Her surroundings consisted of a grassy plain at the world of a sunset. A red world, no it wasn't a world that was dyed red due the setting sun's rays.
It was a world literally painted in red, from the ground up to the sky, It was painted in red by the death of people, the paint seemed endless until visible puddles could be seen there and there, the grassy field...the battlefield, was dyed in death, the air was filled with death throes by humans, and other bipedal creatures. It was hell in the mortal world, where only death thrived.
A lone figure, a girl by the name of Rei stood silently and spectated the bloody battle from a distant hill. Her mouth agape as she observed every event. Weapons and bodies formed small hills, neither side had any leeway to move their own comrade's bodies away. But even then a war is a war, soldiers fought on the corpses of their own comrades, fighting and dying, adding more corpses to the ever so wide pile.
As Rei watched on, she noticed the affiliation of the people fighting.
The battle was composed of two sides, a side with all kinds of armour, clothes, and racial charesteristics. The first side who was more in number consisted of humans swung their swords valiantly, dwarves who brandished their axes and hammers with strength, elves who shot arrows and a barrage of magical spells, and beastmen who fought with their spears, shields, and even with their fangs and claws when their weapons broke.
And then there was the second side, pale horned humans in black clothing and armour who used every kind of weapon, with their martial prowess surpassing any of the other races present in the battlefield. Even if the horned humans...demons were outnumbered by roughly seven to one. But even then that did not matter much, as for every demon that died, they took 10 of the opposite side with them, even having a smile that seemes plastered with the belief that they accomplished their duty.
But it wasn't like it was only paled horned humans who fought on the lesser side, There were even giant dragons who unleased breaths of death upon columns of species, Skeletons covered in head to toe in armour who were unkillable even if you slice their necks, Elves but with red eyes and with paler skin whose ferocity surpassed even the beastmen's who preyed on the opponent's necks and seemed to be sucking their life force in order to feed their own stamina, and there were even what looked like to be finned pale humans wielding tridents.
At the center of all this were 8 figures who moved at lightning fast speeds. The situation seemed to be a 7 vs. 1 situation, blasting magic and death wherever they stepped on.
Rei glanced at the figure in black, fighting 7 opponents with a sword clad in black smoke. Limbs that seemed to resemble biological weapons swayed from her back and moved like each limb had a mind of their own, deflecting attacks.
The figure clad in black fought with her 7 opponents, but despite having 7 opponents she seemed equally matched...no...she looked like she was playing with them.
"Reina! For all your evils this shall be your end! [Blast Strike]!" A human with red hair said while swinging his sword at Reina.
The red-haired man's sword was covered in a red light before he swung it down with all his strength at where Reina stood.
An explosion with the scale rivalling that of a modern hydrogen bomb arrived next, although the red-haired man's head was plucked off by Reina straight after. She took the head, and the corners of her mouth extended up to her ears, and Reina ate the red-haired man's decapitated head whole.
Although Rei thought that this was a risky move, further enraging the red-haired man's comrades. Rei was finally able to see a clear image of Reina when she stopped for a moment to eat the man's head.
Her intimidating cold aura was paired with the dark colours of her military uniform, her red cloak was tattered and dusted, obviously because of the battle she's been fighting, although most of her skin was concealed by a black fabric, Rei saw her the stature of her neck up to her head, the skin on her neck and face looked as smooth as porcelain, it had no visible defects, the colour of her skin was a beautifully pale white, it was a different shade of white which rivaled the tranquility of snow.
And her eyes, the sheer image of her eyes depicted a starving animal. Reina's expression eased after she ate a head, however it shortly returned to the gaze of a starving animal which contrasted her other beautiful civilized body features. Even Rei who had a similar beauty was amazed at her appearance.
'Were my eyes always this great?' Rei thought to herself. Rei saw every detail down to the level where she could see the red veins bulging on Reina's black sword, and the white teeth that riddled the edge of her blade.
Reina quickly used one of the black limbs growing out of her back...Aether, to deflect arrows that looked like trandiscient laser beams, and with a bored expression she said--
"--If this goes on, your lives will end y'know? You'll die without having accomplished anything significant...WHICH IS THE WAY ALL HUMANS SHOULD PASS!"
"Dodge her Aether! If you get hit by it you'll die!"
The black limbs potruding from Reina's back...Aether converged at started sweeping the battlefield.
The remaining 6 heroes put in everything they have to dodge the barrages of black, barely avoiding death with each stroke and strike.
Reina was so sure of her victory, the end result was almost sure and certain
However the remaining 6 enemies did not falter.
A sound of a horn was heard near the distance, 6 armies arrived at the plain, they had the same type of uniforms as the demons who are currently crossing swords with the enemy, however their colours were all different. At the next moment they all simultaneously started charging into the fray. Determined to fight until the very end.
"See, my reinforcements have already arrived, you can't hope to stop me now! How are you supposed to defeat all the Demon Lords...if you can't defeat just one!?"
"Fufufufufufu..." A man with dark blue hair had started laughing...his name was Seo Yoon-hwa and one of the 7 heroes.
"What's so funny? Ah it must be one of those situations where humans lose their sanity upon being near-death, Isn't it Yoon-hwa?" Reina carelessly said.
From the tone of Reina when speaking to the human called Seo Yoon-hwa, Rei deduced that this was hardly the first time they met, or fought with their lives on the line for that matter.
"Hahahaha! No no that's wrong Reina...has the Demon Lord of Gluttony become senile?"
"...what are you on about?" Reina asked back.
"Well it's unfortunate that Apollus died, but he achieved his duty nonetheless."
"..."
"Don't you get it Reina? Our goal was to buy time...time to turn the tables around!!"
"What are you even saying, there's nobody who could help you now, all of your military forces are right here!"
"Yes yes...all of our military forces...but what about yours?"
At that moment, Reina knew what the dark blue-haired man was talking about, the newly arrived 'reinforcements' started attacking the demons in black...Reina's army from one side while the other side was being attacked by the enemy. The demons in black clothes were thrown into disarray and confusion, wondering what was happening.
'Betrayal' Rei muttered under her breath.
'Was it because she was too weak?' Rei pondered, but then quickly discarded that absurd thought.
'She was betrayed simply because she was too strong.' Rei thought as she watched the situation unfold.
6 other prominent figures...the remaing Demon Lords rushed to the center of the battlefield, making it a 12 on 1 situation for Reina.
As strong and fas Reina might be she couldn't face against 12 opponents that were close to her amount of skills.
Reina swung her sword at the hero of Beastmen who lost his balance after being startled by Reina's scream but it was repelled by a thick armour almost impenetrable, it was her friend, the Demon Lord of Wrath, Grido.
"Grido get out of the way! Can't you see that--" Reina tried to tell off Grido however she was quickly cut off.
A lightning spear narrowly missed her head, instead it punctured a hole on one of her Aethers...It was the Demon Lord of Sloth, Grani was ome of the most fastest known beings on the planet only being second to Reina at the time.
"You!" Just from Reina's spiteful expression when looking towards the lightning-covered youth, Rei could tell that Reina didn't quite like him, and as to serve as evidence she adjusted her posture and began to charge towards Grani, However...
A morning star was flung from a great distance, while her legs were bound in vines...It was the Demon Lord of Lust Prent's morning star and the Demon Lord of Greed Alrus' Spirit Magic which made use of spirits instead of the conventional use of mana which relied on one's mana capacity.
Reina regenerated her Aether but was quickly sliced off by a sword, it was the Demon Lord of Pride, Meridus. She tried to retaliate by using magic spears but they were dispelled by Erei, the Demon Lord of Envy.
'The 6 of them had truly gathered...just to kill me.' At this point, Rei had comprehended her dire situation.
.
Reina had sliced off the vines with her sword, and deflected the morning star with her Aether.
Reina understood the situation by then, her closest friends, who she had promised to make a kingdom and unite the continent with, had now turned on her and were trying to kill her.
A hail of attacks were released only having one intention, and that is to end the Demon Lord Reina.
"I'll fucking kill you all!" Reina shouted out, and her beautiful red eyes turned dark, with visible veins connected to her red cornea, not only that but the whites of her eyes had also turned dark, making her face look something more horrifying...It was known as her Alter Ego, a state where Demons push their physical and magical capabilities to their utmost limits, like this Reina could fight against 12 of the most powerful beings in the world however it was then that the other 6 Demon Lords had also released their Alter Egos and quickly caught up the difference of speed and power.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Alter Ego
A Demon Lord's Essence clouds their judgement when taken inside the host, however this is just beyond that. Ignoring most, if not all rationality as the host indulges itself in its most primal sin in exchange for a spike of power.
Effects: For ignoring the structural intergrity of a body, Raises stats from 200-1000% depending on one's control over their Sin Essence.
MP required: N/A
Reina fought with all her might as she got wounded more and more.
*boom* Grani's spear shaved off a part of Reina's neck.
*clank* Grido defended took Reina's every attack.
*bam* Prent's morning star caught Reina's figure wherever she stood.
*gruuuuu* Alrus' vines accurately led Reina around by the noose, leading her to be more wounded.
*gnash* Meridus' sword bit off any regenerating Aether whenever Rei tried to defend herself.
And every time a magic spell was created, it was forcefully destroyed, courtesy of Erei.
And while Reina took attacks from every side, the 6 heroes also joined in the fray, giving Reina more and more injuries.
'It's almost painful to watch' Rei believed.
And eventually after a few hours, Reina's army managed to drop down to 3 digits, it wasn't even a fight anymore, it was an extermination.
Reina herself was severely wounded, she could no longer use her eyes to see, and her limbs are barely being kept stuck together with her Essence of Gluttony, her movements which used to be the most refined that Rei had ever seen were now reduced to nothing more than the movements of a marionette.
But even so she kept fighting until she could no longer, and then eventually her last soldier died.
Reina stared up into the red sky and looked across the red field. It was then that something extraordinary happend.
Rei didn't hear it because of the low volume, however Rei clearly saw the movement of Reina's lips, They clearly said.
'How unsightly.'
Reina declared that she would eventually 'Devour all that there is and make everything hers'. The Demon Lords and the Heroes simply brushed this off though. However she exploded...no it was more accurate to say that she imploded, and too much destructive energy was kept at a small space so it was released in all directions.
The red plains were dyed with a bright red light swallowing everything like a nuclear explosion.
Rei herself, even though knowing that the blast would kill her nonetheless, put her arms up as if trying to block the red light, however when the red light engulfed her as well as a sharp, shrilling, and definitely deafening booming sound penetrated her eardrums.
Rei was completely unarmed though, and after many minutes of her ears ringing and blindness followed, until the grassy plains were once again in view.
"...!" when Rei'a vision was no longer blocked by the red light, a specific scene came to her eyes. The once red grassy battlefield was now burnt black, charred from extreme heat, not even skeletons or their armour remained.
All the Demon Lords and the Heroes died, their armies with them, and not even a strand of hair was left.
The grassy plains which was once filled, brimming with life as far as the eye can see was mercilessly trampled by armies and then reduced to nothing but a dark crater as far as the eye can see.
No, despite the destruction that unfolded, it was not only charred and smoking soil that was the remnants of life that remained.
In the center of the deep crater was a sword. a black sword which seemed to be alive due to it's pulsating red veins on it's blade.
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The scenery changed again, but this time Rei was back inside the royal library, however the magnificence of royal library which was supposed to be swarmed in shelves which were supposed to contain knowledge of all types, the magnificence that it once held was nowhere to be seen. The roof was cracked and so was it's wooden floor.
Spiderwebs littered the place, giving off the rough feel of abandonment, the chandeliers on the ceiling which were supposed to be housing luminous stones that were supposed to support the readers when they decided to read was no longer giving off such a light, And in their place was a flickering faint light, almost devoid of tranquil brightness that could be used for any form of reading. The doors which used to be there that which used to serve as the extravagant entrance and exit for all that wanted to come here are now...
"Gone." Rei muttered under her breath, her heart beating faster than it should be.
The doors were replaced with a wall and there seemed to be no exit. But just then a red light flickered in the library. It was faint enough to go unnpticed if someone wasn't paying attention however Rei completely saw it, it was like the light was leading her by the nose. Rei walked towards the red flickering light, her expression unchanging, and when she finally reached the source of the red light, there she saw it.
A lone book, glowing in a dark red hue.
Normally something as omninous as this should have been ignored, however Rei's curiosity got the best of her and she grabbed the book.
The cover's texture was like withering leather, and seemed like a very old book overall.
Rei pulled the book away from it's resting place and just then...
*gruuuuuuuuuum*
A hole in the wall opened. It was a hidden passage whose trigger was a random book in the library, a normal cliche played in western movies. It was such a cliche development that it almost rivaled the scenes in anime wherein a boy bumps into a girl while carrying papers and that becomes the basis for their love story.
Rei had enough of this crap honestly, she wanted to get out of here, however the beating of her heart only grew stronger, and just like an carnivore being lured by hunter's meat she followed the passage which seemed to stretch on for miles.
Something was calling Rei, it was like a desperate plea for help, like a faint SOS signal which you could barely hear on the radio.
She walked and walked into the passage, until there was no more light for her to see with, it was then that the book Rei was holding shone brightly, as if telling Rei 'use me as a flashlight.' and so Rei did. Rei continued walking for what seemed like ages until she finally reached the end of the passage. And inside was an interior similar to dungeons. A cold space walled and floored by thick stone.
"Auuuuuuuuuuuuuu...."
And when she reached inside, Rei heard the groaning of a woman. It was clearly a woman, but the voice sounded so hoarse and weak that Rei almost thought it belonged to an animal. Rei approached the groaning sounds until she was brought to a room.
Inside the room was a young girl, obviously impoverished, her cheeks caved in and her eyes had no focus, however when the young girl lying on the floor heard Rei's footsteps the young girl asked.
"Do you have...any food?"
Just from the way she talked, Rei instinctively knew who the girl who was in front of her.
It was Reina, her former beauty had disappeared, and her pride as a general of a great army and the Demon Lord of Gluttony was nowhere to be seen, it was almost like the Reina that Rei saw on the battlefield was all an illusion.
'Food?' Rei thought, 'If it's food I could just go get some from my--'
It was then that Rei noticed what was on her hand. The red glowing book which was in her hand changed into an apple.
'It's almost too convenient...' She thought.
It was a perfectly red apple that had no defects, it certainly looked pleasing to the eye, but aside from that there were no other noticeable features on it. Rei thought of giving the girl her apple, however Rei felt something within her.
Rei was also hungry, hungry to the point where she thinks her own fingers looked delicious for some reason.
Rei was severely hungry and the apple in her hand looked ever more so slightly delectable. The food made her hunger well up even more, to the point where audible noises could be heard from Rei's stomach, the hunger was also getting to Rei's thinking, trying to obstruct her from the capacity to make logical decisions, it was a hunger that was making Rei go insane, Rei couldn't fathom as to why she was feeling like this, however she knew she couldn't ignore her feeling right now, which told her that she couldn't give Reina all of the apple.
Therefore...
"Unfortunately, I'm quite hungry as well."
Rei was a selfish being, she placed her priorities in a hierarchial like position, and it went like this.
1. Her 'former' friends
2. Her instincts
3. Her gains
4. Herself
"Haha...hungry as well...I see..."
Reina's tone sounded dejected, however she also sounded like she was already expecting that kind of answer. So Reina stood up, her body still malnourished and lacking
any sort of fulfillment, and she reached inside her sleeve and then...
"That's why...will you settle for half?"
Rei offered carelessly, she had already been careless ever since she even thought about sleeping inside a library, and it's not like eating a whole apple could satiate a hunger this severe so that's why Rei went out of her way to offer half, as a sign of goodwill to a former Demon Lord.
"....Huh?" now Reina asked back, looking confused as she could be as her right hand was still inside of her left sleeve.
"I asked you if you would settle for half." Rei thought that Reina didn't hear as she repeated herself.
"Uh...yes...but are you sure about that? Your hunger wouldn't be satisfied even if you gave me a tiniest piece..."
"It's alright, I've endured much worse hunger." It was true, starved inside a jungle, compiled thirst in a desert, or even almost suffocating due to eating too fast.
Rei had already experienced most of it, such a trivial hunger where she could feel that her life was in no danger as of yet was something that could be easily comprimised.
*Chwank*
Rei split the apple in half and offered the other piece to Reina, and Reina reached for it with her left hand.
Then Reina immediately started nibbling on the half-apple she got, or rather she ate it in one bite.
Her complexion quickly turned more better and her constitution started recovering.
Reina took out her right hand from her left sleeve immediately after she ate. It was then...
*CLANK* something made of metal dropped to the ground.
It was a rusted dagger with no special features aside from the fact that it looked like it would break after another strike.
"That right now..." Rei asked Reina with extremely narrowed eyes.
"Hmmm? Just what are you talking about?"
*CLANG* Reina kicked away the dagger and it disappeared into the unlighted part of the chamber.
"Just now..." however Rei persisted.
"Aigoo~~~ you worry too much about things, that was nothing just now!" Reina insisted, she was playing dumb, dumber than 45 year old facebook anti-vaxxer moms, which was
already amazing in itself.
With extreme cunning and decades of diplomatic skill, Reina resorted to the language skill that got her out of every verbal pinch.
"After this, are you going to eat more food?"
It was to change the subject.
"Of course, that much is a given already, I don't plan on starving to death after all." And surprisingly Rei bought it as well.
"I see...I'm glad then."
"Is that so?"
"I've decided, you're worthy,"
"I see."
Their brief meeting ended awkwardly in such a short amount of time, however that was enough to leave Rei with a stomach that felt strangely full, and a strangely satisfied look on her face.
Straight after, Rei woke up.
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Rei opened her eyes, she was standing upright and was at the same place she was last in in her dreams, however...
"How unsightly" Rei said with a tired expression on her face.
She was in the same place in her dreams where she left off, everything was just as it was except less time had passed than in her dreams, the cracks on the ceiling no longer provided any sunlight, darkness had already bit off a chunk of the sunset-dyed sky, scattering the orange hue into oblivion and blanketing the world with nighttime. Rei looked forward and asked.
"Anyways what exactly did you mean by I'm wort--" It was then that Rei looked forward and then...
Instead of the girl Rei talked with just earlier, in front of her was a black sword with red veins, stabbed deeply into the ground, moonlight glistening off of it.
"--Goddammit."