My time is running out. I only have two years left to live.

My name is Igneel Lamprok. I am an old crouton who went into exile to devote himself to his passion.

In my 80s, I spend most of my time researching magic.

I may not seem like it now, but decades ago, I and my companions defeated the Demon King and brought peace to the world. As a result, the Demon King's army was greatly weakened, but it did not last long.

After his death, the demon king will be reincarnated 100 years later and his army will become more formidable again.

Since his death until today, 50 years have passed. There are only 50 more years left and that concerns me greatly.

In times of peace, men become weak, they give in to distractions and no longer pay attention to the threats hovering over their heads. The new generation of mage and other classes are lagging behind the level of the old generation. 50 years later, the Demon King will win the battle if nothing changes.

This is why I isolated myself from the rest of the world to take refuge in this little laboratory lost in the middle of the forest. I'm working on some very complex magic that could change the course of the battle that takes place 50 years from now.

I want to develop a spell that will allow me to create invincible soldiers using demon cells. With this spell, I could assign them a consciousness and order them to protect humans and those even after my death.

However, my time is running out. During the battle against the Demon King, my companions and I were cursed. This curse has drastically reduced our lifespan.

To this day, I am the one and only member of our group still alive.

I was able to survive by implanting myself with demon cells and continuously using a cell regeneration spell. But I'm approaching the end of my existence, I won't be able to hold on much longer.

Time is running out, I have to hurry.

I started by again drawing a magic circle on the ground which I imbued with my mana. It took me around thirty years to succeed in making this circle.

Water, earth, I created these two elements using a spell and mixed them. I get some mud which I spread on the center of the magic circle. The mud stirs as it comes into contact with the mana present on the circle.

I then walked towards the table on my left and took one of the bottles on it. It was not just any bottle since it contained the cells of a demon and not just any demon. It was that of the demon king himself.

This is one of the opime remains that I was able to obtain after our victory in the fight against the demon king.

I took a small portion of these cells which I then poured onto the mud present on the magic circle.

My circle changed color and turned black.

A miasma began to envelop the room. The mud on my circle levitated and took the shape of a black sphere.

After tense seconds, the miasma that enveloped the room began to be sucked into the sphere until I could no longer feel its trace.

Suddenly, the sphere began to grow until it reached a circumference of 2 meters. Then it gradually cracked.

This is the moment of truth.

The sphere continued to crack and a few seconds later, it shattered. Dust came out from inside and covered the entire room.

Exasperated, I let out a sigh followed by a few coughing fits. Once again, it was a failure.

I went to the next room after blowing out my clothes. I took a broom and a dustpan then came back and cleaned up all the mess.

I was really disappointed with the result and it had a big impact on my morale. I couldn't figure out what I was missing to make everything work like clockwork. It wasn't a problem with visualization, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

But then why? I kept repeating it to myself.

While I was cleaning up the dust, my broom accidentally touched something on the floor. At first glance it looked like an organ, but it was much too distorted for me to know exactly what organ it was.

In addition, it was black in color, it looked like it was charred. It was the first time since my first tests that an organ had appeared.

I crouched down to observe him better. Closer, I had doubts. It had nothing to do with an organ.

I decided to infuse a little of my mana into it and it started to move. It only lasted a few seconds.

I cracked a smile. I collected my notebook and wrote down all the stages of my experiment. I had just taken a leap forward in my research and that could only rejoice me.

After I finished writing them all down, I took the unidentified object and put it in a jar.

In a good mood, I did the cleaning. The room was clean again.

My morale was back to normal. I was crazy excited. Maybe if I looked even deeper, I could actually hit the mark.

I traced a magic circle again, but this time, I decided to slightly modify its constitution.

Just as I was about to imbue it with my mana, I felt that a few individuals had broken through the magical barrier that I had erected around the laboratory.

Who could these people be?

These unidentified people were approaching my location far too quickly. They knew very well where they were going. The hypothesis that these individuals would be here to attack me had to be taken into account.

So I infused a little of my mana into the circle I had just drawn, then I left the warehouse to meet them. If he was going to have a fight, I preferred it to be far from my laboratory. I didn't want to risk destroying it and losing several years of research.

When we passed each other, they put distance between us and took combat postures.

I had two mages in front of me, a priest and a swordsman. They were fighters for the empire. I knew it when I saw the design of the golden eagle drawn on the swordsman's silver armor.

“Is that you Igneel Lamprok? '' Asked the young swordsman.

Apparently he seemed to know me. Or at least he was looking for me.

“May I know what a knight of the empire accompanied by two mages and a priest is doing in this forest? ''

I took the initiative in the discussion by ignoring his question. The most important thing for me was to know their true intentions.

Why did they know Igneel was around? How do they know this place? And, what do they want from me?

All these questions were repeating themselves in my head and I needed an answer.

“It’s a forest, we’re not free to go wherever we want. ''

The young swordsman answered my question casually. His arrogant appearance irritated me.

“If you don’t know, I consider this area my territory. You saw the barrier I placed but you still crossed it. ''

''Ah you want to talk about this barrier... We didn't do it on purpose. ''

These words left a bitter taste in me. He didn't care about me at all.

''Besides, it's a bit pretentious to proclaim yourself master of these places. This forest belongs to the empire. As a soldier of the empire, I have the right to go wherever I want, don't you think? ''

''We haven't chatted enough like that, Rufus. It's time to accomplish what we came here for. '' Said one of the mages who accompanied the swordsman.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

''I know, I was going to do it...'' he said with an annoyed look.

He then turned to me.

“Sorry for the inconvenience, old man. We are here because the emperor asked us to. ''

“The emperor? ''

'' Yes ! It seems that you are experimenting in these woods. The emperor knows this and complains of not receiving a report concerning the said experiments. The emperor and the majority of the members of the royal council fear that you are secretly practicing black magic, which is prohibited by the law of mages. So we are here to check if the emperor's doubts are real. We therefore ask you to cooperate and let us explore your laboratory. ''

“If I understand correctly, you accuse me of practicing black magic and you want to inspect my laboratory to verify whether your accusations are true? ''

“That’s right! ''

The empire therefore decided to get involved. That doesn't suit me at all.

Just when everything was starting to go well, I found myself with a big problem on my back.

Whatever the reasons for which I was carrying out my experiments, I would be seen as an outlaw because this is the practice of black magic.

If these fighters enter my laboratory, they will understand it directly and destroy it immediately.

I had to get them away from here whatever the consequences. In any case, from now on, I will have the empire on my back.

''What if I decide not to cooperate? ''

“I will report to the emperor. I would tell him that you died trying to fight us and then we destroyed your laboratory. ''

I knew it. I have no other choice but to fight even if with my advanced age, it may be very difficult.

With the tip of my lips, I began to recite the incantations of a spell while concentrating my mana in my hand.

'' Moderate you heat, angry you calcine, judge with your heat the individuals in front of me... Fire ball! ''

A ball of fire burst from my hand. It moved towards my enemies and exploded.

Unfortunately, they were still alive after this attack. They had managed to disperse before my fireball hit the ground.

“It’s your turn to play Bernard! “Shouted the young swordsman.

The priest began to put his hands together and recited some spells to boost the swordsman's abilities.

“Muscle strengthening spell activated. Resistance to level 2 magic attacks activated. ''

A green glow began to envelop the young swordsman. He then tensed the muscles in his feet, then rushed towards me at full speed.

He was very fast thanks to the strengthening spell.

Arriving at my level, he attacked me executing rapid and precise movements with his sword. It mainly aimed at my vital points.

I managed to dodge them and at the same time placed my right hand on the swordsman's face. I cast my flame spell again: fire ball and the flames enveloped the swordsman.

The swordsman in front of me screamed in pain as my flames devoured him. It made me smile, but it was short-lived.

One of the mages who accompanied him managed to extinguish my flames with a water element spell. The second mage, a little behind the others, counterattacked with a spell.

''Fast and bright, you never fall in the same place twice because you never miss your target, pour out your anger on this battlefield: lightning blade! ''

The sky darkened and lightning came from the sky towards me. His attack was so fast that it barely took my face to be pierced.

He chained several other bursts of lightning which forced me to step back and erected a magical barrier around me. Lightning smashed against my barrier without it suffering any damage.

I was safe inside but my movements were restricted.

The priest of their team took the opportunity to cast a healing spell to treat the young swordsman's wounds so that he was operational again.

Because of the Level 2 Magic Attack Resistance spell previously cast by the priest on the swordsman, my Fire ball spell was unable to take down the swordsman. Even if the damage inflicted was very severe, I would have preferred that he died immediately.

“Take mercy on us oh goddess Shionne! Cover us with your warmth and heal us from evil. Heal! ''

Once the spell was cast, the swordsman's wounds healed quickly. He no longer had any scars. This loanee was gifted.

The healed swordsman stood up and charged at me again.

The mage stopped his lightning attack when he saw his teammate approaching me.

I was free to move again, I no longer needed to maintain the barrier.

Once within my reach again, the young swordsman attacked me with his sword.

As it got dangerously close to my neck, I remembered that I had drawn a magic circle in my laboratory and that I had to continue the experiment before it faded. It would be a waste otherwise.

I dodged the sword blow that targeted me.

“I call upon me the elemental spirit of the wind. Keep the insects that bother me away from me and may your breath bring me peace. Titan Breath. ''

While reciting this incantation, I used a wind element spell to throw the swordsman tens of meters away from me.

He

Then, I used my mana to manipulate the objects in my warehouse remotely.

I created a water and earth spell and formed mud by mixing them before spreading it on the magic circle.

Since I was getting attacked and had to concentrate on dodging and casting spells at the same time, moving ranged items was slow. The longer the fight went on, the more difficult I found it to move objects with precision.

''You who sleep in the depths of the sea, reveal yourself to the world: Sea dragon! ''

A huge water dragon rushed towards me at full speed. It was too late to dodge.

“Serves me as a shield against my attackers. Wall of Earth. ''

I used an earth element spell to form a barrier. Our two spells collided and my earth barrier absorbed the sea dragon.

I could see the confusion on the face of the mage who attacked me. I had just destroyed his spell in the blink of an eye. His morale must have taken a hit.

The swordsman returned to the attack, appearing from my blind spot and attacked me by surprise. I jumped back to dodge his attack, but I still took a blow to the abdomen.

I was injured but it was light. I melted my water-soaked earthen wall, creating a muddy swamp that trapped the young swordsman.

Deprived of his movements, I took the opportunity to pierce him with a piece of earth from the swamp mud that I hardened.

At the same time, I opened the jar where I had kept the demon king's cells and poured a small portion onto the mud on the magic circle.

Suddenly, I heard a deafening noise coming from the sky. I looked up and saw lightning coming closer to me. To defend myself, I wrapped myself in a sphere made from the mud around me which I hardened to form a protective cocoon.

Lightning violently struck the sphere I had hastily designed and shattered it.

I was injured by a few flashes of lightning but it was nothing serious. The problem was that this action had managed to disrupt the flow of mana that I was manipulating from a distance and the jar containing the demon king's cells slipped out of my control and shattered on the ground.

All the cells present in the jar mixed with the mud and a new black sphere was formed. The evil aura that emanated from it reached me and my enemies could also feel it.

“Take mercy on us oh goddess Shionne! Cover us with your warmth and heal us from evil. Heal! ''

While I was focused on what was happening in my laboratory, the priest cast the same healing spell and the swordsman was back up and running.

He attacked me directly with his sword and pierced my chest.

I didn't see his attack coming. I was far too distracted by what was happening hundreds of meters from the battlefield. This lack of concentration cost me dearly.

This wound was fatal.

I could no longer breathe normally and I had lost control of the flow of mana that I manipulated remotely. My vision was becoming blurry and I was losing a lot of blood. In conclusion, I had lost this fight and would soon lose my life. I collapsed to the ground as a sign of my defeat.

In my agony, I heard the voices of my assassins. They seemed to be happy to have beaten me but I sensed a certain respect towards me in their discussions.

''We finally got it...''

“He was very strong. If we had faced him fifty years earlier we would not have lost. ''

“He is not part of the team that defeated the Demon King for nothing. ''

To keep him from knowing that I was still alive, I restricted my mana until it was imperceptible. It was no use since I was doomed to die from my injury. And yet, I did it out of pure fighting instinct.

''I don't know what he could be doing in his laboratory, but given the menacing aura that comes from there, we can very well say that he practiced black magic. Therefore, we must destroy it and report to the emperor. ''

“Yes, I will use a ranged spell to do it. I don't want to go any closer to this place, we don't know what could happen. ''

''Yes, go ahead, do it. ''

The lightning-using mage adopted a particular posture then recited the incantations of his spell. I watched helplessly as my laboratory was destroyed.

Lightning descended from the sky and struck the location of my laboratory followed by a large explosion. All my years of research had come to nothing.

“Okay, it’s time to go home. ''

A few minutes later, I no longer felt their manas around.

I decided to return to my laboratory or at least what was left of it. I no longer had the strength to get up so I started crawling.

A few minutes later, I arrived in front of the rubble. The image I saw when I arrived was distressing and made me sad. I expressed my anger and frustration by screaming at the top of my lungs.

I was going to die soon, it was over.

My eyes were starting to close, they had become too heavy. I felt my strength leaving me.

Why did this have to happen?

Just as I was about to give up the ghost, I saw something moving in the middle of the rubble. Mana seemed to be escaping from this thing which piqued my curiosity.

I decided to crawl to get closer to her. Once there, I noticed that I had in front of me the result of my experiment. This one was larger and came from the sphere that had formed while I was fighting.

I had never been so close to the goal.

Why did the empire need to intervene now? To think I was doing this for them...

I watched the thing spin in all directions as I slowly faded away.

Suddenly an idea came to my mind or at least a voice sounded in my head.

Eat there!

I don't know if it was desperation that made me think this way, but without thinking, I took the thing in my hands and devoured it. I didn't think about the consequences because either way, I was going to die.

After eating it, I felt warmth enveloped my entire body. This heat was unbearable. My body seemed to distort accompanied by horrible pain.

I screamed in pain until I passed out.

A few hours later, I woke up lying on my back, eyes glued to the sky. Seeing the stars in the sky, I noticed that it was night.

The first thing that came to mind was to check if the wound the swordsman had given me was still present.

I put my hand on my chest and the gaping hole there disappeared. This made me overjoyed.

I then got up. I was a little dizzy but I could stand on my feet.

Ultimately, it was a good idea to eat this thing. Thanks to this, I was able to escape death.

Suddenly, I heard a soft voice calling to me.

''You finally woke up... So much the better. ''

I turned around and saw a young girl with blue hair and a pale white complexion. She had horns on her head. He was a demon.

I took a step back directly and put myself on guard.

The girl was injured in the abdomen. This wound was deep, she was going to die soon. I felt my strength coming back to me, I could finish it straight away. So she posed no threat to me in her current state.

I started to concentrate mana in my hand to cast my spell when suddenly I noticed something strange.

When I saw my reflection through the eyes of the young demon in front of me, I noticed that I had changed in appearance. I touched my face and noticed the absence of a beard. I checked my vocal cords and my voice didn't sound the same at all.

I had just been physically transformed. I looked like a young teenager.

I glanced at the young demoness and didn't feel any hostility coming from her. On the contrary, she smiled warmly at me.

''Who are you? '' I asked, being defensive.

“My apologies. I should have introduced myself from the beginning. ''

She then prostrated herself before me.

She spoke to me politely and treated me as if I were her master.

Since when have demons shown such kindness to humans?

''I introduce myself. My name is Leonard. Happy to see you again among us... oh demon king! ''

Eh ?

End of chapter.