Chapter 10

I am once again alone in the world. It felt that way since there was nothing I encountered so far. I wonder if I can really make a difference with my past life and this one. The idea of wiping out humanity seems to run so strong in me. I wonder if the treants’ words were false. Time heals all wounds… what a joke it sounded to me and it still proving to be a mere joke.

How can someone be cured when memories remain? How can that be called cured when there is this urge to wipe them out. I too am wondering why I am holding back. I can wipe them out like the past and I am sure I can hold back and not destroy this world. That was the only request the cool sister told me and I sure want to meet that at least for all the things she gave me.

“Life is hard outside too huh.”

When I am inside the lab, all I did was lend them my body, sleep and try to die on my own. In this second life of mine, I seem to be too busy. I sometimes wonder where all the time runs away to. I guess life both in cages and outside has their own consequence. Though I prefer the life outside of course as this one is more enjoyable and a bit easier.

I am walking on my own when I manage to walk into a battle between a faceless and a demon race. The demon was catlike since it has ears of a cat and four arms with sharp claws. It has a humanoid head though and a red shoulder length hair so I guess this one is a female then.

Oh wow… she moves well against those freaks of nature huh. I wonder if it is the faceless that is too weak since they are not able to take down the demon even with greater numbers. I watched silently on the sidelines to see how much longer this battle will continue.

I ready a simple piercing javelins which I copied the idea from the demon who attacked me last time. If those things can’t take this one down then I will be the one to do so and continue on my way.

I watched silently but it seems I was too blatant and I was spotted by the demon. I was about to release the javelins when she called out to me.

“Hey buddy!” she called as she parried the claws of the faceless and rolled into the ground. She avoided the next attack from the one who preyed on the opening.

“Come help me out a bit! These creeps just keep on coming!”

The numbers of the demons for the last two months have decreased so much. There is only about half of them compared when they first came here. Te extermination is working and if I increase the summons then it will be done sooner.

Somehow I think I am making the same decision back then. Did I not sweep the entire human race back then with various methods and ended up destroying the world in the end? I wonder if I need to somehow change the way I do things.

I crushed the magic I created and for once decided to listen. This is really out of me to listen to someone I deem worthless but maybe I can get some sense in this senseless thing.

“Why should I?”

She was a bit stunned as she is sent flying away by a claw but I did not stop the faceless. If she die that easily then she was of no worth.

Her value is already way below the elves and the treant so if she really did die then that was too bad I guess. It is a bit amazing that she is still alive. She manages to get up but her side is bleeding and one of her arms was twisted in a strange way.

“You idiot! It is common sense to help a buddy out!”

Eh? Is that so? Isn’t that so annoying? Besides, am I her buddy? I don’t think so and I only saw her today. When did we become something buddy?

“Were not buddy though.”

“You brain-dead bro? You see someone and that is your buddy! That is common sense!”

What an unreasonable woman. When I see someone then that is my buddy? What will become of the world if everybody I see is my buddy? That would be hilarious.

I think I don’t want to talk anymore since she was not making sense. Wait… The treant was not making sense too at first but in the end of almost three months under his care did I not improve a lot compared to before? Maybe this is the same as that one? I can learn something from their understanding even though it is not making any sense to me.

That's it!

I extend my arms and cast another set of javelins then I sent them all to the small crack in space that I created. The javelins skewered the faceless on the spot. I absorb the mana that is maintaining their form.

If I do not do this, then they will rise again. This is why I created them. It would nearly be impossible to absorb the mana they have if you don’t annihilate them in one go. They will rise again and the battle will just continue on and on.

The battle quickly ended anti-climatically. I am waiting for her to gather her bearings as her eyes nearly pop out of its socket. She is looking at me like I am the most bizarre thing in the world.

I wonder why she is like that. Did she not know how to properly defeat the faceless? I can send them away too. Since I am meeting someone I don’t know, I don’t feel that revealing I am the demon lord to be the right course of action.

It took a few moments before she finally stood and started to treat the wounds in her body. The twisted arm of her seems not possible for her to remedy so she bandaged it after correcting it to the position it should be. When she is done, she started to walk towards me. I am a bit on my guard because it is my nature but she seems to be walking towards her brother without any care in the world.

“That was awesome.” She tapped my shoulder and it made me tremble for a bit. I nearly snapped back and retaliate but I don’t feel any malice from it and it looks like a gesture. I did not know but somehow I can tell that it is an action not meant for harming others but a way of greeting maybe?

“It was nothing.” I stepped away from her and maintained a safe distance.

“Why are you here anyway?” I tried to stir the conversation away since I don’t feel like befriending someone that smells trouble.

“Oh... that… I am being chased by these freaks for a whole week now and I don’t know why.” She kicks one of the lifeless corpses of the faceless.

“I did not manage to get a wink of sleep because of you guys.” She is kicking the corpse like she was venting all the injustice in the world.

I don’t know what use it is kicking something that has already fallen. Is it some ritual or does it have any use I am not aware of? Maybe I should copy it and see if there is any use of it.

“What is the use of that?” I tried pointing out what she is doing.

“This?” she stopped for a moment before giving the corpse one last kick.

“It relieves all the hate I had for not being able to sleep. Sleep is the best remedy to all things you know?”

“Right?” I am not aware of that.

If I sleep then will I also feel alright? That was something that has not dawn upon me even once. Will sleeping really help?

“Dude, that is why you are so thin. Get some rest and eat some meat so that you can buff yourself up.” She is having a toothy grin on her face as her eyes show delight in them. I wonder why she is so cheerful despite being chased down by the faceless for so long.

“Don’t stress yourself out. It will only grow into wrinkles when you get older.” She laughed boisterously and started walking away.

I was stunned on how the events are unfolding. Isn’t this the moment when she teaches me something and I will give her some advantage in return? What is happening right now?

“Where are you going?”

“Me?” she was pointing herself like there is no way I am talking about her.

“I am going for a nap and recuperate my injury. I want to find a good place to rest though so I need to start searching now and so I can be under bliss soon.”

What the heck am I hearing? Am I talking into a semi-sentient being here? What the heck is happening right now? What do I do now? Did I do something in vain?

I watched her as she leapt into the woods and soon disappeared from my vision. I am now standing there like a stupid pole in the middle of road. I am still trying to understand what just happened. No matter how much I tried to remember anything from the teaching of the treant, I can’t seem to find anything that can help.

“You damn liar tree!” I shouted towards the sky.

“Who said giving without asking in return is a happy thing? This is so mortifying!”

I kicked the corpses unintentionally and they were sent flying towards the horizon.  I feel stupid doing something unnecessary. Next time I will just leave and leave their fates into their hands. I feel like exploding this world as of now and I really tried hard to rein my feelings.

Ahhhh I want to crush something!

I resume my march as I try to stir away from the sounds of battles when I come across them. My mood is not settling down even until the sun went down and I decided to camp outside again. I went to find the highest tree around and made myself comfortable.

Somehow this usual darkness is not that scary anymore. Maybe knowing that the darkness will soon go away is comforting me. As expected, knowing things will make those unnecessary worries go away.

The night sky is as beautiful as ever. The colors of them are in contrast but I find it really beautiful. Somehow I start to understand some of the words left behind by the treant. Beauty is in the eye of beholder.

The most beautiful things are those that you can never hold. I wonder how long the treant spent to understand this deep knowledge. One day I want to be knowledgeable too. I can recall all his words but most of them were still unknown to me.

I closed my eyes and somehow I recalled the events earlier and my mouth twitched for a bit. What a weird phenomenon. I tried to throw that memory out of my mind and decided to think of other things.

I tried to recall the moments when I talked with the cool sister. I wonder where she is now. She told me that she was leaving and we might not meet each other again. I wonder if that is fine. I wonder if I should let things go that way. I am the demon lord and in this world, only your imagination is the limit when making a spell. With enough knowledge and mana to back it up then anything can be done.

“I would like to see her face in the future… I can surprise her if I appear in front of her in the future.” I chuckled as I think of that.

“Let’s see if I can make that possible in the future.”

With that, I finally went into a dreamless sleep as usual.

Reolin Fortress

Klein is leading a part of the army along with his party members. They are training as they battle with the minions of the demon lords that were hunting the demons. They are fighting them to familiarize themselves. They never fought with someone that disregards their life. This training serves as the way for all the party member to gain experience.

They are constantly losing some people but the party lead by Klein was steady improving and gaining experience. Klein himself is only overlooking. He is already at the supreme magus level and only needed one more step into the domain on invincibility. The overlord level is the dream of everyone in Mirth. Sadly, only one being in Mirth was confirmed to reach that level. Demon Lord Liriel.

Klein was well aware of the history revolving Liriel. He was an orphan that grew up under the care of a couple that works at a nobles’ mansion. He grew up showered with love and care from the old couple. It did not last as reality comes knocking on their door, they passed away and was left alone again.

From there, he managed to make a name for himself as a vassal of the said noble. He started to gain merits under the wing of the noble. The noble himself was shrewd and reaped all the sweet things Liriel can bring. Once Liriel made a blunder by pursuing a higher noble’s daughter, he left him without support. The higher noble was furious that his daughter was nearly snatched by a low-born. For that reason, he sent Liriel to prison and ended up as a slave.

From there, Liriel went into different masters and ultimately ended up into the arena. He was sold there by his last master as an entertainment piece. He spent five years of his life there without giving up. He won all his matches without killing any other slave.

He was jeered and punished for it but he made sure that the fight was flashy as it can be. The slaves soon tacitly came into a silent agreement to keep on doing those things. They might get punished because of it but they safely managed to earn their keep. Soon the arena quiet down themselves as the fight was entertaining as it can be despite the absence of death.

One day, their fortune finally came. The mischievous emperor of their land watched the fight because of curiosity. They managed to intrigue the emperor. The emperor was bewitched by their performance and he felt that those kinds of warriors do not suit in a caged and vulgar place. He employed them forcefully and made them knights in his army.

From there, the slaves established their names and were finally granted peerage. They brought empire glory by charging straight to the demon armies’ heart. They took down significant monsters which would generally take a lot of sacrifices.

The slaves changed into heroes as they keep on bringing victory in the battlefield. The former slaves truly felt loyalty towards their emperor. To repay his kindness, they brought glory to the empire and finally crowned themselves as the leader of the crusade against the demon lord.

History told Klein that the Hero Liriel fought against an ancient dragon summoned by a rebelling demon lord. It was one of the bloodiest fights in the history as it tore almost everything the crusade has to offer. Some cities were under attack day and night. They were nearly consumed by the rebelling demon lord if not for the intervention of the heroes in reserve from every empire.

In the end, Liriel was able to cut down the head of the demon lord. He was ecstatic to go home until the heroes who helped him kill the demon lord told him the sad truth behind demon lords and heroes.

Liriel thought that he can finally settle down and have peaceful life. Marry the woman in his heart but after knowing that if he did not take the role of the demon lord, the human empires will soon turn against themselves next. That would spell the doom for commoners like himself. Royalties would be sacrificed once the empire was defeated. That risk includes the life of his beloved which was a daughter of the duke in his empire. In the end he felt bigger responsibility and took on the role of the demon lord.

All the people who manage to survive the crusade spoke of the epic fight between the dragon and Liriel. The final battle between the demon lord and Liriel which resulted in both of them perishing.

The only good news is that they managed to gain peace for a hundred years and that is enough for them. All the people in Liriel’s party died in battle. They were all built a statue to remember their deeds for humanity.

Peace came into Mirth again until a new demon lord appeared. A vicious and wise demon lord who always manage to corner them came into the picture.

The emperors were skeptical if Liriel rebelled but the lack of invasion was proof of him still following his role. Liriel was always on the defense and only counter attacks far as the borders goes, though it would always be a wipe out so they were still bitter about it.

The reign of the new demon lord was the most intense as humanity kept on losing troops and personnel. What only comforts them is that Liriel only cleans up until the borders of their lands and not an inch more. They were afraid once Liriel invaded for real. That would spell doom but their nightmares did not come true.

After a long war that spanned nearly a thousand years, Demon lord Liriel finally fell under the spell sword Mirah Valeria. The most cruel and gruesome battle against demon lord Liriel finally ended.

The heroes managed to come home to their families but mysteriously disappeared somewhere. Even the emperors were not able to know. The only remaining one is Hero Mirah who remain in her empire and served as mother of mercy by helping the needed and never held a sword again.

The spell sword Mirah died along the demon lord in a sense. Hero Mirah spent her life helping as far as she can reach with the wealth she managed to get from the demon lord castle.

Klein really loved the tale of Hero Mirah. She was his ideal person that he wants to become. Sadly, fate does not allow what people wants and plays with them.

He was made aware of the truth after he was crowned as the next emperor. His world fell apart when he finally knew how cruel the destinies of heroes were. How fortunate he was that he was not the hero of the generation.

Klein chuckled as how ironic his circumstance is from when he first learned the truth and became afraid of being the hero. Now he is in the spear point of the spear of humanity aiming for the demon lord. The only difference is that this time they are not acting in a play and is truly battling with a genuine demon lord.

Vicious, cold and decisive demon which sent his armies the first day he raise from the ashes. A demon lord forged by the goddess to smite the wickedness humanity has done.

“Absorb as much as you can! Become better as you can get and learn as much as you can stuff in your head! Our war is at hand.”