This Isn’t My World, And It Pisses Me Off

Chapter 14

Ikari and Madyline stood outside the Kingdom’s walls, Ikari finally seeing the outside world after two days. “Huh. Looks normal.” A wide open plane was before him, with a well worn road leading away from the kingdom to who knows where.

“Ok, where is the Demon King?” He asked, stretching out his legs. Madyline produced a map that she was given by some of the guards in front of the gate. They made some rather unsavoury comments, and Ikari was quick to glare them into submission with a demonstration of the damage his punch could do.

“Um, we are here. And the Demon King should be…” She pointed to a part of the map that was covered in red and marked with several warnings. “Here.” She pointed to a part of the map that had a large castle drawn on it.

“Got it. I’ll go make sure it’s there.” Ikari spoke, leaving Madyline with a confused expression. A burst of dust suddenly shot up from where he had been standing, and the maid was left alone, her map fluttering in the breeze.

“Um…” Madyline spoke to the open world, left on her own outside the castle walls. For ten seconds, it was just her and the wind. Then, in the distance she saw something speeding towards her. Ikari appeared, his heels digging into the dirt and stopping before her.

“Alright, it was where you said it was. Let’s go.” He reached down and picked up Madyline, cradling her in his chest.

“Wait-wait-what?!” The maid exclaimed, as Ikari pushed his back foot against the ground and prepared to move.

“You might want to cover your eyes.” Ikari warned, and Madyline felt a force push her further into Ikari. She closed her eyes and held on tightly, hiding her head against his chest. “Ok, we’re here.”

She blinked her eyes open, and immediately wished they had stayed shut. Before her lay a massive pair of steel doors, attached to a massive black structure. Ikari set Madyline down, the maid spinning round in confusion as she observed her new surroundings.

Gone were the open stretches of land of the Valamune Plains, gone were the trees, the flowers and the terrifying boars that roamed. Instead there were great volcanoes stretching off into the sky, a land of fire and brimstone lay before her.

And behind her, down several hundred steps that Ikari must have climbed, a rocky plateau that many monsters roamed around on. To her surprise, the land did not match the many tales she had been told.

Yes there were monsters and fires, but there were no rivers running red with blood, or terrifying caverns that held awful creatures beyond your imagination. Instead the whole area below them looked rather…

“Bleak.” And not in the way that the taverns spoke of. If she could compare it to anything, it would be like a run down slum of Larune.

“Hey, Madyline.” Ikari spoke, winding up his arm. The maid turned diligently, wondering what it was Ikari wanted. “You like jokes?”

“Um…” Madyline was unsure of what to say.

“Stop me if you’ve heard this one.” He stomped a foot into the ground and brought his arm back. “Knock, knock.”

The doors exploded inwards, cracking against the inside of the castle. If the outside reminded Madyline of the slums of Larune, the inside reminded her of the most lavious of the castles rooms.

Several chandeliers hung from the high ceiling, each of them holding a hundred candles with purple flame. Banners made of a deep crimson and decorated with gold threading and some symbol that she didn’t recognise in the centre.

“Oh?” A voice echoed through the building, and Madyline looked down from the tapestries. She had a brief glimpse of a few demons standing by either wall, before a hand was placed in front of her eyes.

“A new Hero decided to try and stand against me?” The Demon King spoke. Madyline began to shake at the realisation she was here, in the same room as the Demon that so many Heroes had died against.

“Would you put some damn pants on!” Her fear was squashed by recalling Ikari was with her. Though his words made her curious, and she peeked over his hand, only to immediately regret it.

At the other end of the hall, under a stained glass window sat the Demon King upon a twisted throne of black metal. At his feet were several human women, all of whom shared the same lifeless look in their eyes, and the same lack of clothing.

The Demon King let out a wicked laugh, as he stood up from his throne. “A Hero who dares to command me? Maybe there’s some hope for you after all.” A snap of his fingers and a set of armour appeared on his lower half.

His skin was a bright red in colour, his hair a pitch black with two massive horns sticking out of his head. Behind them was a crown, similar in style to the throne. Ikari lowered his hands and stepped forward, now that he didn’t have to protect Madyline’s innocence.

The Demon King was a good few feet taller than Ikari, and easily more well built. His arms were as thick as tree trunks, and his fists were the size of cannonballs. “You show no fear.” The Demon King acknowledged, cracking his knuckles together.

“In respect of that, I shall kill you myself.” He began to walk forward, the two fighters in a straight line from each other. Madyline gripped onto her mace tightly, scared out of her wits despite trusting Ikari implicitly.

“How kind.” Ikari deadpanned, stopping in front of his opponent.

“Kindness?” The Demon King bellowed out with a laugh, as Ikari waited impatiently with a hand on his hip. “I have no kindness. My Virtues are the lowest of the low, while my Sins are as high as can be!”

With his statement finished, he brought a massive meaty fist back and struck. Madyline’s eyes closed in a wince as it made contact, but after not hearing Ikari cry out in pain, she cracked open an eye.

The Demon King’s fist was resting against Ikari’s shoulder, the human not having made a move to dodge or block. “I don’t know what all that stuff about virtues and sins was about.” Ikari spoke, one hand reaching up and grabbing onto the arm that struck him.

“And I don’t much care.” He gripped tight on the arm, and brought his own back, his ebony gauntlet curled into a fist.

Madyline looked up from Ikari to the Demon King, and let out a gasp.

The Demon King’s eyes shone with fear. “W-What are you?” He stuttered, for the first time in his life feeling afraid.

“What am I?” Ikari gritted his teeth as his hand shook. His eyes met the Demon Kings, crimson and glowing with energy. “I’m just really pissed off.”

With that, he punched upward into the Demon King’s chest. There was a moment of silence before the Demon King exploded upwards in a shower of gore. The chandelier above the two of them absolutely destroyed due to the force exerted from the punch.

The lower half of the body fell to its knees, and splattered over Ikari’s shoes. They were immediately cleaned of any viscera due to his [Self-Cleaning] enchantment. “There.” He tossed the arm that he had been holding onto aside.

“He’s dead. It’s done. I’m going home.” Ikari stepped over the body, as the demons that lined the side quivered in fear. The human women that had been laying at the throne stood up in shock. Their eyes seemed to have regained the spark of life.

Ikari didn’t care as much as he should have. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Teleport Orb that was given to him by the King. His hand shook as he smashed it onto the ground. A small glowing circle of blue energy formed above it, spreading out with a shining light appearing on the inside.

This was it. Ikari smiled, he was going home. The circle appeared to have reached its apex, and the shining white light disappeared, allowing Ikari to peer through gateway it had created. His smile fell, as he looked upon a throne room.

“W-What is this?!” King Otto cried out in surprise, staring at the portal that had opened up in his throne room. Around him, nobles and knights looked on in surprise.

Finally, the King noticed the body laying behind Ikari. “He did it.” The King fell back into his throne, breathless. “He defeated the Demon King!!” All around the hall were cheers and celebrations.

“You said this would take me home!” Ikari’s exclamation stopped the celebration dead in its tracks. The nobles quickly began whispering among each other as the King stepped forward.

“T-This did bring you home.” He stepped away from his throne. “You are free to choose any home you want in our wonderful Kingdom. Which now has the Demon King’s territory as a part of it!” Another round of cheers that only furthered Ikari’s rage.

“No! I don’t want a new home, I want to GO HOME!” He threw a hand out, noting some blood dripping from the ceiling.

The King looked taken aback, but quickly shook away his doubts. “Very well. It pains me to lose such a strong Hero, but if you wish to return to where you came from, we shall allow it.”

Ikari let out a huff, his rage lessening. He took a single step forward and was about to cross the boundary into Larune.

“HE’S LYING!”

Ikari froze where he was, as did the King and every noble in the room. The unwilling hero turned on his heel, slowly, as if his body was frozen. His eyes fell on Madyline, her blue eyes brimming with tears, clutching her mace tightly.

“He’s lying!” She repeated, shaking her head and shaking the tears away. “He always lies!”

“Be quiet you little-” The King’s venomous tone was cut off by a glare from Ikari, his red eyes brimming with rage.

“He can’t bring you home.” Madyline sniffed. “No one can. Once they bring you here, you can’t leave.” Her grip on her mace tightened. “I know because no other Hero was ever sent home!”

Those on the other side of the portal waited with baited breath to see how Ikari react.

The Hero was breathing heavily, his shoulders rising and falling as he repeated a mantra to himself. “Don’t blow up. Don’t blow up. Don’t blow up.” He repeated futilely.

More blood fell around him, and finally King Otto decided to speak. “This girl is clearly lying.” He spoke loudly. “I do not know where she came up with these lies, but I assure you she shall be most severely punished.”

There was something akin to a CRACK as Ikari’s head snapped upwards at the Kings words. His mantra stopped, and the world fell still. “You… killed me.” His hand landed on the handle of his sword. “You killed me. You lied to me.”

The sword became free, and he held it parallel to himself. “I am done with you. I am done with your lies. You took me from my home, from my life to solve your problem!”

He turned it to the side, as something from above fell from the chandelier and landed perfectly on his head. It was the Demon King’s crown. “Well now…” He brought the sword back.

“I’M YOUR PROBLEM!!!!” He swung, the sword biting into the crackling energy of the portal. Ikari let out a roar of rage like the world had never seen, and the sword cut through the portal, slicing it half and leaving the Demon King’s castle silent.

Ikari let out a shaky breath, before falling to his knees and brought his hands to his head, clutching them as he rapidly yelled at himself. “DON’T BLOW UP DON’T BLOW UP!” Those surrounding him stepped back in fear, as Ikari’s eyes suddenly shot open.

He could feel something coming. Something fueled by his anger, by his rage. By his Wrath. “Get out.” He said softly, turning to Madyline and staring at her with terrified eyes. “EVERYONE! OUT!”

The demons needed no further encouragement, leaving in a stampede to distance themselves from this creature that had killed their King. Ikari’s sword clattered to the ground as he tried to hold in whatever was coming.

Finally, once he saw the throne room empty, Madyline and all the rest safely outside, did he stop holding back. “Blow up.” He said softly.

What could only be described as a nuclear explosion of rage erupted from Ikari, the boy being covered in a glowing red light as the world around him trembled. The stained glass shattered and the banners burned.

The remnants of the Demon King were incinerated in the rage, and Ikari felt something break. Not a bone, not anything as simple as that. His mind was already broken, diagnosed early, he knew that, but now he felt that he had broken something in this world too.

The explosion surged, Ikari yelling out in pain, rage and loss. Those outside the castle watched a wave of red shot into the sky and expanded across the world, several of the volcanoes around them erupting as it passed.

All around the world people sensed this wave of rage, realising that a new danger has arisen in their world. The wave eventually petered out, and the skies outside the castle of the Demon King were turned a clear blue.

That did not mean those outside it felt secure enough to go in. Madyline was surprised to see the demons and monsters she had heard so much about look so terrified. “E-Excuse me.” The maid turned, seeing one of the human women approaching her.

“You, you came in there with that man, right?” She asked. Madyline suddenly felt the eyes of all those around her staring intently.

“Y-Yes. I came here with Master Ikari.” She hoped he wouldn’t be too mad at her for calling him that.

“What was that?!” The women cried, scared that she would have to relive what the Demon King put her through.

Once more, Madyline felt the stares of the demons. “I, I do not know.” She recalled Eliza’s words to her, and gripped the handle of her mace tightly. “But, I am going to find out.”

Madyline walked back into the castle, a rather odd parade of naked women and terrified demons following her. Regardless of what would happen with Ikari, she was certain the first thing he did would be to get these girls into some clothes.

The strange group moved through the ruined castle interior, when their eyes fell on Ikari. He sat on the Demon King’s throne, wearing his crown with one hand cupping his face and the other holding onto the sword that was plunged into the ground.

Madyline swallowed, stopping a fair distance away as her entourage huddled behind her protectively. “I-Ikari.” She spoke.

His head barely moved, but acknowledged her. The maid turned around to the group and made a ‘stay put’ motion. She was about to walk forward before she gestured to the women and whispered “Clothes.”

Turning her attention back on Ikari, she lowered her mace and crept closer to the throne. “Ikari, what was, what was that explosion?” She asked.

Ikari mumbled something in response, but Madyline was unable to hear. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

“I don’t know!” He exclaimed, startling the maid back a few steps. Madyline was terrified, the fear being shouted at by such a stronger person instilled in her. Then, she heard a hitched breath.

Madyline walked forward, right next to Ikari’s resting head and got down onto her knees, so she could remove his hand and make eye contact. A soft gasp escaped the maids lips.

Tears trickled from red eyes, as Ikari looked up to Madyline. “I just wanted to go home.”