Prologue

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           “I’ve raided villages.. I’ve burned towns.. But I’ve never killed anybody.” He says in a dark toned voice.

           “You son of a bitch, you dare lie? Even with your life on the line!?” The hero screams, down the stairs from the throne of the first demon lord.

           Goodness, people are so difficult. I reincarnated into this world with dark powers, I was near immortal.. Stupid gods. I thought maybe.. If I could raise a mighty hero from birth, I could make him powerful enough to kill me.. And sure enough, I paid the parents when I found someone with a good heart, my only request was that they raise him to be noble. My script has played out nicely. Step one, become a demon lord so powerful that I can prevent all other evil from taking place, evil will fear stronger evil. I’ll make sure nobody dies, and then.. When the hero is finally old enough to kill me, I’ll use my magic to reincarnate myself and be a proper badass hero! 

           “N-no no.. seriously I-”

           “I don’t wanna hear it! You.. have burned so many villages.. You mean to tell me you’ve only captured people as slaves but never killed a single person!? Impossible!” Says an angry nekomimi with black ears as she holds a dagger to the neck of the demon lord.

           Hm.. how do I get them to believe me? Well.. I suppose it doesn't matter. 

           The demon lord locks his dragon-like eyes onto the hero as he sits upon his throne. “Fine then hero, believe me or not, but grant me this, you said if I told you why I did all of this, you’d comply with my wish, to slay me, did you not?” He asks.

           “I.. did, but there’s no way that’s true! You.. you.. Are willing to lie to a man that holds the sacred sword!? The blade that can truly kill you!?” 

           I.. enchanted that sword, and gave it to his parents to give to him while pretending to be a suspicious merchant.. Ugh.. it's only around tier five of ten? It was my first attempt enchanting trash items but- I guess it worked out? It really had the “Holy sword” look to it.

           “Insolence.. You dare doubt the word of a demon lord after he’s forged a contract!?” The demon lord stands to his feet and the nekomimi girl attempts to stab his throat, but the blade shatters.

           “Ick.. weak minded fools.. I will say this one more time, Hero, I am the evil that controls all evil, my wish is for you to save the slaves I hold captive, oh they’re down that hallway by the way.” He cracks a kind smile. “A-ahem.. And then slay me, the one true demon lord. Keep your heart pure, and perhaps someday.. After I’ve reincarnated as a new life, maybe I may even fight alongside you as a hero to save the world rather than a demon trying to protect it through flawed means.”

           Yeah.. I understand it might be hard for the hero to accept the demon lord as a good guy? But hey, I don’t wanna shame myself too much? I may be trying to get killed, but at least I can do it honorably instead of being some douchebag..?

           “One more thing.. If you find a nekomimi by the name of Sekita, allow her to join your party wontchu? Now face me, hero..!” The demon lord shuts his eyes and then opens them dramatically, looking up to the hero, holding his posture to keep the dark black crown upon his head. He then grabs the knife from his waist.

           Hm.. I guess this dagger is technically tier ten? Nothing below tier five can even harm me, it just shatters. Ah whatever, I wouldn't wanna demotivate him too much knowing the holy sword is nothing more than basically a trash item to me, most magic in this world is pretty.. Lowly developed?

           “I pray that I may die with at least the slightest amount of honor.. Rugerd The Hero! I, Demon Lord of Fate, and Birth name Kozuto Majmata, swear to fight fairly!” His voice rumbles the castle floor as it cracks beneath his feet. He holds his hand out and uses the dagger to slice his hand, letting blood drip into a magical circle.

           Damn! This looks sick!

           He dramatically pauses before reaching into the circle and pulling out a dark obsidian blade with crimson patterns.

           This is so demon-like! Hell yeah!

           “Tsk.. fine.” The Hero glares hatefully. “If you truly mean what you’ve said, then you are worthy of respect, but if not.. I will take pleasure in cutting you down. I don’t know if you follow human customs, however..” He waits a moment, feeling a powerful strength well up in his stomach. “Honor!” He yells with an intensity hard to match.

           “Heh.. Honor.” In no more than the time it takes to blink, the demon lord lunges across their makeshift arena, it appears more like teleportation. As their swords clash, the ground begins giving out and the hero adjusts his feet, swinging to the side. The demo lord blocks the attack and lifts his feet off the ground, letting the strength of the blow launch him a safe distance away. The hero takes advantage, quickly leaping into action with a devastatingly strong blow, but as he approaches, the demon lord looks down playfully with a deep terror striking the Hero’s knees.

           “Ksh.. no..” 

           “Hm-mwhahaha! Too slow.” He uses one hand to swing downwards above the hero’s head. The hero manages to block the blow, but the force behind the swing cracks the whole floor and shatters the glass windows throughout the castle. “Hahah.. So weak.” The demon lord cheers.

           The hero tilts his blade letting the demon lord's sword slide down it, in a quick flash of speed and strength, the hero manages one clean swing to the demon lord's throat, slicing through his whole neck.

           “Y-you.. Hah.. you win.. Hero.. Hahaha-.. Good fight, I hope.. To see the peace filled world you dream about someday.. F-..fare..well..”

           Eh.. damn, were those good last words? Shit, I think maybe it was a little anticlimactic! Gah, I wish there was time travel magic, a redo might be nice, that fight could have been cooler? Although I think that last swing was too rough, I might have shattered some of his bones.. Dammit.

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           The demon lord stares forwards and suddenly collapses to the ground, his head rolls across the floor and floor stains the decimated tiles of obsidian glass.

           I guess I should at least watch the rest of my plan play out? Yeah..

           He quickly casts a spell, allowing him to walk around as an invisible phantom.

           Well, that’s that, my bodies dead, once I stop this spell, my soul can’t go back anywhere so.. Eh, guess that’s when I should reincarnate huh?

           “Hey Hero, I’m gonna run ahead, k?” The demon lord says.

           Oh right- ah, no voice in this form, he can’t hear me.. Eh, well his part is pretty impressive, although one of them died on the way here, not by my hands at least.. The only people who have died to my hands, are the slaves who killed themselves instead of waiting for a savior.. So unfortunate, I planned for them to be saved eventually? If only they waited.

           The demon lord, as if some sort of playful child, rushes down a hallway in a spirit-like form of himself. He makes it to the cells and there’s an unsightly sadness in the rooms.

           I feel bad but.. I needed to play the role? Or else the other evil of the world wouldn’t have really thought I was evil.. Tsk.

           “Oh! I forgot, Sekita. I guess I’m gonna miss having talks with you..” He stares at a cat girl sitting in a cell. Surprisingly, unlike all the other prisoners, she has a smile on her face.

           She was the only one I was particularly nice to, I even dropped by to talk to her sometimes.. She dreamed of a peaceful world with heroes, just like me.. I hope she doesn't miss me too much? N-no surely not.. We got along but, I was a demon lord after all, and I suppose I did burn her village down..

           He hears the heavy clanking of metal armor, the hero rushes through the hallways.

           “I’m here to save you all! Kimitsu, please, cut as many bars as you can, there’s.. So many cells here..” He draws his holy blade and begins slicing them open, hearing the thankful cries of many prisoners as they escape.

           The nekomimi the hero had with him also opens cells quickly.

           Hm.. yeah well, they’ve got this covered I guess? Maybe I should reincarnate no-

           “Where is the demon lord!” He hears a familiar voice scream out.

           “He.. is dead, you’re all safe!” The hero replies.

           Huh? Sekita..

           A beautiful catgirl with golden eyes and joyous bright colored hair has tears streaming down her cheeks..

           “Y-you killed him!? He was a nice man! He.. wasn't the demon lord you all thought he was!” She screams.

           The Hero looks down at her with almost regretful eyes as she punches his metal armor hopelessly.

           “I’m sorry.. I know…”

           Oh dear, he looks.. Conflicted, n-no no no.. Did I do the right thing? Ah, maybe I should’ve made him think I was truly awful, then he’d know he did the right thing for sure..

           “I..” The Hero turns away shamefully.

           Kimitsu rushes over and pulls her away from the hero. “Calm down little girl.. We did what had to be done.. What’s your name? We’re trying to get families back together if possible..”

           “Shut up! Shut up! You Heroes know nothing!.. He was.. A good person.. He wants to see a peaceful world just like I did..” She sobs and falls to the floor.

           S-stop making me feel like a jackass! I’m gonna cry.. Oh god.. Wait, I’m a spirit right now, I can’t cry..

           “Calm down!” The Hero shouts in a commanding tone. “Everything’s going to be okay, I understand.. But.. this is what he asked for, so whether for better or worse, the demon is now dead. Tell me your name.” He says intensely.

           The girl looks up, still angry, but now unsure. “My name is.. Sekita.. I don’t have a family to reunite with..” She says, weeping softly.

           “Ah.. Sekita huh? I get it now.. Were you perhaps his lover?” The Hero asks in a calm and stern voice.

           “H-his.. W-w-what? No! Not really.. Mm..” 

           Well-

           “Ugh.. I hate this shit, this is so fucking stupid.” Kimitsu stabs her second dagger into a wall. “Fine, come on you noble hearted dumbfuck.. I can tell you’re annoyed this is how things played out, and frankly, I am too, I think that demon lord was a dick! But.. you wanna honor his wish yeah?”

           Rugerd the hero nods. “I.. yeah, I’m sorry..”

           “Fine, so be it then, hey girl, Sekita right? By the demon lord's wishes or whatever, you’re gonna join our party. Our questing isn't even near done.. The demon lord signed a contract to tell us what he knows when I pinned him.. Even though it seems my knife really couldn’t kill him.. Ugh.. he told us that since he’s keeping the evil in check, if he dies, the world is gonna have a lot less order.. So, I take it as a warning, we’re gonna have some bitches to kill.” Her tone is intense and scary.

           Goodness.. She talks like more of a demon than I did..

           “Y-your party? The demon lord.. Asked you to let me join? He.. really did fulfill his promise.. He told me that he guaranteed I’d be adventuring someday.. Able to make the world-”

           “Yeah yeah, I’ve got more cells to open. Hey Rugerd, mind taking her outside? I’ll handle the prisoners, but if there’s any minions leftover, I’d rather not leave this place to have an ogre slaughter everyone, k?” She raises her eyebrows impatiently.

           Intense.. Well, as much as I wanna watch this play out, I guess I should reincarnate while I still have the mana.

           He suddenly teleports back to his corpse, looking down at it.

           Alright, conditions met? Dead, Lingering wishes, a clear vision of what I wanna look like.. What class? I guess.. Sword master? That sounds pretty cool. Age? Ehh.. I guess around their age, so I fit in, if I can end up meeting them that is, my memories might be wiped this time.. Twenty four years old..

           He summons a grand magic circle, spanning across the floor and even beyond the walls of the castle.

           Damn, this is.. Not very discreet? Whatever..

           As he casts, the circle lights up, and a bright beam of light surrounds him..

           …

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