DL: ‘That being said…I am nowhere near close to my goal’

Defeating Chronos was more than having his sweet, sweet revenge. It was about taking control over his destiny.

He was well aware he was just a side character that has ended up stranded in someone else’s story. A story of heroes and villains, with the protagonists as his enemies. As for the villains, he found them so pitiful and pathetic, that he decided to become one, just to show them how it is done.

Ending up in this world, in this time, it was a stroke of a cruel luck, or a very crude joke.

Had he been born in the human kingdom, he would have likely grown up patriotic with the desire to protect humanity and the kingdom at all cost.

Likewise, if he was born as one of the demons, he would have fought humanity for the sake of his kind’s survival.

But in his case, he lived in the world of both, but belonged to neither.

He did not belong to this reality itself.

A product of love that bloomed between a human and a demon, 900 years in the far, far future.

Stranded in this world, with no way or desire to go back.

Playing an endless game with no way of escape.

But…He was no longer the empty shell he was back then.

It might be silly, it might be stupid.

But playing this sick game gave him a sense of purpose.

A goal to reach. A desire to seek. A foe to slay. A future to aspire towards.

Still his past may be gone, but not forgotten.

Dark Lord remembered those days well.

Nur Finnerman was content being Desolai’s servant for all eternity. Dark Lord was not.

It frustrated him to no end how that clueless angel gave Nur a purposeless job, essentially being a butler to compensate for the fact that she was a complete slob.

She did not really need a servant as much as she needed company.

And Nur was ok with it.

Back then Nur was the dominant of the two, never realizing that there was another self deep within him. Peacefully ignorant of everything.

That peaceful time was interrupted by none other than Chronos.

What followed was a period of endless misfortune and suffering.

It took time and a lot of pain, but because of it, Nur finally let go, allowing Dark Lord to finally fully emerge.

He was secretly glad Chronos took Nur away. Had she not, he would have always been trapped inside of that weak, pathetic man.

Dark Lord’s only regret was that he could not be there for his son.

As foolish as he was, Nur did father a child with that angel.

Dark Lord may hate Nur with all his being, forget Desolai completely, but Kunjarik….that was one thing he could not let go of.

Maybe that was another reason he formed the Shadow Lords or cared about his subordinates. It gave him a family of sorts.

And allowed him to be ‘father’, in some sense of the word.

It was pathetic. He knew it all too well.

But out of everything, it was the one thing that made him feel some sense of happiness.

A single tear ended up travelling down his face.

Quickly, before Lukalis could see it, Dark Lord wiped it off.

If she saw his moment of weakness, he was confident that he would no longer be able to pretend.

What would happen if he dropped to his knees and cried his eyes out like a newborn child?

The answer is nothing. Nothing would change.

The hole inside his heart would not vanish.

Lukalis admired him as her leader and savior. It gave her a sense of safety, gave her a place where she could belong.

Same was true for the other members.

Like him, they were lost, abandoned, or stranded, with nowhere else to go.

A band of misfits; that would be the best way to describe them.

DL: “Misfits stick together, huh”

Lukalis: “What?”

DL: “Never mind”

Creating the Shadow Lords was the best decision he ever made.

Not only did it give him companions, but is also gave him a family.

Of course, he would never admit it. Not even in the face of death.

DL: “This is a list of all the living heroes and any relevant information regarding them”

He handed Luka a parchments filled to the brim with detailed information on the heroes.

There were 17 heroes alive as of now: Wind, Light, Thunder, End, Night, Ice, Fire, Blade, Mind, Steel, Axe, Sky, Water, Power, Spider, Rain, and Sand.

From a brief glance at the content of the parchment, Lukalis found each entry to have the hero’s real name, fighting style, special ability, and weakness. He also made a side note of a danger scale, from least (1) to most (5) dangerous.

Knight of Wind. Real name: Yusa Nirai. Style: Long ranged. Special ability: Wind Elemental Summons. Weakness: demons in close range, psychological weakness. Danger Level: 2

Knight of End. Real name: Magus Stronoli. Style: all ranges. Special Ability: death by verbal command, effective only on opponents of same level or lower than him. Weakness: without the true name of the target, death spell will not activate. He possesses the ability to see true names of targets, but only if the face is visible. Wear a mask or head covering for confrontation. Note: terrified of rodents. Danger Level: 1

Knight of Night. Real name: Larat Lemuri. Style: mid ranged. Special Ability: unknown curse, curse destroying blade. Weakness: none, must be avoided at all cost (victory is only possible with extremely heavy casualties). A very paranoid and dangerous case. Danger level: 5.

Knight of Light. Real name: Leon Revilles. Style: all ranges. Special Ability: extremely powerful blessing. Weakness: naiveté. Danger Level: 4.

As Lukalis read more and more of the document, the more ridiculous it got.

The information on the powers and weaknesses may have been valuable, but then there was additional information written about each hero.

Knight of Axe. Has a very weak stomach, getting food poisoning every week or so. Very weak physical body. Weapons are levitated by magic.

Knight of Mind can no longer perform in bedroom, even with the aid of drugs and potions. Former hobby: sleeping with a new woman every day. Current hobby: trying out any kind of elixir known to restore performance, usually unsuccessfully. He is known as most popular customer for stores specializing in herbs or elixirs.

Knight of Water has an injury on her right knee. Her running ability is limited. Has a heart shaped birth mark on the left buttocks. Judging by sounds, pleasures herself a lot, despite lacking a mate.

Knight of Steel suffers from an early onset of baldness. His entire body lacks body hair for some reason. Dogs always chase him. Wears only pants with nothing on his upper body (might be a closet exhibitionist).

Knight of Spider is an omnivore, eating everything ranging from tree bark to dead animal carcasses. Poisoning is ineffective due to extreme immunity. His eating habits are a nightmare to witness. He keeps no furniture in his house due to his habit of eating them in his sleep. Has repressed cannibalistic tendencies.

Knight of Fire. Meros’s former mentor. Meros recommends avoiding her at all cost. Reasons unknown, Meros refused to provide the information.

Knight of Thunder is deaf in his left ear. He causes a lot of accidental property damage, mostly on his days off. Very loud, annoying, and idiotic. Has a fungal infection on his feet (very smelly).

Knight of Blade is insomniac extreme; can stay up for ten days in a row. He may look like zombie, but he is still alive. Is a theatre actor as a side occupation. Kleptomaniac.

Knight of Ice is not immune to the slipperiness of his own ice; always wears spiked boots. Very efficient as a hero, sucks at everything else; can’t even cook on his own. Has no life outside of being a hero.

Knight of Power. Spends most of free time drunk and sleeping. When not sleeping, usually visiting the brothels (apparently she swings both ways). Has a hobby of dying her hair in weird colors.

Knight of Rain. Suicidal. Last witnessed to trying to hang herself (unsuccessful). Apparently abandoned by a former lover due to receiving facial injury during a battle.

Knight of Sand. Uses his authority to torture civilians for his own entertainment. Is involved in the kingdom’s slave trafficking (likely one of the bosses). Most of his activities are overlooked by the crown due to his hero status. Extreme Sadist……

There was more, but it was a little too much for Luka to take in all at once.

And those where just the headings.

Apparently, Dark Lord wrote entire pages dedicated to each hero.

Lukalis did not even want to think how Dark Lord obtained such information.

But knowing that he researched his enemies this thoroughly was just crazy. Once again, she had underestimated his resourcefulness.

Lukalis: “What are you, King of Stalkers?”

Dark Lord: “Just a man with too much free time”

Lukalis: “Knight of Night is not the strongest hero”

Dark Lord: “Perhaps not, but he is the one we need to watch out for the most. If we are not careful, he can destroy all of us in a single swoop”

The fact is, in several alternate timelines, Larat did exactly that.

Had it not been for Dark Lord’s curse, it would have been the end.

And now, Larat even possessed a weapon that could kill Dark Lord along with his curse, permanently.

Of all the opponents he faced in this world, Larat was easily the most persistent and dangerous one. With each confrontation, he only became more and more resourceful.

Dark Lord may have been suicidal before, but after having found his purpose, he was not about to let Larat permanently end him.

For now, he needed to avoid Larat at all cost.

Dark Lord: “That guy is something else; I have to give him that”

Lukalis: “At least now we will be more prepared to deal with the heroes”

Dark Lord: “I am more worried about what the First Prince is up to”

Lukalis: “Is he not just a royal, a figurehead, if I may?”

Dark Lord: “From the notes left by Augustus Sevilles, the one who sponsored his projects on demon experimentation was none other than the First Prince. In public he may be a figurehead, but he is not so simple. Combined with the fact that many demons are captured rather than slaughtered right away makes me believe that perhaps he is continuing those experiments, but on a far massive scale”

Lukalis: “What is he trying to create?”

Dark Lord: “No idea. But whatever it is, it will be a game changer if it is complete. That much I am certain of”

Dark Lord: “Anyways, since we are going to be aiding the demons…in public, I plan on acting as an absolute beacon of benevolence. That should throw off any kind of suspicion I might garner”

Lukalis: “Beacon of benevolence? You? More like a Master of Malevolence”

To that, Dark Lord responded with a mischievous smile.

Lukalis knew that this world had many kinds of monsters, some more scary than the others.

Elf King and Demon King were exactly that kind of monsters.

Growing up, she never thought of anyone to be scarier than the Elf King, but after meeting the Dark Lord, she found the world of difference between them.

Both were monsters, but Dark Lord was a far bigger monster.

It was like having an ogre face off against a dragon, the outcome was obvious.

Even the Demon King, feared by all of humanity, looked like a fragile kitten when she was next to him. Maybe not in terms of power, but when she observed them converse, it was obvious which one was the dominant one.

As far as being a monster, no, a villain goes, he was on another level.

But that was exactly what she loved about him.

Not the benevolent gentleman he pretended to be day-to-day, but the true monster within him.

The sheer horror and nightmare he could inflict upon the world would have deterred many, but not Lukalis. To her, that side of him was most fascinating and strangely attractive.

Lukalis: ‘History books have the same consistent rule. Villains always lose. It is impossible for them to win’

But looking at his confident gaze, she thought.

Lukalis: “But perhaps he can make the impossible come true”

If anyone could do it, it would be him.