Chapter 3 So here I am after messing with them for a bit. I was wandering around and happy to see the scenery which is full of life. Ah the feeling of being alive is the best. I may become a lazy bum the baldies talk about soon. What is a lazy bum anyway? I need to find something and learn. I am nearly at the level of snail in knowledge level. I am a demon lord yet my knowledge was below average. I might be able to device something fun and annoying but if someone asked me something, I will explode in an instant. Let’s see what I have… Clothes, more clothes, many more amazing clothes and a ball of crystal. Perfect… I need to find some sentient beings aside from humans and ask some things. I feel ashamed for not knowing the vast knowledge needed in this world “Let’s see where to head to then.” I pulled the crystal ball in my bag and activated it. It is good that it was easy to use after I nearly broke it last time out of frustration. Like the blue screen, there are some small circles. I learned what they represent after a few times and more failures. I push the circle which represents my current position then started to let the crystal’s view roam heading north. The view passed by some human settlement and somehow my hands started to itch. I fell wanting to crush them but since my goal now is to learn for myself, I could just let them go for now. “Maybe I should send my monster then?” I can but I sent all them away when I arrived here. Maybe I can create some more? I browsed towards the magic available to me and finally got what I need. It has the title summoning magic and there was a list of creatures available for me to use. All are ugly though. Should I still summon them? They might destroy the surroundings… I am hesitating for a bit before scanning all the list again. I can recognize some of them since I saw them back then in the castle. Most of them were lesser summons and some were only middle tier at best. “The guys before me has done a sloppy job. Why would a demon lord not do its best and summon those inferior beings? The job should be done in one go or it would come back to you and bother you at a later time.” I shook my head. “No wonder the cool sister called me here. They too were inferior.” “I called around a hundred flying lizard looking things that look uglier than the ones I saw back then but huger. There are even a few that are as large as the airship in my world and I mean it is humongous as hell. “This is fun on its own alright. Especially if they would annoy humanity so much.” I looked at them and I thought they looked cool but they were still ugly. “Ok destroy any human settlement you can find. Erase any sign of it but never destroy the scenery? Got it?” There was no response but I think they got my point. “Go then” Then I continued to explore with the crystal heading more north and I can hear the creatures flap away. It was loud but soon it disappeared as well. I continued searching in the Northside but I spent almost an hour and all I see is human settlement. “Maybe that side is the human camp?” I pressed the circle which is to locate my position. I am back to square one and I am consuming too much time. I have not explored the crystal to the fullest and I doubt it can only do this much. The cool sister said that she is using this to look over the worlds. It will take a lot of effort if she is doing things the way I am. Maybe I am missing something here… I tried pressing the untouched circles on top. There were a total of 20 of them and I only know seven of them. One is to use to locate my current location. The others are grayed out until I press another button. I am assuming there is a prerequisite before those buttons can display their use. Maybe I need some combinations before I can use this thing to its full potential. “Here we go again…” I tried pressing random buttons and sometimes other buttons which are grayed out will come to light. Soon enough, I can somehow get the gist of things. I even saw a list of worlds which I am not looking forward to read so I returned to the world of Mirth again. d pressed some buttons again which turned white. I pressed a random button and it displays numbers which are moving constantly by decreasing. “Is this population?” I wonder. “Hah! Humans are finally starting to disappear to this beautiful place.” Then I stumbled to this button which also displayed a list. The list was not so long so I decided to read them all. I found this cursed word humanity and realized that this might be a list of races inhabiting Mirth. I tried pressing the word elves and it displayed basic information. The elves look so much alike the humanity aside from their ears so I went back and tried the next word. It reads as demi-humans and there is a separate category for them. There are a lot so I randomly pressed one that reads Half-feline race. Once again, I see an illustration of the race. “What the heck is this?" I frown "They look like humans aside from their ears and some minor difference!” I went back to the list of races and tried pressing insect race. There are tons of them so once again I press a random name and my jaw drop at what I saw. “This is too disgusting! So ugly!” I went back to the master list and pressed the dragon race. I saw their illustration and they look almost the same as the ones I summoned earlier. Aside that they have proper eyes and not the fiery globes, they look more intelligent. “Are they even sentient?” I read the description. I learned that they were sentient but liked to live in seclusion. They tend to live in the most extreme areas that no other creatures live so they can sleep for long period of times. They were on the violent side of the camp as they would be irritated if one woke them up. “Eh? What a selfish race.” I went back to the master list and pressed another race. This time I stumbled upon the mer-folks. The folks were the rulers of the sea and they resemble humanity a bit. I guess I can tolerate that much since they barely resemble humanity anyway. I tried pressing the single circle that light up and the view in the crystal zoomed out. It displayed a map then red glows appeared on it. This must be their location right? “Why the hell are they in the middle of the vast oceans?” Not one of them were close to the land at all! I can only move through places which I have coordinates like when those freaks cast eye in the sky. I tracked them back but those mer-folk was too far. I doubt they will even pay attention to me and cast a magic towards me. I will not have any chance to track their mana back and get their coordinates… “Rejected then…” “Goblin race” “Disgusting” “Centaur race” “Funny looking freaks.” “Serpent race” “Well they were shiny alright… sadly they were barely sentient.” “Demon race” “What the heck is this? It only shows me? Alone in the world?” “Fairy race” “So human like aside from their size and wings… Next!” “Treants” “oh… They are green and lovely! Sentient too and almost not moving race! They love to hide in the forest too! This is it!” I press the lone circle that light up and once again the map changes the location of the red dots. I can see them scattered towards the eastern side. They were a bit scattered and far but they are still in land so I guess I have to travel towards them. They rarely move from their spots anyway. I left the crystal as it is and opened the list of my magic to see if there is something I can use to make my travel faster. There is the teleport but I need the exact coordinates which the crystal does not display so I will take that as a pass. There is this summoning creature which was mid-tier and I tried summoning it. When it appeared I covered my face with my palm. “This must be the feeling of cool sister when she talked to me about magic at first.” The summoned creature was almost three meters and it is made out of wicked looking bones. “Why is this carriage so cheeky? I thought it was a carriage, what is this?” To make it worse, it use creatures that looked like black beetles but bigger and have many spikes along its body. The most striking feature of it is the huge horn at its front that look like the same as the bulldozers back then. It was certainly designed to run over anything on its path. Are you guys trying to decimate the forest? It would be a miracle if the treants would not explode out of anger and die on the spot. “Hey… How do I unsummon you guys?” The fiery orbs of the beetles flicker like they are looking at me. “Never mind.” I will leave them here, I don’t need them anyway and they don’t look too ugly, it was so cheesy so nope. In the end I could walk all the way and enjoy the travel. It will be more fun and I can enjoy the travel more. In the end I started walking towards the nearest red spot pointed by the map. It is only a few hours of travel and I am already very satisfied. I wonder why my past world was not like this. There were forest too but they were dried up and they don’t look alive like the ones in here. I hate technology the same as humanity. It was because of the so called advancement that I was forced to be caged. It also ruined the whole of my world. What irresponsible beings they are. I encountered some beast along the way but they all scrambled away when they saw me. I can see them scrambling like when I see scalpels near me. The heck is this? Do I look like a scalpel? In the end I let them be as I walk around the forest in my own world. There area few little creatures which bump into me and I was surprised that they evaporated. “Would you look at that…” A bug the size of my thumb flew in my way and bumped into me when I was not looking and it just Pssssst. Walah… Evaporated like water. “What is causing this? This might cause problems when I meet a treant. They might find me displeasing if I have this phenomena around me. By the way I finally learned what it means by phenomena so don’t judge me. I went through my skills again and I noticed that there was another tab on my skill list. Now that you mention it… What does active and passive mean? I think active is like running and passive is… I don’t know. I press the passive side to see what is in it. Mantle of demise Physical damage reduction Magical damage reduction Corruption aura Magic amplification Physical amplification Overlord’s might Oh… so it is because of these guys? I turn them all off and start to walk again and see what happens. I walked for about two hours before I met with a beast again and this time I met a huge cat with wings on its back. It is a creature classified as magic beast on this planet. Back in my world, we don’t have them but we have this so called bears and tigers. The beast is looking at me head on and sizing me up. This time it is not fleeing like the rest and now I know that those passive skills are the cause of it. I should turn them off until I finish learning from the treants. The beast stared at me before it pounce towards me while baring its fangs. So it was not aggressive? What a rude creature. When it is in my range, I twist my body to build momentum and throw a kick that landed squarely at its head. I am ready to follow up for the kill but when I look again, the beast is missing its head. The body is only twitching on the ground bathing with the blood that leaks from its neck. “Oops… I forgot that I am not the same back then.” I look around to see where the head landed but I can’t find it at all. “Seriously! The bear is more challenging than this thing.” I resumed my journey and I encountered many more creatures. The appearance of magical beast started to increase and most of them attacked me in a heartbeat. I replied them accordingly. I unconsciously picked up a branch of tree as thick as my arm and used it as beating stick. I left them alone and I noticed that they would be swarmed and torn apart by other beast after I am farther away. I spent my day walking and when night fell, I climbed a tree. It towers the other trees around it and get myself comfortable. Sometimes habits ingrained in your being are hard to change. I watched the surrounding from this height and find it breath taking. I really love this world. The stars are so visible and the sky is as clear as it can be. There is no sign of pollution in this world unlike my world back then. If only I am born in this world will my fate be different with the one I led? “Why am I not born here?” I close my eyes trying to rest even though I don’t feel tired at all. “I wish I was here earlier. It would have been fun.” With those thoughts I was lulled to sleep. Wildred Empire, House of Valeria The emperor paid a visit to one of his subject, the Valeria family. The house of Valeria has a long history with the empire as they were able to produce 3 demon lord slayer. They squashed other prominent families in the empire by far. The house of Valeria produced the latest hero Mirah Valeria. She is almost permanent bedridden due to old age now which is too sad. It surprised the entire Mirth with the news that the hero managed to slay the demon lord. It was more dramatic when she was able to bring back her party without losing one. That crusade was the most successful one throughout the history. It made the prestige of Valeria house hit the roof. The house of Valeria gained many things since the hero was alive. They got the treasures of the demon lord which amounted nearly half an empire. “Please come in your highness” A servant bowed towards the emperor. The royal guards followed the emperor inside. When the emperor saw the hero which brought glory to his empire the most, he can’t help feeling bitter about it. At first he was only skeptical about the victory but now he was bitter about it. Mirah Valeria was in her bed. Lying weakly due to the corrosion of time. He approached her and sat on the lone seat available near her. “Good evening madam” the emperor greeted politely despite his displeasure. “To what pleasure do I own for this untimely visit your grace?” Mirah replied in an inaudible voice. “I want you to tell me what happened back there at the demon lord’s castle.” “Oh that… I thought you figure heads would know…” The emperor is silent a bit trying to suppress his increasing irritation for the woman. He was not yet born when this very same woman slayed the demon lord. He was only informed when he took over the throne and learned the secrets behind the demon lord and the heroes. At first, he was pitying the fates of the heroes. Though as time goes on, those feelings changed. He soon felt that it was just fitting that someone would take that role. “I traveled especially for that matter madam since complications had risen.” “It is about time.” Mirah was not showing any signs of obedience nor respect with her answer. “Madam!” The emperor raised his voice finally since he was being slapped head on. “You brought this upon yourselves actually.” Mirah laughed weakly. “Do you know the feeling when I inserted that sword in the heart of the demon lord?" Mirah closed her eyes then continued, " just to realize in the end that it was all a farce?” The emperor became silent since he understands where Mirah’s attitude is coming from. Ever since coming back from the crusade, Mirah and his companions became distant. Most of them disappeared like air. Only Mirah remained in the empire and she gave away all her loots towards the slums and helped communities as far as she can reach. She did not keep them in her pockets and used it as fast as she got them. “You know, I should just tell you… This would freak you to death so I guess I will tell.” She laughed as she looked straight towards the emperor. The emperor felt like he was being grabbed by a giant hand and he can’t move at all. “Listen well then my dear emperor." Her eyes were burning with hatred. "From this moment on I will let you hear about the end of our nightmares and the start of yours.” The next moment, the royal guards fell down like broken dolls. They were knocked out cold without being able to up any resistance against the former hero of the world. Then Mirah once again returned her gaze towards the emperor. “A goddess descended on that day my dear emperor.” There was a different glint in Mirah’s eyes that is nearly bordering with madness. “What?” The emperor was shocked. “That’s impossible, they are not real!” “They are real alright…" She laughed. "You just don’t acknowledge them… Like some people don’t acknowledge barbers due to seeing beggars outside their shops with unkempt hair on them. " You don’t make effort to reach them out and so they leave you alone. You don’t acknowledge them so they leave you alone.” The emperor is trembling at this point. He does not believe that Mirah would lie at all but the contents of what she is telling is too hard to believe. “But you know what? There is someone that spent his entire life seeking the god. That one fell on my sword and in his dying breath he only said, I know you are there, my god. Please break this curse and let people like me that are being used as pawns be free. I offer you my life.” “Then when his breath finally went out, a blinding pillar of light descended to him. "An ethereal form of a woman appeared. She look towards the fallen demon lord and caressed his face and said that she will grant his wish and just disappeared along with the demon lord.” The continued trembling more. He could have not imagined that an event like that was kept secret by the entire hero party. So that is why the entire party disappeared instantly after they gave wealth to their house. They are afraid of leaking the information so they hid themselves. Only Mirah decided to remain because her house is powerful unlike her party members. “Now do you realize what this means?” she asked in a fascinated voice. “The goddess fulfilled his wish and made a proper demon lord. "Not a pawn that you guys made.” “The goddess… Why would she grant that…? It will spell doom for us!” Mirah laughed out loud as loud as she can suddenly. “Do you still not see? I guess I will leave that to you all to figure out. Oh and one more thing… The goddess left this world already. So there would be no use in crying for her help as of now. “I hope that you all survive this disaster… I will watch over this world and watch you selfish bastards burn.” On that day, the final true hero of the Mirth passed away.