Demons are creatures of nightmares. They have sharp scarlet eyes and dark wings like a bat with grotesque horns that rise from their heads. They are constantly surrounded by a dark aura like a miasma bringing nothing but death. They are monsters that are nearly invincible and hold no concern for the sanctity of life. They possess magic that can destroy without warning and strength that is unrivaled.

"T-they won't come here, will they?" a young girl likely around seven or eight years old speaks in a timid voice.

"Don't worry, Amara; we're far away from the Demons. They only live in the far north beyond the divide. Demons don't come around here. They never have, and even if they did, we have the celestial knights to protect us." A kind mother comforts her daughter, who's quivering in fear. "Do you want me to continue the story?"

The girl nods her head cautiously.

"Five hundred years ago, the demons had a ruler, a singular existence far more terrifying than the regular demons. It was known as the Demon Lord."

The Demon Lord was different from the other demons. It harnessed the power of the stars themselves and used that power to plunge the world into chaos. The demons who had, at one point in time, kept their distance marched against humanity. Kingdoms fell, farmland and livestock perished in the endless fighting. We were forced to retreat far to the south, losing most of our way of life. Hope seemed to be lost.

However, not everyone had given up. The five remaining kingdoms came up with a plan. If only they could use the power of the stars to defeat the Demon Lord. But there was a complication. Unlike the Demon Lord, we were too weak. We couldn't use that power; it was simply too much for our fragile bodies to handle. So instead, they found a way to seal the power into five weapons.

They gave each weapon the name of a star. They named the sword Polaris, the bow Orion, the daggers Antares, the staff Sirius, and the hammer Betelgeuse. Each of the remaining kingdoms chose their most vigorous champion to wield one of these weapons. From that day forth, they would be known as the five celestial heroes.

The Demon Lord continued its conquest, but the heroes halted its advancing forces. Regular demons stood little chance against the celestial weapons. Finally, after endless fighting, the demons began their retreat. It was then that the heroes came face to face with the Demon Lord in the capital of the Mikhail kingdom.

The five heroes stood resolute in a pentagon formation, the sword hero taking the lead. They found themselves inside the great hall of Mikhail's royal castle. A cold draft tinged their skin as they looked up at the massive vaulted ceiling. Torn banners hung down from the walls, and a huge white dragon head was mounted above the throne.

Upon the throne sat a man with cold blue eyes. Coming out of the man's back were six ethereal wings that seemed to shimmer, and atop his head were two massive transparent horns; On his body, he wore what seemed to be a military uniform of some sort. He was the Demon Lord, and the sight caused the heroes to ready their weapons.

"Demon Lord, today we take back our home." spoke the hero of the daggers.

"Demon Lord, today your rain of tyranny ends," spoke the hero of the bow.

"Demon Lord, today you will pay for your crimes," spoke the hero of the hammer.

"Demon Lord, today is the end of demonkind," spoke the hero of the staff.

"Demon Lord, today is the day when humanity wins, forever." spoke the hero of the sword.

"You don't know a damn thing!" The Demon Lord screamed as he slammed his fist on the throne, letting out a small chuckle at the end. "Oh 'Heroes,' I may fall today, but demonkind will live on, and one day, even you will have to pay the piper."

Lighting flashed, and thunder roared, reverberating through the hall. The decisive battle was about to begin. The Demon Lord rose from his throne, and the heroes rushed in to attack. The heroes made one mistake. They should have opened with their strongest move while the Demon Lord was still seated; after all, their opponent would never hold back.

The Demon Lord held out its hand, and the structure of the castle began to creak. A massive beam of darkness shot forward directly at the sword hero. The sword hero held out her sword in an attempt to block the attack, however futile that was. The whole castle rumbled as the wall had crumbled. The hero had been ejected and was thrown miles away by the blast. From a single attack, the Demon Lord claimed the life of the sword hero. Polaris was lost, and it remains that way to this very day.

The remaining four heroes were stunned, but they had no time to waste. They had to kill the Demon Lord. Even a microsecond could make the difference in this fight. The staff hero put up his strongest magical barrier to give the hammer and dagger heroes room to attack.

The dagger hero turned around the backside of the Demon Lord in a rush, while the hammer hero launched an attack from the front. The Demon Lord waited until the moment the attack would hit; then, he jumped into the air with his wings outstretched. The hammer hero had already committed, and his hammer came crashing down into the skull of the dagger hero. Then, the Demon Lord came stomping down from above, and the hammer hero was knocked to the ground.

An arrow flew through the air with a tremendous force directly at the Demon Lord's head, to which he reached out and caught from midair — the force from the magic arrow causing him to slide ten meters further away. The Demon Lord ran and jumped out of the window before launching an attack at the castle itself.

The air above the scene vibrated, and the castle collapsed around the heroes. It had become an inescapable prison holding them at the Demon Lord's mercy. A raging inferno descended upon what once was a castle.

As they lay buried, with the heat rising, a feeling of impending doom rushed into the heroes' heads. It seemed that all four heroes would die here. Even the celestial weapons couldn't give them the extra strength that they needed.

If we don't defeat the Demon Lord here, humankind loses. Thought the hammer hero. The faces and smiles of his family surged through his head, the laughs of his friends who supported him. He remembered the harsh training from his comrades who taught him to fight. Drowned with emotion and the fear of losing it all, something inside him snapped. He was prepared to give his life. The celestial weapon lit up with shimmering light.

In the next moment, the rubble from the castle flew up into the air. The hammer hero had unleashed the weapon's power, and the heroes once more found themselves standing up. The other heroes noticed this newfound power and similarly attempted to empower their weapons. The staff hero used the power of his weapon to restore the shattered skull of the dagger hero. In moments the four heroes stood tall once again.

Once more, the Demon Lord unleashed a beam of darkness; the staff hero created his strongest barrier, scattering it in all directions. Now that the true powers of the weapons were set free, the heroes wouldn't be defeated by a mere Demon Lord.

The hammer hero swung his weapon toward the air, and the dagger hero jumped off it like a springboard. The dagger hero's weapon lit up as he slashed the Demon Lord's back. In an instant, a glow filled the Demon Lord's veins, causing him to fall to the ground. Unable to fly or use magic, the Demon Lord was at his most vulnerable.

The hammer hero unleashed the most potent swing he could muster. The hammer hit the Demon Lord, causing a wave of energy to crash in all directions. The weapon shined, and for a moment, everything was silent as the hammer hero crushed the Demon Lord's head with the weight of the world.

The Demon Lord's body was battered completely, bones twisted in ways that they never should, his face was crushed and goopy, barely resembling anything human. Somehow the spot that should have been his mouth creaked as he let out a strained voice. "After everything, this is it? After everything else, THIS is how it ends!?" The Demon Lord lay bloody and beaten, tears flowed from its eyes, and the world was tranquil. The Demon Lord looked at peace and almost human despite his current shape. He let out one last sentence as his breathing stopped. "Ahh, I'm so tired…."

After the battle, the demons were defeated and driven far away. The bow hero rained down destruction on the kingdoms taken by the demons to prevent them from attacking ever again. The heroes scorched the earth and created the Great Divide. The only way for demons to invade now would be to cross a massive wasteland filled with deadly monsters due to the lingering effects of the magic used. Humans won, and the heroes became a legend.

"And that's the story of how the five heroes defeated the Demon Lord. It's a story that everyone is told. We're a part of the kingdom from which the sword hero came. One day if we ever get to go to the capital, maybe we can see her statue." the mother says.

"Woah! The heroes are so cool. What happened to them after they defeated the Demon Lord." The young girl, Amara, replies with a twinkle in her eyes. The story had captivated her.

"They went on to form the order of the celestial knights, who still keep us safe from the demons to this day and maintain the peace between all kingdoms."

"Yayy! I want to be like them one day. I'll keep you and daddy safe."

"That'd be pretty cool, wouldn't it? I'm sure you'd make a great hero!" The mother pats the girl on her head.

"There's one thing I still don't get. Why did the Demon Lord cry? It's a demon. Why would it do that?"

"Nobody knows why the Demon Lord cried. A lot of people leave it out of the story. Some people say that it never happened or that they made that part up. The story is real, but it happened over 1000 years ago. There are many variations,"

"You know, I think the Demon Lord cried. Maybe even demons have some things that they care about." Amara says kindly, which makes her mother smile.

"You may be right, but it's way past your bedtime. Come on. It's time to sleep."

"Awwwwww," Amara groaned. Like most children, she never wants to go to bed.