Tales of the Old World Demon Lord
Chapter 1 – Surpassing the providence of god
[Eternum Calendar 1974]
The great city of the perpetual night, [Vertloch Skyreach] was lit aflame. With hellfire brighter than any day that the sun could conjure up, the virulent and noxious purging of the inferno consumed everything to the ground. The only standing structure of this once great demon capital was the [Demon Lord’s Sanctuary]; a tall black monument to the power that was the Demon Lord’s. The tower stood firm in all its ghastly glory as countless waves of knights adorned in blood red stormed the city and slaughtered everyone obstructing their way to the Sanctuary.
The only bright side to this entire situation, aside from the devastating inferno, was that all of the non-combative citizens had been evacuated beforehand. The only remaining personnel were the Demon Lord’s soldiers and the Demon Lord herself.
“Quickly! Storm the castle!”
The ‘Hero’ barked orders to the knights; their mission statement was simple ‘Kill the Demon Lord and end the war’. However nothing in reality was truly that simple; though he was dressed in heavenly white armor and carried the title of ‘Hero’ his actions were far from what anyone would consider ‘just’. The dead and dying bodies of the Demon Lord’s soldiers had piled up against the walls of the Sanctuary in a mocking manner. Every line of defense had fallen and nothing but stairs were impeding the knight’s path to the Demon Lord.
All of the Demon Lord’s lieutenants had been either defending the citizens elsewhere, defeated, killed or captured. The only remaining person standing by the Demon Lord’s side was a small boy no older than ten years of age. Though in comparison the Demon Lord herself wasn’t that old looking either, she too looked around the same age though her actual age counted in the triple digits. The boy next to her was a mere human; with a blank expression on his face, his black hair covering most of his features and his green eyes staring into the void. ‘At least him, I want to save at least him’, the Demon Lord thought to herself as she gently caressed the side of his face.
There was a loud bang on the final door leading to the Demon Lord’s main chambers; where they were. It was being torn down from the outside and at any moment the knights and the Hero would storm inside to kill her. She looked back at the boy once more and made up her mind to do everything in her powers to protect him. She took a step forward, heavy but decisive as she prepared herself for combat.
“Don’t worry Morgant; I’ll make sure that you won’t be hurt. Ever.”
The boy, name ‘Morgant’ slowly looked up at the Demon Lord. She was short; the size of a child, her clumsy red hair tied up in a amateurish ponytail. Two small horns protruding from the sides of her temples and curving forward. The dress she wore was rather revealing though with that childish body they were pretty ineffective and could be thought of more as a joke. Springing out from her back were small black vampire bat wings that hardly seemed like it could be used for flight; they were more decorations really.
“A- Astaroth…”
When the Demon Lord ‘Astaroth’ heard her name being called out she almost felt tears running down the side of her face. The young boy , Morgant had not always been this void of emotions, something had happened recently that turned him into this near vegetative state but with the red knights storming their sanctuary she did not have enough time to find out what the cause was. However it had miraculously been cured, but also it was at the worst possible time.
If the boy had stayed unexpressive then she could possibly have claimed that she kidnapped him for ‘fun’ and should she be defeated the young boy would be taken into the enemy’s custody. At the very least his life would have been saved but right now that was out of the question.
The light in the boy’s eyes returned but with it was a powerful migraine.
“U- Urgh!”
The crouched down and applied pressure to his temples to numb the pain but it wasn’t enough. It only accentuated the pain further but all of a sudden everything went blank for the boy. Then images.
Images of a life he did not live.
Images of a person he was not.
Images of a time that did not exist.
Images of things that could change everything.
The boy fell to his knees as he breathed heavily. As the oxygen entered his lungs and blood was pumped back to his brain everything started to become clearer. His blurred vision was slowly recovering and the sounds he couldn’t hear were starting to come back.
“-gant! Morgant! Are you alright?!”
The boy turned to look at the hysterical red haired girl who was calling his name. He stared at her for a few seconds as the memories were returning to him; everything was starting to fit into place.
“A- Astaroth…?”
“Morgant!”
The young bodied Demon Lord embraced him with all her might, tears quickly falling down her face. He could feel the rapid beating of the girl’s heart, ‘she must’ve been scared’ he thought to himself. He returned her embrace as his own heart started to return to a normal pulse; he was ready to face the future now that he had remembered… everything.
Morgant slightly parted from her embrace and wiped her tears.
“Morgant?”
She called out his name once more.
“I’m here Astaroth, you don’t have to worry.”
The boy touched his soft lips with hers. A powerful emotion started to surge within the Demon Lord’s small body; she could feel her body becoming hotter with happiness. She wanted this moment to continue on forever but she knew that this wouldn’t last any longer and that she needed to do something to ensure Morgant survived through this.
“I… I’m happy, I’m so happy that you returned my feelings but-“
Astaroth wanted to say something but was cut off by Morgant who placed his index finger on her lips and shushed her. Morgant returned a smile and stood up, now in defense of her instead of the other way around.
“Morgant? What are you doing?”
Astaroth panicked a little, his actions would only invite his death. She wanted to stop him; there was no way she could accept his death. She tugged at the hem of his shirt to stop him but Morgant only patted her head gently as he spoke back.
“Lord Erendel de Signa told me to look after you and that is what I will do. So will you trust in my judgment? Can you leave everything to me?”
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Astaroth averted her gaze, blushing from both happiness and embarrassment.
“H- how could I refuse if you say it like that?”
Morgant smiled at her response and took in a deep breath. No longer was Morgant a mere ‘boy’ but he was someone else entirely, he had ‘awoken’ to his memories. Those memories of a life he didn’t live, of a time he that didn’t exist and of a person he wasn’t, they were as real as they could ever be. They were all him, a previous incarnation of him; they would be the guiding light to this second chance.
Astaroth grasped tightly onto Morgant’s hands.
The final defense had broken down and the knights charged into the room and surrounded the two. They drew their swords ready to strike at the Demon Lord at any moment but they did not. They were waiting for someone else; they were waiting for the final confrontation between the ‘Hero’ and the ‘Demon Lord’.
It was only right.
The radiant figure of the Hero walked into the darkened room. A shield in one hand and a sword in the other, his armor had covered his entire body and his helmet obstructed his identity. Though it couldn’t exactly be verified, the Hero had seemed like he was around his late teens or early twenties.
“Who are you?”
The hero asked in a deep voice that was further obscured by the helmet he was wearing. The hero was asking Morgant; he already knew of Astaroth’s identity but he did not know of this mysterious young boy’s who was holding dearly onto the enemy’s hand.
The boy smirked, maliciously at that and letting go of Astaroth’s hand stepped forward to directly confront the hero. The boy stretched his arms in a welcoming and grandiose manner.
“Welcome Hero! You have done well in reaching up to here, but the time for games a over. I will be your final boss!”
There was a brief moment of silence in the room.
“What manner of joke is this? Can the Demon Lord not defend herself? She has to use a mere human child to protect her?”
The Hero became angered by this insulting gesture. Even after everything he had done to run this entire city to the ground the Demon Lord still had the galls to mock him. He pointed his Holy Sword towards the small boy and lowly growled.
“Move, boy. I will kill the Demon Lord here and end this bloody war.”
“Pfft… Hah… hahahahahaha!”
Morgant laughed back.
“What’s so funny?”
“Dear, please forgive me. I merely thought you were making a joke but clearly by your posture you mean that for real. ‘End this bloody war’ you say; if you ask me that would simply be a matter of you moving your forces out of this country. [Vertloch] is a country of demons who just want to live peacefully, yet you attacked without justification or provocation. If you really wanted to end the war then you would have pulled back long ago.”
The Hero stared back at the boy as he answered.
“The demons are filth that needs to cleanse from the world. That was the decree of the high lord, Nodens. I am his sword and I will carry out his justice, now move boy, lest you wish to also perish along with the filth behind you.”
“Nodens… his occupation of [Earth] has not been legally recognized; ergo he is simply an illegal tyrant. When I find the time to do so I will make sure he is arrested under charges of dictatorship and genocide.”
No one in the room, including Astaroth had any clue as to what Morgant was saying.
“Earth? What are you talking about? Cease this nonsense and move as I tell you to, boy, or I will cut you down here.”
Morgant tilted his head for a second before realizing the error in his speech.
“Ah, that’s right you primitives call this planet [Eternis] now don’t you?”
“Primit- I have had enough. Then you shall die.”
The Hero raised his sword with all intensions of cutting down the boy that was obstructing his path. To him even young children could not be spared if they stood against their god.
“Morgant!”
Astaroth cried from behind him.
“Stop him.”
Morgant waved his hands as he commanded and as though it was the most natural thing to do, several of the red knights that had accompanied the Hero moved in to block his movements. They clasped down on his arms, his legs and his torso making him unable make another move.
“…?! What are you fools doing?!”
The Hero shouted at his own companions that had for some reason obeyed the young boy. However the red knights did not respond to anything the Hero said or moved as he struggled to free himself.
“Really, you primitives think violence is the answer for everything. Even after all these years the core nature of man does not change, those with power will rise to the top and those without will be subjugated to the last. It’s no use struggling Mr. Hero, those men are no longer your companions but my minions now.”
“What did you say?!”
The hero asked in anger. The adrenaline in his body multiplied as he moved ever so slightly forward but even the mighty hero could not move when several bodies were obstructing his actions.
“[Specimen Code 6623A9B4, matter reconstruction].”
As Morgant stretched his hands forward and uttered something in a language that no one understood a small cylindrical object appeared from thin air. It was clear and filled with some sort of translucent orange fluid and in the middle of it was a small bug like specimen.
“You probably don’t know what this is, but this is a ‘computer virus’ in physical, silicon form. With this I can reshape the very DNA of an infected person; I can change everything about them at my will. I can plant images in their head, change how they view the world, alter their personalities and memories. Heck, if I wanted to I can even change their hair color, their eye color, their voice, skin pigmentation and even gender. I have surpassed the very providence of god and made mine the entirety of what makes a human and I have already infected most of your subordinates here.”
“What… are you?”
The hero, asked. After having gotten so far and to the end of his journey he had been thwarted by a mere boy. No, a being that was potentially more threatening that even the Demon Lord. Morgant smirked as he introduced himself once more.
“Some called me Demon Lord, others referred to me as God. But I am more than merely that; I am [Sovereign].”
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This is a flash-forward chapter.