Chapter 1

In a place far away, I mean really far away… there was a solitary island. A big one. Like really big…

On it was a dark looking castle. It was huge, made of dark stone of immense weight and size. Within it was the land of the most powerful! Most vicious and cruel demon lord! He ruled the world once, and with his might, he forced all to their knee. Until that fated day where the world’s heroes of legend attacked his domain, fighting against them through tooth and nail, they managed to defeat the demon lord, they had to sacrifice many, in the end. Only seven heroes remained. While the demon lord was no more…

Footsteps were heard. And a man wearing a butler clothing appeared, he was old looked to be about sixty years old. With long white hair that was tied behind his back. And a thick and well-trimmed beard that adorned his face. This man had red as blood pupils and looked to be in a hurry as he approached another being that was on his desk.

This being was colored red. His entire body was a red contrast. Muscles bulging veins popping and strength beyond measure or ability to quantify.

“My lord. What are you doing?” said the old man

“Oh, Albert… uh, just writing some biography… why are you in such a rush?” said the red man towards the butler.

“Some foolish idiots are trying to enter this tomb… and you are writing scribbles? Let me have a look” said the old man.

The red colored man tried to tear away the paper so that the other wouldn’t see it, but he was too slow.

In reality, he could have destroyed the old man with but a word, but in doing so it might prove to be more problematic than not handing him the paper.

The old man known as Albert knew full that the red man will never harm him so he took the chance to snatch away the paper.

Reading it, the old man snorted.

“What heroes? What are you doing my lord? That day? Are you claiming to have lost memory or what? You? Defeated? What nonsense! Please stop by this idling and let’s go.”

“But I don’t want to,” said the man groaning. “What use is there? How many people came? How many times had I stood against them, they are all weak, they are all useless… anyone of my servants can beat the shit out of these so proclaimed heroes… why should I always be there?”

“It is the tradition, for every hero, they must see how the Demon lord look like, for every hero they must see the pits of despair before they give up hope, indeed we can destroy those pitiful men, but still you must act your role and show them despair yourself!” said the man named Albert.

“Common, they have defeated the first wave of minions, now is where you should show yourself for them to either fight for their lives or run away.” Said, Albert.

Within himself, the red man thought

Sigh… so boring, these goddamned protocols. Why should a demon lord always show itself before the heroes? What reason is there, once I do this they will all flee, scared out of their wits unable to even fight, some might piss their pants and the rest will clearly faint. With those that think themselves brave giving their lives to the beasts in a futile attempt to gain victory, while those of a bit of brain on their head will turn tail and run as fast as they could…. Heroes, what a load of crap, all of them. Scared and pitiful children. They all claim themselves able to defeat the demon lord, yet once they see my true power they all run away…

The red man moved forward, appearing on the front of the palace. Before him in the grand courtyard, hundreds of lesser demons surrounded several people. These people gave a strong light. They were protected by divine power that chased away the putrid and corrosive atmosphere of the demon lord’s domain.

A good-looking man walked forward. He had a shining silver armor, and a golden sword of light, a shield that was adorned with various symbols and a helmet with a phoenix’s feather on it, burning bright as a sun.

“Stefan! Shield up, hold the front, Leila, use your spells to heal Stefan, Josh, Anna, use ranged attacks to cover for the vanguard as they peel damage for you. I will protect the priestess!” said the man, and everyone followed suit. They were six heroes this time. And they all looked experienced.

The vanguard was leading the charge with an enormous shield and a Warhammer that should take inhuman strength to wield. Pushing away the attackers with ease as he was supported from the back. Never did he pull too much aggro as they slowly killed their way to the palace.

“Hmm, they have potential.” Said Albert who was next to the red man.

“Everyone that comes this far, you say that they have potential. These heroes are all garbage. Wait and see.” Said the red man.

“I don’t have enough mana!” said the priests in the back.

“Shit! We used all of our reserves getting here!” said the vanguard “My health is rapidly declining! I need healing!”

“We can’t! we should have retreated when we had the chance! God damn it.” Said the woman using a bow. She looked exhausted and seemed almost out of ammunition

“And here it goes,” said the red man “its always when things get tough that this happens, they lose their ability to communicate with each other, their teamwork falls, and bringing them back from that situation is an impossibility. Especially with their lack of resources… do you truly think these people will bring me joy? Excitement? I doubt it… this is all boring. They will die soon and once they do there will be no fun for me. What a shitty world… why was I born so strong?” said the red man lamenting his fate as he jumped forward

“My lord! What are you doing!” cried out the butler. Indeed he brought the red man to stand watch so that the heroes would despair and fight until they see how truly weak they were, unable to breach the demon king’s domain and death will be their only reward. However, the lord moved before they could even make it halfway through the courtyard which was the place with the lowest amount of monsters and weakest ones.

Once the red man stood before them. Every single beast halted. They looked at him and crouched down, every single beast kneeling down with their head on the ground. All in one voice

“We are unworthy to look at your lordship! Forgive our unworthiness our great demon lord!”

“Sigh…”

Before the part of six stood a lone man. Wearing nothing but shorts. The muscles on his body pulsed with power, not a single scar on his body. Of course, whoever was strong enough to even approach the demon lord? None had ever managed to land a single hit on him. Thus his perfect body. As if it was sculpted with a knife, it radiated with power and unrestrained energy. A body of a deity in the form of a demon.

“You there, you are heroes right?” said the demon lord.

“Indeed! Replied one of them.” It was the good-looking man. “And you look to be the demon lord. I will have to thank you for showing up before us, we were getting tired of fighting small fires” said the man

Indeed they were but small fries, however to these heroes these beasts were of immense strength. Thinking that the Demon Lord was but a pushover hiding behind his army this young hero dared to taunt him into a fight.

“So, tell me, heroes… how does one become as weak as yourself?” said the demon lord

In all honesty, he truly wanted to know, how would it feel to be weak? How would it feel to be able to fight against tough odds? He really wished to know. However, these words sounded like an insult towards all the heroes, who charged forward like mad beasts.

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“Sigh… it is like always. It always is the same… boring. Please die” said the Demon Lord and with a single swing of his hand. every one of them lost their lives.

There and then, the six heroes that were selected to be champions were killed. How many years had they trained? How many years had they wanted to get here? How hard was it the trip? Yet they didn’t know, that not only them. Many, many others did the same, and many others died right here. None ever managing to breach the gates of the palace… all dying, before the might of the true demon lord

“GAAAAAAAA SOOOOO DAMN BORING!!!” roared the demon lord, with his voice the world shuddered and the sky split!

“My lord…” said Albert who showed up before him. “Why do you want to find trouble for yourself? You are indeed strong, why are you looking for someone that will threaten your life?”

“Threaten my life? You must be jesting… I never feared for my life, it is something that I never experienced and I don’t think I will ever do.” Said the lord as he looted the falling heroes.

“Huh, rubbish… the old heroes had weapons and armors a hundred times better than these and they still fell… it is an insult to be challenged with weak weapons like these…” said the demon lord as he pocketed everything

“My lord… every hero that ever came here, from the beginning of time met their end at your hand, all their treasures and weapons are already in your possession, how can these new heroes ever find proper weapons where you have all the best ones on you…” said the white-haired man.

Sigh

Am so bored…

Another person showed up. It was a crab-like person, tall as a giant he even was twice the size of the demon lord.

He had a dark blue colored exoskeleton. With four arms, two of them like the pincers of a crab, with blades sharper than steel.

This person was known as the strongest in the army of the demon lord. He approached not the lord but Albert instead.

“What is wrong Albert? Another one of the lord’s tantrums?” he said.

“Indeed, since he took the throne, the lord never found joy in anything… being too powerful is somewhat dispiriting him… He is not even bothering with the other races. No longer willing to send his armies into the world. He once ruled the world and found it to be rather boring then gave up on the whole thing on a whim secluding himself back in his castle… why not give him a bit of fun Roc? Just a bout? For good old days’ sake?”

“Yeah right, the last time you convinced me to fight the lord I almost lost my life and he didn’t even use an ounce of his strength. Sorry but I really do still want to live… I don’t think that anything less than a god can stimulate his will to fight, but gods are long since gone from this world… sigh” said the crab man named Roc

“Indeed, they would have taken him on, however, I don’t really think that we should mention this, it might just aggravate his situation… he is going from being bored to being depressed like this…”

“Oh, by the way… I think I found something of interest when I was in the dark domain”

“Huh, you went to the dark domain? What would be of interest there? It’s a land of plagues and curses…” said Albert.

“I found this!” said the creature named Roc as he showed a black jewel.

The old man opened his eyes wide and said

“T-this! With this! Yes… but would he accept? No, it's too much, I think that it is not worth it… he really might do it, and if he did… this domain… this place might truly suffer a great calamity…

“Relax… really from old times how many had ever managed to even set foot at the entrance of the palace? Let's just ask him, anyway it should only work for a year at most. What is the worst that could happen? Even if someone manages to get in, after one year he will come back. Do you think that he will not reclaim what was once his?” said the creature named Roc.

“Indeed… I think the Lord will reward you nicely for this, let's go meet with him” said the man named Albert. Though he was against this idea he truly wanted to see his lord find interest in some things… how many things had lost their luster before the eyes of the lord? Maybe this will change things.

Once before the throne room, the demon lord has his hand on his chin, looking gloomy as ever. No one of his entourage dared get closer or even try to speak to him.

“My lord… Roc has found something for you!” said Albert while Roc knelt down with his head lowered

“This unworthy subject has found you a treasure that might brighten your days my lord.” Said the creature named Roc.

“What is that?” said the lord in a dispirited manner.

“A stone of reset!”

The Lord's eyes opened as he heard this.

“For real!” he said as he stood up; “You have one?! Give it to me now!” he said as he took it in his hand.

A stone of reset, one of the rarest items in the world. Why so? It is deemed to be a cursed item throughout the lands, for every person every race and every being, they all despised this thing, all hated it and all wished to never be near it. It is an item that can nullify one’s power and ability. resetting their level-to-level 1 once again.

For this reason, it was a forbidden item, it was rare in the past. However still it existed, yet every country and domain decided to forbid the usage of these things, not even in torture. They were then gathered and destroyed, using a magic scanner these things were tracked, through every nook and cranny, and everyone who was found hiding one of these was sentenced to death, so they were all gathered and destroyed. This, however, was hundreds of years past. Now with this item as nothing but a rumor it was indeed hard to find or hear about it.

Yet one of them survived…

“How did you find this?” said the Lord

“There seems to be a mine near the dark domain.” Said Roc

“Good! Good! Go now and bring me as many as you can. Hurry!” said the demon lord

“Why sir?!” asked the butler “Shouldn’t one be enough for you to become weaker. In one year time, you will be like normal humans, you might even find it hard to survive at times! I was even willing to let you go without hidden guards to protect you. Why are you willing to have more of those?” said the butler.

“Why indeed, a single stone of reset will neutralize my ability and power for a year. Indeed I will become weak however a year is too short of a time. A potion of reset, however, will fully neutralize my ability, thus I will be forced to start from scratch! Fight all the way to where I stand. Indeed it is the best thrill I will have in this lifetime! Let it be done!” roared the lord as his servant knelt down

“As the Lord commands!” he said while swallowing hard. The demon lord wishes to start from scratch… the headache this will cause will be unbearable… a year’s worth of trouble could still be salvaged, however… with the lord starting from zero how much time will it take for him to regain his former strength? Thought the butler

No matter, still he is my lord and I shall obey his command, he thought as he discarded all ideas.

The demon lord then began bringing out some weapons from his treasury.

“What are you doing my lord?”

“Oh, these weapons are really powerful; I don’t really intend on using them, otherwise it will not be fun. Ah! Here it is a basic sword!”

The lord held a sword that was so lame and looked so weak that it instantly melted the moment his hand was placed on it

“huh?”

“Your lordship… your current body is strong enough that normal metal melts on contact… you need to become weaker first…” said the butler

“Yes, Yes right, now for these… hmm, I have an idea.” Said the demon lord

“What are you thinking about?” said The Butler as he looked at his lord with interest.

“Most of the world’s treasures are in my inventory, so it seems that the current power of the outside world is rather weak. Now if I get these items out all at once, many countries might collapse and many will slaughter each other… so I will be choosing seven heroes and will give them seven weapons.”

“Huh? Why do this?” Said, Albert,

“This way not only I will grow, even the puny humans will become stronger. Hmm, but if I were to raise my level in the outside world from scratch I believe that I will be needing some insurance… ah this should do” said the demon king.

“What is that?” said the butler

“Demon call, it is a ring that can summon a demon to assist me if I find it difficult someday or I find the situation grave, I wouldn’t want to croak out there before reaching a respectable level would I?”

“Of course not my lord. Said the butler but who would you bind this ring to?” said the butler

“I know, you and roc should be the perfect candidate, but I need you to take care of the palace while Roc takes care of the defense of this place… this only leaves…” but before he could speak

“No! Not him everyone but that bastard! Please, I will find someone else.” Said the butler

“No, really he should be helpful… let’s use him”

“But my lord!”

“That is an order”

“Understood.” Sighed the old man and went down the dungeons.

Indeed Roc was the strongest guardian of the current palace. However, he was not always the strongest, no calling him the strongest will be a lie. In fact, he only took the title of the strongest due to a certain reason.

The behemoth Shi-Su, the iron beast was actually the strongest of the Demon Lord's minions, that is until he believed his strength to equal to the current king and decided to challenge him into battle. Losing miserably he was imprisoned in the dungeon. The only saving grace that prevented his instant execution was that the Demon lord spent three seconds before managing to bring him down. Indeed, to survive that long against the demon king is in itself a deed worthy of praise.

An hour later both Albert and Roc were present before the demon king.

Roc had a solemn look on his face, while Albert could only sigh.

The only one that looked happy here was the demon king, happy because he will become weaker… what a strange thought indeed.

“So this is it my lord?” said Albert… “I never wished to stand against your rules my lord, however; do you truly want to take the iron beast with you?”

“As long as he is bound by the demon caller he will never go against my word. Ah, by the way, don’t send any to guard me, please I don’t want to feel protected all the time and if I discover anyone following me… they will be executed.” Said the demon lord

Though he will have no strength, no power once he becomes weaker, they are all bound to him. They are all obliged to follow him, they had claimed him their lord, and his words must be respected. Some can overcome this decree, but many cannot, and thus if they were to follow him, try and protect him against his will, they shall all die…

“The potion is ready I presume?” said the demon lord looking at the giant.

“Yes, here you go my lord.” Said the tall man “Please don’t drink it now, you will be reset and the atmosphere here will instantly kill you.” Said Roc

“Don’t worry about that, I know, I still need to visit the other regions. I have some gifts to give. Now, let's meet again sometimes. I hope when that time comes I am much weaker!” said the demon lord with excitement as he grew two wings and with a single swing, he disappeared from sight.

First destination. The human domain!

To be continued