“Let us pray…. Let us sing in communion and feast upon the wretched fiends.

Blasphemous murderers. Accursed savages.

Atonement for the wretches.

By the wrath of the Great Mother.

Listen to the baleful chant.

Let us pray…. Let us weep for their sins, for their transgression.

Let us weep for us, for our salvation.

For with blood it began and it shall end with blood on our hands.

We are the sword of the Ragna.

For we shall give judgement to the wicked.

Let us free them of their villainous ways.

Mercy for the poor, guiltless children.”

A tall man was kneeling down in front of a stone monolith. The man was in his forties, at least in appearance. He had a humanoid figure but with oddly elongated limbs. Wearing a noble attire, he could be confused for someone of royalty if not for his arms, when extended, practically reached his knees with their sharp nails, almost like claws. Yet the most striking feature of this man was a pair of huge bat-like wing on his backs. That's right. The man was a demon. A demon who was praying.

With his head down and his hands grasping each other in a praying gesture, he was muttering an unusual chant. It was difficult to distinct if he was praying for himself or instead cursing someone else. The chant itself was quite eerie. It was unusual to curse and at the same time weep for our enemies.

“How odd! You didn’t quite strike me as a religious man, Mephisto.” A voice spoke from the corner of the room. But Mephisto did not turn back to see who it was. In fact he already knew the answer.

“Let’s just say that’s a good luck chant.” The man looked at the stone monument and whispered “And a reminder of what happened” he stood up and fixed his clothes. He then turned towards the figure speaking from the corner, who now has revealed itself to be a skeleton in a black robe. The skeleton was holding a creepy staff surrounded in a green glow.

“How goes the preparation, Noroeth?” Mephisto asked the lich.

“The Portal is almost ready. Amelia is on the task. I am still surprised she manages to open one all by herself without a catalyst. I remember how I used to have at least ten acolytes and a mana stone just to maintain one opened. And so small.." Before Noroeth could finish , Mephisto cut him off with a silence gesture.

"Ah don't even say that word in front of her. She is twice your age you know."

"I know that but she is smal... I mean humble in term of size, it's difficult to admit defeat in front of a girl barely five foots you know." The lich was disappointed in himself for losing against a little girl.

“Anyway are you sure we could trust that ? We spent ten years looking and we found nothing. That doll found it the moment it woke up. It just seems a bit sketchy to me." Mephisto was talking about the doll Noroeth found in the Vault yesterday.

When Noroeth came to him with the doll, he was suspicious. All of this seemed just too convenient for him. Noroeth insisted that the doll was telling the truth but when Mephisto interrogated her on how she knew it, she simply answered "I just know it". Aside from that Mephisto could not gather any other info from the doll. Going blindly without proper intelligence was against Mephisto's thinking. It was not that he did not trust Noroeth but Mephisto has made a clear stand to view everything with suspicion.

"I honestly don't know. But when I saw her, I had the impression that I could trust her. It's difficult to explain." It was unheard for a lich to develop a sense of affection or emotion toward someone. But perhaps Noroeth was no normal lich. 

"Hum. I don't really support this expedition but sitting here wondering won't solve us any problem."

"That's why all of us will be going with you. Safety in numbers. And the doll will be coming too. Amelia's portal may get us there but she could not send us directly to him so we still need the doll it show us the exact location."

"And if things go down hill, we kill it on spot."

* * *

The trio Alastor, Alice and Morgan have just managed to get out of the village. They were now running through a dense forested area. The hidden shortcut certainly saved their lives since unless you were someone from the village, you wouldn’t know about its existence. However, they have left a lot behind in order to get here.

During their escape, they could hear screams calling for help from the village but Morgan has decided to ignore it despite Alice consistently wanted to go back for them. Morgan already had enough for her hands. She was injured, not fatally but enough to hinder her abilities. In addition, she had two defenseless kids on her hands. If she went back she might not even be able to protect them, let alone saving others. While it was heartless to abandon Gazel who has taken care of her family for ten years, she could not risk losing her children. That was what was keeping the elf to go forward. She could mourn him later but now it was not the time. She ran as fast as she could, holdings hands of the two children. She could finally see an exit from afar. Finally, they would be safe.

Or so she thought. As soon as they were out of the bushes, a group of chevaliers in armors has already encircled them.

“So a few rats escaped? You really cannot trust a group of mercenaries after all. Useless bunch. Can’t even finish a few peasants. Finish them off !!!”, a fat man in armor, hiding behind two knights said as he ordered the archers behind him. Five arrows flew toward the trio. Alastor and Alice held together tightly and closed their eyes, preparing for the worse. Then nothing happened.

They opened their tiny eyes, only to see their mother standing her ground facing them. Blood was coming out of her mouth. The fives arrows pierced her back. You could see the pain on her face and how she tried to hold it. She grasped for breath and tried to say something but no words came out.

The young girl called out to her, crying. She wanted to run to her mother but a soldier has caught her from behinds.

"This one would make a good slave. Look at her red hair. I know some noble who would pay hundreds of gold coin for someone like her. Ha ha ha!" the fat laughed out loud. All he could think of was the money and promotion he was going to get after finishing this mission. 

Alastor remained still, shocked by what he was seeing. He wanted to cry but he could not. He wanted to save his sister but his hands were tied by the two soldiers behind him. He just stood there, without uttering a single sound. One look at him and you might say he had given up.

Then something changed. His eyes started to lose their crimson colors before turning completely black. His pupils could no longer be seen. Something dark was invading him.

"ALL OF YOU WIL DIE!", the new Alastor proclaimed.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

* * *

Alastor's POV

We finally managed to get out of the forest. After that awful ordeal we had to ignore the call for help of others villagers just to save our skin. Honestly aside from mother, Alice and grandpa, I did not hold much affection for the rest of the village. The kids always bullied me and the adults were staying away from me. But none of them deserved this.

“I am sorry grandpa. I am sorry everyone.” I thought to myself as I wiped away my tears and just continued to run. As we got out of the forest, I thought we would be safe. But my stupidity got ahead of me. Soldiers already surrounded us. End of the line. I was afraid of dying but most importantly losing my family. And here I was. Weak, coward. My mother lied dead before me and my sister taken away right in front of me.

“Please at least my family! I would do anything! Please !!!”, I murmured to myself in vain. Suddenly everything around me went black and I heard a small voice calling out to me. Then it became louder and louder. I knew this voice. The one from the dream.

“We finally meet young Alastor. Would you do anything to save your sister? Anything?” the voice said. It was a deep voice and certainly not a human one. But I was not afraid of it, more like curious.

“You were from that dream. Who or what are you?” I asked the mysterious voice.

“That was no dream young Alastor. Everything you have seen until now in your so called 'dreams' actually happened. Including those you have met like Asmodeus and Beelzebub. You are currently in the Abyss, a dimension reflecting your true self. To put it simply It's an image of your soul. Time has no influence in this place. The past, the present and the future are all intertwined in this place. So take all the time you need to ask your question."

I was confused. A voice just talked to me in my head and spouted some none sense which I could not make out of anything. My heart was beating so fast I almost forgot to breath. I had to calm down and think logically. This thing might just be the only way to save my family.

“Then first question: what happened last night ?” For now I should focus on gathering as much info as possible. It would allow me to think of something.

“Your Ascension took place. You had awakened the demon blood in you and has been chosen as the new demon lord. Rejoice, young one! For you will obtain power you could not even imagine in your wildest dream. As the new demon lord, this means that you are now able to use the gift of Legacy, the power of your predecessors which resided in your blood, waiting to be awaken."

Frankly speaking, I have thought of the possibility that I was a demon. I was sure that I was no elf since I did not have the ears, clearly not human because of that weird crystal on my chest. As for dwarf, beastman and celestial, clearly no signs of any attributes from one of the races. All that was left was the demon race. Also the fact that mother always tried to confine me at home. I knew something was up. But a demon lord ? That was something else entirely.

"What is this Gift you talked about?", I asked my second question.

"Each generation of demon lord, when reached the peak of their power, can obtain a special skill unique to them. When they die, a portion of their power is imprinted in their blood and passes to the next generation. This means that every demon lord can use the power of the previous demon lords before them. This power is called Legacy and you can use it however you like."

All the powers of the demons lords who have existed. With that kind of power, I could surely save mother and sister. My excitement was cut short however.

"But..."

"But what?"

"You don't get the power immediately. Remember those shadows you saw. Those are the previous demons lords. They have to give their power to you willingly before you could use them. That leads us to our problem. Currently you only have two Legacies from Asmodeus and Beelzebub. Use them wisely and you can wipe out the attacking easily but as for our guests from above, it's hopeless. You are still far too inexperienced and your body is too fragile."

"...Then what's the catch? You can't be giving me this power without anything in return. Destroy the world or something like that I assume?" I may be a kid but I knew how the world worked. Anything came with at a price. The question was whether you were willing to pay it.

"None at all. At least not from us. As the new demon lord, people will seek you out and try to kill you everywhere you go. That's more than enough of a disadvantage. What we want is free will, the power of choice, for you to determinate your own fate and perhaps your actions will bring consequences to the world."

I did not really understand what it meant at that time. Freedom, from what ? But I did not have time to sit there thinking.

"Very well then. I accept!" I answered swiftly without thinking twice. "As long as my family is safe". If they would be saved then to me this was the perfect deal. I did not care about being the demon lord. I did not care about power. All I wanted was my family.

"Perfect. Everyone, gather up!" As soon the voice commanded, hundreds of shadows appeared behind me. Then I finally saw the true form behind the mysterious voice. A dark sphere with a red crystal in the shape of an eye inside it. From it, hundreds of chain slashed out, binding the shadows. One final chain threw itself at me and pierced me. Damn it hurt.

"You will wake up soon. Good luck, Alastor! About the two Legacies, Asmodeus and Belz will talk you through it quickly before you woke up again. Now be gone!"

"Wait! I still don't know what to call you."

"You can call us... me Magnus."

* * *

"And... he is gone. You know you could just take over his body and use it against those winged bastards. He is just a kid. Never have a battle in his entire life. He is just getting himself killed. And that affects us as well." one of the shadow said worriedly to Magnus.

"Either way he is going to die anyway. Why not let him choose how?" Magnus said as if he pitied the boy, someone who he just threw into the endless cycle.

"Are you serious that you will let him die? Just like that?", Belz intervened.

"If he die, I quit. Screw the others who will come after him." Asmodeus was angry. She was quite fond of Alastor and clearly not happy hearing Magnus would let him die.

"Don't you worry! He won't die! He can't!"