“Archers would be the best choice, don’t you think?”

“Ha? What’s with you all of a sudden?” Alexia couldn’t help herself to ask. The demon lord was always weird and she was sure this time wasn’t an exception.

They were out of nowhere in the middle of a grassland stretching into the horizon, when he suddenly blurted nonsense.

“For your party members, Alex,” Zefrael said while walking through the soil path etched with various tire tracks. Dust was raising by the sound of his footsteps and blown away by the warm winds. “You are a close-range type swordsman, right? Long-range members should serve you very well.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Alexia irritatingly glared at the demon lord’s back she had been following for some time, “Rather than that, I told you I'm a girl, not a swords-man! And don't you think I didn't notice that you inappropriately cut my name again. I thought you said you would stop that!”

Zefrael halted his step and peered towards Alexia behind his shoulder. Looking very surprised with two eyes opened wide, he said, "Oh, right! I forgot you're a girl!!"

"Don't lie to my face."

The demon lord promptly giggled as he caught her dry glare. "You knew?"

"You're doing that on purpose!"

"Still, did I ever say that I wouldn't cut your name again?" he asked, looking somewhat amused, "I think not, Alex.” He deliberately cut her name again knowing that the girl would be angry. When he caught her angry glare, his mouth was promptly raised into a smile. “That’s what makes things interesting, no?”

Provoked by the demon lord, Alexia immediately drew her longsword from the sheath hanging on her side. The blade was ringing against the sheath, before it flashed in front of the demon lord’s face.

“Again?” Zefrael stared Alexia strangely, astonished by her actions. “This is for how many times now since we departed? It’s getting boring.”

It hadn’t been that long since her departure from the demon lord's castle with the demon lord himself. Even now, Alexia vaguely thought that her action was stupidly thoughtless.

She veered so far from her purpose on killing the demon lord, to having a journey with him. Her predecessor would never approve this if they knew. Still, she had made her choice, and she would walk the path she chose with resolution.

Which means, in the end, what she should do is try to kill the demon lord in every chance she had.

“We just walked a few miles, and you already drew your sword for five, six, eight—no twelve times already if I counted this,” continued Zefrael, “You’re really an aggressive type, huh? Not that I don’t like it.”

Alexia couldn’t find any arguments to get him back. It was true, they hadn’t walked that far. This grassland was still in the demon lord’s dominion. If she turned her head behind, she could still see Zefrael’s castle with its sharp spires, right at the base of The World Tree which was soaring high in the blue sky.

Being the evil and final boss’s dominion, the area should've been dark and desolate, where death was creeping on every corner, but instead, the area was remarkably lush with greenery. The existence of the World Tree was the reason it could even happen.

Ironically, because it was located at the nearest place from the World Tree, specifically at its gigantic root base, the demon lord—Zefrael’s castle was surrounded by the beauty of the land. On the contrary, the farther it was from the Tree, the more desolate it would be.

Wind carried the smell of calm and peace throughout the grassland, while the tune of the dense branches of the Tree played the sound of harmony. Really, if it wasn’t common sense that the demon lord's castle was located at the base of the World Tree, no one would ever believe that this was where the source of the evil resides.

The demon lord, as annoying as he was, actually was right. Between the castle and the grassland, they really hadn’t walked far. Actually, the distance was pretty near. Within that distance, Alexia had tried many surprise attacks on him, only to end up in failures.

As she had realized it before, he was really way over her league. So much Alexia didn’t want to admit, it was a blatant fact. Touching him already gave her some difficulties, let alone killing him.

She seemed to have a very, very long way until her dream could become reality.

Right in front of the tip of her blade, Zefrael sighed quietly, “Look, I even did what you wanted before departing, so just take it easy and let me guide you on your journey.”

“Ha! It’s not what I want! It’s what you’re supposed to do!!” Alexia instantly protested while waving her sword incoherently, “Do you think I would want to go with you if you’re so dirty like that!?”

“What a clean freak,” Zefrael accused with a pout.

“No way! I’m normal! You’re the one who’s disgustingly messy!!”

As she recalled what happened, Alexia was sure that she did the right thing. Compelling the demon lord to clean himself was one of them. That time, some weird and unbelievable things had happened.

It took Zefrael some time to clean himself. Alexia had said that she wouldn’t follow him to the bathroom, but to be honest, for a second there, she had thought to launch her surprise attack. There was a very big possibility that the demon lord would not have been ready to intercept if he was in the middle of cleaning himself. But no, in the end, she decided that it was too inappropriate in so many ways. Just the thought of it had already embarrassed her so much, and putting it into action was clearly impossible. She didn’t need to think twice that it would turn out to be a failure.

So, she waited.

Alexia had no idea how it happened, but suddenly she was treated to a feast in the middle of her wait. A full course meal was served in a long table, waiting to be eaten by both her and the demon lord.

That time, she was so surprised that she felt her body turn to stone—un-literally. It was so wrong for her to accept that kind of hospitality. She hadn't forgotten that she had heartlessly slaughtered many demonic creatures, and leaving them as bloody carcasses on the castle floor, but instead, she got a meal to fill her stomach??

Of course, the first thing on Alexia's mind, it's poisoned. She didn’t plan to touch any of the food that she knew was a trap, at least not on her own volition, but then the situation changed.

Zefrael arrived after he had cleaned himself. He looked so much better in clean and tidy appearance without messy crumbs and oil splotches in his hair or his clothes. He had changed out of his exaggerated fur cloak into dark long coat with minimalistic fur accents (which obviously was more suited to wear in a journey), but the rest of his get-up stayed as it was. He then joined her to eat, without any hesitation whatsoever.

Alexia was confused. He wouldn’t eat the same food if it’s poisoned, right?  Yet, he actually ate them willingly, with a few additional potato chip garnishes. That time, her poison-theory had been thrashed.

Still, the girl was unable to touch the food, afraid that her conjecture was the right one. She was only sitting at the table across him like a statue, when Zefrael said that he wouldn’t leave with a hungry stomach and if she was hungry as well, she was welcomed to eat anything she wanted.

At that time, Alexia had thought, did he not count the number of potato chips he’d been eating since meeting her? How could he still be hungry!?

Really, Zefrael was a weird demon lord who definitely had some screws loose in his head. Alexia already knew that, but it seemed his weirdness was way beyond her imagination.

First things first, shouldn’t he, like, be angry at her because she had robbed the lives of his minions? Not treating her to a feast?

She's the Hero and he's the Demon Lord, for god’s sake!

In the end, she refused to eat. She wasn’t that hungry to accept her hateful enemy’s given food. And Zefrael let her do what she wished.

The supposed evil demon lord's actions told Alexia that he didn’t seem to harbor any hard feeling for her because of the slaughter and the hatred she’d thrown at him. That was the main reason why Alexia couldn’t really comprehend him. Probably, he himself was the strangest thing in this world.

“So? What is it this time?” Zefrael’s voice called Alexia back to present. “You want to use your sword to stab me again, or you just want to brag the glittery tip of your sword to my face?” he sneered.

Alexia’s mind stopped for a second, trying to understand what he meant. Her longsword’s blade just looked normally sharp as a sword should be. She shifted her eyes at the tip in front of Zefrael’s disdainful face and she realized the yellowish bright sun was reflected on the blade's surface.

It was probably 'the glitter' he had mentioned, but the girl ignored it completely and cleared her throat. Getting angry at Zefrael wouldn’t get her anywhere, and stressing at the unimportant-glitter-word that he used was also an unproductive act. He already proved that he could foil each and  every one of her surprise attacks, and she doubted if she would succeed with an upfront straight attack.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

So, without saying anything, she pulled down her longsword and returned it to the sheath hanging on her hips.

“Good choice,” Zefrael smiled nonchalantly and happily gazed into Alexia’s golden brown eyes, “Now, let’s return to the party member topic.”

“Like I care,” Alexia said dejectedly and resumed her steps on the pathway.

She passed Zefrael, completely ignoring his existence, but he caught up to her to walk by her side, following her speed.

Alexia couldn’t help but notice that he smelled like lavender, not too strong, but subtle enough for her to enjoy it. She was right, clean is definitely better.

The moment she thought that, the girl suddenly remembered that he was actually the enemy she hated most. She scolded herself for enjoying even for a bit and hurriedly put a distance between them, hoping that the sweet smell of the lavender wouldn’t ever go through her nostril again.

Zefrael didn’t seem to realize her actions as he continued his preaching, “You should care, it’s about your party members.”

He strolled with relaxed and unguarded steps, showing Alexia a dozen of opportunities to strike him. To tell the truth, it ticked her off so much, but she tried to keep it to herself. She had failed many times already, deceived by the demon lord’s defenseless-but-impossible-to-breach act, and she wouldn’t let herself fall into the same hole again. She should find another opportunity.

“Just leave me out from this party members business,” the girl resentfully said, “I’m only here to get my necklace back while grabbing the chance to kill you, shitlord.”

Zefrael giggled when he heard the shitlord phrase again. “You’re so interesting, but listen—” With a serious look, he glanced at the frowning girl, “this party member business would benefit you too, you know.”

“Except the extra chance to kill you?”

“That was the extra, this is the main point,” continued Zefrael, “I said it before, right? I’m far stronger than you are. Alone, you will have no chance, but with party members, who knows? Maybe you could really kick my butt flying from this world,” he added jokingly.

He sounded pretty reasonable, but Alexia didn’t want to admit it head on. Instead, she twisted her words, “You sound like I’m the only one who would get all the merit from this messed up journey.”

“You are.”

“Really?” Alexia faked amazement. She took an accusing glance towards the demon lord who was walking beside her, “I remember you said that you were only helping me to help yourself. What’s your true motive, shitty demon lord!?”

“Zefrael,” The demon lord warned, “It’s all fine when no one's here, but eventually, you’ll only bring doom to yourself if you keep saying that. What’s the use of leaving my horns and hiding my identity if you keep spouting it like that?”

“Hmph!” The truth which rang so true within Zefrael’s words immediately annoyed Alexia, but she refused to let him win over her for this. “Stop complaining on small details! YOUR MOTIVE!!” she exclaimed.

Zefrael glanced at Alexia in silence for a second, before he shrugged in resignation. “Well, fine, if you insist. I have a few,” he explained, “First, I’m kinda bored of waiting for the hero again. Second, you’re very interesting. It will be my loss if the new dispatched hero wouldn’t be as interesting as you. And lastly, I want to try it at least once.”

“It, what?”

Suddenly, Zefrael looked so happy. It seemed like he had been waiting for that question for a long time. “What else?” He smiled as bright as the sun, ignoring completely the fact that he was supposed to be a dark demon lord, “An adventure, of course.”

“Ha?”

Alexia instantly stopped walking, too astounded even to say anything. Zefrael had walked past her, but he suddenly stopped in surprise and turned back her way.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Maybe I’m getting deaf,” muttered Alexia with doubt. Her feet seemed to be stuck on the pathway, refusing to move even an inch. “What did you say you want to try?”

“Adventure,” repeated Zefrael innocently. He gazed back into Alexia’s doubtful golden eyes with confidence. “I only heard about them, you know. It was a journey to bring the world peace, a journey where you can find your own self and build a bond of trust among your companions. See? Sounds interesting, right?”

Alexia was speechless. Was she really talking to the demon lord? Not somekind of hero-wannabe?

“It sounds boring to me.”

“It’s because you don’t know what the real boring meant,” Zefrael said while his fingers played with the longer strands of his hair. “You see, my role as the demon lord obliged me to stay at the castle, waiting for the hero and his party members to arrive, before I should fight them to the death,” he explained carefully. “I'm really fine about the fight to the death thing. In the end, death is inevitable."

Right after he said it, he suddenly became quiet and raised his head to gaze at the gigantic World Tree above his castle. As she felt something nagging in her brain, Alexia almost opened her mouth, but Zefrael's words had her first.

 “The problem is the wait. That’s the hardest part,” he continued his explanation dazedly while looking far away into the Tree. “Since my awakening, I waited hundred years for the Chosen Hero's arrival. It’s so boring I could die.”

Alexia couldn’t find any words to say. For once, this shitty and weird demon lord she hated looked really sad. Honestly, she had no idea what to say to his sudden confession.

As he shifted his gaze back to the girl, Zefrael smiled resignedly. “That is, until you showed up, Alex.”

“Um..” Alexia fidgeted in her place. This was unexpected. Seeing how Zefrael looked genuinely sad, he seemed to have his own problem. She never thought she would see this side of the demon lord she always hated for her entire life. She even forgot to be angry when he cut her name again arbitrarily.

Alexia had no idea how to break the silence that was creeping between them, but suddenly, Zefrael laughed so hard while bending his body over. Surprised, she instantly opened her eyes wide, unable to believe her own sight.

He jokingly glanced at the shocked girl and doubled up his loud laughter. “You really believed that! What a blunder!!” he said, grinning happily.

“W-wha!?”

Shock left Alexia with a surprised but furious mind. She glared him and irritatingly stomped her feet to the ground. Dust was raised to her nostril, bringing the whiff of a stuffy scent of sand, but she didn’t care even one bit and kept pointing her finger furiously to the demon lord.

“You lied to me!! How dare you!!!”

“Did I now? It could be the truth, you know?” he tried to defend himself, but the sound of laughter which was tingling within his words, ultimately turned everything meaningless.

“Only bullshit can be told with that shitty grin of yours, shitlord!!”

Unable to contain his amusement any longer, Zefrael laughed again, shaking his body while holding his stomach.

Alexia’s face felt very hot. She was so embarrassed with the fact that she fell for the demon lord's lies so easily. That embarrassment soon brought rage out from all over her body. She couldn’t forgive herself, but she couldn’t forgive Zefrael more.

“Ain’t I right, Alex?” He wiped a trickle of tear from the corner of his violet purple eyes, ending his laugh in a wide and big smile, “Other heroes wouldn’t be this interesting…”

“Grrr!! SHUT UP YOU ASSHOLE!!”

Her shout reverberated through the air, and the grassland returned her fury with a breeze of cool winds. Involuntarily, it calmed her temper a little.

She took a few halted breaths, looking irritatingly at the shitty demon lord who gazed up to the blue sky without any concern to her outburst.

“Still, it wasn’t really a complete lie,” Zefrael suddenly muttered with a serious tone, and distracted Alexia’s irritation.

“What?” She asked cautiously, ready to brush off another trap he would set for her.

Zefrael darted his violet eyes away from the sky, back to Alexia. “Now, care to guess?” He teased while smiling contently, “How much of it was a lie, and how much of it was the truth?”

“Hmph! Whatever, I won’t be playing your shitty games!”

Deciding that the shitlord didn’t deserve any more of her attention, she stomped her feet in irritation and resumed her walk on the pathway. She didn’t even bother to care if he was following her or not. She had hoped that he wouldn’t, but reality isn’t really that simple.

When Alexia heard a set of steps behind her, she realized that her ordeal wasn’t going to end very soon. So, she’d better be ready anytime. She knew she would become very happy beyond delight when she would finally kill the demon lord who kept getting on her nerves. One day, for sure.

Nevertheless, something did nag her brain. It would be much easier if she presumed all of Zefrael’s words were a total lie to trick her, but no.

The sadness she saw felt too true that she couldn't quickly rule it out as a lie. Plus, he sounded like he had been forced into the demon lord’s role. Of course, it was too ambiguous to be stated with certainty, but no one was forcing him, right?

As stated by the common belief, the demon lord was here by his own will to grasp the power of the World Tree as his own.

That’s why, it nagged her.

 Alexia knew her history enough to regard Zefrael's words as incoherently incomprehensible.

The world history and legends stated that a long, long time ago, The World Tree sprouted all of the lands and seas. The blessing was infinite and reached to every part of the world, including the people. The world was at peace, until one day, an evil individual arrived from the realm of the darkness. Wanting the Tree power, he sought them as his own, and he prevailed.

The existence of that individual—who was eventually called as the Demon Lord—ultimately brought out calamities to the world. Land was separated with big crevices, seas became too rough and dangerous, while demonic creatures started appearing out of nowhere and threatening the lives of the people.

Those calamities were called 'The Split', as in the splitting land.

In that time of darkness, a band of heroes arised. With various powers entrusted to them by the World Tree, they set to vanquish the Demon Lord. It was a fight of honor and blood.

Finally, the heroes succeeded. With the sacrifice of their lives, they sealed the over powerful demon lord, and restored the power of the Tree.

But, there was an ominous prophecy.

One day, the seal would be broken, and the demon lord would be free to reign over the world again.

Hoping to stop him like the predecessor heroes, the King of the lands created the Hero School to train the next generation of heroes. The School educated a person to become a Hero, while getting ready for the awakening of the demon lord.

It was said that hundreds, even thousands of years passed in peace. No calamities in sight and no darkness creeping on the world. Many graduates from the Hero School ended up as normal people without any chance to face the evil demon lord.

Until just recently, the evil demon lord’s fang of darkness struck the peaceful world once again. 'The Split' was resurging, along with the wake of the demonic creatures.

As the people from this age, Alexia strived to become the hero to vanquish the demon lord. She finished her training at the prestigious Hero School, and finally got the qualification she needed.

She was ready to finish the demon lord for good, not sealing him like how the predecessor heroes did. The seal had proven to be a failure, so death was definitely the best option.

But, she was trapped in this weird situation where she had to have a journey with the demon lord himself, who wasn't exactly like his image in the legends. It was really a f**ked-up story.

Finally deciding that she was only wasting her time to understand the shitlord, Alexia tried to forget his bullshit and wiped his sad expression clean from her mind. After all, his actions afterward had told her that it was probably just an act to make fun of her.

First of all, the moment Zefrael looked really sad was at the point he had said that he was bored so much while waiting for hundreds of years for the Hero's arrival. The start of the first calamity which indicated the seal had been broken was only in a few decades ago, wasn’t it impossible that he waited hundreds of years for that?

No other explanations, he’s definitely lying!

“There!” Zefrael suddenly said cheerfully from Alexia’s side. He waved his hand exaggeratingly, as his face gleamed with excitement beyond words, “Behold the first quest of this journey.”

In front of them, an old bell tower emerged beyond the horizon. It promptly notified Alexia about the existence of a town in the vast grassland.

“I really hope it’s going to be an archer,” Zefrael added, and glanced at the girl with a grin on his face.

Alexia only sighed and rolled her eyes. Archers or whatever, she only hoped it would be over soon.