Have you heard about the Demon Territory? The place where demons roam havoc and where the Demon Lord resides, right?
Well, have you also heard what happens if you stay there for too long?
Not much has been known about someone entering the Demon Territory and barely surviving beyond the Demon Borders. According to witnesses, they often saw people being dragged into the territory by demons. But it mostly ends with them being eaten by them. However, public accounts are often mixed with truths and lies created from rumors and exaggerated tales. So not every account is trustworthy. Not to mention there is a phrase we all know: "Dead man tell no tales".
However, some tales might have some truths regarding them.
One was about two curious adventurers near the Demon Border. One of them entered the territory and another camped out for a few days. Eventually, the first adventurer came back but was now ill by the poison healers and acolytes couldn't determine. Their friend tried to find help. But by the time they found a skilled healer, the adventurer died from the poison.
Another was about a Human adventurer entering the Demon Territory on their own as their way to becoming famous in their kingdom. They were arrogant and often saw themselves as higher than other species. For a few weeks, nothing came up from the adventurer. But when an adventuring party came to check on the border, they found the Human adventurer, only in a body of a Lesser Fiend with their mind lost and craving nothing but Humans and other species as their prey. They were forced to put them down without knowing their true identity as an arrogant adventurer.
A story of a poisoned territory or a story of a transformed demon. Which one of them is true?
Either way, the mysteries beyond the Demon Territory remain.
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I gasped as opened my eyes. What the hell happened again?! I recalled that I was having some magic lessons from Casia and when I tried praying to the Goddess of Darkness after he told me all about her...
I was in this very bedroom again. Only there was no blood-red moon outside the window and the black clouds seemed to cover the purple sky, seemingly turning the whole area dark outside. Even some of the lamps both in the bedroom were strangely turned off for some reason. Creepy...
I took a deep breath and groaned. Rather than wearing that suit I wore, I was in the cheesy black pajamas men often wore in those Victorian days instead. Also, my (broken) glasses were sitting on my bedside table near me. Don't tell me that I somehow slept in without any memories of what happened again...
Dammit... This was getting annoying. I tried recalling what happened afterward, but all I got was another migraine. Terrific... If this was Casia's doing, then I'm starting to have second thoughts about trusting him.
Either way, I think that's all I need to know about this place. This place was getting dangerous to stay and as much as I wanted to remain here, I need to get back to civilization now. First, I need to pack up my briefcase and...
...d...
Huh? Did I hear someone? That doesn't sound like Casia. Heck, this one sounded a bit...menacing...
You can't leave.
I can't...leave? Okay, this place was getting creepier and creepier...
You have nowhere to go. This will be your home.
You mean this will be my grace?! Sorry, but no thanks!
I grabbed my briefcase once I packed up and started to rush to the door. Thanks for letting me stay here, owner. But I'm out of here!
As soon as I was in the hallway, I saw that the whole area changed. Rather than a hallway covered in the regal purple wallpaper with some of the doors opened, they were completely closed shut and several lamps were off, creating a dim long hallway where I couldn't see the end of it.
"What the hell?!" I muttered to myself. "How long was I out now? More importantly, what the hell is this house?!"
Do not be afraid...
Dammit... I had no time to play "20 Questions" about this! I started running as fast as I could. I wanted to leave this hellhole and I don't want to end up as the dragon's prey or this house's doll!
You can stay here if you want. We can give you anything.
I didn't stop running. I didn't take a break to catch my breath. I need to leave. I need to get out of the Demon Territory. But what am I going to do after I leave? Do I need to find a nearby kingdom to stay in? What if those soldiers and the king would try to hurt me again? Just where the hell am I supposed to go next?! I wanted to leave this hellhole! I don't want to die here!
StAy... Do nOt BE aFRaID...
No, I don't want to stay here! What's the point of me staying here at all?!
StaY... StAY!!!
I stopped running. I know I said I didn't want to. But the hallway seemed to stretch far when I tried to run as fast as I could away from here. I couldn't even see the exit from here as if it slowly moving away from me. This was wrong. This was all too wrong! I decided to go in the other direction. Hopefully, I might able to get out of here through the bedroom windo-
PleASE... StAY...!
As soon as I turned around, my eyes widened to see what was behind me. Darkness started to spread around the hallway, consuming every decoration, door, wall, and floor all around it. I saw several black tendrils come out of it as they flailed around while spreading themselves toward me.
STaY! STaY!!!!!
I was paralyzed upon seeing the sight of that monstrosity. I knew it. This place was really bad news. I tried moving forward again. But when I turned around, my heart nearly stopped to see another darkness coming towards me while consuming everything in the hallway. This house was a monster. That dragon and that so-called owner was trying to kill me. I couldn't get out of here at all. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die!
PleASE! dO N07 b3 @fRA1D! S7AY! 57@Y!!!
I quickly looked around for any signs of escape. I know I'm trapped here and the darkness already blocking my way out. But what am I supposed to do? I'm currently on my fight or flight reflex and I already chose flight for this! I'm gonna die, but I'm not going down without a fight!
Then, I turned around one more time. Between the two darkness lay a wooden door right next to me. It slowly creaked open, as if it were inviting me inside. Like I had a choice...
I quickly went inside the door before the darkness got me. I could have resigned my fate and let the darkness kill me, but something about that door made me choose it. And yet, I wished I didn't. Because when I went inside, I was greeted with a familiar sight. A sight I rather not want to go back in.
"Oh, look who's back, Mom!"
I was in a living room with two red sofas a coffee table in the middle and a widescreen TV behind me. Right next to this room was a small dining room where I saw four figures. A middle-aged couple, a teenage girl, and a man a year older than me. They had no faces, yet I could recognize them from their brown hair and their outfits.
"Oh, how nice to see you again, honey."
They were my family. The very same one I tried to run away from after middle school.
"About damn time. You haven't called us in forever!" The faceless man that looked like my shitty big brother said as I slowly backed away from them. "Aren't you supposed to call us when you got some big shindig at a big city?"
"Come on, big bro. You did save some money for us, right?" The younger woman has to be my little sister, who was nothing but a spoiled brat to our parents. She was the one they favored the most. "Lend us some of your cash. You have some spare enough to celebrate, right?"
As if they were interested in my achievements. I only left because of their treatment of me. Neglecting me, my siblings hurting me when I tried to go against their wishes, and taking advantage of my part-time jobs... Most of my allowance and salary went to them, and they only spent them on booze, games, and clothes while the rest of them went to housing and my bullies.
"Hey, brat! Don't just stand there! Take a seat or else," the man that I guessed might be my shitty Dad shouted at me. "You know what happens if you don't, right?"
I growled. I'm already 28! Why am I supposed to listen to these rotten people?! But the darkness was still outside and I had a bad feeling about this version of my family. Regardless...
"Fuck you, jerks."
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
That's all I could say before I started running back to the door. However, I quickly tripped and fell. I looked behind me and gasped to see my faceless siblings grabbing my legs.
"NoW wHY do YoU haVe to dITCH Us lIKE thaT, bIg bRO?!"
"CoME oN, BrOTher. GiVE uS yOUr MoNEy AlREadY!"
No... No! I escaped them for a reason! While I didn't care about what happened to them afterward, I didn't want to know. I didn't want to remember them! I just want them out of my life forever!
I kicked my "big brother's" head and then, my "sister's" several times so they could let them go from my legs. When I stood up, I saw the bottle coming right toward me in time for me to dodge. And I know where that came from.
"YoU No gO0D bRAt! G3t BAck HeRE aNd G1VE Us YoUR moNeY!"
"It's all money, money, money for all of you, bastards!" I called them out while giving them a finger. "Why don't you leave me alone already?!"
I quickly opened the door while knowing I would be exposed to that strange darkness. When I got out...
I found myself in some kind of office space. I would question how the hell did I get here at all. But I quickly recognized it from the chairs, computers, and printers spread around me. No way... Why am I back here again?! What the hell was all of this?!
"There you are, newbie!"
I quickly turned around and my eyes widened with my jaw dropped. Those faceless men in suits... Why they were still here?! They were the ones who made my life more miserable next to my family and if I hadn't gone to another world, they would have abused their power more just to trap me in the never-ending cycle of torture in the form of this office prison.
"You're late! You know we'll be docking your pay for missing minutes!" The slight-plump man shouted at me. He was the reason why I never had the chance to leave my job next to my parents. I had bills to pay and if I quit now, I have no chance to find another job thanks to his so-called "connections".
"Just in time, newbie! We have a lot of stuff that we might need help from you," another man said, which I recognized he was one of the office workers that I detest the most. "Besides, I might convince the boss to give you the promotion that you wanted."
Lies. He always said lies to me. No matter how hard I worked my ass off, he would do everything to steal credit from me. He even tricked me by using that dumb promotion bribe he "promised".
"CoMe on, buD. yOU wANted a PrOM0t1on, r1111iiiGH7?"
"do yoU hAve cOt7on iN YoUR eARs, N3w91e?! GeT t0 wORk N0w or ElsE!"
What kind of sick place was this? That house wasn't my house. And this office wasn't my office. Yet both of them hurt me so much because they reminded me of how much pain I endured. How much abuse I endured. How much of my valuables and hard-earned money were taken from me?
I couldn't stay. I had to leave. No resignation letters. No announcement. I just turned around and go up the front door...
SMACK!
And before long, I was on the ground again thanks to a punch with a familiar pain on my face. And a shoe on my head that I recognized oh too well.
Or rather, a few ghosts from my old high school along with the present pains.
"HoW dARe you WaLK bACK oN uS?! wE're thE oNEs wHO rAIseD yoU?!"
"wHy Don'T yOu sToP bEIng sELfisH and GivE u5 tHe M0neY?!"
"YeAH! YoU oWe uS m0NeY aFTeR yoU droPped yOur LuncH B0x oN our ShoeS! So P@Y uP!"
"If yOu Ne3d tHe mOneY, tHeN sTArt wOrKIng alrEaDY! i D0n"T pAy Y0u to LounGE arouND LikE a CoUCh P0TaTO!"
Dammit, it was all the same. Bullies harassing me for money from excuses I didn't do at all, my family using me as a money-making machine after they saw me as nothing but a son with no looks and talents, black company boss and workers kept harassing me and not treating me as an equal. What was the whole point of me going to another world if I'm still trapped in my past of pure torment and unending torture from the people I used to call colleagues, friends, and family?
I hate it. I hated myself for not standing up for myself too soon. I hated myself for letting them make me their punching bag. I wanted to move on. I wanted to follow Casia's advice to focus on the present and forget about everything that made my life miserable. But how could I? How the hell am I supposed to escape this torment if those people would go around and desecrate my empty grave for money and reputation?! I hate it. I hated everything about them!
If only I could erase myself from that world and never be bothered by those people again!
There is a way.
Huh? Who said that? I thought I have heard something. I wish I could look around, but these people...
Will never bother you again.
I heard it again! I wasn't hallucinating this time.
No, you weren't. And unlike the ones who escaped justice, I will help you truly escape your past.
You...do?
You remembered what our Grace told you, correct?
"Our grace"? Are they talking about the Goddess of Darkness?
You will gain her blessings if you sacrifice your identity, memories, and everything that has been putting you down all of your current life. If you give everything up for our Grace, you won't be hurt ever again.
But what was the point of erasing my past if I don't learn from it? What's the whole point of sacrificing my identity? Even if it hurts to not forget, I couldn't...
But you kept going backward. Right after you promised Casia you will start moving forward during your fight. How good was keeping your whole past where it did nothing but beat you up and unfairly took away your efforts when you tried too hard to earn your right to live independently? Living in a world of unfairness and abuse seems like the worse place you call home.
Grrr... I didn't want to agree, yet everything they said was true. I worked my ass off, trying to graduate from high school to leave my family for good, finding a job to get a proper salary after college, and this was the thanks I get from fate itself?! They were right. I didn't want to live in that world anymore. But I couldn't live in this one, too. How am I going to survive where I find nothing but assholes who might treat me the same as the ones I tried to escape?!
Do you really think you can let them get away from all of the wrongdoings they will do to you?
What the hell do you mean? How am I going to change everything all by myself?!
...Who said you have to do it alone?
Huh?
See that ring on your finger? You can escape your past with it.
My...ring?
Yeah. Just close your eyes and focus on it. You want to escape, right?
I...want to...
You don't want to be alone, right?
Yeah... I don't want to be alone. I'm not strong enough to face them alone. In all my life, I was always alone. No one tried to help me. Nobody answered my pleas. Nobody approached me to be my friend. I never approached them for fear of being betrayed both in high school and college. Even in another world, I was still alone.
Then you don't have to be anymore.
"StOP ignORinG us!"
"WhY dON't YoU be A goOd workeR and oBEy Us?!"
All of the sudden, the pain from their feet and bottles was gone. As if the light flashed within my head, I felt like my strength was starting to return.
Those people were nothing compared to us. Whether they abuse their powers including the blessings gods gave them or tried to screw us, we can triumph over their tricks and corruption against them.
They were right. We're unstoppable together and we're not letting these people escape justice.
"W-whaT tHe heLl?!"
"wHaT aRe yOu dOIng?! YoU're nOt sUpPoseD tO reJeCt uS!!!"
"yOU ArE nOThinG bUt oUr mOnEy dOg! yoU aRe nOt tALeNTeD oR HanDSomE!"
"Y-You're wrong..."
"hUh?!"
I narrowed my eyes while I gathered my newly-regained strength to stand up against their tyranny over me, "You bastards...are nothing without me. Money, power, pride... Everything is because of me. Without me, all of you are nothing. And now that I'm here, I have no reason to listen to you assholes anymore!"
Eventually, I managed to get my two feet back on the ground. At first, it seemed to be short-lived when the faceless bastard I called "Dad" punched me in the face. Yet I couldn't feel anything from it that I was almost mistaken that his punches were weak. That's where I made my realization. I couldn't fight back because I didn't have the will to fight back. But now, things changed. Whoever was helping me gave me the courage to fight back and I don't care about their identity or their motives. They were helping me and they seemed trustworthy.
No, I was the one who opened up to them and I realized I have the power to change myself.
"Do y0u sER1osLY tHInk yOu'RE gOiNG 70 35CaPe uS 3@51Ly?! Y0U @rE 3eAK aND yoU c@nN07 cHAnGE tHe wORlD a1L 9y yOUrS31F!"
I grinned. Those were the very words that I believed before. But as I looked at my hand and a black flame appeared on my palm, I realized I can reject that mindset with the right words and self-awareness within me.
"You're wrong. I will... No. We change the world. And you bastards can do nothing to stop us."
"n0, dON'7--"
"[Shadow Blaze]."
I dropped the black flame and nonchalantly left the room, ignoring the screams of my past burning behind me. I don't care about them anymore. I don't care about my past anymore.
As soon as I leave, the house and office vanished in ashes behind me. And I let the darkness consume me afterward.
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> [You have obtained a title, [The Man Who Forsake His Past].]
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I gasped as I opened my eyes. When I got up, I looked around to see that I was in the bedroom where I was staying right now. Outside the window, the usual blood-red moon was shining in the purple sky at the window.
Damn... What was that all about? It felt like that dream was realistic, yet I couldn't recall the details. Either way, I'm now awake and free from whatever scared me in the first place. However, I'm still stuck here and I need to...
I need to...
What do I need to do again today? To leave this place?
How could I? What's a good reason to go back outside this territory? There's nothing I could return to. Besides...
Why do I feel like I wasn't born into this world?
No, it couldn't. I'm still here. But why...
Fledgling, are you awake?
Oh, right. I forgot about Casia. I better take a shower and get dressed before he starts dragging me out of the house with his powers again. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Just give me time to shower, okay?!"
I won't accept any excuses!
Damn, that dragon! I don't care if he's a bit laid back. He can be a monstrous instructor sometimes.
I heard that!
I flinched when I heard his growl. Either way, I better start moving or else. Though after that brief yell fest, that dream and something I seemed to forget somehow slipped my mind.
Well, whatever I forgot from my dreams lately, it didn't matter to me anymore.
Besides, the Demon Territory is my home, right?
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"We have another news report live in *$@&. It seems that the couple $*@*#& and *#(@$@* have been arrested due to suspicions of extortion, parental abuse, and embezzlement. The couple was last seen being escorted to the police car from their respective workplaces..."
"Another breaking report. The company, #*(&$@, has been filed for bankruptcy after the arrest of (#@$)@, *#&$(@#, and other office workers following recent investigations regarding the bus accident at *#(@*%. The company CEO was arrested for embezzlement, workplace abuse, and bribery..."
So in the end, he got what he wished in exchange for his past and identity. It was a small price to pay in my eyes, but a large consequence set upon himself.
What will you become, young Seeker?
I'm looking forward to your revolution.
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[?#? Check: 24%]
[*?@ Check: 76%]