(Ashen POV)

The sight before me wasn’t expected, nor did I have the slightest glimmer of hope of knowing how or why, but the town’s streets were flooded with people. The few windows inside the town’s castle showed an almost river-like stream of people, all flowing in mismatched directions. I teleported inside the castle, in my directory room where I normally do when visiting. I walked throughout the castle, seeing a few new faces, and chalking it up to just visitors or some new staff, since it’s been a while since my last visit, so the chance that they hired new advisory staff was more than likely, especially considering the new crowd of people. I walked down the long wide hallway, and got to the door I was looking for, and opened it to find the old lord sitting at his desk.

He finished writing on some paper before glancing up at me, soon realizing it was me instead of the others running the town or wanting meetings. “O-oh lord Ashen!” He said standing up. “I didn’t know you were coming! Please forgive me for not greeting you immediately, these last few days have been exhausting, to say the least…” He followed his words with a long tired sigh, one that I only hoped to replicate in earnest.

Our gazes met, his eyes shaking in place slightly, likely tired, excited, or something similar. “Erik Von Salius, please forgive me for not giving you word of my visit prior to my arrival. I merely wanted to check on the town’s condition, but instead found this.” I motioned to the window that had a large crowd of people constantly moving around like two clashing rivers. “It caught my attention and I wanted to hear your take on the matter.” I rarely called him by his full name, but, this time I felt it was appropriate.

He looked out the window and smiled slightly, barely noticeable, and he closed his eyes in thought. “This town. Your town,” he corrected himself, “with all the benefits and protection it has, word was inevitably bound to spread across the land of its greatness. After a few weeks, we started to receive large amounts of immigrants, and soon after that, a massive wave came in. Even now, we still receive a thousand newcomers every day.” He opened a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper with a grid written on it, and soon started to read me the contents, “Two weeks ago, before any major immigration occurred, we had a population of just under 20,000. But as of the latest recordings, being written only yesterday, this city now has roughly 65,000 individuals of all sorts of races!” The excitement in his voice told me all I needed to know.

He handed the paper to me and I glanced over it rather quickly. “For a city to triple its population in two weeks isn’t exactly normal, so tell me, what do you make of it?” I handed the paper back to him, and he placed it back in its original position and looked back to me.

With a light sigh and a scratch on the back of his head, he spoke aloud once more. “Well, seeing as Wheatberg is a well-protected city, with plenty of magical bonuses for its citizens and that taxes are reasonably low, they all must have thought of it as a steal to come here instead of the capital.” That does make sense, but does that mean similar magical protection is located at the capital?

I hadn’t detected any, but that could be due to them being inactive, still, I suppose that having taxes so low was a decent choice after all. “I see. Can the food supply keep up with the new intake of consumers? And what about housing and jobs as well?” I knew that there were tons of unoccupied buildings available and that the massive farms would yield lots of viable food, but these questions need to be answered.

He thought to himself a moment, taking some time to himself before responding. “There is plenty of food, even when ignoring the magical crops you introduced, so I don’t think it will be a problem for the moment. As for housing and jobs, the large areas of abandoned homes and houses should suffice for the time being, and the revenue gained from the selling of said homes will go directly to us. Which you could use for whatever you please, or if you’d allow me, we could use the money gained to help kickstart trade and commerce again. Wheatberg used to be a food trade hub back when I was lord…” I guess he stopped himself before his mood worsened, but the information he gave was still useful to me.

I nodded my head lightly, and I reached into my pocket dimension and retrieved a small blue crystal. “This crystal’s worth doesn’t matter to me, but perhaps you could find some value in it. Be it by keeping it or finding a willing buyer or craftsman capable of utilizing its abilities or beauty. Be it as you may, it’s yours now. A small reward for your hard work and dedication.” The crystal was a small blue diamond, and from what my tests showed me, it had an outstanding affinity to water magic.

Surely it’s value would be high and the same goes with its power, so he should be able to use it as he pleases, it was a gift after all. “T-thank you my lord- your majesty- your holiness?” He seemed troubled about which title was appropriate, and I would be too, but I didn’t care about trivial matters like that.

I dismissively waved my hand, and I think he got my point. “It matters not what you call me, lord, king, god, It is all the same in the end. But, you on the other hand.” His eyes grew for a moment then faded, thinking of his former noble rank in the Bandarainian empire. “I believe a kingdom needs nobility to function when the king or leading royalty is unavailable.” He knew where I was going with this, as his eyes started to light up and widen with small tears forming in the corners. “As such, I need to start bestowing the title of nobility onto those that are worthy of such a name. And you were the first to come across my mind.” He took a knee and placed his right hand over his heart.

I lifted my hand above his downward-facing head and a small golden light radiated from both of us. I had heard about bestowing titles onto subordinates from King Arthur, and still needed to try it out in practice, so I should use a trusted individual to bestow my title upon to prevent any unforeseeable mishaps in the future. A small line of text appeared in my system log, and I knew that it had worked. He lifted his head as I pulled my arm back to my side. He flexed his fingers for a moment, likely feeling the title’s bonuses again. Without a problem in the actual process, I turned my attention to the notification for confirmation, but only stared in shock after reading it.

[Titles Granted: Noble, Holy Noble, Demon Lord’s Noble]

At first, I waited for him to grow horns or something similar, as I thought that some kind of a transformation would occur from it. “While I am eternally grateful for this, might I ask why you have given me three accounts of nobility?” A clear shock was evident in his voice, likely from the same title my shock arose from.

He stood up and I looked at him after a second of thought. “You’ve grown as a person, and as such, you deserve better than you did in the past. Although it’s not much, I hope this is enough of a reward to show how pleased I am with your work.” Hopefully, he wouldn’t think about the demon noble title in a bad light, but knowing all that I do, that chance was rather low.

He quivered for a few moments, likely spending his newly acquired skill and attribute points. “I-I am eternally grateful, my lord.” He bowed deeply for a few seconds then stood straightened his posture.

I nodded lightly, a simplistic way of showing respect and acknowledgment. “But of course, I look forward to working with you later.” A flash of a smile appeared and left my face before he knew of it, and we exchanged nods as a symbol of departure.

I shut his door as he started sitting down again, and started to walk towards the doors that led outside. Cautiously, I opened them, as to not hurt the many passing people. The street died for the first second I made my appearance but returned to normalcy instantly like they thought nothing of me. I did appreciate the small bubble of room between me and the people around me, nobody getting all too close, likely due to my stature and tail, and perhaps due to my generally on-fire look that probably scared a few from getting closer. I had a few places to travel to, some of them easily reachable, and some not so much, at least with this many people roaming the streets. My first stop was the adventurer’s guild, and if I could, I’d see if they needed any quests.

My idea was simplistic but smart, post ordinary quests, give ordinary rewards but the catch laid in the quests themselves. From the few that I’ve seen, it’s mostly just ‘slay this many creatures that have been attacking this town’ or something similar. So, my plan was to fake attacks or post extermination quests to keep the adventurers on their toes and prevent the sizable job service from leaving or going out of business. In short, I would post fake quests to aid the adventurers in their efforts to keep their jobs as mercenaries. Not all the quests are kill quests though, and that’s what will make my plan work. I don’t have to make just kill quests, I could make resource quests or reconnaissance quests all the same, and it would do the job just fine.

I put my plan on hold for the moment, as I had arrived at the adventurer’s guild already, and promptly made my entrance, unhindered by crowds of people. “Excuse me.” I declared boldly as the two wooden doors slammed shut behind me, the tier 4 [Ghost Hand] I silently cast had shut the doors for me, making me the center of attention immediately.

I knew that adventurers specifically wouldn’t find my appearance all that trustworthy or even friendly, which is why I was surprised by the lack of hostility from their gazes and murmurs. “Yes sir?” The woman behind the counter spoke up without a flaw in her voice, something that I found truly strange.

I walked over to the counter she stood behind, my large talons tapping the floorboards in rhythmic patterns, slightly annoying yet oddly pleasing to hear. “Apologies, but I’d like to speak with the guild master. If he is here and available, please inform him of my request.” She nodded lightly and walked to the room behind her, opening and closing the door with elegance.

The building seemed identical to the other adventurer’s guild, so their building layouts seemed preplanned, almost like it was a proper organization. The unique calmness and normalcy of the adventurers and the woman were very strange and foreign to me, almost like I forgot it was a normal occurrence back on earth. I’d say I missed it, but I grew attached to the way people had cautiously chosen their words and planned their actions. It felt soothing like I was a respectable old man, and they were all feeble children, all trying to not upset me. And in all fairness, they were, as they knew that I was a powerful and potent magic-user, and even the demon lord now, so why shouldn’t they be afraid?

A few quiet streaks of words were shot from the adventurers around me, mostly about their daily life and the like. “So anyway, I managed to slay the medusa in one fell swoop of my blade, it’s head rolling on the ground, only stopping beneath my foot.” A younger man said to one of similar age to him, getting a ‘yeah that’s bullshit’ look from him.

“Slay a black dragon? Who would take up such a quest? If there were any dragons around these parts, I’d like to see them try and challenge the city! I mean, with the magical barrier that can stop a tier 12 spell like it were a pebble, what chance do dragons fair? Even if the barrier were broken, it would incur the lord’s wrath, and the dragon would surely suffer for its foolish mistakes.” An older, well-mannered gentleman said, his body clad in expensive-looking black plates.

“Hey dude, haven’t you heard about the new quest? The one about collecting all kinds of rare monster’s body parts? It pays very well, but it makes me wonder what the hell the guy is going to do with it all? Perhaps he’s a wizard or a witch even, and they are going to brew a special potion? Or maybe it’s a chef that has too much free time?” The recipient of the young fellow listened eagerly for more information.

It seemed like everyone returned to their normal selves again, and the woman emerged from the back room with a strong tall man following behind her. “Come on back, we’ll discuss this in private.” The man motioned to the door, and I teleported into the room to not waste time. “Fancy, aren’t you?” He scoffed briefly and closed the door, giving me time to think over the many thoughts that plagued my mind.

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(Prince Nylian Eir De Les Syngewood)

I grasped my throne’s armrest with a fierce grip in the unavoidable anger I felt. Losing so many strong and capable men to the Britgar Holy Kingdom, it was an utter disgrace that was unfit for us elves. To think that the great and mighty Onnonbrook kingdom could lose to such wretched creatures, it left a wicked taste on my tongue. I spat onto the carpeted floor in utter disgust and brought my left hand over to a chalice of alcohol. Red wine soon started to flow into my lips and I felt the news’ weight being dragged off of me. Who was it that did all this? First the hundred thousand on the fields, but to lose four hundred thousand at their capital was shocking, especially when no reported casualties or even injuries were from their side. That useless hero is worthless! It’s more worthwhile to strap her to my bed chambers or sell her to the chains than to have her fail me in combat over and over again.

The wine stopped flowing, the cup was empty and now flying at the wall farthest from me. I couldn’t stomach the thought of the news any longer. Ashen Fur, just who in the nine hells are you? I’m supposed to believe that a random demon appeared from the Eatherian Plane and just, allied with the humans with a wink and a nudge? And that this demon just went with those human’s petty orders? That’s no demon, that’s but a mere mutt! A mage more powerful than half the royal family no doubt, but a mutt all the same! My grip on the armrest tightened, and my knuckles started to numb. I ignored it, choosing to focus on the embarrassing defeat we suffered from the likes of a mere demon.

I’d love to have a crack at him myself and hack off his arms and legs, piece by piece, bit by bit, chunk by chunk until nothing but a messy stack of meat chunks were left where he once was. But I can’t, my duties as a prince prevents me from going into the frontlines, especially since I was going to be declared king today. The event was soon to begin, and the entire ceremony would drain all of the negative thoughts from my head. At least I hope it does, as these thoughts are like sewing needles in my head, pinching, stabbing, poking, prodding, skewering, and piercing my head with such intensive force that it left me in shambles. Shaking in anger and rage, stomping my feet slowly, gripping my armrest tighter and tighter, clenching my chest, feeling my heartthrob with each passing second.

No, it wasn’t the news that did this, my heart wouldn’t ache this much from the loss of soldiers, no matter the quantity. This was the work of magic, but who? My eyes dotted around the room, finding nobody. My magical awareness detected nobody as well. Paranoia? Am I losing my mind over nothing? Surely that demon is nothing compared to someone as great as I am, right? Yeah, I’m much better than any demon could ever be. I’m the prince damn it! And nearly the king now too! There’s no chance in the nine hells for some impotent demon to stand up to me directly! Once I’m king, I’ll declare war on the Demonican Kingdom too!

More land for us elves to populate, more wealth for our taking! “Your majesty.” My eyes froze and stared down the unfamiliar person in front of me.

Their massive bulking figure should be easily recognizable, but their face was unknown to me. “Who are you! State yourself!” A sliver of fear introduced itself to my anger, could this be the demon?

If not, maybe it’s underling? “Razz Voncoupeir, I’ve come on orders to deliver information to his royal highness’s son.” A messenger? Now of all times?

Is my ceremony ready? “Spit it out!” He complied with my demand, taking in a deep heavy breath before speaking.

He cleared his throat and started talking. “Another battle has taken place with the Britgar Holy Kingdom, but the demon wasn’t present.” So it was a one time deal? Without their trump card, they're just headless chickens! “Casualties were shared between both armies, but we lost significantly more soldiers than them. Roughly 60,000 dead on our side, and 10,000 on theirs.” That’s maddening, they can kill six times more men than us? “Also, it seems that another demon has become an issue, the demon hero, Satur. Although, information about him is from the elf hero, so details could be incorrect, but it seems like his strength rivaled hers. And as for the angel guardian the gods had bestowed upon her, it seems to have fallen in combat with the other hero.” An angel guardian was defeated by a demon hero? The more surprising part was the existence of a demon hero, that was unprecedented!

I snarled in my head at the thought. “Is that all?” He nodded, so I pointed to the doors behind him rather rudely, and he walked himself out.

My mind sunk into my swirling thoughts again, leaving nothing out of interest. An immensely powerful demon and a demon hero? And it seems like they are on the same side. This one is going to be tricky. I have no intention of getting the demon hero to betray the other or vice versa, as demons are unreasonable monsters that don’t know the idea of civilized behavior. It would be a wasted effort to try anything with any normal demon, but heroes tend to be exceptions. At the very least, they have an understanding of how this world works and have communication skills on par with some nobles, so it wasn’t completely impossible. But I still refuse! To talk to a demon is to say to the world that I am a traitor to all of elfkind.

If we can’t beat the demon that slaughtered our armies with brute force, and not even our hero can beat their demon hero or that demon, then it leaves little on the table to work with. Options were limited, picked clean by fate, leaving not even scraps of choices. I snarled in anger once more, it infuriated me! This demon ruined all of my plans! Once I became king I was going to finally win the war with the Britgar Holy Kingdom, but now? Now I have to find a way to dispose of its one trump card, it’s only saving grace. And of course, it just had to be demons. But it’s a good thing that us elves are very cautious when it comes to demons…

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(Ashen POV)

With a dumbfounded look on his face, the guildmaster gave his reaction by repeating my proposal. “A school? The other quests are fine to post, but you’re pressing your luck if you think any adventurer would become a teacher at some school.” I thought as much, but I still had two tricks up my sleeves for convincing them.

I reached into my pocket dimension, the guildmaster looking intently at the black rip in the air in front of me, and I pulled out a small featureless medallion. “I already have an idea for a sizable reward.” I flashed the medallion at him, detail slowly rising from its flat faces.

A small skull in front of flame on one side, and a dragon holding an eyeball on the other. “And what exactly is that?” I have thought long and hard about this, and I finally decided to go through with it.

I took a long deep breath as I prepared myself to commit to my decision. “This medallion is a place-holder token for any request the bearer wants from me directly. As such, If you can find a suitable set of teachers that can be trusted with running a royally funded academy, then this is all yours.” He gulped audibly, a bead of sweat dropping from the side of his head.

His breathing increased heavily, and his skin seemed to crawl with vibrations. “A-any request?” I nodded, causing him to gulp again. “I see, I see. I will do what I can, but it will take time before any progress can be made. And when you said royally funded, did you mean?” I placed the medallion on the table between us.

I withdrew a small pouch of coins from my pocket dimension. “Yes, I will fund the school myself, and assure that it will have all the proper necessities met. Also, I will be replacing the old currency from the Bandarainian Empire with Demonican coins. There will be an exchange notice for the public in a week, and they can trade in their coins for the new ones with no loss in value. The only real change is the faces of the coin, and that they are the official currency within the kingdom. I’m sure you understand why I’m doing this?” He looked around the room for a few seconds in thought and nodded.

The bag I had in my hand contained thirty new platinum coins, a very sizable amount when you considered that most nobility in the Bandarainian Empire only had a dozen or so on average. “Yes, yes, that much I can understand. But, does the king of the new Demonican Kingdom afford to use its funds on a school when it’s population is under a hundred thousand?” A fair concern, but I had the demons in Apoctaclass if I needed more people here.

I placed the pouch of coins on the table, it’s contents clinked with a high-pitched chatter as the coins settled. “We have funds to spare, and the population is no issue, as long as the citizens of Wheatberg choose not to discriminate against those of other races.” He looked at me oddly, like I was saying something foreign to him.

He lifted one of his thick brows and looked intensely at me. “Most of the adventurers shouldn’t try to fight demihumans on city grounds, but it truly depends on what kinds. Personally, I don’t mind race all that much, just a bonus from working with the dozens of races around.” Hopefully, more people were like him and didn’t mind, but that’s unlikely.

I returned his fixed gaze and settled my eyes onto his. “Demons?” His eyes darted around the room again, likely lost in thought. “I know that people hold grudges against demons, and demons share those grudges with humans and the like. But, If we can overlook past relations as a whole, then I’m sure the racial divide will soon crumble. Besides, I’m a demon, and people are actively coming to my territory, what’s the difference if more demons were here too?” Certainly, the citizens could adapt to living with demons, it’s not like they are going to fight, they’d just be living in one town together.

The guildmaster raised his hands to his head, rubbing his temples in circular motions to soothe his mind. “I’m no political figure, but I’m sure the people will inevitably overcome the discrepancies of old. Even if the demons and humans fought in the past, there were always those who wanted a union of the two on both sides, eh?” I guess some humans didn’t think of demons as complete filth that needed to be purged, neat.

Sighing a breath of relief that the changes weren’t impossible, I felt a glimmer of joy from deep within. “I thank you for your time and mind. Consider that medallion yours, I have faith that you will not fail me in this endeavor.” He looked at it for a moment then back to me.

Hesitating for a moment, he soon asked out something I didn’t expect. “If that’s the case, can I use it now?” I didn’t see why not, so I nodded slowly. “Ah, wonderful. I don’t ask for much, merely a sliver of your power would suffice.” My power? Did he mean my godly power or just my magic?

I narrowed my eyes to his. “What kind of power do you wish for?” Hopefully, he was actually specific and didn’t make it needlessly obscure.

Another bead of sweat fell from his head, and he gulped once more. “I have met the draco-pyre-lich that you have subjugated, and he told me everything I wanted to know. Please, make me into a lord of flames!” A lord of flames? Was that a title? A class? A race even?

Knowing the connection with the dragon, it might be racial, but that doesn’t give me much room to work with. “I would need to alter your soul to do this, are you sure?” Well, the least I could do is infuse him with my potent fiery mana, and just pray that he develops the abilities he wants.

He seemed to prepare for his death, gulping one last time and nodding. “I am fully certain of my decision. My affinity with fire has always been grand, and now that I’m level 117, my power isn’t exactly increasing anymore.” That was a fairly high level for this world, so I’m pretty impressed by it, but I still don’t know if I can do it.

I placed my hand over his heart, and a spell circle manifested on the back of my hand. I read the runes of the circle just in case, hoping that there wasn’t a flaw, in case this ruined and corrupted his soul beyond repair. ‘To change fate, to defy order, to not follow, to be more, to be less, to simply be, is to exist.’ Was the basic message that the runes told in the second ring of runes from the edge. ‘To change, to defy, to wonder, to adjust, to manifest, to venture, to roam, to leave, is existence.’ The third ring said, leaving only two more rings to read through. ‘Change, defy, reflect, destroy, disrupt, alter, hinder, accumulate, exist.’ The second innermost ring said, leaving only the last ring left. ‘Inherent fate, become existence.’ With every line appearing perfect, I crossed my heart in the belief of the spell’s success, and cast.

Pure agony, pain, twisted emotions being contorted and disfigured on his face, and then, it stopped before three seconds had passed. “How do you feel?” He clenched his chest, his heart pounding from intense trauma, loud enough to shake the floorboards.

He still shook in place, sweat draining from his body, breath constantly being cycled through his lungs, and two small streams of tears running from his eyes. “Deathy alive.” I guess that’s a good way to describe having your soul altered to such a degree, but at least he didn’t pass out, so my spell was a success.

I’ll have to write it down so I don’t forget it later, it might become important. “I bestow upon thee, the blessing of the [God of Flames], burn bright little flame.” I’m pretty sure it worked, as the world system confirmed my words.

[Titles Granted: Flameborn, Holy Flameling, Marked by Fire, Lord of Fire, Flameknight]

I guess I did a pretty good job if he got five titles from the spell and my words, so it was useful information on top of having a powerful person that can rule over and protect the adventurer’s guild for me. “Thank you, Lord Ashen.” His random change in character from a harsh brute into this almost childlike demeanor was almost amusing to me, but I can’t really judge others.

A flash of a green spell circle emerged and faded from my hands and his body seemed to cure any injury he had incurred up until this point. “Rest up and carry out my request, use the medallion as a bargaining chip if you must.”I walked to the door, opening it and walking into the entrance room.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on me, and some clenched their hearts, and others their weapons. “Is something wrong?” I addressed the room as a whole, not willing to deal with any of them that wished to attack me.

Most looked away or mumbled something under their breath, but a few kept a constant gaze fixed upon me. “Oh lord Ashen, we’d love to talk with you.” A few people said from a singular table, one of their voices was louder than the others, their gear looking quite impressive compared to the rest of the world.

My full attention was devoted to them, and I reasoned that four of them were level 100-120, and the one that talked was around level 180, maybe a hero? “I can spare time with you. In private?” A flash of dark blue flooded the room, and the six of us vanished from everyone else’s sights.

They examined the room we were in now, the same massive chamber that I fought the other people that thought I killed the Lord. “You catch on quick, don’t you?” I remember that voice, the more I hear it, the more I recognize it.

I can’t quite say who it is, but the voice is familiar. “What do you plan on discussing with me?” I knew their hearts were set on a battle, their overly cautious and coordinated movements proved as much.

The leader drew a massive sword, easily weighing over a tonne, with a thick metal slab as the blade and a thick rod for a handle. “Your retirement.” I’d say he sounded stupid, but his party’s faces told me that they shared that feeling.

Their armor and robes were all top-quality, for this world at least, and their weapons were rather impressive, to say the least. “But I’m not nearly old enough to retire, just how old do you think I am?” The three warriors stepped forward, the two mages in the back preparing spell circles.

The man with the overcompensating sword lunged towards me with the speed of a lightning bolt, that is to say, rather slowly. “Two-hundred maybe?” He showed no remorse for assuming my age, but considering he saw me as an inhumane demon, it didn’t bother me.

I pinched the edge of the blade with my right thumb and pointer finger, stopping at a few centimeters from my head. “Now, now, that’s rude. I’m no child now.” The other two warriors rushed me, one with daggers and the other with a massive battleaxe.

The one with daggers attempted to stab me on my right side, assuming that it was unguarded by my right hand, but Vron would surely block him. “A child on the inside and outside.” The daggers came ever closer, until they hit me, the blades cracking upon the impact of my chestplate.

Vron wasn’t with me, I forgot that he was still with Aeyrs in the castle, a foolish mistake. “Cheap utensils, don’t you have any fine-dining equipment.” I lifted my right leg, which was more accurately described as compressing, then kicked with reserved strength, sending the man across the room and into a wall, cracking it and his back.

The battleaxe came crashing down, streaks of lightning and ice coming off the back of it. “I’ll chop you into bite-sized pieces!” Instead of blocking or dodging, I did something rather crude and rude.

I pulled the sword blade towards me, moving its welder into the path of the axe strike. “You’ll choke if you don’t cut your food up finely.” I was slightly amused with the random humor mixed in with the combat, it reminded me of the good-old-days with my guildmates and my brother.

The battleaxe swung just short of his friend, but came back up and over him, the warrior leaped into the air, his axe nearly touching my head. “I’ll drink plenty of water to make it go down smoothly!” His swing missed again, luckily for him, as it would have just shattered his blade.

A lance of water and ice shot out towards me from one of the mages, the other was tending to their, presumably, thief. “Fresh glass, coming up!” The mage shouted, her voice filled with a vigor even I have yet to hear in this world.

Needless to say, the spells were ineffective, the ice melted and the water from vaporized and turned into an explosion of steam. “Careful, it’s quite hot.” I retorted, the blast sent the two warriors speeding back from me, their feet digging trenches in the stone.

A long needle came speeding towards my neck, but it too was melted before it could reach me. “I’ll add some leaves, and we can make tea.” A thick root of vines came sprouting from the ground, bursting apart as they latched onto me, the heat from my body forcing the moisture inside of them to expand rapidly.

More vines appeared and replaced the ones that got destroyed, and the sword came piercing towards my chest. “Personally, tea doesn’t sit well with me, I’d much prefer meat skewers!” The sword impacted my chestplate, and I used an illusion spell to misdirect their minds into thinking that they beat me.

The sword pierced my body, black blood splattering from the front and back, a wet crunching sound reverberated around the room. “It seems like you have fine taste,” I said, pretending to gasp for air.

The sword was pushed further inside, the illusion making it seem true. “I thought the demon lord was supposed to be the final boss, but here he was, weak and pitiful.” He could say that while ignoring the fact that his entire party’s attacks were powerless against me, and he couldn’t discern this tier 16 illusion spell as just that, an illusion.

Their healer did though, but a little bit too late. “Wait! Get away from him! It’s a trap!” Her screams were in vain, as the illusion faded, it’s effects disappearing in an instant, the sword was revealed to be completely shattered and in ruin, and my hand lunged through the chest of the one who tried stabbing me.

Thick red blood splattered onto the floor, but this was no illusion, pure iron-smelling blood, littering the ground, but my natural body heat managed to cauterize the wound near instantaneously. “Such fine taste in food, but your disdain for tea is unforgivable.” Only my hand pierced his chest, the spikes being far too large to fit, thus stopping before they could.

I pulled my arm back, then swung it forward, his body flying off of my arm like a meager throw of a ball. “Tycho! No!” The other four said in unison.

That name hit me, it wasn’t my former guildmate, but that man from the grocery store, that’s why his voice was familiar. “Guys, run! Save yourself! Leave me!” They were unwilling to talk peacefully, so bloodshed was the only other option, but still, it made my stomach churn ever so slightly.

The four looked around the room, finding no doors or windows, and prepared for death. “Oh? How noble of you, but you can rest assured, death isn’t the end for you.” I could just resurrect them after all, unless he gets sent back to earth after he dies, seeing as he is a hero.

The two magic casters joined together and started to amass mana from the air and create a spell circle. “We won’t submit to the likes of you!” The two of them said, sorrow and grief overwhelming their voices, as a thick gold and white pillar of light thundered at me, nearly faster than I was.

Holy damage was one of my two weaknesses, but to say I was defenseless against it was foolish. “I have no need for new subordinates.” The light embraced me harshly, and my body started to pull in every last aspect of the spell, taking a large amount of damage, nearly a million hit points, almost an eighth of my total health, before the spell faded and the light dispersed.

A wave of shock washed over the two, and the fighters lunged back into the fray, two more daggers, and two gauntlets came shooting towards my head. “A demon whose resistant to holy magic? How troublesome.” The one who previously wielded the axe remarked sarcastically, his fists making no dent in my armor.

The daggers’ fates were the same this time around too, shattering into metal scraps upon impact, and the gauntlets scrunched up slightly from the sheer force behind his punch. “Needless to say, you can’t win. And you won’t submit. So why not call off the fight for now. You can come back when you have a legitimate reason to fight. How’s that sound?” I whipped my tail into the thief and I forcefully shoved the other fighter back, both falling onto the ground.

A brief brown spell circle appeared from the hand I used to shove the fighter back, causing the ground under the two mages to crumble and shift which made them lose balance. “Legitimate reason? You’re the demon lord! That’s reason enough!” Tycho screamed out, then bellowed from the hole in his chest.

He tried standing up, his weak body failing once my finger touched his forehead, pushing him to the ground with greater force than the others had experienced. “Even as the demon lord, I’m far more human than you appear to be. I’ve protected the innocent, given to the poor, assisted the weak, and what have you done? You declared demons as evil and humans as good, with no understanding of how the demons feel. To me, you’re nothing but a toddler throwing a temper tantrum, acting like you know what’s right and wrong. Know despair, know the feeling that all the demons are forced to embrace for thousands of years. Fear the very people you helped before. Pray to the very gods that want you dead. After that, you’ll know what it’s like to be a demon, and then you’ll know what it’s like to be human.” I finished my small speech with a high tier spell, [Atmospheric Shift], which caused the very air to split apart, severing their heads from their bodies.

Blood sprayed unpredictably, soaking their clothing and dripping onto my face and hands. The room filled with a thick iron scent, and I started to disarm their bodies before the resurrection. I stripped the armor off of them, leaving the clothing they had on underneath alone, but removing anything with enchantments or magical properties. Tycho had a singular ring on his left middle finger, a diamond encased partially by gold. Perhaps he got engaged here? It wouldn’t be all that irregular considering the heroes are praised, but the ring gave him a rather large amount of spare mana, nearly three hundred thousand in fact. An amount I have yet to see in this world, outside of the dungeons, which were already exceptions when you consider the fact that they predate all other sentient life, at least mortal life that is.

Their bodies were cleaned and prepared for resurrection, with a bright green flash reconnecting their heads to their bodies and repairing their bones, flesh, tissue, and veins. “[True Resurrection].” The tier 24 spell worked, and their bodies instantaneously fixed themselves, looking slightly better than when I first saw them, likely a result of removing their fatigue and prior damages.

The spell [True Resurrection] was used here to bypass any lesser tiered spell that prevented their resurrection, ones that were probably divine in nature. “W-what happened? Alona, did you resurrect me?” Tycho was the first to speak, likely due to his level being higher, causing him to recover faster.

Alona was most likely the healer, and the way he spoke indicated that he was resurrected before, but I couldn’t be certain. “No. It was the demon lord.” After a few seconds, they all managed to lift their heads and place their gaze on me once more. “I would suggest that you all take time to investigate the world around you without the biased lenses that time has created. Find out for yourselves the truth of the demons and humans, then, if you still wish to fight me, you’re free to try. Do grant me this one selfish request in exchange for your continued existence.” They started to sit up, noticing their belongings neatly placed next to them.

Tycho started to stand, his legs barely supporting him, the reason was similar to having your legs asleep and your weight increased. “The churches will not be pleased, but I will grant you this one wish in exchange for our resurrection, but know that this is the one and only wish we will grant.” They started to re-equip their gear, which took a minute in total.

They stood together, all of their hands except for Tycho’s were trembling, fear overtaking their minds. “I hope you find the truth. You’ll need to rely on the demons just as much as you will the humans. Farewell, Tycho. I hope you enjoy the journey.” He looked like he was about to say something, but I teleported the five of them out of here and back to the adventurer’s guild.

Now that I had privacy again, I started with the simple stuff. I mended the floor, cleaned the bloodstains out of it, and myself, and added a few notes to my mental list. Two heroes down out of four, I just hope the other two are more reasonable than the two I’ve met. The best I can truly hope for would be a peaceful exchange of words before engaging in combat, but I knew that was an unachievable fantasy. The likelihood pointed to an action first approach, much like mine when I understood little about my impact on the world. I guess I have more to do on that list of chores, don’t I? Oh well, it can’t be helped. The day will be over in a few hours, and I still have to return to the castle, so I might as well wrap up my holiday.

I already got the adventurer’s guild master to agree with my plans, and I have the town’s economic issues taken care of. The only thing I would have to do now is to focus on creating the schools and towns I promised, along with mingling the demons into Wheatberg. That wouldn’t be for a little while, I still have time on my hands to prepare for that. The elders of Apoctaclass and the politicians of Wheatberg still need time to adjust their ends of the deal, so I couldn’t rush it if I wanted. Well, I probably could, but I didn’t find a need to just yet, as I hoped that the people that were used to ruling the populace would correctly continue doing so on my behalf. I have little experience with ruling others, even as a guildmaster, so I was just going to observe others and take notes for later. I guess I still have a lot on my plate huh? Well, I guess I’ve been hungry for some action...