrounded on all sides, standing in a small 10 metre circle, he waited for all the demons around him to prepare and be ready.
“Is this all of you? This might be easier than I thought it will be.”
Cornelius shouted over the demons.
“Don’t let him scare you! He’s only talking to lower your moral! Dint let his words scare you! You can beat him! As long as he wears that armour, which he is not allowed to take off for the duration of the training, he cannot use magic! Attack from all sides. Attack from all angles! Tire him out and claim your prize!”
At the sound of the word ‘Prize’ all the demons released a terrifying howl of a battle cry and rushed at Maxwell. Cornelius’ plan was simple. Don’t let Maxwell take his armour off to restrict his absurdly powerful magic and movement speed, then set a night with Crystal as the prise. The plan seemed to work, as, very quickly, Maxwell was attacked relentlessly from every side and angle possible.
Maxwell used his 6 longswords to fend off all attacks aimed at sensitive spots like his eyes and nostrils while letting the rest harmlessly bounce off the armour plates.
__ Noon, Holy Kingdom, Cristal Palace, Summoning Room __
William stood beside Gregory, looking over the enormous magic circle on the floor of the summoning room.
“What do you think Gregory? I took the liberty of setting up the mass summoning instead of the single summoning. If we are to beat the demons and reach the Demon Lord’s Castle, we have to have enough individual strength and enough strength in numbers to reach Him and defeat Him in one go.”
Gregory looked over the magic circle while listening to William.
“I agree. We need enough strength in each Hero and enough Hero’s to reach the Demon Lord and defeat him before he can finish training his demons and sending them towards us.”
William nodded at Gregory’s words. Gregory looked around at the mages running around, becoming slightly impatient.
“Let us proceed as soon as possible.”
William nodded and looked over the room.
“Stations everybody! Start the summoning as soon as we’re ready!”
The room became peaceful in a few seconds. All mages in the room stood at specific spots around the magic circle. William arrived at his spot and began chanting.
“Oh, Goddess of Light, please hear our words. Our plea, hear our distress and send saviours to aid us in our quest. Our endeavour to free ourselves from the shadow that is the Demon Lord. We beg for your help in slaying the raging beast that threatens out people and our land. We require your aid and the guidance of the light you bestow upon those you deliver to us with your great power. We require heroes who have the potential to grow stronger than the current Demon Lord. We beg for able soldiers who will willingly fight for our people and our freedom.”
The magic circle on the flood began pulsing with light, alternating between blue and green. The mages around the circle began pouring all their mana into the circle to activate the formations engraved in front of each of them.
__ Earth, Year 2030, Japan __
Kanda Eizan, Shima Kazuki and Arakawa Konosuke were on their way home from work. As average, Japanese 27/28-year olds, they were hurrying to get to the train station before the train arrives. As game designers and creators, the 3 were very into the fantasy and sci-fi genera. The 3 worked for one of the world’s leading virtual reality development companies.
The VRMMO took over the entire world when it was first introduced as a working, fully immersive, dive game. The helmet designed by the lead researched on virtual reality tool off like a rocket, flying off the shelves at launch day.
Eizan looked at Konosuke, who was hurrying ahead of the other 2.
“Where are you running to all of a sudden? We all live together, so why are you running ahead so quickly?”
Konosuke turned to look at Eizan, then at Kazuki, then back at Eizan.
“Do I really have to explain that I’m about to piss myself? You saw how much coffee I drank today. I’m surprised it only caught up with me now.”
Eizan looked at Kazuki with a raised eyebrow.
“Did you know?”
Kazuki nodded twice.
“Yeah, I figured since I didn’t see him go since lunch time.”
Eizan scratched the back of his head.
“I didn’t notice. Sorry. We should hurry then, I heard its bad to hold it in for too long.”
Konosuke and Kazuki looked at each other, sighing at the same time.
“Let’s go. There are public toilets at the train station.”
“Fine, Hurry up.”
__ Japan, Train Station __
Konosuke ran into the public toilets of the train station.
“I feel like I’m getting younger. Is that normal?”
Eizan replied whole washing his hands from the sauce of the bun he bought and ate along the way.
“It is if you held it in for too long, which is bad for you.”
Konosuke splashed Eizan with water while washing his hands.
“Please, just stop with that, OK?”
Suddenly, the floor starts to emit a bright blue and green light.
Konosuke looks at the flood, studying the patterns of the magic circle that appeared under his feet. Eizan looked at the floor to admire the colours given off by the magic circle that appeared under his feet. Kazuki looked at the other 2 and checked if they also have a magic circle under their feet like him.
“You guys seeing this too?”
Eizan lifted his face to look at Kazuki.
“No fair, your lights are brighter than mine.”
Konosuke held his head in his hands and muttered.
“Not just his lights, he’s brighter in general. You’re just an idiot.”
Kazuki looked between the 2 and sighed.
“I don’t remember putting my VR glasses on, so could one of you please explain why I’m seeing magic circles on the floor under my feet?”
Konosuke and Eizan looked at Kazuki, looking at the light under his feet then back at their own, comparing them to each other’s.
“He’s right, you know. Yours seems to be shining the brightest.”
Kazuki sighed again.
“That is not the most important part right now. Have either of you noticed that aside from your head, you can’t move any other part of your body?”
Konosuke and Eizan panicked and looked like they were struggling. Red faced Eizan looked at red faced Konosuke.
“You can’t move either?”
“No, of course not, genius.”
Kazuki opened his mouth to speak, but just as he was about to say something, the magic circles on the floor flashed. The 3 men vanished, leaving only a wet stain on the floor where Eizan held his hands after washing them on the way to the drier.
__ Black Crystal Castle, Outdoor Training Field __
Surrounded by over 200 breathless or unconscious demons, Maxwell looked at Cornelius and Crystal beside him.
“What was the point of that last part?”
Cornelius looked at Maxwell with a huge smile.
“What might you be talking about, My Lord?”
Maxwell sighed.
“The part where you had me use 2 of my hands to hold up a tied-up Kitty above my head?”
Cornelius looked at Crystal beside him, who also had a huge grin on her face.
“It’s so fun watching the small ones climb you like some kind of tower and try to seriously take your eyes out when they get fired up.”
Maxwell sighed and shook his head.
“That was not fun.”
Crystal laughed and pointed at the fallen demons before pointing at a helmet impaled on the tip of one of his horns.
“I would say if was fun for them, and you got to learn some restraint and self-control, you ‘raging beast’. I still find it hilarious how the Alliance races refer to you.”
Maxwell, about to say something shook his head and locked his eyes onto the floor beneath his feet.
Crystal, also about to ask what was wrong, locked her eyes onto the floor below her feet.
Cornelius looked worriedly at the pair.
“Is something the matter, My Lord?”
Maxwell cast one eye at Cornelius.
“Just a little summoning. This is going to be fun!”
Maxwell walked towards Crystal.
“Kitty, do you mind doing our thing for me?”
Crystal looked at Maxwell with sharp eyes. Many thoughts flashed through her eyes. She blushed and looked at the floor, playing with the pebble in front of her with her boot.
“I mean. If you really want to. I could. But only for you.”
Maxwell got down on one knee in front of Crystal and extended a gauntleted hand.
“It would make me very happy if you would do it for me.”
Crystal looked up at Maxwell and looked into the huge, golden eye looking at her own.
“It would be my honour to please My Lord.”
Crystal put her hand on top of one of Maxwell’s fingers, activating one of her racial abilities, shapeshift. Pulling on the mana supplied by the walking fortress that is Maxwell, she willed her body to grow to the same size as Maxwell himself.
Looking on from the side, Cornelius muttered under his breath.
“I didn’t think it was possible for them to be bigger.”
Maxwell looked up at the blushing face of Crystal, who was now the same size as him. Getting up from his kneeling position, Maxwell stood up straight. Stretching his arms after the training, he put one right arm around Crystal’s right shoulder, one right hand on her lower back and the last one on her perfect round butt.
Crystal leaned her head to the right, resting her cheek on Maxwell’s hand that was on her shoulder. Her right hand went to her right side where Maxwell’s fingers curved around her slim waist. Meanwhile her left hand tapped on Maxwell’s hand that was resting on her butt.
“You tease.”
Maxwell sent Crystal a wing with his golden eye, making her blush even further.
“No time for that. We have a summoning to crash.”
“I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they summon the one they are trying to summon hero’s against.”
At that moment 2 overlapping summoning circles appeared under them. Maxwell looked at Cornelius and nodded.
“I shouldn’t be too long. But in case I am gone for a while, just make sure not to send any of the mid or high tier demons out. I would hate to have to crush my own people.”
Cornelius nodded and bowed.
“I understand, Your Majesty. Please, have fun and come back safe, and preferably stronger than you are now. It really is a shame to waist such monstrous potential and talent.”
Maxwell nodded and closed his eyes.
“I understand too, old friend. I will do my best. I want to see the look on your face when I come back and have improved to way beyond your predictions.”
As Maxwell finished his words the magic circles flashed and took Maxwell and Crystal to their destination.