“Do it, human! Kill me!” The Demon Queen, Lilith, hissed even as I held my spear’s sharpened tip at her neck.

Her reptilian eyes burnt in a brilliant mixture of red and yellow, her skin was pale and she had four large horns. Two protruded from just above her temples while the other two were just above her ears and they also pointed upwards. Loosely braided around them was her long, black hair and covering all of this was a burnt black veil.

Her muscular frame was clad in a cracked suit of black armour and held in her right hand the broken handle of a weapon. A long leathery tail could also be seen sticking out of her lower back.

As for me, I wore the tattered remains of my simple leather armour and wielded only a simple iron-tipped Spear.

My smooth brown skin, like Lilith’s, was lined with cuts although hers were deeper and still fresh with running black blood.

I had a head of short kinky hair and dark brown eyes which glared back at Lilith.

We found ourselves in the throne room at the centre of a grand Palace only it was littered with the corpses of Demons and Men. Their forms made visible in the dark of the Palace by the soaring full moon.

I looked into Lilith’s eyes and saw nothing but hatred.

That’s what she was. What all demons were.

Hatred made manifest.

I bit my bloodied teeth and readied myself to strike her but, just before I sent my weapon forward, I stopped after seeing the briefest flicker of fear in those red eyes.

“No! Your wretched immortal soul will live to suffer the consequences for all the blood that stains it so!” I yelled but just as I did, a single bolt of lighting shot across the sky.

[Mmm… disappointing.]

A booming voice sighed from above.

Both Lilith and I frowned at this but before either of us could react any further, a man suddenly appeared next to Lilith.

He had a tall, lanky figure and was dressed in a dirty red jester's outfit.

His face was covered by what appeared to be a marble mask that didn’t have a single Crack on it and was carved in such a manner that it looked like it was grinning.

Behind the mask were two eyes that seemed to burn with a bright white fire.

[I set all this up, waited hundreds of years just for the goblet of blood to suddenly run dry? An insult made even more so by your bizarre act of mercy!] The Jester snapped just as another bolt of lightning tore across the sky.

“Who are you?” I barked while pointing my Spear at the Jester who sighed as his shoulders dropped.

[Call me Bahati – God of Chaos but this moment really isn’t about me and I suppose you deserve some kind of reward for all your hard work so I hereby grant you a thousand years of life!]

A bright white Light filled the room, temporarily blinding me and by the time my vision returned, the Jester was gone.

[Blood will then again spill

When the soaring egg hatches.

Millions will hunt and kill

In furious matches.

But things will yet lie still

'fore your thousandth year passes.

A thousand years of peace

Before all else collapses.]

A thousand thunders boomed leaving the Demon Queen and I to simply stare at each other.

“What…?” Lilith and I tried asking but animosity quickly filled our eyes again as the shock from before faded.

“What trickery was that?” I growled but Lilith shook her head.

“I do not know.” She said and this made me bite my teeth.

“Well, no amount of magic will stop me from bringing you to justice! You will pay for what you did-“

“Alright.” Lilith sighed while dropping her broken handle.

“What did you just say?” I asked as his face twisted into a scowl.

“I surrender. Do with me what you will, human.” She said while standing up revealing that she was two and a half meters tall compared to my one hundred and eighty centimetres of height.

My eyes shook.

I looked around to see if she was planning anything but saw no traces of magic and she was far more badly beaten than I was.

I took a deep breath and pointed towards the throne room’s entrance.

“Start walking! I’m taking you straight to the Great General!” I barked and, much to my surprise, Lilith complied.

I kept my guard up while walking cautiously behind her.

We walked over the corpses of those who were supposed to be the triumphant heroes of what felt like an endless war.

Warriors, Mages and countless others had all succumbed to their wounds by the time Lilith was finally weakened and by that time only a mere Spearman remained.

Had I fought and sacrificed to get here? Yes but I avoided looking at the corpses around me because I should have been the one with his face to the ground.

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I would have given anything to have one of them be the ones who stood victorious.

I was no more than a mere Spearman, after all.

Whatever worth I had to offer the world could have easily be eclipsed by the lives that would have been.

I eventually led Lilith out of her Palace which sat in the middle of the Drakensburg Mountains.

Scattered across the dark rocky landscape were the corpses of gargantuan dragons and demonic titans with countless smaller copies beneath them.

This mosaic of death sat beneath a dark cloudy sky although the sun was soon to set.

I led Lilith down the central road that led south and down the mountain from the Palace.

However, just as we stepped onto the still-rumbling battlefield, a single bolt of lightning struck the ground a few meters ahead of me and my eyes widened upon seeing an old man standing on the burnt spot.

He wore a simple woollen toga which revealed his surprisingly muscular physique although one could also see the countless burns that lined his skin.

They resembled the branches of a tree and were most prominent around his eyes which were closed.

He had a head of wild white hair and his eyebrows were just as long and equally white.

Despite his physique, he walked with a cane.

“Why isn’t she dead?” The Old man asked curtly.

"She no longer posed a threat when the battle was over, Great General Anatrofí!” I yelled while standing attentively.

“Huh… and they called me a pacifist.” Anatrofí scoffed before walking up to us.

“Well, good job, young man. Now the victims of her tyranny will be able to judge her themselves.” He clicked his tongue before coming to a stop right in front of Lilith who seemed more despondent with each passing second.

“Alright. Stay still. I’ll take us back to the camp and don’t worry, young warrior, I will make sure your praises are sung for many years.” Anatrofí smiled and he wasn’t lying.

After we returned to the main camp at the foot of the mountains, Lilith was taken to one of the tents where she would be held while the general spread the word of what we had accomplished but he kept making it seem like I was the only one who defeated Lilith when it was the work of hundreds including his firstborn son.

I had no choice but to join in the cheers and the celebration because it had been years since I had seen everyone this happy.

Whenever someone asked how I was able to bring Lilith in alive, I told them that she came of her own will but this just led to people thinking that she succumbed to my willpower and that of all my fallen comrades.

This led to everyone giving me a title.

Chuma – Hero of Fallen.

I hated it.

I wasn't a hero.

I was just the last man standing.

And this wouldn’t be the end of it.

After the first celebrations at the mountainside camp ended, Lilith was taken to the capital of the Kingdom Aréna, Coliseum, where she awaited her judgement.

I was taken to see the three remaining Great Mages who made my nickname my formal title and gave me a house just north of the capital of the Kingdom of Arena and, after a bit, I decided to stop moping.

We had done it.

A thousand years of war had finally ended.

There was no better reason to celebrate and so I joined the kingdom in feasting and drinking.

Lilith was eventually sentenced to an eternity in a prison beneath her Palace which would go on to be rebuilt into a prison for other criminals.

The Dragons reclaimed the northern mountains and I spent most of my days visiting smaller cities and towns announcing our victory to the locals.

My hometown had been completely destroyed so I had no one and nowhere to go back to.

I was also the only surviving member of my squad so I often spent my days and nights with strangers.

The only person I got somewhat close to was General Anatrofí and, by extention, his family.

I attended his firstborn son’s funeral which was ironic because I always thought he was going to be the one that survived.

Everyone did.

He could wield lightning and befriended a dragon but...

Years passed.

I continued to drink, party and fuck my days away because when I wasn’t doing that I was in that big empty house alone.

Years turned into decades and it’s here that something very strange became very apparent.

I wasn’t ageing.

I attended Anatrofí’s funeral and everyone commented on just how youthful I looked but I genuinely had no idea what was going on.

Even the Great Mages grew curious and did all manner of experiments on me.

And what did they find?

Nothing.

Not a trace of magic or anything.

I was just… the same and that was the surprising thing.

I hadn’t aged a day since the war ended and although the mages made a big deal of this at first, decades more passed and when they kept running into dead ends, they gave up on me and simply titled me an “Anomaly”.

I eventually remembered a certain Jester and although I was in denial at first, I came to accept that he had somehow cursed or blessed me with a thousand years of life.

At first… I was glad.

More life was good.

I partied until I got sick of it.

Turned my home into an estate which hosted countless celebrations but I stopped participating after some time and focused on learning things that would have otherwise taken several entire lifetimes.

I learnt how to use every type of magic, learnt every martial art, learnt every language and every culture, I spent a few decades with the dragons to learn that they were really passive and meditative beings, and I sailed around the world a few times just to see if I could.

A few minor battles between the governing states of Men shook the world but it was nothing that ever needed my or the dragons’ intervention.

Hundreds of years passed and each subsequent year brought about great advancements in technology and medicine. Advancements that were made possible at incredible rates thanks to magic.

Swords and staffs were replaced by guns and tanks.

Demons sprung up from time to time although it was nothing ever serious.

My immortality went from being a great legend to a myth historians sometimes discussed over tea.

It’s not that people didn’t believe I was immortal, I just stopped going out after some time and thus my relevance faded.

At some point, the days began to blur together and although I tried making some friends and even thought of starting a family, I would often run home in panic at the thought that one day I would have to bury my friend… or my wife and son.

So I chose reclusion.

Decades of solitude passed as my life got closer to its end.

That is… until the nine hundredth and ninetieth year.

I was awoken by a loud banging which I knew was coming from the main door downstairs.

I knew its wooden frame and the sound it made when struck but the person who was knocking was really heavy-handed so I decided to get out of my bed to see who it was before they broke it open.

I made my way through my now mostly empty house and opened the front door to find a petite man dressed in a dark tuxedo.

He had neck long white hair, soft features and had eyebrows that were about fifteen centimetres long. They draped from the sides of his eyes and made him look really sleepy.

His grey eyes glared at me but I found it beyond adorable especially when he started frowning.

“What’s up, Fora? Are you here for some tea?” I yawned while moving aside to let him in.

“I’m not here to visit. You’re behind on last month's payments.” Fora yipped angrily but I dismissively waved my hand.

“Oh, that. Well, they weren’t going to give me a heroes discount so I told them I wasn’t gonna pay.”

“You don’t get discounts for taxes!” Fora cried and although I enjoyed watching his small self panic, I decided to go easy on him.

After all, his entire family had made it their duty to keep track of all the treasures of old… including me.

“Alright, don’t get those panties of yours in a twist. I’ll think of something or I could just sell some more crap.” I smiled but Eafora had seen this shallow smile countless times before.

So had his father and his grandfather.

“Tsk!” Fora turned around and left.

I watched as he walked across acres of unkempt grass and trees, making sure not to leave my spot until he got into his little yellow car.

I then let out a sigh and got back inside but just as I closed my door, another series of knocks assaulted my door.

I quickly opened it, expecting to see if Fora had learnt to travel as fast as lightning like his ancestors but no words could express my surprise as I locked gazes with eyes I hadn’t seen in almost a thousand years.

Standing in front of my door, wearing a grey tracksuit, was Lilith - the Demon Queen. Her eyes burnt just as brightly as ever and, although her horns were the same as before, her hair was much longer and now sat in a messy bun on her head.

“Hello, human.”