Don began fading away, turning into just a bunch of experience points that flowed through Arturo.

"LEVEL 3" That's what the interface indicated.

Wonder what his comrades would think, that their master had blood of his own kind on his hands.

"No...this is terrible, I killed him!"

Arturo saw Purply and Dan were busy clashing with the knights. And they hadn't paid any attention to what Arturo was doing.

Arturo let out a sigh of relief.

"They didn't see me. Thank goodness."

"What should I do? Should I tell them he's dead? In this situation, should I tell the truth and that I made a mistake? But how will they take it?"

Dan, after dislocating a knight's arm, turned to Arturo. "My lord, is Don okay?"

"N-no!"

"What?!"

Dan's blood boiled with tremors.

I've stained my hands by killing a companion, even if he was a demon, I shouldn't have let one of my own fall victim. The shame weighs heavily on me!

Arturo was flooded with heroic and romantic thoughts, he advanced with his head held high.

"I'll tell the truth, that I killed Don. Such a foolish act shouldn't be shrouded in darkness."

Purply had leaped from the other side of the river, with a swipe of its limb, it floored three knights, and with the others, it pinned them to the ground.

The remaining knights were up in a tree, wrapped up like cocoons in a web.

"Help! Please! Spare me, spare me! We won't attack the dem-"

But Purply bit into the knights, devouring them whole without leaving any trace of their flesh.

Arturo almost reconsidered confessing his fault. Mistakes happen in life. It was better to blame the knights.

Purply reported that some knights had escaped, but it managed to catch them, tying them up in webs.

For Arturo, the show was enough, how much did those knights need to suffer? They had learned their lesson, they couldn't compete with the army of evil.

Dan stepped forward and shouted as loud as he could to be heard.

"Knights, listen to me, this is the rebirth of the demon army, we've returned stronger than before. We have Master Artoris on our side! He's back to destroy the kingdom of Heden for good!"

The knights' eyes trembled at the sight of Artoris alive again.

"It's the king!"

"He's shrunk quite a bit!"

Arturo examined the remaining knights, tormented, some still trapped in cocoon webs, others losing liters of blood from severed limbs.

"Those are the knights? I expected them to be cooler, these look like lanky losers."

"Hey! Who are you calling lanky?" shouted a knight from across the river.

"Ha! He heard me!"

During that dramatic scene, a remaining knight stepped forward, rising from the mountain of corpses piled up.

He gripped his sword tightly, his eyes shining with a radiant light. He wore prestigious armor and a helmet that wrapped around his forehead like a band. He squared off against the demons with all the courage he had.

"Who's that?" Arturo wondered, who was this stranger? A paladin from the kingdom had stepped forward, brave as ever, ready to challenge evil.

After all those atrocities, he had survived and risen even stronger.

"You monstrous fiend! I will defeat you, in the name of the princess and Heden!"

"A paladin?

And now, trouble was brewing; Arturo had to deal with an unstoppable paladin fighting for the heart of the kingdom.

The knight gripped his sword and locked eyes with Purply, challenging it while standing on its long limbs that could touch the riverbed.

“Curse you! You heap of horror, bring it on!”

The knights cheered, their anger growling too; it wasn't fair, it was unacceptable that despite being outnumbered, that creature was getting the better of the kingdom's knights. The paladin represented the unified strength of the army.

Purply moved across the river to reach the other bank, dodging two knights in front with a single swipe of its limb, and stopped before him.

The paladin gave a cocky smirk.

“Eh, it doesn't matter how strong you are, I won't surrender!”

Arturo watched from the sidelines, aware, feeling envious on one hand, how could one bring such a noble spirit to its knees?

The paladin was the first to charge, aiming his sword at one of its large limbs.

“First, I’ll chop off a limb, then move on to the next, after throwing it off balance, I’ll target the eyes, and then… I’ll behead it!”

That was the plan to follow; paladins stood out from the rest, skilled in combat and braver than anyone else.

The paladin reached the first limb, his target neither retreating nor defending. It stood still. The paladin took advantage and, reaching the first limb, began to strike, feeling victory within grasp, believing he could do it, that limb would be cut in two.

But like a whip, the hero was flung elsewhere like lightning, crashing into a tree trunk, the armor cracking from the impact.

And the knights fell silent…

Purply approached the hero, who was writhing in pain against the trunk, casting his shadow over him, sporting a merciless and grotesque grin, his blood-stained teeth glinting in the moonlight.

The paladin could no longer steady his hand, trembling so much he was clutching the ground with his fingers.

"Help! Please, don't hurt me!"

The paladin hadn't realized that this time, bravery alone wouldn't be enough to face the demons. He bowed over and over, looking more like he was about to choke than cry.

"Please, don't hurt me, forgive me!"

Purply began to lift its first limb, overshadowing the moon.

"Humans... are so weak!"

"Ha! Please, please, don't let me end up like that, please!"

Purply's eyes flickered, wide open and staring at the kneeling hero from various angles.

"Are these the knights supposed to defend peace?"

The limb descended to such an extent that it crushed the paladin, flattening him to the ground like an ant.

A total massacre, that's what the scene conveyed. From his eyes, you could read more than defeat; it was a humiliation he had never experienced before, an entire troop torn apart by a single entity.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Captain! What do we do?" a young cadet asked.

The captain was hidden among the dense trees, with a bleeding arm, trying to assess the situation. His advanced age spoke volumes; he had always emerged victorious in expeditions, he himself had praised the kingdom's strength. Whose fault was it? Were the soldiers not well-trained? Or perhaps, they had faced a greater threat; the current Purply was different, more bloodthirsty, more ruthless, someone had changed the rules of the game, the disparity was enormous.

A true rebirth of the demonic army had taken place.

"We need to retreat!"

The captain spoke, the veteran of a thousand expeditions.

"What! General, our comrades are all dead, and you want to honor their memories by running away?"

The captain's eyes widened as he saw a familiar, almost ghostly figure behind the vampire spider.

"Impossible! Is that the demon king?! But wasn't he ambushed?"

The knights looked at each other, indeed, the demon king was more alive than ever.

Artoris saw the knights on the other side of the river.

"Listen up! This is Artoris speaking, I will soon rule over these lands, you'd do well to heed my words!"

"Speak, you filthy demon!"

Arturo's mind went cold.

I-I've never been good at dealing with so many people.

"You humans are walking towards certain death! My power can wipe out an entire capital."

"Eh?!"

"Did you hear what he said?"

"Could it be true?"

Phew! Looks like they bought it.

The captain stepped forward briskly. He didn't hesitate for a moment, not even with Purply putting pressure on all his comrades. The captain had an aged look about him, in his fifties, he had surely faced countless battles and had earned a high command rank to lead a troop on dangerous expeditions.

His hair was whitened and tied back in a ponytail. The man stood at the edge of the river and locked eyes with Arturo.

"Master Artoris, I will return the favor, thank you first and foremost for sparing us."

"EH?! What's he doing!" The knights were shocked, even the highest rank was kneeling before the darkest evil.

"I wanted to tell you, I will never forgive you for inflicting such atrocious deaths on my men. And so, I promise I will return to face you, our army against yours, to end this war once and for all! That is all."

"Troops, retreat!"

The few remaining knights made their way into the dense trees until they disappeared.

That was scary! Thought he was gonna kill me! Phew... turns out he's just the classic honorable character!

Even the greatest were powerless before the demons, the danger was imminent. A dark era had arrived, where darkness would envelop the world. There were no more heroes to rise, no princesses to save, only the demon king who reigned supreme on the throne. After the battle, the three resumed their journey.

Fortunately for Arturo, Dan and Purply didn't even ask about Don.

Don's death hadn't touched any of their souls. It was impossible; who would care about a pawn that couldn't stand out in battle? This was clear to the demons, and the only person they could shed tears for was the king; he was the absolute priority over everything.

But Purply yawned, and so did Dan. That racket had made them so tired they preferred to stop. They dozed off among the dense trees. Meanwhile, the moon was still high, lighting up the forest with its glow. The long river mirrored it. And Arturo was walking by its side.

I am Master Artoris, the final boss of this game, and the knights must defeat me to maintain peace. But it seems, no one can defeat us, have we become so strong that not even the forces of good can do anything? Am I in paradise, or in hell? Is this life better than the one I had before?

Arturo was about to close his eyes. But something kept him awake; he felt something pulsing on his forehead, shook his eyes, and saw an arrow.

"Hold it!"

"Eh?"

"Don't move!"

He suddenly opened his eyes wide and caught sight of a knight's silver helmet.

Arturo stood up and backed away.

As soon as the knight had a clear view of Arturo's face, he fell backward in fright, scraping the ground as he retreated.

“D-damn you!”

Arturo's steps echoed in the natural silence; he approached the trembling knight and reached out a hand to help him up.

“Need a hand?”

"Shut up!"

Then the knight covered his ears.

“You must be casting a spell, but I'm not listening!”

Artoris slowly approached and kicked him, making him roll backward.

"Look, I'm serious! Those two demons scare the heck out of me. Don't you guys have some hideout in your kingdom?"

“It doesn't matter if you're Artoris, I will defeat you, understand?!”

The knight kept changing the subject, driven by fear, he threatened Arturo continuously, picking up his bow and standing up again.

Arturo didn't know what to do; he recognized that look, the desperate eyes pleading for help. Arturo extended his arm as if to calm him but immediately withdrew it, realizing he couldn't appease the knight's anger.

"Tell me," Arturo said. "What did I do."

“You've done enough.”

“Your family, you've lost them, haven't you?”

The boy didn't answer, instead choosing to read his shot.

"You must have suffered a lot, right?"

The boy tightened his grip on the bow, then saw Artoris smile:

"Do what you must!"

"Eh?"

For a moment, the knight hesitated, almost lowering his bow.

Eh? Did he show compassion? I was about to jump into the river and escape, glad he didn't ruin the dramatic moment!

The knight lowered his head and dropped the bow to the ground.

"Why did you say that?"

"Because I don't want to hurt you, I'm not the demon king, I'm a human, just like you!"

"W-what do you want?"

"I want to find shelter in your kingdom, if that's possible."

The knight got it! Arturo could count on support in the kingdom, in that dangerous world, only the forces of good could bring him peace.

After a moment of thought, the knight looked back at Arturo.

"I'll do my best, alrig-"

But just as he saw something falling from the sky, Arturo jumped back.

Purply had descended from above like a meteor and bitten the young knight.

As the bat opened its mouth with every syllable, the remains of the knight were seen fragmented between its teeth.

"MA-MASTER! I ffoundd a shhortcut"

"Weren't you sleeping?!"

"I couldn't ffall asleleep!"

As dawn broke, they resumed their journey. Arturo fasted, having no intention of joining Purply and Dan for breakfast.

After crossing an endless expanse of trees, they had finally reached the end.

Ahead, a vast field stretched out, with mountain ranges visible in the distance.

Purply landed on the ground and brought its moist snout close to the grass, sniffing the blades over and over. Then it synchronized its eight eyes and raised its head.

"We can return to our kingdom now!"

Arturo did nothing but gaze towards the horizon, where the great mountains loomed.

"Is it in that mountain?" Arturo commented.

Dan cracked a grin, followed by a chuckle from Purply.

"Master Artoris, you've been more playful lately, you know? I like this new side of you."

"Yeah, you used to be so cold and sour towards others."

"Dan, what are you saying, that someone like Artoris isn't free to joke around?"

"N-no, I'm not saying that at all."

"You have to understand that Artoris has returned from the underworld, who knows what it was like to spend time next to death, he must have faced a loneliness none of us can imagine."

Artoris nodded solemnly.

"Now, Master Artoris will take us back to the kingdom of Abylissalum!"

Arturo was taken aback. He didn't know how to respond. He took a moment to think. Wasn't the kingdom right in front of them? Yet near those mountain ranges, there was a village, had he made a mistake? Perhaps this kingdom was above the clouds.

The familiar and the demon were waiting for Arturo to take action.

He focused hard, even closing his eyes, but couldn't teleport them anywhere. Arturo tried to check the interface; everything seemed normal, at least it appeared. Then he noticed a small update had been added:

HOME

Arturo touched it. Suddenly, the interface automatically vanished. Gradually, the ground beneath his feet began to tremble, opening into a large spiral abyss. Arturo bent down and clutched the grass, but the current was too strong to resist.

"What the heck?!"

Arturo yelled as he was dragged into the pit.

When Arturo reopened his eyes, he felt the scirocco wind brushing against his face.

Around him stretched a barren, desert landscape.

The ground was littered with sharply pointed rocks, continuing intermittently along the path.

Above, he could make out the silhouettes of some demons soaring, their wings flapping like sails.

"Follow us, Master Artoris, we've arrived!" Purply repeated.

On the way, Arturo delved into an unusual path, traversing twisted streets of imprecise shape; this place was Abyssalum.

The few torches lit up the architecture, appearing oblique and distorted, stretching out in an irregular form.

Layers of rock seemed to detach from the ground, the sods were turned upwards.

Houses were perched right atop those rock layers. As Artoris walked, the sods alternated on opposite sides.

Inhabitants were inside those dark windows, their faces merely shadows, but as soon as Artoris's figure was exposed to their sight, the village lit up, and all began to murmur and even emerge from their houses, approaching the high ledge.

"Master Artoris!"

"Master Artoris has returned!"

"He's alive!"

"Welcome back, Master Artoris!"

Arturo didn't know what to say. One thing was certain, in this world, he was this Master Artoris, who had somehow had a provocative impact on this fantasy world. The demons looked very much like humans, except for the horns protruding from their hair, which were shorter in length.

It seemed like a celebration had erupted; all the demons came out and bowed with absolute respect.

"Incredible, are these cheers really for me?"

As he moved further, behind the geometrically shaped and sharply high houses, there extended a colossal castle suspended over the void.

"Is that it?