Daric watched the others run away. The dragon continued burning the buildings around him. Daric paused as he stared in awe. He was looking at a very real dragon. He never thought such a sight would ever be possible. They were only a creature in myth on Earth, and here on Centari, no one had seen one for hundreds of years.

As cool as the dragon looked as he spewed jets of flames, igniting every building on the block, innocent people were being hurt and possibly dying. Daric needed to stop him. That’s the whole reason he was reincarnated. But that seemed an impossible task now that he saw the powerful demon. People screamed and ran through the streets. He should have joined them. Retreat and return with an army. Then he might stand a chance.

But that’s not who he was. He was going to be a hero, even if it killed him. Daric knew what he had to do now, and knowing made it all the easier to do it.

"Hey!" Daric called out as he ran to a section of the road where nobody was. "You overgrown lizard, pick on someone your own size!"

The dragon stopped burning the city and turned his head towards Daric. He flapped his wings and glided to the section of road behind Daric, crushing a few fleeing people. It wasn’t exactly the result Daric wanted. He didn’t want anyone else to die. But the demon dragon lowered his wings to rest the talons of his wings on his shoulders. It made his wings almost look like a cape that flowed whenever he moved.

The demon king prowled forward, the road cracking under his weight. "Where do you have the gall to tell me what to do? Who are you?" The dragon’s rumbling voice felt like it shook his bones. Then, from the ridges on his face, two black horn-like antennae moved to stand straight up. A deep purple glow emanated from their tips. "A human? A human thinks they can speak to me?"

Daric didn’t want to believe it. The dragon was talking. "Why? Are you scared?" Daric didn’t know why he said that. But the way the dragon tilted his head, the man immediately regretted his choice of words.

"No." The demon king raised his claws and attempted to step on the human.

Daric sidestepped and swung the sword he had pilfered from the Rider of Death and severed a claw from the dragon. The rest of his foot still slammed into the ground, sending out a shock wave that knocked the human backwards.

Daric tucked into a roll and twisted to his feet. He saw the blood pooling and mixing with the shattered pieces of the road. "Are you really the demon king?" He wounded the dragon. The thought of killing the monster bubbled up with hope.

The dragon looked at the stump on his foot. "This? It’s just a scratch." He spat a quick puff of flame and cauterized the wound. "But technically speaking, I’m ‘A’ demon king."

"There’s more than one?" Daric lowered his weapon slightly. "How? Why?"

The dragon hung his head and shook it. "You stupid, ignorant mortals. You have several rulers in your world, but when I say there is more than one demon king across the different realms of hell, you find that hard to believe." The demon king raised his head and bared his rows of perfectly triangular teeth. "Not that any of that is your concern anymore. Your world will end soon enough."

"Why?" For some reason, the demon king was quite talkative. Daric didn’t complain. Maybe he could talk the demon king into, maybe not destroying the world. A slight chance, but he was going to take it. "What has this world done to you to make you hate it so much?"

"It’s nothing this world has done." Daric flinched at the dragon’s words. "It’s who made it; who it belongs to that matters." The dragon laid down and crossed his front legs. "I was so close. One more, and I would have had everything. But she had to ruin all of it." His tail slapped a nearby building, obliterating the entire wall.

Daric eyed the destruction. Keep the dragon talking, he thought. "What are you talking about? I don’t understand."

The dragon let out an odd rumbling growl, almost like a sigh. "How could you? Then again, how would I have known she would betray me like that? She was so happy to show off her world, the one they had given her permission to create. She succeeded in her trials. But then she went and promised to help me pass mine. She sent me down as an immortal demon. I can’t die, and I can’t be killed, only banished."

Daric watched as the demon king rambled on. He wasn’t looking at a world-destroying entity. It was like he was watching someone share their life story with a close friend over way too many drinks.

"Then I learned how to become more powerful. So I did. I became the most powerful demon I could. It still wasn’t enough. I still can’t reach her. But I’m so close. If I had more power, I could climb up and tear her from her ivory pedestal, and then, after I have my vengeance, I will make them all pay for allowing it to continue and for stopping me every time I get so close."

"Who’s she?" Daric asked calmly.

The dragon snorted. "Tier’Scollestia. At least that’s the name she had before she left me here to never ascend."

"Is Tier Scultest The Voice?" The tip of Daric’s sword hit the ground as he stared at the demon king. Bile swirled in his stomach. "Is that why I’m here? It sent me here just to do what? Am I just being used? I’m not a hero?"

The dragon stood up and leaned really close to Daric. He sniffed him several times, but Daric didn’t move. His eyes weren’t focused on what was in front of him but were lost in a sea of doubt.

"Tier’Scollestia, is her true name. It’s possible she even gave up on considering herself female, too." The dragon growled as he slammed his tail into another building. "All the more reason to destroy her, it, or whatever."

"Why not just go after The Voice? If you hate it that much, what do you need from this world? Why are you really here?" Daric looked at the dragon with longing.

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He wanted to believe he could prevent more deaths with his words. After hearing the demon king’s reason, maybe he had a reason for his feelings. Daric didn’t understand much of what he was talking about, but that wasn’t important to him; saving this world was. And if The Voice wasn’t completely truthful with him, maybe it deserved what was coming.

"I plan on using the magic from this world to bolster my power." The demon king seemed to shrug. "It’ll deplete the world’s magic."

"What’ll happen when you do that?"

"All life will cease to exist." The flatness of the dragon’s tone shook Daric to the core.

Daric took a moment to consider what he was told. He gripped the magical weapon tightly as he raised it. "I can’t let you do that."

"Oh, and why’s that?" The demon king asked with mild amusement in his voice.

"Because I was sent here to keep you from hurting the people of this world." Daric aimed the tip of the blade towards the dragon.

"If The Voice as you called her, it, or whatever, is Tier’Scollestia, why do you serve them? Why not join me and stand up against being used as a pawn in her machinations? You are being used." The dragon extended a wing; his claws extended like he was offering a hand. "I will make it so that souls like you never have to do the work of others because they want to hide or cover up anything."

Daric shook his head. "I don’t care about that. Whatever is between The Voice and you needs to stay between you. The people of this world should not have to suffer for it."

The dragon lowered his head. "Are you refusing me? Doing so will mean death. The fate of this world is not a concern of mine. If you refuse me, you won’t be able to tell Tier’Scolestia that she failed. Well, it doesn’t matter; she’s watching. She’s always watching."

"I will not let you harm this world!"

Daric raised his sword and charged the demon king. The demon king took a deep breath and let out a fiery torrent. Daric dove to the side. The flames licked him, singeing his clothes and causing his skin to prickle. He scrambled to his feet, his heart pounding in his chest.

The demon king loomed over Daric, and with a swift flick of his tail, he sent Daric flying into the air. The force of the impact knocked the wind out of him as he crashed into a nearby building, rubble cascading around him. Daric let out a groan as he rolled over to lift himself to his feet.

Struggling to catch his breath, Daric pushed himself to face the demon king again. He was a hero, and heroes never give; they never surrender. His durability aptitude likely saved his life twice now, and yet, he was no closer to winning this fight than when he began.

All the lessons Midas made sure he learned came back to him, like a friend he had left behind. Daric rotated his shoulders as he climbed from the rubble to see the dragon waiting for him.

"Good. It seems all that talk of being a hero might have some merit." The words caught Daric off guard. "But still, in the end, this is all futile. But I can’t let you live either. I can’t let Tier’Scolestia have any hope."

The dragon followed up the words with another blast of fire. Daric didn’t have time to find cover. He wished he had a tower shield to take cover with. Suddenly, his sword felt heavier. He looked down and saw the weapon shifting, growing wider. Soon he had a shield taller than him and wide enough to protect him.

Daric planted the shield into the ground just before the flames engulfed him. He felt the heat all around him, but the flames never lasted and only singed him slightly. He remembered that The Rider of Death could shift the weapon into anything he wanted. A sword was not a practical weapon to fight a dragon with. Daric felt a pang of regret when he remembered his archery skills were lacking.

With a chuckle, he realized all those stories may have been about something with the knight always using a lance to slay the dragon. While the bone weapon didn’t become a lance, Daric shifted it into a long spear. A lance would’ve been too unwieldy without a mount.

The dragon bounded towards Daric and swiped at him with the talons on his wings. Daric ducked and prepared to stab at the demon king’s ribs. The dragon continued his momentum and spun around, slamming Daric with his tail.

Daric tumbled down the street. That time, the blow hit him harder than before. Several of his ribs were broken from the impact, and the tumble dislocated a shoulder. It also felt like he had hit his head somewhere, given the dizziness he felt. As Daric struggled to get to his feet, he saw that the bone spear had pierced through the dragon’s tail.

The demon king pulled the spear out with his teeth. When the dragon lifted his head to point directly at Daric, he bit down on the magical weapon and snapped it into three pieces. "That didn’t belong to you."

Daric heard a stampede of footsteps behind him. He turned and saw a large collection of knights gathered. They let loose a volley of arrows, and all of them washed off the dragon’s scales like water. Daric swallowed hard. His only chance to kill the demon king was now lying broken at the monster’s feet. The knights behind him charged towards the dragon.

The demon king released another torrent of flames. All the knights, including Daric, scattered. A quarter of the knights weren’t lucky and burned to death, while those at the edges were just burning. Daric noticed a nearby overturned cart and sprinted towards it as another roar of flames engulfed more of the charging knights. The cart provided enough cover from the fiery breath.

As the cart quickly burned, Daric saw the demon king shredding knights with his claws, crushing them under his feet, and sending them flying with his tail. Every part of the monster was a lethal weapon. There was no safe place to strike; there was no vulnerable place to strike out of desperation. The demon king’s fight with the knights moved him further from the broken magical bone spear.

Daric took the chance and ran for it. The running alerted him to all the injuries he had suffered so far, but he needed to stop the demon king.

No matter the cost.

The demon king had killed most of the knights with almost playful ease. Their weapons glanced off his scales, and in some cases, they snapped against the natural armor. But as Daric scooped up the spear tip, he noticed that he may have overlooked one opening the dragon had. It was his back, between the wings. There, he might be able to stab into the spine and cripple the demon king, then strike a lethal blow afterwards.

Gritting his teeth, Daric ran up and jumped onto the dragon’s back. He started sliding off the dragon’s smooth scales. So he drove the spear tip into the demon king’s flank. The demon king roared and snapped his head around to look at Daric. Even without eyes, the demon king gave Daric a look that told him he was a dead man and this was a mistake.

Daric didn’t have time to regret his decision. The dragon jumped, flapped his wings, and spun around in the air. All the sudden movements dislodged Daric. This time, he held onto the spear as he landed on the roof of a burning building.

The heat made it hard to breathe. Smoke blinded Daric, and he didn’t see the demon king land on him until he felt it. Together, they crashed into the building. More of Daric’s bones broke from the impact and the weight of the dragon. The demon king pressed down on Daric with the claw on his wings.

Throughout the fall, Daric held the spear in his hand. Unfortunately, the spear was pinned to his side. The demon king lifted Daric up to his face, holding him tightly in his grip.

The building crumbled as it burned around them. Daric coughed as he let out a chuckle.

"What’s so funny?" The rumble from the dragon shook Daric’s bones. Each broken bone screamed in agony inside his body. "Have you finally accepted death?"

Daric coughed, and he felt some liquid, probably blood, fly out at the same time. "Nah. I’ve just finally accepted that I’m not the hero of this story. She is." Daric winced from the pain, but he put on a smile for the overgrown lizard. "She not only can stop you; she will."

"Who, Lust?"

Daric’s chuckle hurt. "Nah. She escaped. I kept you away from her. I’ve succeeded at my mission." He was getting lightheaded.

A loud roar deafened Daric just before the rows of razor-sharp teeth bit him in half.