Chapter 2

It was quite the ridiculous story of how I came to be here. If these humans knew what type of life I was living before they summoned me they would surely either faint from fear or spit blood from anger.

I was actually in a battlefield facing a party of heroes and their army. Alone with only my demonic blade and light armor I faced them. There were five heroes and a small army made up of elite knights. Among the heroes there was an elf archer, dwarf warrior and human mage. Leading them in a ridiculously adorned golden armor was Caspian their leader he was said to be the second coming of the ancient Hero King Roan of the Holy Empire.

Roan was a man who grew his small dukedom into becoming the largest human empire among the humans. During his early years he became a hero and killed several demon kings one after another.

He was considered the bane of all demons.

During that time I who had killed a hero of another kingdom was forced to ascend the throne as a scapegoat. Lucky for me during my coming of age ceremony I awakened my great talent for dark magic and became a true demon king.  

Years after that we met on the battlefield several times always ending in a stalemate. However, he had an advantage as humans are faster to mature. I was still considered an adolescent when he defeated me and brought me to my knees as a middle aged man.

Yet he didn’t kill me, instead making me swear a blood oath the demonkin would never again send their armies into human lands under my rule. Of course seeing the loophole in the oath he must have put on purpose, I easily agreed. To keep my promise I who was at the time just a figurehead started a civil war among my kin, I slaughtered any of them who opposed my rule and decisions. Many of the clan elders died to my blade, holding on to a such a worthless thing like revenge and pride. Those that remained only followed me out of fear they would be next. There were some who thought I was a human sympathiser, but shut up after I fought any army the humans sent into our land unaided.

For 1000 years I maintained the fragile balance between the two races through threats and trickery. When I heard the new hero was being called Roan’s reincarnation the blood in my veins began to boil. I was tired of living in this peaceful world. To me who was born in an era of constant war, there was not a lot of things that brought me pleasure. I could only hope the new heroes would entertain me longer than the ones who came before them. Therefore I set off to fight the new army and meet them at the border of my kingdom.

As soon as I saw the hero’s party I unleashed my full power. My demonic blade screamed forming a whirlpool of dark mana as I launched myself towards them. I had thought it would devolve into a duel where I would eventually win, then spare his life. However, I didn’t think they would be so. . . weak. A long time of peace had dulled their blades. It was like a butcher slaughtering a litter of small pigs. Blood sprayed everywhere as their sweet screams resonated in my ears. When their wails died down only I was standing, next to me was Caspian’s severed head frozen in horror.

Although it was quite fun, well for me at least, it I had lost myself to the fight, and before I knew it, all except one was dead. It was the woman elf archer, who I had somehow spared in my madness. After all I was a gentleman you know. Never had I deliberately harmed a woman. So I carried her on my back hoping to take her somewhere to heal, then send her back.

However, a large agitation of mana suddenly enveloped her. The pressure was too much and I saw the last light in her eyes fade away. As if sensing her death the mana particles passed on to me as their host and formed what appeared to be a spell inscription at my feet.  The next thing I knew I was in a large room surrounded by priests and paladins.

* * * * *

As I took side glances around I realized surrounding me was a large spell inscription, and I wasn’t the only one inside it.

To my left was a tall middle aged warrior covered in a light vest. His bulging muscles seemed to want to pop out of his clothes and his scars made it obvious he was a seasoned warrior. I thought he would be just another musclehead, but I was wrong.

He stayed there calmly, only sparring small glances around the room. It was a inconspicuous thing to do, most would think nothing of it. But I could see the slight calculating expression that would cross his face. They were not that of someone nervous, curious or afraid. He was analyzing things, figuring out the nearest exit, and how many people he would have to kill to get there.

Close to him was a golden haired girl with aquamarine eyes. She wore clothes similar to the old priest. Unafraid her eyes shone bright as if she had just been told an exciting story or given a grand gift. While I was looking at her she turned to meet my gaze and smiled. Yet for some reason a chill ran down my spine, I could feel she wasn’t a threat but for some reason I felt she was much, much more dangerous. As expected of someone who radiated such pure holy aura. I tried to smile back before quickly turning my head.

Next I looked at the last people summoned, they were a group of young kids who seemed as if they just came of age. They all wore the same blue uniform and judging by their appearance they must have lived peaceful pampered lives before the summoning. They all appeared scared, the girls surrounded the only adult in their group a young woman with hazel eyes and long dark brown hair.

I thought of approaching someone but before I did, the elderly priest suddenly moved towards us.

“Welcome, welcome, heroes. I know you are all nervous, confused, maybe even scared. But I promise you there is a reason we called you here. We called you here as our saviours, a duty we hope you will take. I am sure you each have many questions, however, it is not my place to give you the answers you seek. You will have an audience with the king he will explain things further, so please follow me.”

With those words we were ushered after him. The first to move was the middle aged warrior he looked at us, gave a small nod and then followed behind him. The golden haired woman was next she walked next to the kids and the young woman giving them a reassuring smile before walking off.

It seemed they had decided it would be best to wait and see how things played out. Going by their unique outfits it was obvious they were part of whatever organization was in charge where they came from. Perhaps summoning magic was also prevalent in the world they were from.

“Is something wrong,” asked one of the knights seeing I was the last to make my way after them. Trying not to draw any suspicions I quickly came up with an excuse.

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“No, I was just curious as to why I can understand your language,” I said trying look as confused about the current situation I was in as I could.

“Indeed, there is a translation spell embedded into the summoning circle. It allows anyone summoned to understand the words spoken in any language. It is a mind magic, words spoken by us are translated into whatever language you speak by your mind. Of course this is only for talking to one another, if you saw our written language you would not understand what any of the letters or words mean.”

“How interesting.” These humans were quite resourceful it seemed.

“Yes sir, but please we must hurry or I will get in trouble,” he said with a pleading expression.

“You’re right, let’s go,” I said with a chuckle as I walked towards the exit. A hero huh, this should be interesting.

* * * * *

Outside we were greeted with a large courtyard. Many different species of trees were lined up next to each other forming a large garden. We took one of the paths that was home to many different types of flowers.

This seemed to calm a lot of the girls who had been crying, as they started walking alone and admiring the scenery. I also found the plants quite interesting. So much so that I approached a giant green carnivorous plant that seemed to catch and eat insects. But I got too close and it latched onto one of my arms. I engaged in a short struggle with it as it stubbornly tried to devour me.

This must have been amusing to some of the girls in the group started giggling. However, I was furious and swore once my magic returned I would dig it up and use it as firewood. Eventually we walked through a large stairway and stopped before two large metal doors.

We were led to the end of the room where a man, woman and their children sat on thrones that seemed to indicate their status. Beside them were many different other people wearing luxurious clothes, and seemed to be sucking up to the king and queen so they must have been nobles.

Asking the others for silence, the king stood up from his throne and approached us.

“Greetings saviours, he said with a vow, now then let me explain why we called on you. You see this world is nearing its destruction.”

With a solemn tone he looked at us trying to garner our sympathy and told his story.

Apparently this world was once said to be a world full of life, where many races lived in harmony. The elves populated the forests, the mountains belonged to the dwarves, the beastmen roamed the plains and the humans populated the small scattered areas between them.

Although there were occasionally wars, it was never anything that threatened the survival of any species. However, that changed once dark and evil creatures invaded their lands. Their entire bodies emitted a corrosive miasma that ate away at anything it touched. They were a plague, a disease onto the land. The trees would wither, the rivers that came down from the mountain would become polluted, and the fertile lands of the plains would become barren.

Devils they called them, corrupting creatures from a place they called the abyss. They had also either corrupted or enslaved many of the species with low intelligence. Transforming them into mutated abominations of their past selves, and when they tried to come to their help it was already too late.

The king spoke of the brave heroes of the past who fought these monster and pushed them back ensuring the survival of their species. He talked about the nobilities, and titles conferred on them as well as the festivals held in their honor every year. Cunningly he tried to make us envision a prosperous future where we would be these heroes.  

“And so I hope you will find it in your heart, to come to our aid in our time of need.”

There were different reactions to his passionate speech. The middle aged warrior seemed displeased but acceptant of this new reality. The golden haired girl kept up her excited appearance and I tried to maintain my indifference. However, the group of children looked as if they had seen a ghost. Among them the adult woman seemed furious.

“We refuse. They are just kids, they can’t fight monsters! We came from a peaceful society where most people have never been part of a war! The are all students, none of these kids have ever even been in a fight! They can’t fight these monsters. Now you want them to be your warriors and send them to war! S-Send us back we can’t fight your war!”

The young woman screamed angrily. So she was their teacher, no wonder the kids surrounded her protectively. As she reproached the king heatedly I could tell he was starting to get annoyed. Even from this distance I could tell his face was starting to turn red and a slight vein was protruding from the top of his head.

“Enough!” he said as he stood up from his throne. “I know this must be hard for you to accept, but my kingdom has paid a heavy price to summon you here. We can’t send you back. You will have to earn your keep if you want to stay in the palace. Once this is over if you gather the necessary materials we can try to send you back. Now you are dismissed, it seems some of you are tired from your journey.”

* * * * *

With dissatisfaction the king waved us away. It seemed he had somehow expected us to feel honored to fight to the death for him and his kingdom. Perhaps some of the people that came before us were happy to fight for fame and wealth. But to expect everyone to be swayed by honeyed words was quite naive.

After that the old priest approached us. It appeared he had been scolded by the king as there were small beads of sweat on his forehead. He must have been one of the ones in charge of the summoning, I will have to find a time to talk to him in the future.

“Please come with me I will lead you to your quarters,” he said as he hurriedly tried to leave the audience chamber. After leaving the center of the palace where the king and his family resided, the old priest became a lot more chatty. Apparently he was one of the bishops of the church of light. It was the predominant church in the kingdom. It held a bit of influence as it provided a steady influx of healers which were necessary when there were skirmished every year. The name of the kingdom was Northwind, it was located near the center of the continent and was considered a mid-sized country.

It bordered the large empire of Barus to the north. Like its name Barus was a domineering empire where everything depended on strength. Long ago after the great expedition to the abyss many countries faced a severe blow to their national power. Barus took advantage of that situation and invaded its neighbors. While it succeeded in creating a large empire the king at the time was betrayed by some of his subordinates who had become religious fanatics. They worshipped the god of blood and slaughter. It was a religion that believed heavily in sacrifice as a means of worship. Though blood rituals they raised powerful  priests and warriors. Before the great expedition it was considered nothing more that a cult. It was natural that such acts would be looked down upon and hated. However, because of their heavy influence in the war against the devils they were tolerated as a necessary evil. Before others they knew it, their followers had overthrown and established their own empire. Unlike most countries slavery was commonplace and they created a system where the strongest person in the empire became pope. In the end it became a haven for vagabonds and mercenaries who entered the wastelands in search of riches.

To the east of the kingdom of Northwind and Barus were the wastelands. This was where the devils and their minions resided. It was also the grave of the many kingdoms who had fallen at the time of the devils’ ascension from the abyss. Today it was filled with barbaric tribes that made up small demonic kingdoms ruled by warlords. They lead the frontline against the remaining human kingdoms. They were all considered beings tainted by the devils and were killed on sight if they were ever seen. Under the commands of their masters they were relentless and would always send small expeditions to try and invade  Barus and Northwind.

As I thought about what the old priest had said I also realized that this world was much larger than the one I came from. There were still many unexplored areas, many different types of people and ferocious beasts. And unlike in my old world where I was tied down, here there were a lot of things I could do. But now that there was an overabundance of possibilities laid out for me, I didn’t know which to chose. But I knew one thing, in due time these humans would regret summoning me as I brought a different type of chaos into this world.