Tales of the Old World Demon Lord
Chapter 34 – The dominion of humanity
[Eternum Calendar 1971]
‘Magic’… it was the mysterious force that had eternally been bound to this world since time immemorial. The power that gave men the ability to conquer and master their environments but at the same time it gave those very men the power to hurt and steal from others. From war to daily life, it had become a pivotal aspect of this world that it was difficult to imagine a world without it.
Nor could anyone have imagined a power that exceeded this all powerful force that they had taken for granted. Dragons, Fairies, Demons, High Lords, Dwarves, Titans, Humans and even Gods, they were all bound under this mythical influence. Anyone who was a native to Eternis knew this as a fact.
Yet it had occurred, in a small backwater continued that this belief had been challenged by the essence of another; an alien power that even basic comprehension of it was impossible. It was unlike magic that had adopted the numerous elements of the lands and had evolved through untold millennia. A force much purer in essence as it held one thing that magic never did and would never will- a defining ‘purpose’.
“Kuh! Damned brat! Just what in the god damned hell are you?”
The first to be subjected under the true might of this mysterious power was but a small town adventurer leader. Elegant and subtle yet overwhelmingly oppressive; fighting against this power was akin to struggling against the heavens. A formula formed from beyond the veil of time, one that reached out to this world through a long forgotten abyss. It was the testament to a great epoch yet unknown to this current world.
‘The savages of this world would never understand…’ thought the small wielder of this magnificent power. With every step the ground trembled with awe and winds cloaked around him masking a protective barrier. In his presence everything, from the desolate mountains to the roaring heavens above, became an enemy to all who opposed him.
“Who am I? Isn’t that obvious by now? I am a ‘Human’.”
The small child answered with a smirk so filled with malice it was almost nauseating. A cold chill ran down Gerald’s back as he took a step back in reaction to the boy’s slow, methodical approach. ‘Scared…? I’m scared?’ he looked down at his trembling hands and realized, for the first time in his life, what it really meant to ‘fear’.
“H- human? What nonsense are you speaking? The lowest race in all of Eternis… you think that’s a satisfactory answer?!”
Even through what was left of his shredded pride and shame, a single act of genuine disappointment as the boy shook his head was more than mortifying. Gerald tightly clenched his fists, ‘just what manner of fool does he take me for?’ yet even if he wanted to retaliate he couldn’t- he was too afraid of the consequences.
‘Human…?’ Indeed by appearances alone the boy looked to be the genuine article of the species, but there was no way that could ever have been the truth. To Gerald, humans were vile and lowly creatures that had only gained its status due to its sheer population and greed. They were only slightly better than demons that plagued the upper northern continents of Eternis.
They were a talentless bunch that should never have the ability to produce such a powerful entity such as this boy. It was a belief that had solidly been ingrained into his very psyche as a default state of mind, yet even that too was tested as time dragged on. ‘A trick! There is no other explanation!’ he tried to delude himself with another possible theory but even this hurt whatever was left of his pride as it had meant that he had fallen for such an elementary tactic.
The boy’s illusive, sinister smile peeved Gerald, to see such a small arrogant brat acting as though he owned the entire world. Comparing their achievements side by side it was obvious that he should have been the more decorated one, yet how was it that he wasn’t the one with the upper hand in this exchange?
He had worked far too hard for it all to have come crashing down. He bit his pride and acted the fool for so long in this backwater garbage town, it was an unfair twist of fate to be bested by these yokels. He questioned the very authenticity of the reality that was playing before his eyes, refusing to even believe for a second that some droll human was able to best him. ‘Impossible.’
Deciding to take the initiative Gerald stopped walking backwards and stood his ground with an uneasy smile. Unbeknownst even to himself, he tried to imitate the boy’s method of exerting nauseating pressure.
“Damned brat, you’re just human trash left on the side by other humans who didn’t want you. No… not just you but all of you humans, the only thing you’re good at is being meat shields for the rest of us! You’re a hundred years too early to be rebelling against someone your greater now stand down and stop getting in my way!”
The boy stopped moving entirely. ‘Did I do it?’ Gerald thought to himself as he witness the for the first time the enemy’s hesitation. He could see it, the subtle trembling of the boy’s shoulders as fear gripped his heart. ‘Yes, this is how it should have been’.
“The way you look down on humans…”
The boy started to speak but ultimately trailed off.
Noticing the subtle increase in dramatic tension in the air, Gerald took a few steps back in preparation for something. This was not the ‘fear’ he thought he had seen in the child but something else entirely… ‘anger’. He held tightly onto his bow, the one object that could permit his defiance against the small figure ahead of him. Up until now he understood that his assaults were ineffective against him but that was simply because of some trick. All he needed to do was understand just what kind of underhanded tactics he was using and everything should be going his way again.
“The way you look down on humans… it really pisses me off. Trash tier savages like you and all of the inane races you represent… ‘Psychokinetic Hyper-Evolution’ she says? Even though they were all just mere animals it seems that they’ve become exceedingly arrogant in our absence.”
Mumbling incomprehensible words the child’s speech no longer seemed to be a conversation or message to Gerald but angered self monologue. Once more he resumed his slow, menacing approach but this time Gerald could feel the wrath in each step. All emotions were stripped out from the very terrain itself as only an overwhelming sense of dread and malice could be felt crawling deep within his skin.
Faltering his grasp on the situation Gerald took a few steps backwards. As he did he pulled back his bow loaded with an enchanted arrow; a [Power Shot] unlike anything he’s even attempted. Filled with the last remnants of his courage, it was the final act of defiance against this insurmountable foe.
“I no longer care if you’re a human or not! I have come too far to be stopped here. Now die!”
Howling with the terror of a banshee’s scream, the missile ripped through the cold, desolate air with unwavering resentment. For obstructing and ruining everything, Gerald could only hope that this was the arrow that blew away all of his insecurities.
Bet it the first or one hundredth’s time, there was no change in the outcome of those attacks. No matter how powerful he made it, with the extent of his skills and abilities it was never going to be enough. The small boy did not move even a single inch as the enchanted projectile locked onto his head, but as it had gotten close the arrow ceased mid air. As though it had a will of its own and not wishing to offend the boy it stopped movement. To the extent of Gerald’s vast knowledge on magic there was no magic or barrier spell that was capable of stopping a projectile in such a manner… there shouldn’t have been.
“Shoot once or shoot a hundred times, nothing will ever change.”
The boy responded in a cold, distant tone.
“Stop mocking me! Lowly human scum!”
Gerald yells as he draws for more arrows. A savagery and brutality, the likes of which he had never known himself to possess came welling out from the depths of his heart. He wanted to rip wide open that smug little mouth and to completely bathe the battlefield with his blood.
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“Mocking you? Tch, you barbaric savage, do you not understand that this is the true position you and your entire race ought to be in. The only thing even worthy of being called a ‘mockery’ is your attempt at defying fate.”
“Ugh! You little… shit!”
As Gerald loaded his bow his hands stopped moving against his will.
“Enough.”
The boy spoke and instantly he could feel an electrifying presence resounds around his body. ‘Fear? Anxiety? Irritation?’ Gerald tried to reason why he was in such a state but ultimately he could not think of any specific reason. Only one thing stuck in his mind- the boy’s words rang over and over… ‘nothing will ever change’.
Desperation overcame him. Be it this boy or the god he had served, Dian Cecht, they had all looked down on him as if he were just a nuisance. ‘Nothing will ever change?’ Never before in his life did it ring far more prominently than now. ‘Change…’ Gerald realized something as he shifted his focus off the boy and onto the thing that had stayed by his side the entire time. ‘The monolith…’
He had forgotten about it all of the commotion and chaos but there was one thing he could do to change everything. The one thing he wanted to do… the one thing he was going to do was change.
“Heh… hehehe… Change! I will change everything!”
Gerald shouted at the top of his lungs as he pulled out a small dagger from within his cloak. It was the boy’s own intellect that was going to be his downfall. For the first time since their meeting he was grateful because with the boy he would never have been able to figure out the secret.
“Immortality! Power! Godhood! They are all mine! All thanks to you. Now witness as you tremble before the monster you have helped create!”
Gerald placed one hand to the aureate monolith as he channeled his mana into it. The dagger in his other hand was not meant for the enemy but for himself. He will give up his own body and mortality for the chance to change into an entity far greater. It was a little worrisome to do this before having gathered the power to hide the monolith but it was virtually indestructible so there wasn’t any real need to rush.
Without a second thought Gerald plunged the dagger into his own heart… all with a cruel smile as blood dripped slowly out of his mouth. Even as his vision started wavering all he could do was wait as he felt the slow pulses of his excited heart coming to a close. Once it was all over he would awaken as a god.
Gerald fell to his knees as he found himself struggling to keep his body straight. All the strength in his body was starting to drain and even the initial pain from the self inflicted stab wound was dissipating. Sound ceased to enter his ears and even smell stopped being registered, he couldn’t feel a thing as he was going numb… yet even then he kept his exhilarated smile.
‘Death… so this is what it feels like,’ Gerald whispered to himself as he closed his eyes to embrace it wholeheartedly. The final few seconds of his life counted down peacefully until it was violently interrupted.
The bleeding from his heart stopped and his heart that should’ve gone flat started to forcefully pump blood back into his body. Life was once more flowing into him and so was his consciousness. ‘Is this it? Am I now a Go-’
Before he was even able to finish his own thoughts his face was smashed down against the ground. Like an anchor weighing down his body, a small foot managed to subjugate his entire body in a demeaning posture.
“You think I’d give you the satisfaction of death so soon? No, not before I break you apart.”
Confused Gerald stared at his own chest only to find that the dagger was still lodged into him. He should’ve been dead but he wasn’t and he could feel the painfully foreign object stabbed into him with every forceful heartbeat. He wondered how his heart was even beating.
“Wha…?”
He wanted to speak up but his voice refused to exit his throat.
“It seems your miniscule brain still can’t understand what’s going on so let me explain. The only reason you’re still alive right now is because I’m forcefully pumping your heart with my powers. As soon as I stop doing so you will die permanently. There will be nothing after this and your dream of becoming the god you so desired will not come to fruition. This is your punishment for involving my hometown in whatever inane affairs of yours. I will make sure that you feel every painful moment of every second of your death.”
“…!”
Glaring up at the small boy’s smirking figure from the ground, Gerald tried to resist. Alas his body refused to obey his commands and the only thing he could do was calmly wait for what the boy wanted to say.
The boy leaned in to whisper into his ears.
“Can you feel it? With every pulse in your body you should feel that small metallic sensation in your chest. That is the very symbol of your own stupidity. Hey, tell me why you ever thought that killing yourself would be a good idea?”
The boy asked as he snickered behind that reddened grin. The only things in his vision were two harrowing green eyes glowing against a desolate background and the smile from the god of death. Trampled beneath those small boots, yet being unable to oppose him, it was an eye opening frustration.
The only thing Gerald could see as he stared at his face were those harrowing green glowing eyes against a darkened background and the smile from the god of death.
“…”
It was no good, his voice refused to come out once again.
“Are you an idiot? What made you think that you were so special to overcome the Monolith’s functions? You of all people should know after having tested it thousands of times against the lesser species- that whatever dies turns into those crystalline monsters.”
Gerald’s heart beat faster as he listened in. He couldn’t be sure if it was because of his own panic at the realization of what he had just done to himself or if it was the boy’s power that was forcefully doing it. Either way it was horrible thought to contemplate.
“Hey, did you think that just because you were the one commanding this Monolith you’d be different? But still, I’m grateful for your vast stupidity because that made my job a whole lot easier. In return allow me to reveal one important detail; everything you’ve learnt from me about this Monolith was just a trap.”
‘A trick…’ at the very least Gerald had been right about one thing. It was indeed all a trick, though unfortunately his basis on what those tricks were had been way off. He had been duped and now he was about to face the consequences of losing a battle of wits against an opponent who knew nothing about mercy.
“Y- you… re… just… hu… man.”
The force pinning his head against the floor intensified greatly as the sudden impact felt as though it would split his head wide open. The impact traveled through his head and managed to cause cracks to appear on the floor beneath him.
“That’s completely correct! I am a ‘Human’! The only race that is truly relevant to this world! If ever I died and was reborn I would choose to be human every single time!”
“…”
“Immortality? You idiot, that kind of thing is hardly even an accomplishment anymore. Power? You couldn’t even begin to imagine the peak of what is truly capable of my… of human hands. Godhood? Now why would I want to degrade myself to such a degree by picking up that tetanus infested mantle? Let me make this clear for you once and for all… This world is a Human Dominion and I will not stand to let you thieves and cowards take that away from me.”
Those would be the last words that Gerald would ever hear as the boy released his grasp. Slowly as he descended into the deepest part of the abyss, it was then that he had finally understood. That this boy known as ‘Morgant’ was an unfair entity; he was not a being without fault, he would lie, cheat and deceive but he was never once ‘wrong’.
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Chapter Summary:
Gerald - Fuck you.
Morgant - No, Fuck you... and your entire race... and every race that isn't Human.