“Summoned?” I stared at the young girl. That time, I swore I heard an explosion inside my head. “What do you mean ‘summoned’?”

“Simply speaking, we used a spell to transfer you from your old world to this world,” the girl explained.

“Huh? What? Hahaha.” After hearing that, my mind became muddled. A manic laughter irresistibly came out. I didn’t mean to be rude, but the situation’s absurdity called for a crazy laugh. Summoned? Stop shitting me. Did I just become a player of some sort of RPG? Even if that’s true… no it can’t be true.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to respond, Lureschka continued, “The thing is, as the Demon Lord--” That word made my heart wrench. If I was really summoned into an unknown fantasy world, I’d rather be summoned by a beautiful goddess than a Demon Lord. “--I oversee the welfare of my constituents, which primarily consist of demons and monsters. However, my power alone isn’t enough to protect them from the humans, especially the heroes they themselves summoned. So even though demons naturally can’t use summoning spells since those are high-tier light aspect spells, I had to take the risk and summon my own champion. As for why it was you, I also am not certain about that.”

“Not certain? How can you not be sure when you’re the one who summoned me here?” I asked, a slight irritation and fear hinted on my voice.

For a moment, I felt a heavy pressure around me, which caused cold sweat to cover my back. Lureschka held her hand high and replied in a cute, innocent voice, “Since it’s our first time doing this, we are not sure if it will work, more so, who will show up. We just casted the spell and hoped that the person we summoned is willing to be our champion.”

There was that word again. “Champion? You want me to fight for you, the Demon Lord? Wait, wait. Is this even real? You expect me to believe all that? If I’m not dreaming, then I should be dead. Just what in the actual hell is going on.” My panicked voice echoed on the chamber.

Lureschka and Bria looked at me in confusion, their eyebrows knit and their eyes worried.

Seeing that I wasn’t going to receive any response, I mustered what I could to compose myself. I continued, “Even if all you’ve said is true, do you expect me to be your evil tool and fight my fellow humans? How can you be sure that I would follow?” Even if the Demon Lord sounded genuine and calm, what she was saying was hard to digest. Me, a champion of demons? This must be some sort of joke, right?

“Evil?! How are we evil?” The girl jolted like an innocent being accused of grave crimes. “If you don’t want to, we cannot force you, but don’t go accusing us that we’re evil.” She pouted and crossed her arms. The action perfectly fitted her image.

“But, you want me to fight my fellow humans. How can I do that?”

“First, you’re technically a demon. Since you are summoned by me, a Demon Lord, you automatically become part of our race.”

Wait a minute, did she just say I’m a demon? That can’t be right. I am a human. Even my appearance shouts of my human-ness. Oh, yeah, I remember reading race on my character window. I turned my gaze on my still open character window.

Name: ??? Title: --- Age: 16 Class: -- Level: 1 Race: Human (Demon) MP: 10 Strength: 5 Intelligence: 7 Agility: 3 Wisdom: 4

See! It says Human. Wait… shit!

Not bothered by my very evident terror, Lureschka continued, “Second, humans are the true evil creatures. They attack and slaughter my people. They show no mercy and even kill the injured and the weak. For what? For the sake of gaining experience and treasures!”

As she said that, I noticed a very translucent text hovering above her head.

[Q’ai Huan Lvl. 80]

I swallowed my disbelief after realizing that I was indeed a demon, somewhat. Experience? Do humans gain experience and level up by killing monsters? I thought.

Seeing my lack of response, Lureschka continued, “If you don’t believe us, then we’ll prove it. Bria!”

The silver-haired witch came closer and waved her hand. Her hand glowed blue and emitted a misty aura. Bria moved her hand in circles, creating an ocean blue oval mirror-like aura.

“Come closer and watch.” Lureschka gestured for me to look.

I shifted my position to have a better view of the aura. Then, there was a sudden finger snap, and the aura started playing flimsy scenes. It was just like a television minus having the audio.

There was what seemed to be a cave. At first glance, it seemed like a typical cave where a bear would live. However, it got awry when the point of view went deeper into the cave. The orange light of the torches attached on walls lit a path of dirty white bones. Then, a sudden green figure dashed across the screen. A few seconds later, it dashed again, but stopped right in front of the projection. The creature had a long pointed ear, huge eyes, and a row of sharp teeth. Its extremities were thin and frail, and its skin was colored like a moss -- a goblin.

Seeing that, my heart jumped and my stomach churned. Thankfully, the flimsy projection greatly mellowed the horror. Going further deeper into the cave, the place got bigger and brighter. To my surprise, it wasn’t like a scene from a horror movie. There was a village inside. Tents made of leather and sticks were arranged in a circle. There were a couple holes on top of the cave, which allowed a few rays of sunlight to come in. Unlike the heinous scenes in movies, these goblins are pretty much like humans, but more horrendous. Young goblins ran around the village while hammering each other with a huge bone. Others were crafting, making weapons, and cooking. A few were wearing armor and were patrolling. The goblin that the projection followed smiled.

The goblin was carrying two pieces of some creature’s legs. He started walking towards the village when an arrow pierced his back out of nowhere. The hit was so strong that the arrowhead could be seen on the other side. A moment later, a glowing silver blade sliced the goblin’s neck like butter, and the head was sent flying. When it fell to the ground, a young human male came into view. He wore a complete silver armor, but without a helmet. His blonde hair and azure eyes were for everyone to see. He spoke a few words and pointed his sword towards the village. Lit arrows rained upon the village and set everything on fire. A couple of goblins, children included, lifelessly laid on the ground. The smiles on their ugly faces suddenly turned into that of horror, then they went limp.

A huge goblin holding a gigantic spear then came out in the biggest hut. He roared and charged towards the humans. However, it was futile. The young man shouted a few more words, and a barrage of fireballs and thunder befell the village. The whole village was razed to the ground. Not a single thing, either animate or inanimate, stood. A few moments later, the young man held the huge goblin’s spear and held it up high. His companions cheered and looted everything from the remains. Some went for the goblins’ ears.

“T- that’s not all.” Lureschka’s voice cracked. I figured that it wasn’t easy for her to watch this either.

The scene changed. This time it was a village filled with bipedal canines. They had all the features of a canine, but were standing on two feet and had two hands. They were like dogs pretending to be humans.

Just like the goblin village, it was also filled with seemingly typical non-human villagers. Just like the goblin village, a party of humans came. This time, however, the leader was a girl with long crimson hair and emerald irises. That was the only difference. After a few moments, the village was razed and the humans looted.

After the goblin village came a village of small orcs, then harpies, and then leprechauns. The scenes came one after the other. By each village that got destroyed, a seed of rage unconsciously started to grow inside me. It felt wrong seeing a peaceful place suddenly be razed to the ground. There were two similarities across all scenes; the villages were obliterated by humans, and the villagers barely put up a fight. It was a full blown massacre. The scenes were similar to that of my old world wherein a large country bullied the smaller countries near it to pillage for resources. But now, I wasn’t just helpless. If this was in fact reality, then perhaps I could do something to change things.

Looking back at the aura, two faces were deeply imprinted on my mind: the blonde man with azure eyes, and the crimson haired girl with emerald irises. Both of them were laughing while they massacred their victims, mostly children and the weak.

After the sixth scene, I could no longer bear to watch. “Stop… stop it please.”

Bria waved her hand again, and the aura disappeared. Lureschka walked towards me, sighed, and placed her hand on my shoulder. In her cute voice, she said, “My people, just like any, only wished to live in peace. We do not wish to wage war on humans. We only want them to leave us alone, to stop these senseless killings.”

I raised my head and looked at Leruschka. Her pink hair covered her eyes, but I could see tears rolling down her cheeks. My heart turned and my anger grew. Surprisingly, I said without stammering, “Okay, I agree. But, I don’t want to be your champion. I want to help you, but I want to be myself.” Given that she’s a Demon Lord, I wasn’t just about to agree about being her champion. However, I wouldn’t just stand and watch the atrocities like that, especially if I could be of help. Perhaps, I could be the main character for once.

Lureschka looked up and wiped her tears. “So you won’t be my champion, huh.” She smiled. “But, that’s good enough. For that, I will give you two gifts.”

Lureschka placed her pointing and index fingers on my forehead. Her fingers emitted orange light. When it hit my skin, I got a bit dizzy. A window then popped up.

[Skill: Subjugate received

Do you wish to learn [Subjugate]?

(Yes) (No)]

I quickly selected yes. A flurry of knowledge rushed into my mind. My head spun and I got a bit dizzy. I blinked a few times in a futile attempt to clear my head. After a while, my vision returned to normal. I found myself staring at my character window. Looking at it again, I saw a box with a skull with horns in it. Curious, I selected the box. A text appeared slightly above it.

[Demon’s Curse: Bearer will be classified as one of the Demon race.]

“For the second gift, please look here.” Lureschka motioned her hands behind her.

Only now had I fully scanned the room. To my surprise, there were about a dozen other creatures lined up beside the throne. They were hidden by the shadows of the gigantic obsidian pillars. Have they always been there?

Lureschka continued, “Including Bria, they are my twelve generals. You can use subjugate to make two of them your slaves. Don’t worry, they won’t resist.”

After she said that, I scanned the twelve creatures she called generals. There was a goblin which was much bigger even than the one in the aura. Beside the goblin was a half bull, half man creature holding an axe bigger than its entire body. However, the one beside it caught my attention. It was a pure black armor with plates and horns. A sheathed sword hung on its waist. What’s weird about it was that there was nothing inside it. A heavy black smoke was coming out of the open helmet. Two blue glowing orbs symmetrically dotted where the eyes should be. My heart skipped a beat, but I shook my head. “I- I can’t make your generals my slaves, Lureschka.”

When I said that, the space around me suddenly became heavy. I could feel a dozen pairs of eyes boring holes in my head. When I looked up, I saw Lureschka turn around. The pressure vanished, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why? Were they not to your satisfaction?” Lureschka asked.

“No! No! Definitely not. It’s just that they are your comrades. I- I couldn’t just make them my slaves.”

Lureschka laughed. “You’re indeed very interesting, Kaito. Very well then. I’ll lend two of them to you, so you can get stronger. Eventually, we hope to rely on your strength. Now, choose your sla-- companions.”

“If you put it that way… then, I choose Bria and--” I pointed to the floating armor. “--that one.”

“Oh, good choice. The two of you come here and introduce yourselves.”

Bria and the armor came. Both of them knelt on one knee. It was Bria who spoke first. “Master, I am Bria, the Silver Witch. I possess mastery over sorcery, witchcraft, and magic. I vow to offer my life to you.”

The armor then spoke, if you can call it that. It was deep and husky as if the mist was reverberating the armor. It said, “I am Shiki, the Black Sword. I am a master of swordsmanship and hidden weapons. I offer my life to protect yours, my liege.”

After they said that, a window popped up.

[Subjugate Silver Witch?

(Yes) (No)]

[Subjugate Black Sword?

(Yes) (No)]

I both chose no. I looked at them and gestured for them to stand. “You don’t have to offer your lives. Isn’t that a bit too much?” After a moment without a response, I continued, “Anyway, I am Kaito. Pleased to meet the both of you.”

“Shiki, Bria, then I leave Kaito to you. Help him the best that you can. For starters, reside in the lowest realm of the dungeon, the Hatchery. From then on, it’s all up to you.” Lureschka waved her hand and went back to her throne.

Bria and Shiki put their right hand on their chests and bowed. “We shall, our Lord.”

“Now, go!”

Bria waved her hand again, but this time what came out was a fiery red glow. She then made a big circle the size of three humans. The circle crackled and glowed lava red. Without any kind of warning, Bria grabbed my hand and jumped straight into the swirling circle.