“Snappy!”

The big gluttonous mass of vines, acting for all the world like a happy puppy, slams into the ground in front of us.

I rush over through the dirt flying in the air and hug the big ball of green and orange.

“Who’s a good boy! Who’s a good boy!”

The plant monster begins to shift and morph under my petting. The vines take the positions of muscles and bone but continue wiggling in a slightly unnerving way. After a few seconds they lock into place creating a giant green and orange wolf entirely made of vines.

“Woah! Even Snappy can shape shift. You need to get with the club Alice.”

“I see no reason to need my own shapeshifting ability, I am perfectly happy with how I look.”

“True, you are really cute. Though a disguise for when we are doing Demon Lord shit would probably be good.”

Alice does her best to look away at my compliment. I can tell she is hiding a blush. I want to tease her more but sadly we only have so much time.

“And what exactly is this ‘Demon Lord shit’ that we are planning to do?”

Prim looks over, rather interested in the topic herself. I guess those parts of my memories didn’t transfer over.

I have been thinking about what I want to do for a while. I had quite a bit of time while I was over at the Sky Breaker’s Sect, a place that I only learned the name of right before we left. And I decided I want to stop The System from messing with people's minds.

The idea of basically losing your free will to the whims of some unknown system. A system that perpetuates violence. It disgusts me.

Another thing I want to do is change the perspective of the human race. Their hatred, whether it is influenced by The System or not, is something I can’t sit by and let continue.

The problem is that I know I will be targeted rather heavily for both plans. The problem is I am worried about accidentally hurting innocent people in my path. I know I will be hurting a lot of people. Directly or indirectly.

I want to spare as many lives as I can but in war things are never all sunshine and rainbows. And this is a war. Against humanity, against The System, and against anyone taking advantage of the world for their own ends.

I made myself an enemy of the entire world, and I need to act like it.

But… I am scared of the nightmares. Nightmares I will only add to with every passing day.

“Lua, you don’t have to save the world all by yourself.”

Alice comes up from behind and hugs me.

“I will share your burden.”

I wrap my arms around hers. The warmth helps calm my heart.

I can tell she probably wanted to tell me that I don’t have to save the world, period. But I know that she knows how stubborn I am.

The world sucks. And I have the power to fix it. Or, at least I will.

I will keep getting stronger until I can make the world in my image.

And I am sure I will do terrible things to get there.

In the stories of Demon Lords from my life on earth, they always were the villains. So I have to commit to my new role.

I am the villain in this story. One that will be hated until the end of time.

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“Lua!”

Alice’s shout snaps me out of my stupor.

“Ah, sorry. I was just…”

“You are not a villain.”

“I said that all out loud didn't I? It’s fine. I may not be one yet, but I will be when I am done.”

I don’t want her to worry so I decide it is best to change the topic.

“Anyway, look! Snappy is Class 3 now! Pretty neat.”

I can’t see her face as she stands behind me, but I am sure Alice’s expression is not a happy one. However, she decides to go along with my change in topic, not pushing things further.

“Yes… And he is now a big terrifying wolf dripping acidic sap everywhere.”

Snappy, now happy at being the focus, begins to shift into many different creatures. Monkey, Dragon, A very large human, and many more.

“Very impressive, Snappy! You know, I never asked enough questions about you. I remember Lucadon mentioned that you are something they created, but you have a mana core and are clearly your own individual. I wonder if Lucadon was trying to emulate my golemancy somehow.”

As I muse over the ability to create intelligent golems, something I am not sure I can really do yet, Alice chimes in with her own opinion.

“Thinking about it, you never used magic back when we were fighting. Do you have your own magic Snappy?”

Snappy happily shifts back into his wolf form and then spits a ball of acid at the nearest tree. The acid proceeds to wrap around and turn into a spinning blade, carving a rather impressive chunk out of the tree.

“Damn! I am not even sure I can do that much damage to one of these trees.”

Apparently Snappy’s magic is Acid magic.

“Oh right, while we are chatting. I should introduce you. I am sure you know Alice, she may look different but it is still her.”

“Hi Snappy. Good to see you again.”

Snappy trundles over and lets Alice give him head pats. The ground sizzling from the bits of acid leaking out of his mouth.

“And the girl over there is Prim. I just created her, she is a Class 3 demon. Though I am unsure if that is even a good classification as she is also as far as I can tell in the first cultivation realm. That is the Foundation realm right? I forget the names. Whatever, she is someone who will be working with us. One of many.”

“You only spent months learning cultivation and can’t even remember the names of the realms?”

“I am not good with names, okay!”

“A true idiot savant.”

“Mean!”

The green wolf made of vines moves over to Prim who also pats him on the head while I attempt to defend my terrible memory.

I am glad to see everyone getting along…

“So, what is the plan, miss mighty Demon Lord?”

“Now, I make a big flat golem with spider legs and we ride it into the third ring. We need to focus on building our war power as I am certain we are in for a fight.”

Finally done petting Snappy, Prim decides to join the conversation.

“My Lord, If I may be so bold. Shouldn’t it be impossible for them to know who you are?”

While she has a point, no one knows or should suspect that someone as young as me would be the Demon Lord. However, I know at least one person who is after my life. And I doubt the guild plans to use every resource they have to stop him all for a single kid they barely know. No matter how much ‘potential’ I have.

They would need quite a lot to stop this person considering his strength.

My father.

Class 4 space mage, one renowned for his prowess in battle, which earned him a barony decades ago.

And that is only one person who I can’t be sure of my chances against. I still don’t know who is likely to be sent into the 200 mile radius that the diviners should be able to see.

I need to be prepared.

We all climb on to the golem that is just bigger than a carriage, one with benches and other furniture crafted from the golem’s wooden body. Snappy, unable to fit, trotting alongside us.

I look inside my soul and feel around. I can tell that I could create another demon like Prim, but considering all my other demons and golems are too far away right now, I think it is best to make more lesser demons and have them patrol the area around us.

I create a dozen demon monkey golems and send them out with golem spears. The Class 2 constructs not being as intelligent as Prim just salute and charge off to start hunting.

I am almost out of Class 2 cores. I will need more if I want to create more golems and weapons efficiently.

I can’t create any more demons for now, but I can continue to increase my strength in other ways.

Pulling more wood from one of the trees, something that always looks strange as the mana rich spirit wood once again regrows in an instant, I start laying things out on the table.

Time to start weapon crafting!